Why coercive religious politics undermine Christianity and democracy

LAKE FOREST, Calif. (ABP) — Barack Obama and John McCain will make their first joint 2008 campaign appearance to an audience of Christian activists at a Southern Baptist church. The two have agreed to participate in a "compassion forum" at…

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (ABP) –The newly redesigned Associated Baptist Press website (www.baptistnews.com) offers expanded resources and reader interaction, but the real change is the way ABP and its three Baptist media partners are collaborating to produce the site, according to Executive…

CINCINNATI (ABP) — Two civil-liberties groups are asking a federal appeals court to stop state funding for a Kentucky Baptist agency, saying the agency uses the money to promote its religious beliefs to the detriment of employees and children. On…

NASHVILLE (ABP) — Prominent Southern Baptist pastor Jerry Sutton likely will retire early from Two Rivers Baptist Church in Nashville, following a year-long period of turmoil within his congregation. In an e-mail to church members, John Levesque, chair of Two…

There was an error in the 22nd paragraph of the July 6 ABP story, "Jesus in MySpace: Churches use social-networking sites." The founder of MyChurch.org mentioned is named Joe Suh, not Jon Suh. Please change it to read: "It is…

ATLANTA (ABP) — The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship will create a leadership “ecosystem” during the next three years with a $1 million grant from the Lilly Endowment.   The ecosystem, as the grant describes it, will focus on two initiatives. One…

By Rachel Mehlhaff & Vicki Brown   FALLS CHURCH, Va. (ABP) — Two months after Cyclone Nargis devastated Burma and a month after a major earthquake shattered much of China's Sichuan province, Baptist-led recovery efforts continue — but conditions remain desperate…

On Thursday, May 15, five Baylor University students, who created the Alive Campaign after a close friend attempted suicide, began a 4,500-mile bike journey over 83 days from Waco, Texas, to Anchorage, Alaska, to raise awareness about suicide prevention. (L…

WASHINGTON (ABP) — While China appears to be making some religious-liberty concessions on the eve of the Olympics, critics in the United States say Chinese persecution of Christians in the country is on the rise. China is on the U.S….