SUNNYVALE, Calif. (ABP) — Women from 11 different countries and of diverse faith traditions gathered here Sept. 14-16 to investigate issues affecting women worldwide. Held at the Iranian Christian Church in Sunnyvale, Calif., the annual Global Voices conference, sponsored by…
Texas Baptist board approves big staff, budget cuts
DALLAS (ABP) — After extensive debate, the Baptist General Convention of Texas executive board voted 52-28 to approve a $50.1 million budget recommendation — a move that eliminates as many as 30 staff positions for Baptists' largest statewide body. The…
In first day of session, court declines church-state cases
WASHINGTON (ABP) — On the first day of their 2007-2008 term, the justices of the Supreme Court declined to hear two church-state cases that could have yielded controversial rulings. Among the hundreds of cases the court turned away Oct. 1…
Energy-efficient churches have more money for ministry
WALKERTOWN, N.C. (ABP) — Churches are becoming concerned about how the way they run their facilities affects the environment — and the energy behind that green-consciousness is coming from the inside. In some cases, business people within the congregation have…
Christians need ‘moral imagination’ to ease global warming, Cizik says
ABILENE, Texas (ABP) — “Premillenial pessimism” and blind allegiance to politicians backed by oil companies contribute to evangelicals' relative silence about the threat of global warming, said Richard Cizik, the National Association for Evangelicals' vice president for governmental affairs. In…
Some Episcopal bishops unsatisfied with ‘lukewarm’ New Orleans statement
NEW YORK (ABP) — Leaders of the Episcopal Church in the United States voted overwhelmingly Sept. 24 to continue working toward unity with the worldwide Anglican Communion, despite years of infighting and threats of schism over homosexuality and other issues….
Midwestern Seminary factions reportedly square off in battle over president’s fate
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (ABP) — Leaders of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary are reportedly squaring off in a struggle over the school's president, Phil Roberts. Roberts' stewardship of the Kansas City, Mo.-based institution is the subject of a tug-of-war between seminary…
California church leaders question IRS investigation into war sermon
PASADENA, Calif. (ABP) — The Internal Revenue Service has informed a progressive California church that it will not be sanctioned for an anti-war sermon preached there in 2004 — but church leaders are asking for an apology for an investigation…
Mission to Unreached Peoples names Kent Parks international director
DALLAS (ABP) — Kent Parks, a 20-year veteran of Baptist mission service in Southeast Asia, will become international director of Mission to Unreached Peoples, effective November 1. Parks, 50, will establish an international office in Dallas, Texas, and will work…
Thomas Corts named coordinator of Bush’s education initiative
NEW YORK (ABP) — Thomas Corts, executive director of the International Association of Baptist Colleges and Universities and former president of Samford University, has been named to a new position related to President Bush's international education initiatives. Corts will be…
Opinion: Keeping complementarians true to Scripture
My professional pilgrimage has been marked by a sometimes painful series of movements between Christian academic institutions falling on opposite sides of the gender issue, or what has come to be called the complementarian/egalitarian divide. This has given me opportunity…
BWA president Coffey in Lebanon shortly after lawmaker’s assassination
BEIRUT, Lebanon (ABP) — The president of the Baptist World Alliance is touring Lebanon and the Middle East in the wake of an assassination of a Lebanese Parliament member and continued unrest in the tumultuous region. David Coffey arrived in…