PORTLAND, Ore. (ABP)—A federal appeals court ruled a Washington state high school is not required to charter a Bible club, since the club allows only Christians to be full members. In Truth v. Kent Public School District, a unanimous three-judge…
News about Virginia Baptists and their ministries for September 20, 2007
STAFF CHANGES • Stephen J. Crane, to Poplar Springs Church, Richmond, as senior pastor. • Michael Sampson, to Cowans Branch Church, Gate City, as pastor. He had been serving as interim pastor. • Mark Holland, to Bethlehem Church, Penick Road,…
Book reveals Mother Teresa’s prolonged ‘dark night of the soul’
WASHINGTON (RNS)—Ten years after her death, a new book of Mother Teresa's personal letters illustrates a profound and private spiritual struggle—much of it unknown to the world that would come to admire her for her work with the poor and…
FIRST PERSON: Special needs ministry makes difference at church
RUCKERSVILLE, Va. — The special needs ministry at Spring Hill Baptist Church in Ruckersville is exciting, vibrant and growing. But it hasn't always been that way. When my family moved here nearly seven years ago so I could join the…
News about Virginia Baptists and their ministries for Sept. 6, 2007
STAFF CHANGES • Jack Thomas, to Lyles Church, Palmyra, as pastor. • Dennis V. Jones, to Dublin Church, Dublin, as pastor. • Joshua L. M. Pittman, to Upper King & Queen Church, Newtown, as pastor. • James Combow, resigning as…
VIRGINIA BRIEFS
Virginia Baptist Library Association plans conference. VBLA has announced plans for its fall conference, to be held Oct. 12-13 at First Baptist Church in Richmond, focusing on the theme “The Church Library—Treasury of the Past, Key to the Future.” The…
2ND OPINION: I was a stranger and you took me in
I remember so many occasions when I was a stranger in a foreign land. I traveled over Latin America and the rest of the world as a missionary with the International Mission Board, serving as a consultant in the use…
‘The Negro problem’
It was a “sunny, balmy and bracing” day in Lynchburg in late February 1883 when about 300 persons gathered for the first Congress of Virginia Baptists. For several days ministers and laypersons listened to lectures on various issues of the…
Ethicists debate morality of enhancing genetics
WASHINGTON (RNS)—Scientists already know which genes are responsible for particular illnesses, and clinical trials are under way to find new treatments for genetically based diseases. But, ethicists ask, what if this newfound genetic knowledge is used not only to cure,…