VATICAN CITY (RNS) — Lutherans and Catholics have pledged to celebrate together the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation in 2017, with both sides agreeing to set aside centuries of hostility and prejudice. The Vatican and the Lutheran World Federation…
Texas mission worker dead at 32
By Ken Camp Seth Dorrell, 32-year-old director of Mission Waco’s global arm — Mission World — died of a heart attack June 16 while he was serving on a mission trip in Mexico with his family. Dorrell’s heart attack was…
Internet video scrubbing alleged
By Bob Allen A Christian blogger has reportedly filed an ethics complaint against a lawyer for claiming ownership of online video he says was obtained legally from the federal government. Jason Smathers, who began the Witnesses Unto Me blog in…
Moderates among Baptists ‘Loving West’
By Jeff Brumley If faith has led hundreds of volunteers from around the state to descend on West, Texas, for 13-year-old Emily Dodson it was that and something more personal. “I know people who lost friends, dads,” said Dodson, a…
SBC president ending Boy Scout ties
By Bob Allen Southern Baptist Convention President Fred Luter says his church will no longer sponsor a Boy Scout troop after a recent vote to accept Scouts who are openly gay. “I was a Boy Scout,” Luter, pastor of Franklin…
Baptists re-tool annual gatherings
This story was edited after posting to correctvan error. By Vicki Brown Registration for the 2013 Southern Baptist Convention in Houston closed June 12 with a total of 5,103 messengers, down from 7,874 last year in New Orleans and the…
UMC welcomes Scouts spurned by SBC
By Bob Allen Boy Scout troops that lose the sponsorship of Southern Baptist congregations over the organization’s lifting its ban on gay Scouts are welcome in the United Methodist Church. “Our troops are open to all persons, regardless,” Chuck Jones,…
Accused Mo. pastor faces new charges
By Bob Allen A Southern Baptist pastor in Missouri awaiting trial for alleged sex crimes now faces additional charges filed June 10. Local media report that the Moniteau County prosecutor filed new charges of statutory rape and statutory sodomy against…
HeraldBeat: Tracking Baptists across the Mid-Atlantic
Accepted a new call? Been ordained? Church celebrating an anniversary? Mission trip or project that you would like highlighted on the HeraldBeat page? Send info to HeraldBeat editor Barbara Francis at [email protected]. Transitions ON THE MOVE Joey Tucker, to Mount…
Do Baptist annual meetings have a future?
’Tis the season for Baptist annual meetings. But will declining numbers, the expense of gathering people for face-to-face encounters and rapid advances in technology soon mean the demise of the rite? Not necessarily and probably not anytime soon. Fellowship and…
LEADERSHIP LINK: Church governing documents: Are they necessary?
Baptists have always placed a high priority on starting new churches. As the new churches come into being, one of the questions they face is what kind of governing documents they need. In Baptist circles, four kinds of governing documents…
In spite of declining attendance and increasing costs, leaders say annual meetings have a future
’Tis the season for Baptist annual meetings. But will declining numbers, the expense of gathering people for face-to-face encounters and rapid advances in technology soon mean the demise of the rite? Not necessarily and probably not anytime soon. Fellowship and…