By Bob Allen Religious liberty doesn’t mean much to people who are physically enslaved, an African-American preacher reminded a predominantly white audience at an annual Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty banquet that this year coincided with the holiday celebrated…
Cooperative Baptists challenged to build bridge over ‘gaping wound of racism’
By Aaron Weaver and Carrie McGuffin “Salvation is about healing and wholeness. Now our broken world could use some of that,” said Jim Somerville, senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Richmond, Va., as he addressed the topic of salvation…
Ebola victim’s fiancée speaks at BNG’s annual event
By Bob Allen The fiancée of the first man to die of Ebola in the United States says the tragic story of love, war and quarantine was too complicated for a newspaper story or TV news segment to fully tell,…
‘Soul lockdown’ afflicts nation, inspires tragedies like S.C. church shooting, activist says
By Jeff Brumley The Charleston church massacre is not a problem of gun violence or even of racism. Rather, it uncovers a spiritual sickness afflicting the American soul, social justice advocate Iva Carruthers told members and supporters of the New…
CBF partner school earns accreditation
By Bob Allen Baptist Seminary of Kentucky, one of 15 theological-education partners with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, has been accredited by the Association of Theological Schools, seminary President Greg Earwood announced June 19. “We celebrate with great joy the achievement…
Pastor friends agree to disagree on homosexuality
By Bob Allen Two Cooperative Baptist Fellowship pastors who have been friends for 30 years say it’s possible to disagree — even disagree strongly — on homosexuality and still remain friends. “You can advocate on these things without being polarizing,” Steve Wells,…
BNG honors Marv Knox for lifetime achievement
By Bob Allen Baptist News Global honored veteran Baptist journalist Marv Knox for “courage, moral integrity and truth-telling” across a career spanning more than three decades at a Cooperative Baptist Fellowship General Assembly auxiliary event June 18. BNG board chair…
Baptists must do more to help immigrants, advocate says
By Jeff Brumley Baptists can no longer stand by and watch as Catholics, Mennonites, Methodists and other Christians take the lead in ministering to immigrants, a Baptist scholar and immigration advocate told members of the Baptist Peace Fellowship of North…
CBF prays for victims in S.C. church shooting
By Bob Allen The first order of business for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship June 18 was prayer for victims in Wednesday’s deadly shooting at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C. Prior to a Thursday morning business session of…
Mohler: ‘Confessional’ faith safeguards against error
By Bob Allen A member of the committee that revised the Baptist Faith and Message in 2000 says the growing acceptance of homosexuality and same-sex marriage in moderate and liberal denominations vindicates the wisdom of including a statement on the…
Taking Jesus seriously in East Texas
Kyle Childress doesn’t look like a dangerous radical. If Childress, pastor of Austin Heights Baptist Church in Nacogdoches, Texas, let his neatly trimmed white beard grow out a bit, he would make a passable Santa Claus. And when he pushes…
Former SBC presidents unite against gay marriage
By Bob Allen Sixteen former Southern Baptist Convention presidents released a statement June 16 urging churches to disregard any legal definition of marriage as anything other than the union of a woman and a man. The statement, drafted in a…