By Bob Allen A Kentucky Baptist child care agency has hired a replacement for a CEO who resigned in December 2013 amid controversy prompted when he suggested a policy change to allow the hiring of gays. Directors of Sunrise Children’s…
Devotional website heading ‘Back2School’
By Bob Allen Students making the transition into a new grade, new school or even a new town can find spiritual guidance beginning Aug. 3 when Back2School returns to the devotional website d365.org. Writers for the six-week series are ministers from the Presbyterian…
SBC president declines to second-guess Glorieta sale
By Bob Allen Southern Baptist Convention President Ronnie Floyd has turned down an Arkansas couple’s request that he appoint a special committee to investigate whether LifeWay Christian Resources trustees acted improperly in the 2013 sale of Glorieta Conference Center for…
South African culture featured in BWA congress opening
By Robert Dilday A celebration of South African culture — and the country’s remarkable transformation into “the rainbow nation” — highlighted the opening session of the Baptist World Congress July 22 in a colorful display of music and dance. The…
Second African since 1905 takes helm of global Baptist group
By Robert Dilday As the Baptist World Alliance prepared July 22 to convene its first world congress in Africa, the global organization also transitioned to new leadership with a South African pastor taking the helm as president — only the second…
Quadriplegic NAMB missionary receives $26 million settlement after crash
By Bob Allen A North American Mission Board student missionary paralyzed in a 2009 rollover crash has been awarded $26 million in a settlement with the Southern Baptist Convention entity’s insurers. Lawyers representing 27-year-old Jeremy Vangsnes — an All-American collegiate…
LifeWay makes offer on new Nashville property
By Bob Allen LifeWay Christian Resources is eyeing an acre and a half in downtown Nashville for its new headquarters, according to local media reports. The Metro Development and Housing Agency, a Nashville government agency, is expected on July 21…
Baylor drops language referring to ‘homosexual acts’
By Bob Allen Baptist-affiliated Baylor University has quietly removed a ban on “homosexual acts” from its sexual conduct code. In a change last May that went unreported until a story in the Waco Tribune-Herald July 2, Baylor’s board of regents…
For low-income kids, new program offers a shot at college
By Linley McCord Hannah Okafor not only enjoys school but already has an eye on a chosen profession — even as a rising seventh grader. “I’ve always wanted to be a mechanical engineer,” she said. Now, Okafor has a pretty good chance…
Church/state group attacks ‘bogus’ religious liberty claims
By Bob Allen Americans United for Separation of State unveiled a new initiative July 7 to counter attempts by the Religious Right to conflate religious liberty with the right to discriminate against LGBT Americans. The new Protect Thy Neighbor initiative…
Kentucky Baptist Fellowship names coordinator
By Bob Allen Rhonda Abbott Blevins, associate pastor of Tellico Village Community Church in Loudon, Tenn., and a consultant with Pinnacle Leadership Associates, has been named coordinator of the Kentucky Baptist Fellowship. Blevins, a graduate of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary…
Citing confidentiality breaches, American Baptists suspend executive search
By Bob Allen The search for the next general secretary of American Baptist Churches USA is on hold, due to “breaches of confidentiality” in the search process, the denomination’s president announced June 28 at the denomination’s biennial mission summit in…