RICHMOND, Va. — A document to be considered at next month’s annual meeting of the Baptist General Association of Virginia could provide a guide for Virginia Baptists’ future, if adopted by messengers. A proposal from an affinity study committee, appointed…
Va. Baptist board approves document to counter ‘revisionist’ view of history
RICHMOND, Va. — The Virginia Baptist Mission Board has approved a “2010 History Project” to publish a document to correct “certain influential versions of American history [which] … mistakenly minimize or deny the grounding in this nation’s history of the…
EDITORIAL: Dealing with the anger means dealing with the issues
If, like me, you have been unfortunate enough to hear the barrage of campaign ads, you have probably been distressed by the angry accusations blasted like canon shots back and forth between party lines. It’s enough to cause those of…
VITAL SIGNS: The 20-year test
There is a school of thought running rampant in congregations these days that sounds something like this: “This is the worst Pastor/Group/Recession/President/Situation/ Era/Event that we have ever known! We must get rid of him/her/it/them immediately or we are doomed.” As…
OUT LOUD
“If I were advising him, I’d tell him to give a one-line speech and say, ‘Hey, at least I'm not a Muslim.’ ” Arsalan Iftikhar The contributing editor to Islamica magazine was referring to the advice he’d give to former…
ABP honors journalist Charles Overby, other founders of group
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP) — A founder of Associated Baptist Press recounted the organization’s history Oct. 21 as an effort to maintain a free press in Baptist life. Events in North Carolina earlier in the same day served as a reminder that freedom in…
N.C. Baptist newspaper editor resigns amid defunding threat
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (ABP) — The editor of North Carolina Baptists' newspaper has agreed to resign his post to prevent a threatened motion to defund the publication from being made at the upcoming Baptist State Convention of North Carolina annual meeting. Norman…
Author finds faith and fanaticism in devotion to college football
AUBURN, Ala. (RNS) — Chad Gibbs has been on a pigskin pilgrimage throughout the South, searching for spiritual truth in Tuscaloosa, Baton Rouge, Gainesville and Fayetteville. He grew up a fan of the Alabama Crimson Tide and switched allegiance to…
Who’s in charge? As churches grow, decision-making becomes complex
Baptist churches across the board agree — Jesus Christ is the head of the church. But when it comes to ways Christians discern Christ’s will for their particular congregation, handle its day-to-day administrative chores and make decisions about budget and…