Baptist News Global

Churches show lasting benefits from intentional interim ministry, study says

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.—Churches that go through the intentional interim ministry process show lasting benefits, recent research has demonstrated. The Center for Congregational Health examined churches 24 to 36 months after they completed the intentional interim process, paying particular attention to how…

Churches seeking pastors put plenty of hooks in the water

RICHMOND—What's in a name? For churches seeking a new minister, the bottom line is collecting names of candidates—and lots of them. That's not always an easy task, and search committees typically discover it takes a variety of approaches to create…

Self-examination benefits church with pastor, too

PLAINVIEW, Texas—At some point, every church needs to step back and re-evaluate its purpose. Micheal Summers, Wayland Baptist University's director of church services, believes an intentional interim minister can most effectively lead churches through that process, but churches with pastors…

Herald launches publishing partnership with Baptist media

RICHMOND — The Religious Herald has launched a publishing partnership with three other Baptist news organizations which will allow it to expand its news coverage and offer more attractive and dynamic design features. Joining the Herald in the venture —…

April marks first anniversary for Virginia Baptists’ Advance Notice electronic newsletter

RICHMOND — When it was launched on April 4, 2006, the Virginia Baptist Mission Board's Advance Notice e-newsletter was the first monthly electronic source of information for Virginia Baptists of the 1,400-plus member churches of the Baptist General Association of…

Charlottesville church connects with China

Tom Leland, pastor of University Baptist Church in Charlottesville, leaned back in his swivel chair in his spacious office and smiled broadly. Clearly, talking about the church and it's ministries is a topic in which he is well-versed and one…

Virginia Tidbits

$1 MILLION FOR BTSR. Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond has received a $1 million anonymous gift in honor of four Richmond Baptist leaders—Harwood and Louise Cochrane and Elmer and Betsy West. Both the Cochranes and the Wests have been instrumental…

Reformatting will end ‘Mission Moments,’ but not church photos

For the past three years, the Religious Herald has run photographs of church mission trips in a back-page feature called “Mission Moments.” With the recent reformatting of the newspaper, the Herald is discontinuing that feature and utilizing the back page…

EDITORIAL: When someone slaps you in the faith, turn the other cheek

The biblical word translated into English as persecution means to chase after; to harass, trouble, molest or mistreat. It seems to me that Christians and Christianity suffer persecution—face-slapping if you will—from numerous places. I realize that I may be accused…

SECOND OPINION: Good manners and speaking the truth

The early onset of the presidential campaign has brought with it a renewed call for a “return to civility.” There seems, however, little prospect for any immediate restoration of such civility, assuming that it ever existed. I think there are…

Faith & family help minorities bridge academic achievement gap

WACO, Texas—The academic achievement gap between Anglo students and their African-American or Hispanic peers disappears when the students live in intact, religious families, a new study shows. William Jeynes, a nonresident researcher with the Baylor Univer-sity Institute for Studies of…

Evangelical leaders join broad-based coalition urging immigration reform

WASHINGTON (ABP)—A bi-partisan array of Congress members and evangelical leaders exhorted their colleagues on the moral necessity of immigration reform. Leaders from across the ideological spectrum—from Sens. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., to Southern Baptist public policy agency…

Matthew Vines sets off a debate over what it means to be ‘queer’

Dear Mike Johnson, be careful what you ask for

What, to the white Christian, is America 250?

Four years later, anti-abortionists battle on other fronts