VALLEY FORGE, Pa. (ABP) — Leaders of the American Baptist Churches USA have approved selling the “Holy Doughnut” — the organization's Pennsylvania headquarters building — and confirmed the appointment of a new head for the denomination's international missions organization. The…
Opinion: Elections signal centrist turn
In the aftermath of the epochal power shift in Washington, the pundits are already attempting to interpret the deeper meaning of what happened. Inevitably, one's reading of the election tea leaves is filtered through one's own ideological perspective. Thus conservatives,…
Opinion: ‘The truth shall make you odd’
As we await the recommendations of the Iraq Study Group about what “to do” in Iraq, I can't help but be struck by the poverty of our imaginations. Just what, if anything, can we do to shore up the new…
SBC leader says Christians can be good lobbyists despite ‘seductions’
WASHINGTON (ABP) — Christians can be lobbyists and still maintain a clean conscience, as long as they generally believe in what they're peddling, said Southern Baptist professor Mark Coppenger. Coppenger, professor of apologetics at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville,…
Group cancels Thanksgiving boycott of Wal-Mart over gay support
BENTONVILLE, Ark. (ABP) — A group that had threatened a Thanksgiving-weekend boycott over gay-rights issues at the world's largest retailer has called it off. The American Family Association's website reported Nov. 22 that the group had canceled a boycott of…
Baylor prof says Francis Schaeffer returned to fundamentalist views
WASHINGTON (ABP) — Many evangelical scholars agree Francis Schaeffer was the single greatest force that propelled evangelicals into political action — ultimately putting George W. Bush in the White House. But some question whether he is rightly described as a…
Ky. Baptists pick young leaders for top offices, celebrate giving
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (ABP) — Continuing a recent trend of electing young leaders, the Kentucky Baptist Convention's new top three officers are under age 40. Darren Gaddis, 37, was elected president; Kevin Smith, 39, was elected first vice president; and…
‘Christ-followers’ offer early help to Chinese kids with cerebral palsy
ATLANTA (ABP) — More than 1.7 million Chinese children under the age of 13 have cerebral palsy. Because of poverty, limited medical services, and China's laws limiting each family to one child, these children are often abandoned to starvation, isolation…
Buckner names Reyes president of family services division
DALLAS (ABP) — In a move with implications for three Baptist General Convention of Texas organizations, Albert Reyes has been named president of Buckner Children and Family Services, which is being revamped to expand its ministries throughout the United States…
Conservatives win battles during Tennessee Baptist Convention
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (ABP) — Conservative Southern Baptist Convention loyalists won battles over doctrinal matters, offices and nominations during the Tennessee Baptist Convention's annual meeting Nov. 14-15. Messengers to the convention, meeting at Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis, voted overwhelmingly Nov….
Legislative bodies in South Africa, Mexico legalize same-sex marriage
JOHANNESBURG (ABP) — The South African Parliament voted overwhelmingly Nov. 14 to legalize same-sex marriage in the nation, making it Africa's first — and one of only a handful of jurisdictions in the world — to remove legal barriers to…
S.C. messengers increase budget, elect CP supporter as president
TAYLORS, S.C. (ABP) — Messengers to the 186th annual meeting of the South Carolina Baptist Convention increased their budget by $600,000 for 2007 and elected a strong Cooperative Program supporter as president Nov. 15 in Taylors, S.C. For nine of…