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

ST. LOUIS — The shooting and death of an Illinois pastor brought Steve Heidke face-to-face with the reality of the vulnerability of most churches and synagogues. That reality birthed training for houses of worship in the St. Louis area and…

ST. LOUIS (ABP) — The shooting and death of an Illinois Baptist pastor in the middle of a worship service last year brought Steve Heidke face-to-face with the reality that most houses of worship are vulnerable as "soft targets" for…

Hillary Wright of Springfield, Ky., celebrates as she gets her Campbellsville University diploma. (PHOTO: Campbellsville/Ashley Zsedenyi) (ABP) — Spring commencement exercises at most schools around the United States are now complete, and new graduates and their well-wishers heard words of…

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP) — Former Southern Baptist Convention president Frank Page is being nominated as president of the SBC Executive Committee, one of three key leadership positions in the nation's second-largest faith group that are currently in the process of…

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (ABP) — The Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America co-sponsored a "peaceful alternative" to a National Rifle Association national convention that attracted an estimated 70,000 visitors to Charlotte, N.C., May 14-16. Along with North Carolinians Against Gun Violence,…

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (ABP) — The last of 10 Americans detained while trying to take 33 children out of Haiti following the Jan. 12 earthquake was released May 17 after a judge found her guilty and sentenced her to time already…

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP) — Membership in the Southern Baptist Convention declined for the third consecutive year in 2009, according to statistics reported May 14 by LifeWay Christian Resources. Southern Baptist churches reported total membership of 16,160,088 in 2009. That is…

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (ABP) — Regaining control is the heart of the Missouri Baptist Convention’s ongoing legal action against three formerly affiliated institutions. If control cannot be restored, then the convention would like its “stuff” returned, a judge learned May…