Southern Baptists

A Baptist student group that initially filed for registration at Vanderbilt University for the upcoming semester has changed course and has opted instead to refuse recognition due to Vanderbilt's "all-comers" policy.

Baptist Collegiate Ministries of Vanderbilt was originally set to remain a recognized religious student organization. Randy Davis, executive director of the Tennessee Baptist Convention, told The Christian Post that the reason for the course reversal was a better understanding of what BCM was agreeing to in working under a policy that requires groups to extend membership and leadership positions to all, including those who do not share the group's beliefs, goals and values.

"Now if it was just we understand the policies of, that would be one thing, but to abide by it means to adopt as your own," said Davis. more >>

Chuck Colson, the Prison Fellowship founder and evangelical Christian who died on April 21 after struggling with an intracerebral hemorrhage, will be buried privately with full military honors at Quantico National Cemetery in Virginia.

The 80-year-old Southern Baptist, who served as an aide to former President Richard Nixon and was convicted for his role in the Watergate scandal in 1974, will also be remembered at a later service at Washington National Cathedral, RNS reported. During his military career, Colson served as captain in the Marines.

"There will be a public memorial service at the National Cathedral, pending working out some scheduling," noted Michelle Farmer, a spokeswoman for Prison Fellowship. "We anticipate that that will be in the coming weeks but no dates have been set in stone at this point." more >>

The Rev. Fred Luter II of the Franklin Avenue Baptist Church in New Orleans, La., is set to become the first ever African-American president of the Nashville-based Southern Baptist Convention, as he is so far the only candidate for the election in June.

The Southern Baptist Convention, which has long dealt with issues of race since splitting in 1845 with Northern Baptists over the right to hold slaves, has grown to accept a diverse array of cultures within its congregation. Once an all-white membership, nearly 20 percent of its current congregation nationwide now is composed of minorities. Until now, however, it has never had an African-American president – Luter himself was the first ever African-American first vice-president of the denomination, appointed in June 2011.

Luter has had a long and turbulent road to rise in the ranks, The Tennessean reported, revealing that when Hurricane Katrina struck in 2005, his church was destroyed and lost its entire 7,000-member congregation, most of whom fled the city. Three years later, however, the Franklin Avenue Baptist church reopened its doors after help from the entire neighborhood, and now draws 5,000 people for church services. The report goes into detail about Luter's background and upbringing, sharing how a near-fatal motorcycle accident when he was 21 guided him in the right direction toward God. more >>

The leadership of a major Christian retailer has voted to continue selling the latest translation of the New International Version.

Trustees of LifeWay Christian Resources approved the NIV 2011 for their stores in response to a nonbinding resolution passed by the Southern Baptist Convention in 2011 asking LifeWay to reconsider sale of the controversial translation.

Dr. Douglas J. Moo, chair of the Committee on Bible Translation, which translated the NIV 2011, told The Christian Post that he welcomed the decision on the part of the trustees. more >>

WASHINGTON – President Obama took a markedly more political tone in his address at the National Prayer Breakfast Thursday morning than he did at the same event last year.

The president talked about his public policy stances, including barring health insurance companies from rejecting people with pre-existing conditions and reducing tax breaks for the wealthy, hand-in-hand with his faith, often citing snippets of popular Bible verses.

"[S]o when I talk about our financial institutions playing by the same rules as folks on Main Street…or making sure that unscrupulous lenders aren't taking advantage of the most vulnerable among us, I do so because I genuinely believe it will make the economy strong for everybody," Obama said. more >>

Southern Baptist churches will commemorate Sanctity of Life month on Jan. 15. Several Kentucky Baptist-affiliated pregnancy resource centers are set to speak at these churches Sunday.

The Central Kentucky Crisis pregnancy center is one of 49 pregnancy care centers participating in Sanctity of Life this weekend.

Marcia Gilbert, director of the center, told The Christian Post that their organization will speak at Southern Baptist churches regarding the fight for pro-life, the current state of the country’s pro-life movement, and what the center does to help someone in a crisis pregnancy. more >>