The old adage “the family that prays together stays together” is statistically sound, according to a new study by a Harvard University professor. Couples who attend religious services are 47 percent less likely to subsequently divorce than other couples, according…
Louisiana Baptists commission study of SBC ethics agency
Messengers to the Louisiana Baptist Convention annual meeting Nov. 14-15 in Alexandria, La., asked state convention leadership to study recent actions of the Southern Baptist Convention agency entrusted with public policy concerns. Clark Stewart, pastor of New Zion Baptist Church…
Trump education pick worries church/state separationists
Advocates of church-state separation found little comfort in Donald Trump’s Nov. 23 announcement that he plans to nominate DeVos, a leader in the self-described school reform movement for more than two decades, to head up the U.S. Department of Education.
Former SBC leader says ERLC out of touch with mainstream
A former Southern Baptist Convention leader who made the motion to sever ties with the Baptist Joint Committee on Religious Liberty at the SBC annual meeting in 1990 now says it might be time for Southern Baptists to “call it…
Transitions for the week of 11.24.16
Please submit transitions — including staff changes, ordinations, anniversaries or deaths — to Barbara Francis. This page will be updated weekly. STAFF CHANGES Rothangliani Chhangte, to American Baptist Home Mission Societies, as special assistant to the executive director for strategic priorities…
Under Trump, expect ranks of faith-based environmental protesters to swell
Some leaders of creation-care causes say anticipated rollbacks in anti-global warming policies and treaties, boosts in pipeline construction and fossil fuels use will generate sharp reactions by dedicated activists and inspire others to join the movement.
Faith leaders say Trump building a ‘cabinet of bigotry’
More than 1,500 interfaith leaders charged President-elect Donald Trump with building a “cabinet of bigotry” in an online petition released Nov. 22. About 40 of the signers identify as Baptist, with affiliations including the Alliance of Baptists, the American Baptist…
BWA head announces plans to retire
Neville Callam, ninth general secretary of the Baptist World Alliance and the first non-white to head the global alliance of Baptist conventions and unions founded in 1905, has announced plans to retire at the end of 2017. Policies of the organization…
Missionary uses partnership to fight poverty in rural Kentucky
In southern Kentucky, where poverty means prey, Scarlette Jasper is hard at work. Through education, housing assistance and developing the assets of local residents, Jasper is working to repair lives broken by rural poverty.
Murder trial for Alabama minister pushed back to May
An Alabama judge has granted a request to give lawyers more time to prepare their defense for a former Southern Baptist minister charged with murdering his wife nearly three-and-a-half years ago. The trial against Richard Shahan, former pastor to children…
Jerry Falwell Jr. emerges as possible Trump cabinet pick
One of Donald Trump’s earliest evangelical supporters is expected to be rewarded with a role in the next administration. The News & Advance in in Lynchburg, Va., reported Nov. 17 that Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr. visited Trump Tower…
Ban on Baptist author’s book short-lived
Stan Dotson didn’t mean to start an international incident when he wrote a book about his 11-month stay in Cuba, but his publisher said Nov. 18 the matter has been resolved and Cuba: A Day In the Life should be…