Your article in the Dec. 9 issue, “Aiming at Southwest Virginia,” reports that the Virginia Baptist Mission Board approved Averett University's proposal to create a program to provide training and theological education to ministers and laity in Southwest Virginia. Such…
Honeycutt, former Southern Seminary president, dies after accident at home
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (ABP) — 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,…
Poll shows 44 percent of Americans would curtail Muslims’ civil rights
WASHINGTON (ABP) — 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…
SBC leaders decline to join new ecumenical group
ATLANTA (ABP) — The Southern Baptist Convention will not join a new ecumenical group designed to bring Catholic, Orthodox, mainline Protestant and evangelical Christians together, according to news reports. A spokesman for the Southern Baptist Convention's North American Mission Board…
American Baptist official decries gay debate
Regional leaders of the American Baptist Churches USA have issued a pastoral letter declaring that denominational debate on homosexuality “threatens to break us apart.” In their statement, released Dec. 2, regional executive ministers outlined steps they would take to deal…
SBC withdrawal from BWA, missionaries’ murder were top stories in 2004
By Greg Warner The Southern Baptist Convention's withdrawal from the Baptist World Alliance was the top Baptist news story of 2004, according to a survey of journalists. The murder of four SBC missionaries in Iraq was the second most significant…
SBC leaders say no to ecumenical group
The Southern Baptist Convention has told organizers of Christian Churches Together in the USA, a fledgling ecumenical organization, that it has no interest in joining. The new organization, set to formally launch next fall, aims to bring Catholics, mainline Protestants,…
Bush’s re-election, Gibson film are top among religion writers
The role of faith in President Bush's re-election and Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ tied as the top stories of 2004 in a survey of religion newswriters. The online survey of Religion Newswriters Association members was conducted Dec….
UCC flies complaint with FCC over rejection
The United Church of Christ has asked the Federal Communications Commission to deny licenses to two Miami television stations after church ads were rejected as “too controversial” by the NBC and CBS networks. The church accused the two stations-WFOR, a…
From the red states to The Passion, religion news glowed red in 2004
By Kevin Eckstrom Red, color experts tell us, is a serious color. It denotes passion, heat, importance, even danger. Power ties, celebrity carpets and stop signs are all red. Red says, “Stop what you're doing and pay attention.” So it…
Iraqi leader says country will protect Christians
Iraq's foreign minister met with Pope John Paul II on Dec. 13 and pledged the commitment of his interim government to protect the country's Christians from terrorist attacks. Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari delivered a message to the pope from…
Separationists sue over funding of missions
A church-state separationist group has filed suit to try to halt a new law calling for the distribution of taxpayer funds for the historical preservation of California mission churches. Americans United for Separation of Church and State, a Washington-based watchdog…