Staff Change Kathy S. Shereda, to High Hills Church, Jarratt, as pastor, effective May 1. Mack C. Scott Jr., to Temple Church, Norfolk, as pastor, effective April 23. Todd Childers, to Norwood Church, Forest, as pastor. John Rayburn, to Glade…
Reccord mulls resignation from NAMB while some trustees warn of firing
ATLANTA (ABP) –As embattled Southern Baptist leader Bob Reccord met with prominent pastors April 13 seeking advice about his future, several of his own trustees at the North American Mission Board urged him to resign as the agency's president. Reccord…
Tennessee Baptists to challenge Belmont
The Tennessee Baptist Convention will hold a rare special convention May 9 to deal with a growing rift with Baptist-affiliated Belmont University. Belmont wants to elect its own trustees, who have been appointed by the convention for more than 50…
Texan nominated as CBF moderator
Texas leadership consultant Harriet Harral will be nominated as the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship's moderator-elect, the highest elected position in the national group. The CBF moderator presides at the group's annual General Assembly and leads the Coordinating Council, or executive committee….
Churches launch largest unity group
Leaders of 34 U.S. church bodies have officially launched the broadest-ever Christian unity organization in American history and said fighting poverty will be its first priority. Christian Churches Together in the USA was formally inaugurated on March 31 after a…
Afghan president praises treatment
Afghanistan's president praised his government April 4 for releasing a Christian who had been threatened with death for abandoning Islam. Hamid Karzai said the nation's judiciary was right not to bow to pressure from Muslim clerics and elected leaders, who…
FIRST PERSON: A dream come true
Occasionally, through hard work, determination, blind luck or a combination of all three, someone's fondest dream will actually come true. On March 30, the Southside Baptist Association and Virginia Baptist Children's Home & Family Services celebrated the completion of a…
ABP, Baptist Standard form ‘strategic alliance’
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (ABP) — Associated Baptist Press and the Baptist Standard of Texas are creating a “strategic alliance” to improve the quality and efficiency of their news organizations. The two have cooperated closely for more than a decade, but the…
Islamic group offers $5,000 reward in Baylor attack of Muslim woman
WACO, Texas (ABP) — A 19-year-old Pakistani-American woman was attacked the night of April 1 as she walked through the Baylor University campus. Baylor senior Nohayia Javed told police a white man in his mid-30s grabbed her head scarf and…
800-student Chowan College adopts ‘university’ label
MURFREESBORO, N.C. (ABP) — Chowan College trustees voted April 6 to adopt a new name, exchanging “Chowan College” for “Chowan University.” Though it is often assumed that the name “university” necessarily implies the presence of graduate programs, that is not…
Pastor on 1,000-mile trek to closer walk with God
HOUSTON (ABP) — Pastor Ed Hogan lost about a dozen pounds since he started walking 10 miles a day, but he's more interested in talking about what he has gained from the experience — a closer walk with God and…
In paperless age, paper letters let dads leave legacy of love
DALLAS (ABP) — As one of 70 million baby boomers, Greg Vaughn says he's not alone when it comes to the hurt he felt when his dad died. And the worst part was the absence of any written document of…