FALLS CHURCH, Va. (ABP) — The Baptist World Alliance is participating in preparatory meetings for the United Nations Earth Summit that will take place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 2012. The summit, nicknamed Rio+20, commemorates the 20th anniversary of…
Joplin pastor: Where do we go from here?
JOPLIN, Mo. (ABP) — Shortly after a monster tornado ravaged a third of Joplin, the large message sign at Forest Park Baptist Church in Joplin announced Pastor John Swadley’s morning message for the following Sunday: “Where Do We Go From Here?” With…
Baptist college hires female chaplain with ties to CBF
MARS HILL, N.C. (ABP) — Mars Hill College, located in the conservative mountains of an increasingly conservative North Carolina Baptist environment, has hired an ordained woman with Cooperative Baptist Fellowship ties as campus chaplain. Stephanie McLeskey Stephanie McLeskey comes to…
Civil War, Civil Rights
CARBONDALE, Ill. (ABP) — One hundred and fifty years after Confederate artillery fired on Fort Sumter, S.C., and the Civil War began, reminders of the conflict that divided a nation remain fresh. Some see them any given Sunday morning when…
Caribbean Baptists voice solidarity with U.S. tornado victims
KINGSTON, Jamaica (ABP) – The head of the Caribbean Baptist Fellowship pledged prayers and solidarity with tornado victims in the United States. Everton Jackson, executive secretary-treasurer of the fellowship of about 15 active bodies in English, French/Creole and Spanish languages…
Theology no issue as volunteers Converge on disaster sites
ORLANDO, Fla. (ABP) — Serious mission leaders have long understood that volunteers shed theological strait jackets when they bend together to meet needs of disaster victims. In the storm-ravaged South, especially Alabama and Joplin, Mo., that truth is being confirmed…
Bluegrass band brings respite to tornado-stricken community
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. (ABP) – First Baptist Church of the Williams community of Jacksonville, Ala., has been a beehive of activity since tornadoes destroyed 200 homes in the area April 27. Sunday, May 29, it was time to kick back and relax….
Music conference celebrates hospitality
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (ABP) — They came because they share a passion for sacred music. They were welcomed into a new worship space around the theme of hospitality. And they left with a renewed sense of calling. Polyphony participants gathered this…
South African Baptist scholar dies
WACO, Texas (ABP) – John Jonsson, an emeritus professor of religion and former director of the African Studies program at Baylor University, died May 26 at his home in South Africa after an extended illness. A native South African, Baptist…