WASHINGTON (ABP) — A judge has overturned an Arkansas state policy banning the placement of foster children in any household with a gay adult, saying the state agency that created it had unconstitutionally overstepped its bounds. Pulaski County Circuit Judge…
Virginia Baptist leader named state’s first agriculture secretary
Robert S. Bloxom, a longtime Virginia Baptist lay leader, has been named the state's first secretary of agriculture and forestry by Gov. Mark Warner. If confirmed by the General Assembly, Bloxom will be the first to hold the cabinet-level post…
Prominent church-state issues likely to resurface in 109th Congress
WASHINGTON (ABP) — As the 109th Congress goes to work in an atmosphere already charged with partisanship, legislative battles over religious and moral issues are virtually certain to remain as prominent as they were in the last session, according to…
Myers leaves campus ministry position
Michelle Myers, who has been the Virginia Baptist Mission Board's campus-based minister for the Ridge and Valley region since 2002, has resigned to move to North Carolina, where her husband has assumed a full-time pastorate. Wellford Tiller has been named…
College students ponder God’s call, their response to world’s need
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (ABP) — For five days, more than 250 college students wrestled with their response to God's call to minister and the world's cry for help during the inaugural Antiphony conference at the Wynfrey Hotel in Birmingham, Ala. The…
Poll: curtail Muslim rights, say 44% of Americans
Nearly half of all Americans would curtail the civil rights of Muslim-Americans in some way, according to a new survey. In the name of combating potential terrorism, 44 percent of respondents to a Cornell University survey said they agreed with…
Students looking for direction find some clarity, focus
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (ABP) — They came with questions. Some wanted clarity on God's calling for their lives. Some wanted to know what to do when they grew up. There were still others questioning whether seminary was a necessary step or…
Study: religion on TV has more negative slant
A study of television's treatment of religion has found that matters of faith are addressed more in broadcast networks' shows, but mostly in a negative manner, the Parents Television Council has announced. The Los Angeles-based council worked in conjunction with…
Billy Kim retires as pastor of Korean megachurch
SEOUL, South Korea (ABP) — Korean megachurch pastor and evangelist Billy Kim, outgoing president of the Baptist World Alliance, retired Dec. 19 after 45 years as senior pastor of Suwon Central Baptist Church near Seoul, South Korea. Since becoming pastor…
Cut opened door for BWA fundraising, says McCall
While Morris Chapman says the fact retired Southern Baptist Convention leaders are now raising money for the Baptist World Alliance from SBC churches is “astounding and regrettable,” one of his predecessors as SBC chief executive, Duke McCall, says Chapman and…
American volunteers brighten faces of orphans in Kenya
NAIROBI, Kenya (ABP) — Marlene Grant put her arms around Teresia Ngao and helped the little girl cut out figures of Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus. A smile crossed Teresia's face as each character dropped to the table with the…
Former seminary president Roy Honeycutt dies
By Trennis Henderson Roy Honeycutt, retired president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, died Dec. 21, one day after suffering head injuries in a fall at his home in Louisville, Ky. He was 78. Honeycutt, a noted Old Testament scholar, was…