FREDERICKSBURG, Va. — Despite a shaky economy, Virginia Baptists acknowledged their “God-sized” mission task Nov. 18 and adopted a 2010 budget of $14 million, about 1.4 percent larger than 2009’s budget, which is expected to see a shortfall. Next year’s…
EDITORIAL: Times change
Times of economic stress create tensions in religious bodies. I remember so well my first full-time church located in a far western county of Virginia known commonly as Missouri. Our church gave 18 percent to the Cooperative Program and 4…
From the Eastern Shore to Cumberland Gap
STAFF CHANGES • Bill Kittle, resigning as pastor of Rock Hill Church, Stafford, to accept a teaching position in Vermont. • Wellford Tiller, to Calvary Church, Winchester, as intentional interim pastor. • Andrew MacDaniel, to Laurel Hill Church, Verona, as…
Haymarket church finds ministry in South Africa’s Eastern Cape province
HAYMARKET, Va. — Five members of Haymarket Baptist Church traveled to South Africa Oct. 2-16 to work among the varied people of the Eastern Cape. The group was led by Haymarket’s associate pastor of Christian education, Matthew Hensley. Team members…
Storyteller Calvin Miller leads 2009 BGAV Pastors’ Conference
FREDERICKSBURG, Va. — Calvin Miller believes in stories. Writer in residence and research professor at Beeson Divinity School in Birmingham, Ala., Miller points to Jesus’ narrative parables as proof of the power and potential of stories to be remembered and…
Haymarket church finds ministry in South Africa
HAYMARKET, Va. — Five members of Haymarket Baptist Church traveled to South Africa Oct. 2-16 to work among the varied people of the Eastern Cape. The group was led by Haymarket’s associate pastor of Christian education, Matthew Hensley. Team members…
Advocate believes Christian-run prison would be constitutional
DALLAS (ABP) — A Baptist minister hoping to open the nation's first faith-based prison says he is confident it will pass constitutional muster. Americans United for Separation of Church and State wrote the Oklahoma Department of Corrections Nov. 18 saying…
Wiley Drake lifts call for ‘imprecatory prayer’ against President Obama
BUENA PARK, Calif. (ABP) — A former Southern Baptist Convention officer who made headlines in June when he said on national radio that he was praying for Barack Obama to die now says he wants to see the president live…
Group says proposed Okla. Christian prison likely unconstitutional
WASHINGTON (ABP) — A church-state watchdog group says a faith-based prison being proposed in Oklahoma would likely be unconstitutional. Americans United for Separation of Church and State wrote the Oklahoma Department of Corrections Nov. 18 advising the state not to…
SECOND OPINION: Teaching laypeople about preaching — and rediscovering its beauty
If I were being completely honest, I would tell you that the whole idea was a little, tiny bit self-serving. Having recently completed my doctor-of-ministry degree in preaching, I, strangely enough, managed to maintain my passion for the subject even…
LifeWay’s ‘Bible Navigator X’ reaches out to video gamers
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP) — Attention video gamers: The Bible is coming to an Xbox near you. LifeWay Christian Resources recently announced plans to introduce an Xbox 360 application featuring the complete Holman Christian Standard Bible. Due out in December, "Bible…
ACLU sues Tenn. school district for repeatedly promoting religion
ASHLAND CITY, Tenn. (ABP) — Tennessee's chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit Nov. 16 accusing the Cheatham County Board of Education of ignoring more than four decades of court decisions interpreting the separation of church and…