ORLANDO, Fla. (ABP) — Not being able to get out of his own Orlando neighborhood because of fallen trees made it difficult for David Harding, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship's national disaster-relief coordinator, to do his job. After making landfall a…
Bush has gone around Congress to implement plan, study shows
WASHINGTON (ABP) — A new report by an independent group explains in depth what observers of President Bush's “faith-based initiative” have been noting for years now: That Bush has used his presidential powers to bypass Congress and “aggressively implement the…
Florida appeals court rules against vouchers
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (ABP) — A divided state appeals court has upheld a lower court's ruling that the state's school-voucher program violates the Florida Constitution. In a 2-1 decision, a panel of the state's First District Court of Appeals ruled that…
Charley hits Florida hard; cleanup, recovery in full swing
PUNTA GORDA, Fla. (ABP) — Hurricane Charley's unexpected course left death, devastation and frustration as it passed through heavily populated Central Florida Aug. 13. But even before the wind died down, plans for relief were well under way. Officials from…
Want to help hurricane victims in Florida? ‘Don’t just show up,’ advises one official
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (ABP) — Across Florida and the southeast United States, individuals, families, churches, businesses, and non-profit organizations will undoubtedly want to do something to assist those hit hardest by Hurricane Charley. But determining what that is may often be…
California Supreme Court nullifies gay marriages
WASHINGTON (ABP) — Dealing a blow to the gay-rights movement, California's Supreme Court Aug. 12 ruled that San Francisco officials violated state law when they performed approximately 4,000 same-sex marriages earlier this year. The court also ruled that the marriages,…
Christian leaders condemn Bush’s church-based campaign tactics
WASHINGTON (ABP) — A broad group of mainline and evangelical Protestant leaders has issued a statement criticizing President Bush's re-election campaign for attempting to recruit voters through churches. Fifteen seminary professors and retired pastors — seven of them Baptists —…
Worldwide youth meeting unites young people from 70 countries
HONG KONG (ABP) — One year after it was postponed because of the SARS outbreak in Asia, the 14th Baptist Youth World Congress opened Aug. 5 in Hong Kong, with 3,500 people from more than 70 countries. The opening session…
40 years later, church recalls ordination of first female Southern Baptist pastor
DURHAM, N.C. (ABP) — When Addie Davis was ordained to the gospel ministry Aug. 9, 1964, she and the supportive congregation were unknowingly making history. Forty years later, Watts Street Baptist Church in Durham, N.C., celebrated with Davis — now…