WASHINGTON (ABP) — The controversy over alleged bias in favor of evangelical Christians at the United States Air Force Academy grew May 31, as the school's top cadet sent a graduation-eve e-mail message laced with religious references to thousands of…
Baldridge resigns unexpectedly as head of CBF global missions
ATLANTA (ABP) — Barbara Baldridge, coordinator of global missions for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, will resign effective May 31, citing unspecified personal reasons. Baldridge, 54, has served in the top CBF missions post since 1999, first jointly with her husband,…
North Carolina Baptist pastor apologizes for Quran sign
FOREST CITY, N.C. (ABP) — A North Carolina Baptist pastor has reversed course, removing a sign outside his church suggesting the Muslim holy book should be put in a toilet. In the face of national media attention and overwhelmingly negative…
Resolution wants churches to investigate schools
COLUMBIA, S.C. (ABP) — A group that tried last year to get Southern Baptists to encourage parents to pull their children out of public schools is now asking the Southern Baptist Convention to urge churches to investigate whether their local…
Central Seminary cuts staff, establishes satellite centers
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (ABP) — A cash-strapped Central Baptist Theological Seminary is significantly reducing its main-campus staff and faculty while establishing a network of satellite campuses in a bid to make its educational offerings more accessible. Acting on a plan…
Baptist Seminary of Kentucky holds inaugural commencement
Lexington, Ky. (ABP) – Baptist Seminary of Kentucky held its inaugural commencement May 14, awarding master of divinity degrees to three graduates. Urging the graduates to be “humble servants of God who follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ,” Glenn…
Historical Society holds meeting during Anderson’s 25th year as director
The Virginia Baptist Historical Society highlighted a series of accomplishments for the year during its annual meeting May 10 at First Baptist Church in Richmond-a meeting that followed by only a little more than a week a celebration of its…
New KJV version of Bible tops best seller list
For the first time since its original imprint in 1982, the New King James Version of the Bible is in the top spot of a publishing best-seller list thanks to an evangelical initiative called the Million Bible Challenge. The challenge…
Senate moderates compromise as conservative groups cry ‘foul’
WASHINGTON (ABP) — A battle over President Bush's judicial nominees that threatened to destroy what little comity is left in the United States Senate has been defused — at least temporarily. And many of the religious conservative leaders who pushed…
Evolution references in IMAX film churn controversy
By Alexander Lane Rutgers University professor Richard Lutz goes looking for undersea volcanoes, not controversy. So the soft-spoken scientist is surprised to find himself on the front lines of the culture wars. Lutz was the chief scientist for Volcanoes of…
Brazilian pastor to lead BWA evangelism division
Brazilian pastor Fausto Aguiar de Vasconcelos has been nominated to lead the evangelism effort of the Baptist World Alliance, succeeding Australian Tony Cupit, who is retiring. If elected to the BWA's executive staff by its general council in July, he…
House approves stem-cell bill despite Bush’s veto threat
WASHINGTON (ABP) — A large, bipartisan majority in the House of Representatives has defied President Bush, Republican leaders and some conservative interest groups by passing a bill that would expand federal funding of embryonic stem-cell research. But Bush promised to…