By Bob Allen Fresh off last week’s televised debate, GOP presidential hopeful Sen. Ted Cruz held a campaign rally Jan. 15 at a college affiliated with the South Carolina Baptist Convention. “We need to take power out of Washington and…
Lawsuit accuses once-admired evangelical family expert of sexual abuse
By Bob Allen A disgraced evangelical family expert accused in a lawsuit of sexually abusing or harassing 10 women was an early proponent of ideas now part and parcel of the Baptist Faith and Message. A second amended complaint filed…
Online tool tracks ‘faux religious freedom’ claims
By Bob Allen Americans United for Separation of Church and State enumerated five of the year’s worst legislative ideas — so far — in a new online tool tracking “religious freedom” bills in state legislatures and Congress that AU believes are intended…
IMB layoffs hit home office
By Bob Allen A number of jobs at the headquarters of the Southern Baptist Convention International Mission Board in Richmond, Va., will be eliminated in a restructuring of stateside operations announced Jan. 14. According to multiple sources, changes include outsourcing…
Baptist church votes to OK gay marriage
By Bob Allen A Cooperative Baptist Fellowship congregation in Tennessee voted Jan. 10 to marry same-sex couples. First Baptist Church in Memphis capped a three-month discernment process by adopting a policy extending “privileges afforded to any follower of Christ” without…
Leader of Southern Baptist women’s auxiliary stepping down
By Bob Allen Wanda Lee announced a one-year transition to retirement as executive director of Woman’s Missionary Union, auxiliary to the Southern Baptist Convention, at the close of a WMU executive board meeting Jan. 11 at Shocco Springs, Ala. Lee,…
Baptist school gets record gift
By Bob Allen An anonymous donor has donated $10 million to California Baptist University, the largest gift in the California Baptist Convention-affiliated school’s 68-year history. Cal Baptist President Ronald Ellis announced the gift during the January meeting of the school’s…
Lawyers who had abortions petition Supreme Court
By Bob Allen More than 100 women with careers in the legal profession have filed a brief with the United State Supreme Court claiming without access to safe and legal abortion they wouldn’t be where they are today. The brief,…
Disability advocates applaud Obama’s proposal for gun control, with a caveat
By Bob Allen Disability-rights advocates criticized President Obama’s plan to reduce gun violence by adding the names of 75,000 Americans who receive Social Security benefits with aid of a third party to the National Instant Criminal Background System. The American…
Martha Stearns Marshall Month around the corner
By Bob Allen Heading into the 10th annual Martha Stearns Marshall Month of Preaching, Baptist Women in Ministry Executive Director Pam Durso sees evidence of “a shift in Baptist culture” toward accepting that God calls women as well as men…
Religious groups challenge contraceptive mandate in Supreme Court brief
By Bob Allen The government has no right to force religious groups including an order of Catholic nuns and the Southern Baptist Convention’s insurance provider to alter their own health care plans to achieve an Obamacare goal to provide women…
Bomb scare prompts evacuation at church
By Bob Allen Nearly 150 children were evacuated Jan. 4 from a day-care center at a Baptist church in Winston-Salem, N.C., while police investigated a suspicious package later determined to pose no threat. According to local media, authorities evacuated First…