Justices overrule Moore, order Ten Commandments display removed
8/21/2003
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (BP)--Eight Alabama Supreme Court justices unanimously overruled Chief Justice Roy Moore Aug. 21 and ordered the Ten Commandments monument removed from the state's judicial building. [Read More]

Poll: Majority favors amendment banning same-sex 'marriage'
8/19/2003
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--The majority of Americans support a constitutional amendment banning same-sex "marriage," a new Associated Press poll shows. The poll of 1,028 adults found that 54 percent of Americans favored a constitutional amendment defining marriage as solely between a man and a woman, 42 percent opposed it. International Communications Research in Media, Pa, conducted the poll Aug. 8-12. [Read More]

Judge Moore files appeal; supporter corrects media accounts
8/19/2003
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (BP)--News accounts claiming that Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore had the Ten Commandments monument installed in the middle of the night are misleading, a friend and supporter of Moore noted. [Read More]

CBF Activist Seeks to Intervene in Petition Against Breakaway Entities
8/22/2002
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (BP)--There is no guarantee that a state judge will accept an amicus curiae brief by a Missouri lawyer opposing the Missouri Baptist Convention in its declaratory judgment petition case with five MBC entities where trustees voted to become self-perpetuating. [Read More]

Missouri Convention Asks Court to Nullify Breakaway Charters of 5 Entities
8/14/2002
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (BP)--A petition for declaratory judgment was filed in a Missouri state court Aug. 13 by the Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC) asking a judge to rule on the MBC's right to elect trustees to five breakaway entities that have repeatedly rejected offers of Christian arbitration. [Read More]

CBF Leaders Claim Baptist Mantle; AU Trustee Holmes Elected Moderator
7/1/2002
FORT WORTH, Texas (BP)--Participants in the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship's General Assembly in Fort Worth, Texas, avoided debate this year on the issue of homosexuality and listened as leaders proclaimed the CBF "the incarnation of Christ" and "Christ's body fulfilled" for the 21st century. [Read More]

Cooperative Baptists, Texas Partners Ponder Whether God Knows the Future
7/1/2002
FORT WORTH, Texas (BP)--Does God know what will happen at next year's Cooperative Baptist Fellowship General Assembly? Maybe, and maybe not, concluded a June 28 breakout session at this year's CBF national meeting. The session, led by theologian Fisher Humphreys and pastor Phil Wise, called on Cooperative Baptists to give serious consideration to the idea that God might not know the future after all. [Read More]

BGCT President Derides Doctrine of SBC Seminaries
7/1/2002
FORT WORTH, Texas (BP)--The future of the Southern Baptist Convention's six seminaries looks dim, according to Bob Campbell, president of the Baptist General Convention of Texas. "Those are no longer Baptist seminaries. ... They are renegade seminaries tied to the 2000 Baptist Faith and Message," Campbell said during a June 28 breakfast sponsored by Texas Baptists Committed and held as an auxiliary meeting of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship's General Assembly. [Read More]

CBF Leaders Respond to Plagiarism Charges
6/28/2002
FORT WORTH, Texas. (BP)--Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (CBF) leaders fended off charges of plagiarism when a sermon by the group's resources coordinator was discovered to have been lifted, virtually word-for word, from an anthology of radical feminist essays. [Read More]

ANALYSIS: Source of CBF Leader's Speech Contains Lesbian, Erotic Writings
6/28/2002
FORT WORTH, Texas (BP)--Allegations of plagiarism by Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (CBF) Resource Coordinator Reba Cobb of a 1970s-era sermon might be unnerving enough to the moderate Baptist organization's leadership, but the source of Cobb's message, may be even more startling to Baptists. [Read More]

Currie urges CBF to have large turnout at BGCT annual meeting
6/28/2002
FORT WORTH, Texas (BP)--The war between moderates and fundamentalists in Texas is over, according David Currie. Currie, the executive director of Texas Baptists Committed and consultant for the Mainstream Baptist Network, told a gathering of Texas participants at the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship's annual meeting June 27 that they should maintain their numbers and financial giving in the state now that moderates "have defeated the fundamentalists." [Read More]

Vestal emphasizes CBF not part of SBC, stresses 'partnering' as key distinctive
6/28/2002
FORT WORTH, Texas (BP)--Southern Baptist observers waiting each year to see if the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship will announce a separation from the denominational family may be wasting their time. As members of the 11-year old Fellowship prepared to meet in Fort Worth for the annual assembly, leader Daniel Vestal told Baptist Press the question should be taken off the table since CBF has never been a part of the SBC. [Read More]

FIRST PERSON: Seeking Light in the Heat of Controversy
6/18/2002
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP)--The public panic attack over Dr. Jerry Vines' statements on Muhammad remind us that controversies can produce both heat and light -- but this will require cool and careful thinking. [Read More]

Texas Baptists Lash Out at Baptist Standard Editor
5/24/2002
MIDLAND, Texas (BP)--The editor of The Baptist Standard, the newsjournal of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, was criticized by pastors and laypersons at a BGCT-sponsored listening session in Midland, May 23. [Read More]

West Texas Pastors Voice Concern Over Changing Relationship of BGCT with SBC
5/24/2002
MIDLAND, Texas (BP)--West Texas pastors who turned out for a Baptist General Convention of Texas listening session on missions initiatives May 23 in Midland raised concerns about the changes in the BGCT's relationship with the North American Mission Board and the International Mission Board. [Read More]

Texas Baptists Express Concerns About BGCT Leadership at Meetings
5/24/2002
MIDLAND, Texas (BP)--Concerns about the spiritual direction of the Baptist General Convention of Texas were raised by pastors and laypersons during one of four statewide "listening sessions" sponsored by leaders of the BGCT. [Read More]

