SMITHFIELD, Va.—Youth in southeastern Virginia explored through worship and community service what it means to be created in the image of God during Youth EnCounter at Smithfield (Va.) Baptist Church last month. Craig Morrison challenged youth to live in the…
BTSR grant will support mission immersion program
RICHMOND, Va.—Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond has been awarded a grant to undergird its Mission Immersion Experience, an intercultural requirement for all students in the seminary’s master of divinity degree program. The $18,000 from the Wabash Center, an organization which…
BTSR to offer M.Div. concentration in justice, peace
RICHMOND, Va.—A concentration in justice and peacebuilding will be available to master of divinity degree students at Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond beginning this fall, in a collaborative effort a seminary spokesman said would help the school “live out” its…
LEADERSHIP LINK: Book says young Christians want more than politics
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP)—Today’s young Christians aren’t interested in enlisting for the culture wars that created a brand of Christianity focused more on the ballot box than serving others, author and cultural commentator Jonathan Merritt says in a new book due…
Church aids homebound in Covington, Va., area
COVINGTON, Va.—“Help, I’ve fallen … and I can’t get up!” was a catchphrase of the early 1990s based on a line from a TV commercial portraying an elderly woman suddenly incapacitated at home. While the phrase has now become a…
CBF names Va. native as interim missions coordinator
ATLANTA (ABP)—Jim Smith, a Virginia native who serves as director of field ministries for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, has been named interim coordinator of global missions beginning July 1. Smith will assume the interim role as Rob Nash, global missions…
Mark Driscoll’s visit to Liberty making waves
LYNCHBURG, Va. (ABP)—Never a stranger to controversy, Seattle mega church pastor Mark Driscoll is causing a stir with an upcoming visit to Liberty University. The conservative Christian school in Lynchburg, Va., is next up on a tour by the founding…
Congregations ‘relearn what it means to be church’
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (ABP)—Traditional churches must wake up and reinvent themselves if they are to remain—or become—relevant, some Christian leaders say. “We have to think the way missionaries think,” said Larry Hovis, executive coordinator of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of North…
What did Jesus do on Holy Saturday?
NEW YORK (RNS)—Every Christian knows the story: Jesus was crucified on Good Friday and rose from the dead on Easter Sunday. But what did he do on Saturday? That question has spurred centuries of debate, perplexed theologians as learned as…
Baptist leaders meet with Russian Orthodox primate
MOSCOW—Despite significant theological differences, Baptists and the Russian Orthodox Church appear to share views on some moral issues, the primate of the Russian church told Baptist representatives—including Baptist World Alliance president John Upton—March 29. The meeting with Kirill I, patriarch…
Ken Medema concert to benefit Ministering to Ministers
RICHMOND, Va.—On April 29, Ken Medema brings his musical gifts, his skills at improvisation and his passion for social justice to First Baptist Church of Richmond, Va., for a concert benefitting Ministering to Ministers, a Richmond-based ministry to church staff…
LEADERSHIP LINK: Churches lost $1.2 billion in recession
WASHINGTON (RNS)—Even as membership remains relatively stable in U.S. churches, the effects of the recession have caused contributions to drop by $1.2 billion. According to the 2012 Yearbook of American & Canadian Churches, the almost $29 billion contributed by church…