By Vicki Brown Ministers are responsible for their actions as individuals, sometimes by civil authorities and ultimately by God. But what responsibility, if any, should the local church and the denomination bear for unethical behavior of their pastors and other…
Trial date set for accused molester
By Bob Allen A trial date has been set in the case of a North Carolina man charged with taking indecent liberties with four boys while acting as chaperone of a group attending a Baptist church camp. Clyde Wesley Way…
Baptists joining financial, spiritual fight against Ebola outbreak
By Jeff Brumley The calls to action and prayer seem to be spreading as fast as the Ebola virus currently ravaging parts of Africa — with Baptists and other Christians squarely in the sights of the terrifying disease and the effort…
Al Sharpton opens voter-rights center with rally at historic Baptist church
By Bob Allen Activist and ordained Pentecostal minister Al Sharpton challenged a crowd July 30 at the historic 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala., to reclaim voting rights hard won during Freedom Summer, a voter-registration effort credited with bringing…
Baptist school mourns loss of president’s son
By Bob Allen A Baptist college in Georgia fighting the possible loss of accreditation turned to mourning July 30 with news that President Ergun Caner’s 15-year-old son had died unexpectedly. Braxton Paige Caner, a rising sophomore at Aledo High School…
Millennials warn churches against catering to their generation
By Jeff Brumley Many American congregations are modernizing worship in an effort to lure Millennials and other young people either into church or back to church. “For some, the instinct is to radically alter the old model: out with the…
American Baptist region defrocks minister charged with larceny
By Bob Allen The American Baptist Churches of Connecticut has withdrawn the ordination of a pastor accused in criminal and civil cases of misusing his ministerial status to bilk the elderly.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…