WASHINGTON (ABP) — A chaplain at the Air Force Academy is seconding accusations that there is a bias at the school in favor of evangelical Christians. According to news reports, Capt. Melinda Morton spoke out publicly May 11, as a…
Politics in pulpit spark church feud, members’ ouster in North Carolina
Editor's note: This story replaces one issued May 6. WAYNESVILLE, N.C. (ABP) — Nine members of a Baptist church in North Carolina say they were removed from membership because they disagree with the pastor's political views. Frank Lowe, one of…
Critics say church zoning measure in Alabama town violates federal law
PRICHARD, Ala. (ABP) — While sitting in the pews of a local church, Prichard City Council members unanimously approved a six-month moratorium on churches locating in business and commercial areas of town. The suspension, which passed April 21, has caused…
Megachurches more numerous than researchers thought, study shows
HARTFORD, Conn. (ABP) — The megachurch phenomenon may be even bigger than the experts thought. New research underway suggests there may be 1,200 or more of the biggie-sized congregations in the U.S. — not 850 as earlier studies showed. The…
As filibuster vote draws near, rhetoric reaches fever pitch
WASHINGTON (ABP) — A week chock-full of dueling press conferences is the latest sign that the Senate's war over the judicial filibuster is escalating — and may end with a “nuclear” detonation. As senators returned from a recess May 9,…
Judge says sex-ed program violates First Amendment
ROCKVILLE, Md. (ABP) — A federal judge has temporarily halted a sex-education program in a suburban Washington, D.C, school district, saying it violates the First Amendment's free-speech and religion clauses by promoting only one view of homosexuality. On May 5,…
Justice Department establishes task force on obscenity
WASHINGTON (ABP) — Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is pleasing conservative Christian leaders by focusing attention on pornography. Gonzales' deputy, Christopher Wray, announced May 5 that the Department of Justice is establishing a special task force that will try to curb…
Virginia Baptist leader elected editor of Religious Herald
James E. White, a Virginia Baptist Mission Board department head and former Virginia Baptist pastor, will become editor of the Religious Herald on June 1. White, who has been team leader of the Mission Board's empowering leaders team since 2003,…
First Emerging Leaders Summit challenges intergenerational participants
The first Emerging Leaders Summit was held April 15-16 in Charlottesville at University Baptist Church. The event, sponsored by the Virginia Baptist Mission Board's emerging leaders team, was held in collaboration with the traditional leadership training weekend for collegians. The…
Baptist colleges’ future stymied by ‘fear-mongering,’ says president
By Ken Camp The future of Baptist colleges and universities depends on educators' willingness to “move on” beyond the political categories that have dominated denominational life for more than 20 years, Baylor University president Robert Sloan told a national conference….
Right to dissent may be key mark of Baptist colleges, Leonard suggests
The right to dissent-even about what makes a school religious-should be a key distinctive of Baptist higher education, suggested church historian and seminary dean Bill Leonard. “Baptists began as a community of dissent,” Leonard said during his presentation on how…
What makes a college ‘Baptist’?
Virginia Baptists aren't the only ones struggling with the nature of Baptist colleges and universities. The question is bedeviling the Baptist landscape, as institutions and state conventions across the nation look for new ways to relate in the midst of…