The Virginia Baptist Historical Society highlighted a series of accomplishments for the year during its annual meeting May 10 at First Baptist Church in Richmond-a meeting that followed by only a little more than a week a celebration of its executive director's 25th anniversary.
Members of the Society, celebrating the Baptist heritage of missions under the theme, “One Great Fellowship of Love,” heard a report of the Baptist World Alliance from its general secretary, Denton Lotz; and listened to an address on “Changing a Theology: Baptists, Salvation and Globalism” by Bill Leonard, dean and professor of church history at Wake Forest University Divinity School in Wake Forest, N.C.
They also elected new officers and welcomed the 2005-2006 Heritage Fellows of the Center for Baptist Heritage and Studies, which is housed in the Society's building on the campus of the University of Richmond.
Nancy Elliott, a member of Second Baptist Church in Richmond, will serve as the Society's president. Other officers are Dennis Sacrey, first vice president; Lee Shepard, second vice president; and Skip Irby, third vice president.
This year's Heritage Fellows are Diana Kristin Howell of Lynchburg College and Ann Katherine Major and Karen Anne Vassar, both of the College of William and Mary.
Fred Anderson, executive director of the Society, reported that highlights of the year included:
• Publication of the group's journal, the Virginia Baptist Register, which focused on Virginia Baptist pioneers in California;
• An exhibit on the Bible which included hundreds of copies of Scripture, some dating to the 12th and 13th centuries;
• The acquisition of a gavel from First Baptist Church in Augusta, Ga., in which the Southern Baptist Convention was founded in 1845;
In addition, Anderson reported that retired pastor Jim Slatton has been scholar-in-residence at the Society, where he is researching the diaries and papers of William H. Whitsett, a prominent 19th-century Baptist.
Earlier, on April 29, Anderson was honored at a banquet commemorating his 25th year as executive director of the Society. Friends and family shared memories and anecdotes at the event, held at River Road Church, Baptist, in Richmond, Anderson's home congregation.
Staff report