Baptist News Global

On gay rights, is there common ground?

By Cody J. Sanders In October, President Obama signed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act into law. It extends existing federal hate-crimes laws (which already include protections for racial and religious bias) to include protections…

Church-based program helps the grieving survive the holidays

GEORGETOWN, Texas (ABP) — Loss of a loved one through death creates trauma, but emotions surrounding that loss can be particularly close to the surface during the holidays. One church has decided to reach out to its community by doing…

Memphis churches observe 10th World AIDS Day

MEMPHIS, Tenn (ABP) — Two Baptist churches on a prominent corner in Memphis, Tenn., marked 10 years of observing World AIDS Day Dec. 1 with evocative reminders of the AIDS pandemic’s terrible toll on their community. The First Baptist Church…

Memphis churches draw attention for 10th World AIDS Day observance

First Baptist Church Pastor David Breckenridge (left) and Union University professor and church member Bobby Rogers drive AIDS memorial markers into the church's front lawn following the morning worship service Nov. 22. (First Baptist Church/Skip Howard) MEMPHIS, Tenn (ABP) —…

Abuse charge against worship leader rocks prominent Fla. church

CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. (ABP) — A Florida Baptist church known for its sometimes-provocative efforts to entice first-time visitors is receiving unwanted attention after the arrest of a staff member on molestation charges. The Coral Springs Police Department arrested Russell Dion…

Raymond Coppenger, legendary Ouachita professor, dies at 100

ARKADELPHIA, Ark. (ABP) — Longtime Ouachita Baptist University philosophy professor Raymond Coppenger died Nov. 24 following a bout with pneumonia, according to the Arkadelphia, Ark., school. He turned 100 in September. Raymond Coppenger Coppenger joined the Ouachita faculty in 1954….

Baptist state conventions feeling effects of economy

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP) — Feeling the effects of a bad economy, several Southern Baptist Convention-affiliated state and regional conventions reduced budgets in annual meetings, held in recent weeks across the nation. The Baptist General Convention of Texas, which includes 4,500…

Suffering, theodicy and the Incarnation

By Jim Denison “Jesus wept” (John 11:35). Lester Denison died 30 years ago this month at the age of 55. The great tragedy of my life is that my father never met my sons. The night my father died, I…

California pastor drops death wish against Obama; calls for treason trial

BUENA PARK, Calif. (RNS) — Pastor Wiley Drake, the Southern Baptist minister who has publicly prayed for the death of President Obama, has changed his mind — but only because he wants to see the president live long enough to…

Real-life mom talks about portrayal in just-released film, “The Blind Side”

LOS ANGELES (RNS) — In the new movie The Blind Side, Sandra Bullock plays real-life Memphis mother Leigh Ann Tuohy, a woman whose family is turned upside down when she spots Michael Oher — a young boy who has left…

Thankful for finding my long-lost brother

By Bill Shiell My dad left one treasure for me to find after he died. Without a map for guidance, I needed providence and social media on my journey to discovery. My father’s life was not scripted for a bookstore’s…

Georgia Baptists, the Bible and women pastors

By Bob Setzer In a recent Baptists Today article, I read about a 19th-century Baptist congregation that censured a slave for dancing. The slave was a “member” of the church, though as human chattel, it was his job merely to…

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