By Robert Dilday Like many American congregations University Baptist Church in Charlottesville, Va., has a Super Bowl tradition, but this one has a twist. The viewing audience is homeless men seeking shelter from the sub-freezing temperatures typical during February in…
HERITAGE: This old house
Anyone who has ever lived in an old house knows that it requires periodic upkeep. Some things have to be replaced. Sometimes new parts are installed to make it energy efficient. And once in a while an old house requires…
TRENDING: Lessons from Argentina, part 3: The humble
Time in Argentina will give you a snapshot of the world that is coming to North America. The trend will be that our culture becomes increasingly multicultural (and multilingual) and highly urbanized. Like the current global south, the North American…
VITAL SIGNS: Why your church building-use policy matters
I know firsthand how utterly boring and laborious creating a building-use policy can be. Every church I have ever served has entered into a major building project. The debate around building use has been a constant. It also has evolved…
Super Bowl big day for traffickers
By Daniel Wallace While Baltimore and San Francisco fought it out on the gridiron Sunday in New Orleans, law enforcement and ministries across the city were waging a battle against the modern version of the slave trade: human trafficking. Authorities…
‘Fresh expressions’ of church in NC
By Robert Dilday About 80 percent of North Carolina’s 9.7 million people don’t attend church and reaching them will require a “mixed economy” of both existing congregations and new forms of church, a group of Baptist leaders was told Feb….
Super Bowl tradition with a twist: Charlottesville church blends shelter ministry with viewing party
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — University Baptist Church, like many American congregations, has a Super Bowl tradition, but for the Charlottesville, Va., church there’s a twist — the viewing audience is homeless men seeking shelter from the sub-freezing temperatures typical during February…
John Leland Center partners with Prison Fellowship to train students in justice advocacy
ARLINGTON, Va. — The John Leland Center for Theological Studies is partnering with Prison Fellowship International to provide training and educational opportunities for the seminary’s master of divinity students. The collaboration, announced Jan. 30, is part of Leland’s ministry rotation…
World religions expert George Braswell marches to different drum in life, witness
BUIES CREEK, N.C. — George Braswell grew up “marching to a different drum” and, at 77, he still does. Braswell — a highly-regarded Baptist expert on world religions — spent much of his early life on the “wrong” side of…
LEADERSHIP LINK: Finding God’s futures: Standing on tiptoe to see over the horizon
Do you wish for a GPS to guide you into the future? Do you despair at only seeing your life, like Paul, “through a glass darkly”? How does God reveal what’s ahead to us? Most of us are interested…
World religions expert George Braswell marches to different drum in life, witness
BUIES CREEK, N.C. — George Braswell grew up “marching to a different drum” and, at 77, he still does. Braswell — a highly-regarded Baptist expert on world religions — spent much of his early life on the “wrong” side of…
Month of preaching represents opportunity to increase presence of women in pulpits
This month, women pastors in Baptist churches across the nation will celebrate their role in the pulpit and for many — like Bailey Nelson Edwards, senior pastor of Flat Rock Baptist Church in Mount Airy, N.C. — the annual Martha…