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

As the Southern Baptist Convention in its recent annual meeting has proved itself unreliably Baptist, it gives me pause to think about how quickly the transmogrification of this Baptist denomination into its ecclesiastical opposite has happened. Baptist folk often have...

Opinion H. Stephen Shoemaker

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Obama appeals to faith groups on reform; abortion questions remain

WASHINGTON (ABP) — President Obama, in an unprecedented Aug. 19 Internet conference that organizers said drew 140,000 participants, appealed to faith leaders to boost his attempts to reform America’s health-care system. But some conservative religious leaders are fighting back against Obama’s plan,…

Baptists respond to Taiwan typhoon

FALLS CHURCH, Va. (ABP) — Baptists in Taiwan are assisting victims of Typhoon Morakot, which made landfall in the southern part of the island just before midnight on Aug. 7 and has caused some of the most widespread destruction in…

Professor chooses church over seminary job

FORT WORTH, Texas (ABP) — A music professor has taken early retirement at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary rather than resigning a part-time position and moving his membership from a church that the Southern Baptist Convention declared out of fellowship in…

God’s dream, the ‘American Dream’ and the health-care debate

By Jonathan Langley “Praise the Lord for the 2nd Amendment.” That was a Twitter post (I just can’t come straight out and call it a “tweet” without feeling like a “twit”) after a recent shooting that resulted in two deaths….

Professor chooses church over seminary job

FORT WORTH, Texas (ABP) — A music professor has taken early retirement at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary rather than resigning a part-time position and moving his membership from a church that the Southern Baptist Convention declared out of fellowship in…

Baptists respond to Taiwan typhoon

FALLS CHURCH (ABP) — Baptists in Taiwan are assisting victims of Typhoon Morakot, which made landfall in the southern part of the island just before midnight on Aug. 7. By Aug. 18, 126 people have been confirmed dead, but government…

Former HMB president says NAMB merger was a mistake

CENTRALIA, Mo. (ABP) — Combining three Southern Baptist agencies into the North American Mission Board in 1995 was a bad idea, says the last president of one of the agencies. Larry Lewis, president of the Home Mission Board of the…

Texas Baptist youth minister dies in hiking accident

NEW HOME, Texas (ABP) — A Baptist church in Texas is mourning the loss of its new youth minister, who was killed in a hiking accident at a state park. Nathan Neel, 24, recently started working as youth minister at…

Jailed former pastor cited ‘passion’ for working with youth

Duffer YORKTOWN, Va. (ABP) — A Southern Baptist youth pastor charged with sex crimes involving a teenage girl in Virginia once resigned as pastor of a church in Hawaii to begin a new ministry, citing his "passion" for working with…

Former HMB president says NAMB merger was a mistake

CENTRALIA, Mo. (ABP) — Combining three Southern Baptist agencies into the North American Mission Board in 1995 was a bad idea, says the last president of one of the agencies. Larry Lewis, president of the Home Mission Board of the…

North Carolina convention cuts jobs

CARY, N.C. (ABP) — With income trailing last year’s gifts by 3.2 percent or $647,000 through seven months, the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina has laid off three people and eliminated six positions, effective immediately. Two of the…

North Carolina convention cuts jobs

CARY, N.C. (ABP) — With income trailing last year's gifts by 3.2 percent or $647,000 through seven months, the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina has laid off three people and eliminated six positions, effective immediately. Two of the…