News

(RNS) — Paul Pressler, who was instrumental in the conservative takeover of the Southern Baptist Convention in the late 1970s and early '80s, is fighting a lawsuit by a former office assistant who alleges the onetime Texas appeals court judge sexually abused him over the course of several decades.

NASHVILLE (BP) -- About one in four Americans say they are evangelical Christians. Most of them are white, live in the South and identify as Republican. Many go to church every week.

But they're not always sure what they believe.

Two Missouri Baptist institutions filed appeals after a judge ruled in favor of the Missouri Baptist Convention in the MBC’s 15-year litigation.

While Dickens’s "A Christmas Carol" is not an overtly Christian story, the theme of starting over is. In Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians, he calls those in Christ “a new creation. The old has passed away; behold the new has come” (2 Cor. 5:17).

NASHVILLE (BP) -- As worship pastor Andrew Lucius selects songs for Christmas worship, he is considering specific needs in the Georgia congregation he serves. Among his conclusions: singing only the first verse of familiar carols could leave worshipers spiritually malnourished.

WASHINGTON (RNS) — At the Supreme Court Tuesday (Dec. 5), the justices lobbed hypothetical after hypothetical at the lawyers representing each side of Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, a free speech case rooted in the religious convictions of the plaintiff — and one of the most publicized cases of the year.

(AP) — In a legal case with profound implications for LGBT rights and religion's place in public life, the opposing sides agree on this: It's not about the cake.

BOSTON (RNS) – Quick! The cameras are rolling! Cue the religion scholar to compress centuries of religious history into a sound bite, elucidate complex theology in eight-word sentences — and guard against any stereotyping.

NORTH RICHLAND HILLS, Texas (RNS) — To hear Bruce Bachman tell it, he's just a guy with a bell, a red apron and a heart to serve who gives a little of his time during the holiday season.

He's just one of the thousands of volunteer bell ringers who keep alive a 127-year tradition.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (RNS) — After a 1993 fire, accidentally triggered by federal authorities, killed 75 members of an obscure Christian sect near Waco, Texas, one of the “lessons learned” was this: Call in religion experts in a crisis where faith is a factor.