EAGLE EYRIE — Taylor Smith, a high school sophomore, feels that God may be calling her into some type of youth ministry. So in March when she joined more than 500 other youth at Eagle Eyrie for Virginia Baptists' Senior…
Mission Board approves funding for resort ministry
The Virginia Baptist Mission Board has authorized funding for a resort and leisure ministries coordinator who will serve in a variety of locations in the state. The action came during the regular spring meeting of the board held in Richmond…
Heritage Seekers releases issue in two languages
Ciao! Mi chiamo Marta ed ho 10 anni. Faccio parte della Chiesa Battista di Roma e frequento la scuola domenicale della Chiesa. Ti voglio parlare del posto dove vivo. Devi compiere un lungo viaggio se vuoi venirmi a trovare! And…
VIRGINIA BRIEFS
New director at CrossRoads. Reuben E. Todd has been elected director of CrossRoads Camp and Conference Center, a retreat facility owned and operated by Woman's Missionary Union of Virginia. For the last three and a half years, Reuben has served…
How can churches legally minister to illegal immigrants?
When the doorbell rings at many churches, a person in need may be standing in the doorway seeking some food, clothes, counseling or encouragement. If that individual is an undocumented immigrant, his presence presents legal and ethical issues many congregations…
Relationships key to helping immigrants, Baptist workers say
FREDERICKSBURG (ABP)—Every afternoon, Felicitas does something she thought might never happen. She meets the school bus near her Virginia apartment complex to pick up her son, Carlos, as he returns from another day of elementary school. Carlos has spina bifida,…
Opinion: Communities don’t prevent violence, but they help us cope
“We are all Hokies now.” So reads a banner that appeared at a Baptist church near our home. It tries to express the empathy that most Virginians feel in the wake of the terrible murders at Virginia Tech. The school…
Immigration ethics: The system impacts whom churches can hire
SAN ANTONIO, Texas (ABP) — Claudia Munoz wants to work on a church staff and has done everything she can to prepare herself, including traveling from her home country of Chile to enroll at Baptist University of the Americas. Munoz…
Immigration ethics: Any reform better than nothing, some say
WASHINGTON (ABP) — As Congress debates immigration-reform proposals, some Christian immigration activists say there is no perfect legislation in the pipeline, but time is of the essence in getting something — anything — passed. A reform bill with broad bipartisan…
Panel debates ‘tongues’ in Baptist life; Burleson sees McKissic as SBC prez
ARLINGTON, Texas (ABP) — Wade Burleson thinks Dwight McKissic, the Texas pastor who caused a stir in the Southern Baptist Convention by acknowledging he speaks in “tongues” in private, will eventually be president of that 16-million-member group. If Burleson is…
Turkey’s few Baptists fear threats after murders, civil unrest
IZMIR, Turkey (ABP) — Turkey's handful of Baptists and other evangelical Christians fear increased persecution as the nation continues to reel from political upheaval and the brutal murder of three Christians, allegedly by radical Islamists. Meanwhile, Turkish Christians of all…
Jim Austin confirmed as executive for South Carolina Baptists
IRMO, S.C. (ABP) — Messengers to a special meeting of the South Carolina Baptist Convention April 26 voted without opposition to elect conservative Jim Austin as the new executive director-treasurer of the state convention. The vote, taken at Riverland Hills…