A student’s Facebook entry chronicles the painful details of a romantic break-up. Or describes an ill-spent weekend partying with friends. Or scathingly blisters someone who holds differing political views. Fast-forward a few years. That same student sits in a job…
HERITAGE: Getting ready for the Congress!
Virginia Baptists are making travel plans for the 20th Baptist World Congress, the great gathering of the Baptist World Alliance. Every five years the Congress is held in a different location around the world. In July, the Congress is in…
VITAL SIGNS: Pruning lessons
’Tis the season to be about pruning. As an avid gardener with multiple fruit trees in my yard, I find myself thinking a great deal about pruning this time of year. Gardeners know that each type of fruit tree requires…
GCR advocate to be nominated as SBC president at June meeting in Orlando
ORLANDO, Fla. (BP) — Georgia pastor Bryant Wright will be nominated for president of the Southern Baptist Convention, a Florida pastor announced March 12. The nomination of Bryant Wright, senior pastor of the Atlanta-area Johnson Ferry Baptist Church in…
Children at Chesapeake church learn how to minister
CHESAPEAKE, Va. — The Children in Action at Northwest Baptist Church in Chesapeake participated in Children’s Ministry Day on Feb. 20 by visiting families at the Ronald McDonald House in Norfolk. Northwest's children gather supplies before paying a visit to…
Fredericksburg minister struggles with answers to questions of social justice
FREDERICKSBURG, Va. — Sarah Bush wrestles with big questions: Why do homelessness, hunger and poverty persist in the United States? Where can people in any of those situations turn for help? Bush, who serves as minister of congregational development at…
BWA leaders hear thanks for quake relief, requests for more aid, prayers
FALLS CHURCH, Va. (ABP) — Chilean Baptists’ top leader tearfully thanked Baptist World Alliance officials March 10 for the aid and support shown to her country since its Feb. 27 earthquake — and said that the needs and opportunities remain…
President Obama’s ‘spiritual cabinet’ shapes faith policy, tends his soul
WASHINGTON (RNS) — Near the end of a bumpy first year in office, President Obama readied for a Christmas vacation in Hawaii, but before he left, he called on a group of five ministers for a spiritual recharge. Like previous…
Legal expert says remaining Baptist jailed in Haiti likely to be set free
BOISE, Idaho (ABP) — Unless new charges are filed against her, the last of 10 Southern Baptist mission volunteers jailed in Haiti on suspicion of child kidnapping will have to be released, according to an expert on Haiti's legal system….
Faith-based panel submits proposals; some issues remain unsolved
WASHINGTON (RNS) — A White House advisory council March 9 submitted 164 pages of recommendations on ways the federal government can partner better with faith-based groups in tackling a host of social problems, from poverty to improving interfaith relations. Still,…
Supreme Court accepts Baptist church case testing limits of free speech
WASHINGTON (ABP) — The U.S. Supreme Court has decided to wade into what is expected to be one of the most-watched cases in the court's 2010-2011 term — whether the privacy rights of grieving families trump the free-speech rights of…
Hymnal aims to introduce old favorites, latest compositions to new generation
ATLANTA (ABP) — Bucking a trend in many churches to eschew four-part harmonies for praise choruses projected on a screen, a new hymnal released March 8 seeks to introduce both old favorites and lesser-known new compositions to a new generation…