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…
Stallings, pastor singled out in King’s ‘Letter from Birmingham Jail,’ dies
LAKELAND, Fla. (ABP) — A white Baptist pastor who was made both famous and infamous by Martin Luther King Jr.'s legendary “Letter From Birmingham Jail” has died. Earl Stallings, who was pastor of Birmingham's First Baptist Church when King penned…
Campbell divinity program to equip students for ministry, counseling
BUIES CREEK, N.C. (ABP) — Campbell University's Divinity School and School of Education have teamed up to form a new degree — the master of divinity/master of arts in community counseling. The program is unusual in that it combines theological…
Baylor caught in squabble over Bush library plans
WACO, Texas, (ABP) – Baylor University's previously quiet campaign to bring the proposed George W. Bush Presidential Library to campus might get a whole lot louder if one Dallas attorney has his way. Gary Vodicka is suing Southern Methodist University,…
‘Father’ of creation science, Henry Morris, dies at 87
SAN DIEGO (ABP) — Henry Morris, best known for his work challenging the credibility of the naturalistic and evolutionary theories of origins, died Feb. 25 at 87 after a brief illness. Both friends and critics considered Morris the person most…
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…