By Bob Allen After being around for 30 years, it’s easy to forget that a decade ago BWIM was considering whether it should continue to exist. What is the state of your movement today, and what did it take to…
BJC says same-sex marriage ruling unlikely to affect tax-exemption
By Bob Allen A Baptist group specializing in church/state issues says the threat of churches and other religious organizations losing their tax-exempt status if they oppose same-sex marriage “have been highly exaggerated” in a two-page handout released in light of…
Don McGregor, editor, ABP founder, dead at 91
By Bob Allen Don McGregor, a founder of Associated Baptist Press (today known as Baptist News Global) who served as the independent new service’s first executive director, died June 30 in Mesquite, Texas. He was 91. As editor of the…
Oklahoma Supreme Court orders removal of Ten Commandments from Capitol lawn
By Bob Allen The Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled June 30 that a Ten Commandments monument on the Capitol grounds must come down in a lawsuit brought by the ACLU on behalf of an ordained Baptist minister and other citizens. Bruce…
Kentucky Baptist Fellowship names coordinator
By Bob Allen Rhonda Abbott Blevins, associate pastor of Tellico Village Community Church in Loudon, Tenn., and a consultant with Pinnacle Leadership Associates, has been named coordinator of the Kentucky Baptist Fellowship. Blevins, a graduate of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary…
Gay Baptist minister followed long path to marriage equality
By Bob Allen A Baptist minister and his same-sex partner jailed for trespassing two years ago after refusing to leave a county clerk’s office after being denied a marriage license returned to the scene of the crime Monday afternoon armed…
Baptist groups react to gay marriage ruling
By Bob Allen Amid both praise and condemnation for last week’s Supreme Court decision legalizing gay marriage, leaders of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship staked out a position of neutrality on a topic deemed best left up to the local church….
State Supreme Court voids school voucher plan
By Bob Allen The Colorado Supreme Court struck down a school voucher program June 29, saying it violates the state constitution’s ban on using public money to fund religious schools. Overturning a lower-court decision, the Supreme Court said the Douglas…
Citing confidentiality breaches, American Baptists suspend executive search
By Bob Allen The search for the next general secretary of American Baptist Churches USA is on hold, due to “breaches of confidentiality” in the search process, the denomination’s president announced June 28 at the denomination’s biennial mission summit in…