DALLAS (ABP) — Officials with the Baptist General Convention of Texas will give law-enforcement agencies the documents produced by an independent investigation that revealed financial malfeasance in its church-starting efforts. Executive Director Charles Wade will provide officials “complete copies of…
Court refuses to hear appeal of Maine voucher decision
WASHINGTON (ABP) — The Supreme Court declined Nov. 27 to consider overturning a Maine state court's decision against the use of tuition vouchers at religious schools. The justices' refusal to hear the appeal underscores their unwillingness — despite the court's…
Missionary kid returns to Nigeria with trailer-sized Christmas gift
DALLAS, Texas (ABP) — Many people renew family ties during the holidays, but for Mary Kay Posey, this year's 19-hour trip home will be particularly special. When she returns to Nigeria this month, she'll get the chance to carry on…
FIRST HAND: Baptist secretaries find fellowship through national organization
The officers of the Baptist Ministry Assistants of Virginia were in attendance at the National Association of Southern Baptist Secretaries Leadership Conference, hosted in Orlando, Fla., on Nov. 1-4. President Sandy Weakley, vice president of membership Nancy Wicker, vice president…
Anne Davis, social-work pioneer, dies; had deep Virginia Baptist ties
Anne Davis, a renowned Baptist social worker with deep ties to Virginia Baptist life, died Nov. 9. She was 69. Born in Baskerville, Va., Davis grew up in a rural farming community. After earning degrees from Averett College, Westhampton College…
N.C. Baptists reject bylaw changes giving colleges, others more freedom
Messengers to the annual North Carolina Baptist state convention meeting struck down proposed bylaw changes that would have given convention-related institutions more influence over the appointment of trustees and directors. The proposed amendments, more than a year in the making…
N.C. Baptists adopt strictist policy against gay-friendly churches
Baptist churches in North Carolina will have to deny membership to gays or face expulsion from the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina. Messengers to the convention's annual meeting voted Nov. 14 to add language to its governing documents that…
Tennessee Baptists will ask leaders if they affirm SBC’s faith statement
Tennessee Baptists voted overwhelmingly Nov. 14 to publicize whether nominees to leadership posts in the convention affirm the Baptist Faith and Message, a controversial confession of faith adopted by the national Southern Baptist Convention. Messengers to Tennessee Baptist Convention's annual…
S.C. messengers increase budget, elect CP supporter as president
Messengers to the annual meeting of the South Carolina Baptist Convention increased their budget by $600,000 for 2007 and elected a strong Cooperative Program supporter as president Nov. 15. For nine of the past 10 years, South Carolina Baptists have…
Texas Baptists approve measures to ‘restore trust’ after Valley scandal
“Together We Are Doing More” was the stated theme, but healing from financial scandal was the subtext that dominated the annual meeting of the Baptist General Convention of Texas. Messengers to the Nov. 13-14 meeting elected officers, adopted a $50.6…
Organization at center of scandal in Valley will shut down
A church-planting institute founded by Otto Arango—the central figure in a scandal involving misuse and mismanagement of Texas Baptist church-starting funds in the Rio Grande Valley—will cease to exist at the end of this year. At a special meeting in…
Alabama Baptists approve budgets,ask Wal-Mart to reconsider
Wal-Mart's support of homosexuality, ethics in state government, and the humanitarian crisis in western Sudan surfaced as some of the top issues this year with Alabama Baptists. And Roger Willmore, pastor of Deerfoot Baptist Church in Trussville, Ala., became the…