By Bob Allen The trial of a former Union University student accused of murdering his fiancee has been postponed from May 12 until Sept. 28 due to a backlog in the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation crime lab. Charles Pittman, charged…
Aiming to deepen rite’s meaning, Baptist pastor in Ohio baptizes infant
By Jeff Brumley There are plenty of Catholic, Episcopal, Lutheran and Methodist churches in Dayton, Ohio, where parents could have an infant child baptized. But one local couple wanted Rodney Kennedy to baptize their 7-month-old son, even though they knew…
Uzbek Baptist jailed for handing out Christian leaflet
By Bob Allen A Baptist in Uzbekistan was jailed 15 days in March and fined three years’ worth of the national minimum wage for giving a Christian leaflet to a passer-by he met while traveling by bicycle, according to a…
SBC Pastors Conference criticized for inviting non-Baptist presidential hopeful to speak
By Bob Allen A two-day preaching conference held each year prior to the Southern Baptist Convention once criticized as too narrow is now being scrutinized for inviting speakers who are non-Baptists. Recent Baptist blogs have questioned an invitation to this…
Project seeks to get churches talking about issues of sex and racism
By Bob Allen A progressive Baptist organization committed to social and economic justice has launched a program to help churches begin conversations about LGBT inclusion and racial justice. Last fall the Alliance of Baptists received a $104,400 Arcus Foundation grant…
Arkansas Baptist leaders satisfied with RFRA bill
By Bob Allen While religious conservatives didn’t get all they wanted in a religious-freedom bill signed recently by Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchison, a supporter of the original measure says after last summer’s Hobby Lobby decision, the final version of the…
From ABP to BNG, Baptist journalists remember past, embrace future
By Jeff Brumley The toxic denominational atmosphere that gave birth to Associated Baptist Press a quarter century ago is fading into the mists of history. However, its modern descendent — Baptist News Global — still faces daunting modern challenges. Both the bested…
Baylor student to study ethical issues at Auschwitz
By Ashton Brown Elizabeth Andrasi, a third-year master of divinity student at George W. Truett Theological Seminary at Baylor University, has been selected by the Fellowships at Auschwitz for the Study of Professional Ethics to participate in a two-week program…
Marks of leadership
By Norman Jameson E lizabeth Davis has been cracking gender ceilings for a long time, so recognition as the first female president of a historically Baptist university doesn’t really resonate with her. “I understand the significance but I don’t…
Historians say Southern Baptist women paved way in improving race relations
By Bob Allen Baptist women were decades ahead of the male leaders of their denomination in improving race relations among Baptists in the 20th century, a group of historians said April 21 at a meeting in Nashville, Tenn. While much of…
How Bill Moyers changed Baptist journalism
By Bob Allen Bill Moyers — raised Southern Baptist but best known for his career as a broadcast journalist and political commentator on PBS — had only a brief skirmish in the Southern Baptist Convention battle over biblical inerrancy that…
Alliance celebrates 25 years of partnership missions
By Bob Allen The Alliance of Baptists applauded attempts by the U.S. government to normalize relations with Cuba at the group’s 28th annual gathering April 17-19 in Atlanta. “We anticipate eagerly the day when negotiations well underway between the governments…