Baptist News Global

Virginia Baptists focused on China, Myanmar

RICHMOND — Virginia Baptists are responding to the natural disasters in both China and Myanmar through the Virginia Baptist Mission Board's glocal missions and evangelism team. Terry Raines, the board's disaster relief coordinator, participated in a May 24 meeting of…

Musician’s daughter killed in car accident

FRANKLIN, Tenn. (BP) — Maria Sue, the 5-year-old daughter of Christian musician Steven Curtis Chapman, died May 21 after she was struck by an SUV driven by her teenage brother in the family's driveway south of Nashville, Tenn. The Tennessean…

Southern gospel music legend Dottie Rambo dies in crash

MOUNT VERNON, Mo. (ABP) — Southern gospel music singer and songwriter Dottie Rambo, 74, was killed when her tour bus ran off a highway near Mount Vernon, Mo., May 11. She was en route to an engagement in Texas after…

Longtime Baptist musician, seminary professor dies in Florida at 86

ORANGE PARK, Fla. (ABP) — Longtime Baptist hymn writer and music professor Hugh McElrath passed away May 8 at his winter home in Penney Farms, Fla. He also resided in Louisville, Ky. He was 86. McElrath was a professor of…

Ginn named SBCV’s executive

RICHMOND (BP) — The executive board of the Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia has selected a Richmond-area pastor, Jeffery Ginn, as the state convention's new executive director-treasurer, effective June 2. Ginn, senior pastor of Mount Pleasant Baptist Church in Colonial…

Texas minister arrested in sting

PLANO, Texas (BP) — A minister from Prestonwood Baptist Church has been arrested in a sting operation for soliciting sex with a minor. Joe Barron, 52, a minister to married adults at the Dallas-area church, was arrested May 15 in…

3 Baptist universities rank high in survey

WASHINGTON (ABP) — Three Baptist universities were listed among the top 50 national universities in a new results-based ranking by the Center for College Affordability and Productivity (CCAP), based in Washington. The two-year-old nonprofit organization ranked Wake Forest University at…

Baylor president’s future in doubt

WACO, Texas (ABP) — John Lilley may be the latest endangered leader at the world's largest Baptist school, according to reports in the local newspaper. The Waco Tribune-Herald reported May 17 that Baylor University leaders declined to discuss whether the…

Nashville church reverses ouster vote

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP) — One week after an effort to oust 71 members of Two Rivers Baptist Church failed by four votes, the Nashville megachurch voted again and this time removed the dissidents on a show-of-hands vote. The congregation was…

Baptist assistance project offered to churches

ALPHARETTA, Ga. (BP) — With nearly half of the 43,000 churches in the Southern Baptist Convention baptizing three or fewer people, according to 2007 statistics, the Conference of Southern Baptist Evangelists, the North American Mission Board and state and local…

California court legalizes gay marriage

SAN FRANCISCO (BP) — The California Supreme Court May 15 issued a much-anticipated and landmark decision by ordering the state to legalize gay marriage, making it the second in the nation to do so and also setting up a dramatic…

Evangelical manifesto draws praise, criticism

WASHINGTON (ABP) — If the authors of “An Evangelical Manifesto,” released May 7, aimed to inspire conversation and self-reflection among their kindred, they certainly succeeded. Among Baptists at the intersection of faith and public life, the conversation and reflection have…

Understanding Al Mohler’s case against women

BNG podcasts feature each SBC presidential candidate

What the church got wrong about queer people

Trump admin denies hunger strike at immigrant detention center