FREDERICKSBURG, Va. — Nearly 150 people received copies of the newly-published Church Management Guidebook at a Nov. 17 luncheon hosted by the Virginia Baptist Mission Board’s support services team. The luncheon was held during the annual meeting of the Baptist…
Camp Piankatank dedicates three new lodges to enhance retreat setting
HARTFIELD, Va. — Camp Piankatank celebrated the construction of three new lodges with a dedication service and open house on Nov 15. The new structures differ substantially from their predecessors in their larger sizes and in their increased functionality. Planners…
HERITAGE: Thanksgiving at Farmington
There have been many Thanksgiving days and other times of solemn and joyful gatherings at the old plantation known as Farmington in rural King and Queen County about 50 miles north of Richmond. The family will return for Thanksgiving 2009….
Virginia Baptists increase 2010 budget, celebrate mission at meeting
FREDERICKSBURG, Va. — Despite a shaky economy, Virginia Baptists acknowledged their “God-sized” mission task Nov. 18 and adopted a 2010 budget of $14 million, about 1.4 percent larger than 2009’s budget, which is expected to see a shortfall. Next year’s…
EDITORIAL: Times change
Times of economic stress create tensions in religious bodies. I remember so well my first full-time church located in a far western county of Virginia known commonly as Missouri. Our church gave 18 percent to the Cooperative Program and 4…
From the Eastern Shore to Cumberland Gap
STAFF CHANGES • Bill Kittle, resigning as pastor of Rock Hill Church, Stafford, to accept a teaching position in Vermont. • Wellford Tiller, to Calvary Church, Winchester, as intentional interim pastor. • Andrew MacDaniel, to Laurel Hill Church, Verona, as…
Haymarket church finds ministry in South Africa’s Eastern Cape province
HAYMARKET, Va. — Five members of Haymarket Baptist Church traveled to South Africa Oct. 2-16 to work among the varied people of the Eastern Cape. The group was led by Haymarket’s associate pastor of Christian education, Matthew Hensley. Team members…
SECOND OPINION: Teaching laypeople about preaching — and rediscovering its beauty
If I were being completely honest, I would tell you that the whole idea was a little, tiny bit self-serving. Having recently completed my doctor-of-ministry degree in preaching, I, strangely enough, managed to maintain my passion for the subject even…
Fort Worth church declines to send messengers to BGCT
FORT WORTH—Rather than face a challenge from the floor of the Baptist General Convention of Texas annual meeting or submit to having its beliefs about homosexuality examined by the BGCT Executive Board, Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth chose not…
Bill Wilson pushes for congregational health in new position
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Former Virginia Baptist pastor Bill Wilson has assumed the presidency of the Center for Congregational Health, one of four ministries of the School of Pastoral Care at North Carolina Baptist Hospitals. Before moving to the CCH at…
RETROSPECTIVE: The wall became a door and the world changed
RICHMOND (BP) — I clearly remember watching the evening news, spellbound as jubilant Berliners danced upon the Berlin Wall the night of Nov. 9, 1989. East Berliners were flowing through Brandenburg Gate, and a news correspondent asked the expectant crowd…
Fort Hood-area churches offer refuge
KILLEEN, Texas (BP) — A couple of Southern Baptist congregations near Fort Hood served as rallying places for the community and offered messages of hope Nov. 8 following a shooting on a military post that left 12 soldiers, one civilian…