WASHINGTON (ABP) — Veteran human-rights activist Felice Gaer will once again serve as chair of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom. Gaer, a member of the independent federal panel since 2001, has twice been chair and twice vice…
On Bush’s faith-based programs, Obama says save best, ditch rest
ZANESVILLE, Ohio (ABP) – Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama vowed July 1 to carry on the best parts — and dump the worst — of President Bush’s so-called “faith-based initiative.” “I still believe it’s a good idea to have…
CBF worker furthers education for children in Ethiopian town
ATLANTA (ABP) — Dee Donalson grasped a tiny hand and helped an Ethiopian kindergartener trace over stones lined in the shape of the numeral 2. The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship field worker, whose front porch serves as a makeshift classroom, teaches…
Michael Clyburn assumes helm at Alderson-Broaddus College
PHILIPPI, W. Va. (ABP) — Michael Clyburn began his duties July 1 as president of Alderson-Broaddus College, an American Baptist school in Philippi, W. Va. Clyburn, who previously served as president of Louisburg College in North Carolina, became the eighth…
Analysis: Dobson confused at best about Obama speech, defenders say
WASHINGTON (ABP) — James Dobson thinks that Barack Obama holds to a “fruitcake interpretation” of the Constitution’s religion clauses — but Dobson’s own interpretation of a two-year-old Obama speech that occasioned the critique may be far fruitier. That’s what Obama’s…
Name connects East Texas church with Middle Eastern Christians
PALESTINE, Texas (ABP) — For the members of First Baptist Church in Palestine, Texas, sharing names with a Middle Eastern territory has led to a connection with Christians on the West Bank. It began a few years ago. Pastor Jay…
FIRST PERSON: Alma Hunt — Just what the Lord made her
ROANOKE — A couple of hundred would-be mourners gathered at Rosalind Hills Baptist Church in Roanoke on Wednesday, June 18, to celebrate the distinguished life of Miss Alma Hunt at her funeral service. Because this faithful and energetic woman had…
News about Virginia Baptists and their ministries for June 26, 2008
STAFF CHANGES • Eric and Jenny Howell, resigning as pastor and minister to children and youth, respectively, of Broadus Memorial Church, Charlottesville, effective the end of July. They will relocate to Waco, Texas, where she has been accepted into the…
Laura McDaniel nominated executive of Virginia WMU
RICHMOND — Laura S. McDaniel has been recommended to become executive director/treasurer of Woman's Missionary Union of Virginia. McDaniel, who has been WMUV's interim executive director/treasurer since February 2007, was selected by the organization's board of trustees on June 13….
Former ambassador says U.S. lacks political will to tackle food crisis
WASHINGTON (RNS) — As world leaders continue wrestling over what to do about the spiraling global food crisis, the former U.S. ambassador for humanitarian issues says he worries that Americans “have not yet developed the political and spiritual will” to…
EDITORIAL: How generous should orthodoxy be?
It was Brian McLaren who made popular with his book title the phrase “a generous orthodoxy.” In my mind, I have interpreted that to mean roughly the equivalent of Augustine's “In essentials, unity. In non-essentials, liberty. In all things, love.”…
Sex & Sects: Why does sex play such a large role within fringe religions?
WASHINGTON (RNS) — What is it with sects and sex? The recent probe into alleged child abuse at a polygamous compound in West Texas started with an anonymous phone call about underage girls having sex with adult men. The imprisoned…