JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (ABP) — Rob Marus has left his position as managing editor of Associated Baptist Press. David Wilkinson, ABP's executive director, said Marus' departure, effective Jan. 15, was an outgrowth of a "rigorous assessment" of the news organization's priorities…
Baptists work for peace, relief amid ethnic violence in India
FALLS CHURCH, Va. (ABP) — Baptist leaders called for global prayer for peacemaking efforts and for churches and communities affected by ethnic strife in northeast India. According to the Baptist World Alliance, the Garo Baptist Convention mobilized relief efforts to…
Seminary moving forward with plans to evict association
FORT WORTH, Texas (ABP) — Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary has indicated in a second letter that it intends to pursue its claim to office space currently used by Tarrant Baptist Association, apparently because the association retains as a member a…
Westboro spokeswoman: Message, not messenger, the issue
NEW YORK (ABP) — A spokeswoman for Westboro Baptist Church said on national radio Jan. 17 that people should be less concerned about the group's presence near funerals of fallen soldiers than with their message that America faces God's judgment…
Church gives away new home
DEXTER, Mo. (ABP) — As the area's economy continued to decline, Missouri Baptist pastor Steve Easterwood asked himself, "What can our church do to help?" The church where Easterwood is senior pastor, responded, "Let's give away a house." First Baptist…
Tireless retirees help burned-out church rise from ashes
ATHENS, Texas (ABP) — One year after Lake Athens Baptist Church lost its building to arson — and the same week two young men received life sentences for burning a string of East Texas churches — —more than 30 Texas…
CBF leaders join in CCT response to King’s jail letter
ATLANTA (ABP) — Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Executive Coordinator Daniel Vestal and Moderator-elect Colleen Burroughs have issued a historic letter in response to Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1963 “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” The statement responding to King’s letter emerged from the…
Religious Herald marks 183 years
RICHMOND, Va. — Virginia Baptist leaders and Religious Herald staff gathered in downtown Richmond Jan. 11 to mark the day 183 years earlier the Virginia Baptist newsjournal published its first issue. Marking the Herald’s 183rd anniversary were (from left) Jim…
From the Eastern Shore to the Cumberland Gap
STAFF CHANGES • Robert Brown, to Black-stone Church, Blackstone, as pastor. • Ben Sturgis, to Orchard Drive Church, Bassett, as pastor. • Kevin Wirt, to Pleasant Hill Church, Daleville, as pastor. • Matthew McCraney, to Rock Hill Church, Stafford, as…
VIRGINIA BAPTIST FORUM: Protests dropping of Herald subscription
I would like to protest. Since 1975 I have been a member of BGAV churches. I am a retired pastor, a member of Story Creek Baptist Church in Franklin County. I protest having to pay for a copy of the…
ASK THE ARCHITECT: Master plan criteria
Whether your church is relocating to a new site or expanding within your existing property, there are a number of master plan criteria to consider. The following will impact the shaping of your master plan — they are the specific…
VITAL SIGNS: A year of ‘gracious uncertainty’
On the threshold of a new decade in our new millennium, there is a pervasive mood among God's people: uncertainty. We hear it weekly from clergy and laity alike, usually around a specific concern regarding employment or finances or conflict…