WASHINGTON (ABP) — In an apparent attempt to address a controversy that has swirled since the 2004 general election, a group of Catholic Democrats in the House of Representatives issued a document Feb. 28 explaining how they reconcile their faith…
Terrorist executed in Yemen for killing Baptist missionaries
DALLAS (ABP) – A man convicted of murdering three Southern Baptist missionaries in a Yemeni hospital in 2002 died by firing squad Feb. 27, Reuters reported. Abed Abdel Razzak Kamel's execution happened in the southern Ibb province, the same region…
Supreme Court says racketeering law can’t be used against abortion protests
WASHINGTON (ABP) — A unanimous Supreme Court declared Feb. 28 that a federal law originally aimed at mobsters can't be used to shut down abortion-clinic protests. The high court already ruled in 2003 that one federal anti-racketeering law cannot be…
Gaddy warns Mainstream Baptists to be vigilant on religious liberty
RICHMOND, Va. (ABP) — Speaking Feb. 24 in the birthplace of the First Amendment's religion clauses, a Baptist minister who is a professional opponent of the Religious Right warned Baptists to be equally vigilant. Welton Gaddy, president of the Washington-based…
NAMB panel to study Index charges; agency won’t release media audit
ALPHARETTA, Ga. (BP) – Trustees of the North American Mission Board are asking a task force to see if there is any truth to allegations — first reported in the Christian Index — that NAMB's evangelism and church-planting efforts are…
Investigators find missing vehicle linked to Alabama church fires
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (ABP) — As they continue to evaluate evidence in a recent string of 10 church fires in rural Alabama, federal investigators have come one step closer to solving the case: They found the getaway car. “It was a…
Churches sign promise to cultivate more clergy through ‘culture of call’
DURHAM, N.C., (ABP) – In a demonstration of their commitment to develop young clergy, roughly 40 churches across the East Coast and Southwest have signed a covenant to coordinate their efforts and hopefully avert a clergy shortage. As founding members…
South Dakota abortion ban targets Roe, but will it work?
WASHINGTON (ABP) — A wide-ranging abortion ban that South Dakota legislators passed Feb. 24 is poised to head exactly where its backers want it — the Supreme Court. But despite the addition of two new conservative justices, the high court…
IRS investigation discovers illegal electioneering by churches in 2004
WASHINGTON (ABP) — A report from the Internal Revenue Service determined that nearly three quarters of the churches and other charities it investigated violated federal tax laws during the 2004 election. The report, released Feb. 24 by a special IRS…
Government agrees to stop funding controversial abstinence program
BOSTON (ABP) — The federal government will stop funding a teen-abstinence program that bills itself as an “evangelistic ministry” and gives teenagers silver rings inscribed with a Bible passage. The American Civil Liberties Union, which in May sued the Department…
Baylor administrator Brumley follows Underwood to Mercer
MACON, Ga. (ABP) — Baylor University administrator Larry Brumley has been named senior vice president and chief of staff at Mercer University — following incoming president Bill Underwood, also a former Baylor administrator, to the Georgia school. Underwood, former law…
North Carolina leader resigns over conservative changes
BOONVILLE, N.C. (ABP) — The recent conservative shift in the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina has prompted one member of its governing board to resign, saying the state convention is “becoming a subsidiary of the Southern Baptist Convention.” Ken…