WASHINGTON (RNS) — The number of churches that reported a drop in giving due to the sour economy rose nearly 10 percent last year, according to new survey. In 2009, 38 percent of churches reported a decline in giving, versus…
Reading the Bible through the eyes of poverty yields different interpretations
Status in society can influence how people read and interpret the Bible — and often how they will act on it, according to some Christian leaders. Miguel de la Torre, associate professor of social ethics at the Iliff School of…
ANALYSIS: Churches can help poor people avoid predatory lending trap
Payday loan outlets have grown like kudzu in recent years. Texas, for instance, has more payday lender outlets — about 3,000 — than it has McDonald’s and Whataburger restaurants combined. And some churches and pastors are asking how they can…
Suffolk youth launched Easter ministries
Youth fill Easter eggs for their church's annual egg hunt. SUFFOLK, Va. — The weekend of March 12-14 was a busy one for the youth at Holland Baptist Church in Suffolk, Va., as they prepared for a variety of ministry…
Black Baptist pastor asks Southern Baptist Convention to repent of racism
ARLINGTON, Texas (ABP) — A prominent African-American Baptist pastor says the Southern Baptist Convention has not kept a promise made in 1995 to "eradicate racism in all its forms from Southern Baptist life and ministry." Dwight McKissic, pastor of Cornerstone…
South Africans get access to clean water, thanks to teens’ pocket change
RICHMOND, Va. — About 300 families in a northeastern South African village soon will have access to clean water, thanks to pocket change collected last year by hundreds of Virginia Baptist youths. On April 7, work crews in Ngwenani, about…
Baptist adoption ministry comes full circle for Texas family
SAN ANTONIO (ABP) — For Gloria Hernandez Padilla and her daughter, Belinda Perez, the ministry of a Texas Baptist adoption agency has come full circle — with adoptee Hernandez Padilla becoming grandmother to another adopted child. Gloria Hernandez Padilla, one…
Study links religion to racial prejudice
WACO, Texas (ABP) — More than 50 years after Martin Luther King lamented that 11 o'clock Sunday morning is the most segregated hour in America, a Baylor University study suggests that religion itself may be a contributing factor in racial…
Study links religion to racial prejudice
WACO, Texas (ABP) — More than 50 years after Martin Luther King Jr. lamented that 11 o'clock Sunday morning is the most segregated hour in America, a Baylor University study suggests that religion itself may be a contributing factor in…
Documentary makers warn viewers to ‘Beware of Christians’
DALLAS (ABP) — Will Bakke, director and executive producer of Beware of Christians, recognizes the provocative title of his new documentary will raise some eyebrows. He hopes it also will raise consciousness about what radical commitment to Christ really means….
Christian leader welcomes new limits on use of nuclear weapons
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP) — A leader in what organizers say is a growing movement of American Christians supporting arms control praised new restrictions on the United States' use of nuclear weapons unveiled by President Obama April 6. Obama's nuclear policy…
Black Baptist leaders attend Obama Easter breakfast, voice support
WASHINGTON (ABP) — African-American Baptist leaders were among 90 clergy and other Christian leaders who gathered at the White House April 6 for an Easter prayer breakfast at which President Obama extolled the redemptive nature of Christ’s death and resurrection….