The 2006 Virginia Baptist Pastors Conference will be held on Wednesday, Nov. 8, at Thalia Lynn Baptist Church in Virginia Beach. The conference will feature a time of worship, testimonies, teaching and preaching. The theme for the conference is “Surviving…
Music collaboration to benefit African school
RICHMOND — American Youth Harp Ensemble and Richmond area choirs will join forces next month to present “Amani Peace Concert,” an African music collaboration benefiting the Grace Baptist Institute in Liberia. The performance takes place on Sunday, May 4, at…
As arson investigation continues, Alabama church ‘bounces back’
RANDOLPH, Ala. (ABP) — As investigators continue to search for clues to lead them to the arsonists who set fire to 10 Alabama churches in 10 days, members of one burned-out church have only forgiveness in their hearts for the…
Fellowship adds associate for congregational life
ATLANTA (ABP) — Rick Bennett of Orangeburg, S.C., has been hired as associate coordinator for faith formation for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. Bennett was most recently pastoral educator for First Baptist Church in Orangeburg, S.C., where he worked since 2001….
CORRECTION
The chair of the Baptist General Association of Virginia's Christian life committee is David Roberts, not Bill Nieporte as reported in last week's Herald.
Pakistani workers strike, children burn flags in anti-cartoon violence
KARACHI, Pakistan (ABP) – Violence continues in Muslim countries worldwide as protests over the Danish cartoons of Muhammad increase in fervor. In Pakistan, more than 50,000 people chanted anti-American slogans and burned flags during a protest that came a day…
Swedish lawmakers expected to legalize gay marriage; Lutheran body assents
STOCKHOLM, Sweden (ABP) — Sweden is likely to become the world's sixth nation to offer gay couples full marriage rights. Lawmakers there are expected to approve a gay-marriage recommendation offered by a special government commission March 21. Sweden's state-established Lutheran…
Seven states pass constitutional amendments defining marriage
A majority of states in America now have adopted constitutional marriage amendments. Seven states—including Virginia—passed amendments Nov. 7 defining marriage, bringing to 27 the number of states nationwide that have adopted amendments aimed at prohibiting gay marriage. An eighth state,…
Black Baptist denominations to help hurricane-ravaged churches rebuild
(RNS) — Three of the nation's largest black Baptist denominations have announced plans to help ruined churches and their church members across the storm-ravaged Gulf Coast. The National Baptist Convention USA, the National Baptist Convention of America and the Progressive…
Massachusetts court delivers gay-marriage setback
BOSTON (ABP) — The same court that created a national firestorm by legalizing gay marriage in 2003 delivered gay-rights activists a setback March 30 in a related case. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled 7-1 that an obscure 1913 law…
Gay-marriage opponents pledge to continue fight — so do supporters
WASHINGTON (ABP) — Despite a first-round defeat for the Federal Marriage Amendment July 14, proponents vowed to continue fighting and say they expect to win. Matt Daniels, president of the Alliance for Marriage, a coalition of Christian and other groups…
Pastors examine change in variety of settings
Three Virginia pastors from rural, small town and urban settings joined well-known pastor/speaker Leith Anderson to share experiences at the Virginia Baptist Pastors Conference last month. Anderson and the Virginia pastors discussed the dynamics of change in each of their…