CLEVELAND (RNS)—Some of Antonio James' classmates laugh when they learn the 15-year-old has pledged not to have sex until he marries. It's not just male bravado that puts pressure on the 6-foot-1, 219-pound football player to be sexually active. “There's…
FAITH SHAPERS: Teaching tricky topics: Where does God live?
Have you ever thought about how confusing it must be for children when we talk about where God is? Although we rarely sit them down to talk about God's location, they pick up ideas from things we say. We tell…
Third World faith: The new center of Christianity
Laughter, tambourines and native instruments fill the air of a tiny apartment as a small group of Christians gather for fervent worship. Despite the oppression they have experienced under Islam and the Soviet system, these Central Asian Christians dance and…
Survey finds U.S. faith is more nuanced than most might think
WASHINGTON (RNS)—Think you know what Americans believe about religion? Think again. Seven in 10 Americans who follow one particular faith believe many “religions” can lead to eternal life. Despite the intense attention paid to evangelical and Catholic voters in a…
Vatican reports growth in Africa
VATICAN CITY (RNS)—Africa is the Catholic Church's region of biggest growth, with rising numbers of faithful, clergy and religious orders, according to Vatican statistics. IMB Photo Christian Fulanis in Nigeria meet at a local home for a Sunday morning Bible…
Highlights from U.S. Religious Landscape Survey
WASHINGTON (RNS)—Here are some of the findings from the U.S. Religious Landscape Survey of the beliefs and practices of adults in the United States: • 92 percent believe in God • 79 percent believe in miracles • 68 percent believe…
Impacting Port Sulphur
RICHMOND—In the early morning hours when most in the surrounding community was still sleeping, 10 members of North Run Baptist Church in Richmond departed on a 21-hour Impact NOW! trip to Port Sulphur, La., in lower Plaquemines Parish. Among the…
FAITH DIGEST
Presbyterians move toward allowing gay ministers. The nation's largest Presbyterian denomination has cracked open the door to ordaining noncelibate gay clergy. Delegates at the Presbyterian Church (USA) general assembly voted 54 percent to 46 percent to remove a clause in…
Impact Virginia! offers variety of programs
• Impact Virginia! This one-week program provides service in four areas across the state: Staunton, Bluefield, Culpepper and Bowling Green. Projects focus on home repair and renovation. • Impact NOW! This project responds to natural disasters across the country. The…
Dan Vestal corrects claim that Fellowship is ‘unchristian’
Why would some Baptist writers seem to go out of their way to create the impression that the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship is not only not Baptist but not even Christian? This is what CBF executive coordinator, Daniel Vestal, is wondering…
Baptist student missionary killed in Peru bus accident
ST. LOUIS (ABP) — Southern Baptist student missionary Gregory Gomez IV died July 5 in a bus crash in Peru. The 22-year-old Gomez was serving as a short-term field worker with the Southern Baptist Convention’s International Mission Board. According to…
Helms, ultra-conservative icon, steeped in moderate Baptist life
RALEIGH, N.C. (ABP) — Jesse Helms, the Baptist former senator who battled communist oppression but backed right-wing dictators and opposed abortion while appealing to racist sentiment, was a polarizing figure who was lionized by some conservatives and vilified by many…