By Bob Allen Mercer University trustees approved McAfee School of Theology’s first doctor of philosophy degree program during their semi-annual board meeting Nov. 8. The Ph.D. in religion with a focus on Baptist studies will be interdepartmental, engaging faculty from…
Sandy overshadows Isaac response
By Jeff Brumley Knoxvillian Kendall McCosh spent the better part of last week providing disaster relief — not in the Sandy-plagued Northeast but in Louisiana, rehabbing homes ravaged by winds and flooding from Hurricane Isaac on Aug. 29. McCosh, a former…
Nigerian Baptists respond to floods
By Bob Allen The Baptist World Alliance has dispatched $10,000 for flood relief in Nigeria, where heavy rains have killed 363 people since July. More than two million Nigerians have been forced from their homes by this year’s floods, the…
NJ churches damaged in storm
By Bob Allen Baptist leaders in New Jersey estimate between 20 percent and 30 percent of the state’s 280 American Baptist churches sustained damage from Hurricane Sandy. Lee Spitzer, regional pastor for the American Baptist Churches of New Jersey, described…
Criswell College sues over health mandate
By Bob Allen Criswell College, a Southern Baptist Bible school with informal ties to the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention, sued the federal government Nov. 1, claiming the contraceptive mandate in President Obama’s Affordable Care Act violates the school’s opposition…
BWA assessing hurricane damage
By Eron Henry Baptist World Aid, the relief and development arm of the Baptist World Alliance, has granted an initial sum of $20,000 for relief to the Caribbean following the passage of Hurricane Sandy through the northern Caribbean and the…
Sandy delays Passport camp booking
By Bob Allen A youth ministry aligned with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship has postponed the normal Nov. 1 registration for its popular Passport camps by one week in light of anticipated power outages in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast caused by…
Sandy disrupts D.C. convention
By Robert Dilday As Hurricane Sandy maintained its relentless path toward the East Coast, the District of Columbia Baptist Convention postponed its annual meeting. The D.C. convention, which includes about 140 congregations in Washington and suburban Maryland and Virginia, put…
CBF aids Cuba with eyes on U.S., Sandy
By Jeff Brumley Baptist disaster-response coordinators from Florida to Virginia are keeping an eye on Sandy as the killer hurricane tracks north, while actively responding to the mayhem she has caused to islands in the Atlantic and Caribbean oceans. In…
CBF kick-starts 2012 Task Force plan
By Bob Allen Leaders of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship chose a fast track for implementation of a re-visioning of the 21-year-old movement adopted last summer, approving a timeline Oct. 25 to propose a new constitution and bylaws, nominees for a…
CBF headed to Cuba with eyes on U.S.
By Jeff Brumley Baptist disaster response coordinators from Florida to Virginia are keeping an eye on Sandy as the killer hurricane tracks north, while actively responding to the mayhem she has caused to islands in the Atlantic and Caribbean oceans….
Experts: prayer a top need in tragedy
By Jeff Brumley A deadly, demoralizing bombing in Beirut on Oct. 19 prompted a Lebanese Baptist leader to issue a worldwide call for prayer – and prayer alone. The blast killed eight people, including a high-ranking government official, and wounded…