“What Mean These Stones” is the lead article in the forthcoming issue of the Virginia Baptist Register, the annual journal of the Virginia Baptist Historical Society. Stories are told of the memorials, monuments and markers scattered across Virginia to honor…
EDITORIAL: The truth shall make you … a rarity
I am ready for the gubernatorial election to be over! The televised ads produced by the McDonnell and Deeds campaign staffs and approved by the candidates themselves — if even their endorsements of their own ads can be believed —…
HERITAGE: Lost lessons
They are old and yellowed mimeographed lessons probably intended for use in an adult Sunday school class or maybe a new members’ class. They cover four topics: Salvation, Christian Life, Members’ Responsibilities in the Program of the Church and “the…
OUT LOUD
“Whoever controls the words that are used in translation ultimately controls how we are able to think about theological issues. The words open or close doors for our understanding of God. And ultimately, the words determine who has status in…
Lilly-funded McAfee program to help grads serving in first churches
ATLANTA (ABP) — A $1 million grant is funding a new center at Mercer University’s McAfee School of Theology that aims to create a new paradigm for transitioning new ministers from the academic setting into the realities of local-church ministry….
U.S. religious groups square off over bill imposing new Iran sanctions
WASHINGTON (ABP) — With a key vote looming in the House of Representatives, religious leaders weighed in on both sides of the debate over new sanctions against Iran. Thirty-four conservative religious leaders, including the Southern Baptist Convention's top lobbyist, wrote…
GCR chairman speaks to myths about work
DALLAS (BP) — Following an Oct. 27 dialogue with 22 executive directors of Southern Baptist state conventions, Great Commission Resurgence Task Force chairman Ronnie Floyd addressed several issues on which he felt the record needed to be “set straight.” 1)…
State convention executives offer vision, views about resurgence and the SBC to task force
DALLAS (BP) — In what might be arguably the most significant meeting yet for the Great Commission Resurgence Task Force, 22 executive directors of Southern Baptist state conventions met with them Oct. 27, to offer some competing, some complementing views…
Bluefield College academic exchange with China to benefit students, community
As part of its mission to prepare innovative learners, Bluefield College will offer its students an opportunity to learn firsthand the Chinese culture, history and language, thanks to a new international exchange program with the Jiangsu Institute of Education in…
HopeTree provides a new academic home for some Roanoke Valley students
SALEM — Students formerly attending the Roland E. Cook Alternative Education Center in Roanoke County have found a new home, academically speaking. On Oct. 8, Roanoke County Schools and HopeTree Family Services agreed to a five-year contract in which HopeTree…
20 cents for 20-somethings: Making sense of stewardship for young adults
You’ve finally graduated college! Now your most pressing reminder of those university days is the looming debt of student loans. But fast forward into the years just ahead. You need a car! But what can you afford? You’re getting married!…
Charles Ryland, former BGAV, president, dies
WARSAW, Va. — Charles Hill Ryland, a former president of the Baptist General Association of Virginia with deep roots in Virginia Baptist life, died Oct. 22 at age 95. Ryland, a longtime member of Warsaw Baptist Church, was BGAV president…