By Bob Allen Forty-seven faith leaders representing 80 million Americans joined Jan. 15 in a letter calling on members of Congress to take immediate action to prevent gun violence in the United States. The letter — made public a month…
Sunday school worker charged with abuse
By Bob Allen Christopher Ryan Crossno, 22, a former Sunday school teacher at Spring Creek Baptist Church in Clarksville, Tenn., was indicted by the January 2013 Montgomery County Grand Jury on one count of aggravated sexual battery. A press release…
Former minister guilty of abuse
By Bob Allen Brandon James Carter, 34, accepted a plea bargain Jan. 9 that sentenced him to less than two years in prison for molesting a 13-year-old girl. He was arrested last March, while serving as youth and music minister…
Youth pastor charged with sex crimes
By Bob Allen The youth pastor of a Tennessee Baptist church was arrested Jan. 3 on charges of statutory rape and sexual battery by an authority figure. Joseph Todd Neill, 36, youth director at North Fork Baptist Church in Shelbyville,…
Pastor calls for ‘serious’ gun control
By Bob Allen A Cooperative Baptist Fellowship pastor and activist judge is asking the state of Arkansas to limit gun ownership in the same way it regulates motor vehicles, including licensure and required insurance. Wendell Griffen, pastor of New Millennium…
Blaming God for tragedy nothing new
By Jeff Brumley Many criticized prominent evangelicals like James Dobson and Mike Huckabee for claiming last week’s Connecticut school massacre was God’s punishment of a morally disobedient nation, but don’t expect such views to change. Scholars say the belief in divine retribution…
Raising a lament
By Bill Leonard “Summon the wailing women to come. Send for the women skilled in keening to come quickly and raise a lament for us, that our eyes my run with tears and our eyelids be wet with weeping…. Teach…
SBC leader supports gun ownership
By Bob Allen Gun ownership and using lethal violence to save lives are applications of the Golden Rule, Southern Baptists’ top leader on moral and ethical concerns said Dec. 19 on National Public Radio. Asked on NPR’s All Things Considered…
UK Baptist leader mourns Sandy Hook
By Bob Allen The head of the Baptist Union of Great Britain issued a statement Dec. 18 mourning “the horrific loss of life” in the Dec. 14 elementary school massacre in Newtown, Conn., and calling for stronger gun control in…