WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Bill J. Leonard will be installed as the first James and Marilyn Dunn Professor of Baptist Studies at the Wake Forest University School of Divinity Jan. 24. Bill Leonard The installation will be held in conjunction with…
Mexican poverty creates climate for exploitation
Poverty in Mexico fuels the destructive cycle of human exploitation and trafficking that consumes many young lives, experts on both sides of the Rio Grande agree. A volunteer at Cornerstone Children's Ranch in Quemado, less than two miles from the…
Catholics warn Gingrich, Santorum on race baiting
NEW YORK (RNS) — More than 40 Catholic leaders and theologians have issued an open letter to Catholic candidates Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum, warning them “to stop perpetuating ugly racial stereotypes on the campaign trail.” The signers of the…
WMU advocates for children victimized by trafficking
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The sticker in the hotel window reassured the visitor — this business would help protect children from predators while they and their parents are guests. "The Child Safe Zone," a project of Georgia Woman's Missionary Union and…
Conservative Presbyterians launch new denomination
NEW YORK (RNS) — Conservative Presbyterians launched a new denomination on Jan. 19, saying that the Presbyterian Church (USA) is too consumed by internal conflicts and bureaucracy to nurture healthy congregations. “This ‘new Reformed body’ is intended to foster a…
OPINION: Special treatment hurts both church and state
NEW YORK (RNS) — It’s time for religion to lose its special treatment in the Constitution and in tax codes. Not because religion has ceased to matter, but because it matters more than ever in our increasingly unethical society, and…
HERITAGE: ABCs of Virginia Baptists
Our favorite 5-year-old recently had a rare few minutes alone with his grandparents. He suddenly got very serious and shared that he was having difficulty learning the alphabet. He said that during the school day he goes to a special…
OPINION: Somebody’s daughter
I was at my daughter’s school when her teacher asked, “Did you see what your daughter wrote? All the teachers are coming down to read it.” My daughter is 7 years old and in the first grade and anything she…
LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Regrets attitudes to women pastors
The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship is a major support for Baptist women seeking to serve God as chaplains. Under the current climate in the Southern Baptist Convention it is impossible for an ordained Baptist woman to obtain endorsement as a chaplain….
TRENDING: Designer faith, part 1
“If World War II-era warbler Kate Smith sang today, her anthem could be Gods Bless America,” USA Today recently quipped. It’s a remark about America's drift toward “designer faiths,” custom tailored to fit personal preferences. John Chandler Sociologist Robert Bellah…
Church administrator charged with theft
By Bob Allen A former administrator at a prominent North Carolina moderate Baptist church was arrested recently and charged with embezzling more than $136,000 in church funds over a five-year period. Robert Lahr, 49, is accused of taking $136,324.58 from…
Scholar compares culture-war issues to Germans who resisted Hitler
By Bob Allen A Baptist historian compared today’s battle for the sanctity of life, traditional marriage and religious freedom to courageous heroes who resisted the Nazis in Germany. Timothy George speaks to students and faculty of Judson College in chapel…