WASHINGTON (RNS) — Conservative Christian leaders blasted the Army’s decision to disinvite evangelist Franklin Graham from a Pentagon event on the National Day of Prayer because he has been critical of Islam. Graham was scheduled to speak at a May…
Faith leaders pan Arizona ‘anti-immigrant’ bill
WASHINGTON (RNS) — Religious leaders are outraged over a bill passed by Arizona legislators that criminalizes illegal immigration, calling the bill “anti-immigrant” and a “social sin.” Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony compared aspects of the legislation, approved April 19 by…
ASK THE ARCHITECT: Getting organized to build: What committees are needed?
We continue our journey toward a new building to the glory of God! I previously identified the cross-sectional talents and skills required of persons on a building committee to appropriately address church program needs. This committee is composed of 10…
Baptist jailed in Haiti to stand trial on reduced charge, CNN reports
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (ABP) — Southern Baptist mission volunteer Laura Silsby will stand trial in Haiti on a charge of arranging irregular travel, CNN reported April 26. The network said Judge Bernard Saint-Vil dropped more serious charges of kidnapping and criminal…
HERITAGE: Standing his ground
The foot soldiers of the 1770s who had fought and won the American Revolution were bereaved in 1799 when the news reached their towns and villages that their commander, George Washington, had died. Twenty or so years earlier they had…
VITAL SIGNS: The prophetic pastor
One of the most precarious tasks a preacher faces is that of being a prophet. The role of prophet is one that many ministers feel a deep ambivalence toward. All preachers know that relevant preaching must address the great issues…
Obama meets with Billy Graham
MONTREAT, N.C. (ABP) — President Obama met Billy Graham for the first time face-to-face April 25, making him the 12th consecutive president of the United States to meet with the famed Southern Baptist evangelist. Obama stopped by Graham's mountaintop home…
Baptist Peace Fellowship marks 15th anniversary of statement on sexuality
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (ABP) — The Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America applauded a recent order by President Obama permitting gays to visit their domestic partners in the hospital with a statement commemorating the 15th anniversary of a controversial move that…
Virginia Baptist Women in Ministry are told their voices can change the world
RICHMOND, Va. — There's a scene from the Oscar-winning film Precious — the story of a black teenager sexually abused by her father but trying to change her life by going to school — where she tells her class that…
Obama meets with Billy Graham
MONTREAT, N.C. (ABP) — President Obama met Billy Graham for the first time face-to-face April 25, making him the 12th consecutive U.S. president to meet with the famed Southern Baptist evangelist. Obama stopped by Graham's mountaintop home in Montreat, N.C.,…
Missouri Baptist Convention releases newspaper from lawsuit
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (ABP) — Attorneys for the Missouri Baptist Convention have voluntarily released the organization's former official news journal from a long-running lawsuit against several agencies that removed themselves from convention control. Word & Way, the historic Missouri Baptist…
Cecil Sherman ‘stood on a higher hill’ than his contemporaries, speaker says
ASHEVILLE, N.C. (ABP) — A self-described “comrade in arms” in the Southern Baptist Convention controversy in the 1980s remembered Cecil Sherman as one who “stood on a higher hill” than other moderate Baptist leaders. “Cecil Sherman was right more times…