Baptist News Global

Virginia mission leader Jerry Jones given doctor of divinity by Indian seminary

KOTTAYAM, India — As part of its fifth graduation exercises on Feb. 8, the India Baptist Theological Seminary awarded the doctor of divinity degree to Jerry Jones, team leader of the Virginia Baptists Mission Board's glocal missions and evangelism team….

Indian pastors’ conference hears reports of persecution of Christian believers

KOTTYAM, India — On the evening of December 24, 2007, as Christians in the Kandhamal District of the Indian state of Orissa were preparing for Christmas, a well-orchestrated attack on Christian churches and homes began. For three days the rampage…

Haggard leaves ‘restoration’ process with Colo. church

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (RNS) — Ted Haggard, the former pastor of a Colorado megachurch who was dismissed after a sex and drug scandal, has decided to end a “spiritual restoration” process that had been set up by the congregation. “He…

Wheaton officials withdraw from letter to Muslims

WHEATON, Ill. (RNS) — The president of Wheaton College, a flagship evangelical institution in Illinois, and two other school officials have removed their names from a letter that called for cooperation with Muslims. The open letter, drafted by Yale Divinity…

Ruth Stafford Peale, Guideposts founder, dies at 101

PAWLING, N.Y. (RNS) — Ruth Stafford Peale, the co-founder of the inspirational magazine Guideposts and widow of author and minister Norman Vincent Peale, died Feb. 6 at her home in Pawling, N.Y., the Guideposts organization announced. Peale, who was 101,…

Specter moves to allow churches to show Super Bowl

WASHINGTON (RNS) — Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter, the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Commitee, plans to introduce legislation to allow churches to show the Super Bowl on widescreen televisions, just as bars do now. “There's absolutely no reason why…

Gore: ‘Heaping contempt’ on creation inconsistent with glorifying God

ATLANTA (ABP) — Christians who speak out for environmentalism can combat skepticism and end America's addiction to carbon fuels, Al Gore told 2,000 Baptists who gathered to hear him Jan. 31 in part of a three-day celebration of denominational unity….

Tony Campolo to Baptists: ‘Rise up, you suckers, and do the work of Jesus’

ATLANTA (ABP) — Author Tony Campolo challenged Baptists from across North America to examine which Jesus they preach — the one who incarnates American values or the one who incarnates God. Campolo, professor emeritus at Eastern University near Philadelphia, and…

Regain respect by rejecting exclusion, Grisham urges Baptists

ATLANTA (ABP) — The name “Baptist” is not widely respected in America “because for so long so many Baptists have worked so hard to exclude so many,” best-selling author and Baptist layman John Grisham said Jan. 31. Grisham told a…

SECOND OPINION: Torture is the bone caught in America’s throat

It is clear to me that the problem of torture is like a bone caught in our national throat. We can't swallow it, but we can't quite spit it out. And so we are choking on it. The sound of…

SECOND OPINION: Politics through Lenten eyes

The so-called “Christian vote” is making its quadrennial appearance in election coverage, as if “Christians” were a voting bloc that debated candidates' religious credentials and cast a unified vote for the candidate deemed most compatible with the gospel. Reality, of…

Keep it accurate

I appreciate the energy and the earnestness of the Religious Herald, but I occasionally feel that writers are claiming biblical points that may be kind but not biblical. I don't want to sound like I am against kindness but I…

Islamophobia is the next bogeyman

The Black Church cannot remain America’s emergency moral infrastructure

We are manna

Webinar explores religious context of America’s Founders