By Bob Allen A Southern Baptist seminary president says American Christianity lacks credibility to confront same-sex marriage because of its own failure to model marital fidelity and life-long commitment in churches. Albert Mohler “We have to understand that where we…
New Mexico Baptists ponder future of Glorieta
By John Loudat Around 30 people from New Mexico, Texas and Oklahoma gathered April 12 at Baptist Convention of New Mexico’s building to offer suggestions for the future of Glorieta Conference Center. They met at invitation of an ad hoc…
Veteran minister reflects on losses in African-American church life
Merging churches across racial lines demands work
Panel urges ‘complementarians’ to practice what they preach
By Bob Allen A movement in evangelical Christianity that promotes male headship and wifely submission in marriage faces competition today not from radical feminists but rather believers who are “complementarian” in name only, according to a panel at a recent…
Lesbian Christian singer goes back to church — with a different message
By Greg Warner When Christian singer-songwriter Jennifer Knapp acknowledged her homosexuality a few years ago, she figured she was done singing in churches. She already had walked away from her eight-year career in contemporary Christian music in 2002 because her…
Oklahoma Baptists seek to revive personhood legislation
By Bob Allen Southern Baptist leaders in Oklahoma joined other clergy and lawmakers seeking to revive “personhood” legislation shelved by Republicans in the state’s House of Representatives. Representatives of the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission…
‘Baptist Times’ website debuts
Associated Baptist Press A new Baptist Times website launched April 23, three months after an award-winning newspaper with the same name ceased publication after 156 years. Part of the Baptist Union of Great Britain, the new website will cover news…
Speakers say churches can learn from same-sex couples
A gay Christian told Baptists April 20 that whatever their views about homosexuality, churches can learn something from committed same-sex covenant relationships. Cody Sanders delivers a paper during a plenary session examing the boundaries of covenant. (CBF photos) Cody Sanders,…
Stand Your Ground sponsor sees no contradiction with his Baptist faith
By Jeff Brumley The state legislator and Southern Baptist layman who championed the Stand Your Ground law made infamous in the Trayvon Martin case was relieved when the killer was charged with second-degree murder. “I was redeemed by it because…
Ethnicity thwarts unity: BWA head
By Marv Knox Ethnicity – not race – thwarts Christian unity, Baptists’ international leader told participants at the T.B. Maston Lectures in Christian Ethics. Neville Callam, general secretary of the Baptist World Alliance, delivered the 12th annual Maston Lectures April…
Look beyond denominational subculture, Baylor prof urges
By Ken Camp Contemporary ethical debates about sexuality cannot be separated from questions about the nature of the church and whether Christians will be shaped more by covenant community or by culture, a lecturer in Baylor University’s Great Texts program…