GREENSBORO, N.C. (ABP) — 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…
‘Inflated’ reports of new churches also mar Arango’s work in Mexico
DALLAS (ABP) — Otto Arango exported to Latin America the church-planting strategies he developed in South Texas. But some observers familiar with his work in Mexico say Arango — the central figure in an investigation that revealed misuse and mismanagement…
Piper Institute to discuss role of founder in Valley scandal
DALLAS (ABP) — A called meeting of the board of the Piper Institute for Church Planting was scheduled for Nov. 14 in Dallas to consider allegations of misuse and mismanagement of church-starting funds by the institute's founder, Otto Arango, and…
Arkansans pass task force report
Messengers to the 153rd annual meeting of the Arkansas Baptist State Convention approved a ministry task force report that includes recommendations to regionalize executive board ministries, increase the percentage of Cooperative Program funds forwarded to Southern Baptist Convention causes, and…
Supreme Court tackles ‘partial-birth’ abortion again — with 2 new justices
WASHINGTON (ABP) — The man who may cast the deciding vote in the Supreme Court's first major abortion cases in six years tipped his hand little during oral arguments Nov. 8. Justice Anthony Kennedy asked a cascade of highly technical…
New Mexicans see record number
Perhaps more people attended the annual meeting of the Baptist Convention of New Mexico this year than any year since it was founded 94 years ago. The 2006 convention was the first since New Mexico Baptists elected Joseph Bunce as…
Miss. approves record budget
Messengers from the Mississippi Baptist Convention's 2,114 churches approved without opposition a record Cooperative Program budget of more than $33 million during their annual meeting Oct. 31-Nov. 1. The $33,188,934 budget for 2007 represents an almost 6 percent increase over…
Probe finds Texas churchstarters got up to $1.3 million for bogus churches
A five-month investigation uncovered evidence Baptist General Convention of Texas church-starting funds were misused between 1999 and 2005 in the Rio Grande Valley. At a called meeting of the BGCT Executive Board Oct. 31, investigators reported they discovered up to…
Could it happen in Virginia? Leaders say no
Virginia Baptist leaders responsible for new church starts say oversight procedures in place here make it very unlikely that church planting funds could be misued. “Virginia Baptists do our church planting work together,” said John Chandler, team leader of the…
Top evangelical Haggard steps down after allegations from gay prostitute
Ted Haggard, head of the National Association of Evangelicals and a prominent opponent of gay rights, resigned Nov. 2, after a Colorado man came forward with allegations that Haggard paid him for sex and drugs. According to a Colorado Springs,…
Muslim group decries Baptist leader’s claims about Islamic ‘takeover’ of U.S.
Leaders from a prominent American Muslim group have denounced reported comments by the Missouri Baptist Convention's executive director claiming that “Islam has a strategic plan” to take over the United States. Ibrahim Hooper, communications director for the Washington-based Council on…
Are our churches getting what they need?
Business knows. If you fail to train people adequately they will fail to perform. Dow Jones understands this double failure isn't good for the bottom line. The military knows. Troops who don't understand how to use and fix sophisticated technological…