FRESNO, Calif. (RNS)—Every February, SouthPoint Foursquare Church reminds young members that “True Love Waits,” as part of a global campaign launched by Southern Baptists that stresses abstinence until marriage. A few days after Valentine’s Day this year, 80 teenagers and…
American Muslims a diverse group
WASHINGTON—Muslims in America attend worship services weekly just as much as Protestant Americans. Among the nation’s faith groups, they are the most racially diverse. And they’re younger: more than a third of Muslim adults—36 percent—are between ages 18 and 29,…
Presidential prayer effort proves to be bipartisan
WASHINGTON (RNS)—A national grassroots network that came together after the 9/11 terrorist attacks for the sole purpose of praying for the president has lost more than 25,000 members since Barack Obama’s election last November. But more than 41,000 new members…
Faith Digest: Faith lowers stress, research suggests
Canadian researchers have discovered strong religious convictions can lower stress and enhance the performance of basic tasks. A team in Toronto put 28 students through tests measuring both levels of religious observance and stress caused by making mistakes on a…
Groups oppose federal rule limiting books in prison chapels
WASHINGTON (ABP) — The Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty is among several religious and civil-liberties groups objecting to proposed rules giving federal prisons more leeway to ban religious books that officials believe could incite violence or criminal behavior. Two…
Baptists help the hurting in aftermath of Alabama shooting spree
SAMSON, Ala. (ABP) — Baptists are reaching out in Samson, Ala., a normally sleepy town marred by violence March 10 when 28-year-old Michael McLendon allegedly went on a 10-victim killing spree before turning a gun on himself. "For this small…
Spankings of member’s child earn Baptist pastor battery conviction
ELGIN, Ill. (ABP) — A Chicago-area Baptist preacher avoided jail time after being found guilty of battery for spanking a girl he thought was lying about sexual abuse. Daryl P. Bujak, 33, was sentenced to a year of supervision, 80…
Judge: Controversial home-school ruling hinged on mother’s church
RALEIGH, N.C. (ABP) — A North Carolina judge, whose recent ruling that a home-schooling mother must send her three children to public school stirred national controversy, said in a written order March 17 that his decision was based largely on…
Virginia Baptist churches launch Lenten observance
RICHMOND — Many Virginia Baptist congregations inaugurated their Lenten observance Feb. 25 with Ash Wednesday services — a tradition rooted in ancient Christianity and one increasingly common among Baptist churches across the Commonwealth. The service, which dates to at least…
Kung Fu master finds Christ at Bluefield College
BLUEFIELD — Bluefield College’s aim to be a Christ-centered institution took a new twist last summer when a Taiwanese Kung Fu master made a profession of faith following the martial arts seminar he had come to lead at the Virginia…
Students gather for ‘Burnin’ Youth Encounter’
DUBLIN — What kind of love do you have for God? Is it a “burnin’ love”? That’s the kind of love Craig Tackett presented to the students from 22 churches who gathered for the Highlands Youth EnCounter on the day…
Therapeutic robot takes center stage
RICHMOND – There’s a new resident at Lakewood Manor, one of Virginia Baptist Homes’ retirement communities. Paro is by far the furriest member of the Lakewood community and he takes his meals through a battery charger, not in the dining…