I was overjoyed to read your editorial in the May 27 issue concerning our Baptist name [Herald, May 27]. I have been playing that same tune for many years and it is nice to hear it from someone else. The…
VIRGINIA BAPTIST FORUM: Grateful for support
I would like to respond to the article “Death in a minister’s family (Herald, June 10). After over 41 years of marriage my wife Judy passed away March 22, 2010. Since I was called to vocational ministry after our marriage…
VIRGINIA BAPTIST FORUM: No amnesty for illegal immigrants
It was disappointing to read Bob Allen’s article titled “Conservative evangelicals call for immigration reform” in the May 27 Religious Herald. The article recommended immigration reform and those quoted recommended providing illegals presently in the U.S. what they call “an…
Gulf oil spill prompts environmental soul-searching
WASHINGTON (RNS)—The constant loop of disheartening images from the Gulf of Mexico—oil-covered pelicans, dead sea turtles, despairing fishermen—has prompted many Americans to seek ways to do something, anything, to take better care of the Earth. But what? And how? While…
RIGHT or WRONG? Moral decay
Almost every week, another new study seems to document the decline of congregational life in America. I think the decline can all be traced to moral decay. What do you think? Surveys show the generation on the cusp of adulthood,…
SBC approves slightly reduced budget, recognizes retiring executives
ORLANDO, Fla. — Messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention in Orlando, Fla., approved a pared down budget for 2010-2011 and honored two agency presidents who retire this year. They approved a $199,822,090 Cooperative Program allocation budget recommended by the SBC…
SBC resolutions highlight Gulf, family, homosexuality
ORLANDO, Fla. — The Southern Baptist Convention decried ecological catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico, focused on the family and opposed the normalization of homosexuality as messengers approved seven resolutions with no debate during the SBC annual meeting in Orlando…
SBC messengers defeat attempt to open records of task force proceedings
ORLANDO, Fla. — Messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention meeting in Orlando, Fla., June 15-16 defeated an attempt to unseal written and audio recordings of Great Commission Resurgence task force proceedings. The task force recently announced it would seal the…
Task force recommendations could harm cooperation, Chapman insists
ORLANDO, Fla. — Adopting the report of the Great Commission Resurgence Task Force could have negative repercussions, Morris Chapman warned Southern Baptist Convention messengers during their annual meeting June 15. In his final report as president and chief executive officer…
SBC approves task force recommendations, elects Wright as president
ORLANDO, Fla. — The much debated recommendations of the Great Commission Resurgence task force won easy approval June 15 from messengers attending the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention, but only after the report was amended twice to strengthen…
Messengers embrace report, focus on Great Commission
ORLANDO, Fla. — The Southern Baptist Convention embraced a future uncertain but focused on the Great Commission when a solid majority of messengers adopted the report of the Great Commission Resurgence Task Force June 15. “We are a Great Commission…
Approval signals Southern Baptist concern for ‘lostness,’ task force says
ORLANDO, Fla. — The Southern Baptist Convention overwhelmingly reaffirmed its intention to spread the gospel throughout the nation and around the world, members of the SBC’s Great Commission Resurgence task force told reporters. At least 75 percent to 80 percent…