John D. Pierce

ATLANTA (BP)–Former basketball star Mark Price has picked up a lot of titles since leaving Enid, Okla., in 1982 for Georgia Tech and then the NBA — three-time all-ACC, four-time NBA all-star and Dream Team II gold medalist. But he recently added another — “Coach Price.” “I’ve always enjoyed Tech and Coach [Bobby] Cremins,” said […]

MACON, Ga. (BP)–Messengers to the Georgia Baptist Convention annual meeting Nov. 16 overwhelmingly voted to “withdraw fellowship” from two Atlanta-area congregations over their policies and practices concerning homosexuality. The action that drew wide media coverage centered on Oakhurst Baptist Church in Decatur and Virginia-Highland Baptist Church in one of Atlanta’s most popular in-town communities. Both […]

ATLANTA (BP)–Oakhurst Baptist Church, Decatur, Ga. will become the first congregation removed from the fellowship of the Georgia Baptist Convention in its 177-year history if messengers to the annual meeting Nov.15-16 in Macon approve a recommendation adopted by the convention’s executive committee during its Sept. 14 meeting. With just one audible dissent, the committee voted […]

CONYERS, Ga. (BP)–While investigators worked behind crime scene tape at suburban Atlanta’s Heritage High School the next day after a well-publicized May 20 shooting, nearly 800 students, parents and community leaders gathered at nearby Heritage Hills Baptist Church to hear an update from school officials and to find comfort in being together. “We’re just trying […]

ATLANTA (BP)–Georgia Baptist Convention executive committee members, during their Sept. 15 meeting in Atlanta, voted overwhelmingly to send a proposed constitutional amendment to the state convention meeting Nov.16-17 concerning both charismatic worship and homosexuality. Because there are those “who preach another gospel” it is time for Georgia Baptists to expand requirements for member congregations to […]

MT. VERNON, Ga. (BP)–After months of intense negotiations, hopeful predictions and key leadership changes, Brewton-Parker College has reached an out-of-court settlement with federal officials over claims that the school misappropriated financial aid grants in recent years. For Brewton-Parker, a Baptist affiliated college in Mt. Vernon, Ga., major terms and conditions of the agreement include: — […]

MACON, Ga. (BP)–Mercer University’s board of trustees voted overwhelmingly at their Dec. 4 meeting to support a nine-point reconciliation plan drafted by a subcommittee of the Georgia Baptist Convention executive committee in consultation with university leaders and approved by messengers to the GBC’s annual meeting in November.While affirming their autonomy in matters of directing the […]

ATLANTA (BP)--Imagine someone from the ministerial staff of your church visiting a member who is homebound by illness or injury. Now imagine that staff member not only giving words of encouragement, discussing activities of the church and offering a prayer, but testing the blood sugar level of the confined person, clarifying the use of prescribed medications and suggesting referrals for specialized medical care.