NEW YORK (ABP) — The National Council of Churches welcomed Pope Benedict XVI's announcement that Christian unity will be his central goal and urged the new pope to follow the ecumenical legacies of both John Paul II and the last…
Supreme Court agrees to hear case on religious use of hallucinogen
WASHINGTON (ABP) — The U.S. Supreme Court will decide whether a small band of adherents of an obscure Brazilian sect living in the United States have a religious right to import hallucinogenic tea for sacramental use. The justices agreed April…
New pope delights moral allies, not supporters of ecumenical ties
(ABP) — The election of the hard-line German cardinal Joseph Ratzinger as pope of the Roman Catholic Church is expected to continue the conservative doctrinal and moral arc of predecessor John Paul II but may hurt chances for closer ties…
Forgotten belief in First Amendment haunts America, Baptists, Shurden says
WASHINGTON (ABP) — The erosion of support for the First Amendment among high-school students sounds like “a death announcement about someone you love,” church historian Walter Shurden told attendees at a conference sponsored by the First Freedoms Project. Shurden, executive…
Be aggressive, humble in defending First Amendment, congressmen say
WASHINGTON (ABP) — Baptists who believe in church-state separation need to do a better job of defending that principle in the public arena, two members of Congress counseled at a recent conference. Speaking in Washington April 14 at a conference…
Frist to join conservative Christians in telecast blasting judicial filibuster
WASHINGTON (ABP) — The Senate's top-ranking Republican and conservative Christian leaders will join forces in an April 24 nationwide telecast to accuse Democrats of barring “people of faith” from becoming federal judges. The charge prompted cries of “foul” from Democrats…
Global missions volunteer arranges heart surgery for Macedonian boy
TYLER, Texas (ABP) — One volunteer can make a life-or-death difference for a child, especially if that volunteer happens to be a retired physician. Though Richard Hurst of Tyler, Texas, had been volunteering alongside missions field personnel for 10 years,…
Louisiana Baptist exec wants to dissolve newspaper’s board, assume control
ALEXANDRIA, La. (ABP) — The new executive of the Louisiana Baptist Convention is asking the convention's newspaper to dissolve its independent board and come under the executive's authority. Under the proposal from executive director David Hankins, the Baptist Message would…
Federal court rules against Wiccan in municipal prayer dispute
WASHINGTON (ABP) — A federal appeals court has ruled that a Virginia county can exclude a member of a minority religion from offering prayers at county board meetings — even though adherents of “Judeo-Christian” religions are allowed to lead invocations….