Breakaway Entities' 'Legal Magic' Challenged by Michael Whitehead
5/17/2002
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (BP)--It does not take a room of Philadelphia lawyers to understand the concerns Missouri Baptist Convention leaders have with five entities' trustee boards who have voted to become self-perpetuating, according to the legal adviser to the MBC's legal opinion task force. [Read More]

Missouri leaders challenge open letter issued by breakaway institutions
5/17/2002
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (BP)--Missouri Baptist Convention leaders are challenging the veracity of an open letter from leaders of five Missouri Baptist institutions where trustee boards have voted to become self-perpetuating rather than seating trustees elected by MBC churches. [Read More]

Expository preaching necessary for true revival, Stephen Olford says
5/9/2002
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP)--Anointed expository preaching is absolutely necessary if the church is to experience true revival, Stephen Olford recently said at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. [Read More]

SBC Leader Responds to BGCT Charges About Letter to Churches in Texas
5/5/2002
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--Churches "are not possessions" of the Baptist General Convention of Texas or the Southern Baptist Convention, the president of the SBC Executive Committee stated in response to a resolution adopted by the Texas convention's executive board and to remarks made by the state convention's executive director. Morris H. Chapman, SBC Executive Committee president, in a March 1 letter to Charles R. Wade, BGCT executive director, challenged Wade's and the BGCT executive board's characterization of a letter he, Chapman, had sent to Texas churches in January addressing BGCT budget decisions affecting the Cooperative Program and the churches' support of Southern Baptist missions and ministries. His letter to the churches, Chapman reminded, "was not written in a vacuum -- it was a direct response to actions of the BGCT we strongly believe to be adverse to the interests of the SBC." [Read More]

Mohler: Baptist forefathers never questioned value of confessions
4/22/2002
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP)--Confessions of faith are a necessary and historical element of Southern Baptist life, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary President R. Albert Mohler Jr. said at the seminary's spring board of trustees meeting April 16. [Read More]

FIRST-PERSON: Creeds, confessions, beliefs & integrity
4/16/2002
DALLAS (BP)--For the past several months I have refrained from entering the distressing dialogue in Baptist circles about "creeds." I am no etymologist, but those who are tell me that "creed" comes from the Latin word "credo" which means, "I believe." To say we have no creed is to say we have no beliefs. [Read More]

Lawyer Demands Escrowed Funds; Missouri Leaders Reiterate Stance
4/16/2002
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (BP)--"Ludicrous" is how one Missouri Baptist Convention leader described demands by an attorney representing trustees of a Baptist retirement community that the convention release $400,000 in escrowed funds previously earmarked for the entity. [Read More]

New Missouri Convention Requires Voters to Sign 'Agreement' Form
4/16/2002
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--Organizers of a breakaway Baptist convention in Missouri will require all voting participants to sign a form affirming allegiance to the new convention. [Read More]

Missouri Churches Staying on Course for Serving God, Leaders Say
4/10/2002
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (BP)--Conservatives supportive of the Southern Baptist Convention may not have control of five of the state convention's entities, but they are clearly the choice of a large majority of Southern Baptists in the "Show Me" state. [Read More]

Missouri Convention Ends Ties to Word & Way Newsjournal
4/10/2002
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (BP)--Southern Baptists in Missouri will soon have a new official newsjournal, apparently marking an end to its 105-year relationship with the Word & Way. By a solid majority on a voice vote, members of the Missouri Baptist Convention executive board moved April 9 to establish a new newsjournal as its official publication effective immediately. However, the board left open the possibility of the Word & Way returning as the MBC's official newspaper. [Read More]

5 Entities' Trustees Acted Illegally, Missouri Convention Legal Opinions Report
4/10/2002
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (BP)--Trustees of five Missouri Baptist Convention entities broke the law by amending their charters to take sole authority for appointing trustees and to eliminate the state convention from the trustee selection process, according to three law firms hired to offer legal opinions on the matter. [Read More]

Theology drift voiced as key issue in rift between NAMB & D.C. Baptists
3/13/2002
WASHINGTON (BP)--A drift from historic Christianity by the District of Columbia Baptist Convention, as perceived by two Southern Baptist church leaders there, fuels their support of North American Mission Board requests to the D.C. convention for greater accountability for funding from the Southern Baptist Convention. The DCBC executive board rejected NAMB's requests in a March 11 closed meeting, and NAMB leaders have begun the process of reviewing the DCBC response. [Read More]

False 'creedalism' charges fuel Texas BF&M action, IMB leader says
2/28/2002
RICHMOND, Va. (BP)--"Activists" who orchestrated a Baptist General Convention of Texas executive board vote Feb. 26 are "manufacturing a crisis where none exists," an International Mission Board leader has charged.

The Texas board voted to create a "transition fund" to assist Southern Baptist missionaries who they think might resign in protest over IMB President Jerry Rankin's request that they affirm the 2000 edition of the Baptist Faith and Message. [Read More]

R & E Journal Shows Necessity of Southern Baptist Reformation
2/28/2002
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (BP)--"By the time we reach the 21st century, the R&E will be a true Baptist journal -- for the nation and beyond," Roy Honeycutt, former president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary predicted in March 1996. [Read More]

SBC letter to Texas church leaders draws editorial ire of BGCT paper
2/28/2002
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--A letter mailed to leaders of Southern Baptist churches in Texas has sparked a strongly negative editorial response in a Texas Baptist paper, The Baptist Standard.

