Asked in a 2011 by Christianity Today magazine about his greatest regret, evangelist Billy Graham famously said, “I would have steered clear of politics.” That regret now haunts him in death in form of a debate about whether or not his body should have laid in honor at the U.S. Capitol.
Global Baptist peace gathering rescheduled for 2019
The sixth Global Baptist Peace Conference, scheduled July 15-20, 2019 — to be held in Cali, Colombia — will double as the annual summer conference for Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America-Bautistas por la Paz.
Demand protection for Dreamers, group urges in launching call-in day
Leaders of several Baptist organizations are asking constituents to call, email or write members of Congress March 1 demanding legal protection for undocumented immigrants brought into the country as children.
Pastor says fight for deported Baptist church member will continue
“ICE may think they can just deport Gilles and that will be the end of it, but I have some news for them. This is just the beginning of what God is doing through Gilles and through Greenwood Forest Baptist Church because of his witness.”
Member of U.S. Baptist church deported to the Republic of Congo
Denied humanitarian parole, a longtime member of a North Carolina Baptist church has been deported to the Republic of Congo, his pastor announced Feb. 23. Pastor Lauren Efird of Greenwood Forest Baptist Church in Cary, N.C., said immigration officials woke 58-year-old Gilles Bikindou from his holding cell in Atlanta at 2 a.m. on Friday and told him he was leaving.
Southern Baptists poised to sever remaining ties with D.C. Baptist Convention
The Southern Baptist Convention will cut ties with the District of Columbia Baptist Convention unless D.C. Baptist leaders confront a member church with lesbian co-pastors, the SBC Executive Committee warned during Feb. 19-20 meetings in Nashville, Tenn.
Citing partial lifting of LGBTQ hiring ban, Texas Baptist group to stop forwarding money to CBF
The Baptist General Convention of Texas will end pass-through funding for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship because of a new CBF practice allowing the hiring of LGBTQ Christians to some, but not all, ministry positions.
N.C. church appeals for its member scheduled for deportation this Friday
Members of Greenwood Forest Baptist Church in Cary, N.C., said church member Gilles Bikindou “should be released to his community of faith where he has been a law-abiding resident and productive member of society” since coming to America legally from the Republic of Congo in 2004.
Pressler abuse lawsuit turns attention to confidential settlement of earlier case in 2004
A prominent Southern Baptist layman accused of sexual abuse in a pending lawsuit has stopped making payments in an earlier lawsuit settled with the same individual, according to documents filed recently in a Texas court.
Book by CBF pastor says the Bible can’t be used against same-sex relationships
There is no valid, Christian, biblical argument against same-sex relationships between consenting adults, a Cooperative Baptist Fellowship pastor says in a new book.
Baptist editor: CBF homosexuality debate outs ‘liberal Fundamentalists’
A Baptist newspaper editorial compares critics of a new Cooperative Baptist Fellowship policy partially lifting an LGBTQ hiring ban to fundamentalists who seek to drive out Christians who disagree with their view of Scripture.
Texas Baptist convention takes note of more inclusive hiring policy by CBF
The 5,600-church Baptist General Convention of Texas apparently is paying close attention to new hiring practices at the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship which would allow persons who identify as LBGTQ to be employed in some roles, though not others.