DALLAS (ABP) — A seemingly unlikely alliance between conservative Christian evangelicals and Mormons recasts American history as the founding of a distinctively Christian republic, Stephen Stookey told a gathering of church historians. Self-styled historian David Barton and conservative provocateur Glenn…
Scholar finds Gardner-Webb open to diversity
BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. (ABP) – A predominantly white Baptist college in rural North Carolina might seem an unlikely place to find an urban African-American pastor from California known for an agenda of prophetic justice, but Gardner-Webb University just said goodbye…
Judge dismisses most of suit challenging Tennessee mosque
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (ABP) – A judge has thrown out most of a lawsuit seeking to halt construction of a mosque on the outskirts of Murfreesboro, Tenn. Chancellor Robert Corlew III ruled this week that 17 plaintiffs challenging zoning approval for…
Wellness responsibility of both minister and church
HERNDON, Va. (ABP)—Most congregations know healthier clergy lead to healthier churches, but few consider how clergy wellness and congregational busy-ness are related, said Larry Golemon, an ordained Presbyterian minister and former research manager at the Alban Institute. “Clergy wellness can…
Ministry rebuilds damaged ministries
RICHMOND, Va. (ABP) — Clergy wellness means different things at different stages of a ministry, and ministers who come to Ministering to Ministers Foundation are at a point of personal or professional crisis. Charles Chandler began Ministering to Ministers after…
10 practices for ministerial health
CHICAG0 (ABP) — The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America lists 10 best practices for ministerial health and wellness: • Love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. • Love your neighbor as you love yourself — be an…
Healthy ministers, healthy churches
SAN FRANCISCO (ABP)—“You cannot go to church,” Christian philosopher Elton Trueblood once said. “You are the church wherever you go.” That is especially true if you are the pastor. While many people with high-demand occupations view Sunday worship as a…
Pastor charged with molestation
EUFALA, Okla. (ABP) – An Oklahoma community reacted with shock to the arrest of a respected Southern Baptist pastor charged with molesting a teenage girl. Bruce Sanders, 48, pastor of North Fork Baptist Church in Eufala, Okla., pleaded not guilty…
BJC says Oklahoma Sharia ban unconstitutional
WASHINGTON (ABP) – A Baptist religious-liberty group joined Jewish, Islamic and civil-liberties organizations in urging an appellate court to uphold a ban on Oklahoma’s anti-Sharia law. The Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty signed on to a friend-of-the-court brief arguing…