Anne Cole Aker, the winner in a recent contest sponsored by the Religious Herald, receives her iPad from Brian Clingenpeel of Roanoke, Va., president of the Herald’s board of trustees. RICHMOND, Va. — The Religious Herald has announced the winner…
Opinion: Always reforming
(ABP) — Ecclesia Semper Reformanda, so the saying goes, “the church is always reforming.” Those words came to mind last week when I heard sociologist-prophet-iconoclast Tony Campolo preach at the New Baptist Covenant II meeting, that multiracial effort at affecting…
HERITAGE: Big day at two churches
It was a crisp, cool, cloudless day on Oct. 2 for the 125th anniversary celebration at Big Island Baptist Church in Bedford County, Va. The distinctive temple-like church building had been spruced up for the big day. The menfolks had…
High school students have chance to explore religion in 2012 campaign
WASHINGTON — Teenagers are being offered an opportunity to engage what has emerged as one of the most vexing questions in the 2012 presidential campaign: Is it fair to evaluate a candidate by his or her religious faith? The Religious…
St. Louis ‘Covenant’ event opens with worship, ends with ministry
ST. LOUIS — The regional meeting of the New Baptist Covenant II hosted by St. Luke Memorial Baptist Church in St. Louis began with a spirited worship service and an estimated crowd of about 500 on Nov. 17 and concluded…
News Analysis: Churches not typically first reporters of sexual abuse
DENVER (ABP) – Southern Baptist churches are rarely the first party to report allegations of child sexual abuse by clergy to legal authorities, according to an analysis of news stories aggregated at a website maintained by an advocate for victims….
Baptist church takes stand for gay marriage
RALEIGH, N.C. (ABP) – Members of a North Carolina Baptist church voted unanimously Nov. 20 to stop performing civil marriages until it becomes legal for same-sex couples to wed. Pullen Memorial Baptist Church in Raleigh, N.C., says current state law…
Baptist church takes stand for gay marriage
RALEIGH, N.C. (ABP) — Members of a North Carolina Baptist church voted unanimously Nov. 20 to stop performing civil marriages until it becomes legal for same-sex couples to wed. Pullen Memorial Baptist Church in Raleigh, N.C., says current state law…
OPINION: Tebow apologetics
Football and politics have something in common these days beside combat. Each wrestles with the role religion plays in its game. Tim Tebow is a curious case on the gridiron. A passionate evangelical Christian and one of the most heralded…
Low attendance disappoints New Baptist Covenant planners
ATLANTA (ABP) – Planners of the Nov. 17-19 New Baptist Covenant gatherings were disappointed with attendance but pleased with the diversity and quality of presentations, one of the organizers said Nov. 21. “We had hoped for a larger attendance,” said…
SBC leader says churches not immune from ‘anti-child culture’
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP) – Richard Land, the Southern Baptist Convention’s top spokesman on moral concerns, says the Penn State sexual abuse scandal is symptomatic of a larger “anti-child culture” in the United States, and that churches are not immune. During…
Panel: Churches need to take lead in race relations
SAN ANTONIO, Texas (ABP) — Churches too often have trailed society at large in terms of embracing racial and ethnic diversity, a multiethnic panel told a regional New Baptist Covenant II gathering in San Antonio. “I believe what we see on…