By Bob Allen Fred Phelps, founding pastor of Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kan., is dead at age 84, family members confirmed to local media. Phelps’ son, Timothy, told Topeka television station WIBW that his father died late Wednesday night….
Lay claim to ‘audacious freedom,’ divinity school students urged
By Ken Camp Baptist church historian Bill Leonard challenged students at Texas Christian University’s Brite Divinity School to carry out their calling by claiming, reclaiming, discovering or recovering “the audacious freedom we call gospel.” Jesus announced the coming of God’s…
CBF leaders remember Tom Cleary
By Bob Allen Cooperative Baptist Fellowship leaders shared fond memories of Tom Cleary, one of the first field personnel appointed by the Decatur, Ga.-based CBF, who died March 19 in Tampa, Fla., after emergency surgery for a ruptured aneurysm the…
Mission trip reflects growing shift as participants experience ‘transformation’
By Jeff Brumley It’s usually called a mission trip when a group of college students and their campus minister visit a ministry located in a struggling out-of-state neighborhood. But that’s not what a group of Clemson University undergrads and their…
Osteen illustrates nondenominationalizing of U.S. religion, says church historian
By Ken Camp Megachurch Pastor Joel Osteen and Lakewood Church in Houston offer a high-profile case study in the “nondenominationalizing” of 21st century evangelical American religion, says church historian Bill Leonard. Osteen manages to be “modern and postmodern, traditional and…
Pastor says male/female roles will continue in heaven
By Bob Allen Wives are to submit to their husbands not only on earth but also in heaven, according to an article posted online recently by the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood. A 7,000-word article titled “Relationships and Roles…
Tom Cleary dies, was one of first missionaries appointed by CBF
By Bob Allen Tom Cleary, one of the first global missions field personnel appointed by the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, died after suffering a ruptured aneurysm March 15, CBF Florida Coordinator Ray Johnson reported in an e-newsletter March 19. Cleary served…
Pastor accused of bilking elderly
By Bob Allen An American Baptist pastor in Connecticut has been charged with stealing more than $173,000 from an elderly parishioner. Robert Genevicz, pastor of Stratford Baptist Church the last 16 years, was arrested March 18 and charged with first-degree…
Campolo says U.S. missionaries too close to CIA, later ‘regrets’ comment
Editor’s note: This article was modified March 19 to include additional information following the third paragraph and the final paragraph. By Bob Allen A progressive evangelical leader who counseled President Bill Clinton during the Monica Lewinsky scandal says it isn’t…
Blogger moving on from Louisiana College to ‘ex-Muslim’ controversy in Georgia
By Bob Allen A Baptist pastor who released documents that brought media scrutiny to alleged wrongdoing at Louisiana College says he is finished with that controversy and shifting focus to another Baptist college president accused in the past of lying…
Churches respond to call for disaster relief in Augusta, Ga.
By Jeff Brumley Andy Jones says he has just one answer for church groups still looking for that quick spring or early summer mission: come to Augusta, Ga. As the minister of missions at First Baptist Church there, Jones has…
For Lent, Baptist dons orange prison garb for poor and imprisoned
By Jeff Brumley Kent McKeever’s choice of Lenten sacrifice has already generated enough stares and media scrutiny to last him a lifetime. But that’s OK, he jokes, given the trade-off: a lot less laundry to do until Easter. “It’s very…