(RNS) — North Carolina became the seventh state to prohibit its judges from considering Islamic law after Gov. Pat McCrory allowed the bill to become law without formally signing it. McCory, a Republican, called the law “unnecessary,” but declined to…
Furniture giveaway is Godsend for international students arriving on Virginia Tech’s campus
BLACKSBURG, Va. — Moving to a college campus is a rite of passage for new students. But for international students, setting up a new household in an apartment or house, usually with other roommates, can be especially difficult as they…
LEADERSHIP LINK: Ministry to those with life-threatening illnesses
Sooner or later a deacon who ministers to families or who is part of a hospital visitation team will care for a person with a life-threatening illness. Ironically, just when we need to move closer to church members who are…
OPINION: Church remixed
On Sunday, Aug. 11, the Church at Clarendon in Arlington, Va., held a service entitled “Church Remixed.” The service was during the regular 11 a.m. worship hour, a typically “blended” style service, with five to eight musicians. On this morning,…
OPINION: Comic-Con, world’s largest pop culture gathering, offers church lesson in engaging culture
Comic-Con International is the largest gathering of pop culture in the world. It is held in San Diego and has a more than 40-year history of providing information and insight into the world of comics, movies, television, video gaming and…
Photo project brings Lakota plight to light
By Vicki Brown A lifelong interest in Native Americans and an online article from 2006 about conditions on a South Dakota reservation prompted a Southwest Baptist University staff member about four years ago to travel to the Pine Ridge Oglala…
Alliance signs letter opposing Safe Act
By Bob Allen The Alliance of Baptists joined other faith organizations and leaders in an Aug. 21 letter opposing a law pending in Congress to crack down on crimes committed by aliens living in the United States illegally. Introduced in…
How much should we pay the pastor?
By Robert Dilday It may be one of the most uncomfortable — and sometimes contentious — questions in congregational life: How much should we pay our senior pastor? Ministers struggle between commitments to a self-sacrificial calling on the one hand…
Many ministers saddled with seminary debt
By Robert Dilday When Congress overwhelmingly approved a measure last month to relieve spiraling student debt, churches probably didn’t realize the problem hits closer to home than expected — many pastors are leaving seminary and divinity school with tens of…
Metro Baptist pastor trades NYC for NC pulpit
By Jeff Brumley Through e-mails and Facebook posts Thursday, Alan Sherouse informed extended friends and colleagues that he’s stepping down as pastor of Metro Baptist Church to lead a church in North Carolina. “I am in the midst of transition…
Metro Baptist pastor taking NC pulpit
By Jeff Brumley Through e-mails and Facebook posts, Alan Sherouse informed extended friends and colleagues that he’s stepping down as pastor of Metro Baptist Church to lead a church in North Carolina. “I am in the midst of transition from Metro…
In a trend still below churches’ radar, many ministers saddled with seminary debt
When Congress overwhelmingly approved a measure last month to relieve spiraling student debt, churches probably didn’t realize the problem hits closer to home than expected — many pastors are leaving seminary and divinity school with tens of thousands of dollars…