(ABP) — Col. Bob Page, command chaplain for the Air Force’s Air Combat Command, believes that, while the military branches have developed more programs and services for military families, support from churches and other non-governmental groups remains crucial. That support…
‘Dear Jane’ letters a problem for military spouses at home
(ABP) — Divorce — the word seemed to leap out of the e-mail from her soldier husband that Nancy (not her real name) had so eagerly opened. Discussions of divorce among military personnel generally conjure the idea of a…
Third World Faith: Church tells story of Jesus to Sudanese
DALLAS (ABP) — People remember the stories, because with each retelling, moments come alive once again. In largely illiterate cultures, such as many in southern Sudan, storytelling preserves hundreds of years of history for people groups dependent on oral records….
Third-World Faith: Hub of world Christianity shifts to ‘Global South’
(ABP) — Sounds of laughter, tambourines and native instruments reverberate through a tiny apartment as a small group of Christians gathers for fervent worship. Despite oppression under Islam and the Soviet system, these Central Asian Christians dance and sing with…
Jesus in MySpace: Churches use social-networking sites
(ABP) — Social-networking sites like Facebook and MySpace are redefining the way many Americans build and maintain relationships — and also how their churches communicate. In the last few years, relating to social contacts through such sites has become practically…
Felice Gaer to serve as chair of religious-freedom panel
WASHINGTON (ABP) — Veteran human-rights activist Felice Gaer will once again serve as chair of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom. Gaer, a member of the independent federal panel since 2001, has twice been chair and twice vice…
On Bush’s faith-based programs, Obama says save best, ditch rest
ZANESVILLE, Ohio (ABP) – Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama vowed July 1 to carry on the best parts — and dump the worst — of President Bush’s so-called “faith-based initiative.” “I still believe it’s a good idea to have…
CBF worker furthers education for children in Ethiopian town
ATLANTA (ABP) — Dee Donalson grasped a tiny hand and helped an Ethiopian kindergartener trace over stones lined in the shape of the numeral 2. The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship field worker, whose front porch serves as a makeshift classroom, teaches…
Michael Clyburn assumes helm at Alderson-Broaddus College
PHILIPPI, W. Va. (ABP) — Michael Clyburn began his duties July 1 as president of Alderson-Broaddus College, an American Baptist school in Philippi, W. Va. Clyburn, who previously served as president of Louisburg College in North Carolina, became the eighth…
Analysis: Dobson confused at best about Obama speech, defenders say
WASHINGTON (ABP) — James Dobson thinks that Barack Obama holds to a “fruitcake interpretation” of the Constitution’s religion clauses — but Dobson’s own interpretation of a two-year-old Obama speech that occasioned the critique may be far fruitier. That’s what Obama’s…
Name connects East Texas church with Middle Eastern Christians
PALESTINE, Texas (ABP) — For the members of First Baptist Church in Palestine, Texas, sharing names with a Middle Eastern territory has led to a connection with Christians on the West Bank. It began a few years ago. Pastor Jay…
RIGHT OR WRONG?
My widowed mother is retired and survives on Social Security. After many years of living alone, she met a wonderful man she loves dearly. They want to marry, but because of potential loss of Social Security income, they are thinking…