GEORGETOWN, Ky. (ABP) — A national chaplaincy group that ministers to the horse-racing community is moving from California to Kentucky at the beginning of 2010. Race Track Chaplaincy of America Executive Director Enrique Torres (center right) shakes hands with Georgetown…
CBF leader says ministry-exellence training can boost clergy’s image
ATLANTA (ABP) — A moderate Baptist leader says a recent poll showing public confidence in clergy at a three-decade low should be a wakeup call for the importance of maintaining excellence in ministry. "In a culture that qualifies success as…
Baptists celebrate 50 years in Vietnam
HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam (BP) — Shortly before the fall of Saigon in 1975, Le Quoc Chanh, pastor of Grace Baptist Church in Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City), came with his wife and young son to the home…
OUT LOUD
“Singling out minarets in this ban is tantamount to isolating Islam and relegating it to second-class status.” Al Mohler The president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., was blogging about the recent vote in Switzerland to ban construction…
HERITAGE: In the swamps of Southampton
Lights — flickering candles inside Mason jars — shone in the darkness in the backcountry of Southampton County. The luminaries let visitors know they had arrived at Hebron Baptist Church and helped guide footsteps to the front doors of the…
Baptist state convention budgets feeling effects of shaky economy
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP) — Feeling the effects of a bad economy, several Southern Baptist Convention-affiliated state and regional conventions reduced budgets in annual meetings, held in recent weeks across the nation. The Baptist General Convention of Texas, which includes 4,500…
From the Eastern Shore to Cumberland Gap
CHRISTMAS MUSIC & DRAMA • Alum Spring Church, Culpeper; “The Dawn of Redeeming Grace,” Dec. 20 at 11 a.m. • Ash Avenue Church, South Boston; “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” Dec. 20 at 7 p.m. • Bagby…
EDITORIAL: Think, pray, study, act: Virginia Baptists’ response to ABC privatization
If the new governor gets his way, Virginians will be buying their booze from privately-owned liquor stores rather than from the state-operated ABC stores we have currently. At least those Virginians who buy booze in the first place will be….
RIGHT OR WRONG: Fighting the tyranny of the urgent
Many leadership programs create the tyranny of the urgent, which seems to result in poor decision-making. But the New Testament reveals a correlation between the depth and breadth of spiritual composure and a person’s integrity. Am I off track? And…
Baptists celebrate 50 years in Vietnam
HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam (BP) — Shortly before the fall of Saigon in 1975, Le Quoc Chanh, pastor of Grace Baptist Church in Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City), came with his wife and young son to the home…
Constitutionality of Christian prison planned in Oklahoma disputed
WASHINGTON (ABP) — A church-state watchdog group maintains a Christian prison proposed in Oklahoma probably would be unconstitutional. But the Baptist minister who hopes to open the nation’s first faith-based prison says he is confident it will pass constitutional muster….
Bluefield celebrates annual Baptist Heritage Day
BLUEFIELD — Bluefield College celebrated its history with an annual Baptist Heritage Day ceremony on campus in October, featuring a keynote address from an authority on Baptist life — James M. Dunn, former executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee…