The leader of a Texas civil-liberties organization formed to counter the Religious Right speculated in a radio interview May 27 that the state’s child welfare crisis helped boost a controversial bill headed to the governor’s desk allowing state-funded providers of…
CBF announces cuts in staff, field personnel
The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship announced budget cuts May 26 reducing the number of missionaries on the field and eliminating two senior level positions at CBF headquarters in Decatur, Ga.
Couple seeks to revive lawsuit against LifeWay’s sale of Glorieta conference center
An Arkansas couple is seeking to revive their dismissed lawsuit challenging the sale of Glorieta Conference Center in an amended complaint claiming new evidence and “better knowledge of federal court procedure.” Kirk and Susie Tompkins, residents of Little Rock, Ark.,…
Baptists mourn, pray for victims of Manchester bombing
Baptist leaders and other clergy voiced sadness and prayers on social media after a terrorist attack killed 22 people and injured 59 at a concert by American singer Ariana Grande May 22 in Manchester, England. Police named 22-year-old Salman Abedi,…
NAMB denies defaming former state convention exec
The Southern Baptist Convention North American Mission Board denied defaming or interfering in the employment of a former Baptist state convention executive director in a response filed May 18 to a lawsuit in federal court. NAMB attorneys claimed former Baptist…
Grady Cothen, one of last pre-1979 SBC agency heads, dies
Grady Cothen, one of the last surviving Southern Baptist Convention agency heads prior to schism in the 1980s, has died. Cothen, 96, died peacefully May 19 at the Orchard Home in Ridgeland, Miss., after a series of illnesses. Cothen served…
LGBT-friendly student group sets up possible showdown between Samford and Alabama Baptists
Trustees of Baptist-affiliated Samford University are poised to vote on an officially sanctioned gay-straight alliance recommended by students and faculty, setting up potential conflict with the Alabama Baptist Convention. The convention’s State Board of Missions met behind closed doors May…
Georgia pastor tapped to lead Baptist History and Heritage Society
The longtime pastor of a Cooperative Baptist Fellowship church has been named next executive director of Baptist History and Heritage Society. John Finley, pastor of First Baptist Church in Savannah, Ga., for 23 years, announced May 3 he is stepping…
Army secretary nominee retreats, blaming attacks on his religion
A Southern Baptist lawmaker picked by President Trump as Secretary of the Army withdrew his nomination May 5, saying criticism of his past voting record and public comments had become a distraction. “Tragically, my life of public service and my…
Pastor/judge threatened with impeachment says his critics ignore the Constitution
An Arkansas judge under fire for participating in a death penalty protest after issuing an order blocking an execution says critics seeking his impeachment want to infringe on his rights as a Baptist pastor to express his religious beliefs. The…
Progressive clergy oppose ‘bathroom bills’ in Texas
Faith leaders across the country and in Texas wrote letters May 3 urging state legislators to reject proposed “bathroom bills” similar to North Carolina’s controversial HB2, a measure partially repealed due to pressure from economic boycotts. Clergy gathered Wednesday morning…
How the Human Genome Project changed this professor’s reading of Genesis
Genetic evidence suggesting that humans descend not from an individual pair but from a large population changed the way Scot McKnight interprets the first three chapters of Genesis.