New research is shedding light on a term — and a group of Americans — known as “spiritual but not religious.” They prefer yoga and meditation to scripture and worship. They define God in individualistic ways and they almost always have negative…
As high court hears arguments, BJC lawyer said Missouri church not entitled to taxpayer support
A Baptist church/state specialist said after oral arguments April 20 the U.S. Supreme Court should rule against a Missouri church seeking state aid to make its playground safer, citing Baptist history when colonial dissenters objected to paying taxes to support…
Transitions for the week of 04.21.17
Please submit transitions — including staff changes, ordinations, anniversaries or deaths — to Barbara Francis. This page will be updated weekly. STAFF CHANGES Phil Carpenter, to Ravensworth Baptist Church, Annandale, Va., as music minister. Billy Craig, to First Baptist Church, Bassett,…
Judge disputes claims that his death penalty protest violated judicial impartiality
An Arkansas judge who also serves as a Baptist pastor defended his participation in a death penalty protest after issuing a court order barring the state from using an execution drug, saying his ruling on facts in a property dispute had…
Former minister to get passport back after murder charge dropped
More than three years after being pulled out of line by Homeland Security at Nashville International Airport while waiting to board a flight to Germany and being told he was wanted for murder, former Southern Baptist minister Richard Shahan can…
Texas Baptist convention aligns with groups seeking to limit abortion
The Baptist General Convention of Texas joined the Texans for Life Coalition, Texas Alliance for Life and Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops in an April 18 press conference voicing support for 15 bills before the state House and Senate seeking…
Jamaican Baptist becomes oldest living human
A 117-year-old Jamaican Baptist woman is now the world’s oldest human, according to the Gerontology Research Group. With Saturday’s death of Italian Emma Morano, born in 1899 and the last survivor from the 19th century, Violet Mosse-Brown became the oldest…
Second Baptist state convention sued for alleged child abuse at agency
A second Southern Baptist state convention in a month has been slapped with an ascending liability lawsuit over alleged child sex abuse involving an affiliated ministry. A lawsuit filed April 5 in Tarrant County, Texas, seeks to hold the Southern…
Arkansas plan to execute 7 men in 11 days strengthens faith, death penalty opposition
It was a Holy Week unlike any other for death-penalty opponents in Arkansas and the rest of the nation. It began with outrage over the state’s plan to begin executing seven men the day after Easter. It was filled with…
Journalist Marv Knox to lead CBF Southwest
The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship has selected veteran Baptist journalist Marv Knox to lead a new network aimed at expanding the 1,800-church network’s reach in the southwestern United States. Officials at the Decatur, Ga.,-based CBF announced April 13 that Knox, editor…
Transitions for the week of 04.14.17
Please submit transitions — including staff changes, ordinations, anniversaries or deaths — to Barbara Francis. This page will be updated weekly. STAFF CHANGES Hambric Brooks, to First Baptist Church, Forsyth, Ga., as pastor, effective May 14. He comes from the pastorate…
Youth studying theology? Lilly Endowment-funded programs hope to pull it off
Getting high school students interested in theology sounds like a pretty tall order. In the age of “nones” and “dones” and continuing declines in religious adherence, younger generations have been identified with a less-is-more attitude toward faith. But that assumption…