Recommendation IV Constitution and Bylaw Changes Items in bold are additions; items in italic are to be deleted BGAV CONSTITUTION ARTICLE III: Meetings and Composition Section B: Composition The General Association shall be composed of the officers of the General…
SECOND OPINION: A new Virginia Statute?
Editor's note: When Thomas Jefferson penned the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, he recognized that future legislators would have the power to amend it. Toward that end, he added a warning: “If any act shall be hereafter passed to repeal…
BGAV REPORTS: VBMB Recommendations—Resolutions of Appreciation
Recommendation V Resolution of Appreciation for Rodney J. Hale Rodney J. Hale has announced his retirement from the staff of the Virginia Baptist Mission Board as Kingdom Advance Field Strategist and Site Specialist on June 30, 2008, after more than…
OUT LOUD
“Roger Williams was quite eccentric and a very annoying man who I would not want to hang out with for more than 10 hours or so, but he's kind of the hero of my book.” Sarah Vowell The author described…
BGAV REPORTS: Annual Meeting Program
Annual Meeting Theme: “Who's My Neighbor?” You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself. (Luke 10:27, NRSV)…
Unto the hills
Southwest Virginia is big and bold and bodacious. Until the taming influence of Interstate 81, that ribbon of asphalt which makes straight the rough passages, Southwest Virginia was protected from the outside world by its own rough terrain. Even so,…
BGAV REPORTS: 2009 Proposed Budget
Baptist criminal-justice activist applauds Ga. stay of execution
ARLINGTON, Texas (ABP) — An American Baptist minister who advocates criminal-justice reform hailed as a “miracle” the latest stay of execution for a black man convicted of murdering a white Georgia police officer nearly 20 years ago. Alan Bean of…
Faculty, students, alumni want voice in Baylor presidential search
WACO, Texas (ABP) — Baylor University’s faculty, alumni and students want a vote in choosing the school’s next president, according to statements approved by representative bodies of each group. The statements reflect continuing controversy over leadership at the Texas school,…
Religious ‘test’ for public
office? Yes and no
WASHINGTON (ABP) — American Christians may pledge loyalty to the United States Constitution. But behind the closed curtain of the polling booth, many violate the spirit of the constitutional prohibition on any religious test for public office. And several church-state…
Constitution aside, why should churches avoid partisanship?
WASHINGTON (ABP)—The forbidden idea of churches and other tax-exempt organizations endorsing political parties or candidates has started to sound like a good one, in recent decades, to many conservative evangelicals in the United States. In fact, a group of pastors…
‘Values’ distinguish both
candidates and voters
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (ABP) — “Values voters” — a term popularized by conservative evangelicals after the 2004 elections — may bring a wide array of values to the polls. Here’s a rundown of the two presidential candidates’ views on a number…