Two viruses threaten the life of the Southern Baptist Convention: Male hierarchy and dominion theology

EAST SYRACUSE, N.Y. (ABP) — The executive board of the Baptist Convention of New York elected long-time pastor Terry Robertson as the fifth executive director of the 35-year-old convention. He will succeed J. B. Graham on Graham's retirement Nov. 5….

CYNTHIANA, Ky. (ABP) — Lou Byrd knows she could be in the final months of her life and is at peace with that. “There are worse things than death,” said Byrd, a member of Cynthiana (Ky.) Baptist Church. The 73-year-old…

ATLANTA (ABP) — The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship has donated $5,000 to alleviate what the Baptist Convention of Kenya has called a “serious hunger disaster” in northern Kenya. The human needs board of the Baptist Convention of Kenya asked the Fellowship…

ATLANTA (ABP) — A member of First Baptist Church in Shreveport, La., matched his church's $5,000 donation to purchase mattresses for hurricane victims in Florida. When the anonymous donor offered to match the church's contribution up to $5,000, Ronney Joe…

ALPHARETTA, GA. (ABP) — New guidelines for starting Southern Baptist churches ask members of new congregations to affirm biblical inerrancy and male-only deacons. The guidelines, adopted Oct. 6 by trustees of the North American Mission Board, do not apply to…

WASHINGTON (ABP) — The Supreme Court has agreed to wade into one of the day's most explosive church-state issues: Whether displays of the Ten Commandments on public buildings can ever be constitutional. In an announcement that took some court watchers…

CLYDE, N.C. (ABP) — A map on a wall at First Baptist Church said it all. Thin lines representing the Pigeon River were marked on either side with sprawling black areas — the parts of the town where a fierce…

WASHINGTON (ABP) — The Supreme Court will consider for the first time the constitutionality of a law intended to protect the religious freedom of prison inmates. The justices agreed Oct. 12 to hear arguments in Cutter vs. Wilkinson, which involves…

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (ABP) — Church members are giving less of their income to churches today than 35 years ago, and even less of those contributions are put to work outside the local congregation, according to a new study. Giving as…