DALLAS (ABP) — Wyman and Michelle Dobbs, the Southern Baptist missionaries recently threatened with termination by the International Mission Board and then reinstated, say the IMB's description of their reinstatement is “inaccurate and inappropriate.” The Dobbses, missionaries for eight years…
Floyd to be nominated SBC president, but other candidates likely to follow
SPRINGDALE, Ark. (ABP) — Ronnie Floyd, pastor of the largest Southern Baptist church in Arkansas, will be nominated as president of the Southern Baptist Convention next month. Georgia pastor Johnny Hunt, who until a week ago was the nominee favored…
Teaching world religions increases respect for freedoms, study suggests
ARLINGTON, Va. (ABP) — A new study suggests mandatory teaching about world religions in public schools can increase teenagers' respect for religious freedom and other constitutional rights. The research, released May 8 by a Virginia-based think tank, studied 400 ninth…
Ecumenical and evangelical groups tentatively join in day of prayer
WASHINGTON (ABP) — As President Bush spoke to an ecumenical group at the White House to mark the National Day of Prayer May 4, religious moderates and progressives gathered in locations around the country in an effort to broaden an…
Confusion reigns in SBC election: Hunt drops out, Floyd may run
WOODSTOCK, Ga. (ABP) — Barely a month before the annual Southern Baptist Convention, it's still unclear who will be nominated for president — a sign of the current uneasiness among conservatives in the denomination. Georgia pastor Johnny Hunt, tapped as…
Humanitarian aid is best weapon against terror, ex-U.N. official says
DALLAS (ABP) — Humanitarian aid is the most potent weapon the United States can deploy against terrorism, veteran congressman Tony Hall said. Providing food for one's enemies not only fulfills a basic teaching of Jesus Christ; it's also good foreign…
Missouri police investigate molestation by minister in Baptist church
GREENWOOD, Mo. (ABP) — A Baptist music minister convicted of molesting children at three churches since 1998 sits in a Kentucky prison May 4 while police continue to investigate what his supervisor, a senior pastor in Missouri, knew about the…
Elder rule increasing in Baptist life, and so is controversy over role
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (ABP) — Sam Shaw, senior pastor at Germantown Baptist Church, has a problem on his hands. As in a growing number of Baptist churches, Germantown leaders — including Shaw — want to elect elders. And while many people…
Reinstated Africa missionaries accept IMB guidelines for church-planting
RICHMOND, Va. (ABP) — Under a new agreement, officials at the Southern Baptist Convention's International Mission Board have reinstated a missionary couple they threatened to fire for establishing a church that was not explicitly Baptist in the West African nation…
Even among elder-led churches, the buck stops in different places
(ABP) — What do some contemporary, Calvinist and cowboy churches have in common? They all have elders. But the similarity pretty much stops there. As with many other churches, the identity, role and authority of elders varies widely. In contemporary-style…
Federal panel again names U.S. allies as violators of religious freedom
WASHINGTON (ABP) — Several of the United States' allies remain among the world's most egregious violators of human rights, according to a non-partisan federal panel's report. In addition, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom said, two nations whose oppressive…
SBC narrowness calls for repentance, reform, disgruntled conservatives say
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (ABP) — About 30 Southern Baptist conservatives from diverse backgrounds are repenting of the triumphalism, arrogance and isolationism they say threatens the integrity of the 16 million-member denomination. Saying they represent “disparate constituencies” in the Southern Baptist Convention,…