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…
Time to fix broken immigration system, says Paynter
By Aaron Weaver It’s time to explore new strategies to fix the nation’s broken immigration system, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Executive Coordinator Suzii Paynter told a group of religion writers. “If we do the same thing we’ve done before that hasn’t worked…
Russell Moore supports ouster of ‘third way’ church
By Bob Allen The Southern Baptist Convention’s top spokesman for moral concerns voiced support for the Sept. 23 ouster of a California congregation found guilty of affirming homosexuality, and disputed the argument that conservative Christians already embrace a “third way”…
Southern Baptists oust ‘Third Way’ church
By Bob Allen The Southern Baptist Convention has kicked out a California church that voted in May to agree to disagree about whether the Bible teaches that homosexual behavior is always a sin. Acting on behalf of the convention between…
‘Nones’ increasingly uninterested in ministers at time of death, funerals
By Jeff Brumley There was a time when even the unchurched came to church for at least one occasion — their deaths. It was an era when nearly everyone, even those who rejected religion, had some connection to faith, however distant….
American Baptist Home Mission Societies executive to retire next year
By Robert Dilday Aidsand F. Wright-Riggins III has announced plans to retire next year as executive director and chief executive officer of American Baptist Home Mission Societies, completing the longest tenure of any leader of the 182-year-old organization linked with…
Study: Youth experiment less with alcohol, drugs when plugged into church
By Jeff Brumley and Terry Goodrich Young people are less likely to try alcohol and drugs if they attend religious services regularly and self-identify as religious, a new Baylor University study has found. The study suggests that youth who feel…
SBC leader says Honeycutt’s ‘holy war’ sermon was destined to fail
By Bob Allen A current Southern Baptist Convention leader says looking back 30 years after Southern Baptist Theological Seminary President Roy Honeycutt’s famous “Holy War Sermon,” the moderate Baptist leader’s call to arms seems destined to fail. Among other things,…
Judge says Ten Commandments monument near Oklahoma capitol can stay
By Bob Allen A Baptist minister suing for removal of a Ten Commandments monument at the Oklahoma state capitol won’t get his day in court, a district judge said Sept. 19. Bruce Prescott, former executive director of Mainstream Oklahoma Baptists…
New mission center in Dallas taps Bill O’Brien as first executive
By Mark Wingfield Baptist missiologist Bill O’Brien has been named the first executive director of Gaston Christian Center, a new mission and ministry center in north Dallas which aims to create a collective of faith-based agencies and churches to serve…
CBF of Virginia has bright future, officers say
By Robert Dilday A bright financial picture and new facilities for its staff contributed to an upbeat General Assembly for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of Virginia Sept. 19. “We are in the best financial situation this organization has been in…