ORLANDO, Fla. (ABP) — A group of women and men calling themselves the Freedom for Christian Women Coalition has demanded an apology for religious teaching they say is harmful to women. Shirley Taylor, founder of Baptist Women for Equality, presented the…
Jimmy Carter credits Jimmy Allen for election
Jimmy Allen responds at an event introducing a new book about his life and career. JASPER, Ga. (ABP) — Jimmy Carter said July 23 he doubts he would have been elected 39th president of the United States without the aid…
Bluefield College names football coach
BLUEFIELD, Va. — Bluefield College president David Olive announced in a press conference July 23 that Mike Gravier has been named to resurrect Bluefield’s football program after a 69-year absence. Gravier, a Michigan native, coached on the high school level…
Progressive North Carolina church welcomes far-right protest group
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (ABP) — A prominent North Carolina congregation long known for its progressive stances welcomed a group of anti-gay, anti-abortion, anti-Islam protesters to its worship service July 18 — even as a nearby conservative church shunned the group. An…
Rick Warren hospitalized with eye injury
(Editor's note: The version of this story originally published July 22 incorrectly stated Warren had reported his condition via Twitter on July 20. The fourth paragraph has been corrected to note that Warren tweeted the news July 22.) LAKE FOREST,…
Columbaria bring members of church family home for final rest
DALLAS (ABP) — With the decline in church-based cemeteries, many churches became disconnected from death in the last century — but some congregations are seeking to correct that problem. Pastor George Mason (center) leads the dedication service for the columbarium…
‘PandaMonium’ VBS theme draws complaints because of word’s genesis
LOVELAND, Colo. (ABP) — An interdenominational Christian publisher has decided to change the title of its 2011 Vacation Bible School curriculum from "PandaMonium" after customer complaints that the word it plays upon literally refers to hell. Group Publishing officials announced…
Virginia re-enactor brings gospel to former Civil War battlefields
GETTYSBURG, Pa. (RNS) — From his Old Testament beard down to his scuffed boots and battered Bible, Alan Farley looks the perfect picture of a Civil War chaplain. On a dusty field five miles from where the Battle of Gettysburg…
Chesapeake woman secures new sense of dignity through ministry
CHESAPEAKE, Va. — Dianne Seymore surveyed her backyard turned construction site as a World Changers crew made up of high school students and adults tackled a stack of lumber that would soon become a handicap ramp. The 42-year-old resident said…
World Changers makes dreams come true for Norfolk woman
NORFOLK, Va. — Sharon Lockyer enjoys the simple pleasures of life. An ideal day for her and her 13-year-old dog, Cookie, includes tending to her flowers, listening to the wind chimes that hang near the back of her house and…
James River churches collaborate to feed the hungry
Volunteers from James River Baptist Association package meals to be shipped to the Ivory Coast to feed hungry children. DILLWYN, Va. — James River Baptist Association recently sponsored a Stop Hunger Now campaign to feed hungry people around the world….
HERITAGE: At the ‘Free Church’
The people came from Middleburg and the surrounding countryside of Loudon and Fauquier counties. They came on a beastly hot Sunday in June and they filled the old “Free Church” building now occupied by the Middleburg Baptist Church. They sang…