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…
Building relationships is key to ministry to nontraditional families
How should a congregation respond to an unmarried cohabitating couple's request to join the church? Churches likely will face this and other tough questions as society's definition of family continues to change. “This isn't the church our parents grew up…
SBC targets Texas church over homosexuality
INDIANAPOLIS (ABP) — A Fort Worth, Texas, church, which long ago cut back its support of the Southern Baptist Convention, nonetheless could be ousted from that body because it welcomes homosexuals. The possible ouster of Broadway Baptist Church, along with…
Pastor challenges parents and offers incentive to tie the knot
HARRISBURG, Pa. — Daneisha Dunbar was never so happy to see her children cry. But there they were: 13-year-old Jheran, 10-year-old Aryn and 5-year-old Taryn, shedding tears and squealing with joy at the news that their mommy and daddy are…
SBC officials reject idea of sex-offender database
INDIANAPOLIS (ABP) — Citing Baptists' “belief in the autonomy of each local church,” a Southern Baptist Convention official announced May 10 that the denomination's Executive Committee would not support the creation of a database of sexual offenders in SBC churches….
Alma Hunt, missions advocate, dies
ROANOKE — Alma Hunt, one of Baptists' best-known missions advocates, died June 14 in a Roanoke hospital. She was 98. The Virginia native gained national recognition in 1948 when she became executive secretary of the Birmingham, Ala.-based Woman's Missionary Union,…
CBF expands anti-poverty initiative, launches process to determine group’s future
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — An update on how the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship is helping achieve the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals — a commitment the organization's decision-making body made last fall — topped the agenda of the CBF's annual general assembly…