By Bob Allen A retired Baptist pastor active in Americans United for Separation of Church and State joined educators and fellow clergy in a lawsuit claiming a Florida school-voucher program is unconstitutional. Harry Parrott Jr., an ordained American Baptist minister…
Lofty fundraiser leads Baptist to climb Kilimanjaro
By George Henson Bertha De La Garza ascended to loftier heights than before by climbing Africa’s Mount Kilimanjaro this summer. The Baptist from Abilene, Texas, also reached new spiritual heights during the hike, which raised money for a global sports…
David Platt elected IMB president
By Bob Allen David Platt, a 36-year-old pastor active in the “young, restless and reformed” movement in the Southern Baptist Convention, was elected Aug. 27 as president of the SBC International Mission Board. Platt, pastor of The Church at Brook…
David Hull to join the Center for Healthy Churches
By Bob Allen A veteran Baptist pastor who stepped down in April after his wife became a pastor in another town has accepted a new role with a consulting firm devoted to improving the spiritual, emotional and organizational health of…
Liberian seminary responds to humanitarian crisis
By Bob Allen The interim president of a Baptist seminary forced out of Liberia by the Ebola outbreak says the crisis is taking a toll far greater than those who catch the illness. Richard Wilson, a professor at Mercer University…
Wilshire honors George Mason for 25 years as pastor
By Bob Allen A prominent Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Church in Texas marked its pastor’s 25th anniversary Aug. 24 by renaming a model pastoral residency program in his honor. A weekend-long celebration at Wilshire Baptist Church in Dallas culminated with a…
Baptists prepared for Calif. quake response
By Jeff Brumley The CrossWalk Community Church social media presence changed drastically in tone over the weekend, from good-natured ice bucket challenges on Saturday to urgent pleas to help earthquake victims on Sunday. “We will be open for prayer at…
Church-state group opposes tax break for Ark museum
By Bob Allen A nonprofit group advocating church-state separation urged Kentucky officials in an Aug. 22 letter to deny tax incentives for a proposed theme park based on Noah’s Ark, claiming the break would compel taxpayers to support both employment…
Deaths of pastor, wife, ruled murder/suicide
By Bob Allen The deaths of a Baptist pastor and his wife discovered Aug. 20 by their granddaughter in the patio area of their home in Lumberton, N.C., have been ruled a murder-suicide. The Robeson County Sheriff’s Office released a…
Georgia church heeds calling to serve elderly through worship
By Jeff Brumley News of a church’s closing usually brings tears and mourning, and certainly there will be some of that when Scott Boulevard Baptist Church leaves its historic property in Decatur, Ga., for nearby rented space on Sunday. But…
SBC leader says Gungor trusts science more than the Bible
By Bob Allen A Southern Baptist Convention leader said Aug. 22 that a contemporary Christian music artist who recently said he no longer believes in a literal Adam and Eve or Noah’s Ark trusts science more than the Bible. Albert…
Pouring cold water on the ice-bucket challenge
By Bob Allen Abortion opponents are encouraging conservative Christians to chill out before taking the Ice Bucket Challenge plunge. As of Friday, Aug, 22, the ALS Association has received $53.3 million in donations — compared to $2.2 million during the…