TAMPA, Fla. (ABP) — The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship commissioned 14 self-funded individuals — including a couple from Virginia — to missions work June 23 at the General Assembly in Tampa, Fla. More than 1,600 Fellowship Baptists were in attendance on…
Cooperative Baptist Fellowship marks anniversary with laughter, hope
TAMPA, Fla.– The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship looked back in laughter and forward in hope at a celebration banquet marking its 20th anniversary June 22. So-called moderates who lost a bitter 12-year battle for control of the Southern Baptist Convention founded…
Women ministers gaining ground in Baptist life, report indicates
TAMPA, Fla. (ABP) — Women are making slow but steady progress into ministry positions in Baptist churches, according to a report released June 22 by Baptist Women in Ministry. The fourth State of Women in Baptist Life report by the…
Anniversary speaker labels CBF a ‘movement of the Spirit’
TAMPA, Fla. (ABP) — Two decades after forming as a “new spiritual home place” for disenfranchised Southern Baptists, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship now is “called as a movement of the Spirit,” the keynote speaker at a 20th anniversary celebration banquet…
AFA’s Bryan Fischer accuses SBC of pandering to gays, illegal aliens
TUPELO, Miss. (ABP) — A prominent conservative social activist has accused the Southern Baptist Convention of pandering to gays and illegal immigrants. Bryan Fischer, radio talk show host and spokesman for the American Family Association, commented in a blog that…
International religious freedom envoy condemns religious intolerance
GENEVA (RNS) — The Obama administration's new envoy for international religious freedom told a U.N. commission that government, political, religious and business leaders must stand ready to condemn hateful ideology. Borrowing from recent headlines, Ambassador-at-Large Suzan Johnson ook cited a…
SBC resolution targets Sharia law
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP) — The Southern Baptist Convention’s top public-policy expert said June 18 that any imposition of Sharia law by courts in the United States would violate the Constitution. The president of the SBC Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission…
Tim Tebow memoir details blessed life rooted in faith
DENVER (RNS) — Tim Tebow is a 23-year-old second-year, second-string quarterback on a so-so NFL team. So, who’s going to buy his memoirs? What’s to remember? • How his missionary dad, Bob, prayed for a son and promised God to…
Study examines what opportunities families want from their church
WACO, Texas (ABP) — Conventional wisdom says “the family that prays together stays together.” But one study of 15 Baptist congregations found that what families want most from their church are opportunities to serve. In 2004, Baylor University researchers polled more…
Is marriage a ‘dying’ institution?
Marriage is a “dying institution,” actress Cameron Diaz claimed recently. And the movie star’s assertion hit a nerve. “I think we have to make our own rules,” Diaz said in the June issue of Maxim magazine. “I don’t think we…
Southern Baptist Convention looks to minorities to jumpstart growth
PHOENIX (RNS) — The Southern Baptist Convention adopted a plan to try to boost minorities in their top leadership posts as the convention faces continuing reports of stagnant baptism rates and declining membership. Messengers to the annual meeting backed the…
Southern Seminary’s Mohler says Baptists must repent of homophobia
PHOENIX (ABP) — The president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary said June 15 that Southern Baptists need to repent of a “form of homophobia” that keeps gays and lesbians out of their churches. Albert Mohler responded during his report to…