The Trump administration has implemented a near-total ban on abortion and abortion counseling at Department of Veterans Affairs facilities across the nation. The policy move not only affects veterans but also the families of eligible veterans covered by the VA’s…
Americans United sues over Anti-Christian Bias Task Force
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is refusing to respond to a Freedom of Information Act request from Americans United for Separation of Church and State, prompting AU to sue the Trump administration. The lawsuit contends the VA is violating federal…
What will your church do, if …
On Dec. 1, 1955, a Black woman named Rosa Parks, sitting in the “no man’s land” of a Montgomery, Ala., bus, declined to relinquish her seat to a white rider as required by law. The refusal led to her arrest…
What I learned at a town hall meeting where our elected officials didn’t show up
I went to a town hall tonight in Little Rock. When I walked in about 10 minutes until time to start, it was a standing room only crowd in a church sanctuary that seats 750 people. I leaned up against…
VA chaplains have learned that mental health providers and clergy need to talk more and trust each other
As Steve Sullivan and psychologists convened small groups of mental health providers and clergy over the past two years, they learned that lack of trust creates barriers to integrated care. Armed with a grant from Bristol Myers Squibb, VA Mental…
Besides gore, zombie films offer rich spiritual formation lessons, prof says
Zombie dramas are known for being full of blood and guts, horror and death — lots and lots of death. But is it possible they also offer lessons in ethics and spiritual formation? Greg Garrett, a Baylor University professor, author and…
Common missionary and military lives prepared Baptist chaplains for marriage
As a couple, Jim and Jo Kirkendall take the concept of “having things in common” to a whole new level. Both grew up overseas as children of missionaries with the then-Foreign Mission Board. Both became Navy chaplains – and met…
Baptist pastor inspired by Jews, Muslims during Holy Land pilgrimage
By Jeff Brumley It wasn’t Jim Somerville’s first visit to the Holy Land — or even his third or fourth. But the 10-day journey in early February was the first he had made with Muslim and Jewish clergy from Virginia. The…
RIGHT or WRONG? Painful church experience
A Barna survey revealed an extraordinary percentage of Americans no longer attend church because of some painful experience. What has happened to cause the place identified as “a hospital for sinners” or put forward as “sanctuary” to be avoided by…
FIRST PERSON: Taking leaders to a new level
The Emerging Leaders Level 2 track at Senior High Weekend each year engages students in Scripture, active learning and creative experiences which enable them to recognize the uniqueness and giftedness of their personality. This, combined with their understanding of spiritual…
FIRST PERSON: What kind of moderates are Virginia Baptists?
In a recent editorial a syndicated conservative columnist observes that politicians are difficult to label. He notes the liberal label historically has fit one American political party well because of its willingness to promote military intervention for humanitarian causes. He…