NEW YORK (RNS) — Studios and filmmakers are rediscovering a classic text as source material for upcoming mainstream films: the Bible. Nearly 10 years after the blockbuster success of Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ, which earned $611.9 million…
Does BYU visit by top Southern Baptist and other leaders 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…
50 years later C.S. Lewis’s legacy shines in U.S., but not his homeland
CANTERBURY, England (RNS) — When C.S. Lewis died on Nov. 22, 1963, hardly a soul blinked in Northern Ireland where he was born or in England where he spent most of his working life as one of the world’s greatest…
Bluefield College among few to earn ‘A’ rating from ACTA
BLUEFIELD, Va. — Bluefield College has achieved something only one other college in Virginia has done: garnered an “A” rating from the American Council of Trustees and Alumni for an outstanding general education program, a prestigious recognition reserved for only…
HERITAGE: On sailing: unfurling and taking in
The Baptist General Association of Virginia will consider its Governance Study Committee report at its annual meeting in Fredericksburg. The plan replaces a large board composed primarily of representatives of district associations to a small governing board of 15-20 persons…
HeraldBeat: Tracking Baptists across the Mid-Atlantic
Accepted a new call? Been ordained? Church celebrating an anniversary? Mission trip or project that you would like highlighted on the HeraldBeat page? Send info to HeraldBeat editor Barbara Francis at [email protected]. Transitions ON THE MOVE Cameron R. Edgar, to…
Tax-exempt status for churches: What’s the context?
Because of a senator’s action in 1954, churches have been included with certain other tax-exempt organizations restricted from electioneering — publicly endorsing or working against candidates for political office. The prohibition against political campaign intervention by nonprofits that qualify under…
LEADERSHIP LINK: Wanted: Adaptable leaders
We’ve had a failure to adapt. That’s the view of America’s military leadership from World War II to the present, in Tom Ricks’ detailed study, The Generals. The nature and tactics of war changed after World War II and Korea,…
VITAL SIGNS: The conversation we do not want to have
Our current economy, coupled with the ongoing transitions in congregational life and ministry focus, have combined to create intense pressure on church staffing models. With finances tight, congregations are being forced to take stock of the number of professional staff…