An evangelical financial services organization has announced that it opposes President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act, dubbed Obamacare, and the contraception mandate recently issued by the Department of Health and Human Services.

GuideStone Financial Resources, the Dallas-based organization that serves as the benefits board for the Southern Baptist Convention, released a statement on Monday declaring its opposition to what it calls "any governmental intrusion on the ability of church health plans to reflect fundamental and long held religious convictions."

"This encroachment on religious freedom is blatant and outrageous and should be taken seriously by those of us who are part of the body of believers, as well as by others who respect and regard this nation's history and constitutional foundation," said GuideStone President O.S. Hawkins in the statement. more >>

WASHINGTON – President Obama took a markedly more political tone in his address at the National Prayer Breakfast Thursday morning than he did at the same event last year.

The president talked about his public policy stances, including barring health insurance companies from rejecting people with pre-existing conditions and reducing tax breaks for the wealthy, hand-in-hand with his faith, often citing snippets of popular Bible verses.

"[S]o when I talk about our financial institutions playing by the same rules as folks on Main Street…or making sure that unscrupulous lenders aren't taking advantage of the most vulnerable among us, I do so because I genuinely believe it will make the economy strong for everybody," Obama said. more >>

The North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention hopes to found 75 new churches in the city of St. Louis, Mo. – a city that many evangelicals have abandoned.

For every 7,037 people in St. Louis, there is only one Southern Baptist Church, according to the Association of Religion Data Archives. Only 14.8 percent of residents identify themselves as evangelical.

The urbanization of St. Louis and its rising crime issues, as well as a preexisting racial divide made worse with time, have forced many churches to leave the city, Jason Zellmer, pastor of Peine Ridge Church in Wentzville, lamented. more >>

Southern Baptist churches will commemorate Sanctity of Life month on Jan. 15. Several Kentucky Baptist-affiliated pregnancy resource centers are set to speak at these churches Sunday.

The Central Kentucky Crisis pregnancy center is one of 49 pregnancy care centers participating in Sanctity of Life this weekend.

Marcia Gilbert, director of the center, told The Christian Post that their organization will speak at Southern Baptist churches regarding the fight for pro-life, the current state of the country’s pro-life movement, and what the center does to help someone in a crisis pregnancy. more >>

Southern Baptists are set to plant as many as 100 churches in Cleveland over the next five years, according to a new initiative by the North American Mission Board (NAMB).

About half of Cleveland residents do not affiliate themselves with a church, NAMB reported, calculating that one Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) church exists for every 42,500 Cleveland residents.

Church members from around the country are being called into action to help plant churches in the northeastern Ohio city. According to NAMB, the SBC network is critical to initiating and supporting nascent churches in Cleveland. more >>

Kenneth Starr, president of the world’s largest Baptist educational institution, Baylor University, is urging voters to choose candidates based on who has the qualifications to be president, rather than on which, if any, faith group they belong to.

Starr addressed the upcoming New Hampshire primary and the question prospective voters may be asking themselves regarding a candidate’s religion, mainly if they can vote for someone who is of the Mormon faith, such as former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

Some, like State Rep. Judy Manning (R-Marietta), who have endorsed former speaker of the House Newt Gingrich for the Republican nomination, have suggested that Romney’s faith would be a problem for voters. more >>