DALLAS — Despite deep divisions in U.S. society, Christians can lead the way toward bipartisan solutions to the pain of poverty, insisted one of the world’s top hunger fighters. “Church people — whose congregations often span the political spectrum —…
‘Bad advocacy’ can do more harm than good, Baptist scholar insists
ATLANTA (ABP) — Celebrity-driven campaigns like Save Darfur and Invisible Children are popular, but in some cases, they do more harm than good, according to a Baptist scholar who specializes in African politics, conflict and international affairs. “Advocacy needs to…
BWAid head Paul Montacute plans to retire, committee learns
FALLS CHURCH, Va. (ABP) — Paul Montacute, director of the Baptist World Alliance's relief-and-recovery arm BWAid, will retire in July 2012, the BWA executive committee learned in meetings March 7-9. BWA leaders are expected to elect a successor to Montacute,…
Do Christian athletes strike out on big-dollar contracts?
ST. LOUIS (RNS) — As contract talks broke down between Albert Pujols and the Cardinals, St. Louis baseball fans nervously began asking themselves a host of questions. He’s a Cardinal for life, right? He wouldn’t go to Wrigley Field, because…
Newspaper reports BTSR-Chowan University merger talks are off
MURFREESBORO, N.C. (ABP) — A newspaper reported March 10 that a possible merger of Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond and Chowan University in North Carolina is off the table. The Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald said the executive committee of Chowan's board of…
OPINION: Predestination, free will and Matt Damon
I wish I could say that deep theological reflection spurred my action, but I'll go ahead and admit that Matt Damon probably had more to do with my inspiration to head to the movie theater to see The Adjustment Bureau….
Vote slated on plan to allow some non-Baptists on HBU trustee board
HOUSTON — Houston Baptist University trustees voted March 10 to allow non-Baptist Christians a minority presence on the school’s governing board. HBU relates to the Baptist General Convention of Texas by a special agreement that allows the university to elect…
Missouri pastor nominated to lead Cooperative Baptist Fellowship
ATLANTA (ABP) — Keith Herron, senior pastor of Holmeswood Baptist Church in Kansas City, Mo., has been nominated to be the next moderator-elect for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and Renée Bennett, chief operating officer with Morningstar Children and Family Services,…
LifeWay backs off ‘read with discernment’ label for books
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (RNS) — Southern Baptist bookstores quietly have suspended a four-year-old program that alerted customers to read with “discernment” books by several up-and-coming authors whose books “could be considered inconsistent with historical evangelical theology.” Chris Rodgers, director of product…
BTSR considering merger with North Carolina’s Chowan University
MURFREESBORO, N.C. (ABP) — Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond is considering a merger with Chowan University, a 162-year-old North Carolina Baptist school 99 miles south of the seminary’s Richmond, Va., campus, in hopes of solving lingering financial problems made worse…
Christianity, Locke and gay marriage
By David Gushee Reading John Locke’s Two Treatises of Government this spring has had a huge and still developing impact on my approach to U.S. public policy. I have always known that the normative posture of the church on an…
What’s the skinny on Lent?
An odd word, Lent. Most European languages refer to the 40-day preparation period prior to Easter with some form of the words “forty” or “fast.” English-speakers, on the other hand, adapted a Teutonic or Anglo-Saxon (no one knows quite sure…