The stories of Graham Platner and Roy Moore, although unfolding in different parties and different eras, trace the same institutional pattern: Modern political parties elevate outsiders when they are useful and abandon them when they become inconvenient. Platner and Moore...
DANVILLE, Va. — In the parable of the Good Samaritan Jesus says a person keeps the commandment to love God and neighbor by ministering to his neighbor. Saturday, Oct. 8, is a day that will long be remembered for ministry…
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Until about 15 years ago, St. John’s Baptist Church in this resort community was surrounded by farms and country roads. Today those farms have been replaced by $500,000 houses filled with people eager to enjoy Virginia…
Between Heaven and Mirth, James Martin (HarperOne) Martin’s subtitle (Why Joy, Humor and Laughter Are at the Heart of the Spiritual Life) tells you where he’s heading. Martin believes that revelry, enjoyment, the “ability to laugh at life’s absurdities” are…
Time for a confession. Let me tell you a consultant’s dirty little secret: congregational strategic planning is frequently a waste of time and can be counterproductive. There, it’s out. Now, it’s time to explain. Many congregations, for a variety of…
“Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house!’ And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you. Remain in the same house, eating…
I am scratching my head wondering how the New Baptist Covenant II, supported philosophically and theologically by so many Baptists, drew such meager attendance? Meeting Nov. 17-20 in Atlanta and seven other locations linked by satellite simulcasts, some NBC II…
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…
(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…
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….
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…
Football and politics have something in common these days besides combat. Each wrestles with the role religion plays in its game.
