Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton set aside her “Midwestern Methodist” reluctance to wear her religion on her sleeve, and preached to the choir in a message peppered with Bible verses and personal experiences in African-American churches in an address Sept….
NBC/USA president calls for greater sensitivity in race relations
The president of a major African-American denomination who earlier this summer participated in a groundbreaking discussion about improving race relations with leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention said Sept. 8 that non-blacks often lack empathy for the plight facing black America….
Advocates for disabled, indigenous peoples, clash over Rio Paralympics
A human rights organization that advocates on behalf of indigenous people groups around the world criticized organizers of the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games for depicting Brazilian tribal people as savages. Survival International took exception to a press release announcing participants…
Prosperity gospel preacher confirms illness
A controversial “Bapticostal” megachurch pastor has confirmed he is facing a “health challenge” amid rumors that he is terminally ill. Bishop Eddie Long, senior pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, Ga., released a statement Sept. 6 acknowledging…
‘Upstart’ Baptist news site aims at becoming Kentucky’s conservative media voice
The editor of the Kentucky Baptist Convention’s online newspaper says fellow journalists covering politics in the state capital shouldn’t be surprised about getting scooped on a breaking news story. Kentucky Today editor Roger Alford editorialized Sept. 7 that he was…
Hillary Clinton to speak to National Baptists
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton will speak at this week’s annual gathering of the National Baptist Convention USA. The group billing itself as the nation’s oldest and largest African-American religious organization announced Sept. 4 that the former first lady, U.S….
American Baptists urged to support Murrow Indian Children’s Home
American Baptist Home Mission Societies has established a GoFundMe campaign to show solidarity with a children’s home in Oklahoma widely criticized after declining a donation from an atheist organization in August. The Murrow Indian Children’s Home in Muskogee, Okla., returned…
BWA appoints coordinator for mission and justice
Trisha Miller Manarin, executive coordinator of the Mid-Atlantic Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, has been appointed Baptist World Alliance coordinator for the Division on Mission, Evangelism and Justice. The part-time position was created in July when the BWA General Council approved merger…
Pastors oppose Franklin Graham crusade in Canada
Two Canadian Baptist pastors have announced publicly they won’t be taking part in a citywide crusade next March in Vancouver, British Columbia, featuring U.S. evangelist Franklin Graham. Tim Kuepfer, pastor of First Baptist Church of Vancouver, and Tim Dickau, pastor…
El Salvador appoints Baptist pastor, peacemaker, as ambassador to Canada
A Baptist peacemaker in El Salvador’s 1980-1992 civil war, who for the past 18 years has ministered to fellow expatriates in the United States, is entering a new chapter as ambassador of El Salvador in Canada. Edgar Palacios, associate pastor…
Baptist pastor helping Trump woo Hispanics
A Texas Baptist pastor aiding the Donald Trump campaign in its outreach to Hispanic voters endorsed the Republican presidential candidate during an interview aired in three parts on The Jim Bakker Show in late July. “Let me go ahead and…
Three-in-10 schools on ‘Shame List’ identify as Southern Baptist
Campus Pride, an advocacy organization for LGBT students at colleges and universities, identified 102 campuses said to openly discriminate in the group’s 2016 “Shame List” released Aug. 29. Last year’s inaugural Shame List identified 57 campuses that had applied for…