WASHINGTON (ABP) — A bipartisan group of congressmen is asking the United States Treasury Department to explain why it has instituted new policies that could severely limit Americans' religious and humanitarian travel to Cuba. The letter, which began circulating to…
Central Seminary announces plans to find new campus
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (ABP) — One hundred and five years after it became the first Baptist seminary west of the Mississippi River, Central Baptist Theological Seminary has announced plans to move, mostly to help defer rising maintenance costs on its…
Shiloh Network to help churches become more ‘reproductive’
DURHAM, N.C. (ABP) — Moderate Baptists and mules have a lot in common. Both are strong and hard-working, and both have problems reproducing — at least according to Curtis Freeman. But a nationwide network of churches is banding together to…
Pastoral misconduct about power, ethics panelists say
WACO, Texas (ABP) – Sexual misconduct occurs among ministers at a rate higher than among other trusted professions such as doctors and lawyers, Joe Trull told ministers at an ethics conference at Baylor University's Truett Seminary. At its heart, sexual…
Supreme Court upholds RFRA in saying OK to sacramental drug
WASHINGTON (ABP) — A unanimous Supreme Court said Feb. 21 that a federal religious-freedom law protects an obscure sect that practices sacramental use of a hallucinogenic tea. In its first major religious-freedom ruling under Chief Justice John Roberts, the court…
CBF leaders adopt budget increase, new oversight for meeting planners
ATLANTA (ABP) — In a quiet meeting Feb. 16-17, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship's Coordinating Council approved a slight budget increase for 2006-2007, approved a new oversight structure for the committee that plans the Fellowship's annual meeting and continued the group's…
First Baptist of Jacksonville elects Brunson as pastor
JACKSONVILLE, Fla.. (ABP) – First Baptist Church of Jacksonville, Fla., has elected Donald McCall “Mac” Brunson as pastor, confirming speculation about a leadership change in one of the nation's largest congregations. Brunson, 48, preached in the Feb. 19 Sunday morning…
Songs, Scripture, sex suggest seduction, God’s way
(ABP) — Guy Bickel says romance and passion come before sex, instead of the other way around. And he's using the Bible as proof. Bickel, a Tampa, Fla., resident, spent months studying six different Bible translations, developing music in a…
Rankin talks candidly about private prayer language, recent IMB action
BANFF, Alberta, Canada (ABP) — Acknowledging he has practiced a private prayer language “for more than 30 years,” Jerry Rankin candidly shared his views Feb. 17 about the Southern Baptist International Mission Board trustees' recent action on the issue. Rankin,…
On Samuel Alito’s first argument day, court agrees to hear abortion case
WASHINGTON (ABP) — Confirming the hopes of some and the fears of others, the new line-up of justices on the Supreme Court has agreed to revisit the issue of whether the government can ban a controversial late-term abortion procedure. The…
News about Virginia Baptists and their ministries for February 16, 2006
IMB may rescind motion asking for trustee Burleson’s dismissal
ATLANTA (ABP) — Leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention's International Mission Board will ask the agency's trustees to rescind an action that asked for the removal of one of their fellow trustees. But the controversy surrounding the trustee in question,…