ATLANTA (ABP) — A member of First Baptist Church in Shreveport, La., matched his church's $5,000 donation to purchase mattresses for hurricane victims in Florida. When the anonymous donor offered to match the church's contribution up to $5,000, Ronney Joe…
Abortion, gay rights, faith discussed in 3rd and final Bush-Kerry debate
WASHINGTON (ABP) — President George W. Bush and Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry revealed their deep disagreements over some social issues important to religious voters — but both spoke candidly and passionately about their respective Christian faiths in the third and…
New Orleans Seminary trustees vote to adopt ‘sole membership’ with reservations
NEW ORLEANS (ABP) — After months of sometimes pointed discussion, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary trustees agreed Oct. 13 to adopt proposed charter amendments designed to tie it securely to the Southern Baptist Convention — but with some reservations. Spending…
Supreme Court hears arguments on juvenile death penalty
WASHINGTON (ABP) — The U.S. Supreme Court considered Oct. 13 whether or not giving the death penalty to offenders who are 16 or 17 at the time of their crimes qualifies as the kind of “cruel and unusual punishment” banned…
SBC agency says churches should affirm inerrancy
ALPHARETTA, GA. (ABP) — New guidelines for starting Southern Baptist churches ask members of new congregations to affirm biblical inerrancy and male-only deacons. The guidelines, adopted Oct. 6 by trustees of the North American Mission Board, do not apply to…
Supreme Court agrees to hear appeals in Ten Commandments cases
WASHINGTON (ABP) — The Supreme Court has agreed to wade into one of the day's most explosive church-state issues: Whether displays of the Ten Commandments on public buildings can ever be constitutional. In an announcement that took some court watchers…
Water recedes in North Carolina, but floods’ effects continue
CLYDE, N.C. (ABP) — A map on a wall at First Baptist Church said it all. Thin lines representing the Pigeon River were marked on either side with sprawling black areas — the parts of the town where a fierce…
Supreme Court will hear case on inmates’ religious freedom
WASHINGTON (ABP) — The Supreme Court will consider for the first time the constitutionality of a law intended to protect the religious freedom of prison inmates. The justices agreed Oct. 12 to hear arguments in Cutter vs. Wilkinson, which involves…
Giving beyond local congregations lower than 1968, study says
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (ABP) — Church members are giving less of their income to churches today than 35 years ago, and even less of those contributions are put to work outside the local congregation, according to a new study. Giving as…