News

(RNS) — For the collector who has almost everything, there’s a chance this week to claim ownership of a Bible that literally was out of this world.

MASHALLTOWN, Iowa (BP) -- Southern Baptist Disaster Relief teams have begun cleanup work in Marshalltown, Iowa, following a devastating tornado July 19.

WASHINGTON (RNS) — U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback opened a summit at the State Department this week by urging leaders from a range of faiths to work together to help the persecuted across the globe.

NAIROBI, Kenya (RNS) – Eritrean Christians and human rights advocates are cheering the release of 35 Christian prisoners as a new peace pact between Eritrea and Ethiopia takes hold this month. But hundreds remain imprisoned in Eritrea under harsh conditions stemming from a war in which members of Christian sects were targeted for mass incarceration.

On July 24, Southwest Baptist University announced its new president, Eric A. Turner, who will replace the retiring C. Pat Taylor. Elected as the 25^th president of SBU after a unanimous vote by SBU’s trustees on July 20, he will start as president-elect on Aug. 6 and assume the presidency on Sept. 1.

OKLAHOMA Okla. (BP) -- Demonstrating that no one is too old to learn, Portland Avenue Baptist Church hosted a senior adult version of Vacation Bible School (VBS), July 9-12. By midweek, the church had nearly 20 seniors saying, as the VBS song goes, "Y-E-S to VBS."

DENHAM SPRINGS, La. (BP) -- Johnny Morgan's life has really gone to the dogs, and he couldn't be happier.

(RNS) — A new poll conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute and The Atlantic shows that when it comes to politics, white evangelical Christians stand apart from every other religious group.

DECATUR, Ga. — Suzii Paynter, who in March 2013 became only the third executive coordinator of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, announced today that she is working with the CBF Governing Board to transition her leadership of the 27-year-old denomi-network.

WASHINGTON (RNS) — In an unsealed affidavit this week charging 29-year-old Mariia Butina with “conspiracy to act as an agent of the Russian Federation” was buried a peculiar detail: Butina, a Russian citizen living in the U.S., allegedly sought to influence U.S. officials not only through organizations such as the National Rifle Association, but also by exploiting the National Prayer Breakfast, an annual event in Washington, D.C.