Disputed dinner fails to deliver dialogue. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad dined with 300 religious and political leaders in New York, but the controversial event offered far less dialogue than advertised. Ahmadinejad delivered a 45-minute address that cut short any possibility…
Megachurches experience growth through multiple satellite locations
WASHINGTON (RNS) — Mega-churches known for big buildings, big schools and big crowds continue to grow. But a new study detects shifts in the way they are expanding. “The general growth pattern is that about 90 percent of mega-churches report…
Fewer than three-dozen churches risk tax-exempt status through endorsements
WASHINGTON (ABP) — While only 33 churches signed up to participate in a conservative Christian group's Pulpit Freedom Sunday Sept. 28, planners viewed it as a success. That is, organizers said, because its stated purpose was not to inject politics…
Pastors, church leaders at Catalyst confab
ATLANTA — Just over a hundred Virginia Baptists were among the more than 12,000 people converging on The Arena in suburban Atlanta's Gwinnett Center for the ninth annual Catalyst Conference, hosted by Andy Stanley, pastor of North Point Community Church…
Tell the good news
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Clyde Chiles has seen a lot of changes in evangelistic approaches in his 52 years as an active vocational evangelist. But he believes the message must not change, and evangelists always must demonstrate integrity. Chiles, one of…
Catalyst worth the effort, says board staffer
You never know if all the work, all the calls, all the money, all the preparation and all the time are really worth it. Then something will happen to let you know that the Catalyst get-away is more than worth…
N.Y. Baptist group says to defrock pastor facing child-porn charge
(763 words) OSWEGATCHIE, N.Y. (ABP) — A statewide fellowship of independent Baptist churches in New York is recommending defrocking one of its pastors arrested on child-pornography charges. Leaders of First Baptist Church in the Upstate New York town of Oswegatchie…
SBU administrator named as Oklahoma Baptist president
SHAWNEE, Okla. (ABP) — David Whitlock, 46, an administrator at Southwest Baptist University, has been named Oklahoma Baptist University's 15th president, OBU trustees announced Oct. 10. "Having been born and raised in Oklahoma, Dr. Whitlock will fit us well," Alton…
Connecticut latest jurisdiction to legalize same-sex marriage
HARTFORD, Conn. (ABP) — The Connecticut Supreme Court Oct. 10 made that state the latest in the union to offer full marriage rights to same-sex couples. The state’s justices ruled 4-3 that the equal-protection and due-process provisions of the Connecticut…
Study: Younger evangelicals less conservative than elders
WASHINGTON (ABP) — A large study of religious Americans suggests that white evangelicals' views on gay rights may be shifting, rapidly, to the left. The survey, which includes one of the largest samples of younger voters' political and religious views…
Little framed in moral terms during presidential debate
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP) — Economic woes and national security dominated a second presidential debate that offered little new information for undecided voters, including those looking for a values-based hook on which to hang their presidential choice. Democratic candidate Barack Obama…
Book says Southern Baptist women stronger than confession suggests
CORVALLIS, Ore. (ABP) — While professing to believe the Bible teaches them to submit to their husbands, Southern Baptist women tend to function as equal partners when it comes to most decision-making in the home, according to a new book…