By Jeff Brumley While U.S. and Iranian diplomats make international headlines for negotiations on nuclear energy and weapons, a group of American and Iranian academics is quietly meeting in Tehran this week to heal the broken relationship between the two…
U.S. academic delegation to Iran led by Baptist
By Jeff Brumley While U.S. and Iranian diplomats continue to make international headlines for negotiations on nuclear energy and weapons, a group of American and Iranian academics are quietly meeting in Tehran this week to heal the broken relationship between…
Ouachita lands former Auburn quarterback
By Bob Allen Coming out of high school touted as heir apparent to Heisman Trophy winner and first overall pick in the 2011 NFL draft Cam Newton, one-time Auburn quarterback Kiehl Frazier has transferred to Ouachita Baptist University, hoping to…
Kazakh Baptists refuse to pay fines
By Bob Allen Two Baptists in Kazakhstan recently served 48 hours in jail after refusing to pay fines handed down in 2013 for worshipping and sharing their faith without the government’s permission. Shoe-repairer Vyacheslav Cherkasov and plumber Zhasulan Alzhanov were sentenced…
Soulforce announces leadership change
By Bob Allen After four years as executive director of Soulforce, a national nonprofit protest group opposed to discrimination against gays in religious groups, Cindi Love is stepping down. Love, former national leader of the of Metropolitan Community Church, will…
Churches, CBF respond to NC collegiate ministry shifts
By Jeff Brumley Cooperative Baptist congregations in Western North Carolina and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of North Carolina are expanding their influence on college campuses just as huge financial and cultural shifts make campus ministries one of the riskiest and…
SNAP urges Baptists to speak out on abuse
By Bob Allen A victim support group held signs outside a Houston megachurch Jan. 9 calling for greater transparency about the reporting of child sex abuse in Southern Baptist churches. Representatives of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests…
First African-American tapped as Virginia WMU executive
By Robert Dilday A longtime Baptist minister and social worker will be recommended Feb. 8 to be the ninth executive of Woman’s Missionary Union of Virginia — the first African-American to hold the post in the organization’s 140-year existence. Valerie…
LifeWay re-launches True Love Waits
By Bob Allen Twenty years after launching the first virginity-pledge program, LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention is retooling its famous True Love Waits sexual abstinence commitment with a video-driven Bible study on the issue of sexual purity….