EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (RNS) — Some have called their efforts a spiritual calling, a labor of love, a rich opportunity to connect with thousands of years of Jewish history and religion. Others have viewed them as a relentless endeavor and…
Study suggests megachurch services produce spiritual and biological ‘high’
(RNS) — Maybe religion really is the opiate of the masses — just not the way Karl Marx imagined. A University of Washington study posits that worship services at megachurches can trigger feelings of transcendence and changes in brain chemistry…
HeraldBeat: Tracking Baptists across the Mid-Atlantic
Transitions ON THE MOVE Katie McKown, to Scottsville (Va.) Baptist Church, as pastor. Joe Holland, to Hunton Baptist Church, Glen Allen, Va., as interim pastor. Horace Scruggs, to Effort (Va.) Baptist Church, as interim worship pastor. Chris Kurtz, resigning as…
Groups support people with disabilities
By Bob Allen As values voters both left and right weigh in on special interests from immigration reform to same-sex marriage in an election season, a lesser-known religious coalition is speaking up for Americans with disabilities. The Interfaith Disability Advocacy…
Grandparenting: Grand or grind?
By Vicki Brown “I want to be a good grandmother (father) but I want to live my life, too.” The refrain echoes around the country as more grandparents assume responsibility for their grandchildren. One in 10 children lives with a…
Grandparenting: Grand or grind?
By Vicki Brown “I want to be a good grandmother (father) but I want to live my life, too.” The refrain echoes around the country as more grandparents assume responsibility for their grandchildren. One in 10 children lives with a…
Grandparenting: Grand or grind?
By Vicki Brown “I want to be a good grandmother (father) but I want to live my life, too.” The refrain echoes around the country as more grandparents assume responsibility for their grandchildren. One in 10 children lives with a…
Churches can help grandparents
By Vicki Brown “The church building is not a monument. It’s an instrument for God,” Timothy Williams, pastor of Bethsaida Missionary Baptist Church in Mexia, Texas, believes. His wife, Cheryl, director of apartment ministries for Buckner International, is praying her church…
Counselor sees grandparenting challenge
By Bill Martin As a counselor at STARRY, Jessica Kilpatrick often is asked to help grandparents who are rearing their grandchildren navigate through communications, discipline and relationship issues. For her, it’s an issue that hits close to home. After bringing…
Houston Baptists transform lives in Peru
By Jeff Brumley There’s what people can imagine, Houston cardiologist Luis Campos says, and then there’s what God can imagine. The 67-year-old South Main Baptist Church member said he has witnessed that repeatedly in almost a decade of ministry with…
Faith groups aim to fight sex trafficking in Wilmington
WILMINGTON, N.C. (RNS) — Just 13. That’s the average age UNICEF reports that girls enter the commercial sex trade in the U.S. And while many Americans might think of sex trafficking as an international problem, it often starts in the…
To draw people to church, offer them something bigger than themselves, seminary prof tells CBFVA
ASHLAND, Va. — The No. 1 reason people join churches today is because someone asked them to be part of something bigger than themselves, a specialist in ministry to youth and young adults told the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of Virginia…