Used to be, it was the occasional apple or other healthy snack that ruined an otherwise perfect candy collection on Halloween night. But creationist Ken Ham has taken spoiling the holiday to a new level with “Halloween Learn & Share Kits” designed to scare children straight into the judging arms of Jesus.
Lawsuit accuses prominent church of not reporting abuse
A new lawsuit alleges that one of South Carolina’s largest and most respected Southern Baptist churches failed to report to police evidence of child sex abuse by a volunteer youth worker as required by law.
Baptist leader says America under Trump in ‘dangerously deep moral territory’
An American Baptist leader says the United States is following President Donald Trump into moral bankruptcy by allowing his administration to pile up policies that punish the poor.
EPA chief seeks to roll back Obama-era environmental protections
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt signed papers Oct. 10 to begin a process to repeal the Clean Power Plan, the centerpiece of the previous administration’s initiative to reduce carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants connected to climate change.
Marginalized are harder to see ― and help ― in tourist towns, ministers say
As just about anyone who works regularly among at-risk populations knows, the disenfranchised are swept under the social rug regardless of what city they are in. But poverty, hunger and other ills can be harder to spot in recreational get-aways.
Missouri Baptist Convention wins lawsuit against two breakaway entities
After 15 years of litigation, a state judge ruled Sept. 27 that trustees of two Missouri Baptist Convention entities violated their own articles of agreement when they acted unilaterally to choose their own successors instead of those nominated by the MBC.
Church-state experts voice concern about new religious-liberty guidelines
A church-state specialist says Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ 25-page memorandum outlining the scope of religious liberty protections reflects “a decided tilt” toward concerns about the free exercise of religion while giving short shrift to the First Amendment’s establishment clause.
Transitions for the week of 10.13.17
Staff changes, congregational news and more from across the nation.
A year after assuming leadership, Amanda Tyler reflects on religious liberty group that ‘punches above its weight’
When it comes to advocating for the religious liberty of everyone, silence is not an option, says Amanda Tyler, elected a year ago as executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty. “A full throated defense of religious freedom is required here,” she maintains.
Baptist school in spotlight after soda-throwing incident at NBA game
Students at California Baptist University gathered on campus Oct. 9 to send a counter-message to a racially charged viral video they say is giving the private Christian school controlled by the California Southern Baptist Convention a bad name.
For second time, federal judge strikes down tax break for clergy
A federal judge in Wisconsin has ruled for the second time as unconstitutional an Internal Revenue Service provision which exempts clergy from paying taxes on portions of their income designated for housing.
Bucking anti-refugee attitudes, small N.C. church opens ‘welcome house’
Refugees are increasingly unwelcome in many places around the world. But anti-refugee hostility wasn’t the challenge a North Carolina Baptist congregation faced in opening a refugee house on its Raleigh property this year.