DALLAS (ABP) — Disaster-relief volunteers from Texas Baptist churches are slated to leave the United States Jan. 9 bound for Iran, where they will spend two weeks meeting the needs of people left homeless and hurting after a massive earthquake….
Former seminary president Lewis Drummond dies at 77
ASHEVILLE, N.C. (ABP) — Lewis A. Drummond, prominent evangelist and former president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, died Sunday in Asheville, N.C. Drummond, 77, suffered a heart attack on Christmas Day after battling cancer for several years. He is survived…
New Afghan constitution omits full religious freedom, critics say
WASHINGTON (ABP) — A council of regional and tribal leaders has given approval to a new Afghan constitution containing provisions that fail to protect religious freedom, say international human-rights activists. About 500 delegates to the loya jirga, or grand assembly,…
SBC report on BWA theology untrue, German theologian says (updated)
BOCHUM, Germany (ABP) — A German Baptist theologian, who was cited as an example of “aberrant and dangerous” theology within the Baptist World Alliance, says the Southern Baptist committee that leveled those charges is guilty of lying and should repent….
New Jersey governor signs cloning bill
WASHINGTON (ABP) — New Jersey has become the second state to authorize human cloning for therapeutic purposes. New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey (D) signed a bill Jan. 4 authorizing what supporters call “somatic cell nuclear transplantation,” but banning cloning for…
Priest abuse victims’ groups view audit results skeptically
WASHINGTON (ABP) — A semi-independent audit of American Catholic dioceses released Jan. 6 said that diocesan officials are mostly complying with new anti-abuse rules. But abuse victims' groups are skeptical of the study. The study was conducted by the Boston-based…
Fired missionaries tops Baptist news of 2003
(ABP) – The firing or resignation of 77 missionaries in a dispute over the Southern Baptist Convention's new doctrinal statement topped the news in the nation's second largest denomination in 2003. Editors of Baptist state newspapers chose the missionary terminations…
Bush comments appear to back Federal Marriage Amendment
WASHINGTON (ABP) — President Bush is drawing fire from both the left and the right after he made comments in a television interview that appeared simultaneously to endorse a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage and support states' rights to…
SBC set to withdraw from BWA; issues charge of ‘aberrant theology’
NASHVILLE (ABP) — A study committee is recommending that the Southern Baptist Convention withdraw its membership and funding from the Baptist World Alliance, the worldwide fellowship of 43 million Baptists, in order to create a more conservative international body. BWA…