The Southside Baptist Association is seeking volunteers to help pour the footings and lay the foundation for a developmental home for men in Farmville, according to Jim George, project ministries and disaster relief coordinator for the Virginia Baptist Mission Board….
Planned cap on CBF partner funding would cut money for some, not others
ATLANTA (ABP) — A plan under consideration by the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship would cap CBF funding of outside organizations, which could reduce CBF support for some traditional ministry partners by as much as 31 percent. The long-awaited proposal from the…
House committee OKs another bill allowing religious discrimination
WASHINGTON (ABP) — For the second time in as many years, a House panel has approved a bill that would allow some government-funded charities to discriminate in hiring on the basis of religion. On a party-line vote Feb. 9, a…
Polish Baptists express ‘regret and sorrow’ over planned SBC meeting in Warsaw
FALLS CHURCH, Va. (ABP) — The leader of Polish Baptists is expressing his “regret and sorrow” about a meeting, planned for Warsaw this summer, that at least one Southern Baptist Convention leader has described as an organizational gathering for “an…
Churches continue to support CBF Asian response, global missions
ATLANTA (ABP) – With the dollar bills and coins they collected taped to yardsticks and rulers, children at Riverchase Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala., paraded down the sanctuary aisles Jan. 30 to contribute money for tsunami relief efforts in South…
Rio Grande border remains safe, according to ministry leaders
SAN ANTONIO, Texas (ABP) — Echoing much of what the U.S. Department of State said in a recent travel alert, Texas River Ministry leaders said the Texas-Mexico border remains safe as long as church groups exercise “common sense.” The State…
God is calling Hispanic Baptists to conquer ‘giants,’ prof says
HOUSTON (ABP) — God is calling Hispanic Baptists to overcome the “giants” of poverty, lack of education and ingrained religious traditions in their communities, a seminary professor told a Texas group. Speaking at the Baptist General Convention of Texas' Hispanic…
House panel OKs faith-based bill as another lawsuit is filed
WASHINGTON (ABP) — Even as a House panel passed a bill Feb. 17 that would allow religious groups receiving federal funds for job training to discriminate in employment decisions, two civil-rights groups filed a lawsuit in Pennsylvania challenging the constitutionality…
N.Y. judge says state constitution requires marriage for gays
NEW YORK (ABP) — A state judge has ordered New York City officials to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples on an equal basis with heterosexual couples. On Feb. 4, New York Supreme Court Justice Doris Ling-Cohan said a law…
Bush asks for deep social-service cuts, which some say hurt nation’s families
WASHINGTON (ABP) — President Bush is proposing a $2.57 trillion federal budget for fiscal year 2006 that would substantially cut or eliminate many domestic social programs while creating or boosting funding for a handful of others that would be open…
Rising costs prompt NAMB to cut medical benefits for future retirees
ATLANTA (ABP) — The North American Mission Board has eliminated some benefits for retiring employees in order to cut costs, prompting some of the SBC agency's 1,100 insured employees and missionaries to retire sooner than planned rather than lose the…
Gregory named to part-time position at Georgetown College in Kentucky
GEORGETOWN, Ky. (ABP) — Joel Gregory, former pastor of First Baptist Church of Dallas, has been named a distinguished fellow at Georgetown College in Kentucky. In that part-time consulting role, Gregory will visit the campus several times a year and…