STAFF CHANGES • John Snow, to Zoar Church, Deltaville, as pastor, effective March 1. • Gregory W. Wissinger, to Beaver Dam Church, Troy, as pastor, effective March 1. • Thomas S. Larson, to Fox Hill Road Church, Hampton, as pastor….
VIRGINIA BAPTIST FORUM: Call it what God calls it
Recent issues of the Religious Herald have reported on abortion, homosexuals, evolution, Muslims, Obama and church/state walls and the controversies that surround them. Consider: Abortion: God calls it murder; we call it “choice.” Homosexuality: God calls it an abomination; we…
New Poverty Forum aims to keep focus on the poor
WASHINGTON (RNS) — A bipartisan group of 18 Christian leaders has developed a host of policy recommendations on poverty reduction that they hope will shape the actions of the Obama administration and Congress. The effort, co-chaired by evangelical activist Jim…
National Baptists to choose between two candidates for convention president
(RNS) — Henry J. Lyons, the former president of the National Baptist Convention, USA, who was imprisoned on charges of fraud a decade ago, is one of two candidates running to be the convention’s next president this September. The other…
Anti-gay pastor told not to come to United Kingdom
LONDON (RNS) — Britain has barred an American anti-gay Christian preacher and his daughter from entering the country, to stop them from spreading what the government described as “extremism and hatred.” Fred Phelps, who has gained notoriety in the United…
Former Baptist deacon charged with attempted robbery of S.C. bank
TAYLORS, S.C. (ABP) — An active member and former deacon at one of South Carolina’s most historic Baptist churches faces charges of kidnapping and attempted robbery of a bank Feb. 26. Bruce Lee Windsor, 43, was held on bond totaling…
Court says Montana election law wrongly applied to church
SAN FRANCISCO (ABP) — A federal appeals court ruled Feb. 25 that Montana officials violated the free-speech rights of a Southern Baptist church when they required the congregation to register as a political action committee for supporting a 2004 ballot…
Former Baptist deacon charged with attempted robbery of South Carolina bank
TAYLORS, S.C. (ABP) — An active member and former deacon at one of South Carolina's most historic Baptist churches faces charges of kidnapping and attempted robbery of a bank Feb. 26. Bruce Lee Windsor, 43, was held on bond totaling…
Dobson resigns as Focus on the Family chairman
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Focus on the Family's James Dobson has stepped down as board chairman of the ministry he founded 32 years ago, according to a news release on the organization’s Web site (www.focusonthefamily.com). James Dobson Dobson’s wife, Shirley,…
Arkansas guns-in-church bill dies in state Senate
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (ABP) — A highly publicized bill that would have allowed worshipers to carry concealed weapons in Arkansas churches died Feb. 25 in the state Senate. According to the Associated Press, the proposal to amend the state’s concealed-weapons…
Increasingly, Baptists turning to the observation of Lent
Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the 40-day observance of Lent. NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP) — Though traditionally viewed as a Catholic rite, increasing numbers of Baptists are discovering the discipline of Lent. Belmont University, until recently affiliated with the Tennessee…
Baptists turning to Lent
Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the 40-day observance of Lent. NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP) — Though traditionally viewed as a Catholic rite, increasing numbers of Baptists are discovering the discipline of Lent. Belmont University, until recently affiliated with the Tennessee…