“I'd like to see the CEOs of these companies march down Wall Street in sackcloth and ashes.” Cokie Roberts The ABC news analyst was speaking on “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” about Wall Street executives who asked Washington to bail…
Fireproof makes Hollywood premiere
HOLLYWOOD, Calif. (BP) — Californians who don't attend church heard the gospel in a cultural context last weekend that may have taken some off-guard. That's because Sherwood Baptist Church's latest movie, Fireproof, had its Hollywood debut Sept. 25 and presented…
Survey shows megachurches more intimate, less gullible than stereotypes
WASHINGTON (ABP) — A new survey by Baylor University researchers suggests megachurches are more intimate, believers less gullible and atheism less prevalent than popular stereotypes would suggest. Results of the 2008 Baylor Religion Survey were released in a Washington press…
Some conservatives say: ‘A woman VP? Sure. A woman pastor? No way’
WASHINGTON (RNS) — There may never be a female pastor leading Tony Perkins' Southern Baptist congregation in Louisiana, but there could be a woman taking over the vice president's mansion in Washington. And as Perkins sees it, there's no contradiction…
Editor receives training in ‘Planned Gifts’
Last week, Religious Herald editor and business manager Jim White received a certificate of proficiency in planned giving from the School of Philanthropy in Indianapolis, Ind. The School of Philanthropy is operated in partnership by Indiana and Perdue universities. “In…
Human rights rooted in Bible, not political philosophy
ATLANTA — Concern about hu-man rights means biblically grounded compassion for oppressed people — not a selfish desire to protect one's own property or prestige, Baptist ethicist Glen Stassen told the National Summit on Torture. “It has been the defenders…
Virginia Baptist volunteers join Texas Baptists to provide assistance after Ike
LIBERTY, Texas — Less than 72 hours after Hurricane Ike made landfall, a convoy of Virginia Baptist disaster relief units pulled into the parking lot of First Baptist Church, Liberty, Texas. By the next afternoon, Sept. 16, almost 100 Virginia…
Tortured suffer lasting effects in body & soul, experts say
ATLANTA (ABP) — Nearly two decades ago, Dianna Ortiz says, Guatemalan security forces abducted her and took her to a clandestine prison where she was gang-raped; burned more than 100 times with cigarettes; forced to cut another woman with a…
Four in 10 think clergy should endorse candidates
WASHINGTON (RNS) — Four in 10 Americans believe religious leaders should be permitted to endorse political candidates from the pulpit without risking their organization's tax-exempt status, a new survey by the First Amendment Center shows. Twenty-two percent of respondents “strongly”…
VIRGINIA BRIEFS
Bluefield College earns membership in Council for Christian Colleges and Universities. Bluefield College has been awarded full membership into the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities, a higher education association of more than 180 intentionally Christ-centered institutions around the world….
Remembering 9-11
NORFOLK — The young adults at Freemason Street Baptist Church in Norfolk got their hands dirty for missions at a seamen's center. Virginia Intermont College in Bristol worked with a shelter for families facing homelessness and abuse. Gayton Baptist Church…
The nature of forgiveness
In your Sept. 18 issue Tom Ehrich said that “Forgiveness grows out of a determination to live ….” I am not sure what he is saying, but certainly determination to live is not a biblical basis for forgiveness, so I…