By Greg Warner Sixteen months from now, Southern Baptists should know if they have been able to reverse their evangelistic decline-or if there is a deeper problem that will require a more drastic remedy-said Bobby Welch as he concluded a…
CBF clarifies partner status, elects new officers and missionaries
By Ken Camp and Greg Warner The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship July 1 affirmed a long-awaited proposal for how the moderate group relates to its “partner” institutions and organizations-one of several key actions taken during the Fellowship's annual general assembly in…
Resources help churches celebrate freedom without ‘civil religion’
By Greg Warner Three Baptist organizations are teaming up to provide churches with the tools to celebrate American freedoms “without watering down their devotion to God with civil religion.” The First Freedoms Project-led by Associated Baptist Press, the Baptist Joint…
UCC is first denomination to endorse gay marriage
The leaders of one of America's most historic Christian denominations voted overwhelmingly July 4 to endorse same-sex civil marriage and encourage their local congregations to extend religious marriage to gay couples. Meeting July 4 in Atlanta, about 1,000 delegates to…
New book on Southern Baptist martyrs looks at lives of remarkable ministers
By Jesse Lyautey Eight Southern Baptist workers have given their lives over the last three years to follow the call of God to reach the lost peoples of the world. A just-released book, Lives Given, Not Taken: 21st Century Southern…
Air Force names rabbi to oversee tolerance
As Pentagon officials appointed a rabbi to a new post overseeing the Air Force's religious environment, members of Congress and religious leaders disagreed over the extent of religious problems that have created a stir at the branch's academy in Colorado….
Festivals help Luis Palau reach out to the culture with music and sport
By Judith Cebula April Lundholm, 16, showed up for the bands. The skateboarders were great. And the best part? “It didn't,” she says, “feel like church.” The suburban Minneapolis teenager is describing a Luis Palau Festival, an evangelistic outreach that…
European meeting could result in new group
Twelve conservative Baptists from Europe met with nine Southern Baptist leaders July 1-2 in Warsaw, Poland, in what one participant said could be a precursor to a new international organization of “like-minded” Baptists. The participants said their intent was not…
Church & People News for June 23, 2005
Staff changes Mark T. Lewis, now serving as full-time pastor of Community Church, Fal-mouth. Rick Kallstrom, resigning as pastor of Mount Hermon Church, Bedford. Charles Chandler has concluded his ministry as pastor of Trinity Church, Richmond. Scott Covington has concluded…