By Vicki Brown The Missouri Baptist Convention has bought about 970 acres that originally had been part of Windermere Baptist Conference Center. News reports indicate that the purchase includes shoreline on both sides of the current Windermere facilities on the Lake…
Mohler says SBC not through with ‘third way’ church
By Bob Allen A Southern Baptist Convention leader says failure to discipline a pastor and congregation at the recent SBC annual meeting doesn’t mean the nation’s second-largest faith group is wavering in its rejection of churches which “act to affirm,…
Court date set in murder of Union University student
By Bob Allen A former Union University student accused of murdering his fiancée and staging her death to look like a suicide returns to court July 10 for a preliminary hearing, according to local media. Charles “Charlie” Pittman, 21, has…
Childhood abuse increases potential for future exploitation, says one who endured it
By Ken Camp Stephanie Henry — a survivor of childhood sexual abuse — became a stripper when she saw her body as a “commodity” that could provide relief from financial desperation. Today, she devotes her life to combating human trafficking…
Church planter to lead CBF initiative
By Bob Allen The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship has contracted with an experienced church planter in North Carolina to oversee a decade-old initiative begun to encourage and support the starting of new churches. Andy Hale, pastor of Mosaic of Clayton in…
CBF controller stepping down, interim named to succeed him
By Bob Allen Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Controller Larry Hurst is stepping down after 13 years of service to work for the Association County Commissioners of Georgia, a nonprofit organization serving local governments in all 159 Georgia counties. CBF Executive Coordinator…
Merritt, Moore debate Hobby Lobby’s alleged ‘hypocrisy’
By Bob Allen A faith-and-culture writer and Southern Baptist Convention official clashed June 17 about whether it’s hypocritical for Hobby Lobby to call itself a Christian company while doing business in China. Author and Religion News Service blogger Jonathan Merritt…
Church-state group asks court to strike down gay-marriage bans in three states
By Bob Allen A gay Baptist minister suing for the right to wed in Kentucky got support June 17 from Americans United for Separation of Church and State. The Washington-based watchdog group filed three separate legal briefs asking the 6th…
Political polarization challenges U.S. churches, Baptist leaders say
By Jeff Brumley There was a time in America when a pastor could raise significant social matters of the day and correlate them to Scripture, all without offending most folks in the pews, Rob Nash recalled. “As late as the…
Mohler says call 911 at first report of abuse
By Bob Allen A Southern Baptist leader criticized for supporting a ministry colleague accused of covering up child sex abuse advised pastors June 10 to immediately dial 911 at the first report of any abuse. “Know beforehand that if you…
American Baptists decry religious conversion law in Burma
By Robert Dilday American Baptists’ top policy-making body has expressed its “strongest concerns” over a restrictive religious conversion law being considered in Burma and has endorsed legislation in the U.S. Congress to withhold security assistance until the country, also known…
Missouri Baptist Foundation may face hefty debt in long-standing court battle
By Vicki Brown If a lower court decision stands, the Missouri Baptist Foundation faces a debt to the Missouri Baptist Convention that could reach more than $5 million. On June 6, Judge Frank Conley issued a final judgment in a…