FREDERICKSBURG, Va. — Roughly translated, the Filipino proverb “Ang palay ay parisan, habang nagkakalaman ay lalong nagpugpugay,” means: “Imitate the rice stalk; the more grains it bears, the lower it bows.” The Filipino-American Christian Church in Stafford County, Va., has…
Former pastor, educator Jack McEwen dies
Jack McEwen CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (ABP) – Jack McEwen, a former pastor and professor at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, died Dec. 5. McEwen, 84, was pastor of churches including First Baptist Church of Chattanooga in the 1970s and 1980s, where he…
Group urges churches to open pulpits to first-time women preachers
ATLANTA (ABP) – An annual emphasis that encourages Baptist churches for the first time to invite a woman to preach is also an opportunity for churches that fully support women in ministry, say sponsors of Martha Stearns Marshall Month of…
Pastor says Jesus wouldn’t remove church with woman pastor
MOUNT AIRY, N.C. (ABP) – A North Carolina pastor says he thinks a Baptist association’s vote to remove a church for calling a woman pastor isn’t what Jesus would do. “All four Gospels tell us that the message of the…
Supreme Court won’t review NYC ban on worship in schools
WASHINGTON (ABP) – Church-state observers expressed surprise at the Supreme Court’s Dec. 5 refusal to hear an appeal of a ruling that New York City has the right to bar the use of public school buildings for worship when school…
Church withdraws from association that ousted woman pastor
MOUNT AIRY, N.C. (ABP) – A North Carolina Baptist association that expelled a church last summer for naming a woman as pastor lost another prominent member congregation Dec. 4. Members of the 132-year-old First Baptist Church of Mount Airy, N.C.,…
Salvaged produce meets needs of hunger ministries
BIG ISLAND, Va. — An ancient biblical practice has been adopted by some Baptists in Southwest Virginia in response to increasing hunger needs in America’s uncertain economy. Old Testament farmers were told not to pick their fields and vineyards clean,…
What would Jesus occupy?
LONDON (RNS) — Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams says Jesus would have joined protesters from the anti-corporate Occupy movement who have been camped outside London’s St. Paul’s Cathedral for more than seven weeks. Protesters have been camped outside St. Paul's…
Billy Graham returns home after hospital stay
MONTREAT, N.C. (RNS) — Evangelist Billy Graham returned to his North Carolina home Dec. 6 after a six-day stay in a nearby hospital where he was treated for pneumonia. Billy Graham continues to write two years after his last official crusade….
Archbishop says Jesus would be siding with Occupy movement
LONDON (RNS) — Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams says Jesus would have joined protesters from the anti-corporate Occupy movement who have been camped outside London’s St. Paul’s Cathedral for more than seven weeks. Protesters have been camped outside St. Paul's…
Association’s dismissal prompts churches to withdraw
MOUNT AIRY, N.C. — Two churches in Mount Airy, N.C., have withdrawn from the local Surry Baptist Association in response to its dismissal last July of an affiliated church which called a woman as pastor. Piney Grove Baptist Church voted…
Church marks decline in city’s homicide rate
Highland Baptist Church gathers for an annual tradition memorializing homicide victims during Advent. (Photo by Bill Campbell) LOUISVILLE, Ky. (ABP) – A somber Advent tradition was mingled with hope as Highland Baptist Church in Louisville, Ky., placed 46 crosses on…