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…
First Baptist values ‘real church’ as it rebuilds away from water
GULFPORT, Miss. (ABP) — Members of First Baptist Church of Gulfport have learned a lot in the year since Hurricane Katrina destroyed their waterfront church buildings. Mostly they've learned that a church is much more than an edifice. “It's an…
UPDATE: Sloan named president of Houston Baptist University
HOUSTON (ABP) — Houston Baptist University trustees elected Robert Sloan, the controversial former president of Baylor University, as president of the 2,300-student school Aug. 8. Sloan will assume the presidency Sept. 1, becoming the school's third president since its founding…
Baptist pastor heals in Kenya with help of sabbatical grant
ATLANTA (ABP) — Tom Stocks, the pastor for 17 years at Rosalind Hills Baptist Church in Roanoke, Va., never thought he would need a sabbatical. But in January — after recent staff changes, three church fund-raising campaigns in five years,…
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…
Alliance of Baptists fined $34,000 for ‘tourist’ activities in Cuba
WASHINGTON (ABP) — The government agency charged with enforcing the United States' ban on travel to Cuba has notified the Alliance of Baptists that it will be fined $34,000 for allegedly engaging in tourist activities while in Cuba for religious…
U.S. Baptist volunteers safe, thanks to Lebanese leader
As fighting between Israeli forces and Islamic radicals continued to decimate Lebanon July 24, groups of Baptist volunteers from the United States who had been trapped in Beirut were reported safely evacuated. The American Baptist News Service reported that Jennifer…
A Mormon for president?
With one Mormon looking like a serious contender for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008, it may be time to ask the question Americans asked about Catholic candidate John F. Kennedy in 1960: Is the country ready to elect a…
Virginia Baptists join other leaders in plea for peace
Four Virginia Baptists have joined other Baptist leaders in North America and Europe in calling for an end to violence in Lebanon. The leaders are asking prayer for: • “An end to the escalating violence between Israel and Hezbollah.” •…
Record Habitat project grows in 9th Ward with Baptist help
Hannah Elliott/ABP Inman Houston and Andrew Crosby at the building site of the 31 homes First Baptist Church of New Orleans and Habitat for Humanity are building. NEW ORLEANS (ABP) — Last year, New Orleans' Upper Ninth Ward was one…
Fork Union, Oak Hill no longer on NCAA investigation list
Fork Union Military Academy and Oak Hill Academy are no longer the subjects of an NCAA investigation into so called “storefront schools” that give athletes the mantle of college eligibility while offering little in the way of education. Leaders at…