CORDOVA, Tenn. (ABP) — Adrian Rogers, prominent pastor and leader of Southern Baptist conservatives, has announced he will retire in six months from the church he has led for 32 years — but that he'll remain close at hand. Rogers,…
SBC statesman Adrian Rogers to retire from pastorate
CORDOVA, Tenn. (ABP) — Adrian Rogers, prominent pastor and leader of Southern Baptist conservatives, announced he will retire in six months from the church he has led for 32 years. Rogers, pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church in Cordova, Tenn. a…
Survey indicates Americans support religious freedom but not separation
WASHINGTON (ABP) — A new nationwide survey suggests that Americans love religious freedom but are less avid about the separation of church and state. The Virginia-based Council for America's First Freedom commissioned the survey, which was taken in early August….
Baptist children among hundreds killed in Russian school massacre
BESLAN, Russia (ABP) — At least a half-dozen children of Baptist leaders were killed when a hostage standoff in a Russian school ended violently Sept. 3, according to Baptist groups from the region. The two-day crisis in the southern town…
Welch’s barnstorming bus tour aimed at reviving SBC zeal, baptisms totals
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (ABP) — With a schedule reminiscent of a whistle-stop political campaign, Southern Baptist Convention president Bobby Welch is riding a star-spangled bus through 48 states in an effort to reverse a decline in Southern Baptist evangelism. Welch, who…
‘Lost boy’ who escaped war in Sudan slain in Louisville
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (ABP) — When refugees arrive in Louisville from lands ravaged by war or famine, it often seems the worst is behind them. Agencies and volunteers surround them with attention — trying to find them jobs, enroll them in…
Fort Worth church remembers, recovers from deadly 1999 attack
FORT WORTH, Texas (ABP) — An American flag flies outside a south Fort Worth church. The flagpole looks just like the kind students gather around for “See You at the Pole” schoolyard prayer services each year in mid-September. But an…
Bush businesslike, ‘mainstream’ in handling of faith, insiders say
WASHINGTON (ABP) — While many of President Bush's opponents and critics alike have pointed to his evangelical Christian faith as his defining characteristic, several intimately acquainted with Bush recently told a gathering of journalists the president considers himself in the…
SBC’s TV network cuts budget in half, lays off 19
FORT WORTH, Texas (ABP) — Nineteen employees of the Southern Baptist broadcasting network learned Sept. 9 their jobs were eliminated as part of a major cost-cutting move that reduces the FamilyNet annual operating budget more than half — from $8.5…