Baptist News Global

SBC votes to sever longstanding relationship with Texas church

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Southern Baptist Convention discontinued its relationship with Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas, because of the church’s perceived toleration of homosexual members. Messengers to the SBC annual meeting dismissed the church in less than 30…

Task force approved, but multiple motions focus on controversial Seattle pastor

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A proposal that could reshape the Southern Baptist Convention received overwhelming approval during the 2009 SBC annual meeting. But relationships with a controversial pastor who is influential among many young SBC pastors drew the attention of multiple…

HERITAGE: Return to Harmony Grove

She was born 90 summers ago about a country mile or two from Harmony Grove Baptist Church in Middlesex County; and for her home church’s 150th anniversary, Frances Stiff Appel of Richmond wanted to return to Harmony Village. She had…

OUT LOUD

“The danger is that we have a tendency to craft Jesus in our own image — a nice middle class American Jesus. And if we do this, we need to realize that when we gather to worship, we are no…

SECOND OPINION: Religious liberty lives in Virginia through Christ’s example

Tony Campolo has said that trying to mix the predominantly secular power of the state with the spiritual power of the Church is like trying to mix manure with ice cream. It doesn’t hurt the manure, but the ice cream…

EDITORIAL: How solid is that wall?

Local fire ordinances have curtailed much of the pyrotechnical displays I remember from my childhood, but we will still find ways to celebrate the 4th of July. No doubt, you will, too. Independence Day will also be celebrated in churches…

FAITH DIGEST

Childbirth riskier for Jehovah’s Witnesses. Pregnant women who are Je-hovah’s Witnesses are six times more likely to die during childbirth and three times more likely to have serious complications than the general population, a new study reveals. All of the…

U.S. laws chill Muslim philanthropy

WASHINGTON (RNS) — Laws meant to eliminate terror financing are targeting Muslims unjustly, interfering with their right to practice Islam and resulting in a decline in charitable giving, the American Civil Liberties Union has charged. The 166-page report, “Blocking Faith,…

Moderate Baptist leaders urge Congress to pass far reaching climate-change bill

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP) — A total of 140 moderate Baptist leaders signed a June 18 letter urging passage of a comprehensive energy bill that includes caps on emissions linked to global warming. Drafted by the Baptist Center for Ethics, a…

Graduation rates at religious schools outpace those at other universities

WASHINGTON (RNS) — Religiously affiliated universities rank the highest nationwide in graduating their students, while hundreds of public and private universities fall far below the low average of graduated students, according to a recent report based on data from the…

What to do with excess embryos? One researcher has an idea

WASHINGTON (RNS) — The woman across the table told Jeanne Loring she was on the horns of a dilemma — feed and clothe her existing family or continue to pay to keep frozen her embryos from an earlier fertility treatment….

FAITHSHAPERS: Parenting in Bizarro World

Keep those questions coming, Bizarro parents. Our topic for today is, “How can I set up my children to fail?” Every parent in Bizarro world dreams of watching their children crash and burn repeatedly, but we can’t just sit back…

Matthew Vines sets off a debate over what it means to be ‘queer’

Dear Mike Johnson, be careful what you ask for

What, to the white Christian, is America 250?

Four years later, anti-abortionists battle on other fronts