WACO, Texas (ABP) — The star witness at the trial of a former Baptist pastor charged with murdering his wife in 2006 testified Jan. 19 that the accused planned the crime, hoping to make it look like a suicide, and…
Martin Marty: No easy predictions for Baptists’ next 400 years
WACO, Texas (ABP) — Nobody can predict with certainty what the next 400 years hold for Baptists — or for any religious denomination — church historian Martin Marty told a recent gathering at Baylor University. Martin Marty speaks at Baylor…
Black churches team with hospitals to push better diets for congregants
CLEVELAND (RNS) — For Deborah Taylor, keeping her body fit and eating well is a way of honoring God. So, when Taylor, a financial assistant for University Hospitals Ireland Cancer Center, heard about the hospital’s Body & Soul program for…
YMCA seeks to reclaim ‘C’ in its name
SHERWOOD, Ore. (RNS) — The wooden box, not quite big enough to hold a pair of shoes, sits on the reception desk, just inside the Sherwood YMCA. Once a day, Roger Button empties the box, finds a quiet place to…
Church scores with men on football Sunday, attracting crowd to service
EAST ORANGE, N.J. (RNS) — Pastor Dwight Gill figures if there is one thing that will bring more men to church, it’s football. So, at New Hope Baptist Church, NFL doesn’t stand for National Football League, but rather for New…
Coaches have potential to teach Christian understanding of life
ABILENE, Texas — Christian coaches are in a position to teach far more than Xs and Os, a Hardin-Simmons University professor believes. Bob Moore, professor of fitness and sports science at the Baptist school, considers sports fallow ground for teaching…
Gridirons, goals & God: Christian athletes use spotlight to share faith
When Colt McCoy of the University of Texas expressed his faith in an interview following the Longhorns’ BCS championship game loss to Alabama Jan. 7, the quarterback placed himself in a growing cadre of Christian athletes becoming increasingly vocal about…
EDITORIAL: Seeing the vision and living the dream
As I write these lines, the calendar says it is Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, and I’m in a reflective mood. Since my introduction to American Indians came via a round-screened Zenith television set in the mid 1950s, I viewed…
U.S. Baptists issue urgent fundraising appeals for Haiti
ATLANTA (ABP) — Baptist groups in the United States have launched urgent funding appeals for earthquake relief in Haiti. The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship has directed more than $15,000 in funds designated for "Haiti Earthquake Response" raised through a website appeal,…
MLK Day celebration marks 50th anniversary of sit-in movement
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP) — Americans today think nothing of walking into a fast-food restaurant and eating next to a person of another race, but that is because of sacrifices made by others, a Baptist minister reminded an audience at a…
MLK Day celebration marks 50th anniversary of sit-in movement
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP) — Americans today think nothing of walking into a fast-food restaurant and eating next to a person of another race, but that is because of sacrifices made by others, a Baptist minister reminded an audience at a…
Texas church’s historic sanctuary lost to early-morning fire
TEMPLE, Texas (ABP) — The 70-year-old sanctuary of the First Baptist Church of Temple, Texas, appears to be a total loss after a fire consumed it in the early-morning hours of Jan. 19. Reports on the church’s website and in…