By Bob Allen The impact of last week’s shooting rampage at a Colorado movie theater was felt as far away as Texas, where a family well-known among Texas Baptists mourned the loss of a brother and son. Texas native Gordon…
Religious freedom organization gets final approval to begin new educational complex in Richmond
RICHMOND, Va.—The First Freedom Center received final approval from the Richmond City Council July 23 to construct a downtown exhibit and hotel complex to highlight religious freedom. The City Council’s action paves the way for the 28-year-old non-profit educational organization…
Chaplain at same-sex wedding leaving SBC
By Bob Allen A Southern Baptist-endorsed Air Force chaplain portrayed recently in national media as watching approvingly the blessing of a same-sex civil union in the chapel he oversees informed officials at the SBC North American Mission Board July 19…
Fire destroys Windermere lodge
By Vicki Brown A fire apparently sparked by a mechanical failure in a dryer unit destroyed a 46-bed lodge before dawn July 22 at Windermere Baptist Conference Center in Roach, Mo. The 7,200-foot Whispering Oak Lodge was one of 13…
Campbell’s music conference provides ministry oasis
BUIES CREEK, N.C.—From the vibrations of organist Jane Holstein’s open organ registration in the initial session to the harmony of a variety of instruments, voices and bells in the closing worship service, attendees at Campbell University Divinity School’s second annual…
Is gun control a religious issue? Maybe, but the debate rages
(RNS)—Of all the controversies that have followed in the bloody wake of July 20 shooting rampage in Aurora, Colo., few have provided such a clarifying insight into the moral tensions and contradictions in American culture than the argument over whether…
Is gun control a religious issue? Maybe, but the debate rages across America
(RNS)—Of all the controversies that have followed in the bloody wake of the July 20 shooting rampage in Aurora, Colo., few have provided such a clarifying insight into the moral tensions and contradictions in American culture than the argument over…
CELEBRATE RETIREMENT: Congregation helps widow who faces eviction from her home
KNOXVILLE, Tenn.(ABP)—Mary Cate Jones never doubted her congregation would help when it learned she faced a foreclosure crisis last month. But raising $35,000 in the last two weeks of May and finding a donor to match the rest? The 78-year-old…
Ramadan fast poses challenge for Muslim Olympians
(RNS)—Winning an Olympic medal is hard. Surprisingly, winning one when you’re fasting for Ramadan is not that much harder. At least, not for Suleiman Nyambui of Tanzania, who took silver in the 5000 meters at the 1980 Summer Olympics while…
CELEBRATE RETIREMENT: Goal of college degree before 70 becomes reality
BLUEFIELD, Va.—Harriett Libby finished Middlesex High School in Saluda, Va., in 1960, married Howard Roane that September and set her heart on finishing her education with a college degree. But despite a calling to professional ministry, which would require a…
Mormons and Baptists compete for converts
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (RNS)—Jake Pulsipher’s first day as a working missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints began at 6:30 a.m. with prayer and exercise, followed by breakfast and study. Then he put on a black suit, white…
CELEBRATE RETIREMENT: Baby Boomers are reinventing old age
Del Webb, America’s largest homebuilder of active adult communities, released in April its 10th Baby Boomer survey since 1996. It reveals new and compelling facts and opinions from the generation of Americans born between the years of 1946 and 1964…