By Ken Camp Disaster-relief volunteers from Texas Baptist Men offered comfort to injured people, helped clear debris and provided meals to rescue workers after tornadoes ripped through North Central Texas Wednesday evening, May 15. A series of tornadoes touched down…
Sexual-abuse resolution proposed
By Bob Allen A resolution submitted for consideration at next month’s Southern Baptist Convention in Houston claims that failure by influential leaders to confront the sexual abuse of children by clergy is giving the denomination a bad name. Peter Lumpkins,…
SBC leader rejects Boy Scout compromise
By Bob Allen The Southern Baptist Convention’s top official for moral concerns is urging the Boy Scouts of America to reject a proposal next week to drop its ban on youth members who are gay. Richard Land, head of the…
What now for West, Texas? The challenge comes when public attention goes away
What now for West, Texas? The challenge comes when public attention goes away Marv Knox and Jeff Brumley (ABP) — The outpouring of sympathy and solidarity for West, Texas, has been immense since a fertilizer plant explosion killed 15 —…
What now for West, Texas? The challenge comes when public attention goes away
(ABP) — The outpouring of sympathy and solidarity for West, Texas, has been immense since a fertilizer plant explosion killed 15 — including 12 first-responders — on April 17. Thursday’s memorial in nearby Waco underscored that by drawing thousands, including…
In a low-trust environment, do churches operate on a need-to-know basis?
Many churches have cut back the number of business meetings held each year. Some have scaled back publications — particularly mailed-out print versions. Some large churches with communications staff or a department have eliminated them or severely reduced their resources….
Denominational entities struggle to find balance between privacy and openness
Baptists follow the congregational form of church governance — every member who wants to can have a say in the way the church and the denomination operate. But how much access does the average church member have to information about…
Social media and public records offer options to fact-finders
Do people in the pew have any options for finding information if their local church, state organization or national denominational body refuses do divulge it? Not many — but technology and government offer a couple of options. Social media When…
EDITORIAL: What happens in Washington doesn’t stay in Washington
In a recent conversation with Eddie Heath, one of the Virginia Baptist Mission Board’s field strategists, he expressed concern that five churches in his region had lost their pastors, some under difficult circumstances. “I have never seen it like this…
Virginia church aims to minister to children without one or both parents through 127JUNCTION
Following the mandate in James 1:27 for Christ’s followers to care for orphans in need, Community Heights Baptist Church in Southwest Virginia has initiated a ministry it calls 127JUNCTION to mobilize its members to care for the physical, emotional and…
Electronic reading is growing, and church libraries are taking note
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — It’s a sign of the times. Technology is changing what and how people read. A recent survey by the Pew Research Center found that the number of Americans reading electronic books has doubled since 2009. With the…
HeraldBeat: Tracking Baptists across the Mid-Atlantic
Accepted a new call? Been ordained? Church celebrating an anniversary? Mission trip or project that you would like highlighted on the HeraldBeat page? Send info to HeraldBeat editor Barbara Francis at [email protected]. Transitions ON THE MOVE Tom Ficklin, to Southampton…