CHARLOTTE, N.C. — More than 1,200 people were challenged to be passionate about joining in God’s mission as 16 new field personnel were commissioned for full-time mission service by the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship June 22. Pritchard Memorial Baptist Church in…
Historian urges Cooperative Baptists to reclaim ‘audacious identity’
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (ABP) — Historian Bill Leonard encouraged fellow Baptists to “get over” being embarrassed by their denomination’s often-negative image and instead celebrate their lineage in an “audacious identity” established by their forebears. Leonard, founding dean of Wake Forest University…
Critics say Caner isn’t only ex-Muslim with dubious past
WASHINGTON (RNS)—Liberty University is expected to release a report soon on whether Ergun Caner, president of the school’s Baptist Theological Seminary, fabricated or exaggerated his life story as a former Muslim extremist rescued by Jesus. Caner is no ordinary ex-Muslim….
Southwestern Seminary leaders cut health-care benefits for retirees
FORT WORTH, Texas (ABP) — An organization of retired faculty and staff from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary has asked the school’s trustees to reconsider their recent decision to discontinue providing health insurance coverage at no cost to retirees. But in…
Vestal says CBF may have to recall missionaries
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (ABP) – The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship will be forced to recall missionaries from the field if donations to its annual Offering for Global Missions do not increase next year, CBF Executive Coordinator Daniel Vestal told the CBF Coordinating…
Vestal says CBF will have to recall missionaries unless funding improves
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (ABP) – The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship will be forced to recall missionaries from the field if donations to its annual Offering for Global Missions do not increase next year, CBF Executive Coordinator Daniel Vestal told the CBF Coordinating…
Anti-terrorist police crack down on Baptists in Kazakhstan
OSLO, Norway (ABP) – Anti-terrorist police in at least three regions of Kazakhstan have targeted unregistered Baptists and Muslims in recent months, according to the Norway-based news service Forum 18. The news service, which monitors religious-freedom violations in numerous countries,…
VIRAL SIGNS: It goes without saying
Have you learned that nothing “goes without saying” anymore? That sobering truth runs counter to our tendency to think there are some universally shared assumptions that all of us agree upon. We may think that everyone agrees with us about…
OUT LOUD
“God is my assignment editor.” Unnamed obituary editor The quote was included at Overheardinthenewsroom.com, a web site about funny sayings overheard in newsrooms. (RNS) “I prayed multiple times a day, sang hymns with emotion and tears, felt each time that…
EDITORIAL: Time for the BGAV to affirm its own priorities
On Mother’s Day morning, before church, our phone rang. Picking it up, I could tell from the caller ID it was from our daughter’s household. “Hello!” I intoned cheerfully. The 6-year-old voice on the other end belonged to our younger…
HERITAGE: Dinner on the grounds
It’s that time of the year. Homecomings traditionally were held at churches in late summer or early fall when the crops had been laid by. Many churches picked a set date — the third Sunday in July or the first…
LUCHA Ministries helps Latinos in Virginia cope with ‘struggle’
FREDERICKSBURG, Va. — Cuál es tu lucha? That question — What is your struggle? — is what motivated the creation of LUCHA Ministries six years ago to work with Latinos in the Fredericksburg area. Lucha means “struggle” in English and…