In a unanimous vote March 21, trustees of the North American Mission Board elected Geoff Hammond as president of the Southern Baptist Convention's stateside mission body. Hammond, 49, will start full-time work for the entity May 22. Hammond is currently…
Celebrating 20 years
This combination of head, hands and heart has served Virginia Baptists well through the years. In addition to his responsibilities as associate editor which include the production of the paper, Dilday makes an essential contribution as a staff writer. His…
NAE board declines to chasten Cizik for campaign against global warming
MINNEAPOLIS (ABP) — Board members of the National Association of Evangelicals declined March 9 to chasten the group's public-policy officer for his public statements on global warming — but an intramural fight among evangelical elites on the issue may just…
Media bias? Not what some might think
WASHINGTON (ABP)—A new study by two Washington-based groups asserts that the mainstream media, derided by some as liberally biased, actually overemphasizes the importance of religious conservatives. Media Matters for America and Faith in Public Life released the report, titled “Left…
As justices again consider abortion attention turns to shifting court
WASHINGTON (ABP) — As the Supreme Court took up its first major abortion case in five years Nov. 30, attention focused on the body's shifting membership and what that might mean for abortion rights in the future. During oral arguments…
Fellowship adds associate for congregational life
ATLANTA (ABP) — Rick Bennett of Orangeburg, S.C., has been hired as associate coordinator for faith formation for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. Bennett was most recently pastoral educator for First Baptist Church in Orangeburg, S.C., where he worked since 2001….
Joint meeting of American Baptists, CBF models newfound cooperation
WASHINGTON (ABP)—Worship infused with music and missions, cooperation and communion, and doses of laughter marked a historic reunion of Baptists in the nation's capital city. The American Baptist Churches USA and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship held their first national joint…
Court sidesteps campaign-finance case brought by Wisconsin pro-life group
WASHINGTON (ABP) — The Supreme Court on Jan. 23 sidestepped a challenge brought by an anti-abortion group against a federal campaign-finance law. The court, in an unsigned opinion without recorded dissent, directed a lower federal court to reconsider its decision…
Swedish lawmakers expected to legalize gay marriage; Lutheran body assents
STOCKHOLM, Sweden (ABP) — Sweden is likely to become the world's sixth nation to offer gay couples full marriage rights. Lawmakers there are expected to approve a gay-marriage recommendation offered by a special government commission March 21. Sweden's state-established Lutheran…