By Bob Allen Trustees of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary affirmed President Paige Patterson Oct. 22 after investigating concerns about his decision to allow a Muslim student to enroll in the Southern Baptist Convention entity’s Ph.D. program. A statement by the…
Guy Sayles stepping down at FBC Asheville
By Bob Allen The pastor of a flagship Cooperative Baptist Fellowship church announced Oct. 19 he is resigning his pulpit, just short of nine months after telling the congregation he is battling cancer. Guy Sayles, pastor of First Baptist Church…
For West pastor and family, new home means recovery
By Jeff Brumley It’s much quieter these days in West, the tiny Texas town partially flattened by a deadly fertilizer plant explosion in April 2013. Gone are the convoys of semis and church trailers hauling debris and construction supplies, lawn…
Ebola vigil becomes memorial for fallen Christian brother
By Marv Knox A prayer vigil for the first Ebola patient in the United States turned into a memorial service for the virus’ first U.S. victim hours after Eric Duncan died in Dallas Oct. 8. Wilshire Baptist Church planned the…
Dallas Ebola patient Eric Duncan dies
By Bob Allen Dallas Ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan, 42, died Oct. 8, according to a statement from Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas. “It is with profound sadness and heartfelt disappointment that we must inform you of the death…
Virginia Baptist nominee’s election could break new ground
By Robert Dilday Virginia Baptist pastor Nancy Stanton McDaniel will be nominated in November for first vice president of the Baptist General Association of Virginia — a position whose incumbent for almost a decade and a half has been elected…
Jimmy Carter on gay rights: Jesus didn’t discriminate
By Bob Allen Former President Jimmy Carter, the world’s most famous Sunday school teacher, said Sept. 22 he supports LGBT equality because Jesus didn’t discriminate against people based on their identity. Carter, whose Sunday school class at Maranatha Baptist Church…
American Baptist Home Mission Societies executive to retire next year
By Robert Dilday Aidsand F. Wright-Riggins III has announced plans to retire next year as executive director and chief executive officer of American Baptist Home Mission Societies, completing the longest tenure of any leader of the 182-year-old organization linked with…
New mission center in Dallas taps Bill O’Brien as first executive
By Mark Wingfield Baptist missiologist Bill O’Brien has been named the first executive director of Gaston Christian Center, a new mission and ministry center in north Dallas which aims to create a collective of faith-based agencies and churches to serve…