WASHINGTON (ABP) — A Pennsylvania county has settled a lawsuit over funding a prisoner-rehabilitation program that allegedly was filled with religious content. Bradford County, Pa., and attorneys representing six county taxpayers agreed to the settlement in federal court April 3,…
Praise in the Park set for July
Members of Linden Heights Baptist Church in Staunton are making plans for the fifth annual Praise in the Park. The kickoff will be Sunday, July 1. Gospel concerts will continue every Tuesday night during July and August. The free concerts…
CBF Air Force chaplain ministers to patients, staff at hospital in Iraq
ATLANTA (ABP) — At the U.S. Air Force Theater Hospital in Iraq, the sounds of Army Blackhawk and Marine Sea Knight helicopters are a call to duty for Air Force chaplain Shane Gaster. Gaster, one of more than 90 military…
Opinion: Formation and malformation in the body of Christ
The recent meeting of the Mainstream Baptist Network was the predictable celebration of “freedom” as the cornerstone of what it means to be Baptist. I will note only in passing the irony of a group that describes itself as “mainstream”…
Relationships key component to help immigrants, Baptist workers say
FREDERICKSBURG, Va. (ABP) — Every afternoon, Felicitas does something she thought might never happen. She meets the school bus near her Virginia apartment complex to pick up her son, Carlos, as he returns from another day of elementary school. Carlos…
Assistant editor Elliott opens ABP’s New York bureau
NEW YORK (ABP) — Associated Baptist Press has launched a news bureau in the world's media capital, New York. ABP Assistant Editor Hannah Elliott opened the independent news service's New York bureau March 15, a little more than a year…
Dobson backtracks on remarks questioning Thompson’s faith
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (ABP) — Focus on the Family head James Dobson is attempting to deflect criticism for his recent comments that questioned the Christian faith of a potential Republican presidential candidate. Dobson, through a spokesman for the Colorado-based organization,…
Not just for Sundays anymore: papers rethink religion section
NEW YORK (ABP) — On March 24, the Dallas Morning News received the Religion Communicators Council award for the nation's best religion section. It was the 10th time in 11 years the News had won. Unfortunately for the News, there's…
Evangelical leaders, Kennedy unite on immigration reform
WASHINGTON (ABP) — A bipartisan array of Congress members and evangelical leaders exhorted their colleagues March 29 on the moral necessity of immigration reform. Leaders from across the ideological spectrum — from Sens. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.)…
Evangelist Rick Ousley withdraws from speaking circuit after affair
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (ABP) — Baptist pastor and football chaplain Rick Ousley, founder of The Church at Brook Hills in Birmingham, Ala., has temporarily withdrawn from his evangelistic ministry after admitting to an extramarital affair. Ousley and the directors of his…
The Well Community singular in goal to work with mentally disabled
DALLAS (ABP) — Joel Pulis, a Baylor University graduate now living in Dallas, was recently featured in People magazine for leading his church in a relatively new and singular mission: to reach poor people with mental disabilities. Pulis, 33, refers…
McKissic and Southwestern trustees make peace over ‘prayer language’
FORT WORTH, Texas (ABP) — Texas pastor Dwight McKissic and his fellow trustees at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary have apparently decided to make peace, despite their previous public disagreements about a private “prayer language.” In a March 27 statement, trustee…