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JACKSON, Miss. (RNS) -- In a few weeks (July 1), Les Ferguson Jr. will move on to a new position in Oxford, home to "Ole Miss," the University of Mississippi.

The move and the university community, he said, offer the potential for more personal and spiritual growth. It's also another move toward wholeness for a man whose life was fractured by tragedy nearly seven years ago.

(RNS) — After considering fresh evidence of an alleged rape cover-up, the board of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth voted to strip embattled former President Paige Patterson of the title and benefits it had granted him a week ago.

(RNS) — At a dinner last year with prominent evangelical Christians in the Blue Room of the White House, Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, invited their table mates to discuss the issues most important to them.

When Mike Parson places his hand on a Bible to take the oath of office on Friday, the Baptist layman will become Missouri’s 57^th governor. He will be Missouri’s first Baptist to live in the Governor’s Mansion since Republican Matt Blunt left office in January of 2009. A member of First Baptist Church in Bolivar, Mo., he talked about the impact of his faith on his politics in a Word&Way interview last year shortly after he started as lieutenant governor.

NASHVILLE (BP) -- Vacation Bible School -- better known as VBS -- remains one of the most popular church programs in America.

Six in 10 Americans say they went to VBS growing up. Two-thirds of American parents say they plan to send kids to VBS this summer -- even if they skip church themselves.

Nearly 51 million households in the U.S. lacked funds to buy basic necessities in 2016, according to a United Way study published on May 17.

Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, a Southern Baptist Convention seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, has relieved President Paige Patterson of his responsibilities.

Yet, according to The Washington Post, SWBTS has provided him with a lucrative compensation package that includes housing accommodation on campus and the titles "theologian-in-residence" and "president emeritus."

(RNS) — Paige Patterson, the embattled president of Southern Baptist Convention’s largest seminary, was asked to step down following an outpouring of criticism for his comments on women, including advice he gave to a woman to stay with her abusive husband and new reports he asked another woman not to report a rape.

(RNS) — It’s not Meghan Markle’s stunning 16-foot veil or bouquet of forget-me-nots, the favorite flower of the groom’s late mother, Princess Diana.

It’s not the romantic words Prince Harry whispered to his bride as she joined him at the altar.

Days after the royal wedding, it’s the address by the Most Rev. Michael Curry, presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, people still are talking about.

PAHOA, Hawaii (BP) -- With a volcanic eruption on Hawaii's Big Island in its third week, the state's Baptists are preparing to feed evacuees at area shelters and requesting prayer for the region's tourism industry.