WACO, Texas (ABP) — A church that depends upon its pastor for ministry fails both the pastor and the laypeople, ministry strategist Alan Nelson recently told participants at The Next Big Idea conference at Baylor University. A litany of woes…
Pastor says faith sustaining family of pilot in deadly plane crash
LUTZ, Fla. (ABP) — The pilot of a deadly plane crash Feb. 12 in upstate New York was a Southern Baptist. Marvin Renslow, captain of the Continental Connection commuter flight that went down and crashed into a home while trying…
Baptist, Orthodox leaders hold groundbreaking conference in Europe
PRAGUE, Czech Republic (ABP) — European Baptist and Orthodox scholars convened Feb. 8-11 in talks aimed to promote understanding between two Christian groups often at odds over issues like proselytizing and the separation of church and state. The International Baptist…
Baptist, Orthodox leaders hold groundbreaking conference in Europe
PRAGUE, Czech Republic (ABP) — European Baptist and Orthodox scholars convened Feb. 8-11 in talks aimed to promote understanding between two Christian groups often at odds over issues like proselytizing and the separation of church and state. The International Baptist…
Baptist, Orthodox leaders hold groundbreaking conference in Europe
PRAGUE, Czech Republic (ABP) — European Baptist and Orthodox scholars convened Feb. 8-11 in talks aimed to promote understanding between two Christian groups often at odds over issues like proselytizing and the separation of church and state. The International Baptist…
Baptist, Orthodox leaders hold groundbreaking conference in Europe
PRAGUE, Czech Republic (ABP) — European Baptist and Orthodox scholars convened Feb. 8-11 in talks aimed to promote understanding between two Christian groups often at odds over issues like proselytizing and the separation of church and state. The International Baptist…
‘Next big idea’ an old idea that looks radically different
WACO—The “next big idea” actually is 2,000 years old, but it has “moved and morphed” into something quite different than what Americans and Europeans have known. “The church is the next big idea—much bigger than we imagine,” said Michael Stroope,…
SECOND OPINION: Don’t fiddle with Jefferson’s statute
Stephen Strehle is way off base in his Dec. 18 Religious Herald essay calling for the repeal of Thomas Jefferson's Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom and substituting a new one. The U. S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights were…
OUT LOUD
“The Vatican's model for the papacy is still the absolute monarchies and royal courts of the past. That model simply will not work today.” Tom Reese The professor at the Woodstock Theological Center was commenting on the Pope's handling of…
Obama’s anti-torture directives place activists in good news/bad news posture
WASHINGTON (ABP) — Religious opponents of torture expressed simultaneous approval and concern about a series of executive orders by President Obama upending his predecessor's policies on detention and interrogation of terrorism suspects. On his second full day in office, Obama…
Canadian courts to test the boundaries between polygamous & same-sex unions
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (RNS) — A landmark court case will test whether Canada's decision to legalize same-sex marriage also justifies the practice of polygamy. The defense lawyer for a British Columbia man who openly admits to having multiple wives will…
Monkey business
Two hundred years after his birth on Feb. 12, 1809, British naturalist Charles Darwin remains controversial. His theory of evolution became the linchpin of modern science, but a majority of Americans believe God created humans in their present form. And…