DALLAS (ABP) — Churches that aren’t cutting their budgets due to the economic downturn are, by and large, taking measures to curb expenses, according to a survey the National Association of Church Business Administration has done of its members. The…
Bill to permit guns in churches revived in wake of pastor’s shooting
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (ABP) — An Arkansas lawmaker says she will reintroduce a bill to allow concealed weapons in churches after a deadly Illinois church shooting March 8. State Rep. Beverly Pyle (R-Cedarville) originally introduced a measure Jan. 29 to remove "any…
Obama ends restrictions on embryonic stem-cell study
WASHINGTON (ABP)—With a March 9 executive order, President Obama made official what many scientists had long anticipated—and many religious conservatives had long feared—lifting his predecessor’s ban on federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research. “In recent years, when it comes to…
Baptists getting older, study says
HARTFORD, Conn. (ABP) — Baptists may be the grayest of any major religious group in America, according to a study released March 9 by Trinity College of connecticut. The 2008 American Religious Identification Survey, the third set of data in…
Bill Leonard stepping down as dean of Wake Forest divinity school
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (ABP) — The founding dean of the Wake Forest University Divinity School is stepping down next year, school officials announced March 5. Bill Leonard Bill Leonard will retire from that post June 30, 2010. But he will continue…
Eye-catching, eco-friendly church structure turns heads in North Carolina city
RALEIGH, N.C. (ABP) —Pullen Memorial Baptist Church, which celebrates its 125th anniversary in 2009, is turning heads with a new eco-friendly building addition that eases overcrowding, allows for expanded missions and establishes a strong architectural presence along a prominent business…
The City of God: Upsurge of urban ‘creative class’ poses challenges to evangelicals
Busboys and Poets offers affordable gourmet meals and a performance venue to edgy artists, sells books on political topics and provides a chic meeting space for activist groups. WASHINGTON (ABP)—If ever there were an archetypal hangout for what author and…
Monkey business
Two hundred years after his birth on Feb. 12, 1809, British naturalist Charles Darwin remains controversial. His theory of evolution became the linchpin of modern science, but a majority of Americans believe God created humans in their present form. And…
Intelligent design renews debate between science and religion
WACO, Texas (ABP) — If there ever were a chance that conflict between evolution and religion might die a natural death, it ended with the birth of intelligent design. Just ask William Dembski. Educated as a probability theorist, Dembski had…