WASHINGTON (ABP) – A Southern Baptist policy expert criticized a July 22 Senate vote rejecting a House bill to cut spending and require a balanced-budget amendment to the Constitution. Senators voted 51-46 along party lines against a “cut, cap and…
China Christian Council confirms continued ties with Virginia Baptists
SHANGHAI, China (ABP) — A leader of the China Christian Council — the official organization of Protestant churches in China — affirmed the group’s continuing commitment to strong ties with the Baptist General Association of Virginia during a meeting with…
US Baptists building bridges in China through basketball clinics
XI’AN, China (ABP) — Coordinating their efforts through the Virginia Baptist Mission Board and the local YMCA, a group from Virginia and both Carolinas led basketball clinics in July for youth in the central Chinese city of Xi’an (pronounced She-awn)….
Hall announces retirement; Reyes named Buckner CEO
AUSTIN, Texas (ABP) — Ken Hall, chief executive officer of Buckner International since 1994, announced his retirement from the Dallas-based organization during a July 22 meeting of the board of trustees. His retirement is effective April 30, 2012, when President…
Opinion: Walk out of your way
Colleen Burroughs (ABP) — As our group of 22 boarded a plane to return home from Malawi this week, organized protests began making world news. Malawians had grown tired of petrol shortages, the rising cost of commodities and perceived government…
Author seeks stories of ‘exiled’ young adult Baptists
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (ABP) – A Western Kentucky University professor is seeking contributors for an upcoming book detailing moderate responses to the fundamentalist takeover of the Southern Baptist Convention in the 1980s. Carl Kell’s 2006 Exiled: Voices of the Southern…
Judge vacates $4.75 million judgment against church
TAMPA, Fla. (ABP) – A Florida judge said July 19 that a prominent Southern Baptist church does not have to pay $4.75 million in damages awarded last year to a man injured seven years earlier on a church-sponsored youth ski…
Pastor disagrees with SBC leader about homosexuality
ORMOND BEACH, Fla. (ABP) – A prominent Florida pastor took exception to recent statements by a Southern Baptist seminary president that homosexuality is “not merely a matter of choice.” Roy Hargrave Roy Hargrave, senior pastor of Riverbend Church in Ormond…
‘Circle of Protection’ makes case to President Obama
WASHINGTON (ABP) – President Obama met 40 minutes July 20 with Christian leaders seeking to protect programs that aid poor people in any debt-reduction deal that the administration reaches with Congress. Participants in the meeting said the national coalition calling…