TAMPA, Fla. — Sagging financial contributions remain a challenge for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, members of the group’s Coordinating Council were told June 22. Current receipts are running at about 82 percent of the $14.5 million budget for 2010-2011, said…
BJC defends limits on lawsuits against religious organizations
WASHINGTON (ABP) – The Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty joined other groups in a legal brief arguing that a teacher fired by a Christian school should not be allowed to sue her former employer under the Americans with Disabilities…
AFA’s Bryan Fischer accuses SBC of pandering to gays, illegal aliens
TUPELO, Miss. (ABP) – A prominent conservative social activist has accused the Southern Baptist Convention of pandering to gays and illegal immigrants. Bryan Fischer Bryan Fischer, radio talk show host and spokesman for the American Family Association, commented in a…
CBFVA’s mission boxes for Liberia will enable young minds to grow
RICHMOND, Va. — The temperature topped 100 degrees as the mission trailer of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of Virginia pulled into the parking lot of Effort Baptist Church in Palmyra, Va., on June 9. Filled with 350 boxes packed by…
Roanoke Baptist walks to honor exceptional student and organ donor
ROAKOKE, Va. — For Shirley Young, finishing the race is part of keeping the faith. At 84, she’s walking in “Run With Grace” to honor a friend who died before she could finish her own races. Grace Lovegrove donated four…
WMU of North Carolina tackles poverty, other needs in mountains
AVERY COUNTY, N.C. — Woman’s Missionary Union of North Carolina volunteers and their families put their hands to service over the first week in June during a localized effort that modeled the national WMU MissionFEST/Family FEST. Ascending to Avery County…
HeraldBeat
TRANSITIONS ON THE MOVE Kevin Wirt, to Pleasant Hill Baptist Church, Troutville, Va., as pastor. Chuck Marshburn, to Tidewater Korean Church, Virginia Beach, Va., as English-speaking pastor. Robert Carpenter, resigning as pastor of Talbot Park Baptist Church, Norfolk. Don Harvey,…
All Southern Baptist eyes on black New Orleans pastor
NEW ORLEANS (RNS) Even before the Southern Baptist Convention elected the Rev. Fred Luter to national office, there was already widespread speculation that Luter is poised to become the denomination's first African-American president. Representatives of 16 million Southern…
AFA’s Bryan Fischer accuses SBC of pandering to gays, illegal aliens
TUPELO, Miss. (ABP) — A prominent conservative social activist has accused the Southern Baptist Convention of pandering to gays and illegal immigrants. Bryan Fischer, radio talk show host and spokesman for the American Family Association, commented in a blog that…
VITAL SIGNS: What will we do with failure?
Failure. Just saying the word in the same sentence as our name makes us nervous. Far too often, failure and ministry go together. Frequently, failure is the last word for ministers and churches. Many ministers’ inner life is marked by…
EDITORIAL: Positive signs in SBC leadership?
If you didn’t realize the Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting was being held last week in Phoenix, you were not alone. For the first time since 1944, fewer than 5,000 messengers registered for the two-day conference. Only 4,780 had registered…
HERITAGE: Fulfilling the covenant
Black Creek Baptist Church in rural Southampton County, Va., celebrated its 225th anniversary last month. The home folks put thought and effort into the anniversary. They invited former pastors and members. They created an instant museum out of one of…