By Marv Knox Baptist Standard Christians undermine their ability to reach society with the gospel because they segregate their churches by race, sociologist/author George Yancey told participants in a workshop aimed at racial reconciliation. Yancey, assistant professor of sociology at…
Online registration opens for SBC
Online registration for the 2006 Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in Greensboro, N.C., opened Feb. 1. Churches will be able to register their messengers online at the SBC website, www.sbc.net, to avoid waiting at the counter upon arrival at the…
Brunson may follow Vines as pastor of Jacksonville church
Less than a week after bidding farewell to retiring pastor Jerry Vines, First Baptist Church of Jacksonville, Fla.-one of the country's largest congregations-was expected to nominate Dallas pastor Mac Brunson as his successor. The Jacksonville church posted a simple announcement…
‘Manifesto’ supporters say role of community misinterpreted
By Greg Warner Associated Baptist Press The Baptist Manifesto, a theological statement that emphasizes the role of community in understanding Scripture to counterbalance individual freedom, has been misinterpreted by critics as opposing freedom of conscience, say seven Baptist theologians. “We…
Charismatic-leaning Southern Baptists being betrayed, excluded, says pastor
By John Pierce Baptists Today When Paul Pressler and Paige Patterson launched a revolution within the Southern Baptist Convention, they found an eager soldier in Ron Phillips. Phillips, 58, has been pastor of Central Baptist Church of Hixson, near Chattanooga,…
N.C. Baptist newspaper to pick some directors to ‘protect freedom’
By Greg Warner Associated Baptist Press The Biblical Recorder, newspaper of North Carolina Baptists, will choose some of its own directors in a move to preserve its journalistic freedom, say the newspapers leaders. Beginning this fall, the 172-year-old newspaper will…
Jordan’s king urges unity on terrorism
King Abdullah II of Jordan, speaking at a Feb. 2 gathering organized by evangelicals, urged Christians, Jews and Muslims to unite around common values and to consider terrorism as an “attack upon civilization” instead of a “clash of civilizations.” Addressing…
Conservatives expel Texas church for ties to gay-friendly ministry
A conservative church in Baytown, Texas, has been kicked out of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention because it lets a ministry to homosexuals use church meeting space. Although the Eklektos ministry affirms homosexuality, the church does not, its pastor…
Iraq churches hit, 3 Christians killed
An apparently coordinated series of bomb attacks Jan. 29 targeted Iraq’s Christian minority, killing three and injuring more. Bombs exploded within minutes of each other during Sunday services at two churches in the northern city of Kirkuk. At the city’s…
Jimmy Draper retires from LifeWay
Standing in the pulpit of First Baptist Church in Mixon, Texas, on Sept. 3, 1950, 15-year-old Jimmy Draper preached his first sermon. “I had it down to 30 minutes,” Draper said, recalling his first step into the ministry. “When I…
Cartoon sparks violence against Lebanese Christians
Incensed Muslims sacked Christian neighborhoods and burned the Dutch Embassy in Lebanon Feb. 5, angered by the publication of caricatures of the prophet Muhammad. Although some Muslim leaders appealed for peace, more than 20,000 protesters threw rocks, burned buildings and…
Criswell dean out after conflict over speaking in tongues
Doctrinal differences among Southern Baptist conservatives apparently have claimed another victim-Scott Camp, dean of students at Criswell College in Dallas. Camp's contract as dean, which ran through Jan. 31, was not renewed, in part because Camp supports speaking in tongues….