By Bob Allen The Center for Healthy Churches, an organization formed last year after Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center announced it would phase out its 21-year-old Center for Congregational Health, is moving from North Carolina to Tennessee in a new partnership…
FBC Oklahoma City looks north for pastor
By Bob Allen A flagship Cooperative Baptist Fellowship congregation in Oklahoma voted April 12 to call a northerner as its next pastor. First Baptist Church in Oklahoma City, a historic congregation once led by revered Southern Baptist statesman and theologian…
Pastor testifies at Senate hearing in IRS tax scam
By Bob Allen A Baptist preacher taken in by the largest tax scam in IRS history shared his story at a U.S. Senate hearing April 15 in Washington. “I am sharing my experience for one reason only,” Al Cadenhead, senior…
Like pope, recent Baylor symposium called Armenian massacre ‘genocide’
By Jeff Brumley Pope Francis I is continuing to catch a lot of flak from Turkey for his use of the term “genocide” in describing the Ottoman empire’s slaughter of 1.5 million Armenians in 1915. But the pontiff isn’t alone…
Diana Garland to step down as dean of Baylor School of Social Work
By the Baptist Standard Diana Garland, inaugural dean of Baylor University’s School of Social Work, will step down from her administrative post due to health reasons effective June 1. Provost David Garland has named Jon Singletary interim dean. Baylor plans…
Nearby church to commemorate 20th anniversary of Oklahoma City bombing
By Bob Allen First Baptist Church of Oklahoma City will remember this weekend’s 20th anniversary of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building bombing with music. The music ministry will present the musical Shelter: Songs of Comfort and Hope by Paul…
Volunteering, missions best when not serving as Christian vacations, ministers say
By Brian Kaylor Greg Morrow, pastor of First Baptist Church of California, Mo., is passionate about volunteering for missions. He leads his church on mission trips and is a volunteer leader for a parachurch organization that mobilizes people to give…
Brief asks Okla. Supreme Court to strike down school voucher program
By Bob Allen An Oklahoma scholarship program to help children with disabilities attend private schools violates the state’s constitution because it uses public funds to support religious instruction, according to a brief filed April 13 in a case before the…
Georgia Baptist college gets tax break
By Bob Allen A tax rebate tailored to benefit a single Georgia Baptist college was slipped into a 49-page spending bill passed by the Georgia legislature just before this year’s lawmaking session expired April 2. State Sen. Bruce Thompson, a…
Film focuses on U.S. economic policies that cause Latin American poverty
By Norman Jameson American economic policies caused much of the debilitating poverty that now compels Latin Americans to risk everything trying to find work in the United States, according to the producer of “The Second Cooler,” a documentary on immigration….
Faith leaders support Iran framework deal
By Bob Allen Four dozen Christian leaders voiced support for a framework agreement for a peaceful path to prevent Iran from building nuclear weapons in a full-page ad in Roll Call paid for by Sojourners, a Washington-based social justice ministry…
Circle of Protection asks presidential contenders what they would do for the poor
By Bob Allen Christian leaders from various denominations called on newly announced presidential candidate Hillary Clinton April 12 to produce a three-minute video telling Americans that if elected what she would do for the hungry and poor. “We are praying…