By Bob Allen American Baptist and Alliance of Baptist officials joined 27 other religious leaders in a recent open letter to President Obama opposing lethal drone strikes by the U.S. military. Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Muslim and Sikh leaders said estimates…
Denominational leader, pastor Phil Lineberger dead at 69
By Ken Camp Phil Lineberger, pastor of Sugar Land Baptist Church near Houston and former president of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, died May 31. He was 69. Lineberger “lost a battle with depression and took his own life,”…
Ukranian pastor tells Baptists of war, persecution
By Vicki Brown In just a few short weeks last July in Ukraine, Pervomaysk was destroyed, Elisey Pronin’s church — Revival Church — burned and his family threatened as Ukrainian separatists took over the region. Pronin has been sharing the…
Supreme Court sides with Muslim woman in hijab dispute
By Bob Allen The U.S. Supreme Court ruled June 1 that retailer Abercrombie & Fitch violated the civil rights of a Muslim woman not hired because her religious obligations conflicted with the company’s policy on employee attire. Overturning a decision…
Longtime music professor Richard Lin dies
By Bob Allen Richard Lin, a church music professor and choir director who mentored thousands of church musicians at two Southern Baptist Convention seminaries, died May 21 in Santa Rosa, Calif. Lin, 89, was born in 1925 in Hunan Province,…
Waco shoot-out distorts their experience with bikers, say some Baptists
By Jeff Brumley Nine dead, 18 injured, 170 arrested — and a sullied reputation for motorcyclists everywhere. At least that’s how some have interpreted the May 17 shootout between motorcycle gangs in Waco, Texas. But Baptists who love riding say they…
Southern Baptist leader endorses secularist campaign
By Bob Allen A Southern Baptist seminary president has added his blessing to a campaign advocating for atheists. Danny Akin, president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C., affirmed Openly Secular, a campaign fighting discrimination against people based…
Man confesses to child porn; church disciplines his wife
By Bob Allen A Dallas megachurch has apologized to a wife subjected to church discipline for leaving her husband without permission after learning he is a pedophile. Elders of The Village Church, a multisite Southern Baptist congregation led by Acts…
Army of aid mobilizes as storms, flooding pound Texas, Oklahoma
By Jeff Brumley Folks in the Southwest have just about had it with the weather during the past month. Oklahoma and Texas in particular seemed to have been singled out for meteorological abuse in the form of tornados, hail storms…
Citing prayer and a ‘persuasive board chair,’ Olive says he’ll remain at Bluefield
By Chris Shoemaker Just two days after announcing his plans to step down as president of Bluefield College, David Olive has rescinded his resignation and decided to continue to lead the Baptist school. Olive attributed his change of heart to…
SBC leader rebukes Obama for remarks at poverty summit
By Bob Allen A top Southern Baptist Convention official says President Obama owes evangelical Christians an apology for suggesting at a recent anti-poverty summit that they care for the unborn more than the poor. Frank Page, president of the SBC…
Baptist News Global to honor Texas editor for lifetime achievement
By Bob Allen Baptist Standard Editor Marv Knox has been named fourth recipient of the Greg Warner Lifetime Achievement Award in Religious Journalism by directors of Baptist News Global, a journalistic organization formed last year in a merger of Virginia’s…