SAN ANTONIO (ABP) — Since its beginning, missions, evangelism, benevolence and education have remained central to the Hispanic Baptist Convention of Texas. In 1938, Mexican Baptists in Texas gathered at a campground in Devine to build a Spanish-speaking church. The…
Pastor joins growing numbers of blacks at Hispanic Baptist school
SAN ANTONIO (ABP) — Mel Keyes forgot about his prayer. But God didn’t. That explains how an African-American pastor twice the age of the typical college freshman ended up at Baptist University of the Américas, attending a school that trains…
Cinco de Mayo gives Texas churches opportunity to serve, learn
A mariachi band performed at Iglesia Bautista Templo in Lubbock as part of a Cinco de Mayo celebration Baptists in the area sponsored to reach their community. (PHOTOS/Courtesy of Ed Sena) LUBBOCK, Texas (ABP) — The sound of mariachi band…
History society recognizes former staffer with award
ATLANTA (ABP) — The Baptist History and Heritage Society honored its former associate executive director, Pamela Durso, with an award at the group's recent annual meeting in Georgetown, Ky. Pamela Durso, winner of the W. O. Carver Distinguished Service Award,…
SBC motions target Alliance of Baptists, racial discrimination
ORLANDO, Fla. (ABP) — The Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee will study a motion to exclude churches affiliated with the Alliance of Baptists. SBC president Johnny Hunt completed his second one-year term as the denomination's top volunteer leader June 16….
Church team cycles across Missouri for kids’ smiles
TEBBETTS, Mo. (ABP) — Eighteen bicyclists ranging in age from 23 to 70 recently braved heat, rain and sore muscles to — literally — put smiles on the faces of children in underdeveloped countries. The riders and six support staff…
Obama nominates Baptist pastor to be religious-freedom ambassador
WASHINGTON (ABP) — President Obama has responded to more than a year of speculation and criticism among advocates for international religious freedom by naming an American Baptist pastor and motivational speaker as the nation’s top diplomat for religious freedom. Suzan…
Tennessee Baptist summer missionary dies after car accident in Maine
STANDISH, Maine (ABP) — A 20-year-old Tennessee Baptist summer missionary was killed June 16 — and three other summer missionaries and their local Baptist supervisor were injured — in a car accident in Maine. Palmer Maphet Palmer Maphet of Mount…
Southern Baptists denounce Gulf oil spill, divorce, gay-rights proposals
ORLANDO, Fla. (ABP) – The Southern Baptist Convention denounced the Gulf of Mexico environmental calamity in a resolution June 16. “God has designed us with a dependence on the natural resources around us and has assigned us a dominion of…
Suburban Atlanta pastor Bryant Wright elected SBC president
ORLANDO, Fla. (ABP) — In a field crowded with successful pastors and marked by disagreement over the recommendations of a denominational task force, messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention's annual meeting required a run-off to elect as their new president…
Approval signals Southern Baptist concern for ‘lostness,’ task force says
ORLANDO, Fla. (ABP) — The Southern Baptist Convention has overwhelmingly reaffirmed its intention to spread the gospel throughout the nation and around the world, members of the SBC’s Great Commission Resurgence Task Force told reporters June 15. At least 75…
SBC overwhelmingly approves ‘Great Commission Resurgence’ report
ORLANDO (ABP) — The Southern Baptist Convention voted overwhelmingly June 15 to accept the recommendations of a task force appointed last year to rally fragmented factions in the denomination around the Great Commission, Jesus’ command in the Gospel of Matthew…