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…
CBF setting up volunteer relief bases in Hattiesburg, Slidell area
ATLANTA (ABP) — The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship's relief efforts for victims of Hurricane Katrina will be based in Hattiesburg, Miss., and St. Tammany Parish, La., where volunteer operation centers are being established. Fellowship teams are in those areas now, assessing…
Historically Baptist colleges again featured prominently in rankings
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP) — Colleges and universities historically affiliated with Southern Baptist state conventions featured prominently, once again, in a popular annual ranking of schools. U.S. News and World Report magazine's “Best Colleges 2006” issue listed 24 of the 53…
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…
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…
Katrina sows destruction, confusion along La., Miss. coastlines
SLIDELL, La. (ABP) — Katrina has passed on to the north. Communications are out in Covington, La. Slidell, La., is a mess. And virtually nothing's left of Pass Christian, Miss. Such stories have been repeated all over the Gulf Coast…