Of gay penguins, the Grand Canyon, the Ark and the Scopes trial

ASHEBORO, N.C. (ABP) — Nominees to leadership positions in the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina were rejected because they are members of churches affiliated with the Alliance of Baptists. Using such “unpublished criteria” to exclude people from leadership is…

WASHINGTON (ABP) — As Chief Justice William Rehnquist put to rest rampant rumors he would retire from the Supreme Court, religious conservatives announced plans to ratchet up the culture-war rhetoric over the replacement for another retiring justice. After a week…

CARY, N.C. (ABP) — A prominent North Carolina pastor says he expects a conservative to be the next executive director of the Baptist state convention. Greg Mathis, well-known conservative and pastor of Mud Creek Baptist Church in Hendersonville, said he…

WINGATE, N.C. (ABP) — On Thursday night, 29 high-school students gathered around a tree, holding hands and praying — with no adults in sight. It was the next to the last night of Echo, an event for students who feel…

BIRMINGHAM, England (ABP) — At least 12,000 worldwide Baptists will make their way to Birmingham, England, for the Baptist World Congress July 27-31, apparently undeterred by recent terror attacks in London. Registration for the congress climbed above the 12,000 mark…

(ABP) — Although Bible training for school-age children is still popular, preschoolers and adolescents are kept out of the Sunday school loop in a growing number of churches. According to a study of 614 Protestant churches nationwide by the Barna…

ST. LOUIS (ABP) — A federal appeals court in St. Louis has become the latest to declare unconstitutional a 2003 federal law banning what abortion-rights opponents call “partial-birth” abortions. The decision is sure to add fuel to the debate over…

WASHINGTON (ABP) — A federal panel that monitors global conditions for religious freedom has elected an evangelical Christian activist as its chairman. Michael Cromartie will serve as the 2005-06 chair for the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom. Cromartie,…

INDEPENDENCE, Mo. (ABP) — One of the Missouri Baptist Convention's largest congregations has been sued by a former intern, claiming the pastor's son — who was then the church's single-adult minister — sexually assaulted and impregnated her. The accused, Mark…