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.,…
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MOUNT AIRY, N.C. — Two churches in Mount Airy, N.C., have withdrawn from the local Surry Baptist Association in response to its dismissal last July of an affiliated church which called a woman as pastor.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…
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…
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…
Gay-marriage stand costs pastor his pulpit
LILYDALE, Australia (ABP) – An Australian Baptist pastor and his congregation have parted company over the issue of gay marriage. Matt Glover Matt Glover, pastor of Lilydale Baptist Church, said recently on a marriage-equality website that allowing same-sex marriages would…
Baptist fined in Uzbekistan
OSLO (ABP) – The leader of a Baptist church in Uzbekistan was fined 80 times the minimum monthly wage Nov. 21 for holding what authorities considered an illegal religious meeting outside of a registered house of worship. Forum 18, a…
Parole decision delayed for former music minister convicted of abuse
BENTON, Ark. (ABP) – The Arkansas Parole Board is reportedly postponing a decision about whether to release a convicted sex offender after two years of a 10-year prison term for sexual abuse of multiple boys while a longtime music minister…
Scholars say evangelicals tinkering with the Trinity
MINNEAPOLIS (ABP) – A group of evangelical scholars has released a statement labeling an increasingly popular teaching about gender roles a revival of an ancient heresy concerning the nature of God. Released Nov. 7, “An Evangelical Statement on the Trinity”…
Baylor professor fighting dismissal charges
WACO, Texas (ABP) – A Baylor University professor is fighting dismissal charges that supporters say are aimed at silencing a dissident voice in America’s Jewish community. Marc Ellis According to published reports, Marc Ellis, university professor of Jewish studies and…