(ABP) — Baptist volunteers from Texas and North Carolina are joining the international disaster-relief effort being called the largest in history, after earthquake-spawned tsunamis struck 12 countries in Southeast Asia and East Africa the day after Christmas. Texas Baptist Men…
Arkansas judge rules against policy banning gay foster parents
WASHINGTON (ABP) — A judge has overturned an Arkansas state policy banning the placement of foster children in any household with a gay adult, saying the state agency that created it had unconstitutionally overstepped its bounds. Pulaski County Circuit Judge…
Prominent church-state issues likely to resurface in 109th Congress
WASHINGTON (ABP) — As the 109th Congress goes to work in an atmosphere already charged with partisanship, legislative battles over religious and moral issues are virtually certain to remain as prominent as they were in the last session, according to…
College students ponder God’s call, their response to world’s need
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (ABP) — For five days, more than 250 college students wrestled with their response to God's call to minister and the world's cry for help during the inaugural Antiphony conference at the Wynfrey Hotel in Birmingham, Ala. The…
Students looking for direction find some clarity, focus
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (ABP) — They came with questions. Some wanted clarity on God's calling for their lives. Some wanted to know what to do when they grew up. There were still others questioning whether seminary was a necessary step or…
Billy Kim retires as pastor of Korean megachurch
SEOUL, South Korea (ABP) — Korean megachurch pastor and evangelist Billy Kim, outgoing president of the Baptist World Alliance, retired Dec. 19 after 45 years as senior pastor of Suwon Central Baptist Church near Seoul, South Korea. Since becoming pastor…
American volunteers brighten faces of orphans in Kenya
NAIROBI, Kenya (ABP) — Marlene Grant put her arms around Teresia Ngao and helped the little girl cut out figures of Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus. A smile crossed Teresia's face as each character dropped to the table with the…
Baptist statesman James Sullivan, 94, former Sunday School Board head, dies
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP) — James Sullivan, Southern Baptist statesman and retired president of the Sunday School Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, died Dec. 27 at a Nashville hospice following a brief illness. He was 94. A memorial service was…
Baptist groups rush to respond to Asian tsunami disaster
WASHINGTON (ABP) — As the death toll surged past 70,000 in one of modern history's worst cataclysms, Baptist groups from around the world rushed to help survivors of the Dec. 26 South Asian tsunami disaster. Press reports on the afternoon…