By Bob Allen A top media spokesperson for the Southern Baptist Convention urged communicators attending this weekend’s National Religious Broadcasters International Christian Media Convention in Nashville, Tenn., to keep faith central to whichever form of media they choose. “I would…
Former youth pastor pleads to child porn charge
By Bob Allen A former Tennessee Baptist youth minister pleaded guilty Feb. 23 in federal court to possession of child pornography found on his cell phone during an investigation of his previous arrest on charges of statutory rape and sexual…
Dueling columns pit SBC leader against pundits
By Bob Allen The head of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission pushed back at criticism by Fox News analyst Kirsten Powers and culture writer Jonathan Merritt that it’s hypocritical for a Christian photographer to refuse to…
Baptist seminary in Liberia reopens after forced closure
By Bob Allen A labor judge’s Jan. 6 order shutting down the Liberia Baptist Theological Seminary has been lifted, the school’s interim president announced Feb. 21. National Labor Court Judge Comfort Natt ordered the closure over the seminary’s refusal to…
Former SBC leader warns of ‘thriving business’ behind gay surrogacy
By Bob Allen The Southern Baptist Convention’s former top expert on moral and public policy concerns says same-sex marriage is opening doors for a gay-surrogacy movement that he predicts will be harmful to children. “We’ve conducted a 40-year experiment in…
Jury awards $2.3 million in pastor’s wrongful death
By Bob Allen A federal jury has awarded more than $2.3 million to the widow of a Georgia Baptist pastor shot and killed in a botched drug investigation in 2009. Jurors in U.S. District Court in Gainesville, Ga., determined that…
Pastor’s wrongful death lawsuit goes to jury
By Bob Allen A civil trial involving a Baptist pastor killed in 2009 by police who mistook him for a suspected drug dealer is in the hands of a jury. After closing arguments on Wednesday, jurors in U.S. District Court…
Alleged abuse by children’s minister headed for grand jury
By Bob Allen An Alabama children’s minister charged with multiple sex crimes remains in jail after his lawyer withdrew a motion for reduced bond and waived a preliminary hearing on Feb. 18. Attorney Billy Underwood had filed a motion on…
U.S. Baptist church group amid violence in Kiev
By Bob Allen Violence in the Ukraine is up close and personal for a Southern Baptist church in Texas praying for an eight-member mission team working with college students Feb. 13-March 2 in Kiev. Missionaries from First Baptist Church in…