Baptist News Global

The City of God: Upsurge of urban ‘creative class’ poses challenges to evangelicals

Busboys and Poets offers affordable gourmet meals and a performance venue to edgy artists, sells books on political topics and provides a chic meeting space for activist groups. WASHINGTON (ABP)—If ever there were an archetypal hangout for what author and…

The challenge of the new urbanism

Tabernacle Baptist Church in Richmond is an established church transitioning to meet the New Urban challenges of its very popular in-town neighborhood, the Fan. Lights are strung throughout the sanctuary during Ephiphany. Lights strung from a sanctuary’s ceiling at Epiphany….

Baptist pastor convicted in Azerbaijan

FALLS CHURCH, Va. (ABP) — A Baptist pastor in the South Caucasus country of Azerbaijan has been found guilty of what supporters say are bogus weapons charges and given "a two-year corrective labor sentence," according to a worldwide Baptist group. The Virginia-based…

CBF cuts spending by 20 percent

Moderator Jack Glasgow presides at Coordinating Council meeting. DECATUR, Ga. (ABP) — Starting March 1, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship will operate on a contingency spending plan that cuts staff salaries by 1 percent and reduces funding for theology schools and…

RIGHT or WRONG: Poverty

More and more people are talking about dealing with global poverty through “micro-enterprises.” Is there any merit to these ideas for alleviating poverty? Helping the poor is not an option for Christians. It is a biblical mandate. The Hebrew Scriptures…

Survey finds religion a big deal in Mississippi, not so much in Vermont

WASHINGTON (RNS)—Want to be almost certain you’ll have religious neighbors? Move to Mississippi. Prefer the least religious state? Venture to Vermont. The importance of religion in people's lives varies from state to state. A recent Gallup Poll, based on more…

When it comes to religious fervor, it’s a small world after all, research shows

WASHINGTON (RNS)—Baptists in Tuscaloosa and Muslims in Tehran might not seem to have much in common, but Alabama and Iran agree on one thing—the importance of religion. Nearly identical percentages of people in both locations—82 percent of Alabamians and 83…

Faith Digest

Pope condemns Holocaust denial. In his first meeting with Jewish leaders since his controversial readmission of a Holocaust-denying bishop, Pope Benedict XVI condemned the “denial or minimization” of the Holocaust as “intolerable and altogether unacceptable.” The long-scheduled Vatican meeting took…

EDITORIAL: Aunt Ida tells Bluebell to focus

Dear Jimmy, Since you know all about Bluebell Baptist and some of the tricks we’ve pulled through the years, you won’t be surprised by this letter except in how it ends. It all started when Brother Bobby announced this mornin’…

Dispirited Christians must prepare to stand in the gap, historians urge

The country I know

New book brings Baptist heroes to life for children and youth

The bathroom battles come to the U.S. Capitol