HONOLULU — Standing in the exhibit hall during the Baptist World Congress in Honolulu, Paul Montacute surveys the array of displays and smiles with delight. “Just look at that,” says the director of BWAid, the relief and development arm of…
Focus group explores ethics of tourism
HONOLULU — Baptists meeting in one of the world’s most popular tourist destinations were reminded July 29 that beneath the glitz and glitter of the tourism industry lie moral issues that call for a Christian response. Presenters at a breakout…
Physical and spiritual exercise meet in NIA, divinity student says
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP) — Claire McKeever, a Baylor University graduate studying for the ministry at Vanderbilt Divinity School, preaches that worship isn’t just for the soul. McKeever teaches NIA, Neuromuscular Integrative Action, at the Green Hills YMCA in Nashville, Tenn….
Faith & Fitness: Exercise good, but only in moderation
NEW YORK (ABP) — The sixth chapter of First Corinthians describes the body as “a temple of the Holy Spirit.” For many Christians that means what they do with their body matters to God, including physical fitness. A few, however,…
Poverty-medicine clinic preaches the gospel of fitness
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (ABP) — Fitness can, literally, be a life-and-death issue for people in underprivileged communities. So a Christian medical ministry in one of the nation’s poorest big cities is preaching the gospel of fitness through local churches. Minister and…
South Africa to host continent’s first Baptist World Congress in 2015
HONOLULU (ABP) — For the first time, the Baptist World Congress will be held in Africa in 2015, according to a July 27 announcement from Baptist World Alliance General Secretary Neville Callam. Speaking on the eve of the 20th Baptist…
BJC files brief opposing sectarian prayer at government meetings
WASHINGTON (ABP) — The Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty filed legal papers July 6 arguing that inviting religious leaders to invoke sectarian prayers a North Carolina county's board of commissioners meetings is unconstitutional. The BJC filed a brief of…
Westboro Baptist Church claims military funeral protests are protected by the First Amendment
TOPEKA, Kan. (ABP) — A fundamentalist Baptist church known for picketing funerals of fallen soldiers argued in a U.S. Supreme Court brief filed July 7 that its actions are protected by the Constitution. Margie Phelps — attorney of record for…
Invitation to Jim Wallis strikes sour note for Christian music festival
OSHKOSH, Wis. (ABP) — A five-day Christian music festival that kicked off July 7 in Wisconsin is being criticized for inviting progressive evangelical activist Jim Wallis to speak. At least one sponsor has pulled out of Lifest — an annual…