HONOLULU — Some of the globe’s most persecuted Christians found an international home when the Baptist World Alliance admitted the Baptist Churches in Vietnam into the global organization. The BWA’s General Council voted full membership July 28 to the Vietnamese…
Preach good news, proclaim freedom, seminary president urges Baptists
HONOLULU — Preach Christ’s good news and proclaim freedom, seminary president Pablo Deiros challenged participants at the 20th Baptist World Congress in Honolulu July 29. “As Baptists, we need to realize the proclamation of the good news is the central…
SBC resolutions highlight Gulf, family, homosexuality
ORLANDO, Fla. — The Southern Baptist Convention decried ecological catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico, focused on the family and opposed the normalization of homosexuality as messengers approved seven resolutions with no debate during the SBC annual meeting in Orlando…
Approval signals Southern Baptist concern for ‘lostness,’ task force says
ORLANDO, Fla. — The Southern Baptist Convention overwhelmingly reaffirmed its intention to spread the gospel throughout the nation and around the world, members of the SBC’s Great Commission Resurgence task force told reporters. At least 75 percent to 80 percent…
NEW BAPTIST COVENANT: Baptists challenged to overcome racial barriers
NORMAN, Okla. (ABP) — If they hope to represent Christ in the world, Baptists must find a "better way" of relating than the racism that has marred their witness for most of the past two centuries, participants in a multicultural…
SBC votes to sever longstanding relationship with Texas church
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Southern Baptist Convention discontinued its relationship with Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas, because of the church’s perceived toleration of homosexual members. Messengers to the SBC annual meeting dismissed the church in less than 30…
Task force approved, but multiple motions focus on controversial Seattle pastor
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A proposal that could reshape the Southern Baptist Convention received overwhelming approval during the 2009 SBC annual meeting. But relationships with a controversial pastor who is influential among many young SBC pastors drew the attention of multiple…
Highest freedom is freely giving self to God, Baptist historian says
HOUSTON — Baptists must aspire to the kind of freedom that leads them to relinquish their autonomy to God, historian Walter Shurden told participants at the William H. Whitsitt Baptist Heritage Society’s annual meeting. Shurden received the society’s 2009 Courage…
Callam: BWA is communion table for world Baptist family
HOUSTON (ABP) — The communion table provides a metaphor for how the Baptist World Alliance can unite Baptists in a “true spirit of hospitality,” Neville Callam insisted. Callam, general secretary of the worldwide umbrella group for Baptists, addressed the challenge…
Train up a child: It takes parents and churches working together
Parents must take the lead in guiding children to love and learn the Bible, but the church should help, according to specialists in children’s ministry. The process begins at birth, directing children toward God long before they even know about…
Baptism still Baptists’ symbol but ‘problems’ must be answered
WACO, Texas (ABP) — After four centuries, believers baptism remains the symbol of Baptist identity, historian Bill Leonard stressed during a lecture series at Baylor University's George W. Truett Theological Seminary. But in the 21st century, Baptists must respond to…
Legal expert suggests how to manage mix of religion, politics
ABILENE, Texas — Religion and politics inevitably will mix — especially in the U.S. presidential campaign — but that does not mean Americans should sanction a free-for-all, church-state expert Melissa Rogers insisted. Rogers, director of the Center for Religion &…