WASHINGTON (RNS) — Faced with a request to give an unmarried female patient a prescription for birth control pills, Michele Phillips looked to her conscience for the answer. “I’m not going to give any kind of medication I see as…
Musicians and VeggieTales crew collect gift-filled boxes for children
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Christian recording artists teamed up with talking vegetables to collect 8 million gift-filled shoeboxes for children in more than 100 countries. Since its inception in 1993, Operation Christmas Child, a project of Samaritan’s Purse, has sought to…
RIGHT OR WRONG?: Legal vs. ethical
A co-worker insists that just because a workplace guideline is legal does not guarantee it is ethical. I maintain policies are neither legal nor ethical but should be understood as both-and. What do you think? In an ideal world, policies…
Christian students offer liquor-free tailgate parties on Alabama campus
AUBURN, Ala. (RNS) — Setting up on the grassy area outside their dorm, grilling burgers and distributing drinks, the young men known as College Kids Tailgate are like scores of other Auburn students on game day — full of good…
OUT LOUD
“One of the most amazing surprises of the presidency was the fact that people’s prayers affected me.” Former President George W. Bush The former president was quoted by the Washington Post. (RNS) “As Christians, we are asked to believe some…
D.C. set to become 6th jurisdiction in U.S. with legal same-sex marriage
WASHINGTON (ABP) — The District of Columbia Council voted overwhelmingly — and despite vocal protests from a coalition of conservative evangelicals and the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington — to legalize same-sex marriage in the nation’s capital Dec. 15. Anthony…
National race track chaplaincy group to relocate to Kentucky
GEORGETOWN, Ky. (ABP) — A national chaplaincy group that ministers to the horse-racing community is moving from California to Kentucky at the beginning of 2010. Race Track Chaplaincy of America Executive Director Enrique Torres (center right) shakes hands with Georgetown…
CBF leader says ministry-exellence training can boost clergy’s image
ATLANTA (ABP) — A moderate Baptist leader says a recent poll showing public confidence in clergy at a three-decade low should be a wakeup call for the importance of maintaining excellence in ministry. "In a culture that qualifies success as…
Baptists celebrate 50 years in Vietnam
HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam (BP) — Shortly before the fall of Saigon in 1975, Le Quoc Chanh, pastor of Grace Baptist Church in Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City), came with his wife and young son to the home…
Constitutionality of Christian prison planned in Oklahoma disputed
WASHINGTON (ABP) — A church-state watchdog group maintains a Christian prison proposed in Oklahoma probably would be unconstitutional. But the Baptist minister who hopes to open the nation’s first faith-based prison says he is confident it will pass constitutional muster….
Bluefield celebrates annual Baptist Heritage Day
BLUEFIELD — Bluefield College celebrated its history with an annual Baptist Heritage Day ceremony on campus in October, featuring a keynote address from an authority on Baptist life — James M. Dunn, former executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee…
Strengthened family ties break cycle of criminal behavior
Ministry to inmates’ children and spouses can help keep families together through incarceration and after release. Generally, offenders are placed in prisons away from home — often across the state or even in another state. Reed Hanna of St. Louis…