By Tom Strode Baptist Press WASHINGTON — The Southern Baptist Convention’s ethics entity called on July 26 for the U.S. Senate to oppose legislation that threatens to gain enough Republican support to codify same-sex marriage into law. In a letter to all senators, Brent Leatherwood, acting president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC), urged them to vote against the Respect for Marriage Act (H.R. 8404). The legislation would

By Scott Barkley Baptist Press NASHVILLE — Within images released by the James Webb telescope, Christians can not only get previously unseen views of the cosmos, but resounding confirmation of God’s creative design and man’s perspective in it. David Block, emeritus professor at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa, and Danny Faulkner, who taught for 26 years at the University of South Carolina-Lancaster before joining Answers in Genesis,

By Scott Barkley Baptist Press NASHVILLE — The weekday preschool ministry at Englewood Baptist Church in Rocky Mount, N.C., feeds approximately 60 children a day, a number that doubles in the fall. Food costs have always been a part of such ministries, but it’s just one of several areas where inflation has commanded more attention. Financial giving has remained on par, but the church struggles to keep up with the

By Chad Burchett Baptist Press WAKE FOREST, N.C. — In an effort to ensure that students are equipped to prevent and respond to abuse in their ministry contexts, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary has announced the launch of a mandatory sexual abuse prevention and response course starting August 2022. “Sexual abuse in any form should not be tolerated. It is a sinful act against fellow image bearers and an affront to

By Scott Barkley Baptist Press NASHVILLE — A survey of Americans and their view of Scripture reflects a trend of disassociation from religion. One’s exposure to Scripture, however, can also factor in those results. The number of Americans accepting the Bible as the literal Word of God has reached its lowest point since Gallup began the study in 1976, according to its most recent findings. The new figure of 20

By Tom Strode Baptist Press WASHINGTON — President Biden took further action Friday in his administration’s ongoing effort to offset the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of the Roe v. Wade decision, and Southern Baptist and other pro-life advocates again declared their opposition. Biden signed an executive order on July 8 intended to protect access to abortion and reproductive healthcare. The action occurred two weeks after the justices reversed the 1973

By Diana Chandler Baptist Press HIGHLAND PARK, Ill. (BP) – Mass shootings don’t generally happen in affluent Highland Park, where a gunman killed seven and wounded 30 others gathered for a July 4th parade. “That’s the last place that you would normally, and I say normally, expect stuff like that to occur,” said Rick Dorsey, administrative counsel chairperson with the Chicago Metro Baptist Association. “We’re living in a different time

By Tom Strode Baptist Press WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court delivered what most religious liberty advocates declared an important victory June 27 in ruling the post-game, midfield prayer of a high school football coach did not violate the First Amendment’s ban on government establishment of religion. In a 6-3 opinion, the justices decided the Bremerton (Wash.) School District actually violated the First Amendment rights of Joseph Kennedy by removing

By ERLC staff NASHVILLE — In a monumental case that strikes down a constitutional basis for abortion, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in Dobbs v. Jackson on June 24 that the issue of abortion is returned to the states. Specifically, the court held that “Roe and Casey are overruled; and the authority to regulate abortion is returned to the people and their elected representatives.” The ERLC applauds today’s landmark ruling