WASHINGTON (RNS)—What if, Akbar Ahmed asks, America had limited its military response to 9/11 to liberating Afghanistan from the Taliban and al-Qaida? What if, instead of invading Iraq and waging a global war on terror, the United States had expanded…
Baptist papers, ABP create new media venture
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (ABP) —The Religious Herald has joined three other Baptist communication organizations to form a new media venture that will collaborate on expansive websites, print publications and other media options for Baptists. The partnership, tentatively called NeoVox, currently includes…
Anti-Muslim bias skyrocketed in U.S.
WASHINGTON (ABP)—Complaints of anti-Muslim bias in the United States shot up by 25 percent in 2006 as compared to the previous year, according to a survey by an Islamic group. The annual report of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, titled…
News About Virginia Baptists and their ministries for July 12, 2007
STAFF CHANGES • Hilton Jeffreys, to Bethel Church, Salem, as pastor, effective July 22. • Jared Neal, to Airlee Court Church, Roanoke, as pastor. • Roger Collier, to Harmony Grove Church, Topping, as pastor. • Dwight Hargrove, to Zion Hill…
Complaints of church politicking up in 2006
WASHINGTON (RNS)—Complaints about improper politicking by tax-exempt organizations went up 43 percent in the 2006 elections compared to 2004, according to a report by the Internal Revenue Service. The IRS was asked to investigate 237 cases involving churches and other…
Render to Caesar
It may look dead, but it's really just evolving—even though its members might not like that word. And it may be developing into something its founders wouldn't recognize. That's what some experts say about the future of the Religious Right…
BAPTIST BRIEFS
Three S.C. firemen had ties to SBC churches. At least three of the nine Charleston, S.C., firefighters killed June 18 in a furniture store blaze were connected with Southern Baptist churches in the area. Capt. William “Billy” Hutchinson, 48, was…
Following Scripture not easy recipe for political choices, ethicists insist
RICHMOND (ABP)—Abortion is the most pressing moral issue of the day, said Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback, a Republican candidate for president, at a recent GOP debate. So much so, the Catholic senator continued, that he doesn't think his party can…
WMU focuses on missions, ministry
SAN ANTONIO (ABP) — Prayer took center stage as Woman's Missionary Union leaders, missionaries, and Southern Baptist agency leaders spoke at the union's annual meeting June 11, held prior to the Southern Baptist Convention gathering. In her address, union president…
Pulpit politics run risk for churches
DALLAS—Churches engaged in partisan politics risk losing not only their tax-exempt status, but also their credibility, several experts in church-state relations agree. Churches and religious organizations—like other IRS 501(c) (3) nonprofit organizations—are free to speak out on social, moral and…
Ruth Graham buried in private ceremony
MONTREAT, N.C. (BP) — Hundreds of friends and family members packed the Montreat Conference Center June 16 to remember Ruth Graham and hear all five of her children — as well as her husband in an unscheduled moment — recount…
Call them ‘red-letter Christians’ or progressive evangelicals; they’re a growing political force
NEW YORK (ABP)—In what is shaping up to be a faith-filled race for the presidency, Republican and Democratic candidates have pulled out all the stops—hiring religion gurus, conscientiously attending church, discussing the intimate details of their prayer lives on national…