ST. LOUIS (ABP) — This fall, Missouri Baptist University in suburban St. Louis will join a handful of other schools nationwide in offering a women’s wrestling program. MBU officials hope the program will help more of the small liberal-arts institution’s…
Troubled Texas WMU seeks healing with interim director
On the first day of their June 16-17 board meeting, directors learned the organization’s executive committee had hired Nelda Seal, former executive director of Louisiana WMU, for the post 11 days earlier. On June 17, members introduced a bylaws revision…
Alma Hunt, longtime Baptist missions advocate, dead at 98
Hunt’s influence remained profound over the next 34 years as a volunteer worker with the Baptist World Alliance, the Southern Baptist Convention’s Foreign (now International) Mission Board, Global Women and numerous Virginia Baptist organizations. “[Alma Hunt] heralded the cause of…
SBC officials reject idea of sex-offender database
The move came in response to a motion, passed nearly unanimously by messengers to last year’s SBC meeting, asking officials to study the database idea. Oklahoma pastor and former International Mission Board trustee Wade Burleson requested a feasibility study for…
SBC resolution could shrink church membership rolls further
The resolution, which reflects the growing influencing of Calvinism in the SBC, comes on the heels of denominational statistics that showed the 16 million-member convention shrinking. Membership fell in 2007 for the second time in a decade. Even more discouraging,…
Texas church targeted for ouster from SBC over homosexuality
Sanderson’s motion, like the one targeting female pastors, was referred to the SBC Executive Committee, which handles the business of the convention during the rest of the year. If eventually approved by the SBC next year, the effect of the…
Radical Islam among 4 apocalyptic forces threatening America, SBC’s Land says
Land, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, spoke during his agency’s report to the SBC annual meeting in Indianapolis. He saved his toughest words for radical Islam, which he called a “death cult.”…
Caspian more violent than virtuous, scholars say; but what about 3rd movie?
What ensues is a storyline that is noticeably more violent than The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Ralph Wood, professor of Lewis and Tolkien literature at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, noticed the difference between the two movies. He…
EDITORIAL: May the better candidate win
I hesitate to say anything about the presidential race because my comments seem always to be construed as subtle endorsements of particular candidates. That's understandable I suppose. But since I don't even know yet who I'm going to vote for…
Pastors ask town to ban Sunday morning sports
HANOVER TOWNSHIP, N.J. — It is a weekly ordeal at the Rev. Donald Mossa's church. The moment the youth choir sings its last note, a swarm of parents descends to rush their kids to soccer games. Or they call to…
Conservatives warn of gay marriage lawsuits
WASHINGTON — California's decision to legalize same-sex marriage could “spawn lawsuits all over the country,” trampling states' rights and limiting religious freedom, a coalition of conservative groups warned May 29. The Washington-based Family Research Council issued that warning the same…
FIRST PERSON: A child’s scream in a Kenyan shack
EDITOR'S NOTE: Sue Sprenkle, the International Mission Board's overseas correspondent for Africa, has reported from that continent for the last 10 years. She remains haunted by the atrocities she witnessed during Kenya's post-election violence earlier this year—and continues to wonder…