As the Southern Baptist Convention considers changing its 166-year-old name in order to reach more people for Christ, denominational leaders have made it clear that they don't plan on removing "Baptist" from its name.

After months of discussion, a task force appointed to study the possibility of changing SBC’s name has reached a decision, as reported by Baptist Press. The task force met Wednesday in Atlanta, Ga., for the second time and has come up with recommendations that it will present to SBC’s executive committee at a meeting on Feb. 20.

Task force chairman Jimmy Draper said in a statement to Baptist Press that “Baptist” would remain in the title, and that the main reason for the name change was to ensure there were no barriers in their evangelizing efforts. more >>

The National Association of Free Will Baptists has released a study guide titled "Racism, the Bible, and the Church: A Biblical Perspective," after a Free Will congregation in Pike County, Ky., sparked national outcry over its independent decision to bar interracial couples from membership.

The study guide, which brands racism as a sin, was released by the NAFWB on Wednesday, Dec. 7, about two weeks after Gulnare Freewill Baptist Church passed the controversial proposal on Sunday, Nov. 27. 

The proposal read: more >>

Hoping to provide useful data to help settle the Southern Baptist Convention’s dilemma on whether to change the Christian denomination’s name, a research group released a study Wednesday on how Americans view the SBC along with other faith groups.

The majority of Americans have a favorable impression of Southern Baptists, according to the LifeWay Research study. However, 40 percent of respondents have an unfavorable view of the denomination and more than a third strongly assume an SBC church is not for them.

The negative viewpoint is slightly higher (44 percent) among the unchurched, according to the study. more >>

Another church in America may soon split from the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) following the recent changes in the denomination’s standards, including the allowance of gay clergy and lay leaders.

The First Presbyterian Church of North Palm Beach, Fla., is expected to begin discussions of the potential split Wednesday night among their congregants, which totals more than 1,000 members.

Ken Kirby, one of the organizers of the upcoming meeting, told The Palm Beach Post “it would be oversimplifying to reduce the decision to the issue of gay clergy.” more >>

The Anglican Mission in the Americas (the Anglican Mission), a conservative group trying to keep the outward focus and missionary tradition of the Anglican Church alive in the United States and Canada, is in the midst of significant transitions.

Motivated by a new archbishop in Rwanda, the resignation of Bishop Terrell Glenn and Anglican Mission Leader Chuck Murphy’s retirement announcement, church leaders are considering their next steps as an organization.

Bishop T.J. Johnston, rector at St. Peter’s Church in Mount Pleasant, S.C., released a letter Friday regarding the changes. He said he wanted to address the recent resignation and the church’s relationship with Rwanda. more >>

The fallout from the decision of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to allow noncelibate homosexuals to become clergy and lay leaders continues as more churches vote to break away.

Sumner Presbyterian Church of Sumner, Wash., voted on Sunday to leave the PC (USA) due to the change in the denomination’s constitution.

Around 90 percent of the congregation supported the move to break away, with the church planning to become part of the Evangelical Covenant Church. more >>