Christian churches have a responsibility to work for a lasting peace in the Middle East and advocate for a two-state solution to chronic conflict in the Holy Land, 40 church leaders from various traditions agreed during an April 19-20 summit…
N.C. Baptist church joins fight against transgender bathroom bill
More than 50 people were arrested Monday night at the North Carolina state capitol in a protest of the state’s new law curtailing LGBT protections — a protest organized in a town hall meeting last week at Raleigh’s Pullen Memorial Baptist…
Lawyer says Glorieta lawsuit should be revived
A Houston lawyer says a federal appeals court should reinstate an Arkansas couple’s dismissed lawsuit against LifeWay Christian Resources, because the district court did not grant them enough leeway in trying to argue their case without the aid of legal…
Police investigating Baptist church homicide
Gunfire interrupted the 11 a.m. Sunday worship service at a large Southern Baptist church in suburban Philadelphia April 24, leaving one church member dead and investigators trying to decide whether to bring charges against another. Authorities say Robert Braxton, 27,…
Baptist founder still speaking after 400 years, says European leader
The message of Thomas Helwys — a founder of the Baptist denomination and one of the first Englishmen to state explicitly that people of any religion should be free to exercise their faith without government interference — is as relevant today…
ERLC says taxpayer funding of recycled tires on church playground not an establishment of religion
Churches should be allowed to participate in government programs on equal footing with other civic organizations, the Southern Baptist Convention’s public policy agency argued April 21. The SBC Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission filed a brief in a case before the…
Baptist newspaper supports ‘bathroom bill’
A Southern Baptist state newspaper editor says Tennessee lawmakers should put children’s safety ahead of money when considering a controversial bill that would require public school students grades K-12 and higher to use the restroom that corresponds to their sex…
Second BWA leader in a year resigns
Emmett Dunn, director of the Baptist World Alliance Youth Department since 1994, has resigned to return to work as a full-time pastor, the global Baptist body based in Falls Church, Va., announced April 21. Dunn, who since 2006 has also…
Child abuse a Calvinist problem, podcast says
Child abuse isn’t just a Catholic problem, it’s also a Calvinist problem, according to an April 20 podcast sympathetic to the so-called “young, restless and reformed” movement popular among evangelicals belonging to denominations including the Southern Baptist Convention. Mortification of…
Pastor wants SBC to repudiate Confederate flag
An African-American pastor is asking the Southern Baptist Convention to adopt a resolution calling for elimination of public display of the Confederate flag. Dwight McKissic, pastor of Cornerstone Baptist Church in Arlington, Texas, recently submitted a resolution for possible consideration…
Baptists respond to earthquake in Ecuador
Baptists in Europe and North America responded with relief efforts to Saturday’s earthquake in Ecuador, which killed more than 500 people and was described as the worst disaster the country has faced in 60 years. Rescue and relief professionals from…
Civil rights panel blasts new state religious liberty laws
The U.S. Civil Rights Commission has denounced new state “religious liberty” laws backed by Southern Baptist state conventions as a trend to use religion as an excuse to deny people their human rights. The independent, bipartisan agency charged with advising…