As they have done for nearly two centuries, messengers to the Baptist General Association of Virginia will gather in annual session in Fredericksburg to celebrate successes, identify challenges, engage in worship and conduct business. This year they will consider a…
SBC leader says Halloween a moral issue
By Bob Allen A Southern Baptist leader and scholar says Halloween is a good time for Christians to remember that evil spirits are real and to make decisions on whether or how to celebrate the holiday accordingly. Albert Mohler, president…
Tom DeLay says he’s on divine mission
By Bob Allen A month after a Texas appellate court overturned his conviction of corruption charges that ended his political career, former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay says he is on a mission from God. DeLay, who accepted Christ during…
Sermons stretch as biblical literacy wanes
By Jeff Brumley Religious literacy has declined to the point where modern audiences would be baffled at films like Monty Python’s 1979 The Life of Brian, A British Broadcasting Corp. official said recently. Comedians are also affected, Aaquil Ahmed told The…
Pastor in Central Asia faces year in prison
By Bob Allen A Baptist pastor in Kazakhstan faces up to a year in prison after refusing to pay a fine equivalent to about two months’ average salary for conducting worship without government permission, the international news service Forum 18…
Pastor resigns amid abuse allegations
By Bob Allen An independent Baptist pastor has resigned his church in Georgia after allegations of sexual abuse 18 years ago in Michigan resurfaced on the Internet. Leaders at King’s Way Baptist Church in Douglasville, Ga., confirmed in a letter…
Immigration ‘personal,’ Baptist leader says
By Bob Allen A Southern Baptist Convention official says evangelicals are galvanizing around immigration reform because increasingly if affects someone they know. “A primary motivating factor for us is this has become personal for us,” Barrett Duke, vice president for…
AU defends contraceptive mandate
By Bob Allen A Southern Baptist business owner’s religious objection to the use of emergency contraceptives does not trump his employees’ right to obtain health insurance under Obamacare, civil liberties and religious groups said in papers filed Oct. 28 in…
New book details Baptist/Hindu marriage
By Bob Allen Ordained Baptist minister J. Dana Trent got more than she bargained for when she tried to broaden the field on a dating website application by checking boxes for other religions along with Christian and “spiritual but not…
Jerry Holcomb, longtime Virginia Baptist pastor and former BGAV president, dies at 73
VIRGINIA BEACH — W. Jerry Holcomb, a Virginia Baptist pastor for nearly 40 years and former president of the Baptist General Association of Virginia, died Oct. 28 in a Virginia Beach hospital. He was 73. Holcomb was pastor of King’s…
Baptist minister Dana Trent details marriage to Hindu monk in just-released ‘Saffron Cross’
North Carolina Baptist minister J. Dana Trent got more than she bargained for when she tried to broaden the field on a dating website application by checking boxes for other religions along with Christian and “spiritual but not religious” —…
NABF peers into Baptist future
By Jeff Brumley The North American Baptist Fellowship will focus on the future, not the past, when it celebrates its 50th anniversary next spring. So the organization is now turning to Baptists across the board for help in discerning what…