Baptist News Global

News about Virginia Baptists and their ministries

Staff Changes Lewis McElfresh, to Summit Point Church, Summit Point, W.Va., as pastor. Virginia Swaim White, to Arlington Church, Arlington, as permanent part-time pastor. Jonathan Wolf, to Dundas Church, Dundas, as pastor. Mark T. Holland, to Boulevard Church, Richmond, as…

Theological education

Thank you for your editorial suggesting that there are ways to provide theological education in a more effective and efficient mannger for Virginia Baptists [“Theological opportunity?” Herald, Dec. 14]. Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond would be eager to discuss cooperative…

ANOTHER VIEW: A year of challenges

Christmas vacation is always a time for me to read, meditate and review the past year. I send these seven challenges for 2007, not because I have the answers, but because I feel they are critical issues confronting the church….

South African pastor killed by gunman during Bible study

FISH HOEK, South Africa (ABP) — Phillip Mokson, founding pastor of Masiphumelele Baptist Church near here, was shot and killed Jan. 22 as he taught a Bible study inside the church building. Family members including his wife, children and grandchildren…

Accrediting agencies asked to probe seminary’s dismissal of female prof

FORT WORTH, Texas (ABP) — A supporter of a professor who lost her job at a Southern Baptist seminary — allegedly due to gender discrimination — has filed complaints with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and Association of…

Appeals court upholds ruling against faith-based group

CINCINNATI (ABP) — A federal appeals court said Jan. 17 that the Michigan government was right to discontinue funding a Christian ministry for abused, neglected and delinquent children. A three-judge panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously…

Sheri Klouda surprised at fallout from her ‘removal’ at Southwestern

FORT WORTH, Texas (ABP) — Sheri Klouda, a former professor at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, said she lost her job teaching Hebrew in the seminary's school of theology because she is a woman. But she wasn't prepared for the fallout…

Baptists again endangered as violence engulfs Beirut

BEIRUT (ABP) — An urgent communiqué from a Lebanese Baptist leader warned Jan. 25 that escalating violence is threatening the Beirut Baptist School. Nabil Costa, executive director of the Lebanese Society for Educational and Social Development, sent an e-mail message…

Woman’s missions group suffers from more Baptist funding cuts

RICHMOND, Va. (ABP) — The Woman's Missionary Union of the Southern Baptist Convention, which has seen its annual revenues drop precipitously in the last eight years, now stands to lose hundreds of thousands of dollars more from one of the…

Controversy dooms another SBC megachurch pastor

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (ABP) — After fewer than five months as senior pastor, David Cox abruptly resigned Jan. 24 from the pulpit of First Baptist Church of Daytona Beach, Fla., which for more than three decades has been filled by…

Bush’s next-to-last State of the Union leaves liberals, conservatives cold

WASHINGTON (ABP) — President Bush's next-to-last State of the Union address provided little to cheer conservatives or liberals, highlighting the difficult position he is in as his presidency begins to approach its end. While speaking to both chambers of Congress…

Bloggers decry Southwestern’s dismissal of female professor for teaching men

FORT WORTH, Texas (ABP) — The dismissal of a female Hebrew professor by Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary has triggered accusations of gender discrimination and a suffocating interpretation of Scripture. The outcry involves Sheri Klouda, who taught Hebrew in the seminary's…

Understanding Al Mohler’s case against women

BNG podcasts feature each SBC presidential candidate

What the church got wrong about queer people

Trump admin denies hunger strike at immigrant detention center