Baptist News Global

Connecticut high court approves gay marriage

Connecticut became the third state to allow same-sex marriage after its Supreme Court ruled Oct. 10 that it is unconstitutional to deny the legal benefits of marriage to gay and lesbian couples. The 4-3 decision outraged conservative groups, who are…

Pittsburgh diocese votes to leave Episcopal Church

The Diocese of Pittsburgh voted Oct. 4 to split from the Episcopal Church, becoming the second diocese to leave the national church over differences on homosexuality and the Bible. A wide majority of clergy and lay people — 240 voted…

For Italian Baptists, a struggle for liberty

Virginia Baptists have a long partnership with Italian Baptists, with whom they have much in common. This article by an Italian Baptist leader sheds light on his country's attitude toward religious liberty. The issue of religious freedom in Italy is…

Thanks from Texas Baptists

On behalf of a grateful community and church, thank you for your ministry to the folks of Liberty, Texas, by Virginia Baptist disaster relief. As soon as Hurricane Ike had passed Liberty and we started to survey the damage left…

Which Scriptures?

As an ex-Baptist, contrarian and liberal heretic, I would like to share my reaction to the Second Opinion by David Gushee [Herald, Oct. 2]. For me the article, “Gender debate ultimately about Jesus,” misses the root of the problem, although…

News about Virginia Baptists and their ministries for October 16, 2008

STAFF CHANGES • Chris Poluikis, to Covington Church, Covington, as pastor. • David Benjamin, to Winfree Memorial Church, Midlothian, as pastor. • Frank Gribble, to Fieldale Church, Fieldale, as pastor. • Scott Welch, to North Fork Church, Virgilina, as pastor….

FAITH DIGEST

Disputed dinner fails to deliver dialogue. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad dined with 300 religious and political leaders in New York, but the controversial event offered far less dialogue than advertised. Ahmadinejad delivered a 45-minute address that cut short any possibility…

N.Y. Baptist group says to defrock pastor facing child-porn charge

(763 words) OSWEGATCHIE, N.Y. (ABP) — A statewide fellowship of independent Baptist churches in New York is recommending defrocking one of its pastors arrested on child-pornography charges. Leaders of First Baptist Church in the Upstate New York town of Oswegatchie…

SBU administrator named as Oklahoma Baptist president

SHAWNEE, Okla. (ABP) — David Whitlock, 46, an administrator at Southwest Baptist University, has been named Oklahoma Baptist University's 15th president, OBU trustees announced Oct. 10. "Having been born and raised in Oklahoma, Dr. Whitlock will fit us well," Alton…

Connecticut latest jurisdiction to legalize same-sex marriage

HARTFORD, Conn. (ABP) — The Connecticut Supreme Court Oct. 10 made that state the latest in the union to offer full marriage rights to same-sex couples. The state’s justices ruled 4-3 that the equal-protection and due-process provisions of the Connecticut…

Study: Younger evangelicals less conservative than elders

WASHINGTON (ABP) — A large study of religious Americans suggests that white evangelicals' views on gay rights may be shifting, rapidly, to the left. The survey, which includes one of the largest samples of younger voters' political and religious views…

Little framed in moral terms during presidential debate

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP) — Economic woes and national security dominated a second presidential debate that offered little new information for undecided voters, including those looking for a values-based hook on which to hang their presidential choice. Democratic candidate Barack Obama…

What Disclosure Day reveals about evangelicals’ fears

Insufficient

6 ways the Reflecting Pool boondoggle mirrors Trump and MAGA

Pilate asked Jesus, ‘What is truth?’