Baptist News Global

Young evangelicals tend to shun ‘conservative’ label, embrace ‘justice’

DULUTH, Ga. (ABP) — Younger evangelical pastors are less likely to self-identify as conservatives than older generations and more apt to view social justice as a gospel imperative, LifeWay Research director Ed Stetzer told a group of evangelical environmental activists….

Johnny Hunt predicts SBC will approve task force

WOODSTOCK, Ga. (BP) — Greater funding of the Cooperative Program will occur when Southern Baptists have greater confidence their gifts support the priorities of North American church planting, global pioneer missions and theological education, declared Southern Baptist Convention President Johnny…

Charlottesville church provides assistance to pregnant women in developing countries

CHARLOTTESVILLE — Every minute in the world 380 women become pregnant, 110 women experience a pregnancy-related complication and one woman dies from a pregnancy-related cause. In the developing world, the leading cause of death for girls ages 15-19 is pregnancy….

Weakley elected to national Baptist secretaries position

RICHMOND — Sandy Weakley, administrative assistant for the Dover Baptist Association, has been elected to a two-year term as secretary-treasurer of the National Association of Southern Baptist Secretaries (NASBS). Weakley She has also been active in the Baptist Ministry Assistants…

Before building, congregations should ‘get it right,’ says Baptist consultant

Because buildings are so costly and so permanent, churches better take time to get it right before they rush into construction, says Rod Hale, church facilities consultant for the Virginia Baptist Mission Board. Get organized. Churches contemplating building new space…

Fork Union inducts athletes into school’s Sports Hall of Fame

FORK UNION — Vinny Testaverde has traveled far and wide throughout his long NFL career, and has earned many honors and accolades, but this week he returned to Fork Union, where his dream of earning a scholarship to play college…

Baptists’ grass-roots identity helped spread key ideas

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (ABP) — While Baptists may not be able to claim sole credit as the originators of ideas such as religious liberty and the modern missionary movement, the denomination’s identification with common folk helped them become “popularizers” of these…

Book says SBC lacks system of preventing sexual abuse

AUSTIN, Texas (ABP) — A book released in advance of the June 23-24 annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention claims the nation's largest Protestant faith group has more than 100,000 clergy, but no effective system of denominational oversight to…

OUT LOUD

“A faithful pastor cannot preach the gospel to unbelievers, let alone exhort and, dare I say, rebuke, backslidden and unregenerate church members, while satisfying a politically correct standard of niceness. This is the sort of niceness we could do with…

SECOND OPINION: Opening up without watering down

Baptist churches of the Old South had a lovely image for describing entrance into church membership. They would announce that a door of the church was open. Anyone who came forward was asked to give a verbal confession of “their…

HERITAGE: Transitions

On the last Sunday of May, Bill Tuck was extended warm farewells as he concluded a 20-month interim pastorate at the First Baptist Church of Raleigh, N.C. The congregation formed a long line to give handshakes and hugs to Bill…

Sewing skills are key for Portsmouth congregation

PORTSMOUTH — It started with a sewing pattern and a mission conference. Bruce Powers, pastor of Westhaven Baptist Church in Portsmouth, attended the MC2 conference sponsored by the VBMB last summer at Eagle Eyrie. Staffers of the Woman’s Missionary Union…

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