“It is not a sanctuary that will help us reach a new generation.” Robert Jeffress The pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas was discussing plans to replace the 1891 sanctuary which launched the careers of legendary Baptist pastors George…
SECOND OPINION: Race, sex, class and presidential politics
It was not until I got to Union Theological Seminary in New York as a doctoral student in Christian ethics that I received my first serious dose of race/class/sex talk. Sometimes it seemed like every course, even every class session,…
Death penalty opponents find new allies among evangelicals
CARRBORO, N.C. (RNS) — Stephen Dear has spent the past 10 years waging an uphill battle to abolish the death penalty in the American South — with virtually no help from the region's powerful evangelical ministers. But unlike in years…
News about Virginia Baptists and their ministries for January 24, 2008
RECOGNITON On Nov. 18 following a Thanksgiving meal, the members of McCabe Memorial Church in Martinsville honored one of its faithful members, Marietta Smith, with a presentation of a plaque for her devoted Christian service to its music ministry. McCabe's…
Survey: Unchurched Americans say church is full of hypocrites
WASHINGTON (RNS) — Almost three-quarters of Americans who haven't darkened the door of a church in the last six months think it is “full of hypocrites,” and even more of them consider Christianity to be more about organized religion than…
High-tech audio Bibles bring Scriptures to life, users say
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (RNS) — Often when Mike Sheppard listens to the stories of the Crucifixion or Mary's discovery of the empty tomb, he gets so distracted he almost forgets he's behind the wheel. “There are points in the New Testament…
CBF to lease former Ga. Baptist building
ATLANTA (ABP) — A leading moderate Baptist group has signed a 10-year lease with Mercer University for offices previously occupied by the conservative Georgia Baptist Convention. The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship will lease much of the building from Mercer University, which…
Prayer heals honest Brit’s legs but cannot cure bureaucracy with no ‘miracle’ button
LONDON (RNS) — A British pastor's wife who claims the power of prayer cured her injuries was told her incapacity benefits could not be stopped because the government's computers didn't have a “miracle” button. As a result, June Clarke of…
Al Gore named ‘Baptist of the Year’
(RNS) Former Vice President Al Gore has been named “Baptist of the Year” by EthicsDaily.com, the Web site of the Baptist Center for Ethics. “He has pressed for the global good with a compelling message about the danger of climate…
FAITH DIGEST
BWA's Coffey honored by Queen. The president of the Baptist World Alliance became an officer of the Order of the British Empire Jan. 2. David Coffey, a Briton who has served as the BWA's president since 2005, recevied the honor…
Seminary student charged with abuse
RALEIGH, N.C. (ABP) — Police have charged a Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary student with sexually abusing a 10-year-old child at an after-hours YMCA program, re-emphasizing the growing problem of sex abuse among Southern Baptist clergy. It's not the first time…
Time to revamp discipleship methods?
More than two decades after he helped many Baptist churches breathe new life into discipleship training, Roy Edgemon believes it's time take a new look at how churches make disciples. In the early 1980s, the Southern Baptist Convention's Sunday School…