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  Richard Hays, scholar know for changing his views, has died

  Richard Hays, a New Testament scholar and former dean of Duke Divinity School known for his books on Christian ethics and his change of mind about same-sex marriage, died Jan. 3.

  01/06/2025 - By Bob Smietana / RNS

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  300 million Christians persecuted globally, report says

  Religious nationalism, mass displacement, authoritarianism, surveillance technology and other trends combine to persecute 300 million Christians globally, International Christian Concern reported in its 2025 Global Persecution Index.

  01/06/2025 - By Diana Chandler / Baptist Press

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  Congress more diverse, but most identify as Christian

  A new Pew Research Center report on the religious composition of the 119th session of Congress reveals the majority of its members identify as Christian and 75 are Baptist.

  01/06/2025 - By Fiona André / Religion News Service

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  Parolee’s baptism tells of redemption outside prison walls

  Anansi Flaherty, a backup fullback on Katy High School’s 2000 State Championship team, gave his life to Christ in prison. On Dec. 19, 2024, he was baptized—“raised to walk in new life”—outside those walls.

  01/03/2025 - By Calli Keener / Baptist Standard

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  Obituary: Robert Owen Rachuig

  Robert Owen Rachuig, Texas Baptist pastor and home missionary, died Dec. 19 in Garland. He was 85.

  01/03/2025 - By Staff / Baptist Standard

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  New Orleans ministers respond after terror attack

  In an eclectic New Orleans ministerial mix, a second line jazz band belted gospel favorites in the footsteps of pastors prayerwalking Bourbon Street hours after the carnage of a New Year’s Day terrorist attack was cleared.

  01/03/2025 - By Diana Chandler / Baptist Press

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  New church plant cultivates vision for missional community

  Since launching a new Texas Baptist church plant in September and holding worship services at a state-of-the-art office and meeting space area, Jamael Graves, lead pastor of Cultivate Church in The Colony, realizes the mission field surrounding his congregation.

  01/03/2025 - By Leann Callaway / Special to the Baptist Standard

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  Obituary: Gene McLain

  EuGene “Gene” Euell McLain of Plainview, Baptist deacon and former trustee of Wayland Baptist University, died Dec. 25, 2024. He was 89.

  01/03/2025 - By Staff / Baptist Standard

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  Texans on Mission serve 80,000 meals in Israel in 2024

  Texans on Mission volunteers served more than 80,000 meals in Israel in 2024.

  01/02/2025 - By Ferrell Foster / Texans on Mission

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  Eleven killed in airstrike on Baptist church in Sudan

  An airstrike on a Baptist church in Sudan less than a week before Christmas killed at least 11 people, including eight children, an organization focused on international religious freedom reported.

  01/02/2025 - By Ken Camp / Managing Editor

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  Biden commutes sentences of 37 on federal death row

  Prior to Christmas, President Joe Biden commuted the sentences of all but three people on federal death row, converting their sentences to life in prison.

  01/02/2025 - By Jack Jenkins and Yonat Shimron / Religion News Service

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  Report ranks countries where religion faces hostility

  A report by Pew Research Center on international religious freedom named Egypt, Syria, Pakistan and Iraq as the countries where both government restrictions and social hostility most limit the ability of religious minorities to practice their faith.

  01/02/2025 - By Fiona André / Religion News Service