Time for a confession. Let me tell you a consultant’s dirty little secret: congregational strategic planning is frequently a waste of time and can be counterproductive. There, it’s out. Now, it’s time to explain. Many congregations, for a variety of…
Virginia Beach, Va., church utilizes its resort location to impact community
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Until about 15 years ago, St. John’s Baptist Church in this resort community was surrounded by farms and country roads. Today those farms have been replaced by $500,000 houses filled with people eager to enjoy Virginia…
TRENDING: Evangelism from macro to micro
“Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house!’ And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you. Remain in the same house, eating…
EDITORIAL: How could something so good have been such a bust?
I am scratching my head wondering how the New Baptist Covenant II, supported philosophically and theologically by so many Baptists, drew such meager attendance? Meeting Nov. 17-20 in Atlanta and seven other locations linked by satellite simulcasts, some NBC II…
HERITAGE: Big day at two churches
It was a crisp, cool, cloudless day on Oct. 2 for the 125th anniversary celebration at Big Island Baptist Church in Bedford County, Va. The distinctive temple-like church building had been spruced up for the big day. The menfolks had…
And the winner is ….
Anne Cole Aker, the winner in a recent contest sponsored by the Religious Herald, receives her iPad from Brian Clingenpeel of Roanoke, Va., president of the Herald’s board of trustees. RICHMOND, Va. — The Religious Herald has announced the winner…
High school students have chance to explore religion in 2012 campaign
WASHINGTON — Teenagers are being offered an opportunity to engage what has emerged as one of the most vexing questions in the 2012 presidential campaign: Is it fair to evaluate a candidate by his or her religious faith? The Religious…
WINN RECOMMENDS
Between Heaven and Mirth, James Martin (HarperOne) Martin’s subtitle (Why Joy, Humor and Laughter Are at the Heart of the Spiritual Life) tells you where he’s heading. Martin believes that revelry, enjoyment, the “ability to laugh at life’s absurdities” are…
St. Louis ‘Covenant’ event opens with worship, ends with ministry
ST. LOUIS — The regional meeting of the New Baptist Covenant II hosted by St. Luke Memorial Baptist Church in St. Louis began with a spirited worship service and an estimated crowd of about 500 on Nov. 17 and concluded…
Baptist church takes stand for gay marriage
RALEIGH, N.C. (ABP) — Members of a North Carolina Baptist church voted unanimously Nov. 20 to stop performing civil marriages until it becomes legal for same-sex couples to wed. Pullen Memorial Baptist Church in Raleigh, N.C., says current state law…
OPINION: Tebow apologetics
Football and politics have something in common these days beside combat. Each wrestles with the role religion plays in its game. Tim Tebow is a curious case on the gridiron. A passionate evangelical Christian and one of the most heralded…
Churches need to take the lead in race relations, panelists insist
SAN ANTONIO, Texas — Too often, churches have trailed society at large in terms of embracing racial and ethnic diversity, a multiethnic panel told a regional New Baptist Covenant II gathering in San Antonio. “I believe what we see on…