GULFPORT, Miss. (ABP) — When the casinos first began to open in Gulfport in the early '90s, most area Christians saw them merely as a detriment. Wallace Majors also saw them as an opportunity, a chance to reach more people…
Baptist General Convention of Texas earmarks $1 million for relief
DALLAS (ABP) — The Baptist General Convention of Texas will direct $1 million toward hurricane relief in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. The funds will be channeled to churches in those three states that are seeking to meet the needs of…
Schwarzenegger says he’ll veto groundbreaking gay-marriage bill
WASHINGTON (ABP) — Although California became the first state to give legislative approval to gay marriage, the state's governor says he will veto the measure, preferring the courts to deal with it. With a State Assembly vote Sept. 6, California…
Family separated by Katrina reunited at Baptist shelter
SAN ANTONIO, Texas (ABP) — In 1965, when Hurricane Betsy hammered New Orleans, a pregnant Rose Green told her husband she didn't think she could survive another hurricane. Sadly, she was right. Rose survived the winds of Hurricane Katrina, but…
Churches stepping in to house, resettle hurricane evacuees
ATLANTA (ABP) — Baptist churches aren't leaving disaster relief to the professionals. Many congregations and church members are opening their homes, wallets and buildings to evacuees from Hurricane Katrina. First Baptist Church in Knoxville, Tenn., found the Gulf Coast's diaspora…
Storm brings diverse volunteers together in Alabama town
BAYOU LA BATRE, Ala. (ABP) — Mark Griffo describes himself as “a spiritual person but not a religious person.” He probably never imagined he would find himself sweating in a poor Alabama hamlet, working with a bunch of Baptists to…
Baptist institutions join colleges helping New Orleans students
WACO, Texas (ABP) — Several Baptist-related institutions of higher learning are among those opening their doors to the thousands of college and graduate-school students displaced from New Orleans-area schools. Many of the schools are waiving tuition and fees for students…
Three coastal residents find refuge, friendship in abandoned school
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…
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…