For the second year in a row, religious leaders are lining up on both sides of controversies over bills labeled “religious liberty” measures that critics say mask a hidden agenda of discrimination against gays and lesbians. A Cooperative Baptist Fellowship…
Brian McLaren: It’s time to re-write pro-war hymns
Brian McLaren, a leader in the emergent church and postmodern Christian movements, has rewritten Onward, Christian Soldiers, which he said reflects a disturbing pro-war theology. For decades, activist, author and pastor Brian McLaren has helped redefine American Christianity in his…
Okla. Supreme Court upholds school vouchers
The Oklahoma Supreme Court has upheld a program that sends scholarships to parents of students with disabilities for use at private schools, including religious schools, rejecting claims it violates a provision in the state constitution barring taxpayer aid to religion….
College, seminary seek to bridge racial opportunity gap
Simmons College of Kentucky and the Baptist Seminary of Kentucky announced plans Feb. 16 to make it easier for African-American college graduates to earn graduate degrees. A historically black college and a Cooperative Baptist Fellowship-aligned seminary have announced a collaboration…
Minister ‘fought herself’ to accept generous church maternity leave policy
Carol McEntyre says she had to battle her own work ethic and guilt to take advantage of a generous parental leave policy at First Baptist Church in Columbia, Mo., where she is pastor. Many women clergy serve at churches where…
Aging hands no bar to ministry for retired couple
By Vicki Brown Don Wideman is a grateful man who, these days, concentrates on family and an adult Sunday school class at First Baptist Church in North Kansas City, Mo. The executive director of the Missouri Baptist Convention from 1987…
Lawyer says Scalia’s death looms large in pending cases
By Bob Allen The unexpected death of Justice Antonin Scalia looms large in cases currently before the Supreme Court concerning abortion and religious liberty concerns, says a lawyer who recently filed a brief asking justices to uphold a Texas law…
Faith groups say Exxon dragging feet on climate change proposal
A coalition of faith and values-driven organizations that view management of their investments as a catalyst for social change say ExxonMobile needs to be more specific about its policy on climate change. An American Baptist agency criticized efforts by ExxonMobile…
Lawyer says Scalia’s death looms large in pending cases
Experts say any hope conservative Christians had for major wins in abortion and religious liberty cases currently before the Supreme Court is diminished with the passing of one of the court’s most consistently conservative jurists. The unexpected death of Justice…
Aging hands no bar to ministry for retired couple
Marian and Don Wideman have stayed busy helping others even in retirement. Don Wideman is a grateful man who, these days, concentrates on family and an adult Sunday school class at First Baptist Church in North Kansas City, Mo. The…
SBC leader says candidates should talk about Supreme Court picks
By Bob Allen The president of the Southern Baptist Convention says the unexpected death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia Feb. 14 raises stakes even higher in the upcoming U.S. presidential election. Ronnie Floyd, senior pastor of Cross Church in…
Iconic Texas pastor Buckner Fanning dies
The longtime moderate leader and pastor of Trinity Baptist Church in San Antonio, suffered a major stroke in August. Buckner Fanning, who retired in 2002 after 42 years as pastor of Trinity Baptist Church in San Antonio, Texas, has died…