Transitions ON THE MOVE John Carroll, to First Baptist Church, Danville, Va., as pastor. Joe Edwards, to Gourdvine Baptist Church, Rixeyville, Va., as pastor. John Huelskoetter, to Beth Car Baptist Church, Madison, Va., as pastor. Aaron Brittain, to Talbot Park…
Allies or rivals? New book examines struggles in congregations between pastors and musicians
(RNS) — Eileen Guenther, the national president of the American Guild of Organists, reveals behind-the-scenes church struggles in her new book, Rivals or a Team?: Clergy-Musician Relationships in the Twenty-First Century. Guenther, an associate professor of church music at Washington’s…
Racial equality pioneer Henry Langford dies
RICHMOND (ABP) — Henry V. Langford, a white Baptist preacher whose support for racial equality caused him to be blackballed by churches in the 1950s, died Oct. 7 at age 93. A memorial service is planned at 4 p.m., Sunday,…
LETTER: Autonomy, diversity no longer valued in BGAV
I have just read a news alert sent by the Religious Herald. The news alert was related to the Virginia Baptist Mission Board’s recent action related to Ginter Park Baptist Church in Richmond. In short, the action of the board…
LETTER: A perspective from one who has ‘left the fold’
Dear Virginia Baptists, It’s been a long time, but I think it is the right time for you to hear from one of your sons who has left the fold. Eleven years ago I stopped being a Baptist because I…
LETTER: Church dismissal reflects irrational fear
Whatever became of sin? I am talking about the simple sins found in most Baptist circles years ago: card playing, dancing, going to the picture show, cursing, and drinking alcohol. I guess that age is gone. No one seems to…
LETTER: Proposed BGAV budget reflects shift in philosophy
In reviewing the proposed 2013 Baptist General Association of Virginia budget I have once again become painfully aware of the budget woes we face as an association. The years I served on the budget committee, and then as first vice president…
Virginia Baptist committee asks Richmond church to end affiliation after ordination of gay man
LYNCHBURG, Va. — A key committee has asked a Richmond congregation to withdraw its Baptist General Association of Virginia membership in the wake of the church’s Sept. 16 ordination to the ministry of an openly gay man. If Ginter Park…
VITAL SIGNS: Curbing an epidemic
There is a consistent theme in the conversations I have with clergy and laity alike about what frustrates or challenges them most. Without a doubt it is: Staff. Every pastor’s gathering in which we ask for issues that need attention…