Black Creek Baptist Church in rural Southampton County, Va., celebrated its 225th anniversary last month. The home folks put thought and effort into the anniversary. They invited former pastors and members. They created an instant museum out of one of…
HERITAGE: The future of the past
For the next four years there will be many emphases upon the 150th anniversary of the Civil War; and unlike the Centennial in the 1960s, the emphasis often will include emancipation. The Centennial was marketed as a celebration and it…
HERITAGE: Beyond the borders
There is a world beyond the borders of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Sometimes this thought challenges the sensibilities of the most provincial among us, yet Virginia Baptists have been exploring that larger land for a long, long time. Luther Rice,…
HERITAGE: Songs in the night
In April Westhampton Baptist Church in Richmond, Va., celebrated its centennial in grand style and with a packed sanctuary. People were stretched around its narrow gallery peering down upon the floor below. The choir loft was full. Bill Hardison, the…
HERITAGE: A life of blessings
The first thing Bill Gwathmey sees every morning is the fields at Rose Mount, the farm where he has lived since 1954. At 90 he does not work in the fields but chooses to lease them. He likewise no longer…
HERITAGE: A missionary’s story
Margaret Allen used to pray about becoming a missionary in Africa. Her prayers were answered but her mission field was in Richmond, Va., among people living in the inner city. In 1986 she began service as a community missionary of…
HERITAGE: The final act
The first offering taken at the new Park View Baptist Church in Portsmouth was for missions. There were 57 charter members and on the day of constitution in 1899 the congregation gave $5.50 for foreign missions. On Sunday, April 3,…
HERITAGE: Wheeling and dealing
Hunter Riggins is forever engaged, quite literally, in wheeling and dealing. He is one of America’s leading automobile dealers; and across the years he has honed and refined the skills of relationship building, customer satisfaction and sealing the deal. And…
HERITAGE: New beginnings
Lacy Milton Ritter was painfully young in June 1906 when he began his pastorate of Blackstone Baptist Church in Southside Virginia. The young bachelor came with limited pastoral experience; and within a week of the new beginnings between pastor and…