RICHMOND — If you are one of those people who likes to decipher custom license plates, here’s one for you: KOH2RVA. It’s an acronym for “Kingdom of Heaven to Richmond, Virginia” and if you happen to spot this plate you’re…
BGAV’s unwieldy governing structure must be ‘modified or replaced,’ says study committee
RICHMOND — Baptist General Association of Virginia governing structures are “too large, cumbersome and disjointed to be efficient and effective” and must be “modified or replaced,” says a committee authorized last fall to propose changes in the way the 190-year-old…
Eddie Stratton to retire Dec. 31 after 11 years as Baptist General Association of Virginia treasurer
RICHMOND — Eddie Stratton will retire Dec. 31 as treasurer of the Baptist General Association of Virginia after more than 11 years in the role, he announced April 16. Stratton, who also serves as the Virginia Baptist Mission Board’s treasurer,…
Virginia Baptist Women in Ministry celebrates first 25 years at annual ‘Feast’
RICHMOND — The 25th anniversary of Virginia Baptist Women in Ministry was a highlight of the fifth annual “Feast” gathering, as about 80 members, both men and women, gathered at Grace Baptist Church in Richmond for a day of retreat. …
Religious Herald, Associated Baptist Press announce plans for merger
The Religious Herald and Associated Baptist Press have agreed in principle to a merger of their operations, creating a new Baptist media platform which leaders of the two news organizations said will enhance the mission and heritage of both. In…
Beeping eggs help seeing-impaired children participate in Easter tradition
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — Two-and-a-half year old Paul Bloxom experienced the joy of his first Easter egg hunt on April 6. His parents brought him from their home in Chincoteague, Va., to First Baptist Church in Newport News, Va., to…
OPINION: Creating contexts for conversion, part 1
What is the likeliest context in which someone who is not currently a Jesus follower will take up such a journey? This is the question readily apparent and to which several answers were given at a recent conference I had…
OPINION: Why things break apart and how they get back together
“A few years ago, researchers completed the most meticulous survey ever made of the San Andreas Fault. They found detailed features that nobody could have seen before. “ (Headline from Earth and Science, December 2005) Everyone agrees: it’s just a…
OPINION: The art of doing nothing
The art of being busy is not art at all. It is illusion — movement masked as purpose, distracting one’s audience from realizing that there is not much going on at all. The real art, the difficult, lost, and hard…
Liberty University lifts campus gun ban, allows permit holders to carry weapons everywhere but dorms
LYNCHBURG, Va. (ABP) — Trustees of Liberty University have changed the Christian school’s weapons policy to allow students, faculty and staff and visitors with concealed-carry permits to bring weapons into all campus facilities except for dormitories. The policy change went…
LEADERSHIP LINK: Church staffs need to pray more and play more
I don’t have a study to back up my assumption that church staff members need to pray more, but based on my own observations I feel comfortable making the assertion. As Yogi Berra is credited with saying, “You can observe…
Nominees for restructured CBF organization include leaders from Mid-Atlantic region
ATLANTA — Leaders in the Mid-Atlantic are among nominees approved April 4 by the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship’s Coordinating Council for positions on three new administrative bodies, created last year in a restructuring proposed by a blue-ribbon task force. The council…