The letter, written by Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee President and Chief Executive Officer Morris H. Chapman cautioned churches that Cooperative Program giving through the Baptist General Convention of Texas CP Giving Budget would "severely limit your gifts to SBC ministries." [Read More]

BGCT's new fund for missionaries, chaplaincy board expands SBC rift
2/27/2002
DALLAS (BP)--Offering what Executive Director Charles Wade called "open arms" of welcome, the Baptist General Convention of Texas executive board voted Feb. 26 to create a "special missionary transition fund" to assist any missionary who voluntarily leaves or is dismissed by the Southern Baptist Convention's International Mission Board for refusing to affirm the SBC's Baptist Faith and Message statement of beliefs. [Read More]

Missouri convention leaders challenge pro-SBC talk by breakaway group
2/18/2002
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (BP)--Missouri Baptist Convention leaders said they are astonished and skeptical that moderates forming a new state convention -- many of whom have been among the SBC's most vocal critics in recent years -- now want to be in "friendly cooperation" with the Southern Baptist Convention. [Read More]

Proclaiming truth of Gospel not intolerant or arrogant, Mohler says
2/8/2002
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP)--Criticism will surely come, but Christians must continue proclaiming Jesus Christ as the sole means of salvation, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary President R. Albert Mohler Jr. said at the school's spring convocation Jan. 29. [Read More]

Missouri Baptist leaders praise Chapman's stances on proposed new convention
2/8/2002
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (BP)--Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC) leaders praised Morris H. Chapman, president and chief executive officer of the Southern Baptist Convention's Executive Committee Feb. 4 for recommending the SBC not accept Cooperative Program money from a proposed new state convention. [Read More]

Missouri board retains attorney for opinion on self-perpetuating boards
12/12/2001
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (BP)--The Missouri Baptist Convention's executive board voted Dec. 11 to hire an attorney and obtain a legal opinion on whether trustees of five MBC entities acted illegally in voting to give themselves the power to appoint their successors. [Read More]

Missouri leaders learn of opponents' efforts for alternative giving, new convention
12/7/2001
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (BP)--Missouri Baptist Convention leaders say three new giving plans offered by a group of disgruntled churches will undercut Cooperative Program giving and create needless friction among Southern Baptists in the state. [Read More]

Self-perpetuating trustees threaten criminal, civil action against Missouri Baptist Convention
11/30/2001
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (BP)--Self-perpetuating trustees of The Baptist Home, a collection of three retirement facilities with a $30 million endowment and $10 million in assets, say they will bring criminal trespassing charges and civil legal action against the Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC) and 7 trustees elected by the convention at its annual meeting if they try to assert their trusteeship. [Read More]

Missouri Baptists to seek legal counsel about independent trustee boards
11/1/2001
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (BP)--A motion to seek legal advice concerning trustee actions to become self-perpetuating at five Missouri Baptist Convention entities passed by a 3-1 margin at the MBC annual meeting Oct. 31. [Read More]

$2.1M to be escrowed if Missouri entities retain independent trustee boards
10/31/2001
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (BP)--Messengers to the Missouri Baptist Convention voted overwhelmingly Oct. 30 to escrow $2.1 million allocated in the 2002 budget for five Missouri Baptist Convention entities in which trustee boards had voted in the past 13 months to become self-perpetuating. [Read More]

Missouri president challenges Word & Way trustee action
10/25/2001
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--The president of the Missouri Baptist Convention said he believes a group of Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and Mainstream Missourians is behind a plan to take over a number of state agencies and institutions, including the state's Baptist newsjournal, Word & Way. [Read More]

Tensions high among Missouri Baptists preceding Oct. 29-31 annual meeting
10/19/2001
ST. LOUIS (BP)--A number of developments within the Missouri Baptist Convention have raised the specter of a contentious annual meeting Oct. 29-31 in Cape Girardeau. [Read More]

Scriptural authority, not culture, defines theology, Mohler declares
8/30/2001
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP)--Theological controversies within the Christian church -- such as the debate over open theism -- underscore the importance of scriptural authority in an ever-changing culture, R. Albert Mohler Jr. said Aug. 28 at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary's fall convocation. [Read More]

SBC beliefs statement prompts departure of 3 NAMB managers, professional staff
8/6/2001
ALPHARETTA, Ga. (BP)--Three of the North American Mission Board's 200-plus management and professional staff members have left the agency after stating they could not conduct their ministries in accordance with the Baptist Faith and Message as adopted by the Southern Baptist Convention in June 2000. [Read More]

Confessions affix scriptural truth to believers' minds, Nettles says
7/24/2001
WILMORE, Ky. (BP)--Baptists have used confessions of faith throughout their history because such succinct summaries of doctrinal teaching are clearly set forth by Scripture, Baptist historian Tom Nettles said in an address to the 2001 Southern Baptist Founders Conference, July 17-20 at Asbury College in Wilmore, Ky. [Read More]

Statement by SBC Executive Committee President & CEO Morris H. Chapman
7/20/2001
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--Baptist Press released a story on July 3 about the funding cap imposed on giving to the SBC seminaries through the "BGCT 2001 Adopted Budget" giving option. The article's first paragraph inaccurately stated that "Texas Baptist churches who give money through the Baptist General Convention of Texas' 2001 Adopted Budget will no longer be able to forward money to Southern Baptist seminaries now that a BGCT-initiated funding cap has been imposed." Baptist Press has released a correction to clarify that while funds to SBC seminaries through the "BGCT 2001 Adopted Budget" giving option have been capped for this year, churches may continue to give to the seminaries through other giving options. [Read More]

Penn./South Jersey Exec. Board unanimously approves 2000 BF&M
7/6/2001
HARRISBURG, Pa. (BP)--The Executive Board of the Baptist Convention of Pennsylvania/South Jersey unanimously approved a resolution and recommendation about the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message during a May meeting at East Shore Baptist Church in Harrisburg, Pa. [Read More]

Draper tells why he penned book on biblical authority
7/5/2001
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--"The key issue for Southern Baptists and every other group that is serious about the Bible is whether the Bible is really our authority," James T. Draper Jr. believes. [Read More]

ABP editor admits spinning news during SBC; acknowledges funding from CBF, BGCT & others
7/3/2001
ATLANTA (BP)--Associated Baptist Press editor Bob Allen said his news service takes an active a role to inform the secular media, not only through its subscriptions, but when Southern Baptists "become news once a year" when ABP uses the SBC newsroom to keep journalists abreast of Baptist news. [Read More]

