Q: What did the New Jersey Supreme Court rule? A: The majority said that while there is no “fundamental right to same sex-marriage” in New Jersey, it is unconstitutional to deny gay couples the same rights as married couples. Q:…
Mississippi Baptists approve record Cooperative Program budget
JACKSON, Miss. (ABP) — 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 six-percent…
WMU children’s curriculum to make education easier
Today's children are tomorrow's missionaries and missions leaders in Baptist churches, so Woman's Missionary Union is taking children's missions education to the next level, describing their new materials as “relevant, redesigned and ready-to-use.” “Think about it,” said Mitzi Eaker, children's…
Missouri panel wants to exclude 18 churches
If a Missouri Baptist Convention committee has its way, messengers to the convention's annual meeting Oct. 31 were expected to effectively eject 18 congregations. If messengers agree to the move, it would likely be the largest such exclusion of congregations…
Missouri panel wants to exclude 18 churches
If a Missouri Baptist Convention committee has its way, messengers to the convention's annual meeting Oct. 31 were expected to effectively eject 18 congregations. If messengers agree to the move, it would likely be the largest such exclusion of congregations…
Global Women urged to demonstrate ‘strategic savvy’ to expand impact
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (ABP) — “The world is changing, and we need to catch up a little bit,” Robbi Francovich of Austin, Texas, told members of Global Women at an interactive missions conference Oct. 27-28. Francovich, who has spent 10 years…
Muslim group decries Baptist leader’s claims about Islamic ‘takeover’ of U.S.
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (ABP) — 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…
Environmental movie motivates evangelicals to get involved
DALLAS (ABP) — On Nov. 3, a Canadian film team will release in U.S. theatres The Great Warming, a movie about climate change and the initiatives aimed at reversing its trend toward permanent ecologic damage. Unlike other recent environmental movies,…
Opinion: The end of the Hummer age
The global communities of science, business, and policymaking have largely moved past the debate about whether humans are causing serious climate change and on to the question of what to do about it. But the conservative Christian sector in the…
Gardner-Webb University President Announces New Member of Senior Staff
UNEDITED NEWS RELEASE — BOILING SPRINGS, NC – “We need to intensify the University's efforts in development and, most important, secure the endowment and significant financial resources necessary to realize our vision of a great future for Gardner-Webb University.” In…
Judge dismisses lawsuit targeting evangelism at Air Force Academy
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (ABP) — A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit against the Air Force that claimed the branch's top training academy violated the Constitution by promoting evangelical Christian beliefs among cadets. On Oct. 27, U.S. District Judge James Parker…
Probe finds Texas church-starters got up to $1.3 million for bogus churches
DALLAS (ABP) — A five-month investigation uncovered evidence church-starting funds from the Baptist General Convention of Texas were misused between 1999 and 2005 in the Rio Grande Valley. Independent investigators discovered about 98 percent of the 258 church starts reported…