By Bob Allen A 42-year-old man who until recently worked as youth director at a Missouri Baptist church is in jail on a $100,000 cash-only bond after being arrested on suspicion of sexually abusing a teenaged girl. Dale G. Johnson,…
People of faith key to healing wounds of mass incarceration, expert says
By Ken Camp In a nation where mass incarceration policies have devastated poor and minority communities, people of faith and hope can bring about change, an advocate for criminal justice reform told a Baylor University crowd. “Injustice prevails where hopelessness persists,” said…
Two SBC leaders say Fred Craddock undermined ‘authoritative’ preaching
By Bob Allen A Southern Baptist seminary professor says Fred Craddock, one of the most influential preachers in the last half century who died March 7 at age 86, was “dead wrong” in his fundamental assertion that good preaching should…
Pastors wary as winter weather takes financial toll on nation’s churches
By Jeff Brumley With an ice storm blanketing Fort Worth, Texas, Senior Pastor Brent Beasley set out for Broadway Baptist Church to determine if services should be canceled the following morning. He found the sidewalks and parking lots covered by…
SBC leader: Baptists, don’t let your babies grow up to be Catholics
By Bob Allen A recent Wall Street Journal story profiling twin brothers who followed separate spiritual paths — one to become an Anglican bishop, the other a Catholic priest — represents failure by the Southern Baptist church in which they were raised,…
Louisiana College elects president
By Bob Allen Baptist-affiliated Louisiana College has chosen an official from another Baptist school in South Carolina as president. Trustees of the Louisiana Baptist Convention-related college unanimously elected Rick Brewer, vice president of student affairs and athletics at Charleston Southern…
Rwandan Baptist to be honored for dedication to peace, reconciliation
By Eron Henry Corneille Gato Munyamasoko, a Rwandan Baptist who has dedicated his life to peace and reconciliation and fighting the stigma associated with HIV and AIDS, will receive the 2015 Baptist World Alliance Congress Quinquennial Human Rights Award, the…
Baptist church transforms Sunday school into community and pastoral care
By Jeff Brumley They have a different way of doing Sunday school at Johns Creek Baptist Church in Alpharetta, Ga. — and that’s a good thing, given the state of today’s Baptist Sunday school system. “It’s mired in 1975, still,” said Michael…
Vote postponed on ouster of Alabama church over gay marriage
By Bob Allen A special meeting to decide whether to kick an Alabama Baptist church out of its local association over homosexuality has been postponed due to weather. Officials of Madison Baptist Association announced that tonight’s called meeting of the…
New Orleans Baptist church rocked by abuse arrest
By Bob Allen A Southern Baptist youth minister fired by his church after he was seen on surveillance video sneaking into a closet with a 14-year-old girl faces up to 10 years in prison on a charge of sexual battery….
Surging water ministries about more than digging wells, mission leaders say
By Jeff Brumley and Ken Camp Water poverty has become an increasingly popular missions focus for U.S.-based churches, ministries and denominational groups in recent years. “It’s a hot-button issue right now,” said Colleen Burroughs, executive vice president for Passport Inc.,…
Supreme Court brief argues for gay Baptist minister’s right to wed
By Bob Allen Four same-sex couples in Kentucky, including a Baptist minister, asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the state’s ban on gay marriage in a 60-page brief filed Feb. 27. Petitioners included Maurice “Bojangles” Blanchard, a gay-rights activist…