CINCINNATI (ABP) — A federal appeals court said Jan. 17 that the Michigan government was right to discontinue funding a Christian ministry for abused, neglected and delinquent children. A three-judge panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously…
Carter, Clinton hope compassion agenda will unite Baptists across North America
Baptists from across North America will convene in Atlanta early next year to emphasize their compassion rather than the racial, theological and social conflict that has divided them for decades. Former presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton—two of the world's…
Sheri Klouda surprised at fallout from her ‘removal’ at Southwestern
FORT WORTH, Texas (ABP) — Sheri Klouda, a former professor at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, said she lost her job teaching Hebrew in the seminary's school of theology because she is a woman. But she wasn't prepared for the fallout…
Virginia Baptist leaders join others for covenant celebration
Three Virginia Baptist leaders were among the more than 80 leaders from 40 Baptist organizations in the United States and Canada who met Jan. 9 in Atlanta. John Upton, executive director of the Baptist General Association of Virginia; Jerry Jones,…
Baptists again endangered as violence engulfs Beirut
BEIRUT (ABP) — An urgent communiqué from a Lebanese Baptist leader warned Jan. 25 that escalating violence is threatening the Beirut Baptist School. Nabil Costa, executive director of the Lebanese Society for Educational and Social Development, sent an e-mail message…
SBC officials reject Carter, but not all Southern Baptists agree
Southern Baptist officials harshly rejected Jimmy Carter's effort to unite all Baptists in North America under a compassion agenda, calling the ambitious plan “voodoo ecumenism” and a thinly veiled Democratic strategy to woo values voters. But other Southern Baptists, including…
Woman’s missions group suffers from more Baptist funding cuts
RICHMOND, Va. (ABP) — 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…
Belmont subpoenas church records in Tennessee lawsuit
Belmont University has subpoenaed giving records from 100 Tennessee Baptist Convention churches in an ongoing legal dispute with the convention over control of the school's assets. The subpoena asks for records on churches' giving to the Cooperative Program between 1951,…
Controversy dooms another SBC megachurch pastor
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (ABP) — After fewer than five months as senior pastor, David Cox abruptly resigned Jan. 24 from the pulpit of First Baptist Church of Daytona Beach, Fla., which for more than three decades has been filled by…
Fires investigated at N.C. churches
“Suspicious” fires damaged two Baptist churches and a break-in was discovered at a third in Greenville, N.C., the night of Jan. 13. Memorial Baptist Church and Unity Free Will Baptist, located near each other in the city about 50 miles…
Bloggers decry Southwestern’s dismissal of female professor for teaching men
FORT WORTH, Texas (ABP) — The dismissal of a female Hebrew professor by Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary has triggered accusations of gender discrimination and a suffocating interpretation of Scripture. The outcry involves Sheri Klouda, who taught Hebrew in the seminary's…
Bush’s next-to-last State of the Union leaves liberals, conservatives cold
WASHINGTON (ABP) — President Bush's next-to-last State of the Union address provided little to cheer conservatives or liberals, highlighting the difficult position he is in as his presidency begins to approach its end. While speaking to both chambers of Congress…