ARLINGTON, Texas (ABP)—Pentecost and coming of the Holy Spirit are largely overlooked in Baptist churches, Pastor Dwight McKissic said at his Baptist Conference on the Holy Spirit. That lack of awareness is Baptists' loss, said McKissic and many of the…
EDITORIAL: Learning to lead
More than 1,400 churches are a part of the Baptist General Association of Virginia. In a conversation with Lyle Schaller a couple of years ago, he helped put this in perspective. “The BGAV is larger than most denominations in the…
Bible Society building bombed in Gaza incident
GAZA CITY, Palestine (ABP) — In the latest violence among warring Palestinian factions, a bomb severely damaged the Palestinian Bible Society building April 15 in Gaza City. The building, located in the city center, housed the Teacher's Bookshop, Gaza's only…
SECOND OPINION: Why some evangelicals aren’t green
Evangelicals are waking up to our responsibility to the environment. Evangelical initiatives on the environment are growing in cultural impact, but they continue to garner stout resistance. Too often, politics and capitalism get in the way of a clear evangelical…
News About Virginia Baptists and their Ministries for May 17, 2007
STAFF CHANGES � Timothy K. Norman, to Glen Allen Church, Glen Allen, as pastor. � Bruce Queen, to Walnut Hill Church, Petersburg, as pastor. � Belmont Church, Roanoke, has called John Fox as co-pastor for congregational ministries and David Burgess…
Carol Seeley commissioned as Venturer to South Africa
When Carol Seeley heard Pastor Cheryl Allen's vision for the Touch Life Centre at Troyeville Baptist Church in Johannesburg, South Africa, Seeley knew that this ministry was where God was calling her to serve. Since last fall, Seeley had been…
VIRGINIA BRIEFS
New director at CrossRoads. Reuben E. Todd has been elected director of CrossRoads Camp and Conference Center, a retreat facility owned and operated by Woman's Missionary Union of Virginia. For the last three and a half years, Reuben has served…
How can churches legally minister to illegal immigrants?
When the doorbell rings at many churches, a person in need may be standing in the doorway seeking some food, clothes, counseling or encouragement. If that individual is an undocumented immigrant, his presence presents legal and ethical issues many congregations…
Relationships key to helping immigrants, Baptist workers say
FREDERICKSBURG (ABP)—Every afternoon, Felicitas does something she thought might never happen. She meets the school bus near her Virginia apartment complex to pick up her son, Carlos, as he returns from another day of elementary school. Carlos has spina bifida,…
No easy answers
Sometimes, answers to the tough questions just don't come, campus ministers at Virginia Tech insist. When they do, they don't come easily. And they often come up short. As ministers and counselors descended on Virginia Tech to offer comfort and…
Anti-immigrant rhetoric nothing new, historians say
If American Protestants today have trouble knowing how to accept and assimilate a new wave of immigrants, they at least can take comfort in knowing their forebears wrestled with similar issues. “Americans have always struggled with immigrants. Non-conformist immigrants like…
Tech students gather at Baptist campus center
BLACKSBURG (ABP)—As the sun began to set and the wind continued to howl over a wounded campus and city, Virginia Tech students gathered for prayer, comfort and counseling at the school's Baptist student center. Blacksburg, the small city that houses…