MINNEAPOLIS (ABP) — Delegates to the national assembly of America’s largest Lutheran denomination voted by a wide margin Aug. 21 to open the door to allowing clergy in committed same-sex relationships to serve openly. The vote came just two days…
2009 VBS photo contest goes to Virginia church
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP) — A bird's-eye view of children performing the "Boomerang Express" Vacation Bible School musical won Salem Baptist Church in Sparta, Va., the first place award in the third annual Facts & Trends Online VBS Photo Contest. The…
OPINION: The moral imperative of health-care reform
(ABP) — The national debate raging over health-care reform has become a maelstrom of competing claims and counterclaims. It has been deeply infected by political demagoguery and hysteria. The tenor of the debate raises the legitimate question as to whether…
Richmond church sends children’s ministry team to international meeting
RICHMOND — Twelve members of Broadus Memorial Baptist Church in Richmond served on the children’s ministry team from Virginia that traveled to Interlaken, Switzerland, July 4-9 for the annual summer assembly of the International Baptist Convention. The IBC is a…
Children’s ministry in Switzerland
Twelve members of Broadus Memorial Baptist Church in Richmond served on the children’s ministry team from Virginia that traveled to Interlaken, Switzerland, July 4-9 for the annual summer assembly of the International Baptist Convention. The IBC is a fellowship of…
Lakewood Manor focuses on ‘tough conversations’
RICHMOND — The National Caregiver’s Library and Lakewood Manor, a continuing care retirement community, have partnered to host Tough Conversations, a 4-part seminar designed for adults who would like to learn how to dialogue with a parent, loved one or…
Blessing schools
Some Christians may have written off public education, but others are discovering innovative ways to develop meaningful relationships with public schools. Over the last decade, the Exodus Mandate captured the attention of some evangelicals with its call to “leave government…
Virginia jail agrees to stop censoring religious mail
STAFFORD — A Virginia jail will stop censoring religious mail after protests from civil rights organizations that clerks had turned Bible-quoting missives from an inmate’s mother into tattered strips of paper signed “Love, Mom.” Rappahannock Regional Jail authorities agreed to…
Obama appeals to faith groups on reform; abortion questions remain
WASHINGTON (ABP) — President Obama, in an unprecedented Aug. 19 Internet conference that organizers said drew 140,000 participants, appealed to faith leaders to boost his attempts to reform America’s health-care system. But some conservative religious leaders are fighting back against Obama’s plan,…
Youth minister found guilty of molestation
TUCSON, Ariz. (ABP) — A jury in Tucson, Ariz., convicted a former youth minister at a Southern Baptist church Aug. 19 of molesting a 13-year-old girl over the course of a year. According to the Arizona Daily Star, jurors deliberated…
Piper says tornado warning to Lutherans
John Piper MINNEAPOLIS (ABP) — A Baptist pastor and popular Calvinist author says it was no accident that tornado-force winds hit downtown Minneapolis the same week that the nation's largest Lutheran group was meeting there to debate liberalizing its policies…
John Piper says possible tornado a warning to Lutherans
John Piper MINNEAPOLIS (ABP) — A Baptist pastor and popular Calvinist author says it was no accident that tornado-force winds hit downtown Minneapolis the same week that the nation’s largest Lutheran group was meeting there to debate liberalizing its policies…