CARY, N.C. (ABP) — The deaths of four missionaries in Iraq March 15 has not deterred others headed to the country, the head of the International Mission Board said. Jerry Rankin, speaking March 25 during the funeral for slain missionaries…
Bush signs law protecting ‘unborn victims’ of violence
WASHINGTON (ABP) — Just days after it gained final approval in Congress, President Bush signed a bill into law that will treat embryos and fetuses at any stage of pregnancy as equal victims of crimes against their mothers. Bush signed…
Missouri Baptist attorneys file motion to reconsider case against 5 agencies
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (ABP) — Attorneys for the Missouri Baptist Convention have filed a motion which, if granted, would renew the convention's legal battle with five of its affiliated entities. In a motion filed March 24, Michael Whitehead and Stanton…
Annuity Board president defends investment policy, stock holdings
DALLAS (ABP) — The Southern Baptist Convention's Annuity Board tries not to invest in so-called “sin” stocks, but there is no guarantee of purity in investing, said board president O.S. Hawkins. The board's screening policies prohibit investment in companies that…
Mass. legislators approve amendment, but both sides dissatisfied with result
WASHINGTON (ABP) — Massachusetts legislators gave initial approval March 29 to an amendment that bans gay marriage, but explicitly authorizes identical benefits for same-sex couples. However, the amendment cannot take effect until November 2006, at the earliest. So until then,…
Mission-sending agencies asking hard questions about personnel safety
DALLAS (ABP) — When missionaries answer what they believe is Christ's call, a growing number also may hear echoes of the martyred German pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer who wrote 60 years ago: “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come…
CBF teaming up with World Vision, Kenyan convention to address AIDS
NAIROBI, KENYA (ABP) — The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship is entering into a ministry partnership with two other groups to aid children orphaned by the AIDS epidemic in Africa. The Atlanta-based moderate Baptist group will participate in the Hope Child Sponsorship…
Senate approves ‘unborn victims’ bill decried by abortion-rights advocates
WASHINGTON (ABP) — The Senate has given final approval to a bill that treats violence against a pregnant woman as two separate crimes — against her and the fetus she is carrying. Opponents of the Unborn Victims of Violence Act…
High court hears arguments in Pledge of Allegiance case
WASHINGTON (ABP) — In hearing arguments on whether the Pledge of Allegiance's reference to God is constitutional, the justices of the Supreme Court seemed concerned not only with Michael Newdow's case, but also with his right to make it. Newdow,…
Atheists, pledge supporters rally in front of Supreme Court
WASHINGTON (ABP) — While the Supreme Court was hearing legal arguments on the Pledge of Allegiance case March 24, hundreds of protestors outside had their own oral arguments. But theirs tended to be more about volume than about legal nuances….
Missionary shooting survivor recovering in Dallas hospital
DALLAS (ABP) — The lone survivor of a March 15 drive-by shooting in Iraq that killed four Southern Baptist mission workers is recovering well in a Dallas-area hospital, according to an International Mission Board spokesman. Carrie Taylor McDonnall, 26, of…
Gay-marriage supporters file suit in Oregon, as Iowa rejects amendment
WASHINGTON (ABP) — A civil-rights group has filed suit against the state of Oregon on behalf of a group of gay couples, and Iowa legislators have rejected an anti-gay-marriage amendment to that state's constitution — the latest salvos in the…