Lights strung from a sanctuary’s ceiling at Epiphany. Art galleries and exhibits. Bicycle repair seminars. Cafes and coffee houses. Worship gatherings in downtown music venues. In meeting the challenges of revitalized urban neighborhoods across the country, urban churches are rethinking…
The challenge of the new urbanism
Lights strung from a sanctuary’s ceiling at Epiphany. Art galleries and exhibits. Bicycle repair seminars. Cafes and coffee houses. Worship gatherings in downtown music venues. In meeting the challenges of revitalized urban neighborhoods across the country, urban churches are rethinking…
CBF cuts spending by 20 percent
Moderator Jack Glasgow presides at Coordinating Council meeting. DECATUR, Ga. (ABP) — Starting March 1, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship will operate on a contingency spending plan that cuts staff salaries by 1 percent and reduces funding for theology schools and…
CBF cuts spending by 20 percent, partner funding by 30 percent
Moderator Jack Glasgow presides at Coordinating Council meeting.DECATUR, Ga. (ABP) — Starting March 1, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship will operate on a contingency spending plan that cuts staff salaries by 1 percent and reduces funding for theology schools and other…
Survey finds religion a big deal in Mississippi, not so much in Vermont
WASHINGTON (RNS)—Want to be almost certain you’ll have religious neighbors? Move to Mississippi. Prefer the least religious state? Venture to Vermont. The importance of religion in people's lives varies from state to state. A recent Gallup Poll, based on more…
When it comes to religious fervor, it’s a small world after all, research shows
WASHINGTON (RNS)—Baptists in Tuscaloosa and Muslims in Tehran might not seem to have much in common, but Alabama and Iran agree on one thing—the importance of religion. Nearly identical percentages of people in both locations—82 percent of Alabamians and 83…
Faith Digest
Pope condemns Holocaust denial. In his first meeting with Jewish leaders since his controversial readmission of a Holocaust-denying bishop, Pope Benedict XVI condemned the “denial or minimization” of the Holocaust as “intolerable and altogether unacceptable.” The long-scheduled Vatican meeting took…
EDITORIAL: Aunt Ida tells Bluebell to focus
Dear Jimmy, Since you know all about Bluebell Baptist and some of the tricks we’ve pulled through the years, you won’t be surprised by this letter except in how it ends. It all started when Brother Bobby announced this mornin’…
SECOND OPINION: Don’t fiddle with Jefferson’s statute
Stephen Strehle is way off base in his Dec. 18 Religious Herald essay calling for the repeal of Thomas Jefferson’s Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom and substituting a new one. The U. S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights were…
Religious freedom panel says: Confront China about weapons flowing to Sudan
WASHINGTON (RNS)—A federal religious freedom watchdog panel is urging President Obama to step up efforts to maintain the fragile peace between northern and southern Sudan. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom asked the White House to appoint a Special…
New statute not needed, says Virginia Baptist committee
RICHMOND—The Baptist General Association of Virginia’s religious liberty committee released a statement this week concerning Virginia’s Statute for Religious Freedom. The full text is: Religious liberty is again under attack. Now it is Virginia’s Statute for Religious Freedom. A proposed…
VIRGINIA BRIEFS
Heritage Center announces essay contest. The Center for Baptist Heritage & Studies reminds all high school juniors and seniors of the third annual Roots and Wings Young Scholars Essay Contest. Entries for the contest should be postmarked by April 15…