WASHINGTON (ABP) — The U.S. Supreme Court will decide whether a small band of adherents of an obscure Brazilian sect living in the United States have a religious right to import hallucinogenic tea for sacramental use. The justices agreed April…
Louisiana Baptist exec wants to dissolve newspaper’s board, assume control
ALEXANDRIA, La. (ABP) — The new executive of the Louisiana Baptist Convention is asking the convention's newspaper to dissolve its independent board and come under the executive's authority. Under the proposal from executive director David Hankins, the Baptist Message would…
Federal court rules against Wiccan in municipal prayer dispute
WASHINGTON (ABP) — A federal appeals court has ruled that a Virginia county can exclude a member of a minority religion from offering prayers at county board meetings — even though adherents of “Judeo-Christian” religions are allowed to lead invocations….
President to retire from Samford after 22 years at Baptist college
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (ABP) — Samford University President Thomas Corts, who has led Alabama's largest private university for 22 years, will retire in May 2006, or earlier if a presidential search committee identifies his successor before then. Corts announced his retirement…
Gay-union proponents get two wins, one loss
(Editor's note: This updates the April 13 ABP story titled “Connecticut, Maryland legislators pass domestic-partner bills.”) WASHINGTON (ABP) — Proponents of legal recognition for same-sex couples have taken two steps forward and one step back, thanks to votes in Connecticut…
Baptist Joint Committee hires staffers for legal, communications positions
WASHINGTON (ABP) — The Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty has recently acquired two new professional staffers. The BJC has hired Stephen Reeves as staff attorney and Emilee Simmons as associate director of communications. Reeves served last fall as a…
McLaren speaks in Kentucky after controversy
GEORGETOWN, Ky. (ABP) — Challenging Christians to become “apprentices of Jesus,” emerging church leader Brian McLaren spoke at a Kentucky Baptist Convention-related school just a few weeks after being uninvited from speaking at a convention-sponsored event. McLaren, one of the…
In New York, legislators block reactivation of death penalty
NEW YORK (ABP) — A state legislative committee has effectively blocked the reinstatement of New York's death-penalty law. A committee of the New York State Assembly killed legislation April 12 that would have reinstated the state's capital-punishment statute. The law…
Sri Lanka asks Baptist agency to mold foster-care program
DALLAS (ABP) — The government of Sri Lanka has invited a Texas Baptist agency to shape the country's first child protective services program, with the man who got the group involved in January's tsunami-relief efforts taking the lead. David Beckett,…