By Ken Camp The world focused on Cuba in recent days, gauging the impact of restored diplomatic relations with the United States after more than 50 years. But for a volunteer team from Texas, a trek to Cuba was business as…
Huckabee stumps at N.C. Baptist church
By Bob Allen Potential 2016 presidential candidate Mike Huckabee told about 400 people in a town hall meeting at First Baptist Church of Charlotte, N.C., that while some GOP presidential candidates are shying away from hot-button social issues in an…
Samford buys property to expand health care programs
By Bob Allen Baptist-affiliated Samford University has purchased property adjacent to its campus in Birmingham, Ala., from Time, Inc., so it can relocate its College of Health Sciences. Southern Progress Corp., a Time subsidiary, decided last year to sell the…
Fostering multiethnic churches easier said than done, pastors say
By Jeff Brumley The Southern Baptist Convention can cure the nation’s racial tensions if its churches will embrace congregational integration, said Russell Moore, president of the SBC’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. Moore has joined with other white conservative Christian…
D.C. Baptists tap longtime staffer as exec
By Bob Allen A nationwide search for a new leader of the District of Columbia Baptist Convention turned back home, tapping a 20-year employee as its next executive director, and capping an 18-month nationwide search with 60 applicants. Robert Cochran,…
Georgia Baptists divided over religious liberty bill
By Bob Allen A Baptist newspaper editor compared perceived discrimination against Christians in the 21st century to the 1960s struggle for civil rights in comments at a Georgia statehouse rally Jan. 28 quoted by local media. Gerald Harris, editor of…
American Baptists intervene on behalf of women in Myanmar
By Bob Allen American Baptist Women’s Ministries has issued a statement to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry urging action in response to the Jan. 19 rape and murder of two young Kachin Baptist women in Myanmar by soldiers in the Burmese…
Pastor reflects on ‘exorbitant amount’ of funerals he’s preached
By Jeff Brumley For many pastors, two to three funerals a month is either average to a little high. For Barry Howard, that’s a light month. Howard, senior minister at First Baptist Church in Pensacola, Fla., said he’s seen as…
Georgia Baptist clergy oppose ‘religious liberty’ bill
By Bob Allen Religious liberty isn’t a license to discriminate, a Georgia Baptist pastor said at a news conference Jan. 28 at the Georgia State Capitol convened by opponents to proposed legislation preventing “government overreach” in matters of religious expression….
SBC leader says Marcus Borg redefined Christianity
By Bob Allen The liberal, intellectual approach to Christianity pioneered by recently deceased Jesus scholar Marcus Borg isn’t the Christianity taught in the Bible, a Southern Baptist theologian and seminary president said Jan. 28. Borg, 72, a driving force in…
Pastors eager to find preaching’s place in modern church
By Jeff Brumley The subject of preaching is often lost in today’s urgent talk about church decline, closure and relevance. Most of the buzz centers around embracing technology, social media, worship styles or whether to stay in or sell the…
Baptists represented at ecumenical gathering on believers’ baptism
By Bob Allen Baptists remain convinced that baptizing believers upon their profession of faith is the pattern most clearly attested to in Scripture and a guide for those seeking to practice “New Testament Christianity,” according to a presentation at a…