With more than 400,000 children in foster care in the United States, it's an issue that's not going away. Foster care is a temporary living arrangement for children who have been taken from their families as a result of abuse,…
Mars Hill church pours itself into North Carolina county
MARS HILL, N.C. (ABP) — No one goes hungry in Madison County, North Carolina, for lack of effort by Mars Hill Baptist Church. Mars Hill Baptist, adjacent to Mars Hill College in the mountains of western North Carolina north of…
Single father sees adoption, foster care as part of God’s master plan
MIDLAND, Texas — The Ewing family does everything together. They wash dishes, go grocery shopping and spend hours playing electronic games in the living room. "We've got to do everything together. If we don't, we won't have time together," Robert…
DC to be one of 7 satellite locations for New Baptist Covenant II
ATLANTA (ABP) — Washington, D.C., is one of seven cities chosen as sites for satellite viewing of the Nov. 17-19 New Baptist Covenant II, which will be anchored in Atlanta. Other sites include Dallas, Denver, Oklahoma City, San Antonio, Seattle…
Advocates seek thousands of foster parents in churches across nation
Hundreds of thousands of families are needed to provide foster care for nearly a half-million children and teenagers who for their own safety cannot continue to live at home. Some of those families are found in Baptist churches, and those…
Early into children’s services, Baptists trying to keep pace with changes
In the first decades following the Civil War when poverty shadowed widows and children of fallen soldiers in a dramatically disrupted South, Baptists and other Christian denominations started orphanages to care for them. Today, the South is dotted with campuses…
Not called to foster? There are other ways you can help foster families
Offer to babysit — Babysitting foster children requires some time spent in training and certification, but it is a huge help to parents who might need a night or weekend off. Help around the house — Some foster parents note…
Common myths about foster care
Myth: All foster children are emotionally disturbed and damaged beyond repair. There's nothing I can do to help them. Fact: "We see miracles happen all the time with foster children, and that's because of the relationship they develop in the…
Zimbabwe Baptist seminary principal fired in faith statement dispute
GWERU, Zimbabwe (ABP) — The principal of the Baptist Theological Seminary of Zimbabwe — who has taught at Baptist divinity schools in Virginia and North Carolina — has been fired for refusing to accept changes made to the school’s governing…
State Department tries to raise visibility of religious freedom
WASHINGTON (RNS) — Often accused of ignoring religion as they craft foreign policy, the White House and State Department are trying to show that religion is a rising priority for U.S. diplomacy. The most recent case in point: Secretary of…
Women in ministry pioneer seeks glimpses of holy as prison chaplain
ASHEVILLE, N.C. (ABP) — When Nancy Sehested finished her powerful sermon at the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of North Carolina state meeting in March, people were moved both by the message and to ask, “Where has she been?” As one of…
BWA expresses solidarity with Baptists in Norway after terror acts
FALLS CHURCH, Va. (ABP) — The head of the Baptist World Alliance has sent a letter of solidarity to Baptists in Norway in response to recent mass killings in that country that claimed at least 76 lives. Neville Callam, general…