WASHINGTON (ABP) — The House of Representatives has turned back a last-ditch effort by Republicans to allow religious groups receiving Head Start funds to discriminate in hiring on the basis of faith. On a mostly party-line vote of 222-195, the…
House adds gender, sexuality, disability to hate-crimes law, but veto looms
WASHINGTON (ABP) — Despite a veto threat from President Bush, a large majority of the House of Representatives voted May 3 to add gender, sexual orientation and disability to the categories protected under federal hate-crimes laws. On a 237-180 vote,…
List of evangelical kingmakers may signal shift in politics, opinions
NEW YORK (ABP) — As the battle for the Republican presidential nomination takes shape, it is revealing a “seismic shift” in the way evangelicals shape their opinions, political observers say. A recent story by the Religion News Service, in an…
Dates of Infamy
They are dates that “will live in infamy.” September 11, 2001. April 16, 2007. December 7, 1941. President Roosevelt summarized that last date: “America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by the naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan….
Giuliani leads among evangelicals, Clinton leads among Catholics
WASHINGTON (RNS)—Presidential hopefuls Rudolph Giuliani and Sen. Hillary Clinton hold early leads among key religious voting blocs in the race to win their party nominations, a national survey revealed. The survey by the Pew Research Center shows religious voters leaning…
Out Loud
“We are particularly pained, as Koreans ourselves, to learn that this incomprehensible, dreadful act of violence was committed by a Korean student. But we sincerely hope also that this tragedy does not generate new prejudice or violence among people, but…
News about Virginia Baptists and their ministries for May 3, 2007
STAFF CHANGES • J. Lytle Buckingham, to Sharon Church, King William, as pastor. • Bill and Mary Dell Sigler, resigning as co-pastors of Kilmarnock Church, Kilmarnock, effective June 15. She will become a bereavement and spiritual care coordinator for Hospice…
We will prevail: A cry of faith in the Virginia Tech tragedy
April 16, 2007 was already a strange day in Blacksburg. Nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Blacksburg is accustomed to unusual weather patterns. But 35 degrees, snow flurries and 60 mph wind gusts are still odd for spring even in…
Time to relax
I was most impressed with your front page article in the April 19 issue. When a pastor leaves a congregation is a perfect time for a church to “relax, rest, regroup.” I advise a congregation, after a pastor leaves it…
A cry from the depths
Darrell Cook, the BCM director at Virginia Tech, walked me through the campus on the day students returned to classes. Obviously, the students looked dazed as if living in a surreal world starving for normalcy again. You could hear the…
David Olive named president of Bluefield College
David W. Olive will be the next president of Bluefield College, the BC board of trustees announced April 21. Olive, an executive vice president and chief operating officer at Pfeiffer University in Charlotte, N.C., will become Bluefield College's ninth president…
Emerging leader explores call at Senior High Weekend
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…