GOP presidential race again features faith, but new dynamics Democratic presidential race features more faith than usual ABP compares faith-based positions of top-tier presidential hopefuls “Faith and the presidency”: How the leading candidates compare Will Huckabee's strong Iowa showing bring…
Opinion: More than a tragedy — the evil in Blacksburg
The grotesquely evil act that occurred this week at Virginia Tech challenges the imagination's capacity to respond. I cannot say that I have some kind of comprehensive analysis to offer. I would like to say a few things, though, from…
Palestinian Bible Society building bombed in latest Gaza incident
GAZA CITY, Palestine (ABP) — In the latest violence among warring Palestinian factions, a bomb severely damaged the Palestinian Bible Society building April 15 in Gaza City. The building, located in the city center, housed the Teacher's Bookshop, Gaza's only…
Baptist colleges prepare strategies for dealing with campus incidents
BELTON, Texas (ABP) — Police cars and fire engines lined the streets on the north side of the University of Mary-Hardin Baylor campus April 18. Paramedics carried students on stretchers and loaded them into ambulances. This time, it was just…
Virginia Tech students gather at Baptist ministry center
Blacksburg, Va., is a wounded city. With 26,000 students, Virginia Tech is the dominant presence in the town usually bustling with students crisscrossing the campus and spilling over into the streets of the burg. Not Monday. JIM WHITE Although barraged…
Corporate setting offers chaplain chance to be ‘presence of Christ’
GLEN ALLEN — Tyson Foods Inc. in Glen Allen invests in its team each day to achieve the highest level of quality and production possible. In the process, the company sets an example for others to follow. Alan Tyson, director…
Grieving students, others pack VT’s covocation
The day after a student gunman killed 32 students and professors on the campus of Virginia Tech, thousands more than expected attended a solemn convocation to honor the dead and comfort the grieving. The day was sunny and mild but…
Wade announces plans to retire as Texas Baptist executive
DALLAS (ABP) — Charles Wade, who led the Baptist General Convention of Texas through major changes in its governance and a reorganization of its staff, has announced plans to retire as executive director Jan. 31, 2008. Wade told BGCT employees…
The church in parenthesis
When pastors leave congregations, their former churches often face what could be termed a punctuation crisis.Some mark the departure with a period, as the end of a sentence—either for the minister or the congregation. Others approach it with a question…
Missouri Baptist executive fired in closed-door session
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (ABP and BP) – David Clippard, embattled executive director of the Missouri Baptist Convention, was fired April 10 by the convention's Executive Board. Following a second closed-door meeting about Clippard's leadership within six months, Executive Board members…
Churches show lasting benefits from intentional interim ministry, study says
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.—Churches that go through the intentional interim ministry process show lasting benefits, recent research has demonstrated. The Center for Congregational Health examined churches 24 to 36 months after they completed the intentional interim process, paying particular attention to how…
Missouri associate Jim Austin tapped for top Baptist spot in South Carolina
COLUMBIA, S. C. — After spending less than two years as associate executive director of the Missouri Baptist Convention, Jim Austin is expected to become new executive director-treasurer of the South Carolina Baptist Convention. A South Carolina search committee announced…