Baptist Press

TYLER, Texas — Paul Powell, former president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Annuity Board, died Dec. 28 following a stroke earlier in the month. He was 83.

In addition to leading the Annuity Board (later renamed GuideStone Financial Resources) from 1990-97, Powell pastored Green Acres Baptist Church in Tyler, Texas, 17 years. He became dean of Baylor University’s Truett Theological Seminary in 2001.

GuideStone President O.S. Hawkins, Powell’s immediate successor, called him “a strong advocate for our participants throughout his tenure.”

“He guided the Annuity Board with integrity and skill,” Hawkins said in a statement.

Baptist Press

NASHVILLE — America has its problems and needs to talk. But according to a new study, few Americans agree on who can best lead a conversation about the nation’s woes.

Less than a quarter (23 percent) would turn to the office of the U.S. president. About one in 10 would turn to the nation’s preachers (11 percent) or to college professors (10 percent), a survey by LifeWay Research shows.

“Almost no one would ask a musician or pro athlete,” said Scott McConnell, executive director of LifeWay Research, “even though they often try to start public conversations. [Read more…]

By Shawn Hendricks
Baptist Press

NASHVILLE (BP) — It was a year of unexpected election outcomes, race-related violence, ongoing global terrorism and natural disasters. It also was another year of controversial comments and consequences.

In 2016, the most-read Baptist Press story was one about a popular author and speaker who sparked a firestorm for statements she made in an interview about gay marriage.

This year’s list of stories, compiled by the web-traffic tracker Google Analytics, also includes coverage of a tragic highway crash that took the lives of a young missionary family of five, wildfires that devastated Gatlinburg this fall and stories related to this year’s Southern Baptist Convention presidential election. [Read more…]

By Bob Smietana
Lifeway News Office

NASHVILLE — More than half of Americans plan to go to church at Christmastime. And most Protestant pastors will keep the doors open for them.

Nearly nine out of 10 Protestant senior pastors say their churches plan to hold services on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day, as both fall on a Sunday, according to research from Nashville-based LifeWay Christian Research.

More than 7 in 10 Protestant senior pastors say their churches plan to hold Christmas Eve services. And more than a few will be open on New Year’s Eve. [Read more…]

By Bob Smietana
Facts & Trends, LifeWay

NASHVILLE (BP) — The American Medical Association has described physician-assisted suicide as a serious risk to society and “fundamentally incompatible with a physician’s role as healer.” But Millions of Americans disagree, according to a new study released Tuesday (Dec. 6) by LifeWay Research.

Two-thirds say it is morally acceptable for terminally ill patients to ask their doctors for help in ending their lives, according to a new survey from Nashville-based LifeWay Research. A similar number says doctors should be able to help terminally ill patients die.

Americans want more say over how they die, noted Scott McConnell, executive director of LifeWay Research. That’s especially true if facing a painful, terminal illness, he said. [Read more…]

By Tom Strode
Baptist Press

WASHINGTON (BP) — A federal judge has blocked a looming Department of Labor overtime rule considered burdensome by Southern Baptist and other nonprofit entities.

Amos Mazzant, a judge in the Eastern District of Texas, issued a nationwide temporary injunction Tuesday (Nov. 22) to prevent enforcement of a DOL regulation that would have increased the number of workers eligible for time-and-a-half overtime pay by more than 4 million. The rule was scheduled to go into effect Dec. 1.

The regulation would double the salary threshold for overtime eligibility to $913 a week or $47,476 a year, meaning 4.2 million more workers would qualify to receive extra pay beyond 40 hours weekly. As a result, employers would have to pay the overtime, increase salaries to reach the new threshold or restrict employees to 40 hours a week. [Read more…]

By David Roach
Baptist Press

NASHVILLE (BP) — Eight of the nine states with marijuana-related ballot measures Nov. 8 expanded legalization of the drug.

Of the five states to consider recreational marijuana legalization for adults, only Arizona rejected it. California, Massachusetts, Maine and Nevada all voted in favor of legalization.

All four states to consider medical marijuana — Arkansas, Florida, Montana and North Dakota — voted either to legalize or expand its use. Montana approved medical marijuana in 2004, but the state legislature enacted limitations on its use five years ago. The other three states granted approval for the first time.

“The medical marijuana Trojan horse continues to wreak its havoc across the nation,” said Barrett Duke, vice president for public policy at the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission. “Everywhere medical marijuana makes its entrance, the effort to legalize it for recreational use soon follows. Every state that legalized recreational marijuana on Tuesday had previously legalized medical marijuana. [Read more…]