Have you ever had occasion to sit on the platform of a church or in the choir and look into the faces of the worshippers? It is sometimes unsettling. I remember such an occasion not long ago looking at the…
Small church, big impact
To borrow from Abe Lincoln, “God must have loved small churches because he made so many of them.” One of them is Chatham Baptist Church, set to celebrate its 150th anniversary this summer. Chatham Baptist is much like many other…
Theological opportunity?
Perhaps I'm an opportunist, but whenever things happen that are not likely to happen again, I try to take advantage. As, for example, in 1986 while spending a weekend with my family in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park when…
Catching the Spirit of Advent
In churches across the Commonwealth, many of them Baptist, the Advent season was initiated by the lighting of the first Advent candle. The four candles on the wreath traditionally stand for hope, peace, joy and love—attributes of Christ's presence in…
William & Mary and Jesus
When I read that Gene Nichol, president of the College of William and Mary, had ordered removed from the chapel the bronze cross that had stood there for a century or so, my first response was anger. Nichol decided that…
Pewboy knows
Altar Ego sighed with relief when he finally found Pewboy. Altar Ego: “Excuse me, Pewboy, do you have a few minutes to talk?” He had interrupted the Baptist layman as he arranged stacks of bulletins on tables beside the sanctuary…
Africa comes to Richmond
Calvin Birch looked from the muzzle of the rifle to the face of the angry man who pointed it at him. He stammered, “I can't just leave her here!” The dead woman in his arms had been hit by a…
Are our churches getting what they need?
Business knows. If you fail to train people adequately they will fail to perform. Dow Jones understands this double failure isn't good for the bottom line. The military knows. Troops who don't understand how to use and fix sophisticated technological…
The Virginia Baptist tradition
Editor's Note: As Virginia Baptists move toward their annual meeting, Nov. 9-10 in Virginia Beach, and face a national election Nov. 7, it seemed to be a good time to remind us of who we are. A classic statement of…