“We have stories about child molesters, murders and all kinds of vicious, barbaric acts of evil committed by heinous criminals on our front page, and yet we never receive a call from anyone saying ‘I don’t need my children reading…
Experts say debt, public opinion and other factors boost chances for depression in clergy
Bryan Hatcher was a Baptist pastor once, so he gets it when ministers buckle under the strain of long work weeks, budget pressures and that feeling of constantly being in a fish bowl. And because he has since provided…
Free at last, but what now? Churches an help former inmates enter new life
Men just released from state prisons in Huntsville, Texas, arrived by bus in Fort Worth and gathered at the Tarrant County Probation Office. But before they re-entered the free world, they heard straight talk from someone who understood what they…
EDITORIAL: The power of forgiveness to heal — and evangelize
“And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” — Jesus Mike Steenkamp sat erect in his South African home before the CNN camera and delivered a statement many are finding simplistic and confusing. In the…
North American Baptist Fellowship retools disaster-relief network to enhance communication
(ABP) — The stream of volunteers coming through La Place, La., these days ebbs and flows, says Reid Doster, coordinator of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of Louisiana. A large group of Stetson University students is currently rehabbing some of the…
HERITAGE: Faith, freedom and forgiveness
Great events assume a life of their own. It is true with weddings. They start small with the excitement of an engagement and little by little the plans develop. So it is with an event planned for three days in…
Rising stress boosts clergy depression
Bryan Hatcher was a Baptist pastor once, so he gets it when ministers buckle under the strain of long work weeks, budget pressures and that feeling of constantly being in a fish bowl. And because he has since provided years…
Free at last, but what happens now?
Men just released from state prisons in Huntsville, Texas, arrived by bus in Fort Worth and gathered at the Tarrant County Probation Office. But before they re-entered the free world, they heard straight talk from someone who understood what they…
LEADERSHIP LINK: How to make a hospital visit (or rather, how not to)
The following may be used as a role play during a deacon training period at a deacons’ meeting or a retreat. Sam Sickly has been ill for several weeks. For the past seven days, he has been in the local…
Prof says ethics more than moral choice
By Ken Camp Christian ethics involve more than guidelines for making decisions, a Texas theologian said in the sixth annual Currie-Strickland Distinguished Lectures in Christian Ethics Feb. 28-March 1 at Howard Payne University. “The moral life cannot be reduced to…
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 Terry Morrison, to Whitehead’s…
Woman named pastor of historic church
By Bob Allen The 222-year-old Hampton Baptist Church has called Elizabeth “Betty” Pugh Mills as senior pastor, making it likely the largest Baptist church in Virginia led by a woman pastor. The 1,100-member church (about 500 active) voted March 3…