STAFF CHANGES • Woody Jenkins, to Elk Creek Church, Mineral, as pastor. • David C. Cromer, to Corrottoman Church, Lancaster, as pastor. • John Mann, to Concord Church, Chase City, as pastor. • Carey Snellings, to Hunting Creek Church, Big…
Conservative evangelicals call for immigration reform
WASHINGTON (ABP) — A group of conservative evangelicals is endorsing immigration reform that secures America's borders and provides a pathway to citizenship for the estimated 12 million people living in the United States illegally. Religious leaders including Samuel Rodriguez of…
Researchers probe whether, why, free will exists
ORLANDO, Fla. (RNS) — Are people really responsible for all the things they do? Do they have what theologians call God-given “free will” to choose between right and wrong? Those questions are at the heart of a four-year research project…
Chilean pastors living in tents as winter approaches in Southern Hemisphere
NIPAS, Chile—More than two months after an earthquake rocked Chile, rains have begun and winter soon will arrive, leaving a group of Baptist pastors bracing for the cold in small tents that have become their impromptu homes in the wake…
VIRGINIA BRIEFS
Historical Society releases booklet. Peace-bearers: Church, Community & Beyond is a new booklet published by the Center for Baptist Heritage & Studies to be released at the annual meeting of the Virginia Baptist Historical Society at 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, May…
Virginia’s first Mission Madness brings teens to Richmond
RICHMOND, Va. — Weekend events typically draw large crowds. A marathon, craft show, concerts and baseball games attracted the attention of many in Richmond on the weekend of April 10. But a crowd of over 325 people, most of them…
Controversial cross at center of recent Supreme Court case reportedly stolen
LAS VEGAS (ABP) — A simple metal-pipe cross in the middle of the Mojave Desert that inspired a passionate Supreme Court debate about religious freedom has reportedly been stolen. The cross — successor to one first erected as a World…
Baptist pastor in Azerbaijan reports another run-in with police
OSLO, Norway (ABP) — A Baptist pastor in Azerbaijan who served 10 months in prison before appeals from Baptists worldwide spurred the nation's president to pardon him says police have visited him again. Zaur Balaev, who leads a Baptist congregation…
Liberty U. to investigate alleged untruths by seminary president
LYNCHBURG, Va. (ABP) — Liberty University will investigate reports that its seminary president has misled the public in his testimony about converting from militant Islam to Christianity, officials of the school in Lynchburg, Va., announced May 10. Liberty Provost Ron…
Liberty to investigate alleged untruths by seminary president
LYNCHBURG, Va. (ABP) — Liberty University will investigate reports that its seminary president has misled the public in his testimony about converting from militant Islam to Christianity, officials of the school in Lynchburg, Va., announced May 10. Liberty University Provost…
Kagan’s church-state and social-issue views not clear from scant record
WASHINGTON (ABP) — President Obama’s latest Supreme Court nominee has an exceedingly thin paper trail on some of the legal questions most important to people of faith. But one thing is clear if Solicitor General Elena Kagan is confirmed to…
Website launched to link ‘missional’ Baptists in collaborative work
OKLAHOMA CITY (ABP) — A website launched May 10 aims to become an online platform for churches, mission organizations, strategists and international partners to collaborate to share the gospel in the 21st century. "This was born out of a desire…