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…
C.W. Brister, longtime Southwestern pastoral-care professor, dies at 82
FORT WORTH, Texas (ABP) — C.W. Brister, Jr., who taught pastoral counseling and theology to generations of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary students, died Aug. 9, reportedly of complications from Lou Gehrig’s disease. He was 82. Brister was a professor of…
Americans act as Georgian Baptists call for aid, end to conflict
FALLS CHURCH, Va. (ABP) — Baptists in the United States and elsewhere in the world are responding with aid and prayers for their counterparts in the embattled former Soviet republic of Georgia. It was unclear by midday Aug. 14 whether…
Truett-McConnell College calls Caner as president
Emir Caner CLEVELAND, Ga. (ABP) — A Sunni Muslim-turned-conservative Baptist has been tapped as the eighth president of Truett-McConnell College in Cleveland, Ga. College trustees voted Aug. 8 to name Emir Caner to the position. Caner is founding dean of…
Man shoots Ark. Democratic chairman, menaces Baptist Building
The Arkansas Baptist State Convention building is just blocks from the Arkansas Democratic Party offices on Capitol Avenue in downtown Little Rock LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (ABP) — A man fitting the description of a suspect who shot and killed the…
Faith leaders ask DNC, RNC to showcase anti-poverty plans
WASHINGTON (ABP) — Prominent faith leaders are calling on the United States’ two major political parties to use their upcoming presidential-nominating conventions as platforms for showcasing how they would deal with poverty. In a recent letter to presumptive Republican nominee…
American Baptist leaders organize first-ever Burmese Baptist meeting
VALLEY FORGE, Pa. (ABP) — In October, the American Baptist Churches USA will convene the first-ever national conference for Burmese Baptist leaders serving in the United States. More than 30 pastors and lay leaders are expected to attend the Oct….
Amid Criswell College turmoil, accrediting probation lifted
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…
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…