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…
Denver Baptist school stirs controversy over participation in voucher program
WASHINGTON (ABP) — A theoretical problem that school-voucher advocates and opponents have argued about for years may have become reality in Denver. Significant public controversy developed in Denver in late october after a Baptist school with a policy of expelling…
Clergy form political group to challenge Right’s agenda
WASHINGTON (ABP) — Progressive and moderate religious leaders have formed a new group to challenge what they view as the Religious Right's dominance of public debates about political and social issues. A group of rabbis and ministers formally launched the…
Rankin, trustees answer charges IMB not conservative enough
LEXINGTON, Ky. (ABP) – In response to criticism from a seminary missions professor, the president and trustees of the International Mission Board defended the agency's actions and insisted its mission will not be “compromised.” A paper written by Keith Eitel…
Wingfield leaves Standard, joins Dallas church staff
DALLAS (ABP) — Mark Wingfield, managing editor of the Baptist Standard, is leaving denominational journalism after 21 years to join the staff at Wilshire Baptist Church in Dallas. At a called church conference Nov. 19, the Dallas congregation overwhelmingly voted…
Republicans add DC voucher plan to unamendable appropriations bill
WASHINGTON (ABP) — Republican leaders in the House and Senate have quietly slipped a measure into a federal appropriations bill that would create the first federally sponsored school-voucher program. The proposal, which would create a publicly funded scholarship program for…
Eldorado bus crash claims another victim
ELDORADO, Texas (ABP) — The October bus crash that killed five members of First Baptist Church in Eldorado, Texas, and three of their friends has claimed another life. Billy Frank Blaylock, 78, died Nov. 17 at a San Angelo hospital…
Daytona Beach church ousted over female co-pastor
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (ABP) — Central Baptist Church in Daytona Beach, Fla., has been removed from membership in the Halifax Baptist Association because of the congregation's female co-pastor. Sonja Phillips and her husband, Dave, were hired as co-pastors of the…
Alabama Baptists affirm display of 10 Commandments
MOBILE, Ala. (ABP) — Messengers to this year's Alabama Baptist State Convention voiced their support for publicly displaying the Ten Commandments and approved a status quo Cooperative Program budget for 2004. Messengers overwhelmingly adopted a Ten Commandments resolution that encouraged…
Board member named interim at Central Seminary
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (ABP) — James McCrossen, an ordained American Baptist, has been appointed interim president at Central Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Kan. McCrossen, a member of the school's board of directors, was named to the position by…
Virginia Baptists withhold Averett money over gay dispute, elect pro-SBC president
RICHMOND, Va. (ABP) — Virginia Baptists have taken action that may end their 144-year-old tie to Averett University unless a conflict over homosexuality and biblical authority is resolved. Meeting Nov. 13-14 in Richmond, Va., messengers to the annual meeting of…