By Bob Allen LifeWay Christian Resources decided not to sell its cash-strapped Glorieta Conference Center in New Mexico to a Christian college in California following an independent review of the potential buyer’s doctrinal views. The Tennessean in Nashville, Tenn., reported…
Faith group supports family planning
By Bob Allen The New Evangelical Partnership for the Common Good, a faith-based coalition formed in 2010 by former National Association of Evangelicals vice president Richard Cizik, released a 15-page document Oct. 16 making a moral case for family planning….
‘Complementarians’ pan womanhood book
By Bob Allen Weeks before its official release, advance copies of a book challenging the assumption that the Bible prescribes a single model for “biblical” womanhood aren’t finding fans among conservative evangelicals who believe roles for husbands and wives described…
Midwestern seminary elects president
By Bob Allen Trustees of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary voted 29-2 on Oct. 15 to elect Southern Baptist Theological Seminary administrator Jason Allen as the Kansas City-based school’s fifth president. Allen, 35, succeeds former president Phil Roberts, who resigned in…
Racial equality pioneer Langford dies
By Bob Allen Henry V. Langford, a white Baptist preacher whose support for racial equality caused him to be blackballed by churches in the 1950s, died Oct. 7 at age 93. A memorial service is planned at 4 p.m. Sunday,…
Jimmy Carter fetes Clarence Jordan
By Bob Allen As 39th president of the United States, Jimmy Carter got to know some of the most influential leaders of the 20th century, but he says none impressed him more than Clarence Jordan, a farmer and white Baptist…
Agency head urges settlement of lawsuit
By Bob Allen After 10 years of litigation, the head of the Missouri Baptist Foundation says it is time for Missouri Baptist Convention leaders to discuss compromise in an ongoing legal battle between the two organizations over who gets to…
Group asks AP to stop using ‘illegal’ label
By Bob Allen A Christian social-justice organization has called on the Associated Press to stop labeling undocumented immigrants “illegal” in the Associated Press Stylebook, a Bible for reporting and editing decisions used by news media across the United States. Sojourners,…
Man found guilty of killing Texas pastor
By Bob Allen Two Baptist churches in Texas gained some closure Oct. 8 with a conviction in the murder of a 28-year-old mission pastor committed during a church robbery in March 2011. A Tarrant County jury deliberated about an hour…
Lawmaker defends slavery comments
By Bob Allen A Southern Baptist state legislator in Arkansas is standing by a self-published book he wrote in 2009 where he suggests that slavery may have been a blessing in disguise for African-Americans. Republican State Rep. Jon Hubbard, a…
Florida Baptists back ‘no-aid’ repeal
By Bob Allen The Florida Baptist Convention’s governing board voted Sept. 21 to support a proposed amendment to the state’s constitution that backers say protects religious freedom and opponents say would open the door for indirect public funding of sectarian…
LifeWay won’t sell ‘womanhood’ book
By Bob Allen A new book by an author who for one year kept her vow to follow literally every instruction for women found in the Bible won’t be sold at LifeWay Christian Stores. Rachel Held Evans, whose anticipated book A…