By Bob Allen A picturesque 126-acre Southern Baptist seminary campus with sweeping views of San Francisco Bay brought $85 million in a sale finalized last week. Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary plans to use sale proceeds to relocate its main…
Candidate’s church-state stance worries religious freedom blogger
By Bob Allen A blogger for a Baptist group that advocates religious freedom for all views with alarm the rise of a Southern Baptist preacher and radio-show host likely headed for Congress after winning the Republican congressional primary in Georgia’s…
Rubio talks values at speech co-sponsored by ERLC
By Bob Allen U.S. senator and potential 2016 GOP presidential candidate Marco Rubio criticized what he termed growing intolerance for supporters of traditional marriage at a July 23 conference co-sponsored by the Southern Baptist Convention Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission….
Once a bright hope, Arkansas Baptist College now faces fiscal challenges, lawsuits
By Bob Allen A Cooperative Baptist Fellowship leader in Arkansas says he continues to support the president of a historically black college struggling with finances and a close ministry partner to the state CBF chapter the last seven years. Recent…
SBC leader says border crisis ‘moral disgrace’
By Bob Allen A Southern Baptist Convention official just back from a tour of two Texas facilities for migrant children said July 23 the young people he met there were no different from the kind of kids one might meet…
Sex abuse victim sues Alabama Baptist church
By Bob Allen A victim of a former children’s minister sentenced to 30 years in prison has sued both his perpetrator and the church that hired him. The victim, identified by initials J.G., filed a lawsuit July 22 in U.S….
Youth pastor gets 3 years for child porn
By Bob Allen A former Tennessee Baptist youth minister avoided a maximum 20-year sentence for child pornography found on his cell phone during an investigation of his previous arrest on charges of statutory rape and sexual battery. U.S. District Judge…
Old abuse accusations resurface with recent arrest
By Bob Allen Leaders of a Baptist association in Alabama investigated questions raised in recent media reports about a director of mission’s handling of alleged child sex abuse decades ago in 2009 and found no evidence of cover-up, according to…
In executive order, Obama bans bias against gays by federal contractors
By Bob Allen President Obama signed an executive order July 21 that prohibits federal contractors from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. “America’s federal contracts should not subsidize discrimination against the American people,” Obama said at a…