SAN ANTONIO (ABP) — 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. At the BGCT's annual meeting in San Antonio Nov….
Southeastern audit finds ‘no criminality,’suggests changes, trustee leaders say
WAKE FOREST, N.C. (ABP) — Auditors have made “a number of constructive suggestions for improvements” to financial procedures at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C. The recommendations came after reports surfaced about a car given to an aide…
High demands, easy access tempt pastors to plagiarize sermons
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (ABP) — Look out, church! Megachurch pastor Rick Warren may be filling your pulpit this Sunday morning. Actually, he might have been there before too. The question is, did you recognize him? Warren's sermons, along with those of…
New CBF missions program links missionaries with local churches
SAN ANTONIO (ABP) — The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship is launching a new category of mission service that will allow churches directly to fund specific missionaries who work through the Fellowship. The program — called AsYouGo — allows missionaries to affiliate…
Student conference to explore God’s calling through dialogue
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (ABP) – “An antiphonal choir sings two parts in a musical conversation,” according to David Burroughs. And that is the idea behind a new conference designed to give young adults a forum to explore and discuss the call…
Rehnquist illness, election turn focus on future direction of Supreme Court
WASHINGTON (ABP) — The future of the Supreme Court on issues important to religious voters is almost certainly at stake in the Nov. 2 presidential and Senate elections. But an expert on the court says the disaster scenarios that both…
D.C. Baptist Convention messengers cautiously adopt budget avoiding cuts
VIENNA, Va. (ABP) — After a lengthy discussion, messengers to the District of Columbia Baptist Convention overwhelmingly adopted a budget that the convention's executive board had considered too ambitious only weeks before. On the final day of an otherwise harmonious…
Hankins to return to Louisiana as Baptist executive director
ALEXANDRIA, La. (ABP) – David Hankins, vice president for Cooperative Program for the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee, was elected executive director of the Louisiana Baptist Convention Oct. 28. The former Louisiana pastor will begin his new duties Jan. 1…
Rigid worship agendas can become idolatry, York says
WACO, Texas (ABP) — Agendas, even holy agendas, are not worthy of worship, Terry York is convinced. And when something else — anything else — takes place of God as the focus of the church's worship, it violates God's commandment…
Corrections:
The Oct. 15 ABP story “Gary Baldridge to leave CBF missions post he shares with his wife, to pursue writing” incorrectly stated that the Baldridges had served as CBF field personnel. Please replace the fourth paragraph with the following: The…
Chief Justice William Rehnquist undergoes thyroid cancer surgery
WASHINGTON (ABP) — The 80-year-old chief justice of the United States has undergone surgery for thyroid cancer but is expected to return to work soon, according to a Supreme Court spokesperson. Chief Justice William Rehnquist underwent a tracheotomy Oct. 23,…
Emergent church ‘rebooting’ worship for new generation, speakers say
WACO, Texas (ABP) –The faith of their fathers doesn't impress youth and young adults very much. But the faith of the early church fathers is a different story. And it increasingly is their story as a generation starved for stable…