New book examines 'Why I Am A Baptist'
6/22/2001
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP)--The great Southern Baptist preacher R.G. Lee, often remembered for his classic sermon "Payday Someday," defined his commitment to the Baptist denomination as follows: "I was Baptist born, I was Baptist bred, and when I die, I'll be Baptist dead." [Read More]

Criswell College affiliates with Southern Baptists of Texas Convention
6/8/2001
DALLAS (BP)--Trustee boards of the Criswell Center for Biblical Studies (CCBS) and Southern Baptist of Texas Convention (SBTC) have unanimously approved an agreement that places the college in the budget of the state convention and provides SBTC access to the facilities and consultation resources of the school. [Read More]

Texas churches bypass BGCT; growing numbers giving to SBC
6/4/2001
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--A growing number of Texas Baptist churches are bypassing the Baptist General Convention of Texas and sending their Cooperative Program gifts directly to the Southern Baptist Convention, according to information released by SBC officials. [Read More]

Cooperative Program gifts .76% less due to BGCT giving changes
6/4/2001
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--Gifts to the Southern Baptist Convention's Cooperative Program of $12,650,999.98 were 11.59 percent below the total for May 2000, according to a news release from the treasurer of the SBC, Morris H. Chapman. [Read More]

His mission isn't to 'save people,' pro-CBF pastor tells newspaper
5/29/2001
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (BP)--A Southern Baptist pastor who identifies himself with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship told a Birmingham, Ala., newspaper his mission is not to see people saved and that his church will discuss the possibility of severing ties with the Southern Baptist Convention. [Read More]

IMB refuses allocation from Missouri 'Mainstream' group
5/25/2001
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (BP)--The Mainstream Missouri Baptists organization has been promoting three alternative giving plans in recent months. But critics say the plans undermine the Cooperative Program. [Read More]

SBC exec responds to BGCT proposal, questioning break in cooperation
5/25/2001
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--"A state may not put stipulations on Cooperative Program gifts sent to the Southern Baptist Convention and still have it called CP giving," David Hankins, Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee vice president for Cooperative Program, said after the Baptist General Convention of Texas executive board meeting May 22. [Read More]

NAMB, IMB leaders to continue efforts to provide information to BGCT leaders
5/25/2001
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--The Southern Baptist North American Mission Board's president expressed disappointment and frustration at the May 22 action of the Baptist General Convention of Texas executive board that proposes cutting NAMB funding by $1.28 million. [Read More]

Texas churches form committees to study convention affiliation
5/25/2001
DALLAS (BP)--It's a new twist on an old idea -- establishing a study committee to decide whether the convictions of denominational entities match up with the local church's beliefs. In the early 1990s such committees provided a foot in the door for advocates of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and sometimes led to a reduction in Cooperative Program giving to Southern Baptist Convention missions and ministries. [Read More]

Roberts encourages graduates to be 'equipped for the journey'
5/25/2001
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (BP)--Before Meriwether Lewis and William Clark set out on their expedition of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, they faced a difficult question, "What do we bring with us on this trip?" [Read More]

Mohler exhorts grads against straying from truth of gospel
5/23/2001
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP)--Spiritual confusion exists in churches today because many Christian ministers have watered down the truth of the gospel, R. Albert Mohler Jr. told graduates of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary May 18. [Read More]

Southeastern faculty sign Baptist Faith and Message
5/23/2001
WAKE FOREST, N.C. (BP)--The return of the Southern Baptist Convention to the faith of its fathers came full circle at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C, May 17, when the seminary's elected faculty lined up to sign the Baptist Faith and Message during the annual Awards Chapel. [Read More]

Nation's first homicide conviction returned in unborn child's death
5/23/2001
WASHINGTON (BP)--Another blow in the mounting battle over legal protection for unborn children was struck recently in a South Carolina courtroom. [Read More]

BGCT board recommends $1.28M shift from SBC N. American missions agency
5/23/2001
DALLAS (BP)--Messengers to the annual meeting of the Baptist General Convention of Texas will consider an executive board recommendation to withhold $1.28 million in funding typically sent in Cooperative Program contributions to the Southern Baptist Convention from member churches. Board members May 22 unanimously approved the recommendation of the BGCT's Missions-Sending Agencies Study Committee to retain in Texas the amount of money being spent by the North American Mission Board in the state and to renegotiate the cooperative agreement between BGCT and NAMB by the end of the year. [Read More]

Focus on the Family magazine examines Baptist controversy
5/21/2001
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (BP)--An article in the June 2001 issue of Focus on the Family's Citizen magazine leads with the question, "When you drop your offering in the collection plate on Sunday, do you expect that you're helping to silence school prayer, oppose government aid to abstinence programs and fight the 'religious right?'" Writer Matt Kaufman's two-page analysis of the Baptist Joint Committee on Public Affairs utilizes research by Southern Baptist layman Roger Moran of Missouri into the BJC, a church-state issues organization funded by a handful of Baptist state conventions and other Baptist groups. [Read More]

SBC official cites flaws in BGCT committee recommendation
5/21/2001
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--A Baptist General Convention of Texas missions study committee recommendation to retain $1.2 million in Cooperative Program funds in Texas is flawed, according to the SBC Executive Committee's vice president for Cooperative Program. [Read More]

Discovery Institute emerging as force in creation, public policy
5/15/2001
SEATTLE (BP)--Anti-evolutionists have a new rallying point: the Center for the Renewal of Science and Culture at Discovery Institute, a public policy forum based in Seattle. [Read More]

