WASHINGTON (ABP) — Exit polls of Republican voters in the Jan. 15 Michigan primary showed that, unlike in the previous Iowa and New Hampshire contests, evangelical Republicans preferred Mitt Romney to Mike Huckabee. A groundswell of support among self-described evangelical…
Obama again refutes Muslim rumors; Jewish leaders denounce e-mails
WASHINGTON (ABP) — Churchgoing Congregationalist Barack Obama is being forced once again to explain that he is not secretly a Muslim bent on furthering an international Islamic conspiracy by winning the presidency. Jewish and other religious leaders have joined him…
Groups criticize religious insensitivity in exit polls, timing of Nevada caucus
WASHINGTON (ABP) — Leaders from several religious groups are criticizing a polling agency and the organizers of the Jan. 19 Nevada caucuses for a lack of religious sensitivity. In a Jan. 10 letter, a group of prominent evangelicals — including…
Church members must ‘repent’ or risk expulsion, Sutton says
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP) — The latest internet-publicized conflict at a prominent Southern Baptist church has ended with a lawsuit's dismissal and the pastor calling on the plaintiffs to “repent for their sins” — or risk expulsion from the congregation. The…
‘Satanists’ arrested on suspicion of arson in Ala. church burnings
PHENIX CITY, Ala. (ABP) – Two professed Satanists have been charged with a recent series of arsons at Baptist and Methodist churches in rural eastern Alabama. The two men — both 21 years of age — allegedly set fires at…
Opinion: Who is the master of the house?
(ABP) The upcoming Celebration of a New Baptist Covenant, with its promotion of religious liberty, raises the question of how as Baptists we ought to understand true Christian freedom. In recent discussions about Baptist identity, the phrase “spiritual master” has…
Update: Baptist pastor Gilyard arrested for sex messages to teens
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (ABP) — Once touted by Southern Baptist leaders as the nation's next great African-American preacher, Darrell Gilyard was arrested Jan. 14 for sending lewd text messages to underage girls. Dogged for 20 years by dozens of allegations of…
Baptist students sought to study U.N. Millennium Development Goals
ATLANTA (ABP) — The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship has announced plans to take 12 students around the world to see how missionaries are working to reach the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals. Sponsored by the Baptist group's Student.Go missions program, the…
Huckabee’s role in SBC conflict presaged political balancing act
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (ABP) — Mike Huckabee's role in the holy war that divided the Southern Baptist Convention was as delicate a balancing act as the one he's attempting now in his presidential campaign, balancing grassroots populism and right-wing conservatism….
Correction
Replace the first paragraph in the Jan. 11 ABP story titled “Zambian boy's ordeal shows slavery lingers, even in America” with the following: COLLEYVILLE, Texas (ABP) – Given Kachepa's father died when he was 7. He lost his mother when…
Sanctuary of Truett, Criswell may be replaced, pastor says
DALLAS (ABP) — The storied pulpit that launched the careers of legendary Baptist pastors George W. Truett and W.A. Criswell may be moving into a new building. The current pastor of First Baptist Church of Dallas, Robert Jeffress, has proposed…
Gilyard, once darling of SBC elites, again forced to resign over sex
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (ABP) — Once touted by Southern Baptist leaders as the nation's next great African-American preacher, Darrell Gilyard has resigned from his fifth church over charges of sexual misconduct — this time with underage girls. Dogged for 20 years…