LOS ANGELES (RNS) — Before actress Roma Downey met her husband, her Touched by an Angel co-star Della Reese had a bit of advice. “Baby, you need to pray that God will choose a partner for you,” Downey recalled Reese…
Exhibit highlights blacks’ connection to Scripture
NEW YORK (RNS) — A new exhibit at New York’s Museum of Biblical Art makes one point clear and inescapable: Biblical narratives and imagery have been an underlining constant in the life of African-American Christians. From the days of slavery…
Bill in North Carolina Senate would permit elective Bible classes in public high schools
RALEIGH — Public high schools in North Carolina could offer elective Bible classes if a bill introduced in the state Senate Feb. 26 is adopted by the General Assembly. The bill by Republican Sen. Stan Bingham of Denton, N.C., would…
Congregation targets human trafficking in Central Virginia community with Psalm 91 House
PALMYRA, Va. — While taking a hard look at the tragedy of human trafficking last fall, the Ladies Night ministry at Effort Baptist Church in Palmyra, Va., found the horrors of sexual slavery shocking. Though a global issue and one…
Missional strategist, church planter named first full-time coordinator of V3
RICHMOND — JR Woodward, a missiologist with more than 20 years of experience as a church planter and pastor, has been named first full-time coordinator of V3 Tribe, a missional church planting movement with ties to Virginia Baptists. Woodward, who…
Helping churches find ‘closure’ after a pastor leaves is focus of training event
LYNCHBURG, Va. — Challenges facing intentional interim pastors as they help churches achieve “closure” during leadership transitions will be the focus of a March 4 event sponsored by the Virginia Network of Interim Ministers. “Cake and Coffee Is Not Enough!”,…
Some aging churches are mergering with younger, multi-cultural congregations in order to stay alive
Things were looking bleak for Orange Grove Baptist Church and its aging membership when Greg Shoemaker arrived as its pastor about a year ago. Located just north of Pascagoula, Miss., the congregation and community around it had been hit hard…
CBF churches in D.C., Md. offer ‘great resources’ for larger CBF movement, says regional leader
BOWIE, Md. — Cooperative Baptist Fellowship churches in Maryland and the District of Columbia have significant human and financial resources to share with the national CBF movement and they need to “tap into that” to impact the organization, members of…
First woman pastor of church with Lottie Moon ties finds inspiration in historical connection
SCOTTSVILLE, Va. — Scottsville Baptist Church, a Virginia congregation closely associated with iconic Baptist missionary Lottie Moon, called its first woman pastor — Katie McKown — last fall, continuing a long tradition of female leadership in the church. The church,…