A Washington-area evangelical church featured in recent reports in an alleged cover-up of child sexual abuse took center stage March 9 at a Maryland state senate hearing. Proposed legislation considered at the hearing would extend the statute of limitations on…
Baylor and its alumni association settle dispute
A longstanding dispute between Baylor University and the 157-year-old Baylor Alumni Association ended March 9 with settlement of a lawsuit filed in 2014. Baylor sued the alumni association in 2014 for trademark infringement stemming from a dispute that began in…
Georgia Baptist spokesman criticized for Hitler comparison
Republican legislators took offense when a Georgia Baptist Convention official compared them to Hitler for failing to move forward with a bill intended to bolster religious freedom protections. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution quoted Republican House members blasting Mike Griffin, senior pastor…
‘Pilgrim’ identity is Baptists’ gift to the larger church, new book asserts
Baptists tend to be the “problem children” of the ecumenical movement but have gifts both to give and receive from the broader Christian community, a Baptist theologian who teaches in the school of divinity at Gardner-Webb University in Boiling Springs,…
LGBT groups seek NCAA sanctions for schools that discriminate
More than 80 LGBT sports, religious and youth advocacy groups have signed on to a public letter calling on the NCAA to divest from schools requesting religious exemptions from Title IX regulations that would prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation or…
‘Religious liberty’ bill passes Missouri Senate
A proposal to add religious liberty protections to the Missouri constitution engineered with leadership from the state’s Southern Baptists has passed the state Senate, despite a 39-hour filibuster by Democrats who say it discriminates against gays and lesbians. Senate Republicans…
Nation’s first for-profit Christian school loses bid to be nonprofit
An Arizona university founded by Southern Baptists but sold in 2004 to become the first for-profit Christian college in the United States has dropped its bid to change back to a nonprofit entity. Grand Canyon University’s self-perpetuating board of trustees…
Is opposition to death penalty a non-negotiable for Christians? Yes, says one theologian
A Baptist theology professor said in a blog March 7 that authentic Christians must oppose the death penalty, even if it leads to division in the church. Roger Olson, professor of theology at George W. Truett Theological Seminary, said there…
Baptist political science prof running for Congress
A Southern Baptist college professor is running for Congress on a platform of religious liberty concerns he says emerged after last year’s Supreme Court ruling legalizing gay marriage. Hunter Baker, a political science professor at Union University in Jackson, Tenn., announced…
Georgia’s Baptist governor opposes ‘religious liberty’ bill
Showing his Baptist stripes, Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal made his strongest statements to date against controversial “religious liberty” legislation that critics say mask a hidden agenda of discrimination against gays and lesbians. Deal, a graduate of Mercer University and member…
Washington florist gets another day in court
The Supreme Court in Washington state has agreed to hear the case of a Southern Baptist florist sued for refusing to do custom floral arrangements for a same-sex wedding. Barronelle Stutzman, owner of Arlene’s Flowers in Richland, Wash., is asking the…
Concert to remember slain Union University student
A Southern Baptist church in Tennessee will hold a special night of worship Sunday, March 6, in memory of a Union University co-ed murdered in 2014. “A Night of Worship with Proclamation of Union University in Memory of Olivia Greenlee”…