Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick says James Talarico will “go to hell” for his beliefs about the Bible. Talarico is an ordained Presbyterian minister and seminarian who is the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Texas. He will face erstwhile...
By Chris Caldwell Question: What’s the second-most-important thing a pastor does every Sunday? Answer? The pastoral prayer. Even so, while most pastors spend hours on sermons, many of us merely jot a few notes down for the pastoral prayer —…
WACO, Texas (ABP) — An expert in the field of disability ministry says theological seminaries are doing little to prepare ministers to deal with the estimated one-in-five Americans living with some kind of disability. “There is almost nothing in the…
Special-needs ministry is a two-way street for churches. NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (ABP) — Churches that do a good job of including members with special needs like autism often reap side benefits of a positive witness to their community and sometimes…
(ABP) — My 24-year-old son is a certified nursing assistant who provides care for three children — two with intellectual disabilities — four nights a week while their single mother is at work. One “benefit” of such a noble-sounding…
WASHINGTON (ABP) — According to a longtime advocate for people with disabilities, the greatest barriers to including special-needs individuals in churches are not architectural or language, but rather barriers of attitude. “We have within us prejudices,” said Ginny Thornburgh, director…
As of the 2000 census, 54 million Americans had a legally defined disability, about one in five. WASHINGTON (ABP) — People with disabilities don’t want churches that just “welcome” them, but rather congregations that value them and include them in…
WACO, Texas (ABP) – Before beginning his sermon on May 9 on the eve of his retirement, Raymond Bailey reminded worshipers at Seventh & James Baptist Church in Waco, Texas, that he was not preaching his “final sermon,” but merely…
TWIN FALLS, Idaho (ABP) — With the last of 10 Southern Baptist mission volunteers released from a Haitian jail May 17, one of her "Idaho 10" co-laborers is breaking his silence and blaming the whole ordeal on meddling by the…
By Amy Butler I had a free evening last week, so I decided to go to church. Though I spend quite a bit of time at church, I don’t often go to church in the way that most people think…
U.S. Catholics vexed at Vatican. Nearly three-quarters of Catholics in the United States believe the Vatican tried to cover up clergy sex abuse, and a majority says Pope Benedict XVI has handled recent reports of past abuse poorly, according to…
WASHINGTON (RNS) — What do homosexuality, health care reform and British advertising standards all have in common? They’re all things that have angered God, some religious leaders say, and he vented his frustration with the angry fires of Iceland’s Eyjafjalla-jokull…
WACO, Texas (ABP) — An expert in the field of disability ministry says theological seminaries are doing little to prepare ministers to deal with the estimated one in five Americans living with some kind of disability. “There is almost nothing in…
