From the outside, the nondescript building in downtown El Paso doesn’t look much like a church. But the converted gymnasium does in fact serve as home to Mesa Place Church. And Christian Gurrola may not look like a pastor to…
Uzbek Baptist fined for possessing Christian literature
A Baptist in Uzbekistan has been punished for the second time within a year for having religious books at home, according to Forum 18, an international news service based in Norway that monitors religious freedom violations. Stanislav Kim, a Baptist from…
Publisher reverses decision on ‘unchanging’ Bible translation
The publisher of the English Standard Version (ESV) Bible has reversed a highly discussed decision last month that the current text would remain unchanged in future editions. Crossway, a Christian nonprofit publisher established in 1938, said the reason for making…
Transitions for the week of 09.30.16
Please submit transitions — including staff changes, ordinations, anniversaries or deaths — to Barbara Francis. This page will be updated weekly. STAFF CHANGES Catherine “Katie” Chapman, to the Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists, as executive director. She is CEO and…
Mission work takes on legal dimensions for Va.-based field personnel
Mission work and ministry are taking on a dizzying array of new looks in the 21st century. Just ask Greg and Sue Smith, Baptist missionaries who spent years performing traditional mission work in Latin America before opening a ministry serving…
Poll finds consensus on contraception, division over gay marriage and transgender controversies
Two-thirds of American adults believe employers who have religious objections to contraception should be required to cover birth control as part of their employees’ insurance plan, according to a new Pew Research Center survey about recent controversies pitting claims of religious liberty…
Former pastor caught in Internet prostitution sting sentenced to prison
A former Southern Baptist pastor in South Dakota was sentenced Sept. 27 to 46 months in prison for attempted trafficking of what he believed to be a 15-year-old girl. Joseph Raleigh, former pastor of First Baptist Church in Miller, S.D.,…
Protesting injustice is the modern Baptist’s evangelism, activists say
Like many who grew up Southern Baptist, Betsy Sowers fervently believes evangelism is the answer to the most pressing issues of the day. “I am very Baptist about that,” the Massachusetts resident said. But Sowers doesn’t define evangelism only as talking to…
Liberia seminary closure attributed to clerical error
An official in Liberia’s national labor court has been cleared of wrongdoing in a missing check scandal that caused temporary closure of the Liberia Baptist Theological Seminary and forced its American president into hiding to avoid arrest. Front Page Africa…
BJC’s Walker says Okla. ballot question poses danger to religious institutions
A Baptist expert on religious liberty termed a ballot initiative repealing Oklahoma’s prohibition against using state funds for religious purposes “a dangerous road” toward the intermingling of church and state. Brent Walker, executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee for…
Churches urged to talk to Millennials and nones, not just read about them
The news just never seems to get better for American churches. A poll released this month confirms statistically what clergy and congregations are hearing anecdotally and through the media practically all the time: the percentage of U.S. adults who are…
Baptist Joint Committee names executive director
The Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty voted Sept. 26 to name Amanda R. Tyler, a former BJC intern and staff member, as its next executive director. Tyler, who currently works as Ways and Means counsel for U.S. Rep. Lloyd…