(RNS) — The Dalai Lama has 5,702,736 followers on Twitter. How many people does he follow? Zero. Pope Benedict XVI plans to start tweeting on Dec. 12. His Twitter handle is @Pontifex, which means “bridge builder” in Latin. Benedict hasn’t…
Spiritual wisdom in 140 characters or less
(RNS) — The Dalai Lama has 5,702,736 followers on Twitter. How many people does he follow? Zero. Pope Benedict XVI plans to start tweeting on Dec. 12. His Twitter handle is @Pontifex, which means “bridge builder” in Latin. Benedict hasn’t…
Seattle church holds group wedding
By Bob Allen Twenty-five same-sex couples exchanged vows in a group wedding ceremony at First Baptist Church in Seattle Dec. 9, the first day that gays could legally marry in Washington State. Hundreds of couples stood in lines on Thursday…
Trailblazing Baptist woman turns 100
By Jeff Brumley It was a cold winter’s night in 1971 when 6-year-old Monica Phillips developed a terrible earache on a family visit to Abilene, Texas. “I had these earaches fairly often and they were quite painful,” Phillips recalled. But…
At strategic time for China, CBFVA aims to ‘build bridge’ with growing Christian churches there
RICHMOND — The dramatic growth of Christian churches in China is drawing the attention of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of Virginia, which is aiming in its 20th anniversary year to “build a bridge” to the strategic nation and its millions…
At strategic time for China, CBFVA aims to ‘build bridge’ with growing Christian churches there
RICHMOND — The dramatic growth of Christian churches in China is drawing the attention of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of Virginia, which is aiming in its 20th anniversary year to “build a bridge” to the strategic nation and its millions…
Megan Dibble, daughter of longtime youth ministry strategist Ken Dibble, died Nov. 30
ASHEVILLE — Megan Elizabeth Dibble, 30, daughter of longtime Virginia Baptist youth ministry strategist Ken Dibble and his wife, Sherlyn, died Nov. 30. Meghan Dibble A native of Charlotte, Dibble was a graduate of the Collegiate School in Richmond and…
Orrock named coordinator of Kairos Initiative, also will be Baptist collegiate minister in Richmond
RICHMOND — Richmond minister Welford Orrock has been tapped to serve as coordinator of the Kairos Initiative, a “revisioning” of collegiate ministry which the Virginia Baptist Mission Board hopes will dramatically expand Christian outreach among young adults in Virginia. Welford…
Church eyes apartment complex for expansion but ‘God had other ideas’ — including a clinic
GREENVILLE, N.C. — What started as part of Oakmont Baptist Church’s ministry to its next-door neighbors has grown into a free medical clinic that helps people from across North Carolina’s Pitt County. The church’s approach to missions was transformed after…
HERITAGE: The mystery of the porcelain cat
When this columnist visited First Baptist Church in Raleigh, he met Frances Ward Brooks, who pulled out of her pocketbook a small piece of blue and white china, a figurine of a porcelain cat. She remembered that in her childhood…
OPINION: How strong is the unity of the cross?
One of the things that I treasure most about being a Virginia Baptist is that we take the gospel more seriously than we take ourselves. We know that the Holy Spirit is more powerful than we are. This is why…
Orrock named coordinator of Kairos Initiative, also will be Baptist collegiate minister in Richmond
Student minister named coordinator of Kairos Initiative, will serve as Baptist college minister in Richmond area Robert Dilday RICHMOND — Richmond minister Welford Orrock has been tapped to serve as coordinator of the Kairos Initiative, a “revisioning” of collegiate ministry…