WASHINGTON (RNS) — Prompted by civil liberties groups, a taxpayer-supported homeless shelter in the nation’s capital will no longer require its clients to attend religious services. “We’re pleased that the D.C. government will no longer be supporting such religious coercion,”…
Fresh Expressions to be focus of 2011 Virginia Baptist Pastors Conference
RICHMOND, Va. — Innovative expressions of churches in changing cultures will be the focus of next month’s Virginia Baptist Pastors Conference, set for Nov. 7 in suburban Richmond, Va. The annual conference — held each year in conjunction with the…
BGAV to hear Alan Hirsch, adopt budget, consider new relationship
RICHMOND, Va. — As many as 1,000 people are expected to gather in Richmond, Va., Nov. 8-9 for the annual meeting of the Baptist General Association of Virginia, to be held in the Greater Richmond Convention Center. Alan Hirsch, a…
Missouri Baptists elect leader
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (ABP) — The Missouri Baptist Convention's Executive Board has chosen John Yeats to assume the MBC's top post. Meeting in a special called session Oct. 13, board members elected Yeats, recording secretary for the Southern Baptist Convention and…
Group says IRS should investigate church for endorsing Rick Perry
WASHINGTON (ABP) – Americans United for Separation of Church and State asked the Internal Revenue Service Oct.11 to investigate whether a Southern Baptist pastor in the news for calling Mormonism a “cult” broke the law by posting on his church's…
Church cancels services, packs meals for hungry children
RICHMOND, Va. (ABP) — On an overcast Sunday morning in Richmond, Va., 500 volunteers gathered at Gayton Baptist Church to make a difference a half a world away by preparing healthy meals to feed 277 malnourished children a meal one…
Richmond, Va., church cancels services, packs meals for children
RICHMOND, Va. — On an overcast Sunday morning in Richmond, 500 volunteers gathered at Gayton Baptist Church in the city’s western suburbs to make a difference a half a world away, preparing healthy meals to feed 277 malnourished children a…
LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Unique opportunity
Chaplain Service Prison Ministry of Virginia Inc. is the official agency that provides chaplains to Virginia’s state prisons and juvenile correctional centers. Virginia is unique in that its prison chaplains are not state employees. They are not compensated by the…
OPINION: Jeffress flap illustrates wisdom of ‘no religious test’
One would think we Americans would have learned our lesson by now about supporting or opposing candidates for office on the basis of their religious beliefs. Robert Jeffress’ recent endorsement of Gov. Rick Perry and criticism of Gov. Mitt Romney…
LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Misguided notion
I enjoy the Herald and I usually agree with all that is in it, but I must respond to the opinion column of Sept. 26 written by Zachary Bailes [“Whom shall we kill?”]. It is “whining” at its best that…
TRENDING: ‘Five-fold’ ministry
The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers …. (Ephesians 4:11) The 1980s brought a proliferation of “spiritual gifts inventories.” I first heard this taught by Peter Wagner at…
Baptist students develop awareness of poverty while on mission
FARMVILLE, Va. — Virginia Baptists’ ministry to college age young adults, now called Kairos Initiative, sponsored a statewide mission trip to Haiti this year. The majority of the cost was provided by Baptist collegiate ministries across the state, with individual…