I agree that Dan Brown's page-turner of a book is a work of fiction, but he makes a very disturbing declaration on the very first page, that there are certain facts of history (like Opus Dei and the Priory of…
Mocking Jesus
I am responding to the letter of Raylene Harton from the May 25, 2006 issue of Religious Herald. She says that she is not upset about the book or movie “The Da Vinci Code.” She says that, “God does not…
ANOTHER VIEW: Would you run?
What would you do if a group of hooded strangers walked into your church service and asked who would be willing to take a bullet for Christ? This is the premise of a popular internet parable. In the parable, most…
‘Nevaeh’ soars in popularity
Spell heaven backwards and what do you get? The 70th most popular name for American baby girls. Nevaeh, usually pronounced nuh-VAY-uh, cracked the top 100 names for newborn baby girls for the first time in 2005, with 4,457, according to…
News about Virginia Baptists and their ministries for June 8, 2006
STAFF CHANGES Jim Graham, to Wallers Church, Partlow, as interim pastor. Susan Harvey, to Mount Ararat Church, Stafford, as children's minister. Connie Scruggs, to Rivermont Church, Danville, as part-time minister to children. Retirements Frank W. Casper Sr., pastor of Calvary…
Virginia Baptist is state’s teacher of the year
When the members of the Virginia Senate rose to their feet and applauded earlier this year to honor Debi Goforth as Virginia's teacher of the year, the elementary school librarian's thoughts turned to a small pouch she had been carrying…
Truck stop missionaries meet the needs of truckers
Anyone who has driven on Interstate 81 doesn't have to be told that 18-wheelers are more numerous than a pagan's excuses for not attending church. According to Laura Bullock, who represents the Virginia Department of Transportation to media representatives in…
Preparing a church for a pastor’s departure
Editor's Note: Recognizing that a number of pastors in Virginia will soon retire from active pastoral ministry, we began this series two issues ago with a foundational book review by Gary Chapman, who directs the Southwest Virginia Christian Leadership Network…
FIRST HAND: What I wish I had known before I became pastor
Early on in my ministry as a pastor, I asked a deacon to tell me about the congregation's future plans and vision. He replied, “Preacher, we'll do anything that you can get us to do!” That deacon may not have…