Ronald C. Hall has been named president and chief executive officer of the Virginia Baptist Foundation Inc. Hall was elected, effectively immediately, by the Foundation's board of trustees at its semi-annual meeting May 5. He succeeds Timothy K. Norman, who…
A year later, views vary on gay marriage law
A year after Massachusetts became the first-and so far only-state in the country to legalize gay marriage, conservative groups said marriage still “faces grave threats,” while gay marriage advocates say their progress has been slow but steady. May 17 marked…
Historical Society holds meeting during Anderson’s 25th year as director
The Virginia Baptist Historical Society highlighted a series of accomplishments for the year during its annual meeting May 10 at First Baptist Church in Richmond-a meeting that followed by only a little more than a week a celebration of its…
New KJV version of Bible tops best seller list
For the first time since its original imprint in 1982, the New King James Version of the Bible is in the top spot of a publishing best-seller list thanks to an evangelical initiative called the Million Bible Challenge. The challenge…
Virginia Baptists’ response to tsunami relief in India
Contributions from Virginia Baptists for the Indian relief project through May 16 with the following designations: • Southern Baptist Convention (IMB): $101,890 • Baptist World Alliance (BWAid): $48,351 • Cooperative Baptist Fellowship: $83,863 • Virginia Baptist Mission Board: $406,841 Undesignated:…
Evolution references in IMAX film churn controversy
By Alexander Lane Rutgers University professor Richard Lutz goes looking for undersea volcanoes, not controversy. So the soft-spoken scientist is surprised to find himself on the front lines of the culture wars. Lutz was the chief scientist for Volcanoes of…
Brazilian pastor to lead BWA evangelism division
Brazilian pastor Fausto Aguiar de Vasconcelos has been nominated to lead the evangelism effort of the Baptist World Alliance, succeeding Australian Tony Cupit, who is retiring. If elected to the BWA's executive staff by its general council in July, he…
Virginia Baptists to offer crisis training
Virginia Baptists' disaster relief ministry will offer critical incident stress management (CISM) training June 16-18 at the Virginia Baptist Resource Center. The training is one of the requirements for crisis care chaplains who are deployed during disasters. It is also…
Muslims praise new film on Crusades
By Helena Andrews Despite initial controversy surrounding The Kingdom of Heaven, Ridley Scott's new film about the Crusades, it is getting generally positive reviews from Muslims in the United States and in Arab countries. “It was really nice to go…