ATLANTA (ABP)-Although often difficult to negotiate, drawing the proper line between church and state is worth it for both institutions, according to experts in the topic. A panel of religious-liberty advocates addressed a small-group session of the Celebration of a…
Sexual exploitation alive in America; churches can end it
ATLANTA (ABP)– Many churchgoers 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 discussion…
Prophetic preaching breaks down barriers, builds up God’s kingdom
ATLANTA (ABP) — Breaking down barriers, healing the hurting, challenging Christians to transcend categories of “us and them” and announcing the coming kingdom of God are just a few of the roles prophetic preachers must fill, according to speakers at…
Public servants & preachers challenge Baptists to welcome ‘the stranger’
ATLANTA (ABP) — The biblical command to “welcome the stranger” encompasses support for all of those on society's margins, prominent preachers and public servants told participants at the celebration of a New Baptist Covenant Feb. 1. In the Friday-morning plenary…
Gore: ‘Heaping contempt’ on creation inconsistent with glorifying God
ATLANTA (ABP) — Christians who speak out for environmentalism can combat skepticism and end America's addiction to carbon fuels, Al Gore told 2,000 Baptists who gathered to hear him Jan. 31 in part of a three-day celebration of denominational unity….
Global ills take center stage at Baptist convocation in Atlanta
ATLANTA (ABP) — Baptists focused attention on social and global ills — materialism, climate change, HIV/AIDS and apathy — during the second day of a unity meeting in Atlanta. Tony Campolo, Al Gore and John Grisham provided the notable speeches…
Campolo to Baptists: ‘Rise up, you suckers, and do the work of Jesus’
ATLANTA (ABP) — Author Tony Campolo challenged Baptists from across North America to examine which Jesus they preach — the one who incarnates American values or the one who incarnates God. Campolo, professor emeritus at Eastern University near Philadelphia, and…
Regain respect by rejecting exclusion, author Grisham urges fellow Baptists
ATLANTA (ABP) — The name “Baptist” is not widely respected in America “because for so long so many Baptists have worked so hard to exclude so many,” best-selling author and Baptist layman John Grisham said Jan. 31. Grisham told a…
After violence erupts again, Buckner cancels mission trips to Kenya until May
DALLAS (ABP) — All Buckner International mission trips to Kenya will be cancelled through May 2008, agency President Ken Hall said. The decision comes after violent unrest prompted by tainted presidential elections there Dec. 27. The announcement follows a previous…
Covenant organizers close gathering with determination but few specifics
ATLANTA (ABP) — “We don't want this to be a wasted moment,” Jimmy Carter said, describing the excitement and concern he said he found among participants in the first-of-its-kind New Baptist Covenant, which wrapped up its three-day gathering in Atlanta…
Baptist unity takes center stage as New Covenant meeting opens
ATLANTA (ABB) — Baptist unity took center stage during the opening night of the New Baptist Covenant convocation in Atlanta Jan. 30. About 10,000 African-American, Anglo, Asian-American and Hispanic Baptists gathered at the urging of former President Jimmy Carter and…
Baptist chaplains provide spiritual care to Marines at Camp Pendleton
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. (ABP) — The 2000 suicide attack of the USS Cole in Yemen made Sunny Mitchell realize she wanted to become a Navy chaplain. “I knew some of the sailors on the Cole, and I wanted to be…