(ABP) — They sound off during formal dinners, in restaurants, at the movies and even in churches. They’ve become the bane of every public speaker. The dreaded cell phones. As technology has given us the ability to reach out and…
County clears church’s housing project
A $38-million proposal by First Baptist Church of Clarendon in Arlington to develop an affordable housing complex was approved Oct. 23 by the Arlington County board. The Views of Clarendon, a unique mixed-use church and residential development project, will create…
Speakers predict sermons will change in the next wave of postmodern worship
Maybe the pulpit is a safe-house in the worship wars. In the past half century, evangelical worship has seen a lot of changes. Music styles have morphed, orders of service have flip-flopped, chalk talks gave way to PowerPoint presentations and…
Gary Baldridge to leave CBF missions post
(ABP) — Gary Baldridge, who with his wife has led the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship’s global missions effort for five years, will leave the CBF at the end of the year to return to a career in writing. Daniel Vestal, CBF…
Ministers are not able to leap tall buildings or stop bullets
Charles Chandler can joke about preachers suffering from “Superman syndrome” since he portrayed the “Man of Steel” when Metropolis, Ill., claimed the status as the superhero’s hometown. The first “Superman” for the city’s annual celebration, Chandler, now director of the…
Five suggestions for pastoral self-care
Charles Chandler, founder of the Ministering to Ministers Foundation, gives five suggestions of pastoral self-care. • Develop an informal feedback group within the congregation. Pastors should choose just a few that they can trust and whom other members talk to….
Gardner-Webb program aims to tackle hunger in region
BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. — Many Americans are still struggling to put food on the table, a full four years after the global recession ended, a new poll by Gallup shows. “Twenty percent of people polled last month said that they…
Why is it so hard for Christians to learn to lean on others?
The old hymn, Learning to Lean, encourages Christians to learn to lean on Jesus when they face life’s difficulties. Believers today emphasize being God’s hands and feet to minister to the world. But how many believers allow brothers and sisters…
Lean on other Christians — It’s biblical
The Bible offers the key ingredient Christians — laypeople, ministers and church leaders alike — need to help them learn to lean upon one another. Each believer is a necessary and vital part of the body of Christ. Robert Creech,…
A new book claims more Baptists will embrace liturgical forms of worship as inherently missional
(ABP) — Pastors and scholars familiar with a new book about liturgical worship say its publication signals the practice’s spread in Baptist churches which realize ancient Christian practices are inherently missional and may lure younger generations to the faith. Gathering…
Baptist to lead justice ministry for farmworkers
Lindsay Comstock (ABP) — Lindsay Comstock, an ordained Baptist minister, graduate of Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond and former human-trafficking specialist for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, is new executive director of the National Farm Worker Ministry, a faith-based organization advocating…
Do BYU visits signal evangelical-Mormon truce?
(RNS) — Last month, after being sure to get his caffeine fix at Starbucks, Southern Baptist leader Richard Land went where few evangelicals had dared to go before: the campus of Brigham Young University, the intellectual heart of Mormonism. After…