WASHINGTON (ABP) — A First Amendment scholar and a Mississippi church will be honored for their commitment to religious liberty when they receive awards from Associated Baptist Press April 30. Charles Haynes, senior scholar at the Freedom Forum's Arlington, Va.-based…
Instability is greatest threat to inner-city ministry
EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill .(ABP) – In an inner-city ministry in the shadow of St. Louis, seventh-grader Brandon Smith writes a homemade card for Mother's Day. Writing on a folded sheet of paper, he thanks his mom for teaching him…
ABP writers claim several awards from Baptist communications society
ST. LOUIS (ABP) — Associated Baptist Press writers received several awards — including a prestigious best-in-category honor — as part of a professional organization's annual awards competition. The Baptist Communicators Association honored winners in their annual Wilmer C. Fields Awards…
Texans gearing up to fight new level of gambling
MT. LEBANON, Texas (ABP) – Texas Gov. Rick Perry wants to introduce a new level of gambling in the state, and a Baptist legislative expert says it is opening the door to casino-type gaming. The governor's school finance proposal includes…
Evangelicals feel persecuted despite political influence, study finds
WASHINGTON (ABP) — Although American evangelicals overwhelmingly view themselves as part of mainstream America and believe they hold significant political influence, they nonetheless view themselves as a besieged minority, a new study has found. And the study found evangelicals now…
Experts discuss proper role of religion in public education
DALLAS (ABP) — A “strong consensus” has developed regarding the appropriate role of religion in public schools, a church-state legal expert said. Oliver Thomas, a constitutional lawyer who helped draft the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, spoke during a recent “Finding…
More Americans blame Jews for Jesus’ death
(ABP) — A growing minority of Americans believe that Jews were responsible for Christ's death, according to a Pew Research Center poll. Roughly a quarter of the public (26 percent) now expresses that view. This represents a modest but statistically…
Willliams retires as director of medical mission group
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (ABP) — James Williams has announced he will retire as executive director of the Baptist Medical/Dental Fellowship, an organization that enlists health-care professionals as volunteer and career mission workers. In a letter to the organization's Executive Committee, Williams,…
President of Baptist medical group resigns over partnership with CBF
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (ABP) — The president of the Baptist Medical/Dental Fellowship has resigned and is withdrawing his membership from the organization over its affiliation with a moderate Baptist group. Danny Barnhill, a medical doctor from Shreveport, La., issued his resignation…
Mexico, Texas Baptists jointly aid victims of Piedras Negras flood
PIEDRAS NEGRAS, Mexico (ABP) — A killer flood shattered the heart of Villa de Fuente Sunday evening, April 4. In the days that followed Mexico and Texas Baptists worked side-by-side in the Piedras Negras neighborhood to get it beating again….
Flood can’t damage widow’s faith, courage
PIEDRAS NEGRAS, Mexico (ABP) — As the relentless flood poured through the bedroom windows, Romona Juarez calmed her terrified grandson with the story of Noah's Ark. When she stood in the kitchen sink and the water – thick with silt…
Another anonymous donor gives multimillion-dollar gift to CBF
ATLANTA (ABP) — An anonymous donor has made a $5 million contribution to the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, designated for global missions. It is the fourth anonymous multimillion-dollar donation to CBF missions in the last three years, and the second this…