SELMA, Ala. — Six people are dead after a storm system surprised Alabamians on Jan. 12 with two dozen tornadoes that devastated homes, businesses and churches in different parts of the state. At least two churches were damaged by one large tornado that ripped through the heart of Selma. Crosspoint Christian Church in Selma, which suffered extensive damage, had its daycare and preschool in session when the tornado hit, with about 70 children

NASHVILLE — An elevated call for prayer in recent days shows not only that more people believe in its power, but that studies indicating a lack of belief in God may be premature. Those sentiments have been reflected by Southern Baptists and others during the recovery of Buffalo Bills player Damar Hamlin. The second-year safety was dismissed Jan. 11 from a Buffalo hospital, just over a week after an on-field

Editor’s note: Dec. 30, 2022, marked the 20th anniversary of the attack on Jibla Baptist Hospital in Yemen that claimed the lives of three missionaries. On Dec. 30, 2002, an Islamic militant shot and killed IMB missionaries Kathleen Gariety, Bill Koehn and Martha Myers. The IMB continues to remember their sacrifice for the Yemeni people. Layton Avenue Baptist Church in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, held a remembrance service for Gariety on Dec.

NASHVILLE — The SBC’s Abuse Reform Implementation Task Force (ARITF), the SBC Executive Committee (EC) and Guidepost Solutions have issued statements dealing with allegations of breaches of confidentiality within the hotline established by the SBC Executive Committee in May 2022 to receive reports abuse that happens in or is connected to Southern Baptist churches. The hotline’s purpose “The hotline was established to ensure survivors, and/or their reporting friends and relatives,

LAVERGNE — Brady Cooper, senior pastor of New Vision Baptist Church in Murfreesboro, received advice from a mentor that came in handy as the church sought to help revitalize First Baptist Church, LaVergne, a church about 20 minutes north of New Vision. “Before you go making big decisions, look around and see what God’s doing.” In a model the megachurch had never before undertaken, it led a merger between First