Plans are underway for a sixth Global Baptist Peace Conference to be held in Cali, Colombia, in 2018. The gathering, scheduled Jan. 29-Feb. 3, 2018, is for Baptists across the globe who are passionate about nonviolence, social justice and the…
Christian website calls Trump candidacy a ‘scam’
In a first-ever position statement on a political candidate, the evangelical news-and-commentary website the Christian Post ran an editorial Feb. 29 urging Christians to back away from GOP frontrunner Donald Trump. “As the most popular evangelical news website in the…
Paige Patterson named to Cruz advisory council
A Southern Baptist Convention seminary president has been named to a Religious Liberty Advisory Council created by Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz. Paige Patterson, president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, is part of a 19-member group…
Mohler says likely Trump/Clinton showdown a dilemma for Christian voters
A Southern Baptist Convention leader says evangelical voters will face a tough choice if the 2016 presidential election boils down to a race between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky.,…
Gushee: Evangelical support for Trump a failure for Christianity
A moderate Baptist ethicist says evangelicals who support Donald Trump for president represent a failure of conservative Christianity. David Gushee, a distinguished university professor at Mercer University, attributed the Trump phenomenon to a failure to “inoculate” American Christians against ideas…
CBF personnel aiding with cyclone recovery in Fiji
The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship is deploying field personnel to the South Pacific island country of Fiji, hit Feb. 20 by the most powerful storm ever recorded in the Southern Hemisphere. Eddy Ruble, who along with his wife, Cindy, was commissioned…
Citing divorce, CBF pastor stepping down
A Cooperative Baptist Fellowship pastor in Texas announced Sunday he is resigning his pulpit because he and his wife are going through a divorce. Brent Beasley, pastor of Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas, said during his Sunday morning…
Pastors pray for water justice for Texas community
Pastors across the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex gathered Feb. 27 for a prayer rally to draw attention to a historic African-American community denied basic services like running water. “We’re going to ask God to intervene and break into this situation and…
Pastor says Trump ‘true friend’ to evangelicals
Evangelical Christians will have a “true friend” in the White House if Donald Trump is elected president, a Southern Baptist mega-church pastor said at a Trump campaign rally Feb. 26 in Fort Worth, Texas. “Donald Trump cares about and loves…
CBF Arkansas first state group to celebrate 25 years
The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of Arkansas celebrated its 25th anniversary in a gathering of leaders and friends Feb. 19 at Second Baptist Church in Little Rock, Ark. The event, held in advance of the CBF Arkansas annual gathering April 22-23…
Historically black Baptist college losing president
Arkansas Baptist College President Fitz Hill announced Feb. 24 he is leaving his post Sept. 1, reportedly to transition to a new leadership role with the Arkansas Baptist College Foundation, a fund-raising organization that in recent years has been largely…
Georgia clergy oppose ‘religious liberty’ bill
A diverse group of 272 Georgia clergy have signed an open letter opposing so-called “religious liberty” bills before the state legislature, saying the U.S. Constitution already safeguards their religious liberty. Twenty-nine Baptists, 32 Episcopalians, 31 Jewish rabbis, 42 Methodists and…