By Bob Allen A Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary graduate and one-time Baptist campus minister is suing the state of Alabama for refusing to recognize his legal same-sex marriage performed in another state. Paul Hard, who earned a master-of-divinity degree from…
Minister sentenced for child sex abuse
By Bob Allen A former children’s minister at an Alabama Baptist church was sentenced to 30 years in prison after pleading guilty to child sex abuse March 7. Jeffrey Dale Eddie, 41, longtime associate pastor for children and church administration…
Baptist groups at forefront of ecumenical disaster relief
By Jeff Brumley In an age of declining respect for churches and an overall disinterest in religion, sometimes it takes a tornado or earthquake to show the world that Baptists and other Christians can, in fact, do something right. That…
Union University murder suspect gets mental evaluation
By Bob Allen A Union University student charged with murdering his fiancée and staging it to look like a suicide is undergoing mental evaluation to determine if he is competent to stand trial. Charles Pittman, 21, a Christian ministry major…
Baptists fined in Belarus for illegal worship
By Bob Allen Four Baptists in Belarus paid fines after losing appeals for holding worship services without government permission. Forum 18, an international news service that specializes in religious-freedom issues, reported that Pastor Aleksandr Zolotarev, arrested in a Dec. 22…
SBC ethicist tight with Catholics, Mormons on shared public policy concerns
By Bob Allen The Southern Baptist Convention’s top spokesman for public policy said March 5 that in his first months on the job he is working closely with his Mormon and Roman Catholic counterparts on religious-liberty concerns. “These days, anyway,…
Declining attendance prompts call to merge BWA’s congress, youth conference
By Robert Dilday Dwindling attendance at both the Baptist World Alliance’s world congress and youth conference has prompted a proposal to merge the two international meetings, held every five years though not simultaneously. BWA general secretary Neville Callam told the…
More Louisiana College documents emerge
By Bob Allen Louisiana College trustees are working on a contract extension for President Joe Aguillard, according to the Town Talk newspaper in Alexandria, La., even as new documents emerged alleging that Aguillard’s office submitted papers with forged signatures to…
Baptist disaster officials tackle cooperation, volunteer background checks
By Jeff Brumley Baptist disaster-response leaders from around the nation gathered near Philadelphia Wednesday and Thursday to hammer out how they can improve interdenominational coordination and swap best practices when ministering to communities impacted by catastrophe. Members of the North…
Moldovan who fights human trafficking to receive BWA human rights award
By Robert Dilday Ilie Coada, a Moldovan who has spent his career fighting human trafficking, is this year’s recipient of the Baptist World Alliance’s human rights award, the organization announced March 5. The Denton and Janice Lotz Human Rights Award…
Attitudes among Southern Baptist leaders shifting on birth control
Editor’s note: This article was corrected March 11 to clarify a quote in 14th paragraph. By Bob Allen On the surface, Roman Catholics and Southern Baptists might seem unlikely bedfellows in opposing mandated coverage of contraceptives under Obamacare, but observers…
Southern Baptist Convention’s abortion stance moving toward birth control issues
By Bob Allen Once essentially pro-choice, the Southern Baptist Convention today stands firmly with pro-life evangelicals and Catholics on sanctity-of-life issues, including opposition to mandated coverage of contraceptives in the Affordable Care Act. Southern Baptist attorney Linda Coffee wrote a…