DALLAS (ABP) — Rank-and-file Texas Baptists are sad and angry about the financial scandal in the Rio Grande Valley that has marred their reputation, but most say they still trust their leaders — including Executive Director Charles Wade — to…
Tennessee Baptists will ask leaders if they affirm SBC’s faith statement
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (ABP) — Tennessee Baptists voted overwhelmingly Nov. 14 to publicize whether nominees to leadership posts in the convention affirm the "Baptist Faith and Message," a controversial confession of faith adopted by the national Southern Baptist Convention. Messengers to…
N.C. Baptists reject bylaw changes giving colleges, others more freedom
GREENSBORO, N.C. (ABP) — Messengers to the annual North Carolina Baptist state convention meeting struck down proposed bylaw changes that would have given convention-related institutions more influence over the appointment of trustees and directors. The proposed amendments, more than a…
Texas Baptists approve measures to ‘restore trust’ after Valley scandal
DALLAS (ABP) — “Together We Are Doing More” was the stated theme, but healing from financial scandal was the subtext that dominated the annual meeting of the Baptist General Convention of Texas. Messengers to the Nov. 13-14 meeting elected officers,…
Anne Davis, social-work pioneer, dies in Waco, Texas
WACO, Texas (ABP) — Anne Davis, the renowned Baptist social worker, died Nov. 9. She was 69. Born in Baskerville, Va., Davis grew up in a rural farming community. After earning degrees from Averett College, Westhampton College at the University…
N.C. Baptists adopt strictest policy against gay-friendly churches
GREENSBORO, N.C. (ABP) — Baptist churches in North Carolina will have to deny membership to gays or face expulsion from the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina. Messengers to the convention's annual meeting voted Nov. 14 to add language to…
‘Inflated’ reports of new churches also mar Arango’s work in Mexico
DALLAS (ABP) — Otto Arango exported to Latin America the church-planting strategies he developed in South Texas. But some observers familiar with his work in Mexico say Arango — the central figure in an investigation that revealed misuse and mismanagement…
Piper Institute to discuss role of founder in Valley scandal
DALLAS (ABP) — A called meeting of the board of the Piper Institute for Church Planting was scheduled for Nov. 14 in Dallas to consider allegations of misuse and mismanagement of church-starting funds by the institute's founder, Otto Arango, and…
Bluefield benefits Virginia Baptists
This year Virginia Baptists contributed $300,000 to Bluefield College. Next year that amount will be cut by more than 50 percent (“Virginia Baptist Mission Board takes show on the road,” Herald, Oct. 19). What do we do with the money…
The marriage amendment
I view with curiosity and bewilderment an amendment to “protect the institution of marriage” in the Commonwealth. As a former pastor of 26 years, a current professor of marriage and family life at Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond, as a…
Almost Baptist!
Growing up in Georgia, I devoured collards, cornbread and the columns by Louie D. Newton in the weekly issues of The Christian Index, the Georgia Baptist newspaper. Newton was a well-known pastor, former editor of the Index, and a denominational…
News about Virginia Baptists and their ministries for November 9, 2006
STAFF CHANGES Ben Munford, to Oak Hall Church, Sandston, as pastor. Kirby Smith, to Oak Forest Church, Chesterfield, as pastor. Jim Graham, to Wallers Church, Partlow, as pastor. Russell H. Dilday, to First Church, Richmond, as interim pastor, effective Jan….