By Bob Allen A guest preacher told worshippers at a prominent Southern Baptist church in Alabama that Christians should not drink Starbucks coffee because the company supports gay marriage. “Starbucks is pouring all this money into destroying traditional marriage,” David…
‘Bootleg preacher’ Will Campbell dies
By Bob Allen Will Campbell, an author, activist and iconoclastic Baptist minister who described himself as a “bootleg preacher,” died June 3 from complications following a stroke suffered in 2011. He was 88. The Mississippi native was one of the…
Dever adds praise for C.J. Mahaney
By Bob Allen Members of Pastor C.J. Mahaney’s Kentucky church plant “don’t fully grasp” their privilege, the embattled Calvinist leader’s defender and friend Mark Dever told the congregation of Sovereign Grace Church in Louisville June 2. Dever, senior pastor of…
Judge asked to reconsider SGM suit
By Bob Allen Attorneys for alleged sexual-abuse victims asked a Maryland judge to reconsider dismissal of a lawsuit due to the state’s three-year statute of limitations. Lawyers Susan Burke and William O’Neil filed a motion May 28 asking Montgomery County…
Calvinist study calls for trust, dialogue
By Bob Allen An ad-hoc task force appointed to study Calvinism’s impact on the Southern Baptist Convention says the 2000 Baptist Faith and Message is a sufficient guide for orthodoxy in the nation’s second-largest faith group behind Roman Catholics. “We…
SNAP leader shames Mahaney supporters
By Bob Allen An activist who advocated for victims during the Roman Catholic sexual-abuse scandal in the United States in 2002 says evangelical leaders publicly rallying behind a minister accused in a lawsuit of covering up sex crimes against children…
SBC leader appears in immigration ads
By Bob Allen The incoming head of the Southern Baptist Convention Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission said May 30 that immigration reform will take a high priority in his new role. “Just and fair immigration reform … will be a…
Churches drop Boy Scout ties
By Bob Allen What opponents to the Boy Scouts of American dropping its ban on gay youth warned would be mass exodus is underway, as churches across the country are ending sponsorship of troops because they regard the new, inclusive…
SBC leaders stand by accused colleague
By Bob Allen Southern Baptist leaders in a movement that goes by names including the “New Calvinism” and “young, restless and Reformed” voiced support for a friend and colleague accused in a Maryland lawsuit of collusion in what is being…