Like most 24-year-old men, Stephen Jones is keenly interested in sin. But while many of his peers enjoy their youthful indiscretions, Jones takes a more, shall we say, Puritanical stand. The weekend of June 12-15, Jones and 4,000 other young…
Major Baptist celebrations begin this week in Europe
WASHINGTON, D.C. (BWA) — The Baptist World Alliance and the European Baptist Federation have planned major activities July 24-Aug. 1 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the founding of the Baptist movement. The EBF, one of six regional fellowships…
Baptists support separation of church and state, but not all agree what it means
WASHINGTON (ABP) — Baptists have, since their earliest days, been advocates of religious liberty and its corollary, the separation of church and state. But different groups of modern-day Baptists in the United States interpret church-state separation — and the Constitution’s…
On church-state issues, Obama brings new perspective, incremental policy change
WASHINGTON (ABP) — Americans who expected President Obama to make swift and dramatic changes from his predecessor on church-state relations may be disappointed. In his first few months in office, Obama has indicated only a handful of alterations to President…
Human rights offering helps Christians in Middle East plant house churches
FREMONT, Calif. (ABP) — She gets up early, traveling all day to teach Bible studies and lead worship services. She must remain unknown to keep the churches she works with safe. She does her work quietly, fearing persecution — or…
Oppressed believers view separation of church and state differently from underside
For many Baptists in the United States, the separation of church and state is no more than a historical concept or fodder for the culture wars. For Baptist minority groups in other countries, however, it can be a matter of…
Bluefield College hosts teens on a mission to ‘Impact Virginia’
BLUEFIELD — More than 200 youth from Baptist churches across Virginia swarmed the Bluefield College campus June 28-July 4 to make an "impact" on Greater Bluefield through service projects in the community. Virginia Baptist youth repair the roof on a…
HERITAGE: The rabbit trap
In 1915 Frederic W. Boatwright was the busy president of the University of Richmond (although at the time the school was still known as Richmond College). He had just lived through the first academic year of the school’s relocation from…
Virginia musician chosen to lead hymn society
RICHMOND (ABP) — A Baptist woman has been tapped to head an organization of church leaders and artists dedicated to preserving the congregational singing of hymns. Deborah Carlton Loftis, visiting professor of church music at Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond,…