HARTFIELD, Va. — “Every family needs a break now and then — especially families raising a special needs child,” said Niki Gourley, retreats director at Piankatank Camp and Conference Center near Hartfield, Va. The natural setting of the Virginia Baptist…
BTSR announces new location in office park four miles north of current campus
RICHMOND — Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond will move this summer to a new location in an office complex about four miles north of its current campus, seminary officials announced April 2. The nearly 17,000-square foot building in Villa Park,…
Muslim students discover Southern hospitality, interfaith dialog as church hosts feeding volunteers
ROANOKE — What some might consider a strange pairing — Baptists and Muslims partnering together in service to others — became a great opportunity to experience diversity, said Kevin Meadows, pastor of Grandin Court Baptist Church in Roanoke. A team…
Partnership will increase Leland Center students’ understanding of poverty issues in urban setings
ARLINGTON, Va. — The John Leland Center for Theological Studies hopes to enhance the ability of its students to understand poverty issues in urban settings and to advocate on behalf of the poor through a new partnership announced this month….
Federal judge bars sectarian prayers at meetings of Virginia county’s board of supervisors
DANVILLE, Va. — The board of supervisors in Virginia’s Pittsylvania County has been permanently barred from allowing sectarian prayers at official meetings, following a decision by a federal judge March 26. U.S. District Court Judge Michael Urbanski’s ruling brings to…
Baptists from Mid-Atlantic rally in support of gay marriage as Supreme Court begins landmark case
WASHINGTON — As the Supreme Court launched two days of oral arguments March 26 on a landmark same-sex marriage case, ministers and members of some Baptist churches in the Mid-Atlantic rallied with other faith groups at an early morning interfaith…
Mineral Baptist Church connects with community — and offers a witness — through archery
MINERAL, Va. — When the youthful archers at Mineral Baptist Church line up and take aim, the real target is more than the bull’s-eye in their sights. According to Jeremy Debaets, director of Mineral Baptist Church Archery, the ministry’s aim…
Church joins faith-based initiative in assisting U.S. military family on Northern Neck
HEATHSVILLE, Va. — A rural congregation on Virginia’s Northern Neck may seem to be an unlikely location for an outreach and support program for the U. S. military, but through Partners in Care, a faith-based initiative which collaborates with the…
Richmond association narrowly votes to retain membership of church which ordained gay man
RICHMOND — By a close margin, the Richmond Baptist Association voted March 19 to retain the membership of a church which ordained a gay man to the ministry last fall. The 176-158 vote endorsed a committee’s recommendation that the association…
BTSR trustees authorize president to sign leasing agreement to relocate seminary by this fall
RICHMOND —Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond will hold classes in a new, still-to-be-determined location this fall, following action by its trustees March 18 to authorize President Ron Crawford to sign a leasing agreement to house the 21-year-old seminary. The trustee…
Upton to represent BWA at papal inauguration, as Italian Baptist leader urges prayer for new pope
RICHMOND — Baptist World Alliance president John Upton will represent the global organization and its 42 million Baptists at the March 19 inauguration of Pope Francis, the BWA has announced. “The BWA celebrates with the Catholic Church the announcement of…
Increasingly disturbed by effects of sex trafficking, two teens fight back — with purses
ROCKY MOUNT, Va. — Many women have an obsession with purses. They love to dress in style and complete their look with a fashionable handbag. Recently two teens in Rocky Mount, Va., carried women’s obsession with purses to a new…