DALLAS (ABP) — A bright spot has appeared amidst leadership turmoil at Dallas-based Criswell College: the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools has removed the school from its probation list. The accrediting agency lifted the year-long probation at its June…
Playground brings hope to rural Miss. county
ATLANTA (ABP) -– It was a beautiful moment for the people of Goodman, Miss., and the teenagers from First Baptist Church in Greenwood, S.C. After days of building, the teens completed a new playground in Goodman — where children once…
Johnson resigns from Criswell after public spat with Jeffress
Criswell President Jerry Johnson DALLAS (ABP) — Criswell College President Jerry Johnson resigned Aug. 5, after a public clash with a powerful local pastor over the institution’s future. His resignation, accepted during a called session of the college trustees’ executive…
FAITH DIGEST
McCain, Obama to meet at church. In a direct effort to court people of faith, John McCain and Barack Obama will make their first joint appearance of the presidential campaign at California pastor Rick Warren's Saddleback Civil Forum on Leadership…
CBF, Global Women agree to three-year partnership
ATLANTA (ABP) — Leaders of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and Global Women recently agreed to enter a three-year partnership to meet the needs of women around the world, CBF officials announced July 29. The partnership will start with two specific…
Celebrity Christians
RICHMOND — “Stay out of the limelight.” That's Amy Grant's advice to celebrities who don't want their personal failures aired in public. The successful Christian pop singer should know. After her very public divorce in 1999, details of her marital…
Anglican bishops say church ‘ridiculed’ as ‘the gay church’ because of actions
CANTERBURY, England (RNS) — Allowing same-sex blessings and an openly gay bishop in the U.S. have caused Anglicans to be “ridiculed” for belonging to “the gay church,” harmed interfaith relations and severely damaged the Anglican Communion, bishops at a once-a-decade…
Oprah’s unorthodox spirituality touches audience, but is it ‘twitter & twaddle’?
WASHINGTON (RNS) — Oprah Winfrey has become a catalyst for a new journalistic project and increasing news coverage by conservative Christians questioning and criticizing her spiritual beliefs. Some evangelical Christians have voiced alarm Winfrey is introducing the 46 million viewers…
Black bishops questions conservatives’ ties
CANTERBURY, England — For five years, conservative Episcopalians eager to escape their liberal American church have been building ties with African Anglicans half a world away. But they have few connections with black Americans in their own back yard, say…
The Gospel According to ‘the Boss’
BOSTON (RNS) — To millions of fans, he's “the Boss,” the blue-jeaned troubadour of the American heartland who finds nobility in the grind of daily life. Across 35 years in dozens of rock anthems, from Born to Run to Glory…
Muslims copy megachurch multi-site models
WASHINGTON (RNS) — Mosques across the country are beginning to use a model similar to the one used by some suburban and downtown megachurches, operating multiple sites to serve a large and dispersed congregation. Many of these “mosque chains” brand…
Virginia Baptists’ MC2 provides opportunities for doing missions
LYNCHBURG — Virginia Baptists' MC2 Missions Connection Celebration involves participants of all ages in doing missions. Each morning, youth and adult teams participated in mission/service projects throughout the Lynchburg area. Three projects from this year's MC2, held at Eagle Eyrie…