WASHINGTON (ABP) — An elections panel in Michigan and a state judge in Louisiana have presented obstacles to gay-marriage bans in those states. The Michigan Board of State Canvassers deadlocked 2-2 along party lines Aug. 23 when asked to certify…
Victim support group trains for next terrorist attack
DALLAS (ABP) — Victim Relief Ministries, a Dallas-based non-profit organization with Baptist ties, will have the lead role in mobilizing the country's faith community in the event of a terrorist attack or mass-casualty situation. At the request of the U.S….
American Baptists send funds for relief in Florida, Cuba
VALLEY FORGE, Pa. (ABP) — The American Baptist Churches USA has released a total of $17,500 for relief work in Florida and Cuba, parts of which were devastated by Hurricane Charley. The ABC's National Ministries office released $10,000 in disaster-relief…
Themselves pounded by Charley, Florida Baptists start relief work
ORLANDO, Fla. (ABP) — Not being able to get out of his own Orlando neighborhood because of fallen trees made it difficult for David Harding, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship's national disaster-relief coordinator, to do his job. After making landfall a…
Boykin violated military rules with speeches, report says
WASHINGTON (ABP) — The Pentagon's chief intelligence official violated military procedures while giving controversial religious speeches, an internal investigation has reportedly found. News organizations reported Aug. 19 that the Pentagon inspector general's office had given lawmakers a long-anticipated report on…
Judge upholds marriage law in first federal DOMA ruling
WASHINGTON (ABP) — A federal judge in Washington State has upheld the constitutionality of a 1996 federal law that defines marriage exclusively in heterosexual terms — making him the first federal jurist to rule on the law. Judge Paul Snyder…
African-American churches rally for traditional marriages
FORT WORTH, Texas (ABP) – Energized and angered by comparisons between the fight for homosexual unions and the civil-rights movement, many African-American churches are turning out to stand for traditional marriages. African-American churches across the nation have come together to…
Charley hits Florida hard; cleanup, recovery in full swing
PUNTA GORDA, Fla. (ABP) — Hurricane Charley's unexpected course left death, devastation and frustration as it passed through heavily populated Central Florida Aug. 13. But even before the wind died down, plans for relief were well under way. Officials from…
Want to help hurricane victims in Florida? ‘Don’t just show up,’ advises one official
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (ABP) — Across Florida and the southeast United States, individuals, families, churches, businesses, and non-profit organizations will undoubtedly want to do something to assist those hit hardest by Hurricane Charley. But determining what that is may often be…