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…
Gathering of the tribes
The opening session of the New Baptist Covenant was like being in church — a very large Baptist church with a huge congregation. African-American Baptists were dressed in their Sunday-go-to-meeting clothes with those fantastic church hats. The younger generation of…
Wheaton officials withdraw from letter to Muslims
WHEATON, Ill. (RNS) — The president of Wheaton College, a flagship evangelical institution in Illinois, and two other school officials have removed their names from a letter that called for cooperation with Muslims. The open letter, drafted by Yale Divinity…
Sexual exploitation alive in America; churches can end it
ATLANTA (ABP) — Many church-goers know human trafficking and sexual exploitation are global issues. But more than 200,000 children in the United States have become “sex commodities” as well, Baptist social workers say. Ellyn Waller and Brenda Troy led a…
Ruth Stafford Peale, Guideposts founder, dies at 101
PAWLING, N.Y. (RNS) — Ruth Stafford Peale, the co-founder of the inspirational magazine Guideposts and widow of author and minister Norman Vincent Peale, died Feb. 6 at her home in Pawling, N.Y., the Guideposts organization announced. Peale, who was 101,…
FAITHSHAPERS: Introduction to spiritual formation
What are we trying to do to our children? You have probably read or heard the statistics that indicate the importance of instilling faith in children. The likelihood of a person coming to faith declines significantly with the onset of…
Specter moves to allow churches to show Super Bowl
WASHINGTON (RNS) — Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter, the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Commitee, plans to introduce legislation to allow churches to show the Super Bowl on widescreen televisions, just as bars do now. “There's absolutely no reason why…
Shared meals at church take on a different flavor to meet changing needs
AKRON, Ohio (RNS) — Andrew Hamilton still can taste the homemade apple, cherry and peach pies that capped off the covered-dish church meals of his youth in Lakeville, Mass. In those days, children played on their own for hours while…