Robert Marus/ABP Steven Meriwether, pastor of St. Charles Avenue Baptist Church in New Orleans, places prefabricated flooring in a flooded home that volunteers from the church and others have worked to gut and renovate. NEW ORLEANS (ABP) — Hurricane Katrina…
Are secular newspapers ready for Christian cartoons?
DALLAS (ABP) — Christian cartoons are nothing new. They're everywhere from gospel tracts to Christian magazines and newsletters. But a Christian cartoon as a nationally syndicated feature in secular newspapers? That's almost unprecedented. Despite the fact cartoonist Kevin Frank's upcoming…
Legendary liberal W.W. Finlator fought segregation, poverty, war
RALEIGH, N.C. (ABP) — One of the most outspoken and legendary liberals in Southern Baptist life has died. William Wallace Finlator “thought the German theologian Karl Barth was right that a preacher should preach with a Bible in one hand…
Bush picks low-profile leader to head faith-based office
WASHINGTON (ABP) — President Bush has chosen a low-profile think-tank leader to head the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. Bush announced Aug. 3 that he had tapped Jay Hein, currently president of the conservative Sagamore Institute for…
Alabama area, one year after storm, still relying on hope, volunteers
Robert Marus/ABP Amy Walker (seated) tearfully expresses thanks to community-service groups at a media-studded ceremony where she received the keys to a new mobile home provided through a collaboration between religious, commercial and government organizations. BAYOU LA BATRE, Ala. (ABP)…
Judge orders Missouri convention, university to pursue mediation
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (ABP) — The Missouri Baptist Convention and Missouri Baptist University must sit down and discuss possible solutions to their ongoing legal battle. In 2002 the convention sued five of its agencies that decided to elect their own…
Baptist minister from Carolinas devotes free time to helping Mississippi town
Robert Marus/ABP Amy Hardee, a North Carolina minister who serves as a volunteer relief coordinator in the town of Pass Christian, Miss., explains to a visitor some of the plans the Hurricane Katrina-decimated town has for redeveloping its historic beachfront…
Sloan won’t link Houston Baptist only to fundamentalists, he says
HOUSTON (ABP) — Robert Sloan, new president of the Houston Baptist University, says he doesn't expect the school to abandon its ties to the traditional Texas Baptist convention in favor of its competitor, the fundamentalist Southern Baptists of Texas Convention….
With peace elusive, Lebanese leader questions Baptist school’s future
BEIRUT (ABP) — As international negotiations to end the war in Lebanon proceeded slowly Aug. 8, Lebanese Baptist leaders questioned whether two Baptist schools, now housing hundreds of refugees displaced by the conflict, will be able to begin the academic…
Baptist volunteers make inroads in largely Catholic New Orleans
NEW ORLEANS (ABP) — After serving the homeless for decades in New Orleans, Tobey Pitman is finally paving significant inroads with leaders and homeowners in the predominantly Catholic region. That's not to say he hasn't had noteworthy success with his…
Signs of life rare in New Orleans, but some hardy souls staying put
Robert Marus/ABP Joe McKeever, executive director of the Baptist Association of Greater New Orleans, addresses pastors and other church leaders from the association during their monthly support meeting Aug. 2. McKeever has been holding such meetings as a way to…
Texas group trapped in Lebanon says peace, love prevailed
FORNEY, Texas (ABP) — A Texas mission team, trapped in war-torn Lebanon when Israel invaded July 13, says prayer, patience and the love of a Baptist congregation in Beirut helped them through the ordeal. The 10-member team originally set out…