Power saws whine and sawdust flies on Wednesday mornings in Appomattox, Va., when the firewood team from Grace Hills Baptist Church is cutting and splitting wood for residents with limited resources to heat their homes. This ministry began six years…
For those without increasingly essential photo IDs, Baptist ministry provides solutions
RICHMOND — Russell Caine wanted a job. He had applied at numerous businesses but could not get an interview without valid identification. Without a driver’s license, Caine needed a photo ID, but he did not have money to purchase one…
In faith-infused event, Obama extols a biblical vision of equality for all in second inaugural
WASHINGTON (RNS) — A presidential inauguration is by tradition the grandest ritual of America’s civil religion, but President Obama took the oath of office on Jan. 21 in a ceremony that was explicit in joining theology to the nation’s destiny…
DC Baptists celebrate inaugural
By Leah Grundset Davis As District of Columbia Baptist churches considered an appropriate mission project to celebrate inauguration weekend, they decided on collecting food for those in need. The D.C. Baptist Convention asked its 150 churches to participate in a…
OPINION: A place for Panamanian pandemonium
This winter break I found myself in Panama with a group of seven individuals from Rock 17, the young adult group from Virginia’s Peninsula Baptist Association. Our travels were spurred by the partnership between Virginia Baptists and the Panamanian Baptist…
OPINION: Remembering a simple country preacher
Editor’s note: Susan Whitlow of Morehead City, N.C., who grew up at Kilmarnock Baptist Church, delivered a eulogy at the funeral of John Houghton Jan. 16. Houghton served the church for 35 years as its pastor and for years thereafter in…
‘So help me God’ isn’t in official oath, but it’s been used by all presidents since 1881
(RNS) — When President Obama rests his hand on two historic Bibles to take his second-term oath of office today, he’ll add a phrase not mentioned in the Constitution: “So help me God.” But the Almighty’s role on the Capitol…
On Inauguration Day, Baptists in D.C. engage in service activities, prepare for huge crowds
As public ceremonies for the second inauguration of President Barack Obama begin today, District of Columbia Baptists are engaging the events in different ways. This is the second of a two-part series on D.C Baptists and their involvement with politics…
CBF of Virginia launches relocation process following impending sale of seminary buildings
RICHMOND — The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of Virginia has launched a search for new office space in the wake of an impending sale of two buildings on Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond’s campus, where the organization has been housed since…
OPINION: An epistle of truth for all ages — MLK’s ‘Letter from Birmingham Jail’
Today, on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, I re-read King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” Every so often I need to be reminded of deep truths so eloquently and timelessly expressed. King had traveled to Birmingham to lead a non-violent demonstration…
OPINION: Put your heart into it!
Recently, our staff was talking about things our parents would tell us that we find ourselves repeating to our children or ourselves. We had to admit that we increasingly sound like those voices we vowed never to imitate. Some of…
40 years after Roe v. Wade, abortion foes are winning — and losing
(RNS) — Four decades after Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion, many opponents of the decision are in a celebratory mood while those backing abortion rights are glum, feeling that momentum is turning decisively against…