PASS CHRISTIAN, Miss. (ABP) — “I slept on the street that first night,” said Angel Peña. “I tried to find the shelter, but I gave up. Then I found this place.” Since Hurricane Katrina swept over this coastal town Aug….
California legislature becomes first in U.S. to OK same-sex marriage
WASHINGTON (ABP) — With a State Assembly vote Sept. 6, California became the first state in the nation to give legislative approval to full marriage rights for same-sex couples. The 41-35 vote in the state legislature's lower chamber came six…
Former missionary baptizes daughter in midst of storm-ravaged Gulfport
GULFPORT, Miss. (ABP) — When Tom MacIntosh baptized his two oldest daughters, it was in the war-torn islands of the Philippines, with destruction and chaos all around. He had hoped the baptisms of his youngest two children would be under…
Devastated Gulfport church worships, finds encouragement after Katrina
GULFPORT, Texas (ABP) — “I believe with all my heart that this is the redemptive moment in history for the Mississippi Gulf Coast,” Pastor Chuck Register told the displaced parishioners of First Baptist Church of Gulfport six days after Hurricane…
Rehnquist’s death, Roberts elevation raise stakes in confirmation battle
WASHINGTON (ABP) — Less than two days after the death of William Rehnquist, President Bush bumped up Judge John Roberts to replace him as chief justice of the United States. The move alters the already-complex political landscape surrounding Roberts' nomination….
Influential minister John Claypool dies of cancer-related causes
ATLANTA (ABP) — Influential preacher and theologian John Claypool died Saturday, Sept. 3, at a hospital in Atlanta, where he was a visiting professor of preaching at Mercer University's McAfee School of Theology. The 74-year-old Kentucky native died at Dekalb…
Mississippi couple finds memories amid rubble of ‘dream house’
PASS CHRISTIAN, Miss. (ABP) — “She wanted me to buy her the house of her dreams,” he says. “This was it.” His voice choked with raw emotion, Bob Zeller points toward the pile of rubble that now lies where his…
In Bayou La Batre, hit by Katrina, movie drama becomes all too real
BAYOU LA BATRE, Ala. (ABP) — In the Hollywood film “Forrest Gump,” the hero scores an economic coup when his boat is the only one in the Bayou La Batre, Ala., shrimping fleet to survive a hurricane. Sadly, for the…
CBF groups start disaster response in south Alabama, Mississippi
ATLANTA (ABP) — In a small coastal Alabama town ravaged by Hurricane Katrina, the Alabama branch of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship is partnering to provide assistance to residents, most of whom lost everything. Alabama CBF is joining efforts with Volunteers…
Leaders predict SBC-backed network won’t find acceptance in Europe
By Greg Warner Baptist leaders in Europe predict the Southern Baptist Convention will have a hard time drawing Baptists from the continent into a new international network that, some say, will compete with the Baptist World Alliance. When the SBC…
A new way of doing church?
Cover Story for September 1, 2005 By Kim Lawton In a dark sanctuary filled with votive candles, fast-paced images flash across video screens. Participants file forward to write their names on a wooden cross on the floor, while at the…
Casinos, churches alike decimated as Katrina pounds Mississippi
BILOXI, Miss. (ABP) — Hurricane Katrina punished the sacred and profane alike as it came ashore on the Mississippi Coast Aug. 29, gutting sturdy brick churches and glittering casinos, historic oceanside homes and modest tin-roofed bungalows. From New Orleans to…