ATLANTA (ABP) — “We are not going to be involved in secular politics,” Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Coordinator Daniel Vestal told the CBF Coordinating Council at their Feb. 19-20 meeting in Atlanta. Fellowship participants are “all over the board when it…
Federal religious freedom panel recommends 11 nations for sanctions
WASHINGTON (ABP) — A federal panel charged with monitoring global religious freedom conditions has picked 11 countries as the world's worst violators of that basic human right. In a Feb. 18 press conference, commission members announced they are asking Secretary…
Mars Hill student strips, longtime professor quits
MARS HILL, N.C. (ABP) — A longtime professor at Mars Hill College is leaving the Baptist-affiliated school after a student took off his clothes in class. The professor called Mars Hill President Dan Lunsford on the evening of Feb. 12…
Younger pastors ask: Is preaching out of touch?
MINNEAPOLIS (ABP) — Clad in faded jeans, paisley shirt, and sandals, Doug Pagitt doesn't look much like a preacher. But Pagitt, 30-something pastor of Solomon's Porch in Minneapolis, is on the vanguard of an effort to help today's emerging, largely…
Complaint filed with attorney general over exclusion of N.C. church
RALEIGH, N.C. (ABP) — A Rocky Mount pastor has filed a formal complaint with the North Carolina Attorney General charging the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina with violating its constitution by expelling a church over the issue of homosexuality….
Small Texas church loses tax exemption for buildings
KINGSVILLE, Texas (ABP) — A small South Texas church could owe up to $10,000 in back taxes on two church-owned properties unless a county authority restores the facilities' tax-exempt status. Kleburg County Tax Assessor Tina Flores removed the property tax…
Academy employee charged with molesting student
SAN MARCOS, Texas (ABP) — An employee of San Marcos Baptist Academy has been dismissed and subsequently arrested on charges of molesting a 17-year-old academy student. Santiago “Jimmy” Morales Jr., 25, has been charged with “improper relationship between an educator…
Students stick to prayer at start of school day
DALLAS (ABP) — Some schoolchildren may use daily classroom moments of silence to pray for all “As.” Now a Dallas church has created a cheat sheet to help them do it. Last year, the Texas legislature mandated a moment of…
Correction
In the Feb. 18 ABP story, “New Orleans Seminary delays SBC effort to consolidate control,” please replace the 16th graph with the following paragraph. The attorney hired by the seminary was mistakenly identified as Greg Irwin. Richard Wolfe was the…