Baptist News Global

God, country and the 4th of July

By David Gushee Visiting family last weekend, I experienced a classic “God and country” service at a large SBC church. There was a day when I would have been outraged by such a service on theological grounds. This particular day…

Analysis: Dobson confused at best about Obama speech, defenders say

WASHINGTON (ABP) — James Dobson thinks that Barack Obama holds to a “fruitcake interpretation” of the Constitution’s religion clauses — but Dobson’s own interpretation of a two-year-old Obama speech that occasioned the critique may be far fruitier. That’s what Obama’s…

Name connects East Texas church with Middle Eastern Christians

PALESTINE, Texas (ABP) — For the members of First Baptist Church in Palestine, Texas, sharing names with a Middle Eastern territory has led to a connection with Christians on the West Bank. It began a few years ago. Pastor Jay…

America’s moral center says ‘no’ to torture

By David Gushee An unprecedented bipartisan coalition of religious, political, and military leaders recently released a document expressing our shared rejection of torture and prisoner mistreatment by — or in the name of — the United States. The signatories include…

Love and marriage

WASHINGTON (ABP) — In all of America's brouhaha over whether legalizing same-sex marriage will sully the institution's sanctity, very few Christians are asking one important question: When — and why — did the government get into the sanctification business? When…

Legal scholar looks at prohibition on polygamy

ATLANTA, Ga. (RNS) — When authorities raided a Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints compound in April and placed more than 400 children in state care, it brought the long-simmering issues of polygamous communities to a boil. Following…

Building relationships is key to ministry to nontraditional families

How should a congregation respond to an unmarried cohabitating couple's request to join the church? Churches likely will face this and other tough questions as society's definition of family continues to change. “This isn't the church our parents grew up…

Pastor challenges parents and offers incentive to tie the knot

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Daneisha Dunbar was never so happy to see her children cry. But there they were: 13-year-old Jheran, 10-year-old Aryn and 5-year-old Taryn, shedding tears and squealing with joy at the news that their mommy and daddy are…

Alma Hunt, missions advocate, dies

ROANOKE — Alma Hunt, one of Baptists' best-known missions advocates, died June 14 in a Roanoke hospital. She was 98. The Virginia native gained national recognition in 1948 when she became executive secretary of the Birmingham, Ala.-based Woman's Missionary Union,…

Miss Alma Hunt: An Enduring Legacy

Woman's Missionary Union of Virginia and Virginia Baptist Mission Board mourn the loss of Alma Hunt. “Miss Alma,” as she was widely known in Baptist life, was loved by all who knew her. Her heart for missions and commitment to…

FIRST PERSON: Alma Hunt — Just what the Lord made her

ROANOKE — A couple of hundred would-be mourners gathered at Rosalind Hills Baptist Church in Roanoke on Wednesday, June 18, to celebrate the distinguished life of Miss Alma Hunt at her funeral service. Because this faithful and energetic woman had…

Laura McDaniel nominated executive of Virginia WMU

RICHMOND — Laura S. McDaniel has been recommended to become executive director/treasurer of Woman's Missionary Union of Virginia. McDaniel, who has been WMUV's interim executive director/treasurer since February 2007, was selected by the organization's board of trustees on June 13….

Mohler again claims same-sex marriage harms children

Dan Patrick reiterates: ‘No separation of church and state’

Baptists know better than this

Judge bars Tennessee from revealing immigration status of sick children