NEW YORK (ABP) — The foundational symbol of God's ancient covenant with his people is getting a lot less common in the United States, but medical and theological debates still rage about the propriety of circumcision. Recent legal battles over…
Obama speech to denomination spurs IRS investigation of UCC
WASHINGTON (ABP) — A speech that Barack Obama made last year to his fellow Congregationalists has spurred an Internal Revenue Service investigation that threatens the tax-exempt status of an entire denomination. Leaders of the Illinois senator's United Church of Christ…
Abstinence compromise means AIDS relief bill back on track
WASHINGTON (ABP) — A bill that would more than triple the amount of money the United States spends combating the AIDS pandemic got a boost Feb. 27 with a compromise over abstinence-focused prevention efforts and abortion. House leaders and White…
Let’s get organized: How should churches structure leader groups?
FRESNO, Calif. (ABP) — Deserved or not, committees — especially in Baptist life — often conjure negative connotations. The term is borrowed from government and corporate culture, says Don Simmons, owner of Creative Potential Consulting and Training, a management and…
Opinion: The deeper wellsprings of centrist evangelicalism
(ABP) — Discussion of the concept of an emerging evangelical center (or some other label for an alternative to the Christian Right) has taken off in recent months — indeed, in recent weeks. Hardly a day goes by without some…
Opinion: Marriage in the marketplace
I don't wish to be thought unperceptive, but apparently the world I had always known has ended without my being aware of it. The occasion for this epiphany was a radio ad for car insurance. This commercial took the form…
Correction
In the Feb. 21 story titled “Pastor points to Muslims as source of Kenya violence; experts disagree,” please change the byline from Greg Warner to Ken Camp.
Broad U.S. religious marketplace spurs conversion, study suggests
WASHINGTON (ABP) — A massive, groundbreaking new study of the American religious landscape shows that Protestants are losing their share of the nation's population — and that the nation's broad religious diversity is paired with great religious dynamism. The Pew…
Arkansas college prof nominee for CBF moderator-elect post
ATLANTA (ABP) — Hal Bass, a professor at Ouachita Baptist University, has been nominated for the position of moderator-elect for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, the group's nominating committee has announced. The panel has also recommended Joanne Carr of Georgia for…
Hardin-Simmons head Turner leaves for North Carolina post
ABILENE, Texas (ABP) — Craig Turner, the president of Texas Baptists' Hardin-Simmons University, has resigned to become president of Catawba College, a private liberal-arts school in Salisbury, N.C. His decision to resign was influenced by his family, Turner said. “The…
British Baptist pastor to aid U.N. effort to end slavery
WASHINGTON (ABP) — British Baptist pastor Steve Chalke has been appointed as a special advisor to the United Nation's Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking. Chalke, chair of Stop the Traffic, a group of 1,000 organizations in 60 countries that…
New Texas exec elected, wants to help Baptists fulfill ‘kingdom assignment’
DALLAS (ABP) — Commitment to a “kingdom assignment” — namely, ensuring that every person in Texas has the opportunity to respond to Christ by Easter 2010 — can help unite Texas Baptists, Randel Everett told the Baptist General Convention of…