BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (ABP) — Andrew Westmoreland, president of Arkansas Baptists' Ouachita Baptist University, is the leading candidate to become president of Samford University in Birmingham, Ala. Westmoreland visited the Samford campus Dec. 6 to meet with three constituent panels —…
Yemen executes man convicted of 2002 SBC missionary murders
SAN'A, Yemen (ABP) — A Muslim man convicted of plotting the December 2002 terror attack that killed three Southern Baptist missionaries in Yemen was executed Nov. 27, according to several news reports. Ali al-Jarallah died at the hands of a…
South Africa becomes 5th country to legalize gay marriage nationwide
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (ABP) — South Africa's highest court said Dec. 1 that the nation's constitution requires it to legalize same-sex marriage. The Constitutional Court delayed its ruling for a year to give Parliament time to rewrite the nation's 1961…
Rick Warren hosts AIDS conference to reverse evangelicals’ neglect
LAKE FOREST, Calif. (ABP) -– The pastor at the Southern Baptist Convention's largest church used a conference timed to conclude on World AIDS Day to announce a new commitment to caring for the millions of people infected with HIV and…
Indiana legislature’s prayers must Delete ‘Christ’, federal judge says
INDIANAPOLIS (ABP) — A federal judge in Indiana has said that state's practice of allowing explicitly Christian prayers to open legislative sessions violates the Constitution. In a Nov. 30 ruling, Federal District Judge David Hamilton ordered a halt to official…
Supreme court hears arguments on abortion-clinic protesters
WASHINGTON (ABP) — On a day when anti-abortion protesters gathered outside the Supreme Court's building, the justices inside concerned themselves with a decades-old case on whether federal law can ban certain protests at abortion clinics. The Nov. 30 arguments in…
Illinois pastor heads to Iraq but leaves church in good hands
ATLANTA (ABP) — For years, Jorge Zayasbazan's mission has been starting churches. But as his National Guard unit soon heads to Iraq, he will have an entirely different mission. Zayasbazan, pastor of Grace Chapel in Round Lake Beach, Ill., will…
Moderates in N.C. ponder ‘realignment’ to bypass conservative convention
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (ABP) — Moderate Baptists in North Carolina are now talking seriously about “realignment,” a move that could divert millions in contributions from the conservative-controlled Baptist State Convention of North Carolina. Executives of virtually all of the convention's institutions…
Underwood elected Mercer president, promises to strengthen Baptist identity
MACON, Ga. (ABP) — Bill Underwood, interim president of Baylor University, was elected president of Mercer University Dec. 2, promising to retain the school's historic Baptist identity despite a recent break with the Georgia Baptist Convention. “I'm a Baptist,” the…