LOUISVILLE, Ky. (ABP) — Mike Huckabee, a former and potential Republican presidential candidate, staked out conservative political ground in a speech to Southern Baptist pastors. While only obliquely referring to President Obama, the former Baptist pastor and Arkansas governor took…
NEWS ANALYSIS: Generation gap creates dilemma for Southern Baptist Convention
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (ABP) — The 2009 Southern Baptist Convention marked the 30th anniversary of the launch of a theological/political movement aimed at stopping the nation’s second-largest faith group from drifting into liberalism and inevitable decline. Three decades later, Southern Baptists…
Moderate Baptist leaders urge Congress to pass far reaching climate-change bill
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP) — A total of 140 moderate Baptist leaders signed a June 18 letter urging passage of a comprehensive energy bill that includes caps on emissions linked to global warming. Drafted by the Baptist Center for Ethics, a…
Baptists support separation of church and state, but not all agree what it means
WASHINGTON (ABP) — Baptists have, since their earliest days, been advocates of religious liberty and its corollary, the separation of church and state. But different groups of modern-day Baptists in the United States interpret church-state separation — and the Constitution’s…
On church-state issues, Obama brings new perspective, incremental policy change
WASHINGTON (ABP) — Americans who expected President Obama to make swift and dramatic changes from his predecessor on church-state relations may be disappointed. In his first few months in office, Obama has indicated only a handful of alterations to President…
Oppressed believers view separation of church and state differently from underside
For many Baptists in the United States, the separation of church and state is no more than a historical concept or fodder for the culture wars. For Baptist minority groups in other countries, however, it can be a matter of…
Moderator urges CBF to celebrate movement
HOUSTON (ABP) — Following a year of financial hardship, the moderator of the Cooperative Baptist Fellow-ship urged the group’s general assembly to celebrate the movement’s success and potential for the future. Jack Glasgow, pastor of Zebulon Baptist Church in Zebulon,…
CBF a work of God’s grace, Vestal insists
HOUSTON (ABP) — Nearly 20 years after its founding as a small breakaway group birthed by controversy in the Southern Baptist Convention, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship exists today as a work of God’s grace, the group’s top executive said. CBF…
CBF adopts budget, acknowledges ‘difficult fiscal year’
HOUSTON (ABP) — The Cooperative Baptist Fellow-ship adopted a $16.15 million budget but will begin the 2009-2010 fiscal year spending at 80 percent of projected income, anticipating continued reduced giving due to the economy. “It will come as no surprise…
Young pastors urge CBF supporters to ‘embrace the world’
HOUSTON (ABP) — Participants at the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship general assembly heard a visceral call to embrace the world — and all their neighbors — in worship. Taylor Sandlin, pastor of Southland Baptist Church in San Angelo, Texas, helps participants…
Virginia musician chosen to lead hymn society
RICHMOND (ABP) — A Baptist woman has been tapped to head an organization of church leaders and artists dedicated to preserving the congregational singing of hymns. Deborah Carlton Loftis, visiting professor of church music at Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond,…
ABCUSA delegates reject bylaw changes
PASADENA, Calif. (ABP) — While celebrating the denomination’s broad ethnic, regional and language diversity at their biennial meeting June 26-28, members of the American Baptist Churches USA also exhibited their ideological diversity. Delegates, meeting in Pasadena, Calif., torpedoed a major…