By Bob Allen A Southern Baptist church in Louisiana investigated numerous times for noise complaints has filed a lawsuit claiming intimidation by police and violations of religious liberty under both state and federal law. The lawsuit filed Dec. 10 in…
Baptist schools seek waiver from LBGT discrimination ban
By Bob Allen The federal government has granted waivers to more than two dozen religious institutions of higher learning from Title IX, which protects LGBT students from discrimination. Carson-Newman University, affiliated with the Tennessee Baptist Convention, recently received exemption for…
State Supreme Court reverses convictions of peeping preacher
By Bob Allen The Mississippi Supreme Court has reversed 10 of the 13 counts of a traveling Southern Baptist evangelist convicted three years ago of video voyeurism. Sam Nuckolls, a former youth camp pastor for LifeWay Christian Resources, was sentenced…
Franklin Graham echoes Trump’s anti-Muslim stance
By Bob Allen Evangelist Franklin Graham says he agrees with presidential candidate Donald Trump’s proposal to bar Muslims from entering the United States, an idea Graham himself surfaced in July after the fatal shooting of four Marines by a naturalized…
Baptist group in Georgia opposes marijuana cultivation proposal
By Bob Allen Southern Baptists in Georgia are lobbying against a proposal to allow cultivation of marijuana in the state to produce cannabis oil legalized earlier this year for treatment of certain illnesses like late-stage cancer and epilepsy. The law…
Louisiana College off probation
By Bob Allen Officials at Baptist-affiliated Louisiana College announced Dec. 8 the school is no longer on probation with its accrediting agency. The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges put the school on probation in June 2014…
Interfaith leader cites religious liberty threat
By Bob Allen After championing religious freedom for most of his ministry career, former Interfaith Alliance head Welton Gaddy says he does not think the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution would pass if it were being proposed today. Accepting…
Duke study quantifies ‘stained-glass ceiling’
This story was updated Dec. 9 with additional information. By Bob Allen Despite well-publicized reports of women making inroads as pastors of large churches and leaders of religious organizations, the percentage of congregations led by a woman is about the…
Clergy urge welcome for Syrian refugees
By Bob Allen A Cooperative Baptist Fellowship pastor joined faith leaders from across metropolitan Louisville, Ky., in a press conference supporting the resettlement of Syrian refugees in Indiana and Kentucky. Joe Phelps, pastor of Highland Baptist Church in Louisville, Ky.,…
Pastor cites ‘feminist rebellion’ in moral decline
By Bob Allen A Southern Baptist pastor said in a televised sermon Dec. 6 that today’s controversy over transgender rights has its roots in “feminist rebellion” against the Bible’s teaching on hierarchy within marriage. “The mayor of Houston says that…
FBC Washington elects pastor
By Bob Allen Members of the First Baptist Church in Washington, D.C., voted Dec. 6 to call Julie Pennington-Russell as senior pastor. Pennington-Russell, long active in the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, is the 19th senior pastor in the church’s 213-year history and the…
Jimmy Carter says he is cancer free
By Bob Allen Former President Jimmy Carter announced Dec. 6 that he is cancer-free, four months after revealing that cancer removed from his liver had spread to four spots on his brain. Carter, 91, a lifelong Baptist who identifies with…