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…
Religious Herald trustees approve merger with ABP to enhance mission and heritage of both
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…
Church budgets as moral statements
It may not feel like it to number-crunchers huddled around a Sunday school classroom table, fine-tuning annual financial proposals for an upcoming church business meeting. But church budgets are moral statements that reflect ethical priorities — and may be key…
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…
Beauty and the budget — it’s a balancing act to get it right
Houston-area residents know South Main Baptist Church for the beauty of its Romanesque sanctuary and for its reputation as a progressive congregation committed to meeting physical and spiritual needs, both locally and globally. Keeping the facility beautiful and the ministries…
Church budgets called moral statements which reflect ethical priorities and churches’ passions
It may not feel like it to number-crunchers huddled around a Sunday school classroom table, fine-tuning annual financial proposals for an upcoming church business meeting. But church budgets are moral statements that reflect ethical priorities — and may be key…
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…
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…
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…