CHARLOTTE, N.C. (ABP) — Historian Bill Leonard encouraged fellow Baptists to “get over” being embarrassed by their denomination’s often-negative image and instead celebrate their lineage in an “audacious identity” established by their forebears. Leonard, founding dean of Wake Forest University…
VIRAL SIGNS: It goes without saying
Have you learned that nothing “goes without saying” anymore? That sobering truth runs counter to our tendency to think there are some universally shared assumptions that all of us agree upon. We may think that everyone agrees with us about…
OUT LOUD
“God is my assignment editor.” Unnamed obituary editor The quote was included at Overheardinthenewsroom.com, a web site about funny sayings overheard in newsrooms. (RNS) “I prayed multiple times a day, sang hymns with emotion and tears, felt each time that…
EDITORIAL: Time for the BGAV to affirm its own priorities
On Mother’s Day morning, before church, our phone rang. Picking it up, I could tell from the caller ID it was from our daughter’s household. “Hello!” I intoned cheerfully. The 6-year-old voice on the other end belonged to our younger…
HERITAGE: Dinner on the grounds
It’s that time of the year. Homecomings traditionally were held at churches in late summer or early fall when the crops had been laid by. Many churches picked a set date — the third Sunday in July or the first…
LUCHA Ministries helps Latinos in Virginia cope with ‘struggle’
FREDERICKSBURG, Va. — Cuál es tu lucha? That question — What is your struggle? — is what motivated the creation of LUCHA Ministries six years ago to work with Latinos in the Fredericksburg area. Lucha means “struggle” in English and…
Latino Network focuses on Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking Virginians
RICHMOND, Va. — In the spring of 2004, Latino pastors and church leaders in Virginia gathered at Sandston Baptist Church in Richmond’s eastern suburbs for the first Encuentro de Pastores y Lideres de las Iglesias Bautistas de Virginia. The event…
Baptists view growing Hispanic population as opportunity
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP) — The Census Bureau reports the Hispanic population in the United States has more than doubled in the last 20 years, from 22 million in 1990 to a projected 47 million in 2010. In 40 years, experts…
Vestal says CBF will have to recall missionaries unless funding improves
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (ABP) — The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship will be forced to recall missionaries from the field if donations to its annual Offering for Global Missions do not increase next year, CBF Executive Coordinator Daniel Vestal told the CBF Coordinating…
Westover children get creative for Pentecost Sunday
Children painting the paraments. For thousands of years people of faith have used special fabrics to decorate sanctuaries and outfit ministers. These dressings, known as paraments, can be functional, ceremonial and celebratory. They often enrich the worship of God by…
From the Eastern Shore to Cumberland Gap
STAFF CHANGES • Rand Forder, to Main Street Church, Emporia, as interim pastor. • Geoffrey H. Fuller, to First Church, Hopewell, as minister to students and families. • Glen Stinnett, to Trinity Church, Martinsville, as minister to youth, children and…
OPINION: The Great Commission Resurgence of the SBC and Virginia Baptists
This is an interesting time in denominational life in North America and even Southern Baptists are feeling the affect of huge changes. In Orlando, at the Southern Baptist Convention, the Great Commission Resurgence Task Force reported that baptism rates among…