WASHINGTON (ABP) — Ricky Creech, once a Southern Baptist missionary and associational director of missions and more recently on the staff of a Georgia United Methodist church, was elected in a close vote March 28 to be executive director of…
Historian Edwin Gaustad dies at 87
SANTA FE, N.M. (ABP) — Prolific author, influential historian and lifelong Baptist Edwin Gaustad died Friday, March 25, in Santa Fe, N.M. He was 87. Edwin Gaustad Gaustad, professor emeritus of history and religious studies at the University of California-Riverside,…
Pastor facing possible deportation prepares for court, will seek pardon
ASHEVILLE, N.C. (ABP) — A Hispanic Baptist pastor arrested last summer by immigration authorities won't find out until September whether he will be deported for a crime committed in 1995. Hector Villanueva, pastor of Bautista la Rocha in Siler City,…
Churches need social networking policies
ASHEVILLE, N.C. (ABP) — Social networking tools using the Internet through computers and smart phones are powerful aids for communicating, but churches should have policies in place governing their use before problems arise, a computer programmer advised in a breakout…
Couple fights ‘choking game’ tragedy
ASHEVILLE, N.C. (ABP) — A dangerous thrill-seeking practice commonly called "the choking game" is claiming hundreds of teenage lives as it crosses the line from dangerous to deadly. No one knows how many children die from practicing this "game," which…
Sidebar: Website warns of risky behaviors promoted on Internet
(ABP) — A group called Cyberhood Watch has listed what it considers the top 10 dangerous behaviors promoted by teens. Site managers Dave Ballard and Bill Wardell cite the eagerness of teens to share their exploits with others online with…
Filmmaker discusses faith, forgiveness on ‘The View’
NEW YORK (ABP) — A filmmaker promoting a movie based on his family's tragedy explained on national television March 25 how he not only could believe in a God that would allow his parents to be murdered and his family…
Baptist ethicist says US role in Libya fails ‘just war’ test
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP) – A Baptist ethicist said March 25 that President Obama's stated intent for U.S. military intervention in Libya lies outside parameters used for centuries to determine whether a war is morally just. Speaking March 19 in Brazil,…
Small groups ‘catapult’ members into larger life of the church and world
ALLEN, Texas (ABP)—When a Connections class at First Baptist Church in Allen, Texas, began meeting in January a year ago, its diverse membership included a self-proclaimed atheist who attended because he had a friend at church, three unmarried cohabiting couples…