By Terry Goodrich Reports of religion’s demise have been greatly exaggerated, says Byron Johnson, co-director of Baylor University’s Institute for Studies of Religion. Close examination of data from the General Social Survey and other data sources show that across 40…
African Baptists ask world’s churches to set aside Oct. 11-12 for Ebola prayer
By Bob Allen The All-Africa Baptist Fellowship has set aside Sunday, Oct. 12, to focus prayer on the Ebola outbreak, which to date has claimed more than 3,000 lives across West Africa. The prayer focus, endorsed by leaders of American…
European Baptists lament violence in Mid-East, Ukraine
By Bob Allen The European Baptist Federation council pledged solidarity with persecuted Christians and other religious minorities in the Middle East in a resolution approved at a Sept. 24-27 gathering in Bucharest, Romania. The resolution “deplores as evil the aggression…
American Baptist missions group condemns both anti-Semitism and anti-Muslim prejudice
By Bob Allen Meeting on the 13th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States, the board of directors of American Baptist International Ministries passed resolutions condemning both anti-Semitism and prejudice against Muslims. Citing acts of anti-Semitism including…
Worried about ISIS and Ebola? Pray the news, experts say
By Jeff Brumley These days, the news is full of disease, violence and death. It’s hardly possible to go a day, or even an hour, without exposure to images of beheadings, airstrikes, nations invading nations, downed or missing airliners and…
Mohler says churches cannot avoid LGBT issue
By Bob Allen A leader in the Southern Baptist Convention says this week’s ouster of a congregation for violating the denomination’s teaching that homosexuality is always a sin established a dividing line that sooner or later every church will have…
Virginia Baptist nominee’s election could break new ground
By Robert Dilday Virginia Baptist pastor Nancy Stanton McDaniel will be nominated in November for first vice president of the Baptist General Association of Virginia — a position whose incumbent for almost a decade and a half has been elected…
Faith leaders protest use of solitary confinement
By Bob Allen The prolonged use of solitary confinement in prisons and jails violates a U.N. treaty the United States both signed and ratified against torture and other “cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment,” a group of faith leaders…
White evangelicals feel heat of religious decline, surveys show
By Jeff Brumley Two new polls show that religious conservatives — mainly white evangelicals — are complaining louder as they lose ground in the so-called culture wars. They also describe a widening gap between the faithful and religiously unaffiliated Americans. What’s it…
Baptist church says ‘no’ to medical marijuana farm
By Bob Allen A tiny Southern Baptist church snuffed out plans to open a medical marijuana facility in central Florida by rejecting an offer to lease a vacant parcel of land the company needs to comply with proposed state rules…
Jimmy Carter on gay rights: Jesus didn’t discriminate
By Bob Allen Former President Jimmy Carter, the world’s most famous Sunday school teacher, said Sept. 22 he supports LGBT equality because Jesus didn’t discriminate against people based on their identity. Carter, whose Sunday school class at Maranatha Baptist Church…
Warden calls for churches to help break cycle of criminal activity
By Ken Camp A Louisiana prison warden known for pioneering faith-based programs wants to see urban and suburban churches work in partnership to reintegrate ex-offenders into society and minister to inmates’ children. “We want to make the urban church into…