(ABP) — These days, clergy and laity, professors and students alike generally agree that basic knowledge of the Bible is fast disappearing among Americans conservative, moderate and liberal. Indeed, in recent years I have occasionally received notes from undergraduate and…
Best-selling pastor Rob Bell is off to L.A. to write more books
GRANDVILLE, Mich. (RNS) — Megachurch pastor Rob Bell, whose best-selling book raised evangelical eyebrows by questioning traditional beliefs on hell, knew it was time to address the “giant, glowing, loud” elephant in the room on Sunday morning, Sept. 25. What’s…
Some British Christians outraged as BBC drops B.C./A.D. dating method
LONDON (RNS) — Some British Christians are incensed after the state-funded BBC decided to jettison the terms B.C. and A.D. in favor of B.C.E. and C.E. in historical date references. The broadcaster has directed that the traditional B.C. (Before Christ)…
Baptist leader in Haiti kidnapped
(BWA)–Emmanuel Pierre, general secretary of the Baptist Convention of Haiti, has been kidnapped. The incident occurred in Cap-Haïtien, the second largest city in Haiti, and where the convention offices are located. Several armed men reportedly broke into his home at…
BGCT moves forward with funding cut, new agreement with Baylor
DALLAS (ABP) – The Baptist General Convention of Texas Executive Board voted Sept. 27 to recommend a budget that reduces funding for Baylor University while giving more dollars to 10 other schools. The spending plan, to be recommended to messengers…
CBF young leader network sponsoring Kentucky retreat
GEORGETOWN, Ky. (ABP) – Current, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship’s young leaders’ network, is sponsoring three regional meetings as a way to reach out to a new crop of young seminarians and those in their first call as clergy. The first…
EDITORIAL: Getting churches and pastors right — or wrong?
Dear Jimmy, Well, your Uncle Orley and I have pret’ near wrapped up all the loose ends of summer. The garden has played out and every shelf in the cellar is filled with clear quart or pint jars full of…
HeraldBeat
Transitions ON THE MOVE Claude Gunn, to Zion Hill Baptist Church, Lynchburg, Va., as pastor. Robert “Bob” Setzer Jr., to Knollwood Baptist Church, Winston-Salem, N.C., as pastor. He was pastor of First Baptist Church, Macon, Ga. Mike Winters, to Wise…
Play the ball where it lays
Recently I heard the story of a golf course that had quite a unique problem — a monkey infestation. (I think this course must have been in India!) It created all kinds of issues on the golf course. The golfers…
Recalculating
By Bill Wilson It comes in a variety of accents. It can be a man’s voice or a woman’s (my favorite is the female Australian). It can break your heart or serve as a warning. It will mock you. It…
Volunteer mission teams need career missionaries
By Larry Hovis At the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of North Carolina General Assembly in March, we collected a mission offering designated for the newly formed Haiti Housing Network. CBF is one of the principal partners in this network, which has…
Israel policy debate not just secular vs. religious
By David Gushee Last week Glen Stassen and I released an “Open Letter to America’s Christian Zionists.” We claimed that out of a well-intentioned love of Israel, Christian Zionists are misreading Scripture and actually endangering Israel. Christian Zionists yearn for…