STAFF CHANGES • Dennis Smith, to Jeffersonton Church, Jeffersonton, as pastor. • Donnie Owen, resigning as pastor of Bethesda Church, Boydton. • Brian Williams, to White Stone Church, White Stone, as interim pastor. • Bob Smith, to Bagby Memorial Church,…
At church cafe, eat what you want, pay what you can
HIGHLAND PARK, N.J. (RNS)—At A Better World Cafe, it’s not exactly “all you can eat.” It’s more like whatever you can pay. The church-affiliated restaurant offers customers an innovative new dining option—choose the size of your portion, then pay what…
Seminary president labels Southern Baptist mission strategy ‘heresy’
LYNCHBURG, Va. (ABP) — The president of Liberty Theological Seminary has labeled a method used by Southern Baptist missionaries to spread the gospel in Muslim lands deceptive and heretical. In a podcast interview on the SBC Today blog, Ergun Caner…
Relief groups walk delicate line on spreading gospel, providing aid
WASHINGTON (RNS) — When night falls in Port-au-Prince, thousands of homeless Haitians find shelter beneath weatherproof plastic sheets emblazoned with the logo of Samaritan’s Purse, a group that’s zealous to spread Christianity worldwide. The 20-by-20-foot sheets offer a tangible way…
FAITH DIGEST
Billy Graham tops pastors’ list. Evangelist Billy Graham was named by American pastors as the United States’ most influential living preacher, according to a recent survey by LifeWay Research. The study, conducted last November, interviewed more than 1,000 Protestant pastors…
Virginia Baptists to field Haiti medical teams as snow postpones relief efforts
RICHMOND, Va. — Virginia Baptists will field two medical teams this month to aid victims of Haiti’s devastating earthquake and qualified volunteers are being sought to fill them, a disaster relief leader says. The announcement comes as contributions for relief…
ASK THE ARCHITECT: Forming a building committee
Let’s continue the thought of last month’s article in which we established the commitment to follow God’s lead first and then identified building program generators. Simply stated, such a program begins when we recognize needs. Any one or more indicators…
Faced with scandal, Haggard’s wife tells why she stayed
Under similar circumstances, many women would have kicked their husbands to the couch. Or the curb. But for Gayle Haggard, the gay sex-and-drug scandal that toppled her husband’s ministry was simply “the mountain we had to go over.” And now,…
EDITORIAL: Opening yourself to the counsel of others
Every pastor goes through rough patches from time to time. It’s part of the challenge of leadership. Even Moses’ congregation occasionally complained about the direction they were taking and voiced their displeasure with the person responsible. There is a certain…
Baptist church damaged in Iraq explosion
FALLS CHURCH, Va. — First Baptist Church of Baghdad, Iraq, was damaged by an explosion Jan. 26 less than a half mile from the church building, according to the Baptist World Alliance. The incident occurred when a suicide bomber drove…
HERITAGE: The last lap
Betty Pugh Mills, his pastor at Grace Baptist Church of Richmond and his chief softball catcher, called him “the king of narrative preaching.” Claude Dollins, a former colleague on the Virginia Baptist Mission Board staff and a long-time friend, called…
SECOND OPINION: How do we best help Haiti recover?
How that Haiti is completely wrecked, how does anyone fix it? With tremors still shaking the island nation that has never recovered from its own birth pains, the world’s nations are sending tons of food and barrels of water to…