I. Whereas Almighty God hath created the mind free; that all attempts to influence it by temporal punishments or burthens, or by civil incapacitations, tend only to beget habits of hypocrisy and meanness, and are a departure from the plan…
Hispanics aim for $1 million Lottie Moon Offering this year
RICHMOND (BP) — Members of Vida Nueva (New Life) Baptist Church know all too well about sacrifice. Many of them are immigrants making low wages. But the congregation of fewer than 100 has found reason to celebrate and to give…
NPR comments force out NAE’s Cizik
WASHINGTON (ABP) — Backlash over comments about gay rights on a public-radio broadcast has apparently cost a prominent National Association of Evangelicals lobbyist his job. Richard Cizik resigned Dec. 10 as the NAE's vice president for governmental affairs, according to…
News about Virginia Baptists and their ministries for Dec. 18, 2008
CHURCH NEWS • The Christmas story comes to life at Bethlehem Village, sponsored by churches in the Afton, Waynesboro and Charlottesville area. Located on the grounds of Hebron Church, Afton, the village will be open Dec. 19 to 23 from…
Oldest IMB emeritus missionary dies at 102
RICHMOND (BP) — The International Mission Board's oldest emeritus missionary, Howard McCamey, was honored in a memorial service in Dallas Dec. 5. He died Nov. 26 at age 102. Longtime members of Gaston Avenue Baptist Church in Dallas, Howard and…
Kentucky Baptist paper names journalist as editor
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (ABP) — Kentucky Baptists have tapped veteran denominational journalist Todd Deaton to become the next editor of their historic newspaper, the Western Recorder. Deaton, 45, has been managing editor of the Baptist Courier, newspaper of the South Carolina…
NEW: Former SBC missionary accused of embezzling IMB funds now suspected in insurance sca
GULF SHORES, Ala. (ABP) — The International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention declined to press criminal embezzlement charges in 2005 against a man now accused of stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars in an Alabama insurance scam. According…
Study says churches with WMU stronger supporters of SBC
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (ABP) — Southern Baptist churches that have Woman's Missionary Union organizations support the denomination's missions programs at significantly higher levels than congregations without WMU, according to an analysis of reported church giving. Tensions over several issues surfaced in…
President Bush discusses faith in TV interview
WASHINGTON (ABP) — In a television interview broadcast Dec. 8, President Bush said he doesn't know if God wanted him to be president, doubts the Bible is literally true, agrees you can believe in God and evolution simultaneously and believes…
William Jenkins, long-time Virginia Baptist board staffer, dies at 85
William H. Jenkins, for more than 30 years a staff member of the Virginia Baptist Mission Board, died Dec. 10. He was 85. At the time of his death, Jenkins was living in Arizona, where he had moved after retiring…
Bush admnistration leaves mark on faith-based funding
WASHINGTON (ABP) — President Bush's administration and a host of court rulings have indelibly altered the way that the federal government relates to religious charities, according to an analysis by experts on the subject. “The heart — the core —…
Virginia Baptists help feed the hungry through variety of worldwide programs
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization recently estimated that there are now 963 million hungry people worldwide. This number has increased by 40 million this year and is predicted to continue rising as the current global economic crisis plunges…