COVINGTON, La. (RNS) — An Alabama woman used the spine of a Bible to conceal several hacksaw blades that helped her husband and three other inmates escape a maximum-security prison. Claudia Buras was booked into the St. Tammany Parish jail…
Sharing the faith in harrowing circumstances
LEESBURG — Looking down the muzzle of a pistol held by a stranger in your own home changes the day’s priorities. It certainly did for Bob and Frances Belote on Friday, July 10. Both in their 80s, they had just…
Pastor: National Guard, hospitals were prepared for church-bus crash
SHREVEPORT, La. (ABP) — Both a National Guard unit that responded at the scene of a July 12 church-bus accident and the hospital where most of the victims were taken had recently received training for situations similar to what actually…
Leland Center moves into Baptist World Alliance building
FALLS CHURCH, Va. (ABP) — A Baptist seminary serving students in the region of the nation’s capital has moved in with an organization that serves as Baptists’ international umbrella group. The John Leland Center for Theological Studies has moved its…
Anti-gay church says God hates the world
TOPEKA, Kan. (ABP) — An independent Baptist church best known for picketing military funerals with placards proclaiming “God hates fags” and “God hates America” is going global. Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kan. — whose 75-member congregation is composed almost…
Researcher says hypocrisy not biggest obstacle to evangelism
A former seminary professor, Thom Rainer has led LifeWay Christian Resources since 2006. NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP) — People who don’t attend church are not too bothered by what they view as hypocrisy in the church, but there are some…
Leland Center moves into Baptist World Alliance building
FALLS CHURCH — Baptists’ presence in this Northern Virginia suburb just got bigger. The John Leland Center for Theological Studies has moved its main campus from Arlington to Falls Church, where it is leasing two floors in the Baptist World…
Longtime denominational worker Ernest Mosley dies
GASTONIA, N.C. (ABP) — Ernest Mosley, a longtime denominational worker who served the Southern Baptist Convention during a tumultuous period when two factions vied for control of nation’s second-largest faith group, died July 8 after a nearly year-long battle with…
Pastor’s accused killer faces mental evaluation
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. (ABP) — A man accused of gunning down an Illinois Baptist pastor in the middle of a worship service last March will undergo court-ordered testing to determine whether he is competent to stand trial. His booking photo from…
Pop Culture Christianity: What fad would Jesus follow?
HOLLAND, Mich. (ABP) — Looking for a way to help members of her youth group use moral discernment when making life choices, a Lutheran youth minister in Holland, Mich., re-read a copy of Charles Sheldon’s In His Steps, a classic…
FAITH SHAPERS: Parenting in Bizarro World
Our question of the day: “How can I make sure my children don’t make good behavior a habit?” I am so glad you brought this up. So often, parents get excited about good choices and good behavior and make such…
New venues: Pastors surveyed for impact on attendance
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP) — With two-thirds of all Protestant churches having expanded their ministry space or outlets in the past five years, a new study by LifeWay Research shows: • Two of these types of expansion corresponding to higher levels…