ATLANTA (ABP) — A Baptist chaplain has been awarded the Army's Bronze Star for “exceptionally meritorious service” while serving in Iraq. Maj. Scott Sterling, an ethics instructor at the U.S. Army Chaplain School in Fort Jackson, S.C., received the honor…
Candidates express support for separation, opposition to Bush’s ‘faith-based’ program
WASHINGTON (ABP) — The major Democratic candidates for president support faith influencing public policy but differ with President Bush on the role of religious groups in public life, according to a series of interviews conducted by an advocacy group. The…
BWA president Kim says ‘liberalism’ is in eye of beholder
ATLANTA (ABP) — On a tour of American churches, the head of Baptist World Alliance said Southern Baptist Convention leaders' attacks against his group could be turned on themselves. An SBC study committee recently recommended the denomination break all ties…
Influence of local associations factors into unrest in N.C.
GREENSBORO, N.C. (ABP) — How much influence should a local Baptist association have on the decisions of a state convention? That question is at the heart of a controversy some say threatens to split the Baptist State Convention of North…
Federal appeals court upholds law banning gay adoptions in Florida
WASHINGTON (ABP) — A federal appeals court has upheld the nation's only state law banning gay and lesbian people from adopting children. In a Jan. 28 ruling, the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled a Florida law barring…
Texas convention must change to reverse decline, officers say
DALLAS (ABP) — The Baptist General Convention of Texas must change or continue to decline, the convention's three top officers predicted. President Ken Hall, first vice president Albert Reyes and second vice president Dennis Young announced their support for BGCT…
Mohler appoints Moore, Scroggins as deans at Southern Seminary
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (ABP) — Russell Moore, 32, has been named dean of the school of theology and senior vice president of academic administration at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, the Southern Baptist Convention's oldest seminary. Moore, appointed to the post by…
Alabama pastors ask Bush to withdraw Pryor nomination
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (ABP) — A group of supporters of ousted Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore asked President Bush to withdraw a nominee for a federal judgeship because of his role in Moore's removal. A group of Alabama pastors and an…
Supreme Court to review juvenile death penalty
WASHINGTON (ABP) — The Supreme Court has agreed to consider whether it is constitutional to apply the death penalty to convicts who were teens at the time of their crimes. The justices agreed Jan. 26 to review a case in…