Molly Marshall was elected president of Central Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Kansas, Nov. 12, becoming the first female president of an accredited Baptist seminary. Marshall, 54, succeeds Thomas Clifton, who retired at the end of 2003 after 10…
N.C. Baptists will continue to fund moderate causes-for now
Messengers to the annual meeting of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina voted Nov. 16 to keep the convention's four giving plans. But a move to eliminate the plan favored by moderates still looms as a possibility. Ted Stone,…
Tennessee Baptists vote to investigate colleges
Tennessee Baptists turned back an attack on “anti-Christian” teaching in public schools but agreed to investigate the biblical views taught in their three affiliated Baptist colleges. Messengers to the Tennessee Baptist Convention Nov. 9-10 in Sevierville asked the education committee…
Texas Baptists elect first Hispanic president
Messengers to the Baptist General Convention of Texas gave initial approval to the convention's most significant reorganization in almost five decades and elected its first non-Anglo president. The reorganization will reduce the size of the convention's executive board from 234…
Billy Graham crusade returns to L.A., where storied career began in a tent
PASADENA, Calif. (ABP) — Billy Graham's four-day Los Angeles crusade ended Nov. 21 with more than 80,000 people converging on the Rose Bowl on a chilly Sunday afternoon. They were among the 312,000 people who attended the four-day revival, 55…
Nashville church to be led by female co-pastoral team
NASHVILLE (ABP) — A Tennessee church that raised controversy after calling an openly gay woman to be an associate pastor has now elevated her to co-pastor — and called another woman from Georgia to complete the pastoral team. Nashville's Glendale…
Quiet South Carolina convention adopts stable budget, South Asia partnership
COLUMBIA, S.C. (ABP) — In quiet but efficient fashion, messengers to the 184th annual session of the South Carolina Baptist Convention elected a veteran pastor from Greer as president, adopted a 2005 budget that does not increase from this year,…
California church-restoration bill now headed to Bush’s desk
WASHINGTON (ABP) — Congress has sent President Bush a bill that would fund restoration of 21 historic church buildings in California. Bush received the “California Missions Preservation Act” (H.R. 1446) Nov. 20 after the House passed it in final form…
California Baptists approve one resolution, bylaw changes
HIGHLAND, Calif. (ABP) — With the exception of several bylaw changes concerning the relationship of the California Southern Baptist Convention to its agencies, messengers to the convention's annual meeting approved a number of routine items with little debate. Messengers also…
North Carolina Baptists to keep plans that fund moderate causes (updated)
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (ABP) — Messengers to the annual meeting of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina Nov. 15-17 voted to keep the convention's four giving plans intact, including the plan favored by moderates. Ted Stone, a freelance minister from…
Susan Stratton, wife of BGAV treasurer, dies after battling cancer
RICHMOND, Va. — Susan Stratton, wife of Baptist General Association of Virginia treasurer Eddie Stratton, died April 22 following a long battle with cancer. Stratton had lived in Richmond since 2002, when her husband became treasurer of the BGAV and…
BGAV elects first African-American officer
Messengers to the Baptist General Association of Virginia elected Mark Croston of Suffolk as the first African-American officer in the BGAV's 181-year history at the annual meeting in Roanoke. Croston, pastor of East End Baptist Church in Suffolk, was elected…