RICHMOND — Many Virginia Baptist congregations inaugurated their Lenten observance Feb. 25 with Ash Wednesday services — a tradition rooted in ancient Christianity and one increasingly common among Baptist churches across the Commonwealth. The service, which dates to at least…
Kung Fu master finds Christ at Bluefield College
BLUEFIELD — Bluefield College’s aim to be a Christ-centered institution took a new twist last summer when a Taiwanese Kung Fu master made a profession of faith following the martial arts seminar he had come to lead at the Virginia…
Students gather for ‘Burnin’ Youth Encounter’
DUBLIN — What kind of love do you have for God? Is it a “burnin’ love”? That’s the kind of love Craig Tackett presented to the students from 22 churches who gathered for the Highlands Youth EnCounter on the day…
Therapeutic robot takes center stage
RICHMOND – There’s a new resident at Lakewood Manor, one of Virginia Baptist Homes’ retirement communities. Paro is by far the furriest member of the Lakewood community and he takes his meals through a battery charger, not in the dining…
Churches struggle to respond to mental illness
Living with depression — or any other form of mental illness — is like viewing life “through a glass darkly,” according to Jessy Grondin, a student in Vanderbilt University’s Divinity School. “It distorts how you see things.” Like one in…
EDITORIAL: Does Darfur still matter?
The dusty roads of Sudan are a long way from Mainstreet, Virginia. Separated by thousands of miles, a chasm of ideology and an ocean of blood, most Virginia Baptists have been slow to recognize and even slower to respond to…
From the Eastern Shore to Cumberland Gap
STAFF CHANGES • Jonathan Hillard, to First Church, Gretna, as pastor. • Matthew Teves, to Sterling Park Church, Sterling, as pastor. • Armando de la Merced, to Grace Filipino Church, Woodbridge, as pastor. • Joey Giles, to James Square Church,…
Illinois Baptist pastor killed in service
A lone gunman entered the sprawling First Baptist Church of Maryville, Ill., Sunday morning, March 8, during its 8:15 a.m. service and after exchanging words with the pastor who had stepped down from the pulpit to greet the man, he…
Supreme Court: Sect can’t force Utah city to erect monument’
WASHINGTON (ABP) — In a groundbreaking, but limited, free-speech case the Supreme Court said the city of Pleasant Grove, Utah, can’t be forced to accept the gift of a monument to a small religious sect’s precepts — even though the…