NAMB's Reccord differs over Texas retaining $1M in funds
5/15/2001
ALPHARETTA, Ga. (BP)--North American Mission Board President Robert E. Reccord said the agency "will continue to follow the Lord's leadership in helping SBC churches start new churches and reach the continent for Christ" after a Baptist General Convention of Texas study committee released a recommendation to retain more than $1 million in NAMB funding. [Read More]

FIRST-PERSON: Prof's doubts about 1 & 2 Kings show why SBC needed reformation
5/10/2001
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (BP)--Anyone who may have doubted the necessity of the controversy in the Southern Baptist Convention during the 1980s and 1990s need only look to a new commentary series published by Smyth & Helwys, a publishing house that partners with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship in opposition to the conservative theology now undergirding the Southern Baptist Convention. [Read More]

Georgia Baptist Convention withdraws Atlanta Baptist Association funding
3/14/2001
ATLANTA (BP)--The Georgia Baptist Convention's executive committee voted unanimously March 13 to defund the Atlanta Baptist Association in response to the association's failure to expel two pro-homosexual congregations from its membership. [Read More]

Cooperative Program options outlined in mailing to Texas Baptist churches
1/24/2001
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--Information on how Southern Baptist churches in Texas can maintain and expand their support of Cooperative Program missions and ministries has been mailed to churches throughout the state. [Read More]

Baptists emphasize unity, evangelism at Minnesota-Wisconsin state meeting
12/11/2000
ST. CLOUD, Minn. (BP)--Messengers to the 17th annual Minnesota-Wisconsin Baptist Convention emphasized cooperation through unity as they elected convention officers without opposition and unanimously passed three resolutions, including one affirming the Boy Scouts of America's policy on homosexuality. [Read More]

Baptists emphasize unity, evangelism at Minnesota-Wisconsin state meeting
12/11/2000
ST. CLOUD, Minn. (BP)--Messengers to the 17th annual Minnesota-Wisconsin Baptist Convention emphasized cooperation through unity as they elected convention officers without opposition and unanimously passed three resolutions, including one affirming the Boy Scouts of America's policy on homosexuality. [Read More]

Ohio Baptists approve first reading of BF&M
12/6/2000
WEST CHESTER, Ohio (BP)--Messengers to the annual meeting of the State Convention of Baptists in Ohio adopted a resolution of support for the Cooperative Program of the Southern Baptist Convention and approved the first reading of a resolution in support of the newly revised Baptist Faith and Message. [Read More]

State conventions begin to embrace Baptist Faith and Message statement
12/5/2000
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--Twenty-four of the 41 Southern Baptist state conventions dealt with the Baptist Faith and Message during their deliberations this fall. One-third of them took this first opportunity since the BFM was updated in June to affirm the Southern Baptist Convention statement of beliefs. And six state conventions either will study the statement further or vote on it next year. [Read More]

California retains 'Southern' in name, affirms SBC statement of beliefs
12/4/2000
RIVERSIDE, Calif. (BP)--The largest evangelical body in the nation's most populous state will continue to be known as the California Southern Baptist Convention after a vote on whether to remove the word "Southern" failed for a second consecutive year. [Read More]

States affirm Cooperative Program via resolutions, increased giving
12/1/2000
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--State Baptist conventions across the country have affirmed their commitment to sending and reaching people for Jesus Christ through the Southern Baptist Convention's Cooperative Program through resolutions and increases in giving approved at their annual meetings this fall. [Read More]

Lottie Moon, Cooperative Program giving central to 287-member church's vibrancy
11/29/2000
HENDERSONVILLE, N.C. (BP)--Whether kindled by the example of former pastor and missionary H.H. McMillan, or by members-turned-missionaries John and Doris McGee, or by former pastor N.A. Melton's commitment to Cooperative Program giving, Fruitland Baptist Church has provided strong support for international missions since its beginnings. [Read More]

Michigan 'His Plan, Our Purpose' celebration includes CP increase, Siberia partnership
11/28/2000
BURTON, Mich. (BP)--Michigan Baptists celebrated the theme "His Plan, Our Purpose" during their Nov. 7-9 annual meeting at Eastgate Baptist Church, Burton. [Read More]

Hawaii Pacific Baptists endorse 5-year strategy, SBC seminaries
11/28/2000
HONOLULU (BP)--A "Sharing God's Heart from the Heart of the Pacific" strategy was adopted by messengers to the Hawaii Pacific Baptist Convention's Nov. 9-10 annual meeting, outlining the values and focus of convention resources for the next five years. [Read More]

Kentucky Baptists establish committee to examine Baptist Faith and Message
11/27/2000
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (BP)--Kentucky Baptist messengers voted to establish a study committee to recommend how the convention should relate to the new Baptist Faith and Message statement during their Nov. 14-15 annual meeting in Bowling Green. The nine-member study committee will bring a recommendation to next year's KBC annual meeting. [Read More]

New Christmas offering in Virginia boosts 3 projects, not SBC missions
11/22/2000
RICHMOND, Va. (BP)--The traditional Lottie Moon Christmas Offering no longer is the primary offering for international missions being promoted by the Virginia Woman's Missionary Union. [Read More]

Oklahomans affirm BFM, CP; adopt $21.7 million budget
11/21/2000
EDMOND, Okla. (BP)--Messengers to the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma's Nov. 13-14 annual meeting affirmed the Baptist Faith and Message; adopted resolutions on the Cooperative Program, spiritual awakening and the Oklahoma marriage covenant; and approved a $21.7 million Cooperative Program budget. The distribution of Oklahoma's gifts to the Cooperative Program will remain 60 percent for state missions and ministries and 40 percent for Southern Baptist Convention causes. [Read More]

Indiana Baptists embrace SBC on beliefs, CP, seminaries
11/21/2000
MARION, Ind. (BP)--Indiana Baptists affirmed their stand with the Southern Baptist Convention's Baptist Faith and Message statement of beliefs, the Cooperative Program and the SBC's six seminaries during their Oct. 24-25 meeting at Sunnycrest Baptist Church, Marion. [Read More]

