WASHINGTON (ABP) — Nearly 70 percent of the world’s 6.8 billion people live in countries with high restrictions on religion, according to a new study by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life. Titled Global Restrictions on…
Dobson plans new radio ministry, to focus on same themes
COLORADO SPRINGS (RNS) — Religious broadcaster James Dobson will leave the “Focus on the Family” radio program in late February but will continue on the airwaves through a new ministry. Officials at the Colorado-based ministry that Dobson founded three decades…
Once more, Georgia Baptists poised to cut ties to church with woman pastor
ATLANTA (ABP) — For the second straight year, the Georgia Baptist Convention is poised to cut ties with a church over the issue of women in ministry. Graham Walker, co-pastor of Druid Hills Baptist Church in Atlanta, said March 18…
VIRGINIA BRIEFS
Virginia Baptist scholarship applications available. Applications for Baptist General Association of Virginia Scholarships and ministerial educational funds for the 2010-2011 academic year are available online at www.vbmb.org/ scholarships and are due by April 1, 2010. Through Cooperative Missions dollars, the…
Bluefield College board honors donors, elects officers
BLUEFIELD, Va. — Bluefield College’s board of trustees recognized two alumni for their contributions to the school and elected officers and new trustees during its recent annual fall meeting. During a ceremony in Harman Chapel, the board paid tribute to…
VBMB offers refersher for disaster relief
Attention trained disaster relief volunteers: If you … • Have already attended a general orientation session; • Have been trained in one or more particular disciplines and; • Have a disaster relief photo ID badge that has expired or will…
Disaster kitchen volunteers complete mission in Southwest Virginia counties
APPALACHIA — After cooking more than 4,400 meals from Dec. 22 through Dec. 30, the Virginia Baptist Mission disaster relief kitchen has shut down and volunteers are heading home. Volunteers clean up after serving meals. Members of Tennessee and Virginia…
Accused parents say son’s faith-healing death was no crime
PORTLAND, Ore. (RNS) — Two parents charged with criminally negligent homicide in the faith-healing death of their teenage son will ask a judge to dismiss the charges because they followed the advice of state child welfare workers. Attorneys for the…
BGCT takes action against church suspected of affirming gays
DALLAS (ABP) — The Baptist General Convention of Texas said March 17 it was asking Royal Lane Baptist Church in Dallas to remove mention of its affiliation with the state convention from church publications and would hold any funds received…
Mercer program teaches church members to deliver end-of-life care
ATLANTA (ABP) — The nursing school of a Baptist university in Georgia has taken on a mission beyond its walls: To teach people in local churches how to care for loved ones as they face the ends of their earthly…
Nigerian Baptist leader says clashes political, not religious
FALLS CHURCH, Va. (ABP) — A Nigerian Baptist leader says politics is the driving force behind recent religious massacres and riots in central Nigeria. Solomon Ishola "Religion is being used as a veneer or as a front or cover in…
Most church websites ineffective, technology firm’s study finds
DIDCOT, England (ABP) — Churches, by and large, still haven’t entered the digital age when it comes to evangelism — but those who have are reaping huge rewards, according to a new survey. A poll conducted by Christian technology company…