Christian groups commit to cooperation. More than 240 Christian leaders said they left an international summit in Kenya committed to building closer ties among the world's Christian denominations. The Global Christian Forum, meeting near Nairobi, brought together Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox,…
Spare some change?
WASHINGTON — Every day, Lawaune Stockton stands with her cup in front of a downtown McDonald's, jingling the change inside as customers come and go. She cinches the strings on the hood of her sweatshirt to keep out the damp…
Appeals court upholds ruling against funding for Christian prison programs
ST. LOUIS (ABP) — A federal appeals court has affirmed a lower court's decision saying state funding for a Christian prison program in Iowa was unconstitutional. But the three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in its…
New Baptist Covenant program, breakouts focus on unity theme
ATLANTA (ABP) — While known for their historic independence and stubbornness, Baptists from more than 40 American and Canadian denominations and groups will converge under a banner of unity next month in Atlanta. Organizers of the Celebration of a New…
Christian website offers YouTube alternative for wary Baptists
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (ABP) — Move over, YouTube. Baptists have video cameras. And they're using them, now that they have a “safe” place to share their videos online, says Bill Nix, CEO and president of Axletree Media. Axletree's E-zekiel, a Website…
Opinion: Building bridges with Calvinists
(ABP) — Dick McCartney, my editor when I worked at the Oklahoma Baptist Messenger, used to wander into my office, bottom feeding for an editorial idea. “What should I view with alarm this week?” he would ask. There are always…
Stand and deliver: ‘Knowing the people’ is key to successful preaching
(ABP) — God chose “the foolishness of preaching” as the preferred instrument for communicating the message of salvation, the Apostle Paul wrote. But when the time arrives to stand and deliver that message, how does a preacher measure whether it's…
Lectionary helps some preachers ‘divide word of truth,’ avoid repeats
(ABP) — It's Saturday night. Do you know where your pastor is? A safe guess might be “in a study, frantically developing the next day's sermon.” The pastor's task is to “carefully divide the word of truth,” but many pulpiteers…
Stand and deliver: Preachers urged to avoid pulpit plagiarism
(ABP) — If preachers pass off other people's work as their own, they automatically limit themselves to preaching about only eight commandments. “Thou shalt not steal” and “thou shalt not bear false witness” become off-limits. But preachers can avoid plagiarism…
Hillary Clinton garners applause at Warren’s AIDS conference
LAKE FOREST, Calif. (ABP) — Despite controversy over her appearance there, Hillary Clinton has reportedly gotten rave reviews for a speech on combating AIDS she gave Nov. 29 at one of the country's largest evangelical churches. The Democratic New York…
Baptist man provides pastoral care to HIV/AIDS community in New York
NEW YORK — On Dec. 1, churches across the country will observe World AIDS Day by remembering those infected and affected by AIDS. But in the mid-1980s, AIDS had yet to take center stage in the American consciousness. That's when…
New Baptist Covenant preach-in features Forbes, other notables
ATLANTA (ABP) — A miniature preaching festival within next year's Celebration of a New Baptist Covenant will feature one of the nation's most famous preachers among a group that is broadly diverse in terms of ethnic background, gender, denominational affiliation…