INDIANAPOLIS (ABP) — The Southern Baptist Convention, struggling with a membership decline nationwide, passed a resolution June 11 that could significantly shrink church membership rolls even further. Messengers to the SBC annual meeting in Indianapolis also turned back efforts to…
Building relationships is key to ministry to nontraditional families
How should a congregation respond to an unmarried cohabitating couple's request to join the church? Churches likely will face this and other tough questions as society's definition of family continues to change. “This isn't the church our parents grew up…
SBC targets Texas church over homosexuality
INDIANAPOLIS (ABP) — A Fort Worth, Texas, church, which long ago cut back its support of the Southern Baptist Convention, nonetheless could be ousted from that body because it welcomes homosexuals. The possible ouster of Broadway Baptist Church, along with…
Pastor challenges parents and offers incentive to tie the knot
HARRISBURG, Pa. — Daneisha Dunbar was never so happy to see her children cry. But there they were: 13-year-old Jheran, 10-year-old Aryn and 5-year-old Taryn, shedding tears and squealing with joy at the news that their mommy and daddy are…
SBC officials reject idea of sex-offender database
INDIANAPOLIS (ABP) — Citing Baptists' “belief in the autonomy of each local church,” a Southern Baptist Convention official announced May 10 that the denomination's Executive Committee would not support the creation of a database of sexual offenders in SBC churches….
Alma Hunt, missions advocate, dies
ROANOKE — Alma Hunt, one of Baptists' best-known missions advocates, died June 14 in a Roanoke hospital. She was 98. The Virginia native gained national recognition in 1948 when she became executive secretary of the Birmingham, Ala.-based Woman's Missionary Union,…
CBF expands anti-poverty initiative, launches process to determine group’s future
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — An update on how the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship is helping achieve the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals — a commitment the organization's decision-making body made last fall — topped the agenda of the CBF's annual general assembly…
Miss Alma Hunt: An Enduring Legacy
Woman's Missionary Union of Virginia and Virginia Baptist Mission Board mourn the loss of Alma Hunt. “Miss Alma,” as she was widely known in Baptist life, was loved by all who knew her. Her heart for missions and commitment to…
CBF Bible study generates debate
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship's 18th annual General Assembly included among the more than 60 workshops a series of three Bible study sessions led by John Killinger, executive minister and theologian in residence at Marble Collegiate Church in…