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Jun 12, 2024 | 
tricitynews.com | Peter SMith
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Southern Baptists on Wednesday elected a North Carolina pastor and longtime denominational statesman to be the next president of their convention in a contest between six candidates that went into two run-off votes. Clint Pressley, who is senior pastor of Hickory Grove Baptist Church in Charlotte, will be the next Southern Baptist Convention president after winning 56% of votes in the final run-off race.
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Mar 21, 2024 | 
tricitynews.com | Peter SMith |Peter Smith
A top Southern Baptist administrative body has selected its first permanent leader in nearly two-and-a-half years, a time when it has navigated a tumult of controversies ranging from a sexual abuse scandal to financial struggles — to its own stumbling efforts to find a new president.
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Mar 21, 2024 | 
tricitynews.com | Peter SMith |Peter Smith |Tiffany Stanley
Since the start of his political career, Donald Trump has played on stereotypes about Jews and politics. He told the Republican Jewish Coalition in 2015 that “you want to control your politicians” and suggested the audience used money to exert control. In the White House, he said Jews who vote for Democrats are “very disloyal to Israel.” Two years ago, the former president hosted two outspoken antisemites for dinner at his Florida residence.
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Feb 23, 2024 | 
tricitynews.com | Peter SMith |Peter Smith |Tiffany Stanley
When the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos are considered children under state law, its chief justice had a higher authority in mind. By citing verses from the Bible and Christian theologians in his concurring opinion, Chief Justice Tom Parker alarmed advocates for church-state separation, while delighting religious conservatives who oppose abortion.
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Feb 20, 2024 | 
tricitynews.com | Peter SMith |Peter Smith
The Southern Baptist Convention's top administrative body voted Tuesday to oust four congregations — one for having a woman as senior minister, two for what it said were failures related to the denomination's sexual-abuse policy and one for lack of financial participation. The SBC's Executive Committee announced the decision after a closed-door session at the end of its two-day meeting in Nashville.
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Feb 17, 2024 | 
tricitynews.com | Peter SMith |Peter Smith
Many Americans believe the United States was founded as a Christian nation, and the idea is energizing some conservative and Republican activists. But the concept means different things to different people, and historians say that while the issue is complex, the founding documents prioritize religious freedom and do not create a Christian nation. Does the U.S. Constitution establish Christianity as an official religion? No. What does the Constitution say about religion?
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Feb 17, 2024 | 
tricitynews.com | Peter SMith |Peter Smith
The U.S. Constitution doesn’t mention Christianity or any specific religion. The Declaration of Independence famously proclaims that people’s rights come from a “Creator” and “Nature’s God” — but doesn’t specify who that is. Yet large numbers of Americans believe the founders intended the U.S. to be a Christian nation, and many believe it should be one. Such views are especially strong among Republicans and their white evangelical base.
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Feb 16, 2024 | 
tricitynews.com | Peter SMith
Greece has become the first majority-Orthodox Christian nation to legalize same-sex marriage under civil law. At least for the near future, it will almost certainly be the only one. Eastern Orthodox leadership, despite lacking a single doctrinal authority like a pope, has been united in opposing recognition of same-sex relationships both within its own rites and in the civil realm. Public opinion in majority Orthodox countries has mostly been opposed, too. But there are some signs of change.
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Jan 11, 2024 | 
tricitynews.com | Peter SMith |Peter Smith
The basement synagogue that was the scene of a brawl this week between worshippers and New York City police has a long and storied connection with a Brooklyn rabbi who led a global movement and remains revered three decades since his death.
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Jan 11, 2024 | 
tricitynews.com | Peter SMith |Peter Smith
Post-pandemic burnout is at worrying levels among Christian clergy in the U.S., prompting many to think about abandoning their jobs, according to a new nationwide survey. More than 4 in 10 of clergy surveyed in fall 2023 had seriously considered leaving their congregations at least once since 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic began, and more than half had thought seriously of leaving the ministry, according to the survey released Thursday by the Hartford Institute for Religion Research.
