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Check out news and opinion posts across the years
Nigerian Baptist Leader Ministers to President
SEOUL, South Korea--The president of Africa's most populous nation begins and closes every day praying with a Baptist minister. Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo is a committed Baptist who prays daily and has begun...
Ingredients for Peace, Part 2
Conflict is rampant in our society. Everywhere we turn, people are arguing, struggling, skirmishing with one another; in neighborhoods, political arenas, global landscapes and even congregations. Yet, congregational...
New Member Body Pledges to Help Rebuild BWA
SEOUL, South Korea--What happens when the largest and wealthiest Baptist denomination walks away from global Baptists? A spunky Baptist denomination joins with the promise of rebuilding the Baptist World Alliance. The...
Managing Dissent
The Democratic National Convention in Boston last week was devoid of drama. The nominees were already decided, and there was no fierce floor fighting over the party platform. Everything was a done deal before the first...
‘The Manchurian Candidate’
Paramount has been trying to minimize its movie-making risk by remaking older films. To that end, we've had 21-century versions of "The Italian Job" and "The Stepford Wives," and we're about to get "The Longest Yard."...
BWA Speaker Tells about Baptist Reconciliation in South Africa
SEOUL, South Korea--In an African nation where apartheid existed until a little over a decade ago, reconciliation between different Baptist bodies has been a painful process that requires constant work. Terry Rae,...
More Than a Name
Apart from the department secretary, a 60-something, frequently dour woman whose desk was mercifully way down the hall, I was the lone female in the office of my first full-time job out of college. My coworkers were a...
Global Baptists Choose Brit as Next BWA President
David Coffey, general secretary for the Baptist Union of Great Britain, was nominated as president-elect of the Baptist World Alliance, replacing Korean pastor Billy Kim. Coffey, whose five-year term begins in July...
BWA Resolution Endorses Initiative to Cut Global Poverty in Half
SEOUL, South Korea--Baptist representatives from some 30 nations energetically endorsed an ambitious initiative to cut global poverty by half within the next decade. The General Council of the Baptist World Alliance...
Second Complaint Filed Against Falwell
A second group has lodged a formal complaint against Jerry Falwell for endorsing President George W. Bush for re-election. The Campaign Legal Center on July 22 filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission...
Productive Tolerance Needed to Face Secularism and Fundamentalism, says BWA Leader
SEOUL, South Korea--Confronting both secularism--which opposes Christianity--and fundamentalism--which fragments the Christian community--Baptists need an ethic that encourages tolerance without compromise in the...
Tolerance is Biblical Value Which Must Shape Baptist Future, Says BWA Speaker
SEOUL, South Korea--Tolerance is a biblical value which progressive Baptists must embrace in responding to fundamentalism, a Texas pastor told world Baptist leaders this week. "Fundamentalism seems to be growing, and...
Local Churches Replacing Mission-Sending Agencies, Says Australian Baptist
SEOUL, South Korea--The Christian community is undergoing a paradigm shift away from the primacy of missionary-sending agencies toward centrality of the local church as the hub for missions, said an Australian Baptist...
Most Americans Support Christian Symbols in Culture
Most Americans support existing cultural expressions of Christianity, but fewer than one in three would go so far as amending the Constitution to establish Christianity as America's official religion, according to new...
Ketchup: A New Political Battleground
While Teresa Heinz Kerry was on the platform at the Democratic Convention Tuesday night, somebody somewhere was lining a hot dog with ketchup. Maybe it was Heinz. Or maybe it was W Ketchup, a new kid on the political...
Finding God in the Questions
Timothy Johnson is a physician, minister and journalist. He perhaps is best known as the medical editor for ABC News. Finding God in the Questions recounts his attempt to come to grips with his faith and its...
Global Baptists Predict Bright Future for BWA
SEOUL, South Korea--Baptist leaders gathering in South Korea for the annual meeting of the Baptist World Alliance foresee a bright future for the organization, despite the withdrawal of its largest member body, the...
Religious Violence Perverts Good Motives
The increasing violence in the name of religion staggers the imagination. In fact, one wonders if religion does not provoke more strife than it prevents. Yet, it is nothing new. A cursory review of history would...
Hoax Photo Shows Kerry With Satanism Founder
As the 2004 presidential election heats up, so do the urban legends about the candidates. One of the latest features a photo of John Kerry with the Church of Satan founder. An alleged newspaper photo from the San...
Baptists Dominate Opening Night at Democratic Convention
Three Baptists were prime-time speakers Monday night at the Democratic National Convention in Boston. Former Vice President Al Gore and former presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton were keynote speakers on the...
BWA Meets for First Time without SBC
SEOUL, South Korea--Baptist leaders from around the world gather this week in Seoul for the first time since the Southern Baptist Convention voted in June to withdraw from the Baptist World Alliance, the largest...