For Baptists of old, freedom of religious thought and practice was more than an academic hold-over from previous generations. Being sent to jail for proclaiming your beliefs tends to make it personal. To them it was a right granted by…
Children’s project empowers women around the world
CAPE CHARLES, Va. — A hunger relief project initiated in 2009 by three children and their teacher in a mission education class at a small church on Virginia’s Eastern Shore has mushroomed into a multi-church endeavor which will provide thousands…
OUT LOUD
“We’re bringing the bed back in church.” Ed Young Jr. The Dallas-area Baptist pastor and his wife recently spent 24 hours in a bed on the roof of their church to send a message about the role of sex in…
Pope gives final approval to controversial lay group
VATICAN CITY (RNS) — After a 15-year process, the Holy See on Jan. 20 gave its final approval to the Neocatechumenal Way, a lay movement that has been criticized for its unorthodox liturgical practices but that has been successful in…
VIRGINIA BRIEFS
2012 Heritage Fellows applications open. Applications are now available for the 2012 Heritage Fellows program, sponsored by the Center for Baptist Heritage & Studies. Each year the Center appoints a few outstanding Virginia Baptist college students as Heritage Fellows. They…
Big-city mayors come out for same-sex marriage
NEW YORK (RNS) — A bipartisan coalition of 80 U.S. mayors on Jan. 20 launched a “Freedom to Marry” campaign to build public support for giving same-sex couples the right to marry under U.S. and state laws. “It is not…
VITAL SIGNS: The unbalanced church
When a congregation wants to get, stay or remain healthy, one of the key questions it asks has to do with the balance between its internal and an external focus. One excellent congregational exercise to help with this question is…
Church administrator charged with theft
By Bob Allen A former administrator at a prominent North Carolina moderate Baptist church was arrested recently and charged with embezzling more than $136,000 in church funds over a five-year period. Robert Lahr, 49, is accused of taking $136,324.58 from…
Scholar compares culture-war issues to Germans who resisted Hitler
By Bob Allen A Baptist historian compared today’s battle for the sanctity of life, traditional marriage and religious freedom to courageous heroes who resisted the Nazis in Germany. Timothy George speaks to students and faculty of Judson College in chapel…
HeraldBeat
Transitions ON THE MOVE John Moxley, to First Baptist Church, Dillwyn, Va., as pastor. Dave Hawes, to Fair Bluff (N.C.) Baptist Church, as pastor. David E. Roberts, to Hampton (Va.) Baptist Church, as interim pastor. Tim Williford, to Lystra Baptist…
HeraldBeat
Transitions ON THE MOVE John Moxley, to First Baptist Church, Dillwyn, Va., as pastor. Dave Hawes, to Fair Bluff (N.C.) Baptist Church, as pastor. David E. Roberts, to Hampton (Va.) Baptist Church, as interim pastor. Tim Williford, to Lystra Baptist…
HeraldBeat
Transitions ON THE MOVE John Moxley, to First Baptist Church, Dillwyn, Va., as pastor. Dave Hawes, to Fair Bluff (N.C.) Baptist Church, as pastor. David E. Roberts, to Hampton (Va.) Baptist Church, as interim pastor. Tim Williford, to Lystra Baptist…