Colorado Baptists pledge to continue 'whatever it takes' to share faith
11/15/2000
FORT COLLINS, Colo. (BP)--It was more than a theme. It was echoed from the pulpit, the pews and in the hallways. [Read More]

North Carolina Baptists elect conservative; tap 2 moderates as vice presidents
11/15/2000
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (BP)--Messengers to the North Carolina Baptist State Convention elected a split slate of officers and adopted a resolution affirming cooperation with Southern Baptist Convention as well as state convention autonomy during their Nov. 13-14 annual meeting in Winston-Salem. [Read More]

Georgia Baptists affirm SBC beliefs; Kentucky Baptists create study committee
11/15/2000
ATLANTA (BP)--About two-thirds of 3,400 messengers at the Georgia Baptist Convention approved a resolution Nov. 14 voicing "approval and appreciation" of the Baptist Faith and Message statement of beliefs adopted by the Southern Baptist Convention in June. [Read More]

'Christian Declaration on Marriage' voices religious leaders' concerns
11/15/2000
WASHINGTON (BP)--Representatives of Southern Baptists, evangelical Christians, mainline Protestants and Roman Catholics promised to strengthen their commitment to marriage in a statement released Nov. 14 in Washington. [Read More]

'Christian Declaration on Marriage' voices religious leaders' concerns
11/15/2000
WASHINGTON (BP)--Representatives of Southern Baptists, evangelical Christians, mainline Protestants and Roman Catholics promised to strengthen their commitment to marriage in a statement released Nov. 14 in Washington. [Read More]

West Virginia Baptists celebrate 30th anniversary; boost CP gifts
11/14/2000
MARTINSBURG, W.Va. (BP)--Nearly 300 messengers and visitors from West Virginia Southern Baptist congregations celebrated their convention's 30th anniversary as well as the Cooperative Program's 75th anniversary during their Nov. 3-4 annual meeting in the eastern panhandle city of Martinsburg. [Read More]

IMB trustees OK record budget, two partnership agreements
11/13/2000
PORTLAND, Ore. (BP)--Trustees of the Southern Baptist International Mission Board unanimously approved a record-setting 2001 budget of $254.1 million, after the board's chief financial officer noted giving to the Cooperative Program recently has been especially strong. [Read More]

Nevada Baptists again raise Cooperative Program giving
11/13/2000
HENDERSON, Nev. (BP)--Nevada Baptists continued to expand their Cooperative Program giving for national and international missions and ministries during their Oct. 24-25 annual meeting. [Read More]

2nd ballot by Ill. Baptists affirms SBC's stance on marriage & family
11/9/2000
QUINCY, Ill. (BP)--Southern Baptists in Illinois narrowly rejected adoption of the Baptist Faith and Message's 1998 family amendment into its constitution but later agreed to affirm that same language without a constitutional revision. [Read More]

Tenn. convention president sends letter of support to SBC seminaries
11/9/2000
BRENTWOOD, Tenn. (BP)--Tennessee Baptist Convention President Jerry N. Tidwell has sent a letter of encouragement and affirmation to the presidents of the Southern Baptist Convention's six seminaries in the wake of a funding reduction by the Baptist General Convention of Texas. [Read More]

SBC statement of belief commended in Missouri convention's resolution
11/7/2000
OSAGE BEACH, Mo. (BP)--Churches and Baptist associations are urged to affirm the Baptist Faith and Message statement of beliefs, according to a resolution adopted by the Missouri Baptist Convention. [Read More]

Baptists post 3.27% increase in October Cooperative Program gifts
11/7/2000
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--October receipts for the Southern Baptist Convention's Cooperative Program posted a 3.27 percent increase over the same month a year ago, according to Morris H. Chapman, president and chief executive officer of the SBC Executive Committee. [Read More]

Conservatives continue to win Missouri convention elections
11/3/2000
OSAGE BEACH, Mo. (BP)--The Missouri Baptist Convention presidency has been won by a candidate endorsed by Southern Baptist Convention supporters for the third year in a row over a candidate endorsed by supporters of the anti-SBC Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. [Read More]

New Mexico leaders express dismay over Texas pastor's BGCT comments
11/2/2000
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (BP)--The newly elected president of the Baptist Convention of New Mexico said he was disturbed and saddened by accusations of creedalism and violating church autonomy made against the convention by Texas pastor Phil Lineberger. [Read More]

'This ain't Texas,' says Arkansas Baptist leader in support of SBC
11/2/2000
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (BP)--The president of the Arkansas Baptist Convention's executive board declared his support for the Southern Baptist Convention and messengers lashed out at the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship during the convention's annual meeting at Immanuel Baptist Church in Little Rock. [Read More]

Texas convention weighs reconciliation with the Southern Baptist Convention
11/1/2000
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas (BP)--A day after contentious debate and a historic vote by the Baptist General Convention of Texas to redirect $5.3 million from Southern Baptist Convention seminaries and entities, messengers debated how to seek reconciliation with a denomination they apparently want to distance themselves from. [Read More]

BGCT pastor claims SBC leaders akin to 'creedalists [who] put Jesus on the cross'
11/1/2000
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas (BP)--A pastor who nearly became executive director of the Baptist General Convention of Texas told 1,100 attendees at the Texas Baptist Committed annual breakfast that Southern Baptist Convention leaders are akin to the "fundamentalist creedalists [who] put Jesus on the cross." [Read More]

Dallas pastor, 2 seminary presidents waiting to speak as BGCT ends debate
10/31/2000
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas (BP)--Procedural controversy marred a spirited, but limited debate Oct. 30 over the Baptist General Convention of Texas' move to defund the six seminaries of the Southern Baptist Convention. [Read More]

