WASHINGTON (ABP) — Americans United for Separation of Church and State has asked the Internal Revenue Service to investigate whether Oct. 29 remarks by Michelle Obama to an African-American Baptist gathering violated federal tax law. According to media reports, the…
Michelle Obama speech to Baptists
Survey: Protestant pastors favor
McCain, but many still undecided
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP) — A majority of Protestant pastors say they plan to vote for Republican presidential nominee John McCain, but just days before the Nov. 4 election nearly one in four is undecided, according to the latest LifeWay Research…
Baptist pastor’s trial begins;
Azerbaijanis claim intimidation
Hamid Shabanov, 52, was arrested after police in the remote northern village of Aliabad, near the Georgian border, searched his house and claimed to find an illegal firearm and ammunition. Family members say Shabanov does not own a gun and…
Father, Son & Who?
(ABP) — “Ghost!” the 5-year-old screeched as he stood in the pew and clutched his mother’s neck. “Mama, the preacher said there’s a ghost in here!” Although most Baptists in the sanctuary laughed at the outburst, likely at least a…
On the Trinity, Baptist worship largely settles for two out of three
(ABP) — Hymns sung in most Baptist churches historically have been “More About Jesus” than about either God the Father or the Holy Spirit, several church music experts agree. “From a Baptist perspective, I don’t think the hymnody has ever…
Charismatic Southern Baptists see themselves as open to spiritual gifts
HIXSON, Tenn. (ABP) — Suffering from burnout after a decade as pastor of Central Baptist Church, a Southern Baptist congregation in suburban Chattanooga, Tenn., Ron Phillips wrote his resignation letter on a portable computer on the way to a meeting…
Trinity debate trickles down to gender roles
DEERFIELD, Ill. (ABP) — There’s a tempest brewing among evangelical theologians about the triune nature of God, with potential to spill beyond academic halls into relationships between males and females in the church and home. Trinity Evangelical Divinity School near…
Congo: New fighting creates
latest humanitarian crisis
NEW YORK (ABP) — Escalating violence in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo is creating a “humanitarian crisis of catastrophic dimensions,” the head of the United Nations said Oct. 29. U.N. Secretary General Ban-Ki Moon called attention to the flare-up, which…
Religious Right appeals
to fear as election nears
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (ABP) — Perfect love may cast out fear, but some Religious Right leaders seem intent on scaring the pants off of their followers as the Nov. 4 presidential election approaches. With Republican nominee John McCain trailing in…
Where they stand: ‘Values’ distinguish both candidates and voters
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (ABP) — “Values voters” — a term popularized by conservative evangelicals after the 2004 elections — may bring a wide array of values to the polls. Here's a rundown of the two presidential candidates' views on a number…
FAITH DIGEST
AFA says it's OK to order a Big Mac. The American Family Association has dropped its boycott of McDonald's after learning a representative of the restaurant chain no longer serves on the board of the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber…
Hot-button culture war issues not so hot for young evangelicals, study shows
WASHINGTON (ABP) — A large study of religious Americans suggests white evangelicals' views on gay rights may be shifting to the left. The survey, which includes one of the largest samples of younger voters' political and religious views ever taken,…