Year in review: Newsmakers in 2011

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (ABP) – Between headlines of “Church backing pastor jailed on molestation charges” on Jan. 3 and “Scholar says Christmas as celebration of domesticity a modern invention” on Dec. 22, Associated Baptist Press published 586 news and feature stories in 2011. Some were more memorable than others. Here is our review of some of the year’s top newsmakers. Read More

2011 notable deaths

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (ABP) – Here is a list of notable deaths in 2011 that were reported by Associated Baptist Press. Read More

Scholar says Christmas as 'celebration of domesticity' a modern invention

LONDON (ABP) – As churches alter or cancel worship services this weekend because Christmas this year falls on Sunday, a Baptist theologian in the United Kingdom says the way the holiday is celebrated is relatively new. Read More

BWA, SBC leaders meet for first time since 2004

FALLS CHURCH, Va. (ABP) – Leaders of the Baptist World Alliance traveled to Nashville, Tenn., to meet Dec. 19 with leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention, a founding member of the BWA that withdrew in 2004 over theological differences.
Read More

Baptist pastor delivers 200,000 signatures to Lowe's

Lowe’s officials met Dec. 20 with a group of ministers who hand-delivered more than 200,000 petition signatures protesting the company’s decision to pull its advertising from a television show criticized by a conservative Christian group for portraying Muslims in a favorable light.
Read More

Gaza Baptist Church, 'functioning' but 'restricted,' says Brother Andrew

SANTA ANA, Calif. (ABP) – The last remaining evangelical church in Gaza is functioning but in danger of dying, famed Bible smuggler Brother Andrew said after a recent visit to Gaza Baptist Church.
Read More

Baptists, Pentecostals seek common ground

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (ABP) – Leaders of two large Christian traditions held preliminary conversations Dec. 13-15 to lay groundwork for ecumenical dialogue between Baptists and Pentecostals around the world.
Read More

S.C. Baptist leader says Gingrich top choice

POWDERSVILLE, S.C. (ABP) – The newly elected president of the South Carolina Baptist Convention says conservative voters in the state will have an easier time voting for a repentant adulterer than a Mormon.
Read More

SNAP protests pharmacy license for accused predator

CLINTON, Miss. (ABP) – A support group for victims of sexual abuse by clergy is calling on a state pharmacy board to revoke a license recently issued to a former music minister awaiting trial on eight charges of felony gratification of lust.
Read More

Former staffer at SBC mega-church focus of abuse investigation

CYPRESS, Texas (ABP) – A Texas youth minister already charged with statutory rape of a 16-year-old was arrested Dec. 14 for allegedly sending inappropriate text messages and videos to a 14-year-old girl he met while serving at a Southern Baptist mega-church.
Read More