WASHINGTON (ABP) — An independent government panel that monitors global religious-freedom conditions thanked the State Department for its latest comprehensive report on the subject Oct. 26, but said the administration could move more boldly to protect freedom of conscience in…
VBMB executive director John Upton explains board budgeting decision
John Upton, executive director of both the Baptist General Association of Virginia and the Virginia Baptist Mission Board, released this letter Oct. 15 following the Oct. 13-14 meeting of the Mission Board at Eagle Eyrie Baptist Conference Center: Dear Virginia…
From the Eastern Shore to Cumberland Gap
STAFF CHANGES • Jim Rizer, now serving as pastor of Burrows Memorial Church, Norfolk. • Matthew Tennant, to Kilmarnock Church, Kilmarnock, as pastor. INSTALLATION: Dan Stanley was installed as pastor of Berryville Baptist Church in Berryville on Sept. 13. On…
Cuban Baptist leaders reportedly released from jail, say sources
LAKELAND, Fla. (ABP) — Two Cuban Baptist leaders held two weeks while authorities investigated what they regarded as suspicious economic activity have reportedly been released from jail. Pancho Garcia-Ruiz Rubén Ortiz-Columbié, 68, and Francisco "Pancho" Garcia-Ruiz, 46, were arrested Oct….
SBC leader apologizes for Nazi analogy regarding Obama plan
NEW YORK (ABP) — The head of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission has apologized for comparing Democratic health-care proposals to policies of Nazi Germany. ERLC President Richard Land reportedly told a Christian Coalition of Florida banquet…
Jailed Cuban Baptists accused of illegal economic activity
MIAMI (ABP) — Cuban authorities say two Baptist leaders held in jail for 11 days in a city on the eastern end of the island are suspected of illegal economic activities. Associated Baptist Press first reported Oct. 13 that Rubén…
D.C. convention’s Haggray elected pastor of FBC in Washington
WASHINGTON (ABP) — Jeffrey Haggray is stepping down after eight years as executive director of the District of Columbia Baptist Convention to become pastor of the historic First Baptist Church of Washington. Jeffrey Haggery, leader of the District of Columbia…
Two Cuban Baptist leaders in custody but authorities’ charges are unclear
DELTONA, Fla. (ABP) — Two Cuban Baptist leaders arrested Oct. 3 in the city of Santiago de Cuba remain in jail, reportedly without formal charge and with few details of why they are being held. Rubén Ortiz-Columbié is pictured here…
Activists on left, right share faith but differ dramatically on everything else
WASHINGTON (RNS) — A new report confirmed long-held assumptions about religious activists from the left and right. The only thing both sides seem to have in common — faith — is a more important part of their lives than among the…
Values voters at annual summit see little value in health care reform
WASHINGTON — Health care reform may be Priority No. 1 in Congress and at the White House, but for the 1,825 religious conservatives who gathered for the annual Values Voter Summit, the subject was barely on their radar screen. Indeed,…
FAITH DIGEST
Winners named to American Jewish Hall of Fame. After more than 209,000 votes from around the world, 18 men and women have been chosen for the new National Museum of American Jewish History’s Hall of Fame. Based on the poll…
Interaction between science and theology beneficial to both, minister/physicist insists
ATLANTA (ABP) — There are paths between science and theology, and both can find value in interaction, noted author and professor of science and theology Robert Russell told an audience at Mercer University’s McAfee School of Theology. Russell, founder and…