“If you know what hymns a congregation is most addicted to, you will be able to infer what, in Christianity, means most to that church.” When the late hymnist Erik Routley wrote that in 1982, worship wars in the United…
Baptists on mission in the 49th state
MECHANICSVILLE — Bodenburg Butte Baptist Church is located in Palmer, Alaska, a town approximately 45 miles from Anchorage and 4,700 miles from Virginia. Last month a 14-member mission team led by Don Carter, a member of Hillcrest Baptist Church in…
Bluefield College cottages renovated
BLUEFIELD — More than 100 members of Baptist churches from across Virginia and Tennessee spent part of their summer on the campus of Bluefield College. The Baptist missionaries with skills from carpentry to cooking worked five weeks in May and…
From the Eastern Shore to Cumberland Gap
STAFF CHANGES • Glenn Giles, to Enon Church, Roanoke, as pastor. • Joy Heaton, to Westhampton Church, Richmond, as senior pastor, effective Sept. 1. • Todd Cullop, resigning as co-pastor at Convergence at Fair Park, Alexandria. • John Carey, resigning…
The secret’s in the songs: Musical choice reveals congregation’s theological position
WACO, Texas — Terry York is willing to bet that if he goes into a Baptist church, sits down and listens, he can tell — long before the preacher speaks — whether the congregation is theologically conservative or moderate. The…
Baptists challenged to overcome racial barriers
NORMAN, Okla. (ABP) — If they hope to represent Christ in the world, Baptists must find a "better way" of relating than the racism that has marred their witness for most of the past two centuries, participants in a multicultural…
Carter planning return trip to Gaza
NORMAN, Okla. (ABP) — Former President Jimmy Carter said Aug. 7 he is planning a return trip to Gaza in an effort to focus international attention on what he describes as a humanitarian crisis. Carter, who sparked controversy in June…
Oklahoma governor says faith sustained family in loss of child
NORMAN, Okla. (ABP) — In rare public comments about religion, Oklahoma's Democratic governor told a Baptist gathering Aug. 7 that his Christian faith got him through personal loss two decades ago when an infant daughter died of a rare neuromuscular…
LifeWay says 1 in 8 church background checks finds record
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP) — One in eight background checks conducted on volunteers or prospective employees through LifeWay Christian Resources found a criminal history that might have kept an individual from working or volunteering at a church, the Southern Baptist Convention…
NEW BAPTIST COVENANT: Baptists challenged to overcome racial barriers
NORMAN, Okla. (ABP) — If they hope to represent Christ in the world, Baptists must find a "better way" of relating than the racism that has marred their witness for most of the past two centuries, participants in a multicultural…
NEW BAPTIST COVENANT: Carter planning return trip to Gaza
NORMAN, Okla. (ABP) — Former President Jimmy Carter said Aug. 7 he is planning a return trip to Gaza in an effort to focus international attention on what he describes as a humanitarian crisis. Carter, who sparked controversy in June…
NEW BAPTIST COVENANT: Oklahoma governor says faith sustained family
NORMAN, Okla. (ABP) — In rare public comments about religion, Oklahoma's Democratic governor told a Baptist gathering Aug. 7 that his Christian faith got him through personal loss two decades ago when an infant daughter died of a rare neuromuscular…