Baptist disaster response teams in the Mid-Atlantic have been placed on alert as they monitor devastation in Oklahoma in the wake of a massive tornado which killed at least 25 people, many of them children. The storm pulverized Moore, an…
Supreme Court to consider whether sectarian prayers at government meetings at odds with Constitution
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court agreed May 20 to hear a case centering on whether sectarian prayers at the beginning of official government meetings violate the First Amendment — an issue which has roiled county governing and school boards in…
R.G. Puckett, longtime Baptist editor in North Carolina and Maryland, dies at 80
RALEIGH (ABP) — Career journalist and champion for a free Baptist press R.G. “Gene” Puckett died May 12, months after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Puckett, 80, worked as a Baptist journalist longer than any person in the 20th century….
Prominent conservative N.C. pastor and convention president considering run for U.S. Senate
CHARLOTTE — Mark Harris, pastor of a prominent conservative Baptist church in Charlotte and president of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, is considering a bid for the U.S. Senate, the Charlotte Observer reported May 6. Mark Harris Harris,…
Whirlwind tour takes new CBF executive coordinator to five cities in North Carolina
On the heels of her April 20-25 tour of Cooperative Baptist Fellowship churches in Virginia, CBF executive coordinator Suzii Paynter traveled to North Carolina for another five-city tour that included stops in Asheville, Winston-Salem, Greenville, Raleigh and Charlotte between April…
County boards in Md., NC. challenged over official sectarian prayers, joining others in region
Two more county governing boards in the Mid-Atlantic are under fire for giving preference to Christian prayers in opening official meetings. The two counties — one in Maryland, the other in North Carolina — join a growing number of others…
SBC’s Richard Land to lead Charlotte seminary after retiring as ERLC head
CHARLOTTE (ABP) — Richard Land, who last year announced plans to retire in October after 25 years as president of the Southern Baptist Convention Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, has been named president of Southern Evangelical Seminary, a non-denominational school…
Nominees for restructured CBF organization include leaders from Mid-Atlantic region
ATLANTA — Leaders in the Mid-Atlantic are among nominees approved April 4 by the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship’s Coordinating Council for positions on three new administrative bodies, created last year in a restructuring proposed by a blue-ribbon task force. The council…
North Carolina minorities remain worried after religion bill is pulled in House of Representatives
WILMINGTON, N.C. (RNS) — A resolution to allow North Carolina to defy the Constitution and establish a state-sanctioned religion may be dead in the state capitol, but minority faiths say there’s more than enough reason to remain nervous. Some worry…