CANTON, Ga. (ABP) — A Southern Baptist megachurch is at the center of a potential legal battle over the constitutionality of public schools holding graduation exercises in a church building. The Cherokee County Board of Education voted Dec. 2 to…
Rev. Lankford goes to Washington
WASHINGTON (ABP) — James Lankford is typical of the many outsider conservative Republican candidates elected to Congress during the recent midterm elections — with one significant difference. He is also a Baptist minister. Rep.-Elect James Lankford (R-Okla.) Elected to the…
Passport receives Lilly grant
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (ABP) — An international student ministry that partners with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship has received a $750,000 Lilly Endowment grant to help theologically moderate churches discover God's calling for both clergy and laity. The grant will support a…
Author: Marriage not obsolete, but needs restoration
CHICAGO (ABP) — Marriage isn't obsolete, but it is getting rarer, says an evangelical social scientist who sparked controversy a year ago with articles in major publications making a case for early marriage. Mark Regnerus Mark Regnerus, an associate professor…
Executive Committee merging functions
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP) — The Southern Baptist Convention's Executive Committee will eliminate two vice presidents and merge its news and public-relations functions, Baptist Press reported Nov. 30. Executive Committee President and CEO Frank Page announced consolidations and staff reductions in…
Burmese Baptist refugees in U.S. changing Anglo churches
RICHMOND, Va. (ABP) — They were three fairly typical goals for a high-school student — to pass government and geometry in summer school and obtain a driving learner’s permit. But for Say Wah, these goals represented escape from oppression, an…
Church taking festive approach to World AIDS Day
OAKLAND, Calif. (ABP) — A Baptist church internationally acclaimed for its HIV/AIDS ministry is taking a festive approach to a somber occasion — World AIDS Day, observed annually on Dec. 1. Allen Temple Baptist Church in Oakland, Calif., planned a…
Christians join last-ditch effort to pass immigration reform for youngsters
WASHINGTON (ABP) — Christian leaders were among those joining a coordinated, last-ditch effort Nov. 30 to get Congress to pass a bill providing a path to legal status for the undocumented children of illegal immigrants. “Each year approximately 65,000 undocumented…
Christian charity warns about danger of holiday debt
BRADFORD, England (ABP) — A Christian debt-counseling charity in the United Kingdom is calling on people to avoid using credit cards and loans to pay for their Christmas shopping this year. Christians Against Poverty, a ministry that advocates poverty relief…
N.H. Baptist minister, elders found guilty of failing to report abuse
CONWAY, N.H. (ABP) — A minister and two elders of a Southern Baptist church in New Hampshire have been convicted on misdemeanor charges of failing to report suspected sexual abuse of a 12-year-old girl. Tim Dillmuth, 34, a pastor at…
Choose Wisely: Dave Ramsey on moral decision-making
(ABP) — Dave Ramsey is founder of the Lampo Group and one of the most widely recognized experts on the intersection of Christian principles and personal finance. He agreed to an e-mail interview about ethical financial decision-making for Christians. Dave…
Choose Wisely: Fair-trade movement has Christian roots
WASHINGTON (ABP) — In 1946, a faithful Mennonite from the United States named Edna Ruth Byler took a trip to Puerto Rico and was shocked by both the poverty she encountered and the seeming hopelessness of the artisans who produced…