Christians tend to agree the Bible commands sacrifice for the greater good, but they differ about what that means. In a July 18 letter to elected federal officials, 5,000 Christian leaders asked Congress to work to protect the most vulnerable…
Americans hold different views of what ‘religious’ means, new report suggests
(RNS) — There is a lopsided divide in America about what it means to be a religious person, with a majority believing that it’s about acting morally but a strong minority equating it with faith. Nearly six out of 10…
Megachurch pastor Joel Hunter pays price for attempting to bridge divide between political parties
LONGWOOD, Fla. (RNS) — There’s a price to pay for becoming the voice of moderate conservatism and coalition politics. Even more so for refusing to march in lockstep with the Republican Party. Ask Joel Hunter of Northland Church, Florida’s largest…
White House says it can’t list Westboro Baptist Church as hate group or remove tax-exempt status
WASHINGTON (RNS) — In response to five “We the People” petitions, the White House condemned the actions of the Westboro Baptist Church but said it is powerless to list the Kansas church as a hate group and remove its tax-exempt…
Pastors whose congregations face foreclosure say it’s vital to act, recall church is not a building
(ABP) — A Missionary Baptist pastor in Anniston, Ala., learned recently that his church faces foreclosure and its building may be auctioned to the highest bidder by the end of the month. The Anniston Star reported that Pastor La’Noan Ealy…
Mission trip provides religious liberty lesson
Less than a month after police in the former Soviet state of Georgia intervened to rescue peaceful gay-rights protestors from a religious mob, Baptist young adults from the United States stood alongside Georgian Baptists to speak up for Muslims denied…
200 years after first American Baptist missionaries arrived in Burma, mission landscape is altered
Yam Kho Pau, general secretary of the Myanmar Baptist Convention, recently invited American Baptist International Ministries to renew its 200-year-old ministry in Burma interrupted since the 1960s by political unrest. “This gathering is the renewal of a relationship between ABC…
Lottie Moon’s church led by a woman
What would Lottie do? Last year, Southern Baptists gave $149.3 million to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for international missions, hailed as the third-highest amount in the offering’s 124-year history. With less fanfare, meanwhile, the iconic missionary’s childhood church quietly…
Is yoga instruction religious? San Diego court case may decide
SAN DIEGO (RNS) — In an elementary school classroom with an American flag draped over one wall, a couple dozen students rose to standing positions. Then they shifted into poses called “volcano part one,” “silent gorilla,” and “rag doll.” Some…