By Jeff Brumley While plans have yet to be made by two churches who bet a mission trip on the BCS championship game, the pastors of the two Cooperative Baptist congregations say the wager’s impact is already producing spiritual fruits….
Longtime missions prof Bryant Hicks dies
By Bob Allen A memorial service is scheduled for 11 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 18, at Lyndon Baptist Church in Louisville, Ky., for W. Bryant Hicks, a longtime missions professor at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary who died Jan. 12 at age…
State says murder suspect planned to wed boyfriend
By Bob Allen Prosecutors say a former minister at First Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala., charged with his wife’s murder, was trying to leave the country prior to his Jan. 1 arrest to marry his boyfriend. The latest twist in…
Baptist chaplain sees spiritual lessons in 100K race
By Jeff Brumley It would seem like Air Force Maj. Chuck Seligman got all the danger and excitement he needed from several combat deployments and more than 20 years in uniform. But then there was the belt buckle they give…
Pastor says Obama presidency prophesied
By Bob Allen A well-known black Southern Baptist preacher says he believes the election of President Obama may have been foretold in Scripture. Dwight McKissic, pastor of the 3,000-member Cornerstone Baptist Church in Arlington, Texas, and a former trustee at…
Okla. Baptist leader blasts gay marriage ruling
By Bob Allen The top official for Southern Baptist churches in Oklahoma quickly denounced a federal judge’s Jan. 14 ruling that the state’s ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional. U.S. District Judge Terence Kern of the Northern District of Oklahoma…
SBC leader says abortion affects local church
By Bob Allen The head of Southern Baptists’ agency for moral and religious liberty concerns says an upcoming Sunday observing the sanctity of life is not just about politics or bemoaning a culture in decline, but an issue of private…
Ouachita lands former Auburn quarterback
By Bob Allen Coming out of high school touted as heir apparent to Heisman Trophy winner and first overall pick in the 2011 NFL draft Cam Newton, one-time Auburn quarterback Kiehl Frazier has transferred to Ouachita Baptist University, hoping to…
Kazakh Baptists refuse to pay fines
By Bob Allen Two Baptists in Kazakhstan recently served 48 hours in jail after refusing to pay fines handed down in 2013 for worshipping and sharing their faith without the government’s permission. Shoe-repairer Vyacheslav Cherkasov and plumber Zhasulan Alzhanov were sentenced…
Soulforce announces leadership change
By Bob Allen After four years as executive director of Soulforce, a national nonprofit protest group opposed to discrimination against gays in religious groups, Cindi Love is stepping down. Love, former national leader of the of Metropolitan Community Church, will…
Richard Shahan seeks $30,000 bond
By Bob Allen Lawyers for an Alabama Baptist minister arrested while trying to board a flight for Germany on a charge of murdering his wife are asking a judge to set a “reasonable” bond not to exceed $30,000 allowing his…
Churches, CBF respond to NC collegiate ministry shifts
By Jeff Brumley Cooperative Baptist congregations in Western North Carolina and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of North Carolina are expanding their influence on college campuses just as huge financial and cultural shifts make campus ministries one of the riskiest and…