ATLANTA (ABP) — The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship has received another anonymous multimillion-dollar contribution for global missions, this one from a member of a Georgia church. Bill Coates, pastor of First Baptist Church in Gainesville, Ga., presented CBF with a check…
Georgia Senate approves amendment enabling state funding of ministries
WASHINGTON (ABP) — The Georgia Senate has passed an amendment to the state constitution that would remove barriers to churches, parochial schools and other religious groups receiving taxpayer dollars. The Republican-controlled body voted 40-14 Jan. 15 to approve the proposed…
Southern Baptist position on BWA unchanged by worldwide outcry
NASHVILLE (ABP) — Despite pleas from Baptists around the world, there appears little chance Southern Baptist leaders will reverse or delay their plan to withdraw the Southern Baptist Convention from the Baptist World Alliance, the 99-year-old international fellowship it helped…
BWA leaders urge SBC officials to ‘keep Baptist harmony alive’
FALLS CHURCH, Va. (ABP) — International Baptist leaders from such diverse settings as Australia, Bangladesh, Bulgaria and South Africa are voicing disappointment over a study committee proposal calling for the Southern Baptist Convention to withdraw from the Baptist World Alliance….
Bush announces further expansion of government grants to church groups
NEW ORLEANS (ABP) — Speaking from a pulpit once used by Martin Luther King Jr., President Bush announced Jan. 15 a further expansion of the government's ability to fund social services through churches and other religious groups. The announcement is…
N.C. moderates to discuss selective support of convention
GREENSBORO, N.C. (ABP) — A meeting of moderate North Carolina Baptists this month will include a discussion of ways to fund selected Baptist causes without supporting the entire budget of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina. . A statement…
Conservative Episcopalians’ plans for alternative jurisdiction revealed
WASHINGTON (ABP) — A Washington Post reporter has uncovered a confidential document laying out plans by disgruntled American Episcopalians ultimately to supplant their national denomination in the eyes of global Anglican leaders. Conservative leaders within the Episcopal Church USA, who…
Baptist pastor martyred in Tajikistan, BWA says
WASHINGTON (ABP) — A Baptist pastor has been murdered in the Republic of Tajikistan, according to Baptist World Alliance officials. He is the 10th Baptist to be murdered in that country over a 10-year period. Serghei Basarab, a pastor in…
Group ranks ‘meanest’ cities in growing ‘hostility’ to homeless
WASHINGTON (ABP) — American cities are becoming increasingly hostile to the plight of the homeless, according to a report by an advocacy group. Almost 70 percent of the cities studied by National Coalition for the Homeless have passed one or…
Spiritual revival is key to ending homelessness, workers say
DALLAS — (ABP) — A personal spiritual revival is the key for homeless individuals to overcome their multitude of issues and get off the street, according to leaders of Christian ministries. Ministries providing food, clothing and job training are effectively…
Conservative Episcopalians meet to provide further shape to network
WOODBRIDGE, Va. (ABP) — A massive gathering of conservative Episcopalians met in a suburb of Washington Jan. 9-10 to encourage each other and further discuss the shape of a new network of churches within the Episcopal Church in the United…
Former Illinois Baptist president nabbed in prostitution crackdown
BETHALO, Ill. (ABP) — A Southern Baptist and Illinois Baptist leader is scheduled to appear in court in February on a charge that he solicited a prostitute in a carwash parking lot. Charles West, former president of the Illinois Baptist…