By Bob Allen Police in Azerbaijan have raided the home of a Baptist pastor who served 10 months in prison before winning a pardon following appeals on his behalf from Baptist leaders worldwide, including former President Jimmy Carter. The Oslo-based…
Former minister fights molestation charge
By Bob Allen A former Southern Baptist music minister is asking a Mississippi judge to dismiss an eight-count indictment charging him with sex crimes in the 1980s, claiming the allegations are too old to be prosecuted. Lawyers for John Langworthy,…
Baptist school a hope to young refugees
By Jeff Brumley Annette Ellard and Steve Clark — a husband-and-wife team commissioned by the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship in 2006 to work with refugees from Burma in Louisville, Ky. — expected that population would face daunting language, cultural, employment, housing, medical and…
Longtime pastor John Dunaway dies
By Bob Allen John Dunaway, 79, a longtime Kentucky pastor who helped name the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, died Oct. 18 at his home in Huntsville, Ala., following a long illness. A constitution offered at the inaugural CBF gathering proposed the…
Fan or foe, children’s sermon here to stay
By Jeff Brumley Judging from the absence of squirming and giggling, Holly Smith’s children’s sermon was quite the hit Sunday morning at Island View Baptist Church in Orange Park, Fla. Five little girls gathered on the steps leading to the…
Racial equality pioneer Langford dies
By Bob Allen Henry V. Langford, a white Baptist preacher whose support for racial equality caused him to be blackballed by churches in the 1950s, died Oct. 7 at age 93. A memorial service is planned at 4 p.m. Sunday,…
Jimmy Carter fetes Clarence Jordan
By Bob Allen As 39th president of the United States, Jimmy Carter got to know some of the most influential leaders of the 20th century, but he says none impressed him more than Clarence Jordan, a farmer and white Baptist…
The life of a cowboy church pastor
By Jeff Brumley As the pastor of Lost Pines Cowboy Church in Elgin, Texas, Greg Long pulls the usual pastoral and preaching responsibilities as ministers in traditional churches. But visiting his flock begins to take on a literal meaning sometimes. “A…
Georgetown College president retiring
By Bob Allen William Crouch, hailed as a visionary leader who steered Georgetown College through financial woes, established bonds with African-Americans and loosened ties with the Kentucky Baptist Convention, has announced plans to retire effective June 30. “For 21 years…