By Bob Allen The Kentucky Baptist Convention elected its first African-American president Nov. 10 at Severns Valley Baptist Church in Elizabethtown, Ky. Kevin Smith, teaching pastor at Highview Baptist Church in Louisville and an assistant professor of Christian preaching at…
BJC essay contest to explore tension between job duties, personal belief
By Bob Allen Should elected officials be able to opt out of certain job duties because of their personal religious beliefs? How far should government go to accommodate elected or appointed government officials who object to issuing marriage licenses to…
SC Baptists restore funding for university
By Bob Allen The South Carolina Baptist Convention has resumed funding for North Greenville University, after convention leaders said they were satisfied with the way the board of trustees handled a scandal involving the school’s former president. The state convention’s…
Camping ministry unveils capital campaign
By Bob Allen Passport, Inc., an ecumenical Christian camping ministry and longtime partner of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, has launched a $1.5 million capital campaign, bolstered by a $500,000 matching-funds challenge grant from the Eula Mae and John Baugh Foundation….
Tennessee convention purchases land for new headquarters
By Bob Allen The Tennessee Baptist Convention will move its headquarters from Brentwood, Tenn., to a 600-acre mixed-use development adjacent to Interstate 65 in south Franklin in 2017. The TBC executive board signed closing documents Oct. 26 for 2.3 acres in…
Campbellsville inks pact with American Baptists
By Bob Allen Campbellsville University and the American Baptist Churches of Indiana/Kentucky formalized a partnership with a signing ceremony Oct. 20 on the university campus in Campbellsville, Ky. Soozi Whitten Ford, executive minister of the 313-church regional affiliate of American Baptist…
Baptist school honors former first lady
By Bob Allen A Texas Baptist university has bestowed an honorary doctorate on former First Lady Laura Bush, recognizing her decades-long advocacy of education, health care, human rights and the family. Wayland Baptist University in Plainview, Texas, presented the former…
Tenn. association defends action dismissing church
By Bob Allen An association of Southern Baptist churches’ decision to kick out its only predominantly black congregation had nothing to do with race, the association’s director of missions insisted Oct. 20. “The issue is not about race,” DOM Mike…
Church booted for calling female pastor
By Bob Allen The only predominantly African-American Southern Baptist church in a rural county in Tennessee risks losing its house of worship for calling a woman as pastor. News Channel 5 in Nashville reported Oct. 15 that Greater Tabernacle Baptist…
American Baptists in Nebraska launch microloan ministry to address justice, poverty
By Vicki Brown Tom struggled to make ends meet, even though he had a full-time job. Willing to work more, he wanted to start a small landscaping business that would provide needed income and flexibility. Then Tom’s pastor told him…
Appeals court throws out settlement of Baptist home lawsuit
By Bob Allen A federal appeals court has thrown out the 2013 settlement of a lawsuit challenging state funding of a Kentucky Baptist children’s ministry, saying a judge should decide if court-ordered monitoring of alleged violations of the separation of…
SBC president suggests a single mission board
By Bob Allen Southern Baptist Convention President Ronnie Floyd suggested merger of the convention’s two mission boards during a symposium on the denomination’s future Sept. 28-29 at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Mo. “Structures and systems flow from…