CORDOVA, Tenn. (ABP) — Adrian Rogers, one of the most prominent pastors in America, had successful heart bypass surgery March 16. Rogers, pastor of the 27,000-member Bellevue Baptist Church in suburban Memphis, Tenn., was president of the Southern Baptist Convention…
BWA Executive Committee issues statement on SBC flap
FALLS CHURCH, Va. (ABP) — Hoping to put their controversy with the Southern Baptist Convention behind them, members of the Baptist World Alliance's Executive Committee issued a joint statement affirming historic Christian doctrines March 10. The action came during a…
Texas Baptist Men’s group sends food to Haiti
DALLAS (ABP) — A planeload of food sent by Texas Baptist Men arrived March 10 in Haiti, which has been ravaged recently by civil war. More than 300 pounds of nonperishable food landed at the airport in Cap Haitien, where…
Youths who pledge abstinence show similar STD rates to peers
WASHINGTON (ABP) — When true love doesn't wait, it also apparently doesn't use a condom. That's one conclusion from a scientific study of teenagers who made pledges to abstain from sexual intercourse before marriage. Researchers announced the study's results March…
Judge dismisses convention lawsuit against Missouri Baptist agencies
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (ABP) — A Missouri judge has effectively dismissed a lawsuit filed by Missouri Baptist Convention leaders against five institutions that removed themselves from convention control. Cole County Circuit Judge Thomas Brown ruled March 11 that the suit's…
Bill before Congress would fund restoration of Catholic missions
WASHINGTON (ABP) — For a change, the Bush administration isn't supporting a bill that would provide federal financial assistance to churches. An official from Bush's National Park Service testified March 9 against a bill that would provide $10 million in…
Commission hails rights protections, warns of risks in Iraqi constitution
By WASHINGTON (ABP) — Iraq has a new interim constitution that offers high levels of protection for religious freedom — but one of its provisions still gives pause to some human-rights watchdogs. After a delay due to last-minute objections by…
White East Texas Baptist pastor seeks to heal town’s racial wounds
KIRBYVILLE, Texas (ABP) — Some people see the world in black and white. Charles Burchett, pastor of First Baptist Church in Kirbyville, Texas, aims to end that. The soft-spoken-but-frank minister has become the voice for racial unity in a town…
Fundamentalism & militancy: In world torn by religious history, stereotypes, is peace possible?
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (ABP) — Is it possible in today's world for religions to live at peace? It is if they are true to their natures, according to world-religions expert Charles Kimball. “Peace is a central feature of all of the…