By John Hall Jose Angel could have left Juarez behind. No more listening to regular reports of violence between rival drug cartels. No more worrying about whether he and his family were safe. He even had a job interview in…
State convention held liable for abuse
By Bob Allen A jury found May 17 that the Florida Baptist Convention is liable for failing to do an adequate background check before recruiting and training a former church planter now in prison for molesting a 13-year-old boy. According…
In unprecedented move, one person to lead both Virginia’s black, white Baptist conventions
RICHMOND, Va.—In an unprecedented move, the president of Virginia’s oldest predominantly white Baptist convention also has been elected the top officer in the state’s oldest historically black Baptist convention. Mark Croston, pastor of East End Baptist Church in Suffolk, Va.,…
Baptist dean eulogizes Chuck Colson
By Bob Allen A Baptist divinity school dean eulogized former Watergate henchman and Prison Fellowship founder Chuck Colson as a man who was not perfect but forgiven and who never forgot Jesus’ words, “I was in prison and you visited…
2012 Task Force report now online
By Bob Allen The final report of a blue-ribbon task force appointed two years ago to chart a future for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship is now available online, giving Fellowship Baptists a month to digest the 24-page document before it…
Editor recovering from bike wreck
By Word and Way Staff Bill Webb, editor of the Missouri Baptist newspaper Word and Way, is recovering in a hospital from serious injuries sustained May 12 in a cycling accident in Jefferson City, Mo. A veteran Baptist journalist who…
Bluefield trustees discuss capital improvement projects
BLUEFIELD, Va.—Capital improvement projects were the topics of discussion when Bluefield College’s board of trustees gathered on campus for its annual spring meeting in April. During the two-day session, the BC governing body gave the go-ahead for renovations to Lansdell…
N.T. Wright asks: Have we gotten heaven all wrong?
NEW YORK (RNS)—The oft-cliched Christian notion of heaven—a blissful realm of harp-strumming angels—has remained a fixture of the faith for centuries. Even as arguments will go on as to who will or won’t be saved, surveys show that a vast…
Chuck Colson’s memorial steeped in prison themes
WASHINGTON (RNS)—Prison Fellowship founder and former Nixon aide Chuck Colson was memorialized May 16 at Washington National Cathedral in a service steeped in Scripture and prayers about prison and redemption. Colson, who died April 21 at the age of 80…
N.T. Wright asks: Have we gotten heaven all wrong?
NEW YORK (RNS)—The oft-cliched Christian notion of heaven—a blissful realm of harp-strumming angels—has remained a fixture of the faith for centuries. Even as arguments will go on as to who will or won’t be saved, surveys show that a vast…
BPFNA seeks conflict transformation
By Bob Allen Directors of the Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America voted recently to authorize funding for conflict transformation training in Sudan/South Sudan and the Philippines and to assist with creation of a Baptist Peace Fellowship of Latin America…
Pastor punts sermon over Obama
By Bob Allen A Southern Baptist mega church pastor shelved his prepared Mother’s Day sermon and instead led 6,000 worshippers in prayer over President Obama’s May 9 statement that he supports gay marriage. “This past week we had a historic…