DALLAS (ABP) — The Baptist General Convention of Texas will not file lawsuits to recover church-starting money mismanaged in the Rio Grande Valley. Civil litigation would be costly and complex, and the statute of limitations could prevent recovery of a…
Texas Baptist board elects committee to find director
DALLAS (ABP) — The Baptist General Convention of Texas Executive Board has elected a 15-member search committee to replace executive director Charles Wade, who has announced plans to retire Jan. 31, 2008. Executive Board Chairman Bob Fowler sent an e-mail…
TV news producer named news director for Ky. Baptist paper
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (ABP) — Drew Nichter has been named news director of the Western Recorder, a Baptist newspaper in Louisville, Ky. He started in his new role May 16. Nichter, 30, succeeds David Winfrey, who resigned after 10 years to…
Study suggests Muslims in America more mainstream than in Europe
WASHINGTON (ABP) — One of the most comprehensive studies of its kind suggests that Muslims in the United States are far better assimilated into the nation's culture — and far less likely to espouse extremist beliefs — than their counterparts…
Plan allows N.C. colleges to elect trustees but give up funding
ASHEBORO, N.C. (ABP) — The five colleges affiliated with the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina would be able to elect their own trustees under a plan adopted by the convention's board of directors, but the schools will lose the…
High-level GOPers absent at Falwell funeral service
LYNCHBURG, Va. (ABP) — Although Jerry Falwell did more than about anybody else to identify conservative evangelical Christians with the Republican Party in the last 30 years, top GOP leaders were notably absent at his May 22 funeral in Virginia….
Latest Senate immigration proposal long shot but needed, ethicist says
WASHINGTON (ABP) — Although it may face an uphill battle in Congress, some Christian leaders are saying the Senate's latest immigration-reform proposal is better than nothing. The legislation passed an initial test May 21 when the Senate voted to consider…
Vietnam vets organizing reunion of former Saigon Baptist church
HIDEAWAY, Texas (ABP) — Baptist churches, sometimes known for holding endless committee meetings and forming factions pitted against each other for slight offences, could learn a thing or two from Trinity Baptist Church of the former Saigon, Vietnam. According to…
Drake won’t repeat as SBC 2nd VP but won’t rule out higher office
BUENA PARK, Calif. (ABP) — Wiley Drake, the Los Angeles-area pastor, radio crusader and Southern Baptist Convention gadfly, has announced he will not allow himself to be nominated for a second term as second vice president of the convention. The…
Missouri pastor named director of ministerial excellence at CBF
ATLANTA — Steve Graham, pastor of Second Baptist Church in Liberty, Mo., has been named director of ministerial excellence for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. He will assume the new role in June. The initiative for ministerial excellence is funded by…
Missouri conservatives organize against their former movement
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (ABP) — Eleven ministers who supported conservatives' efforts to take control of the Missouri Baptist Convention now say that the people they put in power have taken conservatism too far. The group voiced its concerns publicly in…
Huckabee cancels Covenant speech over Jimmy Carter’s criticism of Bush
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (ABP) — Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee has cancelled plans to speak at the New Baptist Covenant Celebration next January because of organizer Jimmy Carter's recent criticism of President Bush. Carter criticized Bush's foreign policy in a…