RICHMOND, Va. (ABP) — The Baptist World Alliance's decision to accept the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship into membership helped persuade the Southern Baptist Convention to withdraw from the BWA, an SBC leader said. Jerry Rankin, president of the SBC's International Mission…
Truett yanks gay student’s scholarship; Baylor, Texas gay-rights groups protest
WACO, Texas (ABP) — A moderate Baptist seminary has revoked a student's scholarship — purportedly because he is gay — and the student and gay-rights groups are calling “foul.” In late December, officials at Baylor University's George W. Truett Theological…
Retired pastor to become head of Texas Baptist benevolent group
DALLAS (ABP) — The Texas Baptist Men personnel search committee will nominate Leo Smith to be the organization's executive director at the group's Feb. 27 board meeting. Smith is currently TBM's interim executive director, a position he accepted after resigning…
House approves another bill allowing religious discrimination
WASHINGTON (ABP) — The House of Representatives has turned back a challenge to a bill that would allow religious organizations receiving federal funding to discriminate in hiring. In debate on the bill Feb. 4, Democrats attempted to offer a substitute…
Same-sex marriages imminent after Massachusetts court’s ruling
WASHINGTON (ABP) — As far as the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court is concerned, a civil-unions bill would be a separate and unequal response to their earlier ruling legalizing same-sex marriage. Their latest pronouncement was read publicly for the first time…
Theater chain reverses, agrees to air BGCT ad
DALLAS (ABP) — After initially refusing to show a 30-second advertisement produced by the Baptist General Convention of Texas because it was “too dark,” AMC Theatres tentatively have agreed to show a modified version of the clip. On Feb. 4,…
Texas Baptists spread gospel as Super Bowl comes to state
HOUSTON (ABP) — The Super Bowl has spring-boarded many athletes to international fame, but Baptists regularly use the event to point people to something even greater. Several thousand Baptists, primarily from Texas, sought to share the gospel with non-Christians by…
Jackson’s Super Bowl incident leads to further FCC uproar, federal investigation
WASHINGTON (ABP) — Standards of decency on broadcast television are again in the news as the Federal Communications Commission investigates what led to an incident during the halftime show at Super Bowl XXXVIII. The show, watched by an estimated 99…
Army honors Baptist chaplain for service to soldiers in Iraq
ATLANTA (ABP) — A Baptist chaplain has been awarded the Army's Bronze Star for “exceptionally meritorious service” while serving in Iraq. Maj. Scott Sterling, an ethics instructor at the U.S. Army Chaplain School in Fort Jackson, S.C., received the honor…