WASHINGTON (ABP) — A case the Supreme Court took up Dec. 2 has the potential to create another legal landmark in a critical time for church-state relations, according to a group of First Amendment experts. The Supreme Court heard oral…
T Thomas recommended to lead CBF of Oklahoma
NORMAN, Okla. (ABP) – Veteran missionary Charles “T” Thomas is expected to be hired by the Cooperating Baptist Fellowship of Oklahoma as coordinator. Thomas, currently missions coordinator for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of Florida, will be recommended to the Oklahoma…
California Baptists cut funds to SBC, re-establish resolutions committee
SAN DIEGO (ABP) — Adoption of a reduced 2004 budget, re-establishment of a resolutions committee and an assortment of motions highlighted the 63rd California Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting. Held in San Diego Nov. 18-19, the convention drew 610 messengers,…
Asian-themed VBS material draws protests of LifeWay
NASHVILLE (ABP) — “Far-out Far East Rickshaw Rally — Racing to the Son is a VBS race that will have kids dashing through the streets of Tokyo, climbing Mt. Fuji, and diving for pearls,” says a promotion of LifeWay Christian…
Maston Foundation honors founders of Habitat for Humanity
DALLAS (ABP) — Nobody ever earned God's favor by building a house for a poor family, according to the president and co-founder of Habitat for Humanity. But whether it's in rural Georgia or the war-torn Middle East, that's part of…
Help keep Habitat Christian, founder urges Baptists
DALLAS (ABP) — Habitat for Humanity needs Baptists to help preserve its Christian character, founder Millard Fuller pleaded. Fuller and his wife, Linda, launched Habitat in 1976 to provide “a simple, decent, good place in which to live” for every…
Baptist newspaper barred from Missouri Baptist meetings
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (ABP) — In a move unprecedented in Southern Baptist circles, a state convention president will attempt to bar a Baptist publication in Missouri from attending or reporting on state Baptist meetings. David Tolliver, recently elected president of…
Alternative Christmas catalogues turn gift-giving into ministry
(ABP) — A number of Christian ministries have borrowed a page out of the Neiman-Marcus Christmas Catalog. Like the upscale retail chain, these ministries use the seasonal catalogs to offer unique gift ideas, ranging from the simple to the extraordinary….
Prisons are ‘fertile fields’ for message of redemption, compassion, chaplain says
FLORENCE, Colo. (ABP) — “People tend to think that everyone in prison is beyond redemption socially or spiritually, that anyone who comes to chapel or asks spiritual questions is just playing games to get out of their cells or improve…
Associated Baptist Press appoints new director of development
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (ABP) — Associated Baptist Press has named Tim Norton of Atlanta director of development for the independent news service. Norton will provide leadership in developing new sources of annual revenue for ABP and will direct its fund-raising campaign,…
Should a recruiter help you find your next pastor?
LEWISVILLE, Texas (ABP) — Can a headhunter replace a search committee? Maybe not completely, but churches would do a better job of selecting ministers if they accepted outside help, David Lyons says. That's why he founded MinisterSearch, a professional recruitment…
More churches turn to Internet in search for ministers
DALLAS (ABP) — For more and more churches and their ministers, a match made in heaven may have been launched in cyberspace. Every day thousands of ministers log onto a constellation of Internet websites looking for a new church to…