SAN FRANCISCO (BP) — The California Supreme Court May 15 issued a much-anticipated and landmark decision by ordering the state to legalize gay marriage, making it the second in the nation to do so and also setting up a dramatic…
Texas court rules against seizure of polygamist sect’s children
SAN ANGELO, Texas (ABP) — The state of Texas had no right to remove more than 460 children from their polygamist parents, a state appeals court ruled May 22. It was unclear if or when the children — some held…
Evangelical manifesto draws praise, criticism
WASHINGTON (ABP) — If the authors of “An Evangelical Manifesto,” released May 7, aimed to inspire conversation and self-reflection among their kindred, they certainly succeeded. Among Baptists at the intersection of faith and public life, the conversation and reflection have…
You’ve got (spiritual spam) mail
MOBILE, Ala. (RNS) — The messages are simple enough. Some include a prayer. Others offer stories or pictures. Then, slipped into the cyber-epistle, the reader comes across the kicker: If you love God and/or are not ashamed of your religious…
McCain rejects Hagee’s endorsement
(ABP) — After months of pressure to reject the endorsement of conservative televangelist John Hagee, presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain finally did so May 22 after the preacher's views on Hitler raised new controversy. In a decade-old sermon, reported…
News about Virginia Baptists and their ministries for May 29, 2008
STAFF CHANGES • Israel Gwyn, to Oak Grove Church, Cana, as pastor. • Kenneth Compton, resigning as pastor of Fountain Creek Church, Emporia, to accept the pastorate of a church in North Carolina. • Randy Prouse, resigning as pastor of…
FAITH DIGEST
Does ET need Jesus? Vatican astronomer says, ‘no.' Intelligent life may exist on other planets and has no need of redemption through Jesus Christ, the director of the Vatican Observatory said. “Just as a multiplicity of creatures exists on the…
Abundant field of SBC candidates may signal relaxed political reins
INDIANAPOLIS (ABP) — Candidates are lining up two-by-two for this year's Southern Baptist Convention presidency — two big-church pastors, two small-church pastors, two former missionaries. For the first time in almost three decades, six men will be nominated for the…
Baptists continue to respond to disasters
(ABP) — Baptists continue to mobilize supplies and prayer in an effort to minister to victims of natural disasters in China and Myanmar. News reports May 22 indicated the death toll in China had risen to 50,000, with 220,000 injured,…