Baptist Press Archive

Tuesday, March 31, 2020

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  • Southern Baptists object to mayor's threat to close church buildings
    by Tom Strode, posted Tuesday, March 31, 2020 (2 years ago)

    iStock
    WASHINGTON (BP) -- Southern Baptists have voiced objections to New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio's threat to close permanently the buildings of churches and other religious groups if they continue to gather for corporate worship.

    In his March 27 press briefing, de Blasio said law enforcement officials have been instructed to warn congregational leaders when they discover worship services taking place in violation of the city's restrictions on gatherings during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Read More

  • New York City churches serve as COVID-19 crisis worsens
    by Tobin Perry, posted Tuesday, March 31, 2020 (2 years ago)

    Photo provided by Bridge Community Church
    NEW YORK, N.Y. (BP) -- When the COVID-19 pandemic began hitting New York City last month, the leaders of Bridge Community Church in Queens, N.Y., wanted to help. As a small one-year-old church plant, they knew they could not do everything.

    They could, however, do something. Read More

  • Southern Baptist chaplains join National Guard COVID-19 deployment

    by Brandon Elrod, posted Tuesday, March 31, 2020 (2 years ago)

    U.S. Army Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Michael Davis Jr.
    BALTIMORE (BP) -- Governors have called on the National Guard to assist in the fight to stop the COVID-19 coronavirus. A key component to that response, as in any effort by the U.S. Armed Services, is the work of chaplains.

    Doug Carver, executive director of chaplaincy for the North American Mission Board (NAMB) said a growing number of Southern Baptist National Guard chaplains are mobilized in support of their state guard units. Read More

  • Evangelists face career upheaval in the midst of COVID-19

    by Tess Schoonhoven, posted Tuesday, March 31, 2020 (2 years ago)

    Submitted photo
    NASHVILLE (BP) -- This time a year ago, Tom Tucker, a revivalist and evangelist based out of Rock Hill, S.C., had speaking engagements booked on all but one Sunday. This spring, Tucker’s calendar is empty -- all of his plans for the next two months have been suddenly canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

    For Tucker and others who make their full-time living on the road, preaching the Gospel at various events, conferences and churches, the nationwide shutdown of gatherings is especially financially detrimental. Read More

  • Arkansas Baptists seek dismissal of sexual abuse lawsuit
    by Diana Chandler, posted Tuesday, March 31, 2020 (2 years ago)

    HOT SPRINGS, Ark. (BP) -- The Arkansas Baptist State Convention (ABSC), Millcreek Baptist Church and other defendants have denied allegations and filed motions to dismiss a 2019 lawsuit accusing them of liability in alleged multiple sexual assaults of a minor.

    The defendants responded to a lawsuit filed in December 2019 accusing former Millcreek pastor Teddy Hill Jr. of sexually assaulting Riley Fields over a period of years. Fields, now 19, alleges the sexual assaults began in 2014 and continued after Hill was appointed as Field’s guardian in 2016, according to court documents filed in the Ninth Circuit Court of Pulaski County, Ark. Fields originally identified himself as John Doe, but revealed his name in an amended complaint in January. Read More