(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…
Henry Hyde, legislative champion for anti-abortion movement, dies
WASHINGTON (ABP) — Longtime GOP Rep. Henry Hyde (Ill.), a champion of the anti-abortion movement who also earned unwanted attention for his role during President Clinton's impeachment, is dead at 83. The office of House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio)…
American Baptist theologian becomes first black woman to head association
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (ABP) — An American Baptist theologian has become the first African-American woman elected president of the nation's largest professional society for religion professors. Emilie Townes, the Andrew Mellon Professor of African-American Religion and Theology at Yale Divinity…
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…
Veteran Baptist journalist Roy Jennings dies at age 83
GERMANTOWN, Tenn. (ABP) — Veteran Southern Baptist journalist Roy Jennings died Nov. 22. He was 83. Jennings is best known in Southern Baptist circles for his work as news editor in the newsrooms at the annual meetings of the Southern…
Baptists give aid in Bangladesh as cyclone’s death toll rises
KANAINAGAR, Bangladesh (ABP) — Baptists joined an international relief effort in Bangladesh after a cyclone killed more than 3,400 people in the Ganges River delta along the Bay of Bengal. Baptist World Aid, the relief and development arm of the…
On 200th anniversary of slave trade, British Baptists apologize for slavery
SWANWICK, England (ABP) — Baptists in Britain have apologized for their role in the slave trade. The Council of the Baptist Union of Great Britain, observing the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade, passed an apology…
Experts: Stem-cell breakthrough may not end short-term debate
WASHINGTON (ABP) — Although religious conservatives have cheered the Nov. 20 announcement of a breakthrough in stem-cell research, the moral controversy over the practice may not end any time soon. The announcement — made by independent teams of scientists working…
President of Oral Roberts University resigns amid misspending allegations
TULSA, Okla. (ABP) — Just days after Richard Roberts resigned from his position as president of Oral Roberts University, regents there are scrambling to find someone else to fill the post. Roberts resigned Nov. 23 in a letter sent to…
Jezebel: Did the Bible’s bad girl get a bad rap?
WASHINGTON (RNS) — Few historical characters rival Jezebel for negative stereotypes. Today, “she's a household word for badness,” one scholar said. Culturally, she's portrayed as a brash, sexually provocative woman wearing too much make-up, another observed. So in her new…
Florida Baptists say alcohol disqualifies leaders from service
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (ABP) — Only teetotalers will be allowed to serve as trustees of the Florida Baptist Convention's agencies and boards, as a result of a vote at the convention's annual meeting. With no discussion and less than half…