RICHMOND — Each year through the Annual Church Profile (ACP) process, Virginia Baptist churches submit important data, including information about church leadership, membership, finances, baptisms, Sunday school, discipleship, missions and Vacation Bible School. The ACP is a statistical testimony to…
Activists on left, right share faith but differ dramatically on everything else
WASHINGTON (RNS) — A new report confirmed long-held assumptions about religious activists from the left and right. The only thing both sides seem to have in common — faith — is a more important part of their lives than among the…
Values voters at annual summit see little value in health care reform
WASHINGTON — Health care reform may be Priority No. 1 in Congress and at the White House, but for the 1,825 religious conservatives who gathered for the annual Values Voter Summit, the subject was barely on their radar screen. Indeed,…
FAITH DIGEST
Winners named to American Jewish Hall of Fame. After more than 209,000 votes from around the world, 18 men and women have been chosen for the new National Museum of American Jewish History’s Hall of Fame. Based on the poll…
Interaction between science and theology beneficial to both, minister/physicist insists
ATLANTA (ABP) — There are paths between science and theology, and both can find value in interaction, noted author and professor of science and theology Robert Russell told an audience at Mercer University’s McAfee School of Theology. Russell, founder and…
Only one church in three spiritually vital, study says
HARTFORD, Conn. (ABP) — A congregation’s health depends less on theology than methodology, according to a national study by Hartford Seminary’s Institute for Religion Research. Faith Communities Today 2008 paints an overall sobering picture of congregational life in America. Congregations…
OUT LOUD
“Our Founding Fathers had one thing in mind when they founded this country, and it was a Christian nation built upon the principles of Jesus Christ.” GEORGIA STATE REP. JAY NEAL Neal spoke at a rally protesting a school superintendent’s…
SECOND OPINION: What are top challenges facing Baptists?
The answer to the question, “What are the top challenges facing Baptists today?” depends on whom you ask, doesn’t it? Comedians might remind us that the call to have more children to buttress evangelistic efforts guarantees Baptist survival. Some Southern…
From Virginia to Standing Rock Reservation is a road well-traveled
The Tipi Wakan (Sacred Tent) Mission in Cannon Ball, N.D. RICHMOND, Va. — The roads from Virginia to the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in North and South Dakota span more than 1,600 miles and have been well-traveled this year as Virginia…
European Baptist leaders ponder future of international seminary
PRAGUE, Czech Republic (ABP) — European Baptist leaders gathered in Prague, Czech Republic, Oct. 1-2 to discuss the future of the cash-strapped International Baptist Theological Seminary. The seminary is owned and operated by 51 Baptist unions and conventions that make…
Some call for reclaiming the lost virtue of thrift
Some social analysts observe the United States in the past half-century has shifted from a Bedford Falls-like culture of small businesses and community-friendly savings and loan institutions to a Pottersville-style nightmare of predatory lenders and seedy businesses that target the…
‘Generosity’ may communicate in ways ‘stewardship’ misses
A 2,000-year-old incident continues to set the standard for what it means to be a generous church. The New Testament records the need: “Our Jerusalem brothers and sisters need our help.” And in the face of difficult financial circumstances, the…