WASHINGTON (RNS)—The recession and a sluggish recovery have made for a lighter collection plate in recent years, but a new study shows that giving to U.S. congregations bounced back in 2011 as the economy improved. According to the fourth annual…
OPINION: Diversity, unity and reconciliation
“God bless you if you do, God help you if you don’t.” These words came as a challenge from Neville Callam, general secretary of the Baptist World Alliance during his Friday sermon at the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of North Carolina’s…
VITAL SIGNS: The rise of church discipline
Have you noticed our tendency to try and control others with rules? We started with Ten Commandments. That led to Jewish scholars noting that the Torah actually contains 613 commandments, which can be divided into 365 “negative commandments,” and 248…
LETTER: Mired in cultural perceptions
One of the cultural perceptions in which we are mired in the 21st century is that we are superior to those who have gone before. That comes across in your opinion column in the March 5 issue [“Politics as usual?”]….
Burmese family settles in Virginia, thanks to church
HANOVER COUNTY, Va.—Before the end of April, the Htoo family will be able to hang the welcome sign on their newly-constructed house just outside of Richmond, Va. Their new home in America is an answer to prayer for the family…
WINN RECOMMENDS
First Corinthians, Richard Hays (WJK) Hays is best known as an ethicist, penning the now classic Moral Vision of the New Testament. With this volume, however, Hays brings his ethical vision to the task of interpreting I Corinthians, a biblical…
Church custodian tells story of a life changed by faith
RICHMOND, Va.—When Grayson “Sonny” Miller was just a small child, his mother left him in the care of his grandmother. By the time he was 13, he had run away from home, learned how to live on the streets, and…
Retirement centers’ tournaments to benefit funds
RICHMOND, Va.—Need a good excuse to golf? How about for a great cause? The residents of Virginia Baptists’ four retirement communities hope golfers will swing into spring at the Virginia Baptist Homes Foundation’s annual golf tournaments that will benefit the…
LETTER: Concern about speaker
At first I thought the Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia had an ad on your back page about a leadership conference [March 5], but it says Virginia Baptist Mission Board. I lived through the “Baptist Wars,” and my jugular is…