RICHMOND, Va. (ABP) – There’s a new resident at Lakewood Manor, one of Virginia Baptist Homes’ retirement communities. Paro is by far the furriest member of the Lakewood community and he takes his meals through a battery charger, not in…
Well-known Kung Fu master finds Christ while leading martial arts seminar
BLUEFIELD, Va. (ABP) — Bluefield College’s aim to be a Christ-centered institution took a new twist last summer when a Taiwanese Kung Fu master made a profession of faith following the martial arts seminar he had come to lead at…
Va. pastor fights depression with medical, psychological treatment
RICHMOND, Va. (ABP) – Kirby Smith has his life back. After years of struggling with clinical depression — what he calls “a hell on earth” — the Virginia Baptist pastor has discovered in both medical and psychological treatment a way to…
Church shares lessons learned from ministry to mentally ill
DALLAS—Up to 25 percent of the U.S. population has a diagnosable mental illness. Christians agree 100 percent of those people deserve to know Christ, but few churches reach out to them. Believed to be the only church that counts the…
Dallas church offers lessons learned from ministry to mentally ill people
DALLAS (ABP) — As many as 25 percent of all Americans have diagnosable mental illnesses. Christians agree 100 percent of those people deserve to know Christ, but few churches reach out to them. Believed to be the only church that…
Ministers often need help caring for their own mental health
(ABP) — Congregations often view their pastors as strong, stable shepherds, but many ministers experience a disconnect between the image they project and the mental and emotional battles to which they are subject. “I have never met a clergy person,…
Through a glass darkly: Churches respond to mental illness
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP) — Living with depression — or any other form of mental illness — is like viewing life “through a glass darkly,” according to Jessy Grondin, a student in Vanderbilt University’s Divinity School. “It distorts how you see…
Fairness Doctrine still dead, but groups worry about possible return
WASHINGTON—A move to require broadcasters to provide equal time to all sides of controversial issues has religious radio programs worried, even though no formal proposal has been introduced and the White House likely wouldn’t support it. At issue is the…
Lanny Hall to return to Hardin-Simmons University as president
ABILENE, Texas (ABP) — Hardin-Simmons University trustees elected as their school's president Lanny Hall, president of Howard Payne University in Brownwood, Texas, and a past president and chancellor at Hardin-Simmons. Hall will be the 15th president in Hardin-Simmons' 118-year history,…
School sued for censoring religious message
Here's one of the posters at the center of the lawsuit. (ADF) NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP) — An elementary school in Mt. Juliet, Tenn., is being sued for censoring the word "God" out of posters promoting a student-led prayer event. A…
Baylor chair, over objections, names all-regent search committee
WACO, Texas (ABP) — Baylor University Regents chairman Howie Batson announced March 5 that he had named 14 current members of the school’s governing board to a committee charged with searching for the university’s next president. He also named 10…
Bill Leonard stepping down as dean of Wake Forest divinity school
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (ABP) — The founding dean of the Wake Forest University Divinity School is stepping down next year, school officials announced March 5. Bill Leonard will retire from that post June 30, 2010. But he will continue to teach full-time as…