KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Humor doesn’t show up on any spiritual practice list. But Richard Olson hopes to make that happen. “Humor is a very important spiritual practice, especially for those under stress and turmoil,” he said. Richard Olson Listing…
Baptist minister Grady Nutt was a pacesetter for Christian comedy
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (ABP) — Singer-songwriter Don McLean’s 1970s hit record “American Pie” mourned the 1959 plane crash that killed rock-and-roll pioneers Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper as “the day the music died.” For a generation of humor-loving…
Top 100 Virginia Baptist churches in gifts to Cooperative Missions listed
RICHMOND, Va. — First Baptist Church in Alexandria, Va., led churches affiliated with the Baptist General Association of Virginia last year in both in total Cooperative Missions giving and in contributions to the Virginia portion of Cooperative Missions gifts, according…
Church health center installs former Virginia Baptist leader as president
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — A parade of friends and colleagues from past ministries helped to install Bill Wilson March 18 as second president of the Center for Congregational Health during a service at United Metropolitan Missionary Baptist Church in Winston-Salem, N.C….
Virginia Baptists contribute nearly $350,000 in relief for Haiti’s victims
RICHMOND, Va. — Almost $350,000 to assist victims of Haiti’s recent earthquake has been contributed in the past two months through the Baptist General Association of Virginia’s treasurer’s office, a financial officer said March 19. Virginia Baptist individuals, churches and…
Secular Jew writes about two years spent undercover in conservative church
LYNCHBURG, Va. (RNS) — Evangelical Christians were a mystery to Gina Welch. All she really knew about conservative evangelicals was that they were trying to change the country in ways she didn’t like. When she found herself living among them…
After condemning greed, what should Christians do about the economy?
NEW YORK (RNS) — Ever since the Great Recession began in the fall of 2008, Christians and other faith leaders have criticized the specuative excess and greed that led to the crisis. A consensus on what to do about it,…
VBMB offers refersher for disaster relief
Attention trained disaster relief volunteers: If you … • Have already attended a general orientation session; • Have been trained in one or more particular disciplines and; • Have a disaster relief photo ID badge that has expired or will…
Disaster kitchen volunteers complete mission in Southwest Virginia counties
APPALACHIA — After cooking more than 4,400 meals from Dec. 22 through Dec. 30, the Virginia Baptist Mission disaster relief kitchen has shut down and volunteers are heading home. Volunteers clean up after serving meals. Members of Tennessee and Virginia…
Accused parents say son’s faith-healing death was no crime
PORTLAND, Ore. (RNS) — Two parents charged with criminally negligent homicide in the faith-healing death of their teenage son will ask a judge to dismiss the charges because they followed the advice of state child welfare workers. Attorneys for the…
Virginia law’s loophole lets woman kill newborn
RUSTBURG, Va. (BP) — A Virginia woman who allegedly suffocated her newborn baby hasn’t been charged with murder because the umbilical cord was still attached to the placenta which was still in the mother. According to Captain L.T. Guthrie of…
Study says majority of world’s population faces religious restriction
WASHINGTON (ABP) — Nearly 70 percent of the world’s 6.8 billion people live in countries with high restrictions on religion, according to a new study by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life. Titled Global Restrictions on…