NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP) — Membership in the Southern Baptist Convention declined for the third consecutive year in 2009, according to statistics reported May 14 by LifeWay Christian Resources. Southern Baptist churches reported total membership of 16,160,088 in 2009. That is…
Last of 10 jailed U.S. Baptist missionaries released from Haiti
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (ABP) — The last of 10 Americans detained while trying to take 33 children out of Haiti following the Jan. 12 earthquake was released May 17 after a judge found her guilty and sentenced her to time already…
Southern Baptist Convention continues to lose members
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP) — Membership in the Southern Baptist Convention declined for the third consecutive year in 2009, according to statistics reported May 14 by LifeWay Christian Resources. Southern Baptist churches reported total membership of 16,160,088 in 2009. That is…
MBC’s goal is control or assets of remaining litigants, attorneys say
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (ABP) — Regaining control is the heart of the Missouri Baptist Convention’s ongoing legal action against three formerly affiliated institutions. If control cannot be restored, then the convention would like its “stuff” returned, a judge learned May…
Grand jury hears evidence in Texas church-arson cases
Jason Bourque TYLER, Texas (ABP) — A grand jury began hearing testimony May 13 in the case of two men suspected of burning down 10 churches in East Texas in January and February, a television station in Tyler, Texas, reported….
American Baptist leaders support immigration reform
VALLEY FORGE, Pa. (ABP) — More than two dozen national and regional leaders of American Baptist Churches USA signed a letter supporting immigration reform that reflects "mercy and justice rooted in God's love." "We do not claim any superior understanding…
Former youth pastor sentenced to 17 years for abuse
YORK, Va. (ABP) — A former youth pastor at a Southern Baptist church in Virginia has been sentenced to 17 years in prison for sexually assaulting two teenage girls. Jack Duffer Jeremy Duffer — known as "Pastor Jack" to youth…
American Baptist leaders support immigration reform
VALLEY FORGE, Pa. (ABP) — More than two dozen national and regional leaders of American Baptist Churches USA signed a letter supporting immigration reform that reflects "mercy and justice rooted in God's love." "We do not claim any superior understanding…
Louisiana House passes bill allowing guns in church
BATON ROUGE, La. (ABP) — Reversing an earlier vote, Louisiana's House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly May 12 in favor of a bill that would allow concealed handguns to be carried inside houses of worship. State Rep. Henry Burns The bill's…
Religious leaders decry proposed Texas textbook standards
AUSTIN, Texas (ABP) — Two Baptist ministers joined about two dozen other religious leaders in a May 12 press conference at the Texas Capitol to decry school textbook standards they say would weaken instruction about religious liberty and the separation…
Religious leaders speak out against new Texas textbook standards
AUSTIN, Texas (ABP) — Two Baptist ministers joined about two dozen other religious leaders in a May 12 press conference at the Texas Capitol to decry school textbook standards they say would weaken instruction about religious liberty and the separation…
White churches can learn from blacks
VALLEY FORGE, Pa. (ABP) — After resigning abruptly in 1992 from one of the largest and influential churches in the nation, First Baptist Church in Dallas, and going through a divorce within two years, Joel Gregory's ministry appeared to be…