HELENA, Ala. (ABP) — In Alabama, where devotion to hunting can approach a religion, several organizations are trying to match the passion hunters and fishermen feel for the outdoors with a passion for Christ. Wayne Vining, a member of the…
President Bush boosted to re-election with heavy evangelical support
WASHINGTON (ABP) — Heavy turnout among evangelical voters concerned with moral issues was widely credited with lifting President George W. Bush to re-election Nov. 2, confounding the conventional wisdom about large-turnout elections. Exit polls suggest “moral values” issues were one…
State gay-marriage bans sweep ballots nationwide
WASHINGTON (ABP) — Opponents of same-sex marriage got a clean sweep in the Nov. 2 elections, with voters in 11 states — from Michigan to Oregon and from Georgia to North Dakota — passing constitutional amendments to ban gay marriage….
Californians, Floridians act on stem cells, abortion notice
(ABP) — Controversial sanctity-of-life issues were weighed by voters in two states Nov. 2, with Californians approving funding for stem-cell research and Floridians requiring parental notification before a minor can get an abortion. Both measures passed easily. In California, voters…
Baptist layman, philanthropist James McAfee dead at 65
ATLANTA (ABP) — James T. McAfee Jr., who along with his wife, Carolyn, generously supported Baptist educational causes, died in Atlanta Nov. 3, one week after heart surgery. In 1997, Mercer University named its new seminary the James and Carolyn…
Missouri convention refiles suit against five convention agencies
RAYTOWN, Mo. (ABP) — On the same day it opened its 170th annual session, the Missouri Baptist Convention filed new legal action against five related agencies. Attorneys for the convention filed a declaratory judgment action on Oct. 25 against the…
Debate over believers’ priesthood reveals tension between individual, community
(ABP) — Do Baptists affirm the priesthood of the believer or the priesthood of believers? To outsiders, that question — singular or plural — may seem as esoteric as “How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?”…
Falwell comment on terrorism draws response from fellow Baptists
(ABP) — If American troops kill Osama bin Laden, it should be “in the name of justice,” not “in the name of the Lord” as televangelist Jerry Falwell suggests, according to one Southern Baptist ethicist. Falwell, perhaps the best-known Southern…
Conservative-backed proposal would nix N.C. funding for moderate causes
DURHAM, N.C. (ABP) — A conservative leader will propose scrapping the optional funding plans that are part of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina's budget, which would eliminate funding of causes popular among moderate Baptists in the state. Ted…