Trustees of the Religious Herald voted unanimously Oct. 7 to merge with Associated Baptist Press, creating a new print and online media platform aimed at enhancing the mission and heritage of both organizations. ABP executive David Wilkinson called it “truly…
CBFVA announces its first mission coordinator at meeting which also adopts increased budget
RICHMOND — The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of Virginia has named a Richmond minister to be the organization’s first mission coordinator. Mark Snipes, who had been associate pastor of youth and young adults at Central Baptist Church in Richmond, assumed his…
Suffolk, Va., pastor Mark Croston, former BGAV president, to assume LifeWay position
SUFFOLK, Va. — Mark Croston, a longtime Virginia pastor and former president of the Baptist General Association of Virginia, has been named national director of black church partnerships for the Southern Baptist Convention’s LifeWay Christian Resources in Nashville, Tenn. Mark…
EDITORIAL: Duty demands it
Last week, Bill Webb, an editor colleague from Missouri, and I sat with an interpreter and listened to heart-breaking accounts from Syrian refugees of life and death. And hopelessness. (See “Dispiriting Stories” on p. 15.) In the form of Syrian…
TRENDING: What our words tell us, part 1: Me, myself and I
My friend Jim Baucom pointed me to a column written recently by one of my favorite writers, David Brooks. Brooks wrote a wonderful, breezy book in 2001 called Bobos In Paradise, a self-described “comic sociology” of sweeping generalizations about the…
OPINION: Women and the pastoral landscape
I can’t help looking at the little signs outside churches. “Faith makes things possible, not easy” has been the message on the board of the Methodist church near my house for two weeks now. Recently, something else has started to…
With mailboxes and lockers, Richmond church helps homeless transition to more stable lifestyle
RICHMOND — Home is where your mailbox is and for some homeless residents in Richmond’s historic Oregon Hill neighborhood, that’s now Pine Street Baptist Church. The recent addition of 50 lockers and 25 mailboxes is about more than a safe…
HeraldBeat: Tracking Baptists across the Mid-Atlantic
Accepted a new call? Been ordained? Church celebrating an anniversary? Mission trip or project that you would like highlighted on the HeraldBeat page? Send info to HeraldBeat editor Barbara Francis at [email protected]. Transitions ON THE MOVE John Broyles, to Mount…
LEADERSHIP LINK: Balancing cost, benefit to build a retirement plan
A comprehensive retirement plan doesn’t just enhance the compensation package your staff receives. It also strengthens your church’s ability to attract and retain the best employees while balancing your costs. When that employee reaches retirement age, having built a good…
HERITAGE: The secret behind the struggle
People today like to blog. They spill forth their innermost thoughts and share them on all forms of social media. In earlier times people did the same thing, only they wrote formal letters. In the 1860s one Richmond pastor wrote…
WINN RECOMMENDS: Books that matter
The World Is Not Ours To Save, by Tyler Wigg-Stevenson (IVP) A number of years ago, I read an essay where Tyler Wigg-Stevenson said, “The world is not ours to save, but we do serve the mission of the God…
VITAL SIGNS: Five essential tools for healthy ministry
Very regularly, ministers ask for my help with ministerial and congregational life in very pragmatic ways. What is the best way to organize, plan, preach, administer, supervise, lead, teach, evangelize, pray, cultivate a spiritual life, raise a family, play? You…