WASHINGTON—In numbers that were far fewer but with a faith that was nonetheless fervent, evangelical Christian men gathered in the shadow of the Washington Monument Oct. 6 for a day of spiritual renewal that recalled a much larger meeting of…
SBC president addresses Lynchburg congregation
LYNCHBURG—On Wednesday evening, Oct. 10, West Lynchburg Baptist Church hosted Southern Baptist Convention president Frank Page in a special worship service in what Page called his first visit to Virginia since his election. Speaking to a crowd—including some from other…
EDITORIAL: Pastor-church relations
I remember how clear and cold it was on that New Mexico morning as I sat sipping coffee with two pastors at the Glorieta Conference Center. At the time, in the mid-1980s, I was editing The Deacon, a publication of…
Welcoming the strangers
“The influx of large numbers of people from foreign parts has always been regarded as dangerous to American institutions, civil and religious,” said the speaker at the annual meeting of the General Association in 1885. The meeting was held at…
SECOND OPINION: Immigration — What should churches do?
Let's face it: Global migrations in the 21st century will not disappear just because of wishful thinking. According to the “Fact File: Global Migrations” of the BBC, in the year 2002, while 630 million were native born, 175 million people…
SECOND OPINION: Imprecatory prayer: Is invoking a curse a valid part of prayer?
Editor's note: Former Southern Baptist Convention second vice president and California pastor Wiley Drake recently called for Christians to pray for God's judgment to fall on leaders of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, which had encouraged the…
Disappointed in ‘green’ article
I am disappointed that you chose to run such a one-sided piece as the “Being Green” article by Hannah Elliott [Herald, Oct. 4]. I do not see evidence cited to show that humans are responsible for climate change, but I…
Interest violates Scriptural command
In response to the article “Payday, someday?,” which appeared in the Oct. 4 issue, let me first of all applaud the efforts by the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy to combat the practices of payday lenders in our commonwealth….
RIGHT OR WRONG?
A well-to-do couple in our church has offered to buy our softball team's church-league equipment and uniforms if the church will elect the husband as a deacon and name him chairman. If this request is as haywire as I think…
Evangelicals are moving into power, authors say, but ends can be unclear
WASHINGTON (ABP) — There's no question that in the last few decades evangelical Christians have asserted their growing power in America's public life. The question, according to two new books, is: By what methods, and to what end? Former Washington…
Yale panel: Separation of church and state misunderstood by many
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (ABP) — The separation of church and state is part of what makes America great — and America is plagued by “total ignorance” about what it means, according to panelists at a Yale Divinity School event. However,…
Stained-glass windows bathe sacred spaces in light, tell stories of faith
FORT WORTH, Texas (ABP) — If every picture tells a story, the stained-glass windows of Broadway Baptist Church tell tales of grace, sacrifice and love. While the Forth Worth, Texas, church has rested on the same piece of property since…