By Bob Allen The fate of a 60-year-old provision that allows churches to provide ministers with a tax-exempt “parsonage allowance” now lies in the hands of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The Chicago-based appellate court heard oral arguments…
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Court hears challenge to clergy housing allowance
Illuminated Bible to be featured in BTSR exhibit
By Robert Dilday The first Bible to be written and illuminated entirely by hand since the invention of movable type more than 500 years ago will be on display next month at Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond — the first…
Alumni association to submit settlement offer to Baylor University
By Ken Camp The Baylor Alumni Association will submit a final settlement offer to Baylor University in what a public statement from the organization characterized as “a last-ditch effort to avoid protracted litigation” between the group and the university. The…
Baptists enriched by repeated missions to Sioux
By Jeff Brumley Even the Oglala Lakota Sioux who haven’t embraced Christianity live out gospel values such as family, charity and self-sacrifice, Tennessean Sean Prince says. Prince is the organizer of an annual mission trip to the Pine Ridge Reservation…
SBC leader says churches must address violence against women
By Bob Allen The Southern Baptist Convention’s top spokesman for moral concerns says domestic violence is an issue not only of social justice but of theology as well. Russell Moore, president of the SBC Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, wrote…
Study: Seminaries do little to train pastor to help mentally ill congregants
By Terry Goodrich People struggling with mental illness often turn to pastors for help, but seminaries do very little to train ministers in how to recognize serious psychological distress and when to refer someone to a doctor or psychologist, according…
Accrediting agency lists reasons for putting Louisiana College on probation
By Bob Allen A “prevalent culture” of “misstating, ignoring or denying matters of documentable fact” was among concerns prompting an accrediting agency to place a Southern Baptist college in Louisiana on probation, according to a July 9 letter made public…
Liberian Baptists stepping up efforts in Ebola battle
By Robert Dilday Baptists in Liberia are ramping up their response to the deadly Ebola virus outbreak which has killed more than 2,100 people in five West African countries. The Liberia Baptist Missionary and Educational Convention (LBMEC) is expanding efforts…
Chick-fil-A founder, Baptist layman, Truett Cathy dies
By Bob Allen Chick-fil-A founder S. Truett Cathy, a devout Southern Baptist layman known for building his business empire on principles of his Christian faith, died Sept. 8 at age 93. Cathy, who taught 13-year-old boys in Sunday school at…
Baptists, Mormons, ask Supreme Court to hear Utah marriage case
By Bob Allen Southern Baptists joined Mormons in a legal brief Sept. 4 asking the U.S. Supreme Court to settle once and for all if same-sex marriage is a fundamental right protected by the Constitution. The Church of Jesus Christ…