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…
Liberty University demotes seminary president over inflated claims
LYNCHBURG, Va. (ABP) — Liberty University has demoted the president of its theological seminary after investigating claims that he exaggerated or fabricated parts of his testimony about converting from militant Islam to Christianity. Trustees of the school begun by Jerry…
CBF to evaluate structure, funding in two-year study
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (ABP) — Facing a chronic budget shortfall, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship moderator Hal Bass has appointed a 14-member task force to study the organization’s missional and organizational future. The task force, emerging from consensus during a recent gathering of…
CBF workshop explores church’s response to homosexuality
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (ABP) — Fifteen years after the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship adopted an organizational value prohibiting the funding of organizations that affirm practicing homosexuals, a large crowd packed a workshop June 25 on what it means to be the “presence…
Historian urges Cooperative Baptists to reclaim ‘audacious identity’
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (ABP) — Historian Bill Leonard encouraged fellow Baptists to “get over” being embarrassed by their denomination’s often-negative image and instead celebrate their lineage in an “audacious identity” established by their forebears. Leonard, founding dean of Wake Forest University…
Baptists view growing Hispanic population as opportunity
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP) — The Census Bureau reports the Hispanic population in the United States has more than doubled in the last 20 years, from 22 million in 1990 to a projected 47 million in 2010. In 40 years, experts…
Vestal says CBF will have to recall missionaries unless funding improves
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (ABP) — The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship will be forced to recall missionaries from the field if donations to its annual Offering for Global Missions do not increase next year, CBF Executive Coordinator Daniel Vestal told the CBF Coordinating…
Baptists view growing Hispanic population as opportunity
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP)—The Census Bureau reports the Hispanic population in the United States has more than doubled in the last 20 years, from 22 million in 1990 to a projected 47 million in 2010. In 40 years, experts project that…
SBC Executive Committee elects Page as president in executive session
ORLANDO, Fla. (ABP) — The Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention voted in executive session June 14 to elect former SBC President Frank Page as the organization’s next president and CEO, replacing Morris Chapman, who retires Sept. 30 after…