By Bob Allen A group that monitors religious freedom violations in the armed forces claimed victory June 11 after the Pentagon announced that LifeWay Christian Resources can no longer use official emblems of the four military branches on Bibles sold…
Faith groups tout anti-discrimination bill
By Bob Allen Thirty-seven faith groups wrote senators June 12 urging passage of a bill that would prohibit workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. The Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism coordinated the letter signed…
CBF promotes peer learning
By Jeff Brumley As a CBF-trained minister working at a Southern Baptist church in Hawaii, Eric Hasha says he could be the poster child for ministerial isolation. “I’m literally and figuratively on an island when it comes to moderate Baptist…
SBC membership drops below 16 million
By Bob Allen Membership in the Southern Baptist Convention declined for the fifth straight year in 2011, falling under 16 million for the first time since 2000, according to annual statistics released June 12 by LifeWay Christian Resources. The 2011…
Faith leaders protest contraceptive rule
By Bob Allen Nearly 150 faith leaders wrote Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius June 11 protesting the administration’s requirement that faith-based employers include contraceptive coverage for women in their health-care plans. The Affordable Health Care Act, also known…
Florida Baptists challenge abuse ruling
By Bob Allen The Florida Baptist Convention is contesting a May 17 jury verdict that found the Southern Baptist Convention affiliate liable for sexual abuse committed by a former church planter. The Florida Baptist Witness reported June 12 that the…
Baptist school fires gay librarian
By Bob Allen A gay librarian at Shorter University who refused to sign a statement rejecting homosexuality has been fired, the Save Our Shorter website reported June 7. Michael Wilson, 50, off-campus librarian for professional studies since 1998, returned his…
CBF assembly sessions to be webcast
By Bob Allen Five main sessions of the upcoming June 20-23 Cooperative Baptist Fellowship General Assembly in Fort Worth, Texas, will be broadcast live online. Sessions can be viewed live or accessed later from archives at www.thefellowship.info/fortworth. The first webcast…
Church aids widow facing eviction
By Jeff Brumley 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?…
EDITORIAL: And now in conclusion …
Editor’s note: When Julian Pentecost penned his final editorial upon his retirement after 22 years as editor, I doubt that he imagined it would also serve as a kind of eulogy. But as I read through many of his editorials…
Measured by ministry to ‘the least of these,’ how do Christians fare?
When it comes to judging livestock, some Baptists have a beef with sheep and goats. In Matthew 25:31-46, Jesus describes Judgment Day, with all the nations gathered around God’s throne and people separated into two groups—sheep on one side, goats…
LETTER: Sex conference missed the mark
From all that I have read, the Baptist Conference on Sexuality and Covenant [Herald, April 30] went just as I feared it would. Many speakers used fanciful and complex, but misguided, theological arguments to persuade participants that some homosexual and…