By Bob Allen A flagship Cooperative Baptist Fellowship congregation in Atlanta voted Nov. 23 to approve a slate of deacons including an openly gay man in a committed, same-sex relationship. The vote followed a three-week sermon series on the Bible…
Baptists’ mission work order changes from carpentry to caring
If you’ve ever heard of the Roma, it’s likely the romanticized version of brightly clad gypsies drifting carefree in caravans across Europe, setting up camp, stealing the local chickens and dancing until sunrise. In reality present-day Roma — also known…
CBF pastor hopes Darren Wilson decision will prompt dialogue
By Bob Allen A Cooperative Baptist Fellowship pastor in St. Louis said any hope for improving race relations lies not in agreement about a non-indictment in the Michael Brown shooting death but in relationships that will grow between people with…
Thabiti Anyabwile says Ferguson grand jury gives marching orders for change
By Bob Allen An African-American leader in the “young, restless and reformed” Calvinist movement in the Southern Baptist Convention called on President Obama to exercise strong leadership in light of a Nov. 24 grand jury decision in Ferguson, Mo., to…
Board drops plans for Bible course in Oklahoma public schools
By Bob Allen An Oklahoma school district has dropped plans for a pilot project by Hobby Lobby President Steve Green aimed at adding Bible study to the curriculum of public high schools nationwide, a church-state watchdog group reported Nov. 25….
Video ministry documents courageous teen’s inspiring cancer fight
By George Henson Christian video ministry I Am Second’s recent premiere of its first 45-minute documentary was unlike many of its previous projects. The film did not feature a celebrity’s Christian testimony. Rather, it told a “story of hope” involving a 13-year-old…
Nearly one-fourth of American families turn to church food pantries for help
By Bob Allen Nearly one-quarter of Americans say they have received help from a church-run food pantry in the past, according to a survey by LifeWay Research. In an online survey of 1,158 adults in September, 22 percent said they are…
Obama’s action would be moot if Congress would act on immigration, says CBF head
By Bob Allen While opinions differ on President Obama’s use of executive power, Congress still needs to act on long-term immigration reform, says Cooperative Baptist Fellowship leader Suzii Paynter. “No matter where we stand on administrative action, it’s only a…
Weekly communion heals, unites N.C. church and community
By Jeff Brumley It was back around 2008, during a monthly Friday Lenten service at First Baptist Church on Highland Avenue in Winston-Salem, N.C., that Pastor Darryl Aaron made an unsettling observation. “The economy was real bad, tilting into the…
SBC leader criticizes Obama’s immigration initiative, while other faith leaders praise it
By Bob Allen The Southern Baptist Convention’s top spokesman on public policy said he fears President Obama’s decision to act unilaterally on immigration policy will do more harm than good. Writing for Time, Russell Moore, president of the SBC Ethics…
U.S. Baptists engage in goodwill visit to Cuba
By Bob Allen A dozen U.S. Baptists recently traveled to Cuba to learn about Baptists there and bridge religious, political and cultural differences dividing the two countries. A delegation from Churchnet, also known as the Baptist General Convention of Missouri,…
Prof says ex-gay therapy inadequate to help homosexuals change
By Bob Allen A Southern Baptist seminary professor says “reparative therapy” is wrong not because it assumes that gay people can change but because it views homosexuality as a psychological problem instead of a sin. Heath Lambert, executive director of…