North Dakota prosecutors have agreed to drop felony charges against a Native American activist, ending one of the last high-profile criminal cases remaining from the Dakota Access Pipeline protests of 2016-2017. Chase Iron Eyes, an attorney and former Democratic candidate…
Panel says ethics charges against pastor/judge who protested executions can stand
A disciplinary panel has declined to dismiss charges against an Arkansas judge and Baptist pastor accused of violating judicial ethics by participating in a demonstration against capital punishment in 2017. The Arkansas Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission on Monday said…
After shakeup, Religion News Service hires veteran journalist as editor-in-chief
Bob Smietana, a veteran religion reporter who left The Tennessean in 2013 for LifeWay Christian Resources, has been named editor-in-chief of Religion News Service. The hiring, announced Aug. 16, comes four months after the independent non-profit news service fired former…
SBC president promises ‘bold steps’ in wake of Roman Catholic sex abuse report
Leading up to a review of how his own denomination mishandles abuse allegations, Southern Baptist Convention President J.D. Greear expressed grief over a grand jury report finding evidence of widespread sexual abuse by Catholic priests in Pennsylvania. “I also recognize…
Franklin Graham blasts Chelsea Clinton for linking economic opportunities for women to abortion rights
Evangelist Franklin Graham compared Chelsea Clinton’s view that abortion should be kept safe and legal to Adolf Hitler “killing the Jews” in a stinging Twitter rebuke of comments attributed the former First Daughter in right-wing media. Breitbart News, a website…
Prayers offered for Aretha Franklin at church once led by her father
More than 100 worshippers gathered Wednesday in a 5 a.m. weekly service normally attended by about a dozen members of New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit to pray for the gravely ill “Queen of Soul” Aretha Franklin, a daughter of…
Baptist churches reach across racial boundaries to denounce white supremacy with the breaking of bread
Two historic Baptist churches in Washington, D.C., – formerly one congregation split by slavery – shared the Lord’s Supper Sunday afternoon in a counter message to right wing, white supremacist and neo-Nazi groups in town for a rally near the White House.
18 years after child porn conviction, Baptist pastor accused of trying to entice a minor
A former longtime Southern Baptist preacher whose ministry stalled 18 years ago when he went to prison for possessing child pornography is back in jail, this time for allegedly trying to meet a 14-year-old boy for sex.
Black, white Baptists to counter D.C. alt-right rally with prayer walk, communion
Black and white Baptists in the nation’s capital this weekend will share communion and prayer walk around the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in a counter-message to a reprise of last year’s Unite the Right white supremacy rally that erupted…