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…
McAfee trip expands limits of faith, culture and ministry
By Jeff Brumley Walking through ritually sacrificed goat’s blood at a Hindu temple and watching Buddhist monks meditate for hours on end didn’t shake Baptist Rebecca White’s faith one bit during a three-week trip to India. It was just the…
SBC leader says border crisis ‘moral disgrace’
By Bob Allen A Southern Baptist Convention official just back from a tour of two Texas facilities for migrant children said July 23 the young people he met there were no different from the kind of kids one might meet…
Sex abuse victim sues Alabama Baptist church
By Bob Allen A victim of a former children’s minister sentenced to 30 years in prison has sued both his perpetrator and the church that hired him. The victim, identified by initials J.G., filed a lawsuit July 22 in U.S….
Youth pastor gets 3 years for child porn
By Bob Allen A former Tennessee Baptist youth minister avoided a maximum 20-year sentence for child pornography found on his cell phone during an investigation of his previous arrest on charges of statutory rape and sexual battery. U.S. District Judge…
Old abuse accusations resurface with recent arrest
By Bob Allen Leaders of a Baptist association in Alabama investigated questions raised in recent media reports about a director of mission’s handling of alleged child sex abuse decades ago in 2009 and found no evidence of cover-up, according to…
Lay callings confirmed through Stephen Ministry
By Ken Camp Tiffany Wright believes the priesthood of believers involves equipping the laity to bear one another’s burdens and give Christ-like care to hurting people. That’s why Wright leads the Stephen Ministry at Wilshire Baptist Church in Dallas, a program…
In executive order, Obama bans bias against gays by federal contractors
By Bob Allen President Obama signed an executive order July 21 that prohibits federal contractors from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. “America’s federal contracts should not subsidize discrimination against the American people,” Obama said at a…
American Baptist leader asks churches to address growing global conflict
By Robert Dilday The general secretary of American Baptist Churches USA is calling on each of the denomination’s 5,200 congregations to offer prayers each Sunday in August for nations impacted by the “continued escalation of conflict” around the globe this…
Kentucky Baptist Convention escrows funds for Campbellsville
By Bob Allen Kentucky Baptist Convention leaders voted July 17 to hold in escrow Cooperative Program funds earmarked for Campbellsville University after the school changed bylaws to elect its own trustees. Don Mathis, chairman of the convention’s business and finance…