Kentucky

The pastor of a small church in Eastern Kentucky that barred interracial couples from becoming members or leading worship said he planned to ask members to strike down the decision, perhaps as early as Sunday.

Pastor Stacy Stepp of the Gulnare Free Will Baptist Church said he would call for a new vote on the ban, possibly on Sunday. “We’re going to get it resolved,” Lexington Herald-Leader quoted him as saying.

Stepp said he was confident the roughly 45 members of the church in Pike County, Ky., will overturn the resolution. more >>

A Kentucky pastor has accused a Baptist governing body of ousting his church from its association for showing "too much grace" after board members took issue with the ministry sharing its place of worship with a gay-friendly group.

The Daviess-McLean Baptist Association (DMBA) voted 242-24 in favor of dropping Journey Fellowship Church in Owensboro, Ky. from its credentials committee due to members of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) being allowed to hold meetings at the church.

While Journey Fellowship's pastor, Bob Coons, sees the issue as a matter of grace, Jerry Tooley, executive director of DMBA, sees the board's decision as a matter of orthodoxy. more >>

The proposed merger between University of Louisville Hospital and Catholic Health Initiatives has caused a stir in the Kentucky community. Opponents of the merger do not like some of the values that the Catholic company would bring.

Catholic hospitals, consistent with Catholic doctrine, do not provide contraception or sterilization procedures, such as tubal ligation, perform abortions, or allow embryonic stem-cell research.

Over 400 Louisville residents signed a petition opposing the merger, according to Inside Higher Ed. more >>

Vacation Bible School (VBS) is no longer the only vacation school in town thanks to Kentucky members of Glenn Beck's grassroots liberty group called the 9/12 Project.

Vacation Liberty School (VLS) treads the line of faith and politics to teach children ages 10 to 15 the virtues of a democratic society, God's role in the founding of America and even economic issues like inflation. However, the creators of the curriculum say they do not wish to interfere with the spiritual importance of VBS or convert attendees to a particular party's politics. They simply want to the youth to know more about America's founding.

VLS has taken Kentucky and the nation by storm since the idea was first conceived last year. more >>

The Creation Museum has a new exhibit that aims to debunk the evolutionary theory that an "ape-man" or apelike creature existed.

A year in the making, the "Ape Man" exhibit was dedicated this week and joins some 160 other exhibits that illustrate a literal interpretation of the Bible.

"There are and always have been – since the sixth day of creation recorded in Genesis – apes and humans. But there never have been any 'ape-men' as part of an evolutionary process," said Ken Ham, founder of the Petersburg, Ky., museum, in a statement Thursday. more >>

Developers of a biblical theme park in Kentucky said Tuesday they have raised over $3 million toward the building of its main attraction, a life-sized Noah's Ark.

"Just as God brought the animals to Noah by the appropriate time (Genesis 6:20), He’s providing the resources for this dynamic experience," read an announcement by Ark Encounter, which is behind the $150 million theme park of the same name.

The full-size, all-wood ark will be built using donations and cost $24.5 million. Ken Ham’s Answers in Genesis, known for the popular Creation Museum in Petersburg, Ky., is working in partnering with Ark Encounter LLC to build the attraction. more >>