By Bob Allen The American Baptist Churches of Connecticut has withdrawn the ordination of a pastor accused in criminal and civil cases of misusing his ministerial status to bilk the elderly. Judy Allbee, executive minister of the regional arm of…
Baylor student, graduate die in car wreck
By Ken Camp A Baylor University student and a recent graduate were killed in a one-car accident about 30 miles southeast of Waco. Another Baylor student and an incoming freshman also sustained serious injuries in the wreck. The four musicians…
Same-sex couple makes ‘journey of faith’ to wed
By Bob Allen A lesbian couple, members of clergy and other supporters boarded a bus in Louisville, Ky., July 28 for a three-hour ride to Illinois, where the couple was legally wed. The “Journey of Faith for Marriage Equality” was…
Minister on death row surprised by only one thing: fellow Baptists’ support for capital punishment
By Ken Camp In the six years Dorothy Ruelas has visited death-row inmates at the Allan B. Polunsky Unit in West Livingston, Texas, only one thing shocked her. “I was surprised and shocked to find out most Baptists support the…
Baptists join others praising nominee for religious freedom ambassador
By Jeff Brumley Baptist and other American religious leaders are praising President Barack Obama’s selection of a rabbi and law professor to lead the U.S. State Department’s anti-religious-discrimination efforts around the world. Obama today announced his nomination of Rabbi David…
Golden Gate campus fetches $85 million
By Bob Allen A picturesque 126-acre Southern Baptist seminary campus with sweeping views of San Francisco Bay brought $85 million in a sale finalized last week. Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary plans to use sale proceeds to relocate its main…
Colorblind artist feels drawn to draw Christ
By Tyler Agnew Colorblind artist Lance Brown spreads the gospel with paint. “I shouldn’t be able to excel in the field of art, but God has allowed me to,” said Brown, who calls his ministry Painted Christ. “This is part of…
Poll: Americans feel good about evangelicals
By Jeff Brumley Jews, Catholics and evangelical Christians finished in that order in a “feeling thermometer” poll released recently by the Pew Research Religion and Public Life Project. Viewed with a cold, or more negative, attitude were atheists while Muslims…
Candidate’s church-state stance worries religious freedom blogger
By Bob Allen A blogger for a Baptist group that advocates religious freedom for all views with alarm the rise of a Southern Baptist preacher and radio-show host likely headed for Congress after winning the Republican congressional primary in Georgia’s…
Shoes offer respite for weary immigrant children
By Russ Dilday By the time the young mother and her two daughters arrived in McAllen, Texas, they were bone-tired. After a harrowing month on the road from their home in El Salvador, they crossed the Rio Grande River. Then…
Rubio talks values at speech co-sponsored by ERLC
By Bob Allen U.S. senator and potential 2016 GOP presidential candidate Marco Rubio criticized what he termed growing intolerance for supporters of traditional marriage at a July 23 conference co-sponsored by the Southern Baptist Convention Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission….
Once a bright hope, Arkansas Baptist College now faces fiscal challenges, lawsuits
By Bob Allen A Cooperative Baptist Fellowship leader in Arkansas says he continues to support the president of a historically black college struggling with finances and a close ministry partner to the state CBF chapter the last seven years. Recent…