DECATUR, Ga. (ABP) — The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship will vote this summer on a budget $1.65 million smaller than the current spending plan. The CBF Coordinating Council voted Feb. 19 to recommend a $14.5 million budget for 2010-2011 at the…
UCC spokesman says decision to air Tebow Super Bowl ad is ‘arbitrary’
CLEVELAND (ABP) — A spokesman for the United Church of Christ says CBS’s decision to air a purportedly anti-abortion ad featuring Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Tim Tebow during the Super Bowl shows favoritism to some religious viewpoints over others. Focus on…
Southern Baptist leaders ask Obama to intervene on behalf of missionaries
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP) — Leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention urged President Obama Feb. 5 to do everything within his power to secure release of 10 volunteer missionaries jailed in Haiti. Morris Chapman, president and CEO of the SBC Executive…
Statement is first-ever consensus on religious expression and law
WASHINGTON (ABP) — A diverse group of leaders who often find themselves on opposite sides of the contentious battles at the intersection of church and state joined forces Jan. 12 to unveil an unprecedented consensus statement aimed at advancing public understanding…
Baptist pastor among dead in Haiti
ALLENTOWN, Pa. (ABP) — Baptists in Haiti mourned the death of a beloved pastor killed in the Jan. 12 earthquake. Gedeon Eugene, a vice president of the Baptist Convention of Haiti, told the Baptist World Alliance that Bienne L'Amerique, 46,…
Religious Right leader defends Robertson’s Haiti comment
VISTA, Calif. (ABP) — As several religious leaders criticized Pat Robertson's comments blaming Haiti's massive Jan. 12 earthquake on a pact supposedly made by its people with the devil, one came out to defend him. Gary Cass, chairman and CEO…
Baptists prep for immediate, long-term responses to Haiti quake
FALLS CHURCH, Va. (ABP) — Baptist groups in the United States began gearing up Jan. 13 for both immediate and long-term responses to the earthquake that killed thousands in Port-au-Prince, the capital and largest city of the impoverished Caribbean nation…
Bible is major theme in new film
MALIBU, Calif. (ABP) — The Bible plays a starring role in "The Book of Eli," a post-apocalyptic action film starring Denzel Washington that opened in theaters Jan. 15. Washington, a two-time Academy Award winner widely known in Hollywood for his…
Television program profiles friendships between Muslims, Baptists
{youtube}9M_KIOG7s04{/youtube} NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP) — One thing Muslims and Baptists have in common is they are often identified by their extremists, according to a documentary airing on ABC television stations in January and February. "Different Books, Common Word" offers an…