NASHVILLE, Tenn. (LifeWay) – More than 100,000 same-sex couples have tied the knot since the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriages nationwide last year. But for preachers, being asked to do a same-sex wedding remains rare. A new survey by Nashville-based LifeWay Research found 11 percent of Protestant senior pastors have been asked to perform a same-sex wedding. Baptist pastors (1 percent) are the least likely to say they were asked to perform a same-sex wedding. … [Read more...]
GuideStone restructure aims at efficiency
DALLAS (BP) – GuideStone Financial Resources has realigned certain job responsibilities and restructured its workforce as part of its effort to identify and implement new ways to become more efficient. It also announced last month three new executive officers promoted from within the organization. The restructuring dovetails GuideStone’s update to its long-range plan, GuideStone 100, and flows from the 2015 theme “Year of Efficiency,” when the Southern Baptist Convention entity sought new … [Read more...]
Supreme court blocks transgender rulings
WASHINGTON (BP) – The U.S. Supreme Court has blocked for now lower-court decisions requiring a Virginia school district to enable a female student who identifies as male to use the boys’ restroom. The justices announced, Aug. 3, they had put on hold a June ruling by a federal court ordering the Gloucester County School Board to permit Gavin Grimm to use the male restroom while the case is settled in court. Grimm, 17, is a female biologically but considers herself a male. The Supreme … [Read more...]
CCCU board considers membership requirements
ASHEVILLE, N.C. (BP) – The Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU) board of directors is considering recommendations for new membership and affiliate guidelines during meetings this week, amid differences over same-sex marriage hiring policies. The regular July board meeting – taking place at the council’s Oxford study abroad location – comes after a special task force spent nine months exploring CCCU’s categories of affiliation. The task force has submitted its final … [Read more...]
House protects rights of pro-lifers
WASHINGTON (BP) – The U.S. House of Representatives approved July 13 a bill to protect the conscience rights of individuals and institutions that refuse to be involved in abortion. The House voted 245-182 almost totally along party lines for the Conscience Protection Act, which bars the government from discriminating against health-care providers with objections to participating in or providing coverage for abortion. The Senate has yet to vote on the legislation. Pro-life and religious … [Read more...]
Pro-life efforts continue 1 year after release of PPFA videos
WASHINGTON (BP) – Planned Parenthood remains a target of a Capitol Hill investigation but retains its federal funding a year after undercover video first revealed the abortion giant’s trade in baby body parts. A special congressional panel issued an interim update July 14 on the one-year anniversary of the release of the first video showing Planned Parenthood officials discussing the sale of organs from aborted children. The series of secretly recorded videos featured Planned Parenthood … [Read more...]
Ban on transgender troops repealed
WASHINGTON (BP) – The Obama administration’s decision to allow openly transgender people to serve in the U.S. military has been classified by Southern Baptist leaders with military ties as “deluded,” “disastrous” and a step toward self-inflicted “national weakness.” Military chaplains endorsed by the North American Mission Board, along with other Christian chaplains, appear to be “in the crosshairs of this new policy,” NAMB executive director of chaplaincy Douglas Carver told Baptist … [Read more...]
On life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” – Second paragraph, Declaration of Independence of the United States In one 48-hour span, the U.S. Supreme Court threw “Life” and “Liberty” under the steamroller of political correctness. Instead of interpreting the law, the Court advanced a political social agenda that grieves … [Read more...]
Miss. Religious freedom law struck down
Evan Wilt/WNS JACKSON, Miss. (WNS) – A federal judge blocked religious-liberty protections in Mississippi on June 30 hours before they were set to go into effect. In a last minute, 60-page opinion, U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves struck down all provisions to protect religious people from being forced to participate same-sex weddings in House Bill 1523, calling the law “state-sanctioned discrimination.” “Every American should be alarmed at the speed and aggression with which our … [Read more...]
GuideStone highlights unique services
ST. LOUIS (BP) – GuideStone President O.S. Hawkins relayed the entity’s 98th report to messengers at the Southern Baptist Convention on Tuesday, June 14. Hawkins reported on GuideStone’s Supreme Court challenge and its operational areas, including health care reform, property & casualty, investments and Mission:Dignity. Hawkins cited published media reports that indicate some medical insurers in state health care exchanges are either exiting the market or indicating the need for rate … [Read more...]
Sermons on biblical sexuality illegal in Iowa?
DES MOINES, Iowa (ADF) – Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys representing an Iowa church filed a federal lawsuit Monday against members of the Iowa Civil Rights Commission, among others, to stop the government from censoring the church’s teaching on biblical sexuality and from forcing the church to open its restrooms and showers to members of the opposite sex. The commission is interpreting a state law to ban churches from expressing their views on human sexuality if they would “directly … [Read more...]
Abortion, trafficking, pro-life endorsements
June 27 was another sad day in America for women and the unborn. That was the day the U.S. Supreme Court struck down provisions of a Texas law requiring abortion clinics to meet the same standards as ambulatory surgical centers and requiring abortionists to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital in case of medical emergencies. This disastrous ruling will mean the unnecessary deaths of babies and leave mothers exposed to serious health risks. The ruling is bad news for Missouri, … [Read more...]
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