Baptist Press Archive

Wednesday, April 19, 2006

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  • Attorney: Churches don't violate IRS code when supporting marriage amendments
    by Michael Foust, posted Wednesday, April 19, 2006 (18 years ago)

    "In respect to their Internal Revenue Service tax exemption, they have a lot of liberty and leeway to support a ballot initiative."
    Gary McCaleb

    Senior Counsel

    Alliance Defense Fund

    PHOENIX (BP)--Churches can support proposed constitutional marriage amendments without any fear of losing their tax-exempt status, an attorney with a religious liberty organization says.

          Seven states are scheduled to vote on marriage amendments this year, and conservatives in two others -- Arizona and Colorado -- are gathering signatures with the goal of being added to that list.

          Gary McCaleb, senior counsel with the Christian legal group Alliance Defense Fund, said pastors can voice support for the amendments from the pulpit and churches can assist in petition drives without fear of reprisal from the Internal Revenue Service. Read More

  • New Orleans church’s community is ‘land of opportunity’
    by Keith Manuel, posted Wednesday, April 19, 2006 (18 years ago)

    Click to download Hi-ResPhoto
    Texas volunteers (left to right) Glenn Jones, Ernie Little and Gene Roberts prepare the wiring for a new air conditioning unit at Grace Baptist Church as associate pastor Charlie Dale looks on in the background. Photo by Keith Manuel
    NEW ORLEANS (BP)--Grace Baptist Church and the surrounding Bywater neighborhood were battered by Hurricane Katrina’s winds but not the floodwater that inundated so much of New Orleans.

    “This area, since most of it did not flood, is called the ‘Sliver on the River,’” pastor Bill Rogers said.

    “This is going to be a land of opportunity,” said Rogers, buoyed by the teams of Southern Baptist Disaster Relief workers who have been painting, hanging sheetrock, wiring new air conditioning units and tending to other needs so the church get going again.

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  • FY 2005 stats: Southern Baptists experience drop in baptisms
    by Russ Rankin, posted Wednesday, April 19, 2006 (18 years ago)

    NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--Recently compiled statistics for the Southern Baptist Convention show that baptisms -- which rebounded in 2004 after a four-year decline -- slumped again in 2005, according to LifeWay Christian Resources President and CEO Thom S. Rainer.

    According to the Annual Church Profile (ACP), information gathered by LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention, baptisms last year dropped from 387,947 to 371,850, or -4.15 percent. Read More

  • FIRST-PERSON: The best career plan
    by Howard Dayton, posted Wednesday, April 19, 2006 (18 years ago)

    GAINESVILLE, Ga. (BP)--Apparently it’s never too early to plan for a career, considering the fact that our modern-day public schools often are forcing teens to make key education and career decisions at increasingly earlier ages -- sometimes as early as 6th or 7th grade.

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