In our nation’s history much has been said about the separation of church and state. Many interpret Jesus’ comment about a coin with Caesar’s head on it as saying: Here is what you owe to the state and here’s what…
OPINION: Baptists shouldn’t take religious freedom for granted
When Baptists in America study their history, they typically respond with pride. The denomination’s longstanding witness on behalf of religious liberty can be traced to the first Baptists in England, who boldly proclaimed that God alone was the ruler of…
FAITH DIGEST
Bread for the World chief honored. The president of a Christian anti-hunger lobbying group won the premier award for fighting world hunger. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton awarded the World Food Prize to Bread for the World President David…
Church-state lines can blur when disasters strike
RICHMOND, Va. (ABP) — Responding to disasters with immediate and long-term assistance has become a well-established practice of American religious groups — including Baptists, who frequently are almost as visible following devastating earthquakes and hurricanes as the Federal Emergency Management…
Pluralism, gay rights among emerging challenges to religious freedom
Since colonial days, each new generation of Americans has had to face new challenges to religious freedom. From dissenters like Roger Williams fighting established state churches to perceived threats to the Protestant establishment posed by Catholic immigration in the 19th…
What should churches and ministries know about employment law?
One characteristic of the robust religious freedom Americans enjoy is that the government doesn’t control the church nor the church the government. But that doesn’t mean churches are lawless zones. While houses of worship and other nonprofit religious organizations often…
Liberty University demotes seminary president over inflated claims
LYNCHBURG, Va. (ABP) — Liberty University has demoted the president of its theological seminary after investigating claims that he exaggerated or fabricated parts of his testimony about converting from militant Islam to Christianity. Trustees of the school begun by Jerry…
BJC supporters warned of ‘Christian nationalists,’ honor Gardner Taylor
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (ABP) — The culture warriors who contend that the United States is a “Christian nation” gravely endanger freedoms sacred to both Christianity and the nation, Mercer University President Bill Underwood warned supporters of the Baptist Joint Committee for…
CBF to evaluate structure, funding in two-year study
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (ABP) — Facing a chronic budget shortfall, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship moderator Hal Bass has appointed a 14-member task force to study the organization’s missional and organizational future. The task force, emerging from consensus during a recent gathering of…
CBF workshop explores church’s response to homosexuality
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (ABP) — Fifteen years after the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship adopted an organizational value prohibiting the funding of organizations that affirm practicing homosexuals, a large crowd packed a workshop June 25 on what it means to be the “presence…
Critics say Caner isn’t only ex-Muslim with dubious past
WASHINGTON (RNS)—Liberty University is expected to release a report soon on whether Ergun Caner, president of the school’s Baptist Theological Seminary, fabricated or exaggerated his life story as a former Muslim extremist rescued by Jesus. Caner is no ordinary ex-Muslim….
Fellowship commissions 16 for mission service
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — More than 1,200 people were challenged to be passionate about joining in God’s mission as 16 new field personnel were commissioned for full-time mission service by the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship June 22. Pritchard Memorial Baptist Church in…