内容摘要：The denomination’s belief statement says the office of pastor is limited to men, but there remain disagreements over whether this applies only to the lead pastor or to assistants as well. In recent years, the convention began purging churches that either had women as lead pastors or asserted that they could serve that role. But when an SBC committee this year retained a South Carolina megachurch with a woman on its pastoral staff, some argued this proved the need for a constitutional amendment. (The church later quit the denomination of its own accord.)

The denomination’s belief statement says the office of pastor is limited to men, but there remain disagreements over whether this applies only to the lead pastor or to assistants as well. In recent years, the convention began purging churches that either had women as lead pastors or asserted that they could serve that role. But when an SBC committee this year retained a South Carolina megachurch with a woman on its pastoral staff, some argued this proved the need for a constitutional amendment. (The church later quit the denomination of its own accord.)

Labour fared poorly inlast month, with many party representatives blaming the removal of the winter fuel payment.

Kemi Badenoch, leader of the main opposition Conservative Party, quickly pounced on Starmer’s about-face.“Keir Starmer has scrambled to clear up a mess of his own making,” she said. “This humiliating u-turn will come as scant comfort to the pensioners forced to choose between heating and eating last winter. The prime minister should now apologize for his terrible judgment.”MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (AP) — A Nigerian Catholic priest who recently served in the United States has been abducted by extremists along with other travelers in northeast Nigeria’s Borno state, the church said.

The Rev. Alphonsus Afina was kidnapped on June 1 near the northeastern town of Gwoza, close to the border with Cameroon, by the Islamic extremist group Boko Haram, Bishop John Bogna Bakeni of Maiduguri told The Associated Press on Sunday.Bakeni said that he spoke with the priest over the phone a day after the abduction. Afina, though exhausted from trekking, was “sounding OK” and “in good spirits” during the brief conversation, according to the bishop.

The priest was traveling from the city of Mubi, where he is based, to Maidiguri, the capital of Borno, for a workshop when his convoy was ambushed by armed men while waiting for clearance at a military checkpoint, he said.

A rocket-propelled grenade hit one of the vehicles, killing one person and wounding others, according to the bishop.Like other NATO members, the U.K. has been

in February 2022. Starmer has pledged to increase British defense spending to 2.5% of gross domestic product by 2027 and to 3% by 2034.Rutte has proposed a target of 3.5% of economic output on military spending and another 1.5% on “defense-related expenditure” such as roads, bridges, airfields and sea ports. He said last week he is confident the alliance will agree to the target at its summit in The Hague on June 24-25.

At the moment, 22 of the 32 member countries meet or exceed NATO’s current 2% target.The new target would meet