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…
OUT LOUD
“In spite of their best efforts to steer people to another candidate … they failed. Why? Because the people said, ‘I don't care who you think I should vote for. I'm going to vote for who I want to vote…
Haggard leaves ‘restoration’ process with Colo. church
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (RNS) — Ted Haggard, the former pastor of a Colorado megachurch who was dismissed after a sex and drug scandal, has decided to end a “spiritual restoration” process that had been set up by the congregation. “He…
Will ‘evangelical center’ emerge to rival waning Christian Right?
(ABP) — If the Religious Right is losing its influence, as many pundits predict, will it be replaced by the “other” evangelicals — a center-and-left coalition with a broader social agenda and a kinder, gentler brand of cultural engagement? Advocates…
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,…