Baptist News Global

Would Jesus vote Democratic or Republican?

By Barry Howard Nov. 2 is Election Day around the country. In the state of Florida, where I live, citizens will be electing a new governor and a new senator in hotly contested races, and several other important local offices…

Juan Williams, censorship and outward appearances

By Jim Denison Until October 18, Juan Williams was known as a journalist and author. Now he is a cause. Williams worked for The Washington Post for 24 years, where he was once nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. He also…

Church implodes buildings to make way for $130 million project

DALLAS (ABP) — One of Southern Baptists’ most historic and prominent congregations has officially embarked — with four simultaneous Oct. 30 building implosions — on what it is calling the biggest church renovation-and-expansion project in modern history. An architect’s rendering…

At 60, Texas CLC still providing witness to broader culture

AUSTIN, Texas (ABP) — Born with “a dream and an ache in the heart” 60 years ago, the Texas Baptist Christian Life Commission has challenged and helped shape the Lone Star State — and Baptists all over the nation — ever…

‘Unchurched’ studies seek to understand why people leave

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP) — Seeking to develop strategies to prevent formerly active members from leaving through the so-called “back door,” LifeWay Research has conducted surveys to better understand why people leave. “I think we have a lot of strategies for…

Study finds large churches can do better at retaining members

HARTFORD, Conn. (ABP) — Large congregations are more likely than small churches to emphasize evangelism and recruitment of new members but significantly less likely to contact members who stop attending, according to a recent study. A little more than half…

Why do people leave churches?

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP) — Many churches and denominations put a lot of effort into attracting new members only to lose many of them through a “back door” — a term used to describe people who regularly attended a church in…

Baptists aid Haiti cholera victims

FALLS CHURCH, Va. (ABP) – The Baptist World Alliance has sent emergency funds of more than $12,000 to help counter a recent cholera outbreak in Haiti. The funds are earmarked through Baptist World Aid, the BWA’s relief-and-development arm. They will be…

Judge rules against Alabama Baptists in property-use dispute

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (ABP) – A judge has blocked development of property owned by Alabama Baptists, finding that an agreement allowing a neighboring homeowners' association to sign off on any site plan is still in force. That Alabama Baptist State Convention…

The Reformation was a tragic necessity

By Timothy George This coming Sunday, Reformation Day, many Baptists will join millions of other Protestant believers around the world in celebrating an event that took place on Oct. 31, 1517. On that day, an obscure Augustinian monk named Martin…

Baptists reformed the Reformers

By Joseph Perdue This Sunday, Oct. 31, marks the 493rd anniversary of the most famous (or infamous, depending on one’s perspective) protest in the history of Western Christianity. An Augustinian monk named Martin Luther nailed a scholarly work to the…

Fairness and freedom

By David Wilkinson Another Baptist editor has been ushered out. And that thud you hear is another door to Baptist freedom slamming shut behind him. Technically, Norman Jameson is still editor of the Biblical Recorder of North Carolina, one of…

Supreme Court slides into partisanship

Before the fireworks, be careful what you drink

The contemptible case of Clarence Thomas

The permanent paradoxes of Christian thinking about war