Baptist Press NASHVILLE (BP) — Late preaching professor Calvin Miller once quipped to Christianity Today that many Southern Baptist churches “probably could hardly spell Advent” in the early 1990s. Not so anymore. LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention has published Advent devotional books and includes tips for observing Advent in at least two holiday magazines this year. North Carolina’s Biblical Recorder newsjournal commends Advent to its readers, offering

Baptist Press NASHVILLE (BP) — America is launching new Protestant churches faster than it loses old ones, attracting many people who previously didn’t attend anywhere, new LifeWay Research studies show. More than 4,000 new churches opened their doors in 2014, outpacing the 3,700 that closed, according to estimates from the Nashville-based research organization based on input from 34 denominational statisticians. And on average 42 percent of those worshipping at churches

CARY, N.C. (BP) — Southern Baptist leaders are responding to the headline “God isn’t fixing this” that dominated the Dec. 3 cover of the New York Daily News. Images of tweets from Republican leaders surrounded the headline, displaying sympathetic “thoughts and prayers” for the people affected by a Dec. 2 mass shooting. “I’m hard-pressed to think of a more cynical and exploitative headline at a time of national mourning,” Russell

Baptist Press NASHVILLE — The National Association of Evangelicals and LifeWay Research released an evangelical beliefs research definition Nov. 19 for accurate and consistent use among researchers. NAE initiated development of the research definition more than two years ago. In partnership with LifeWay Research, the definition was crafted, reviewed, and tested for validity. Numerous surveys seek to capture the opinions and practices of evangelicals in the United States. From tithing

LifeWay news office NASHVILLE — Many women with unplanned pregnancies go silently from the church pew to the abortion clinic, convinced the church would gossip rather than help, a new study by LifeWay Research shows. More than four in 10 women who have had an abortion were churchgoers when they ended a pregnancy, researchers found in a survey sponsored by Care Net, a nonprofit organization supporting more than 1,100 pregnancy

Baptist Press NASHVILLE — As retailers open the Christmas shopping season, One Million Moms is calling for a boycott of American Girl products and the parent company Mattel, because American Girl Magazine’s November/December cover features a gay couple and its four adoptive children. The morality watchdog group’s call comes even as various media outlets report that some Christians are opposed to the new Starbucks holiday cup, although no Christian group

By Todd Deaton Baptist Press ELIZABETHTOWN, Ky. (BP) — Messengers to the 178th annual meeting of the Kentucky Baptist Convention elected an African American as convention president, called for an end to federal funding of Planned Parenthood and launched a strategy to boost their voice at the state capitol. Messengers also approved a $21.5 million Cooperative Program budget goal for the coming year, raising the bar by a quarter million