Neville Callam will make history for Baptists around the world if elected general secretary of the Baptist World Alliance. If elected in July, the 55-year-old Jamaican pastor will be the first non-white chief executive of the group, which represents approximately…
NAE rebuffs administration in anti-torture statement
The nation's umbrella group for evangelicals has endorsed a statement that takes aim at the Bush administration's alleged use of torture in the war on terrorism. Directors of the National Association of Evangelicals announced late on March 11 that they…
News about Virginia Baptists and their ministries for March 22, 2007
STAFF CHANGES Mark Hackler, to Sharon Church, Danville, as pastor. Danny Lester, to Thornburg Church, Thornburg, as pastor. Rodger Hogan, to Midland Church, Vinton, as pastor. Jerry Parker, resigning as pastor of Immanuel Church, Colonial Heights, to return to the…
Former BGAV president elected to lead BTSR
Florida pastor Ronald W. Crawford, a former Virginia pastor who was president of the Baptist General Association of Virginia, was named president-elect of Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond by the school's board of trustees March 19. Crawford currently serves as…
Torture declaration irrational, says professor
An anti-torture statement endorsed by the National Association of Evangelicals “is a moral travesty managing not only to confuse but to harm genuine evangelical witness in the culture,” a Southern Baptist ethics professor said March 15. “The main problem I…
CBFV adopts Millennium Development Goals
The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of Virginia adopted the United Nations Millennium Development Goals during its annual general assembly, March 9-10 in Richmond. The vote came at the urging of Colleen Burroughs, co-founder and executive vice president of Passport Inc., a…
NAE board declines to repriment Cizik for global warming campaign
Board members of the National Association of Evangelicals declined March 9 to chasten the group's public-policy officer for his public statements on global warming—but an intramural fight among evangelical elites on the issue may just be starting. NAE directors, meeting…
Pastor gets 10 years of probation for sexual molestation of teenage boy
An Amherst pastor convicted of molesting a teenage boy he once tutored was sentenced to 10 years probation on March 14. Kenneth Larry Payne, 70, was arrested in May 2006 after a 17-year-old reported Payne's actions to authorities. Payne was…
May 21 is entry deadline for BJC’s religious liberty essay contest
To engage high school students in church-state issues and to generate interest from a wide range of Baptists, the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty in Washington has launched its second annual religious liberty essay contest. Open to all Baptist…