Southern Baptists of Texas Convention to aid SBC entities hurt by BGCT action
10/31/2000
IRVING, Texas (BP)--Southern Baptist entities hurt by the Baptist General Convention of Texas' defunding can count on the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention to help make up the shortfall, SBTC Executive Director Jim Richards said after Oct. 30 BGCT action. [Read More]

Funding of Southern Baptist missions called Texas' next anti-SBC possibility
10/31/2000
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas (BP)--Southern Baptists expressed brokenheartedness and outrage after the Baptist General Convention of Texas voted Oct. 30 to redirect $5.3 million from Southern Baptist Convention seminaries and agencies to more liberal theological schools and to various ministries in Texas. [Read More]

Mohler: Carter has been estranged from SBC mainstream for decades
10/30/2000
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP)--Former President Jimmy Carter's recent denouncement of the Southern Baptist Convention was apparently timed to sway votes at this week's Baptist General Convention of Texas annual meeting, even though he has been out of step with mainstream Southern Baptists for decades, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary President R. Albert Mohler Jr. wrote in a column in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Oct. 29. [Read More]

Midwestern's Heartland highlights need for ongoing Cooperative Program support
10/27/2000
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (BP)--Gratitude for the Cooperative Program is the focus of the fall issue of Heartland, a publication of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. "There is no place you could give your money to do more good for the Great Commission than through the SBC Cooperative Program," stated interim President Michael Whitehead in his column. [Read More]

CBF homosexuality stance ignites controversy over group's direction
10/27/2000
ATLANTA (BP)--Intense debate within the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship over homosexuality has been ignited after the group's leadership suddenly reversed its policy of not making theological pronouncements and passed a statement Oct. 13 rejecting the homosexual lifestyle. [Read More]

Carter states affirmation of homosexual ordination
10/27/2000
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP) Former president and former Southern Baptist Jimmy Carter said that while homosexuality is a sin, he sees nothing wrong with a "Christian" homosexual being ordained. Carter made his comments during a 60-minute telephone interview with Baptist Press on Oct. 20. [Read More]

Intelligent design controversy continues to fester at Baylor
10/25/2000
WACO, Texas (BP)--When it comes to creation and evolution, science increasingly is a subject of debate at Baylor University. [Read More]

Pastors of 3 evangelistic Texas churches lament proposed defunding of SBC schools
10/25/2000
ARLINGTON, Texas (BP)--Texas Baptist leaders' steps toward dismantling Cooperative Program support of Southern Baptist seminaries have stirred opposition among three Dallas-Fort Worth area pastors serving churches consistently among the top 10 evangelistic churches in the state in baptisms. [Read More]

Claims of Texas 'slander committee' draw challenge from SBC supporters
10/25/2000
DALLAS (BP)--Conservatives in Texas have affirmed the Southern Baptist Convention's right to communicate directly with Southern Baptists in their state despite criticism from a so-called "slander committee" formed by leaders of the Baptist General Convention of Texas. [Read More]

BGCT leader speaks of God's call in message to Southern students
10/24/2000
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP)--Christian ministers should be faithful to the call of God, even when it is obviously leading them to a place of testing and trial, Bailey Stone of the Baptist General Convention of Texas told students at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary Oct. 17. [Read More]

President Carter announces anew his allegiance in Baptist debates
10/20/2000
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--Former President Jimmy Carter, echoing his words in 1993, stated Oct. 19 he no longer counts himself as a Southern Baptist. [Read More]

SBC beliefs statement, Texas resolution highlight Southwestern trustee meeting
10/19/2000
FORT WORTH, Texas (BP)--A dramatic signing of the Baptist Faith and Message and the passing of a resolution urging Texas Baptists to defeat a proposal at their upcoming state convention highlighted Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary's semiannual board of trustees meeting Oct. 17-18. [Read More]

Texas convention buying TV, radio ads prior to controversial SBC funding vote
10/19/2000
DALLAS (BP)--Television and radio advertisements are polishing the image of the Baptist General Convention of Texas before it votes on eliminating $4.3 million earmarked for Southern Baptist Convention seminaries and agencies. [Read More]

Seminary magazine addresses issues involving Baptist Faith and Message
10/19/2000
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP)--Those who reject confessions of faith such as the newly revised Baptist Faith and Message stand apart from mainstream Southern Baptists and also threaten the denomination's doctrinal integrity, R. Albert Mohler Jr. argues in the November 2000 issue of The Southern Seminary Magazine. [Read More]

New Orleans trustees join faculty in affirming Baptist Faith & Message
10/17/2000
NEW ORLEANS (BP)--In a motion approved by hearty applause, trustees voted to affirm New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary President Chuck Kelley for his work in helping develop the Baptist Faith and Message 2000 and his subsequent defense of the document, especially in the face of opposition from leaders of the Baptist General Convention of Texas. [Read More]

Mohler: Question should be over faith in Baptist message, not simply BF&M
10/13/2000
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP)--The issue facing Southern Baptists is not merely the adoption of the Baptist Faith and Message, but rather whether there will be any faith in the Baptist message in future generations, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary President R. Albert Mohler Jr. said Oct. 11. [Read More]

SEBTS trustees affirm Baptist Faith & Message 2000
10/13/2000
WAKE FOREST, N.C. (BP)--In a statement issued during its Oct. 9-10 meeting, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary's Board of Trustees affirmed the Southern Baptist Convention's recent changes to its Baptist Faith & Message 2000 in Orlando, Fla. Trustees will vote next spring on a motion that will make signing the Baptist Faith & Message 2000 mandatory for incoming faculty, while continuing to sign Southeastern's Articles of Principles as well. [Read More]

Golden Gate prepares for possible staff layoffs in wake of defunding
10/12/2000
MILL VALLEY, Calif. (BP)--Facing the prospect of drastically reduced Cooperative Program support from Texas Baptists, officials at Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary are eyeing staff layoffs and other cost-cutting steps before the end of 2000. [Read More]

