Baptist

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (RNS) — Founders of one of the nation’s largest seminaries owned more than 50 slaves and said that slavery was morally correct. But an internal investigation found no evidence the school was directly involved in the slave trade, according to the seminary’s president.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (RNS) — Bob Terry, the longtime editor of both The Alabama Baptist and Word&Way, is known for his journalistic excellence, his personal integrity in the midst of church controversies and his unflagging calls for the Christian mission to build God’s kingdom.

But when he retires at the end of this year, Terry’s most lasting legacy in the hearts of Alabama Baptists is likely to be the vulnerable honesty with which he shared his grief after the sudden death of his first wife in 1998.

(RNS) — The Rev. Mark Harris, a Southern Baptist pastor turned aspiring congressman, is facing allegations of election fraud in North Carolina, where authorities are investigating whether an operative for his campaign paid workers to take absentee ballots from voters illegally.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (RNS) — Southern Baptist Theological Seminary has appointed its first “women’s support coordinator” to address any gender-related "difficulties or challenges” that women encounter on its campus.

EDMOND, Okla. (RNS) — When Cody and Breanna Brumley began the process of adoption a few years ago, they asked two dear friends in their Sunday School class for advice.

“This is going to be hard,” Breanna Brumley remembers the friends telling them. “This is going to change you, but for the better.”

A former corrections officer, Rev. David Tolliver serves as chaplain at Jefferson City Correctional Center. As the pastor of Jamestown Baptist Church, he tries to bring light into what can be a dark place, encouraging those serving time in the medium- to maximum-security prison.

As Jim Hill announces his retirement as pastor of administration from First Baptist Church in Jefferson City, Mo., he reflects back on 47 years of ministry. His journey has included the roles of pastor, church planter, language missions director, executive director and advocacy leader.  

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (BP) -- Linda Johnson says that about a year ago when her friend Linda Jacobson asked her if she was ready to see God do big things, she said yes. She was excited.

"But I've thought a thousand times since then that I never could've imagined what was coming," Johnson said.

ROCKVILLE, Va. (BP) -- International Mission Board trustees elected Chitwood unanimously as the entity's 13th president during a 20-minute executive session at the IMB's International Learning Center near Richmond, Va. They also elected IMB interim president Clyde Meador as interim executive vice president.

NASHVILLE, N.C. (RNS) — Inside a squat cinderblock building on the grounds of Nash Correctional Institution, 24 inmates are hunched over white plastic tables listening to Professor James Dew explain how God is omnipotent and omniscient.

But Dew is not preaching  to his audience as he paces the room posing questions about whether God can sin (No) or know people’s emotions (there’s disagreement, but most Christians say yes). He is teaching theology to prospective ministers.