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…
Day will celebrate preaching of women
Baptist Women in Ministry is inviting all churches to participate in the first of what it hopes will be an annual Martha Stearns Marshall Day of Preaching. “On the first Sunday of February each year, we will join together to…
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…
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…
Groundbreaking conference gathers transgender Christian advocates
BERKELEY, Calif. (ABP) — In an event organizers billed as the first of its kind, about 40 transgender Christian leaders and their allies joined counterparts from other faiths for a “Transgender Religious Summit” Jan. 19-21 in California. Sponsors said the…
Bellevue Baptist fires minister after investigation of sex abuse
CORDOVA, Tenn. (ABP) — In the latest development in a scandal at one of the Southern Baptist Convention's largest churches, Bellevue Baptist Church fired Paul Williams Jan. 22. He had served as the minister of prayer and special projects at…