On Sunday, Oct. 16, an historic vote will be taken. In one form or another, the Albemarle Baptist Association has been around since 1791, when the Orange Baptist Association divided to form Culpeper, Goshen and Albemarle itself. In 2003, it…
OUT LOUD
“Sounds good to me.” Archbishop Philip Hannan The former archbishop of New Orleans, who died last month, was responding from his hospital bed to the part of the Sacrament of the Sick that offers absolution from sin in the name…
VITAL SIGNS: Are you ill?
My grandmother often used a word to describe herself or other people. It was the word “ill.” She did not use it to describe someone who was sick with a cold or the flu. She used it to describe an…
HeraldBeat
GOT NEWS? Send information for this page to HeraldBeat editor Barbara Francis at [email protected]. Even better — add the Herald to your church’s newsletter e-mail list, send us a link to your online newsletter page or mail the newsletter to…
Balance needed to make churches welcome and safe places
By definition, a "sanctuary" should be a place of refuge and protection where people feel welcome and feel safe. In practice, churches struggle with what it means to open their doors to everyone while providing a sense of security for…
Churches advised to begin by assessing risks
Concerned about developing a church security plan? Security expert Chester Quarles suggests starting with a risk assessment. "Risk assessment is usually historical. We need to know what has gone before," said Quarles, professor emeritus of criminal justice at the University…
Virginia Baptists to consider renewed ties with Averett University
LYNCHBURG, Va. — Virginia Baptists will consider in November a proposal to renew ties to Averett University, a 152-year-old school in Danville, Va., whose relationship with the state’s Baptists was severed in 2005 in a dispute over homosexuality. The Virginia…
How to conduct a basic church security survey
Walk around your church. Stand at each entryway and look closely in every direction. Think like a thief or a criminal. Are you surrounded by suburbs, or is your church now located within a business community? No matter your site,…
Proposed Virginia Baptist budget almost $1 million lower than current
LYNCHBURG, Va. — Virginia Baptists’ 2012 ministry budget will be almost $1 million less than their current one, if they adopt a proposal next month at the annual meeting of the Baptist General Association of Virginia. The proposed $12.4 million…
U.S. Supreme Court says World Vision can hire only Christians
WASHINGTON (ABP) — The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld a lower-court ruling that the Christian humanitarian organization World Vision can fire employees over religious doctrine. The high court declined without comment Oct. 3 to review an August 2010 ruling by…
Haitian leader released unharmed
CAP-HAITIAN, Haiti — The Haitian Baptist leader who was kidnapped early Sept. 29 was released unharmed later that day without a ransom payment, the Baptist World Alliance reported Sept. 30. Emmanuel Pierre, general secretary of the Baptist Convention of Haiti,…
Best-selling pastor Rob Bell is off to L.A. to write more books
GRANDVILLE, Mich. (RNS) — Megachurch pastor Rob Bell, whose best-selling book raised evangelical eyebrows by questioning traditional beliefs on hell, knew it was time to address the “giant, glowing, loud” elephant in the room on Sunday morning, Sept. 25. What’s…