Leaders of the American Baptist Churches USA have approved selling the “Holy Doughnut”—the organization's Pennsylvania headquarters building—and confirmed the appointment of a new head for the denomination's international missions organization. The ABC's General Board voted nearly unanimously Nov. 14 to…
Are Baptist leaders doing enough about clergy sex-abuse revelations?
DALLAS (ABP) — Recent sex scandals among Catholic and evangelical leaders are prompting renewed calls for action against clergy sexual abuse. But with research indicating such abuse is more prevalent among clergy — including Baptists — than other counseling professionals,…
Uzbek court fines Baptists preachers
Following a raid on a Baptist church in the southern Uzbek town of Karshi, two visiting Baptists were, on October 25, given massive fines of over 45 times the country's minimum monthly salary each for participating in unregistered religious worship….
Conference, report highlight ongoing legal wrangling over faith programs
WASHINGTON (ABP) — In a year when President Bush's “faith-based initiative” faced considerable public-relations challenges, it also continued to raise challenging legal and institutional questions, according to a new report from an independent group. In the past year, the White…
Kazakh Baptists fined heavily
Two Baptists in Zyryanovsk in the eastern Kazakhstan, who were given large fines on June 27 for religious activity without registration, have failed in their appeals to have the fines overturned. Pastor Yegor Prokopenko was given the massive fine of…
Moldovan Baptists, Global Women sponsor groundbreaking conference on sex trade
CHISINAU, Moldova (ABP) — Moldovan Baptist leaders recently joined forces with Baptist women from the United States to confront a subject that is still taboo among some Christians there: the sex trade in poor parts of Eastern Europe. Alabama-based Global…
Baylor bags plans to publish controversial school history
WACO, Texas (ABP) — Baylor University has reversed plans to publish a book about its recent history, following criticism of the work's depiction of recent disputes at the world's largest Baptist school. Critics dismissed the work as essentially a defense…
Leaders at Texas conference join McKissic’s call for more freedom
ARLINGTON, Texas (ABP) — Pastors and other Baptist leaders at a Dec. 5 roundtable discussion voted unanimously to request Southern Baptist Convention officials to reconsider restrictive policies regarding speaking in tongues. The 100-plus pastors and laypeople who attended the half-day…
Wrapup: Summit calls global church to bring justice to AIDS crisis
LAKE FOREST, Calif. (ABP) — When 5,500 people die of AIDS every day, the need is not for charity but for justice, says Bono, and the church must do something about it. “That's a lot of our brothers and sisters…
Dead Afghanistan soldier’s widow wins long battle over Wiccan grave symbol
WASHINGTON (ABP) — The widow of an American soldier killed in Afghanistan has finally gotten what she said her husband would have wanted: A pagan religious symbol placed on his government-issued gravestone. Roberta Stewart, widow of Sgt. Patrick Stewart, saw…
Empowering women must be focus of AIDS fight in Africa, experts say
LAKE FOREST, Calif. (ABP) — A woman should never need her partner's permission to save her own life, Bill Gates said. In Africa, where the AIDS pandemic is the worst, many women get infected with HIV by philandering husbands who…
Supreme Court to decide if taxpayers can sue over Bush’s faith-based plan
WASHINGTON (ABP) — The Supreme Court will, for the first time, hear a case directly related to President Bush's faith-based initiatives, his attempt to expand the government's ability to fund social services through churches and other religious charities. However, the…