Neville Callam will make history for Baptists around the world if elected general secretary of the Baptist World Alliance. If elected in July, the 55-year-old Jamaican pastor will be the first non-white chief executive of the group, which represents approximately…
NAE rebuffs administration in anti-torture statement
The nation's umbrella group for evangelicals has endorsed a statement that takes aim at the Bush administration's alleged use of torture in the war on terrorism. Directors of the National Association of Evangelicals announced late on March 11 that they…
NAE board declines to repriment Cizik for global warming campaign
Board members of the National Association of Evangelicals declined March 9 to chasten the group's public-policy officer for his public statements on global warming—but an intramural fight among evangelical elites on the issue may just be starting. NAE directors, meeting…
Did the IMB ‘investigate’ charges? Wade Burleson, IMB say no
Wade Burleson says there was no “investigation” by the Southern Baptist Convention's International Mission Board into his allegations of trustee improprieties—despite the insistence of some trustees that there was. “What idiot told Mr. Burleson there was no trustee investigative committee?”…
Christians, others use film Amazing Grace to spotlight modern-day slave trade
Nearly 200 years after William Wilberforce brought an end to England's slave trade, a wide audience will have a chance to see his story told on film. But the producers of Amazing Grace—and a wide coalition of Christian and other…
Baptist history conference makes its own history
The “mother church” of Southern Baptists—from whose pulpit legendary pastor Richard Furman once defended the institution of slavery—will host Baptists of multiple races, denominations and regional identities for a historic conference in August. The First Baptist Church of Charleston, S.C.,…
IMB trustee investigation rejects allegations of board impropriety
The Southern Baptist Convention's International Mission Board, following an internal investigation, has rejected a trustee's accusations of impropriety and unauthorized tightening of doctrinal parameters. The board reportedly approved a report, based on its own executive committee's investigations into the charges,…
Bush, genetic scientist call U.S. to prayer
President Bush and a prominent biologist called the United States and the world to prayer during the National Prayer Breakfast Feb. 1. “You know, it's an amazing country, isn't it, when people from all walks of life gather to recognize…
Massachusetts legislators vote to send marriage ban to voters
A week after the state's highest court chided them for not acting sooner, Massachusetts legislators relented Jan. 2 and OK'd a proposed state constitutional amendment that would ban same-sex marriage in the only state that currently allows it. On the…