James G. Hamacher has been elected executive director of missions by the Middle District Baptist Association, a fellowship of churches in Amelia, Chesterfield and Powhatan counties and part of the city of Richmond. Hamacher will begin his ministry June 1….
Surrendering all
Cover Story for May 26, 2005 Even people from the humblest of beginnings need to realize God has a purpose for their lives, talk show host Oprah Winfrey told a crowd of church goers during her recent visit to a…
Construction volunteers sought for Grenada
Volunteers are being sought for a Virginia Baptist construction project in Grenada. Two or three volunteers are needed to help build two frame houses on the Caribbean island. The project is at the top of the Grenada Baptist Association's help…
Virginia Baptists’ response to tsunami relief in India
Contributions from Virginia Baptists for the Indian relief project through May 16 with the following designations: • Southern Baptist Convention (IMB): $101,890 • Baptist World Alliance (BWAid): $48,351 • Cooperative Baptist Fellowship: $83,863 • Virginia Baptist Mission Board: $406,841 Undesignated:…
Children’s Home walk-a-thon continues to raise funds for ministry
The annual walk-a-thon held by the Virginia Baptist Children's Home & Family Services continues to be the fundraising highlight for providing benevolent care to the hundreds of at-risk children and youth, as well as adults with developmental disabilities, who turn…
Virginia Baptists to offer crisis training
Virginia Baptists' disaster relief ministry will offer critical incident stress management (CISM) training June 16-18 at the Virginia Baptist Resource Center. The training is one of the requirements for crisis care chaplains who are deployed during disasters. It is also…
World Baptists focus on unity, not squabbles, says BWA executive
Baptists of the world are more interested in unity and ministry than in denominational squabbles like the one dividing Baptists in the southern United States, said Denton Lotz, general secretary of the Baptist World Alliance. “It's a lot better to…
Bluefield student is new BSU president
Bluefield College student Matt Brooks will be leading Virginia Baptist college students on mission and in ministry in the coming year. Brooks has been elected statewide president of the Virginia Baptist Student Union. A junior from Jefferson City, Tenn., Brooks…
The sabbatical
Heritage Column for May 26, 2005 By Fred Anderson Miss Cora O'Kelley was my eighth-grade geography teacher. She was prim and proper and wore a cameo at her neck. She was soft spoken. And for a 13-year-old boy, she seemed…
Church & People News for May 26, 2005
Staff Changes Alan Stanley, to Christ Church, Manassas, as pastor. Todd Higginson, resigning as pastor of Boulevard Church, Richmond, to accept the call as resident minister intern at Franklin Church, Franklin. Steven R. Gibson, to Franklin Church, Franklin, as…
The spiritual ‘Vietnam Syndrome’
Another View for May 19, 2005 By Erich Bridges The 30th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War brought countless replays of the news footage showing American helicopters lifting off from the roof of the U.S. Embassy in Saigon…
Health insurance is great – when you’ve got it
Guest Editorial for May 19, 2005 By Robert Parham “How much do you think this bottle of pills costs?” asked my wife, several days after I had returned home from a month in the hospital for the treatment of acute…