Historical drama Pressure clears the air on speaking truth to power

HOUSTON (ABP) — The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship faced financial hardship and generational change in its 19th General Assembly July 1-3 in Houston. Registration for the meeting reached 1,637, well below the 2,250 registered at last year’s meeting in Memphis. Organizers…

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP) — The Southern Baptist Convention official responsible for planning the SBC annual meeting has resigned abruptly, after less than two years on the job and two weeks after this year’s convention meeting in Louisville, Ky. The Southern…

HOUSTON (ABP) — Baptists must aspire to the kind of freedom that leads them to relinquish their autonomy to God, historian Walter Shurden told participants at the William H. Whitsitt Baptist Heritage Society’s annual meeting July 2. Shurden received the…

HOUSTON—The communion table provides a metaphor for how the Baptist World Alliance can unite Baptists in a “true spirit of hospitality,” Neville Callam insisted. Callam, general secretary of the worldwide organization, addressed the challenge of bringing Baptists together during the…

HOUSTON (ABP) — One of Congress’ strongest advocates for church-state separation thanked Baptists for their contributions to religious liberty July 3 and reminded them of the need to continue defending the wall between church and state. “I have seen too…

  Pastor Julie Merritt delivers a theme interpretation July 2 at the CBF General Assembly in Houston. (CBF photo) HOUSTON (ABP) — Attendees to the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship General Assembly heard a visceral call to embrace the world — and…

HOUSTON (ABP) — The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship adopted a $16.1 million budget July 3, but will begin the 2009-2010 fiscal year spending at 80 percent of projected income, anticipating continued reduced giving due to the economy. “It will come as…

HOUSTON (ABP) — Nearly 20 years after its founding as a small breakaway group birthed by controversy in the Southern Baptist Convention, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship exists today as a work of God's grace, the group's top executive said July…

HOUSTON (ABP) — Nearly 20 years after its founding as a small breakaway group birthed by controversy in the Southern Baptist Convention, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship exists today as a work of God’s grace, the group’s top executive said July…

  Leonard speaks at ABP dinner. HOUSTON (ABP) —  Baptist denominational systems across the United States are in transition and being redefined, spawning a number of issues that are complicating and clouding the Baptist landscape, historian Bill Leonard told a…

HOUSTON (ABP) — Baptists should relate to Muslims on the basis of compassion and friendship, not fear or indifference, say two ministers who are engaged in interfaith dialogue with Islamic leaders. Jesus’ attitude of compassion “is our model for approaching…