When Anglos, Hispanics, African-Americans and Nigerians gather in the same place on Sunday morning, planning worship presents challenges. “Its a lot more than just a question of hymns or choruses,” said Charlie Brown, pastor of The Crossing Baptist Church in…
Peruvians find unity in quakes aftermath
PISCO, Peru (BP) — The tremor lasts only a moment, but Amparo Guerra can't mistake the familiar feel of the earth moving in waves beneath her feet. Her forehead wrinkles in panic as she screams, “Get away from the building!”…
Opportunities, challenges confront increasingly multi-ethnic congregation
DALLAS—Soon after Pastor Bruce Troy arrived at Gaston Oaks Baptist Church in Dallas, he challenged a group in the congregation to answer one question: “What would you do if God put 100 people on your doorstep?” Three years later, Troy…
Pastor faces possible five years in prison
KHALKABAD, Uzbekistan — Four years after being harassed by authorities, the small Baptist congregation in Khalkabad near Pap in the eastern Namangan Region of Uzbekistan is again facing harassment for meeting without compulsory registration. Local Baptists told Forum 18 News…
Aging minister recalls price paid for recognizing God’s image in all people
HILLICOTHE, Mo.—When Norman Shands made a vow to God 65 years ago, he couldn't have imagined that it would thrust him into the center of the Civil Rights Movement in Atlanta. The vow—that he would view and treat every person…
Azeri pastor sentenced to two years in prison
WASHINGTON (BWA) — Zaur Balaev, a 44-year old pastor in Aliabad, Azerbaijan, was sentenced to two years in prison Aug. 8 on charges that he beat up five policemen and damaged a police car door, according to Forum 18. Arrested…
Baptists active on both sides in the Little Rock integration battle
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (ABP)—The story of Lakeshore Drive Baptist Church in Little Rock, Ark., encapsulates the little-recounted role that white Baptists played during the Civil Rights Movement—on both sides. The church owes its existence to the 1957-59 struggle to integrate…
2ND OPINION: Looking for new Catherines
RICHMOND (BP) — She was born 660 years ago into a world tormented by fear, chaos and death. Her mother wanted her to be a “normal” daughter, to marry and rear a family behind the relatively secure walls of middle-class…
D. James Kennedy, elder statesman of Religious Right, dead at 76
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (ABP) — Presbyterian minister D. James Kennedy died Sept. 5, little more than a week after he retired from the pulpit that helped him launch both evangelistic and political ministries. Kennedy, who was 76, had served for…
Baptists active on both sides of historic Ark. integration battle
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (ABP) — The story of Lakeshore Drive Baptist Church in Little Rock, Ark., encapsulates the little-recounted role that white Baptists played in many episodes of the civil-rights movement — both for good and for ill. The church…
Hardin-Simmons, others, withdraw from magazine’s ranking race
ABILENE, Texas (ABP) — On the heels of U.S. News & World Report's annual list of “America's best colleges,” several Baptist schools have announced plans to disengage from the magazine's ranking race. All told, more than 60 schools nationwide have…
Iowa judge’s ruling makes state latest gay-marriage battleground
DES MOINES, Iowa (ABP) — Iowa’s first legal same-sex marriage will remain its only one for the time being, thanks to a ruling filed just hours after the state’s first gay couple legally wed. Polk County Judge Robert Hanson agreed…