By Bob Allen OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (ABP)—Two hundred years after the first American Baptist missionaries arrived in Burma, American Baptist Churches USA and the Myanmar Baptist Convention look forward to a new chapter of cooperation and collaboration in an altered…
American Baptists honor Congresswoman
By Bob Allen American Baptist Home Mission Societies affirmed Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) as “a champion of peace” during a meeting of the organization’s board of directors last week in Overland Park, Kan. In January Lee, a member of Allen…
‘New Jim Crow’ turns back civil rights
By Bob Allen Four decades of America’s “war on drugs” has brought on a “New Jim Crow,” creating “a growing under-caste” primarily of people of color, and turned back many of the hard-won advances of the Civil Rights Movement, an…
Medley re-elected American Baptist head
This story was edited after posting to correct an error in the opening paragraph. By Bob Allen Roy Medley, American Baptist Churches USA general secretary since 2002, has been elected to a two-year term as head of the 1.3-million-member body meeting…
Baptists re-tool annual gatherings
This story was edited after posting to correctvan error. By Vicki Brown Registration for the 2013 Southern Baptist Convention in Houston closed June 12 with a total of 5,103 messengers, down from 7,874 last year in New Orleans and the…
White House holds mental health confab
By Bob Allen President Obama asked the private sector and nonprofit organizations – including houses of worship and other faith-based institutions – to join the government in a national conversation about mental health in the United States during a daylong…
Twister response goes ecumenical
By Jeff Brumley If the deadly Oklahoma tornado has a silver lining, it may be the ecumenical spirit driving the response and recovery efforts of local churches, local ministers say. Local Baptist and other pastors describe an ongoing, cooperative effort…
Baptists, Muslims meet for dialogue
By Vicki Brown Baptists and Muslims discussed understanding, intentionality and service in a dialogue April 20 at Prairie Baptist Church in Prairie Village, Kan. “In light of recent events in Boston, it is even more urgent that we grow in…
Baptists, Muslims meet for dialogue
By Vicki Brown Baptists and Muslim discussed understanding, intentionality and service in a dialogue April 20 at Prairie Baptist Church in Prairie Village, Kan. “In light of recent events in Boston, it is even more urgent that we grow in…
Clergy press for assault-weapon ban
By Bob Allen More than 4,000 congregational leaders have signed an open letter to U.S. senators urging them to pass comprehensive gun violence prevention legislation. The letter calls for legislation that includes a ban on assault weapons and high capacity…
NABF retools disaster-relief network
By Jeff Brumley The stream of volunteers coming through La Place, La., these days ebbs and flows, says Reid Doster, coordinator of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of Louisiana. A large group of Stetson University students is currently rehabbing some of…
ABC, CBF explore closer ties
By Bob Allen Leaders of American Baptist Churches USA and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship met recently in Philadelphia and Atlanta to explore closer cooperation between the two groups, interim Coordinator Pat Anderson told the CBF Coordinating Council Feb. 22. Anderson…