By Bob Allen Daniel Aleshire, a former faculty member at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, has announced plans to retire as executive director of the Association of Theological Schools no later than June 2017. Aleshire, 68, was hired in 1990 as…
McAfee appoints new dean
By Bob Allen Jeffrey Willetts, founding dean and former vice president at the John Leland Center for Theological Studies in Arlington, Va., has been named dean of Mercer University’s James and Carolyn McAfee School of Theology. Willetts, currently professor of…
SBC president leads prayer at meeting of ‘dominionists’
By Bob Allen Southern Baptist Convention President Ronnie Floyd led 15,000 young adults in a prayer for spiritual awakening at a charismatic gathering Dec. 28 in Kansas City, Mo. “I’m not here tonight to highlight our theological differences, but to…
Former CBF moderator dies
By Bob Allen Donna Forrester, the first ordained woman to serve as moderator of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, died Dec. 31, more than 14 years after being diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. Forrester, 66, served as minister of pastoral care…
Race, sex, politics garner headlines in 2015
By Bob Allen Race, sexuality and politics emerged as recurring themes in daily news coverage by Baptist News Global in 2015. Raphael Warnock, senior pastor of Atlanta’s historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, challenged black and white Baptists to move beyond comfort…
2015: The year in deaths
By Bob Allen Carolyn Weatherford Crumpler, 84, former head of the Southern Baptist Convention Woman’s Missionary Union and an early champion of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, died Jan. 2 after a long illness. John David Hopper, former president of the…
Southern Baptists present at private Cruz rally
By Bob Allen A Southern Baptist Convention official gave positive reviews to a private gathering of roughly 300 pastors and faith leaders aimed at consolidating religious conservatives to support Sen. Ted Cruz in the upcoming Republican presidential primaries. Paige Patterson,…
AU says Christian printer has no ‘religious freedom’ right to discriminate
By Bob Allen A Kentucky printer’s religious beliefs do now entitle him to refuse to make T-shirts for a gay-pride event, Americans United for Separation of Church and State argued in a legal brief filed Dec. 28. The friend-of-the-court brief…
Senators ask government to publish names of schools requesting Title IX waivers
By Bob Allen Eight Democratic senators including presidential candidate Bernie Sanders and former Saturday Night Live star Al Franken asked the Department of Education in a letter Dec. 18 to make public the names of colleges and universities asking for Title…
Church/state group says county clerk must issue marriage licenses to gays
By Bob Allen A group that advocates for both the free exercise of religion and separation of church and state says in a brief filed with the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that Kentucky county clerk must issue marriage…
SBC leader, GOP hopeful, join hands on behalf of persecuted Christians
This story was edited after posting to correct an error in the ninth paragraph. By Bob Allen Southern Baptist Convention leader Russell Moore teamed up with Republican presidential candidate Sen. Marco Rubio in a Dec. 24 Washington Post commentary calling…
Veteran Baptist communicator Pat Pattillo dies from leukemia
By Bob Allen Wesley M. (Pat) Pattillo, a long-time communications and development executive for both Baptist and ecumenical organizations, died Dec. 22 after a six-month battle with leukemia. Pattillo, 75, retired in 2011 after 10 years as associate general secretary…