‘Know thyself.” This popular saying of the ancient world has been attributed to many Greek philosophers, including Socrates à la Plato and was inscribed on the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. Probably a common proverb used for various reasons and…
Burn victims find support in church, community
MINERAL, Va.—Elk Creek Baptist Church in Mineral, Va., is like hundreds of rural churches scattered along the turn of the road in the Mid-Atlantic. Nestled in a wooded area near the waters of Lake Anna, this small congregation saw a…
Mid-Atlantic relief groups ready to respond to Isaac
RICHMOND—Baptist disaster relief organizations in the Mid-Atlantic were poised to respond Aug. 29 as flooding from Hurricane Isaac inundated wide sections of every Gulf Coast state. Relief organizers in Virginia, North Carolina and the District of Columbia said no teams…
VITAL SIGNS: When the cavalry doesn’t come
The seasoned minister was addressing a group of young clergy and talking about some of the lessons learned on the job. You know, the ones you can’t learn in graduate school or from a book. These are the ones that…
At MC2, volunteers staff more than 30 mission sites
LYNCHBURG, Va.—The Network House, a safe place for abused women and children, is just one of the mission sites where volunteers served July 23-27 during MC2, an annual mission event sponsored by the Virginia Baptist Mission Board at Eagle Eyrie…
Mobile grocery diminishes impact of ‘food deserts’
RICHMOND—Residents of a low-income neighborhood on Richmond’s Northside, where full-service grocery stores are rare, are getting access to nutritious food, thanks to a Baptist project that aims to reduce the impact of “food deserts” sprinkled across the city and much…
In media oversight, churches lag behind
(ABP)—Sheryl Fancher likes to tell social media nightmare stories that make ministers cringe. Like the one about a pastor who posted derogatory remarks about church members on his Facebook page without realizing his account was set to public. Ouch. Fancher…
Churches lag in social media oversight, say experts
(ABP)—Sheryl Fancher likes to tell social media nightmare stories that make ministers cringe. Like the one about a pastor who posted derogatory remarks about church members on his Facebook page without realizing his account was set to public. Ouch. Fancher…
Church uses ‘bean poll’ to assist hunger ministries
MECHANICSVILLE, Va.—“It can be fun to do good for others,” says Jeff Scott, pastor of Northside Baptist Church in Mechanicsville, Va. That’s why the congregation is asking area voters, “Which presidential candidate is the most full of beans?” and using…
WINN RECOMMENDS
When I Was a Child, I Read Books, Marilynne Robinson (Farrar, Straus and Giroux) If Marilynne Robinson writes it, then it’s worth reading. With Pulitzer-wining Gilead, I fell in love with her fiction. Since then, I’ve been moved by her…
OPINION: Total recall
Science fiction is great for getting my mind churning. Sitting in the theater with an audience cheering the action and being impressed (or underwhelmed) by special effects is a great summer afternoon activity. But that’s not the whole reason it’s…
OPINION: The falconer
In his work The Second Coming, Irish poet William Butler Yeats shares the following bleak reflection: “Turning and turning in the widening gyre The falcon cannot hear the falconer; Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold.” Alex Gallimore Yeats penned…