By David Gushee There is no good news from Afghanistan: — Every indication exists that the sorry presidential “election” that just occurred there was entirely corrupted by every form of vote fraud, including massive ballot stuffing and intimidation of voters….
New NIV translation due out in 2011
PALOS HEIGHTS, Ill (ABP) — The New International Version of the Bible is getting its first update since controversy over gender-inclusive texts derailed future revisions more than 20 years ago. Biblica, the new name for a company created when the…
Black Baptist group elects new leader
MONTCLAIR, N.J. (ABP) — A New Jersey pastor who formerly worked for American Baptist Churches USA has been chosen to lead one of America's largest black Baptist denominations. Walter Parrish III, senior pastor of Union Baptist Church in Montclair, N.J.,…
Virginia youth minister faces additional charges
YORK (ABP) — A Southern Baptist youth pastor arrested Aug. 13 on sex charges involving a teenage girl now faces more than 30 additional charges involving a second teenager. Police originally charged Jack Duffer, 40, youth minister at Seaford Baptist…
The moral imperative of health-care reform
By David Gushee The national debate raging over health-care reform has become a maelstrom of competing claims and counterclaims. It has been deeply infected by political demagoguery and hysteria. The tenor of the debate raises the legitimate question as to…
Lutherans open door to gay clergy, agree to disagree on sexuality
MINNEAPOLIS (ABP) — Delegates to the national assembly of America’s largest Lutheran denomination voted by a wide margin Aug. 21 to open the door to allowing clergy in committed same-sex relationships to serve openly. The vote came just two days…
OPINION: The moral imperative of health-care reform
(ABP) — The national debate raging over health-care reform has become a maelstrom of competing claims and counterclaims. It has been deeply infected by political demagoguery and hysteria. The tenor of the debate raises the legitimate question as to whether…
Obama appeals to faith groups on reform; abortion questions remain
WASHINGTON (ABP) — President Obama, in an unprecedented Aug. 19 Internet conference that organizers said drew 140,000 participants, appealed to faith leaders to boost his attempts to reform America’s health-care system. But some conservative religious leaders are fighting back against Obama’s plan,…
John Piper says possible tornado a warning to Lutherans
John Piper MINNEAPOLIS (ABP) — A Baptist pastor and popular Calvinist author says it was no accident that tornado-force winds hit downtown Minneapolis the same week that the nation's largest Lutheran group was meeting there to debate liberalizing its policies…
Baptists respond to Taiwan typhoon
FALLS CHURCH (ABP) — Baptists in Taiwan are assisting victims of Typhoon Morakot, which made landfall in the southern part of the island just before midnight on Aug. 7. By Aug. 18, 126 people have been confirmed dead, but government…
Professor chooses church over seminary job
FORT WORTH, Texas (ABP) — A music professor has taken early retirement at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary rather than resigning a part-time position and moving his membership from a church that the Southern Baptist Convention declared out of fellowship in…
Former HMB president says NAMB merger was a mistake
CENTRALIA, Mo. (ABP) — Combining three Southern Baptist agencies into the North American Mission Board in 1995 was a bad idea, says the last president of one of the agencies. Larry Lewis, president of the Home Mission Board of the…