RICHMOND — Christopher J. Backert has joined the Virginia Baptist Mission Board's emerging leaders team in a new part-time position as emerging church strategist. In announcing Backert's appointment, Susan McBride, emerging leaders team leader, said, “Chris will help Virginia Baptists…
MC2 participants ready to take the next step in mission service
LYNCHBURG — More than 600 people gathered at Eagle Eyrie Baptist Conference Center for Virginia Baptists' MC2 Missions Connection Celebration, July 23-28, and were challenged by the conference's theme, “Take the Next Step,” to consider how they and their churches…
SECOND OPINION: What should lawmakers do?
Like Marlo, the Northern Virginian mentioned in the last column [Herald, July 26], 12 million undocumented immigrants expect lawmakers to be active and bold. Nobody should think — and that includes lawmakers — that illegal aliens are in this situation…
Virginia Baptists blitz build home for Lynchburg family
LYNCHBURG—Two-year-old Iyanna Tyler didn't like getting her fingers muddy as Habitat volunteer Tom Gerdy helped her press a hand print into the wet cement of the sidewalk. But thanks to scores of volunteers like Gerdy who were willing to get…
RIGHT OR WRONG: Just a little gambling?
My husband won a trip to Las Vegas. If we set a strict limit on how much money we bet, would it be wrong if we gambled a little bit while we are there? Since you raise the question, that…
VIRGINIA BRIEFS
Lawsuit dismissed against Clarendon Church. A circuit court judge has dismissed a lawsuit against First Baptist Church of Clarendon in Arlington, which is seeking to build condominiums that will provide affordable housing for Arlington County's residents, according to the Washington…
OUT LOUD
“The day of working an 80-hour week must come to an end. The church does not own us.” Dean Coridan The president of the Iowa-Missouri conference of the Seventh-day Adventist Church described what he tells ministers at workshops in encouraging…
Virginia church boosts Slavic ministry in western North Carolina
ASHEVILLE, N.C. — The sound sent chills. The youthful sound of American and Ukrainian teenagers voicing a worship song together — it brought tears, too. “It gave everybody chills because you felt real unity [of] Christians together,” said Mandy Allen,…
Faith changes little over a lifetime, research reveals
WASHINGTON (RNS)—Michele Dillon and Paul Wink have interviewed scores of septuagenarians about their faith—or lack thereof—and compared their answers to those they gave during their teens and middle age. What did they discover? People really don't change much over time—religiosity…