Candidates broke records for campaign spending last fall. This seems like a terrific waste of money, especially all the attack ads. If you could take all that money and channel it to gospel causes, how would you spend it? Look…
Small groups crucial, but not cure-all
Establishing small groups within a large church — heralded by some as a remedy to the drawbacks of burgeoning congregation size — is “good medicine,” but not a cure-all, according to a national study by Baylor University sociologists. “Simply having…
BTSR trustees chart future course, plan ‘orderly selling’ of buildings
RICHMOND, Va. (ABP) — Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond trustees have adopted a new business plan that calls for "orderly selling" of campus buildings and eventual relocation in order to broaden the seminary's academic mission beyond granting theology degrees to…
Small groups “catapult” members into larger life of the church and world
ALLEN, Texas — When a Connections class at First Baptist Church in Allen, Texas, began meeting in January a year ago, its diverse membership included a self-proclaimed atheist who attended because he had a friend at church, three unmarried cohabiting couples…
Small groups crucial, but not cure-all
Establishing small groups within a large church — heralded by some as a remedy to the drawbacks of burgeoning congregation size — is “good medicine,” but not a cure-all, according to a national study by Baylor University sociologists. “Simply having…
Bell’s hell draws heat, accusations of heresy from critics of new book
WASHINGTON (RNS) — One of the nation’s rock-star-popular young pastors, Rob Bell, 40, has stuck a pitchfork in how Christians talk about damnation. Bell is pastor of Mars Hill Bible Church, a megachurch in the Grand Rapids, Mich., area. His…
What would Niebuhr do? Legacy of preeminent theologian is debated
PRINCETON, N.J. (RNS) — What happens when the contested legacy of America’s most famous 20th-century theologian meets the harsh political realities of the 21st? You end up with questions like whether Reinhold Niebuhr would support water-boarding. It’s impossible to know…
FAITH DIGEST
Airline apologizes to Orthodox Jews. Alaska Airlines issued an apology for misinterpreting the devotional behavior of three Orthodox Jewish men on a flight from Mexico City to Los Angeles. The men had strapped on tefillin—black leather bindings and boxes worn…
McLaren, Mohler trade barbs on Rob Bell’s book
WASHINGTON (ABP) — Controversy over Rob Bell's new book Love Wins has rekindled an old feud between a Southern Baptist leader and a pioneer in the "emergent" or "emerging" church. Brian McLaren Brian McLaren — author, pastor and innovator…
Oklahoma pastor to share God’s love in Japan
HENRYETTA, Okla. (ABP) — Dale Huckabay has had a heart for Japan and its people since he was stationed in Okinawa in his early adult life. Now the pastor of Tulledega Hills Baptist Church in Henryetta, Okla., Huckabay was as…
Texas Baptist disaster-response team scheduled to go to Japan
DALLAS (ABP) — Two veteran Texas Baptist Men disaster relief volunteers, a Japanese Dallas pastor and a videographer are slated to leave for Japan March 24 to assist the disaster response effort there and look for places where Texas Baptists…
Details emerge in fatal amusement train accident
SPARTANBURG, S.C. (ABP) — The conductor of an amusement train involved in a March 19 crash that killed a pastor's son said on the way to the hospital he was driving too fast, that he knew better and didn't know…