HOUSTON (ABP) — Houston Baptist University and the Baptist General Convention of Texas have agreed to a “memorandum of understanding” that maintains their long-standing relationship but with reduced funding for the school. According to Keith Bruce, coordinator of institutional ministries…
Congress adds anti-abortion provision to federal appropriations package
WASHINGTON (ABP) — Shortly before leaving town for their Thanksgiving break, members of Congress slipped into a spending bill a provision that supporters say limits “discrimination” against anti-abortion hospitals but that opponents say will circumvent state laws intended to guarantee…
Vermont, Virginia court rulings at odds in lesbian custody battle
WASHINGTON (ABP) — A Vermont judge has ruled that gay couples united in civil unions should be treated no differently than heterosexual married couples who have had children by artificial insemination when it comes to custody disputes. The decision sets…
Billy Graham crusade returns to L.A., where storied career began in a tent
PASADENA, Calif. (ABP) — Billy Graham's four-day Los Angeles crusade ended Nov. 21 with more than 80,000 people converging on the Rose Bowl on a chilly Sunday afternoon. They were among the 312,000 people who attended the four-day revival, 55…
Nashville church to be led by female co-pastoral team
NASHVILLE (ABP) — A Tennessee church that raised controversy after calling an openly gay woman to be an associate pastor has now elevated her to co-pastor — and called another woman from Georgia to complete the pastoral team. Nashville's Glendale…
Quiet South Carolina convention adopts stable budget, South Asia partnership
COLUMBIA, S.C. (ABP) — In quiet but efficient fashion, messengers to the 184th annual session of the South Carolina Baptist Convention elected a veteran pastor from Greer as president, adopted a 2005 budget that does not increase from this year,…
California church-restoration bill now headed to Bush’s desk
WASHINGTON (ABP) — Congress has sent President Bush a bill that would fund restoration of 21 historic church buildings in California. Bush received the “California Missions Preservation Act” (H.R. 1446) Nov. 20 after the House passed it in final form…
North Carolina Baptists to keep plans that fund moderate causes (updated)
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (ABP) — Messengers to the annual meeting of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina Nov. 15-17 voted to keep the convention's four giving plans intact, including the plan favored by moderates. Ted Stone, a freelance minister from…
California Baptists approve one resolution, bylaw changes
HIGHLAND, Calif. (ABP) — With the exception of several bylaw changes concerning the relationship of the California Southern Baptist Convention to its agencies, messengers to the convention's annual meeting approved a number of routine items with little debate. Messengers also…