Jan. 1 not only marked the beginning of a new year, but also saw the first Baby Boomers turn 65 years old. And congregations face the evolving challenge of finding ways to minister with and to them. Bill Pigott, state…
India’s Supreme Court changes ruling after protest by Christians
FALLS CHURCH, Va. (ABP) — India's Supreme Court amended a ruling upholding a life-in-prison sentence for two men convicted of murdering a Baptist missionary and his two young sons 12 years ago by removing language that critics said appeared to…
Wiley Drake mulling run for president of Southern Baptist Convention
BUENA PARK, Calif. (ABP) — A former Southern Baptist Convention vice president criticized by denominational leaders two years ago for controversial comments concerning Barack Obama is considering allowing his nomination for SBC president in 2011. Wiley Drake, pastor of First…
CBF carries on ministry in Haiti one year after quake
ATLANTA (ABP) — As Haiti marked the one-year anniversary Jan. 12 of a devastating earthquake that claimed an estimated 300,000 lives and displaced more than 1 million people, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship field personnel and relief workers battled a cholera epidemic…
Another gun massacre? Let’s buy more guns!
By David Gushee And so Tucson joins Columbine, Virginia Tech, Fort Hood, the Pennsylvania Amish schoolchildren, the Long Island Railroad killings, the Wisconsin church shooting and others. They come upon us one after another. Who can even remember them all?…
Academy for Spiritual Formation blends learning, discipline, community
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP) — Growing up in a Baptist church and later working part-time as a youth minister, Johnny Sears always believed his faith had to go deeper than a set of beliefs or activities. “How do we take prayer…
FAITH DIGEST
Beliefs about human origins hold steady. Four in 10 Americans believe God created humans in something like their present form within the last 10,000 years, a recent Gallup Poll revealed. While that percentage represents a slight dip from 2008, when…
Mentoring offers ministry students an important support system
BROWNWOOD, Texas — While a seminary degree can be an important component of a pastor’s toolbox, relationships with other pastors can be just as important — if not more so, according to some Texas Baptists who work with students preparing…
Seminary gives association six months to vacate property
FORT WORTH — Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary notified Tarrant Baptist Association before Christmas it had six months to vacate its offices on the edge of the seminary campus. The seminary asserted the association was in violation of its affiliation agreement…