Latest Baptist News
Pastor reported killed, town abandoned in Myanmar fighting
BANGKOK (AP) — A Baptist pastor and three other men were killed and a town of 2,000 homes all but abandoned this past weekend in fighting in Myanmar’s western Chin State that escalated after a call for a nationwide uprising against the country’s military government, a resident said...
Top Southern Baptist committee funds sex abuse probe
NASHVILLE, Tennessee (AP) — A top Southern Baptist Convention committee agreed Tuesday to fund a third-party investigation into its handling of sexual abuse allegations but held off on waiving its attorney-client privilege for the probe, delaying for the future a decision seen as a key...
Arson suspected in fire at historic Kansas City church
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A federal investigation is underway after arson damaged a historic Kansas City, Missouri, church that now serves a congregation predominantly made up of people from South Sudan. John Ham of the Kansas City office of the Bureau of Alcohol,...
Probe of Southern Baptist sex abuse response moves forward
NASHVILLE, Tennessee (AP) — The Rev. Marshall Blalock feels the weight of his new responsibility. The South Carolina pastor serves as vice chair of a recently formed Southern Baptist Convention task force charged with overseeing an investigation into how a top...
Access, travel rules influence missionary vaccine policies
COVID-19 vaccine refusal rates may be high among white evangelical Christians, but the International Mission Board — which deploys thousands of missionaries — is not hesitant about the shot. The global agency of the Southern Baptist Convention, the largest...
Some abortion foes question tactical wisdom of new Texas ban
The new Texas law that bans most abortions in the state has been welcomed by many of the religious leaders who help bolster the anti-abortion movement. Yet some abortion opponents in U.S. religious circles are wary of the law and questioning the movement’s current direction. ...
New Tennessee church breaks with traditional worship methods
MARYVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — After more than 20 years of doing church the traditional way, Pastor Jason Rogers has elected to take a different path that still reaches the same endpoint. This Blount County husband and father of three most recently was pastor of Riverview...
Many Bible Belt preachers silent on shots as COVID-19 surges
Dr. Danny Avula, the head of Virginia’s COVID-19 vaccination effort, suspected he might have a problem getting pastors to publicly advocate for the shots when some members of his own church referred to them as “the mark of the beast,” a biblical reference to allegiance to the devil, and...
East St. Louis church ordains women as clergy for first time
EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. (AP) — On the morning of Sunday, July 4, Independence Day, Macedonia Baptist Church had its own celebration of freedom. But it didn’t involve American flags and fireworks. This was a different, personal type of freedom for the...
‘Coach Harry’ has helped Delaware youth for nearly 50 years
WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — When he was leaving the Rodney Street Tennis and Tutoring Association more than five years ago after some 42 years with the program, Harry Shur had no plans to slow down. After decades of using tennis and tutoring as a way to help kids in...
