By Dan Lattimore Mission service topped the agenda of the Tennessee Cooperative Baptist Fellowship as more than 220 participants at the annual meeting in Memphis April 11-12 engaged in 14 projects across the city. Enfleshing the meeting’s theme — “Be,…
Skepticism about Bible on the rise, but that doesn’t faze some ministers
By Jeff Brumley The number of people skeptical of the Bible is rising while those who view it as sacred is dropping, according to a recent American Bible Society survey. But those findings aren’t rattling some Baptist ministers. What concerns…
Starbucks initiative boosts Baptist work in Thailand
By Bob Allen An American Baptist missionary couple’s 25-year work to improve life among the hill tribes of Northern Thailand got a major boost when Seattle-based Starbucks opened its first Community Store outside the United States last May in Bangkok….
SBC leader says evangelicals paying price for ‘narrow vision’ of religious freedom
By Bob Allen Loss of the historic Baptist commitment to religious liberty has left U.S. evangelicals ill-prepared for current threats to the free exercise of religion, the Southern Baptist Convention’s top spokesman for moral and public policy concerns suggested April…
Tennessee Baptist school fights Obamacare
By Bob Allen Southern Baptist-affiliated Union University filed a lawsuit April 4 challenging insurance coverage of contraceptives mandated for employers by the federal Affordable Care Act. The Tennessee Baptist Convention-affiliated school in Jackson, Tenn., joined numerous secular and religious employers…
Russian, Ukrainian Baptist leaders meet in Kiev
By Bob Allen The heads of the Baptist unions in Ukraine and Russia met April 8 for the first time since a political crisis began last November putting the two nations on the brink of war. Presidents of the All-Ukrainian…
Baptist leader diagnosed with breast cancer
By Bob Allen The first woman to lead the Baptist Union of Great Britain has requested prayer after being diagnosed with breast cancer. Lynn Green, elected last year as general secretary of the 2,100-church union founded in 1832, says a…
Water missions surge as churches see spiritual connection
By Jeff Brumley Water, it seems, is all the rage. Experts say the demand for global mission projects focused on providing clean water has become unquenchable as churches increasingly see water as one of the most efficient means of meeting…
Mohler defends exclusivity of Christ
By Bob Allen The idea that Christianity is the only saving path to God is a hard sell in a culture that increasingly celebrates religious diversity, Southern Baptist seminary President Albert Mohler told preachers gathered for this year’s Together for…
Jeb Bush to meet with Southern Baptist leader
By Bob Allen Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush will meet privately next month with Southern Baptist Convention Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission President Russell Moore, the Washington Post reported April 8, an effort to reach out to evangelicals should he…
PBS examines Calvinism in SBC
By Bob Allen While other U.S. denominations face schism over homosexuality, Southern Baptists are rehashing a 17th-century debate about why a loving God would create billions of souls predestined to an eternity in hell. “I think it’s a fantastic thing,”…
Government should leave religion alone, Baptist leader insists
By Ken Camp Government should let religion “flourish or flounder on its own,” not promote it or prohibit liberty of conscience, a religious freedom advocate told a chapel assembly at Baylor University’s Truett Theological Seminary. In spite of their diversity…