ST. LOUIS, Mo. (ABP) — Missouri Baptist University opened a new sports and recreation complex Oct. 30 with a first-ever charity Albert Pujols All-Star Basketball Game. The first Albert Pujols All-Star Basketball Game, pitting Pujols' team of teens and young…
Diverse Canadian Baptists cover miles, cultures
MISSISSAUGA, Ontario (ABP) — From early churches springing up on the Atlantic from the seeds of displaced American slaves to the metropolitan Pacific coast, Canadian Baptists reflect their huge, diverse nation. In the world’s second largest nation by land…
Yale professor cites similarities between Mormons, Southern Baptists
NEW YORK (ABP) – Southern Baptists who question Gov. Mitt Romney’s Christianity have more in common with Mormonism than they know, Yale literary critic and author Harold Bloom opined in a New York Times commentary Nov.12. Under an op-ed headline…
British Baptist newspaper to cease publication
DIDCOT, England (ABP) – The Baptist Times, an award-winning newspaper published weekly for British Baptists for 156 years, will cease both print and digital editions at the end of the year. Bill Johnston, chairman of the Baptist Times board of…
Environmentalists celebrate pipeline delay
Organizers of the White House action constructed a mammoth model of a pipeline out of plastic sheeting and kept it inflated with a 12 volt battery-powered fan that they pulled along in a toy wagon. (Photo by Greg Yost) WASHINGTON…
Gay-rights group accuses Baptists of hypocrisy
HUDSON, N.C. (ABP) – A gay advocacy group has accused the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina of using a double standard when it comes to homosexuality. The 4,000-church convention by policy excludes congregations that “knowingly act to affirm, approve,…
Pastor writes Bible study for Harry Potter movies
HUSTONVILLE, Ky. (ABP) – With the Nov. 11 release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, the eighth and final film in the long-running series based on books by J.K. Rowling on DVD and Blu-ray, a Southern Baptist…
National Baptists, NAACP co-sponsor empowerment conference
ST. LOUIS (ABP) – The NAACP and National Baptist Convention are gathering together Nov. 10-12 in St. Louis to co-sponsor a conference on “Faith, Family and Community Empowerment.” Speakers include NAACP President Benjamin Todd Jealous, who was scheduled to give…
Baptists, Orthodox consider formal dialogue
FALLS CHURCH, Va. (ABP) – Teams from the Baptist World Alliance and the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople held exploratory talks Oct. 30-Nov. 2 that could lead to formal dialogue between Baptist and Orthodox Christians internationally. BWA General Secretary Neville Callam,…
Baptist cooperation developed slowly but took root deeply
DALLAS (ABP) — Mention "cooperation" and many Baptists think of the Cooperative Program, the Southern Baptist Convention's unified giving plan. But Baptists may have forgotten that instead of money, cooperation historically grew around accomplishing kingdom work together — primarily missions…
Crossing boundaries in ministry poses opportunities, challenges
ATLANTA (ABP) — "Are we missing the big picture?" That's the question some Christian leaders are asking as America's centuries-old denominational patterns unravel and while denominational distinctions seem as entrenched — and unbridgeable — as ever. In a post-denominational society,…
Does Calvinism extol God’s glory or make him a moral monster?
WACO, Texas (ABP) — Roger Olson, professor at Baylor University's Truett Theological Seminary, agreed to write a new book refuting Calvinism because he believes somebody needs to rescue God's reputation. "I am against any Calvinism — and any theology —…