KANSAS CITY, Mo. (ABP) — A former high-ranking International Mission Board leader who resigned over policy concerns has accepted an associational director’s position in Missouri. No caption submitted The executive board of the Blue River-Kansas City Baptist Association called Rodney…
Survey suggests ‘unchurched’ represent a pretty fluid group
WASHINGTON (RNS) — A new survey shows that “unchurched” Americans may be worshipping more, and “churched” Americans worshipping less, than many people might think. Numerous surveys track trends among “unchurched” Americans, but what does “unchurched” really mean? Does it mean…
Healing the sick
What distinguishes religiously-affiliated hospitals from their secular counterparts? Chaplains and charity care top the list, administrators of faith-based, nonprofit health care institutions agree. “Every morning at 5 a.m., a chaplain goes into our surgical unit, where he has the opportunity…
Faith no laughing matter, court says
NEWARK, N.J. (RNS) — Making jokes and comments about a person's religion can create a “humiliating and painful environment” and be a form of on-the-job discrimination, New Jersey's highest court recently ruled. The New Jersey Supreme Court said remarks about…
Texas’s Bethesda Clinic brings hope to the uninsured
TYLER, Texas — A trip to the doctor can be financially catastrophic for some people — the 45 million uninsured or underinsured Americans. Bethesda Health Clinic, a faith-based primary-care clinic started primarily by First Baptist Church of Tyler, is addressing…
Reading the Bible anew — with the chronology clarified
Bob Sanford wanted to create a Bible that would bring order and clarity to the text. Instead, he's waded right into one of the great debates of biblical scholarship. The Chronological Study Bible will be released this fall in the…
Sunday school class project sparks international ministry
FALLS CHURCH — An eye-opening visit by a Baptist Sunday school class to a Moscow hospital nearly 20 years ago sparked a ministry that provides millions of dollars in medical supplies to almost 100 countries around the world. In 1989,…
FAITH DIGEST
Airport renamed for civil rights pastor. The Birmingham Airport Authority has voted to rename Alabama's largest airport for civil rights leader Fred Shuttlesworth. Shuttlesworth, 86, grew up in Birmingham and was pastor of Baptist churches in Birmingham and Cincinnati. He…
Baptist layman provides gift of life to music minister
LUBBOCK,Texas — Alzheimer's disease may cloud Hal Rowe's memory or derail his train of thought, but it has done nothing to damage his love of life and his desire to help others. Shortly after his diagnosis in the spring of…
Former planter files libel suit against Texas Baptists
EDINBURG, Texas (ABP) — A former Hispanic church planter implicated in a 2006 Baptist General Convention of Texas scandal has filed a defamation lawsuit against the BGCT and several other Texas Baptist entities and individuals. Otto Arango, founder of the…
Candidates’ healthcare plans reflect different visions
WASHINGTON (ABP) — Differences in presidential candidates John McCain's and Barack Obama's plans for reforming the American healthcare system reflect differing views on the proper role of government. Whether one plan more closely resembles biblical principles of justice and charity…
Baptist Youth World Conference attracts 6,000 to German city
More than 6,000 youth from nearly 90 countries gathered in the Leipzig Congress Center in eastern Germany for the opening session of the 15th Baptist Youth World Conference last month. The conference, held every five years, is the largest global…