Rugged individualism is the sea we Americans swim in. Our culture is about the rags-to-riches Horatio Alger, the pioneering Daniel Boone and more recently the iconic dissenter Steve Jobs. John Chandler Classic Baptist doctrinal distinctives of “the priesthood of every…
Study: 2/3 of Americans support renting school buildings to churches
By Bob Allen Two-thirds of Americans believe public schools should rent to churches and other community groups, according to a new study by LifeWay Research. The study by the research arm of the Southern Baptist Convention publisher LifeWay Christian Resources…
Pastor’s anti-gambling prayer criticized as political
By Bob Allen A statehouse prayer landed a Baptist pastor in the middle of a controversy over a proposal to bring casino gambling to Kentucky. Hershael York Hershael York, pastor of Buck Run Baptist Church in Frankfort, Ky., opened Gov….
Komen denies caving to pressure to defund Planned Parenthood
By Bob Allen The charity behind the well-known pink-ribbon campaign for breast cancer awareness is denying that its decision to cut funding for Planned Parenthood was the result of pressure from conservative groups including the Southern Baptist Convention. The Susan…
Veteran Baptist communicator Lloyd Householder dies
Lloyd Householder, 82, a veteran Southern Baptist denominational worker and communicator, died Jan. 30. Householder worked 32 years for the Southern Baptist Sunday School Board, now called LifeWay Christian Resources, before retiring in 1992 as assistant vice president for the…
Veteran Baptist communicator Lloyd Householder dies
Associated Baptist Press Lloyd Householder, 82, a veteran Southern Baptist denominational worker and communicator, died Jan. 30. Householder worked 32 years for the Southern Baptist Sunday School Board, now called LifeWay Christian Resources, before retiring in 1992 as assistant vice…
EDITORIAL: Frappuccino Fellowships
Some Christians suffer actual persecution. Most Americans welcomed the news last year that an “Arab Spring” was sweeping through the Middle East. The governments of Tunisia, Libya and Egypt were overthrown. Governmental changes, some of them major, were affected in…
Two columnists join Religious Herald’s ranks
RICHMOND, Va. — Two new regular columnists were added at the beginning of 2012 to the Religious Herald’s community of opinion writers. Gallimore Smith Alex Gallimore is associate pastor for youth at Piney Grove Baptist Church in Mount Airy, N.C.,…
Two columnists join Religious Herald’s ranks
RICHMOND, Va. — Two new regular columnists were added at the beginning of 2012 to the Religious Herald’s community of opinion writers. Gallimore Smith Alex Gallimore is associate pastor for youth at Piney Grove Baptist Church in Mount Airy, N.C.,…
Middle East Christians keep wary eye on ‘Spring’
CAIRO (RNS) — From her home, Samia Ramsis holds a key chain bearing the face of the Virgin Mary as visitors outside come to look upon the spot where Egypt’s Coptic Christians believe Mary, Joseph and the infant Jesus found…
Gaza Baptist Church ‘functioning’ but ‘restricted’
SANTA ANA, Calif. (ABP) — The last remaining evangelical church in Gaza is functioning but in danger of dying, famed Bible smuggler Brother Andrew said after a recent visit to Gaza Baptist Church. “Christians in the west are surprised to…
At 200, missionary movement ponders the future
SALEM, Mass. (RNS) — When America’s first ordained missionaries sailed to India 200 years ago, they kicked off a movement to spread the faith and created America’s most potent export: Christianity. That’s the message that will reverberate across nine Judson…