JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (ABP) — Attorneys for the Missouri Baptist Convention have filed a motion which, if granted, would renew the convention's legal battle with five of its affiliated entities. In a motion filed March 24, Michael Whitehead and Stanton…
Annuity Board president defends investment policy, stock holdings
DALLAS (ABP) — The Southern Baptist Convention's Annuity Board tries not to invest in so-called “sin” stocks, but there is no guarantee of purity in investing, said board president O.S. Hawkins. The board's screening policies prohibit investment in companies that…
India scholars encourage U.S. to elevate concern for tolerance
WASHINGTON (ABP) — A group of India experts speaking on Capitol Hill March 31 had a message for American policy-makers: Supporting religious freedom on the Asian subcontinent is ultimately in the United States' best interest. India has been beset by…
State agency, Baptist home disagree over children’s church attendance
NASHVILLE (ABP) — The state of Tennessee will no longer place at-risk children in the care of Tennessee Baptist Children's Homes, in part because the children's ministry requires residents to attend church. The state Department of Children's Services last year…
Mass. legislators approve amendment, but both sides dissatisfied with result
WASHINGTON (ABP) — Massachusetts legislators gave initial approval March 29 to an amendment that bans gay marriage, but explicitly authorizes identical benefits for same-sex couples. However, the amendment cannot take effect until November 2006, at the earliest. So until then,…
Mission-sending agencies asking hard questions about personnel safety
DALLAS (ABP) — When missionaries answer what they believe is Christ's call, a growing number also may hear echoes of the martyred German pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer who wrote 60 years ago: “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come…
CBF teaming up with World Vision, Kenyan convention to address AIDS
NAIROBI, KENYA (ABP) — The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship is entering into a ministry partnership with two other groups to aid children orphaned by the AIDS epidemic in Africa. The Atlanta-based moderate Baptist group will participate in the Hope Child Sponsorship…
Senate approves ‘unborn victims’ bill decried by abortion-rights advocates
WASHINGTON (ABP) — The Senate has given final approval to a bill that treats violence against a pregnant woman as two separate crimes — against her and the fetus she is carrying. Opponents of the Unborn Victims of Violence Act…
High court hears arguments in Pledge of Allegiance case
WASHINGTON (ABP) — In hearing arguments on whether the Pledge of Allegiance's reference to God is constitutional, the justices of the Supreme Court seemed concerned not only with Michael Newdow's case, but also with his right to make it. Newdow,…