BANGKOK, Thailand (ABP) — Baptist groups from around the world affiliated with the Baptist World Alliance have contributed as much as $15 million so far in relief for victims of the December 26 South Asian tsunamis, according to a BWA…
Commission on global religious freedom adds Uzbekistan to violators list
WASHINGTON (ABP) — A federal panel charged with monitoring religious freedom worldwide is asking the Bush administration to take sanctions against Pakistan, Uzbekistan and several other nations for severe violations. Members of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom…
Politics in pulpit spark church feud, members’ ouster in North Carolina
Editor's note: This story replaces one issued May 6. WAYNESVILLE, N.C. (ABP) — Nine members of a Baptist church in North Carolina say they were removed from membership because they disagree with the pastor's political views. Frank Lowe, one of…
Critics say church zoning measure in Alabama town violates federal law
PRICHARD, Ala. (ABP) — While sitting in the pews of a local church, Prichard City Council members unanimously approved a six-month moratorium on churches locating in business and commercial areas of town. The suspension, which passed April 21, has caused…
Megachurches more numerous than researchers thought, study shows
HARTFORD, Conn. (ABP) — The megachurch phenomenon may be even bigger than the experts thought. New research underway suggests there may be 1,200 or more of the biggie-sized congregations in the U.S. — not 850 as earlier studies showed. The…
As filibuster vote draws near, rhetoric reaches fever pitch
WASHINGTON (ABP) — A week chock-full of dueling press conferences is the latest sign that the Senate's war over the judicial filibuster is escalating — and may end with a “nuclear” detonation. As senators returned from a recess May 9,…
Judge says sex-ed program violates First Amendment
ROCKVILLE, Md. (ABP) — A federal judge has temporarily halted a sex-education program in a suburban Washington, D.C, school district, saying it violates the First Amendment's free-speech and religion clauses by promoting only one view of homosexuality. On May 5,…
Justice Department establishes task force on obscenity
WASHINGTON (ABP) — Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is pleasing conservative Christian leaders by focusing attention on pornography. Gonzales' deputy, Christopher Wray, announced May 5 that the Department of Justice is establishing a special task force that will try to curb…
N.C. church removes members for political views, deacon says
WAYNESVILLE, N.C. (ABP) — A Baptist deacon says he and eight other members of a North Carolina church were removed from membership because they disagreed with the pastor's political views. Frank Lowe said he had been a member of the…