CHARLOTTE, N.C. (ABP) — Historian Bill Leonard encouraged fellow Baptists to “get over” being embarrassed by their denomination’s often-negative image and instead celebrate their lineage in an “audacious identity” established by their forebears. Bill Leonard urges CBF to celebrate, rather…
Historian urges CBF to reclaim ‘audacious identity’
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (ABP) –Historian Bill Leonard encouraged fellow Baptists to “get over” being embarrassed by their denomination’s often-negative image and instead celebrate their lineage in an “audacious identity” established by their forebears. Leonard, founding dean of Wake Forest University Divinity…
Bellevue pastor defends disqualifying lesbian coach’s team
CORDOVA, Tenn. (ABP) – The pastor of a Tennessee Southern Baptist mega-church defended a decision to bar a coach from its softball league because she is a lesbian. The Memphis Commercial Appeal reported June 16 that church leaders told Jana…
CBF commissions 16 for global service
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (ABP) — More than 1,200 people were challenged to be passionate about joining in God’s mission June 23, as 16 new field personnel were commissioned for full-time mission service by the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. CBF Global Missions Coordinator…
Southwestern Seminary leaders cut health-care benefits for retirees
FORT WORTH, Texas (ABP) — An organization of retired faculty and staff from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary has asked the school’s trustees to reconsider their recent decision to discontinue providing health insurance coverage at no cost to retirees. But in…
Vestal says CBF will have to recall missionaries unless funding improves
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (ABP) – The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship will be forced to recall missionaries from the field if donations to its annual Offering for Global Missions do not increase next year, CBF Executive Coordinator Daniel Vestal told the CBF Coordinating…
Vestal says CBF may have to recall missionaries
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (ABP) – The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship will be forced to recall missionaries from the field if donations to its annual Offering for Global Missions do not increase next year, CBF Executive Coordinator Daniel Vestal told the CBF Coordinating…
Anti-terrorist police crack down on Baptists in Kazakhstan
OSLO, Norway (ABP) – Anti-terrorist police in at least three regions of Kazakhstan have targeted unregistered Baptists and Muslims in recent months, according to the Norway-based news service Forum 18. The news service, which monitors religious-freedom violations in numerous countries,…
Texas church fighting hunger in its area one child at a time
DECATUR, Texas (ABP) — When Ken May and Candy Burden learned that one child in 10 in their area goes to bed hungry every night, they decided to do something about it. Every Wednesday this summer, volunteers from First Baptist…
Baptists sending humanitarian aid to strife-ridden Kyrgyzstan
FALLS CHURCH, Va. (ABP) — Baptists have begun sending aid to Kyrgyzstan, home of a growing humanitarian crisis stemming from violence fueled by ethnic intolerance that has killed hundreds of ethnic Uzbeks and driven tens of thousands more from their…
Analysis: United in theology, Southern Baptists differ on methodology
ORLANDO, Fla. (ABP) — The last time the Southern Baptist Convention met in Orlando was 2000. That year marked passage of a revised Baptist Faith and Message statement — a show of theological unity that celebrated a hard-won battle for…
Baptists view growing Hispanic population as opportunity
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP) — The Census Bureau reports the Hispanic population in the United States has more than doubled in the last 20 years, from 22 million in 1990 to a projected 47 million in 2010. In 40 years, experts…