CONOVER, N.C. (ABP) — Despite decades of tweaking evangelistic methods, there is little evidence that many Christians are experiencing true life change, Ron Martoia told church leaders Jan. 29. Perhaps, the church consultant said, that failure is because Christians in…
IMB trustee investigation rejects allegations of board impropriety
The Southern Baptist Convention's International Mission Board, following an internal investigation, has rejected a trustee's accusations of impropriety and unauthorized tightening of doctrinal parameters. The board reportedly approved a report, based on its own executive committee's investigations into the charges,…
Study says teen faith shaped more by hands-on ministry than worship
WACO, Texas (ABP) — Serving meals to homeless people at a church-sponsored shelter can have a greater impact than sitting in a pew every Sunday morning on how a teenager's faith develops, a new study has concluded. “Involvement in community…
National WMU to suffer from more funding cuts
The Woman's Missionary Union of the Southern Baptist Convention, which has seen its annual revenues drop precipitously in the last eight years, now stands to lose hundreds of thousands of dollars more from one of the two mission boards it…
Experts on both sides of ‘ex-gay’ debate skeptical about Haggard cure claim
WASHINGTON (ABP) — Claims by one of Ted Haggard's spiritual overseers that he is now “100 percent heterosexual” should be taken with a significant grain of salt, according to experts with differing opinions on the value of “ex-gay” or sexual-reorientation…
Baptist mission workers killed in bus crash in Honduras
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (ABP) — Three Americans on a mission trip in Honduras were killed in a truck crash Feb. 6. Ten other people were injured when the truck flipped on a remote mountain road, authorities said. Two of the deceased…
Texas ethics leader calls Baptists to oppose new coal plants
AUSTIN, Texas (ABP) — The director of Texas Baptists' ethics organization has called for Baptists in the state to lobby public officials not to open 18 proposed coal-fired power plants that would dump tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere…
Pain of Florida tornado intense for rural Florida church, 2 families
PAISLEY, Fla. (ABP) — Like a lot of close-knit churches in rural Florida, the 100-member First Baptist Church of Paisley is small enough that regular attenders are missed when they don't show up on Sunday. But the absence of the…
Last of Arizona Baptist fraud convicts sentenced to prison
PHOENIX (ABP) — One of the most egregious cases of fraud in non-profit history came to a close Feb. 2, when the former treasurer of the Baptist Foundation of Arizona was sentenced. Donald Deardoff, 49, was ordered to serve four…
Palestinian police seize church in gunfight with rival party
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (ABP) — As conflict threatened to plunge Palestine into civil war Feb. 3, a Palestinian Baptist pastor sent out an impassioned plea to supporters around the world to pray for his church, which authorities have seized…
Two more churches leave NC convention over gay policy
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (ABP) — On Feb. 4, St. John's Baptist Church in Charlotte, N.C., became the second church in a week to decide to break ties with the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina over its new anti-gay policy. Four…
Leonard Sweet tells pastors to embrace change, ‘get over’ postmodern shift
WACO, Texas (ABP) — Deal with it, get over it or get help. That's Leonard Sweet's mantra when it comes to understanding Christianity's fluid role in the postmodern world. The Christian church is in the midst of a “perfect storm,”…