CHARLOTTE, N.C. (ABP) — A new Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America documentary not only highlights unmet needs nearly six years after Hurricane Katrina, but also exposes social problems that existed before the storm that have hampered recovery efforts in…
Churches, city preparing to make anniversary time of healing
NEW YORK (ABP) — As the calendar pages turn inexorably toward Sept. 11, New York City is preparing for a flood of solemn remembrance prompted by the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attack that claimed 3,000 lives and launched a…
North Carolina association ousts church which called woman pastor
MOUNT AIRY, N.C. (ABP) — Surry Baptist Association in North Carolina expelled Flat Rock Baptist Church in Mount Airy from membership July 26, two weeks after their new female pastor started at the church. The association of 65 churches…
How Israel remembers the Holocaust
By David Gushee As a scholar, I have long recognized the Holocaust for the grotesque and epochal evil that it was. Before I went to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories this summer, however, I had little idea how much…
Mars Hill church pours itself into North Carolina county
MARS HILL, N.C. (ABP) — No one goes hungry in Madison County, North Carolina, for lack of effort by Mars Hill Baptist Church. Mars Hill Baptist, adjacent to Mars Hill College in the mountains of western North Carolina north of…
Advocates seek thousands of foster parents in churches across nation
Hundreds of thousands of families are needed to provide foster care for nearly a half-million children and teenagers who for their own safety cannot continue to live at home. Some of those families are found in Baptist churches, and those…
Early into children’s services, Baptists trying to keep pace with changes
In the first decades following the Civil War when poverty shadowed widows and children of fallen soldiers in a dramatically disrupted South, Baptists and other Christian denominations started orphanages to care for them. Today, the South is dotted with campuses…
Single father sees adoption, foster care as part of God’s master plan
MIDLAND, Texas — The Ewing family does everything together. They wash dishes, go grocery shopping and spend hours playing electronic games in the living room. "We've got to do everything together. If we don't, we won't have time together," Robert…
Fostering isn’t for everyone, but everyone can play a part
With more than 400,000 children in foster care in the United States, it's an issue that's not going away. Foster care is a temporary living arrangement for children who have been taken from their families as a result of abuse,…
DC to be one of 7 satellite locations for New Baptist Covenant II
ATLANTA (ABP) — Washington, D.C., is one of seven cities chosen as sites for satellite viewing of the Nov. 17-19 New Baptist Covenant II, which will be anchored in Atlanta. Other sites include Dallas, Denver, Oklahoma City, San Antonio, Seattle…
Common myths about foster care
Myth: All foster children are emotionally disturbed and damaged beyond repair. There's nothing I can do to help them. Fact: "We see miracles happen all the time with foster children, and that's because of the relationship they develop in the…
Not called to foster? There are other ways you can help foster families
Offer to babysit — Babysitting foster children requires some time spent in training and certification, but it is a huge help to parents who might need a night or weekend off. Help around the house — Some foster parents note…