Baptist disaster response units from the Mid-Atlantic initiated feeding operations in earnest over the weekend as organizers began turning their attention to recovery efforts in the still-struggling Northeast a week after Superstorm Sandy ravaged the region. Volunteers from North Carolina…
Mid-Atlantic response teams distributing thousands of meals, others begin recovery operations
Baptist disaster response units from the Mid-Atlantic initiated feeding operations in earnest over the weekend as organizers began turning their attention to recovery efforts in the still-struggling Northeast a week after Superstorm Sandy ravaged the region. Volunteers from North Carolina…
Faith and the arts to be the focus of forum hosted by Religious Herald in Roanoke
“When you embrace the arts of the community you embrace the community as well,” says Jay Smith, cultural architect for Convergence: A Creative Community of Faith. That conviction is at the heart of Convergence, a Baptist congregation in Alexandria, Va….
HeraldBeat: Tracking Baptists across the Mid-Atlantic
Accepted a new call? Been ordained? Church celebrating an anniversary? Mission trip or project that you would like highlighted on the HeraldBeat page? Send info to HeraldBeat editor Barbara Francis at [email protected]. Transitions ON THE MOVE Brian Hoffman, to Massaponax…
LETTER: Politicians are asking the wrong question
“Are you better off?” is the wrong question. It appeals to our ego without the balancing biblical imagery of the Good Samaritan who sees a need, feels compassion, stops his journey, anoints with oil and wine, bandages wounds, transports a…
Blacksburg, Va., pastor Tommy McDearis to be nominated for first vice president of BGAV
BLACKSBURG, Va. — Blacksburg, Va., pastor Tommy McDearis will be nominated for first vice president of the Baptist General Association of Virginia — the second announced candidate for a position whose incumbent for more than 10 years has been elected…
ANALYSIS: For the BGAV, anticipations of an unexpectedly animated annual meeting
Messengers attending this month’s Baptist General Association of Virginia annual meeting are likely to find what was expected to be a fairly routine agenda enlivened by several weeks of wide-ranging discussions on a proposed budget and on the parameters of…
LETTER: Prison inmate appreciates chaplain’s ministry
With great personal interest, I read the Oct. 15 issue of the Religious Herald, particularly the “Tough calls” article. The Baptist General Association of Virginia budget committee has faced a tough task with optimistic realism and created a 2013 budget…
EDITORIAL: A process out of date
Since I spoke out in the Oct. 15 issue of the Religious Herald expressing my concerns with the proposed 2013 Baptist General Association of Virginia budget, it is only fitting that I express my appreciation for the budget committee’s willingness…
For all the saints
If you are a Baptist, chances are, yesterday came and went without much notice in your church. But it was All Saints’ Day. Every year, on Nov. 1, Christian churches gather to remember and give thanks for the Christian saints who…
OPINION: The conflict pandemic
Whenever I address a group about the work our organization does, I mention that one of our frequent calls is to help a congregation, staff, judicatory or organization manage conflict. Our conflict intervention calls are on the upswing. My colleague,…
OPINION: Finding the ‘Jesus candidate’
I would love to begin this article by asking for all the faithful Christians to vote for the Jesus candidate come Nov. 6. Such rhetoric is certainly nothing new in our religiously-charged culture and I have heard many pastors, despite…