A Houston megachurch has been in the news due to member concerns about the ways its bylaws were amended and governance was effectively removed from the congregation and entrusted to a small group handpicked by the senior pastor. While this...
By Jeff Brumley Rita Martin knows a thing or two about prayer as a lifelong Baptist who raised a family in the church. Or at least she thought she did until this past Maundy Thursday when she participated in a…
By Bob Allen American Baptist Churches USA joined other faith groups in a friend-of-the-court brief filed last month urging the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to uphold the ministerial housing allowance as a constitutional accommodation of religion. The brief…
By Bob Allen A well-known Texas Baptist pastor was charged with misdemeanor assault after police responded to a domestic disturbance call at his home Tuesday morning. Andy Pittman, 43, senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Lufkin, Texas, was taken…
By Bob Allen A former pastor at Baptist churches in Arkansas and Tennessee faces multiple charges of sexually abusing children following his arrest May 5 on a warrant issued after conducting a graveside service at a cemetery in his hometown…
Baptism was abused and used violently as a form of capital punishment in 16th century Europe, a time of significant Anabaptist persecution. The death method of choice was drowning in order to mock believer’s baptism. Water has the amazing capacity…
By Bob Allen Better police training about how to interact with people with mental health conditions and developmental disabilities can prevent needless tragedy, an American Baptist official told a Senate panel April 29. “Recent high-profile tragedies demonstrate the need for…
By Robert Dilday In another sign of what appears to be Virginia Intermont College’s impending closure, the Baptist-affiliated school’s president resigned May 5 to be replaced by an interim president and “restructuring agent.” In a statement on Virginia Intermont’s website,…
