For the last two years my associate and I have been sifting through an estimated 25,000 letters to and from George White McDaniel, a prominent 20th-century minister and denominational leader, as I have been writing his biography. McDaniel died of…
HERITAGE: Faith, freedom and forgiveness
Great events assume a life of their own. It is true with weddings. They start small with the excitement of an engagement and little by little the plans develop. So it is with an event planned for three days in…
HERITAGE: Facing the facts
The times were hard. The Southern Baptist Convention attempted its first mammoth financial campaign. The name told just how big it was: the 75 Million Campaign. It was a bold and ambitious program over a five-year period to undergird the…
HERITAGE: This old house
Anyone who has ever lived in an old house knows that it requires periodic upkeep. Some things have to be replaced. Sometimes new parts are installed to make it energy efficient. And once in a while an old house requires…
HERITAGE: ‘Free Indeed’ — Year two
“If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” (John 3:36) Throughout 2012 and now in 2013, Virginia Baptists have been engaged in the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation through a landmark exhibit which continues…
HERITAGE: Another beautiful day
She was first class. She had the best posture, and when she stood on a platform poised to speak, she was every inch a commanding presence. And then there was her fair and beautiful complexion from her heritage as a…
HERITAGE: The mystery of the porcelain cat
When this columnist visited First Baptist Church in Raleigh, he met Frances Ward Brooks, who pulled out of her pocketbook a small piece of blue and white china, a figurine of a porcelain cat. She remembered that in her childhood…
HERITAGE: Remembering a namesake
In October this columnist visited Sanford Memorial Baptist Church at Brodnax, a small town east of South Hill, Va. The occasion was the church’s centennial. It was a grand and glorious celebration. Some church folks had even roasted a pig…
HERITAGE: The cheerleader from ‘Tussie’
She was a cheerleader. She wrote her school’s fight song. And now she is cheering and promoting Woman’s Missionary Union of Virginia. Pat Wright, the newly-elected president of WMUV, has long been a cheerleader and an active player in the…