SBC leader attempts to initiate reconciliation; BGCT's leaders decline pre-convention meeting
10/11/2000
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--For the second time in two months, leaders of the Baptist General Convention of Texas have rejected an invitation to meet with leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention in an effort to reconcile differences between the two Baptist bodies. [Read More]

ANALYSIS: Even these Texans noted problems in the religion dept. years ago
10/6/2000
DALLAS (BP)--Long ago, there were problems in how at least one Texas Baptist university -- Baylor, which now has its own seminary -- presents the Christian faith to its students. [Read More]

Baylor cancels Seminary Day; cites 'environment' in Texas
10/5/2000
WACO, Texas (BP)--Representatives from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and Southern Baptist Theological Seminary were left wondering why no one bothered to tell them Seminary Day at Baylor University had been canceled until after they had arrived in Waco, Texas. [Read More]

$250,000 campaign takes aim at Baptist conservatives in Missouri
10/5/2000
A $250,000 fund-raising campaign is fueling efforts by a Missouri group to elect state convention officers whose sympathies include the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, an organization formed in opposition to the Southern Baptist Convention. [Read More]

Whitehead voices gratitude to Texas pastors for their support of Midwestern Seminary
10/4/2000
Participation by key Southern Baptist pastors from Texas in chapel services of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary has prompted expressions of appreciation for their support of the Kansas City-based school and the SBC Cooperative Program. [Read More]

Vestal laments lack of aggressive evangelism efforts in CBF ranks
9/13/2000
Neither the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship nor the American Baptist Churches, U.S.A., are "aggressively evangelistic," the CBF's top leader, Daniel Vestal, stated Aug. 29 in Kansas City, Kan., according to a report in Associated Baptist Press. [Read More]

CBF-related organization takes aim at SBC's revised statement of faith
8/30/2000
A curriculum disputing the Southern Baptist Convention's statement of beliefs has been published on a fast track by a Cooperative Baptist Fellowship-related organization. [Read More]

ANALYSIS: Baptist Standard editor's endorsement evidences CBF leader's sway in Texas
8/10/2000
David Currie, who is at the forefront of a national anti-Southern Baptist Convention campaign, was lauded in a recent Texas Baptist Standard editorial for his group's "strategy" in keeping the Baptist General Convention of Texas from going along with the Southern Baptist Convention's "juggernaut to the right." [Read More]

CBF's Vestal seeks to counter news reports on homosexual issue
7/27/2000
A Baptist Press report on funding allocations by the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship relating to the issue of homosexuality has prompted CBF Coordinator Daniel Vestal to go to the Internet with a response. [Read More]

CBF, BGCT leaders blast Southern Baptists; Vestal predicts 5,000 churches will leave
7/3/2000
At least 5,000 Southern Baptist Churches will leave the denomination and join the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship because of the new edition of the Baptist Faith and Message, CBF Coordinator Dan Vestal told participants at the group's general assembly on June 30. [Read More]

BGCT leader confirms ties between mainstream Baptist groups, CBF
7/3/2000
The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship sponsored a seminar informing CBF activists how to spearhead moderate political activity in their state conventions through "Mainstream Baptist" and "Baptists Committed" networks. [Read More]

CBF to approve funding for pro-homosexual groups; gay church literature featured in CBF exhibit
6/30/2000
The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship will continue funding a pro-homosexual organization whose booth was prominently featured at the CBF's General Assembly and another group whose immediate past president suggested that homosexuals can be called to the pastorate, according to action taken during the June 30 - July 1 meeting in Orlando, Fla. [Read More]

CBF speakers demand 'divorce' from SBC; leaders suggest churches watch BGCT
6/30/2000
Leaders within the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship denounced the Southern Baptist Convention's newly revised Baptist Faith and Message and several demanded the CBF sever its relationship, during a heated meeting at the shadow denomination's general assembly in Orlando, June 30. [Read More]

CBF affiliated group urges women to leave the SBC
6/21/2000
Frustration with the newly revised Baptist Faith and Message characterized the annual meeting of Baptist Women in Ministry, an organization of female ministers that advocates the ordination of women to the pastorate. [Read More]

6 words: 'defining moment' between conservative & moderate Baptists
6/21/2000
"... the Bible is just a book." As those words resonated through the Orlando, Fla., convention center June 14, thousands of shocked Baptists responded with audible gasps. For conservatives, it was a moment of truth. The 20-year battle for the spiritual heart of the Southern Baptist Convention had just been exposed in six words. [Read More]

Leonard reiterates homosexual admissions to CBF-related Wake Forest divinity school
5/9/2000
An oft-quoted Baptist historian has become an advocate for the admission of homosexuals into Wake Forest University's divinity school, which is affiliated with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. [Read More]

Dissident Baptists with CBF ties establish new 'mainstream' network
5/4/2000
A group of dissident Southern Baptists with ties to the moderate Cooperative Baptist Fellowship have formed a "Network of Mainstream Baptists" to prevent churches and state conventions from following the conservative renewal of the Southern Baptist Convention over the past two decades. [Read More]

FIRST-PERSON: CBF boat unlikely to float without doctrinal sturdiness
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (BP)--The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship seems to see their organization as a kind of modern-day Noah's Ark of disgruntled Baptists. The creatures on the boat come in all doctrinal stripes and shapes. The recent CBF General Assembly in Atlanta reveals just what a challenge it must be to keep this boat afloat. [Read More]

The Baptist Faith and Message
Baptist Press is offering a series developed from "An Exposition from the Faculty of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary on The Baptist Faith and Message 2000." Each edition of the series will feature an article of the BF&M 2000 and an exegesis of a part or the whole of that article. We are publishing this series as an educational resource for our churches and trust that our readers will be better informed and equipped for life, work and ministry. [Read More]