By Bob Allen The Southern Baptist Convention’s top public policy spokesman vowed to continue to seek defunding of Planned Parenthood after Senate Democrats blocked a proposal to redirect the $500 million a year in taxpayer funding that the women’s health…
Ky. Baptist children’s home hires CEO
By Bob Allen A Kentucky Baptist child care agency has hired a replacement for a CEO who resigned in December 2013 amid controversy prompted when he suggested a policy change to allow the hiring of gays. Directors of Sunrise Children’s…
‘Outsider’ history prepares U.S. Baptists for future, authors say
By Marv Knox For all their diversity and predisposition to dissent, Baptists are “well-positioned to thrive” as outsiders on the edge of America’s increasingly pluralistic, secular culture, a pair of Baylor University history professors contend in a new book. Baptists…
Pastor greeted with bombing on first day in N.M. church
By Jeff Brumley One of two churches bombed in Las Cruces, N.M., on Sunday included one with a brand new pastor from a Baptist congregation in Missouri. Kevin Glenn also is an expert and author on the subject of restoring…
Advocate for women ministers honored for lifetime achievement
By Bob Allen Pam Durso, executive director of Baptist Women in Ministry, accepted a lifetime achievement award from Christians for Biblical Equality July 25 in Los Angeles. Durso, who has led the Atlanta-based organization since 2009, was among nine individuals…
Youth pastor’s arrest affects two churches
By Bob Allen Two prominent Southern Baptist churches in Oklahoma are cooperating with police after the arrest of a youth pastor charged with sending inappropriate text messages to four boys at his former congregation. Police in Shawnee, Okla., arrested Brian…
Missionaries from Venezuela learn skills aimed at self-sustaining church planting
By Ken Camp Missionaries from Venezuela learned how to drill water wells and maintain a simple drilling rig recently, thanks to a water ministry operated by Baptists in Texas. At the Everything Jesus Ranch near Seguin, Texas, volunteers with Texas…
Devotional website heading ‘Back2School’
By Bob Allen Students making the transition into a new grade, new school or even a new town can find spiritual guidance beginning Aug. 3 when Back2School returns to the devotional website d365.org. Writers for the six-week series are ministers from the Presbyterian…
SBC president declines to second-guess Glorieta sale
By Bob Allen Southern Baptist Convention President Ronnie Floyd has turned down an Arkansas couple’s request that he appoint a special committee to investigate whether LifeWay Christian Resources trustees acted improperly in the 2013 sale of Glorieta Conference Center for…
Fewer people moving doesn’t mean more will come to church, ministers say
By Jeff Brumley New research suggests Americans are increasingly choosing to put down roots where they currently live, a finding that raises questions about church health. The recent Barna Group project said mobility has declined overall over many years. Most…
Confederate flags left at MLK’s home church
By Bob Allen The pastor of Atlanta’s historic Ebenezer Baptist Church called Thursday’s placement of four Confederate flags on the campus of the home church of Martin Luther King an act of hate and terrorism. “It is the kind of…
St. Louis mention in Planned Parenthood video riles Missouri abortion foes
By Bob Allen Southern Baptists in Missouri renewed calls for annual inspections at the state’s only abortion clinic after a controversial video exposé of Planned Parenthood mentioned St. Louis as a possible location to obtain fetal tissue. Susan Klein, legislative…