While North Carolina Baptists feel effects of a slowing economy some areas feel the pinch more than others.

A man from Graffiti Church in New York works on an Operation Inasmuch project.

Contributed photo

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Joining 28 other churches, Graffiti Church sent 11 men from New York City to work with Operation Inasmuch volunteers in Caldwell County.

"It was a wonderful time," said Larry Osborne, North Carolina native and missions director for Graffiti. "I saw the spiritual growth. For some of the guys it was their first time out of the city."

Some churches that for years bypassed the Baptist State Convention (BSC) by sending large portions of their mission money directly to the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) are rethinking that strategy - and saying the BSC's conservative direction is prompting their move.

INDIANAPOLIS - Candidates are lining up two-by-two for this year's Southern Baptist Convention presidency, like animals filing into Noah's Ark - two big-church pastors, two small-church pastors, two former missionaries.

Washington, D.C. - Members of Baptist World Aid (BWAid) Rescue24, a search, rescue and relief team, have been granted visas to enter Myanmar and China to assess the needs of those affected by disasters.

WASHINGTON - Evangelical leaders who reject arguments that climate change is human-induced but are nevertheless concerned about the environment are trying to gather 1 million signatures of people who agree with them.

Forrest Pollock

File photo

Baptist Press

ASHEVILLE - Florida pastor Forrest Pollock and a 13-year-old son were killed May 12 when the single-engine plane Pollock was flying crashed in North Carolina.

Tracy Tynette Eure gets a final hug from a Chowan University professor May 10 as she waits in line to ring the bell.

Chowan University photo

N.C. Baptist schools are awarding degrees to almost 4,000 graduates at ceremonies across the state this month. Continuing a tradition, Chowan University graduates rang a bell in the Susan Parker Kerr Gazebo immediately following the school's commencement ceremony.

Eleven N.C. Baptists have been nominated or named to serve on Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) boards or committees.

Les Puryear

Baptist Press

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Les Puryear, pastor of Lewisville Baptist Church, will be nominated for president of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) during the SBC's June 10-11 annual meeting in Indianapolis, Dwight McKissic, senior pastor of Cornerstone Baptist Church in Arlington, Texas, announced May 12.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - One week after an effort to oust 71 members of Two Rivers Baptist Church failed by four votes, the Nashville megachurch voted again and this time removed the dissidents on a show-of-hands vote.

NEW ORLEANS - The emerging church movement, much like postmodernism, is too diverse for easy definition, with participants scattered along a lengthy continuum, Ed Stetzer told a Baptist College Partnership meeting at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.

Dottie Rambo

Photo by Morris Abernathy

Baptist Press

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Gospel music legend Dottie Rambo died early May 11 when her tour bus veered from a Missouri highway and struck an embankment.

NEW YORK - C.S. Lewis' "Chronicles of Narnia" book series is so revered by Christian readers that adapting the books into film becomes a delicate tightrope. Changes risk alienating fans, but what works in the books doesn't always translate well to the big screen.

Caleb Courtney

Photo by Luis Ascui

Discovery Kids Channel

When Caleb Courtney first appeared on "Endurance: Fiji," he thought the show might change his life.

"I have a couple of 9-year-old kids that think I'm the bomb," said Courtney, but other than that, life has continued as normal for the busy sophomore at Watauga High School in Boone.

After a natural disaster strikes in the United States, the question almost immediately arises: Where was God? Or, did God allow this to happen?

Danny Akin

BR photo by Norman Jameson

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The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) may be top heavy, bloated and unfocused but it is "premature" to write its obituary, according to Danny Akin, president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.

A North Carolina Baptist Men's assessment team of two is on its way to Thailand to seek visas to enter devastated Myanmar.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Citing widespread confusion about what it means to be an "evangelical," a group of Christian leaders issued a manifesto proposing to define the identity and commitments of evangelical Christians.

LifeWay Research

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - While economists debate how serious America's economic slowdown really is, Southern Baptist pastors report their members are still giving, in spite of the financial pressures felt by many families.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Raima, a hearing-impaired craftsperson in Mauritius, is part of an artisan group called CraftAid that provides jobs for people with disabilities. While working with her artisan group, she met her husband, Tana, who is also hearing-impaired. The couple now have a son and provide for their family by making unique handcrafted cards sold through WorldCrafts. They have learned that deafness does not handicap their hope.

Baptist World Aid (BWAid), the relief and development arm of the Baptist World Alliance (BWA), has pledged $50,000 to assist with emergency relief efforts in Myanmar.