Dear Jimmy, My gracious sakes alive, I thought the snowflakes would never stop fallin’. The snow just kept blowin’ and driftin’ and gettin’ deeper and deeper! Why the drifts between the house and the barn got so high that I…
Top stories of 2009: Cast your vote
The last year was a significant one for Baptists and other Christians. The Religious Herald’s first issue in January will feature the top stories of 2009, based on a vote of its readers. The Herald staff is encouraging its readers…
British Baptist Nativity effort invites public to ‘get in the picture’
DIDCOT, England (ABP) — Thousands of people around the United Kingdom are set to be involved in an ecumenical initiative that invites people to take part in an “instant Nativity” this Christmas. The effort, co-sponsored by the Baptist Union of…
Messengers ask Mo. Baptist Executive Board to drop agency lawsuits
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (ABP) — Three messengers to the most recent Missouri Baptist Convention annual meeting who seek to end a seven-year legal struggle between the convention and five formerly affiliated entities were given a chance to air their views…
Ugandan pastors blast Rick Warren for opposing anti-gay law
KAMPALA, Uganda (ABP) — A group of Ugandan pastors is calling on Southern Baptist mega-church pastor Rick Warren to apologize for his recent letter opposing anti-gay legislation pending in the east African nation. The Uganda National Pastors Task Force Against…
Chris Tomlin wants young worshipers to give ‘glory to God in the highest’
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP) — Throughout his December concerts, Christian recording artist Chris Tomlin is seeking to do more than spread Yuletide cheer. He wants young worshippers to find new meaning in traditional Christmas carols. No caption submitted “The lyrics of…
For five decades, Houston couple has brightened children’s Christmas
HOUSTON (ABP) — George and Novice Bruner’s Christmas list includes the names of more than 200 needy Houston children. George and Novice Bruner of Tallowood Baptist Church in Houston have given more than 40,000 gifts to about 4,000 children over…
Christmas Around the World: Global Baptists celebrate the holiday
The 180-member Suwon Central Baptist Church sanctuary choir, a 60-voice women’s choir and the 60-member children’s choir presented the music of Christmas. (ABP) — Christmas in the United States is both a secular and sacred holiday. There’s the hustle…
Evangelical leaders support abortion compromise in health-care plan
WASHINGTON (ABP) — Thirty-nine pro-life Christian pastors and leaders released a statement Dec. 18 applauding alternative language aimed at preventing health-care reform from being derailed by debate over abortion. With bill supporters in the Senate lacking a filibuster-proof majority to…
Appeals court allows suit over Ky. Baptist institution to proceed
CINCINNATI (ABP) — The full 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declined Dec. 16 to review the August ruling of a three-judge panel allowing a case challenging taxpayer funding of a Baptist children's home to move forward. Sunrise Children's Services,…
N.C. judge strikes down law banning sex offenders from church
PITTSBORO, N.C. (ABP) — A North Carolina judge has ruled in favor of two registered sex offenders arrested in May for attending a Baptist church near Raleigh. Francis Demaio and James Nichols were indicted May 11 for violating a state…
Study says majority of world’s population faces religious restriction
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…