BLUEFIELD, Va. — Bluefield College students recently completed a spring mission trip to Peru as part of Virginia Baptists’ greater effort to share the gospel and to build churches in South America. Bluefield students in a town square with Peruvian…
OPINION: July 4 & religious freedom
In our nation’s history much has been said about the separation of church and state. Many interpret Jesus’ comment about a coin with Caesar’s head on it as saying: Here is what you owe to the state and here’s what…
Baptist students at William & Mary use creative means to reach out
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. — During last spring’s semester, students in the Baptist collegiate ministries at the College of William & Mary decided to creatively take the spiritual pulse of the campus. They led several campus ministries in an outreach emphasis known…
OPINION: Is the National Day of Prayer a threat to religious liberty?
The title is not a trick question. I ask that you read the following before giving your final answer. Baptists have always been a people of prayer, be it a part of their devotional life or their corporate worship. It…
Liberty and Justice: Church-state lines can blur when disasters strike
RICHMOND, Va. (ABP) — Responding to disasters with immediate and long-term assistance has become a well-established practice of American religious groups — including Baptists, who frequently are almost as visible following devastating earthquakes and hurricanes as the Federal Emergency Management…
Liberty and Justice: What is the future of U.S. religious liberty?
WASHINGTON (ABP) — Since colonial days, each new generation of Americans has had to face new challenges to religious freedom. From dissenters like Roger Williams fighting established state churches to perceived threats to the Protestant establishment posed by Catholic immigration…
Liberty and Justice: Churches, ministries and employment law
WASHINGTON (ABP) — One characteristic of the robust religious freedom Americans enjoy is that the government doesn’t control the church nor the church the government. But that doesn’t mean churches are lawless zones. While houses of worship and other nonprofit…
Liberty and Justice: When church-state separation and social justice conflict
DALLAS (ABP) — Religious liberty is a Baptist birthright, and one of the tradition’s most distinctive principles. But challenges to maintaining religious liberty come from all directions — including the dilemma of whether Baptist social-service agencies should accept government funds…
Church-state lines can blur when disasters strike
RICHMOND, Va. (ABP) — Responding to disasters with immediate and long-term assistance has become a well-established practice of American religious groups — including Baptists, who frequently are almost as visible following devastating earthquakes and hurricanes as the Federal Emergency Management…
Pluralism, gay rights among emerging challenges to religious freedom
Since colonial days, each new generation of Americans has had to face new challenges to religious freedom. From dissenters like Roger Williams fighting established state churches to perceived threats to the Protestant establishment posed by Catholic immigration in the 19th…
What should churches and ministries know about employment law?
One characteristic of the robust religious freedom Americans enjoy is that the government doesn’t control the church nor the church the government. But that doesn’t mean churches are lawless zones. While houses of worship and other nonprofit religious organizations often…
OPINION: Baptists shouldn’t take religious freedom for granted
When Baptists in America study their history, they typically respond with pride. The denomination’s longstanding witness on behalf of religious liberty can be traced to the first Baptists in England, who boldly proclaimed that God alone was the ruler of…