When a small group of members at Hayes Barton Baptist Church claimed the Raleigh, N.C., congregation was sliding from its Baptist moorings into the arms of the “emergent church” movement, their agitation threatened the congregation’s stability and forced deep self-examination. Hayes Barton…
Lawyer says Glorieta lawsuit should be revived
A Houston lawyer says a federal appeals court should reinstate an Arkansas couple’s dismissed lawsuit against LifeWay Christian Resources, because the district court did not grant them enough leeway in trying to argue their case without the aid of legal…
Police investigating Baptist church homicide
Gunfire interrupted the 11 a.m. Sunday worship service at a large Southern Baptist church in suburban Philadelphia April 24, leaving one church member dead and investigators trying to decide whether to bring charges against another. Authorities say Robert Braxton, 27,…
2 Baptist groups, longtime friends, make relationship official
Cooperative and Progressive Baptists in Georgia have formalized a long-standing friendship, clearing the way for deeper relationships and shared ministries across the state. The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of Georgia and New Era Missionary Baptist Convention of Georgia — an affiliate of…
Baptist founder still speaking after 400 years, says European leader
The message of Thomas Helwys — a founder of the Baptist denomination and one of the first Englishmen to state explicitly that people of any religion should be free to exercise their faith without government interference — is as relevant today…
ERLC says taxpayer funding of recycled tires on church playground not an establishment of religion
Churches should be allowed to participate in government programs on equal footing with other civic organizations, the Southern Baptist Convention’s public policy agency argued April 21. The SBC Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission filed a brief in a case before the…
Relief groups face major task in Houston flooding: reaching the victims
Baptist and other faith-based organizations are descending on the Houston area following last week’s torrential rains and flooding. And the biggest job confronting them, experts say, is determining who needs help and how to get it to them. “We are…
Baptist newspaper supports ‘bathroom bill’
A Southern Baptist state newspaper editor says Tennessee lawmakers should put children’s safety ahead of money when considering a controversial bill that would require public school students grades K-12 and higher to use the restroom that corresponds to their sex…
Second BWA leader in a year resigns
Emmett Dunn, director of the Baptist World Alliance Youth Department since 1994, has resigned to return to work as a full-time pastor, the global Baptist body based in Falls Church, Va., announced April 21. Dunn, who since 2006 has also…
The seminary professor who blazed a trail for environmental justice among Baptists
April 22, 1970, was an important day in the nation’s history. It marked the first celebration of Earth Day — an event that put environmentalism front-and-center in American society. With more than 20 million participants across the United States, Earth Day…
Covenant of action inspires churches to social justice
Two very different Dallas churches inspired by callings for social justice are surmounting racial and geographical differences to minister to their city’s poor. Friendship-West Baptist and Wilshire Baptist churches came together formally in 2014 with a covenant of action through…
Child abuse a Calvinist problem, podcast says
Child abuse isn’t just a Catholic problem, it’s also a Calvinist problem, according to an April 20 podcast sympathetic to the so-called “young, restless and reformed” movement popular among evangelicals belonging to denominations including the Southern Baptist Convention. Mortification of…