NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP)—Many things divide the Baptist denomination, but one thing all groups share is the challenge of raising money during a recession. Six months into the fiscal year, receipts to the Southern Baptist Convention’s Cooperative Program were running 3.7…
Violence mars Easter in northern Nigeria
MINA, Nigeria (ABP) — Easter Sunday turned violent in two cities in Nigeria's northern state of Niger, when young people presumed to be fundamentalist Muslims burned churches in Gwada, while Christian young people in the state capital of Mina defended…
Former SBC president Franklin Paschall dies
Franklin Paschall was pastor of First Baptist Church in Nashville 1956-1983 and SBC president 1966-68. NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP) — Two past presidents of the Southern Baptist Convention paid tribute to a third — Franklin Paschall, longtime pastor of First Baptist…
A cross-shaped world
By David Gushee The Christian faith presents as its central image a bleeding man dying a cruel death on a Roman cross. We say that this Friday-afternoon misery was the central event in both human and divine history. We most…
Rick Warren says he did not campaign for Proposition 8
{youtube}7o4QqGbQmU0{/youtube} LAKE FOREST, Calif. (ABP) — Rick Warren is drawing heat for telling CNN's Larry King in an April 7 broadcast that he did not endorse Proposition 8, a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage that California voters approved last year. The appearance was…
Vermont is first state to approve gay marriage legislatively
MONTPELIER, Vt. (ABP) — On April 7, Vermont became the first jurisdiction in the United States to legalize same-sex marriage through legislative means. The decision comes less than five days after the Iowa Supreme Court unanimously overturned a law banning…
Obama rounds out appointments to faith council; Dungy not on list
WASHINGTON (ABP) — The White House announced 10 new appointees April 6 to a diverse panel that will advise President Obama on issues related to government partnerships with religious and other community-service organizations. The appointments round out the Obama’s 25-member…
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Police raid Baptist home in Azerbaijan
FALLS CHURCH, Va. (ABP) — A Baptist minority in the South Caucasus country of Azerbaijan continues to face run-ins with police. In the latest, reported by the Baptist World Alliance April 2, charged three Baptists with "illegally spreading Christianity and…