By Bob Allen More than 4,000 congregational leaders have signed an open letter to U.S. senators urging them to pass comprehensive gun violence prevention legislation. The letter calls for legislation that includes a ban on assault weapons and high capacity…
Texas House honors Suzii Paytner
By Bob Allen The Texas legislature honored incoming Cooperative Baptist Fellowship leader Suzii Paynter Feb. 28 with a House resolution recognizing her advocacy work on numerous social issues during more than a decade of service with Texas Baptists. The resolution…
Letter: Shield poor from sequestration
By Bob Allen Eighty-eight faith leaders wrote President Obama and congressional leaders Feb. 25 urging them to protect hunger and poverty programs as they seek to avert government spending cuts due to take effect March 1. The letter is from…
Working poor a ministry focus
By Daniel Wallace The problem isn’t that they can’t find jobs. The problem is the jobs they find don’t support their families’ basic needs. Welcome to the plight of America’s working poor. “As long as the economy is struggling the…
House passes church-funding bill
By Bob Allen The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved a bill Feb. 13 to allow houses of worship damaged by Hurricane Sandy to receive disaster aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, despite warnings by advocacy groups that the…
AU opposes taxpayer repair of churches
By Bob Allen A religious-liberty watchdog group is urging defeat of a bill before Congress to authorize the Federal Emergency Management Agency to issue direct grants to churches and other religious institutions damaged last October by Hurricane Sandy. Americans United…
Perspectives on immigration: safety and security concerns
The issue of immigration is a subject of discussion and debate within the Christian community. Followers of Jesus have diverse perspectives on how to address economic, security, and cultural concerns. Having shared in previous posts the primary points of diversity…
Are Immigrants a fiscal drain on public resources?
The goal of this series is to heighten one’s awareness to the diversity of perspective within the Body of Christ on the issue of immigration, and to provide a synopsis of the differing views of Christians in a way that…
Contraceptive mandate opt-out expanded
By Bob Allen The Obama administration proposed a broader opt-out Feb. 1 for religious organizations that object to mandated coverage of contraceptives in employee health care plans, an effort to alleviate religious-liberty concerns behind a number of lawsuits challenging the…