By Bob Allen A former pastor’s wife and seminary graduate has entered the Democratic race for Missouri’s lieutenant governor, hoping to unseat a Republican incumbent. Judy Baker Judy Baker, who served in the state House from 2005 until 2009 and…
SBC agency opposes cockfighting
By Bob Allen The Southern Baptist Convention’s ethics entity has joined in an effort to pass a law making it a felony to own or use a bird for cockfighting in South Carolina. “God never intended for his chickens to…
Mohler slams stem-cell study
By Bob Allen A Southern Baptist seminary president termed reports that embryonic stem cell treatments might have improved the vision of two blind patients “downright ominous.” “Might” is the key word, said Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary,…
Woman to lead American Baptists in Indiana, Kentucky
Soozi Whitten Ford By Bob Allen Soozi Whitten Ford, an ordained minister and longtime American Baptist leader, has been named executive minister of the American Baptist Churches of Indiana and Kentucky. Her election, announced Jan. 23, ends a year-long search…
Anti-violence advocate awarded by FBI
By Bob Allen Former Baptist Women in Ministry leader Kathy Manis Findley recently received an award from the FBI recognizing her efforts to combat domestic violence and child abuse in Arkansas. FBI Special Agent Valerie Parlave (left) presents award to…
Pro-life, pro-choice speakers urge common ground
By Bob Allen After nearly 40 years of polarization over abortion, two speakers at a Mercer University event said Jan. 24 it is time for people who are pro-choice and pro-life to seek common ground to reduce the current number…
Pressler confab evokes bad memories for former SBC leader
By Bob Allen An interfaith leader and Baptist minister said a recent meeting of conservative evangelicals aimed at coalescing support for a Republican presidential candidate is part of a larger movement by individuals and groups that are attempting to “dominate…
Civil War changed Southern Baptists, historian says
By Bob Allen The American Civil War affected Baptists in the South in profound ways that still reverberate more than 150 years after the first shots were fired on Fort Sumter, says a new book by a Baptist historian. Bruce…
Church administrator charged with theft
By Bob Allen A former administrator at a prominent North Carolina moderate Baptist church was arrested recently and charged with embezzling more than $136,000 in church funds over a five-year period. Robert Lahr, 49, is accused of taking $136,324.58 from…
Scholar compares culture-war issues to Germans who resisted Hitler
By Bob Allen A Baptist historian compared today’s battle for the sanctity of life, traditional marriage and religious freedom to courageous heroes who resisted the Nazis in Germany. Timothy George speaks to students and faculty of Judson College in chapel…
Supreme Court declines to review prayer case
By Bob Allen The U.S. Supreme Court declined Jan. 17 to reconsider a lower court’s decision barring a North Carolina county from invoking prayers in Jesus’ name at twice-a-month meetings of its main governing body. The court declined without comment…
Jim Newton, Baptist journalist, dies at 75
Jim Newton By Bob Allen Longtime Baptist journalist Jim Newton died Jan. 16 at Baptist Hospital hospice care in Clinton, Miss., after a battle with leukemia. Newton, 75, was born in Kingsville, Texas, into the third generation of a family…