WASHINGTON (ABP) — The Supreme Court has declined to reconsider its decision in the controversial Pledge of Allegiance case from earlier this year. On Aug. 23, the justices turned down atheist Michael Newdow's request that they revisit their June decision…
Michigan, Louisiana authorities block proposals against gay marriage
WASHINGTON (ABP) — An elections panel in Michigan and a state judge in Louisiana have presented obstacles to gay-marriage bans in those states. The Michigan Board of State Canvassers deadlocked 2-2 along party lines Aug. 23 when asked to certify…
Victim support group trains for next terrorist attack
DALLAS (ABP) — Victim Relief Ministries, a Dallas-based non-profit organization with Baptist ties, will have the lead role in mobilizing the country's faith community in the event of a terrorist attack or mass-casualty situation. At the request of the U.S….
American Baptists send funds for relief in Florida, Cuba
VALLEY FORGE, Pa. (ABP) — The American Baptist Churches USA has released a total of $17,500 for relief work in Florida and Cuba, parts of which were devastated by Hurricane Charley. The ABC's National Ministries office released $10,000 in disaster-relief…
Fellowship to focus hurricane relief in Florida’s DeSoto, Hardee counties
PUNTA GORDA, Fla. (ABP) — Cooperative Baptist Fellowship relief efforts will be concentrated in two rural, inland Florida counties where rural and migrant populations were particularly hard hit by Hurricane Charley. “It looks like our focus will be on Hardee…
BGCT candidate would become first Hispanic president of Texas convention
SAN ANTONIO, Texas (ABP) — Albert Reyes, president of Baptist University of the Americas and current first vice president of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, will be nominated for president of the BGCT this fall. If elected, Reyes will…
Themselves pounded by Charley, Florida Baptists start relief work
ORLANDO, Fla. (ABP) — Not being able to get out of his own Orlando neighborhood because of fallen trees made it difficult for David Harding, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship's national disaster-relief coordinator, to do his job. After making landfall a…
Boykin violated military rules with speeches, report says
WASHINGTON (ABP) — The Pentagon's chief intelligence official violated military procedures while giving controversial religious speeches, an internal investigation has reportedly found. News organizations reported Aug. 19 that the Pentagon inspector general's office had given lawmakers a long-anticipated report on…
Judge upholds marriage law in first federal DOMA ruling
WASHINGTON (ABP) — A federal judge in Washington State has upheld the constitutionality of a 1996 federal law that defines marriage exclusively in heterosexual terms — making him the first federal jurist to rule on the law. Judge Paul Snyder…
African-American churches rally for traditional marriages
FORT WORTH, Texas (ABP) – Energized and angered by comparisons between the fight for homosexual unions and the civil-rights movement, many African-American churches are turning out to stand for traditional marriages. African-American churches across the nation have come together to…
Florida appeals court rules against vouchers
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (ABP) — A divided state appeals court has upheld a lower court's ruling that the state's school-voucher program violates the Florida Constitution. In a 2-1 decision, a panel of the state's First District Court of Appeals ruled that…
Bush has gone around Congress to implement plan, study shows
WASHINGTON (ABP) — A new report by an independent group explains in depth what observers of President Bush's “faith-based initiative” have been noting for years now: That Bush has used his presidential powers to bypass Congress and “aggressively implement the…