The transmogrification of the SBC: When Baptists no longer are Baptist

DALLAS (ABP) — Procedural and constitutional concerns prompted the Baptist General Convention of Texas Executive Board to reject a study committee’s proposal to change how the BGCT handles messenger-seating challenges at its annual meeting. At the 2009 BGCT meeting, Kyle…

WASHINGTON (ABP) — A church-state watchdog group has called on the Internal Revenue Service to investigate a church in Oklahoma for violating a law that prohibits tax-exempt charities from endorsing political candidates. The church is one of the latest in…

ATLANTA (ABP) — Former President Jimmy Carter will spend a second night in a Cleveland hospital after becoming ill Sept. 28 on a book-signing tour. A statement from Cleveland's MetroHealth Medical Center said early Sept. 29 that Carter was "feeling…

ROME (ABP) — The elegant complex of 19th-century buildings that houses the International Baptist Theological Seminary in Prague, Czech Republic, will likely be sold now that European Baptist Federation leaders have green-lighted a plan to move the seminary as a…

ATLANTA (ABP) — A group of Baptist historians that meets annually to read and discuss early Baptist writings endorsed a statement Sept. 27 affirming the role of individual conscience in Baptist life. Fourteen members of the "Baptist Classics Seminar" group…

CLEVELAND (ABP) — Former President Jimmy Carter was hospitalized Sept. 28 after falling ill on a flight to Cleveland for a book signing. President Jimmy Carter with his Nobel Peace Prize. Deanna Congileo of the Carter Center in Atlanta said…

(ABP) — Brand New Church in Arkansas and Fairy Baptist Church in Texas bear little resemblance to each other. Pastor Shannon O’Dell leads a multi-campus, contemporary-style church in rural Arkansas that draws about 2,000 worshipers in-person from throughout the region…

WACO, Texas (ABP) — Rural churches, particularly those within driving distance of a seminary or denominational college or university, often become training grounds for ministerial staff. “Some churches see that as their ministry,” noted Judy Battles, coordinator for pastoral ministries…

(ABP) — Rural churches in America face a host of challenges as they seek to continue ministry in their communities. The continued population shift from rural areas to urban centers can drain rural churches, noted Chuck Warnock, an expert in…

(ABP) — America’s rural churches were built upon and grew from a strong sense of community. Although many of rural congregations are in decline now, that community reliance may be the key to spiritual renewal and to thriving ministry. Some…

FALLS CHURCH, Va. (ABP) — Baptist leaders hailed a pledge by top leaders of Nagaland's three rival political factions to cease hostilities that have for decades beset the heavily Baptist state in northeastern India. John Sundquist, retired director of International…