Will we be the right kind of light to the world?

JACKSONVILLE, Fla.(ABP) — What can churches do to prevent clergy sex-abuse and break the pattern of recycling abusers? Even among activists and experts, there is no consensus about the steps to be taken. Here are some steps on which many…

DALLAS (ABP) — When it comes to hiring church staff, some Baptists consider sexual misconduct to be an unpardonable sin, and many survivors of abuse agree. But others say it depends on which scarlet letter the minister wears: “W” for…

RICHMOND, Va. (ABP) — Most pastors and staff members know that ministry puts them in unique circumstances with all kinds of people. Most also know that even a hint of wrongdoing is enough to end an otherwise fruitful ministry. For…

NEW YORK (ABP) — Debbie Vasquez was 14 when her pastor started touching her inappropriately. She was 15 when he raped her and 19 when she had his baby. Tina Boyd first was molested at age 11. Later, she was…

NEW YORK (ABP) — Most people think they can spot a sexual predator. He’s the pale loner with greasy hair and quivering lips. Or the grinning lech who hugs too long and slowly rubs the backs of female church members….

SAN ANTONIO (ABP) — Unless associational leaders pray for and work with their churches, they run the risk of becoming “as obsolete as a horse and buggy in a NASCAR world,” Jim Henry of Orlando, Fla., admonished Southern Baptist directors…

WASHINGTON (ABP) — Hispanic believers in the United States prefer “spirit-filled religious expression” and gravitate toward a “distinctively ethnic” worship experience, opting to go to church with other Hispanics and speak Spanish when they get there, according to a recent…

WASHINGTON (ABP) — If conservative Christian voters want to know why a Baptist preacher is being bested in the GOP primary polls by three candidates who have had rocky relationships with the Religious Right, they need to look at the…

WASHINGTON (ABP) — The House of Representatives again approved a bill June 7 that would expand embryonic stem-cell research. But the move came just one day after the release of a scientific study suggesting scientists may, in the future, find…