Baptist disaster response teams in the Mid-Atlantic have been placed on alert as they monitor devastation in Oklahoma in the wake of a massive tornado which killed at least 25 people, many of them children. The storm pulverized Moore, an…
Delegation, collaboration and prayer are key to managing disasters, say Baptist relief managers
(ABP) — A devastating tornado in Oklahoma May 20 capped a busy year for Baptist disaster-relief coordinators, who have dealt with tornadoes ripping through Georgia, Mississippi and Texas, flooding in the Midwest and the fertilizer plant explosion in West, Texas….
Supreme Court to consider whether sectarian prayers at government meetings at odds with Constitution
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court agreed May 20 to hear a case centering on whether sectarian prayers at the beginning of official government meetings violate the First Amendment — an issue which has roiled county governing and school boards in…
Virginia county supervisors vote to hang copy of Ten Commandments in government building
ABINGDON, Va. — The board of supervisors in Washington County, Va., voted unanimously May 14 to hang a copy of the Ten Commandments on the wall of the county government building — a move which has drawn legal challenges in…
Electronic reading is growing, and church libraries are taking note
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — It’s a sign of the times. Technology is changing what and how people read. A recent survey by the Pew Research Center found that the number of Americans reading electronic books has doubled since 2009. With the…
Virginia church aims to minister to children without one or both parents through 127JUNCTION
Following the mandate in James 1:27 for Christ’s followers to care for orphans in need, Community Heights Baptist Church in Southwest Virginia has initiated a ministry it calls 127JUNCTION to mobilize its members to care for the physical, emotional and…
Virginia Muslims and local community angry over Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s burial in the state
(RNS) — Officials and local residents of a rural Virginia county say they’re surprised and angered that the body of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev was buried in a local cemetery. Tsarnaev, 26, died following an April 19 getaway…
Two Baptist associations — one urban, one rural — merge to form 96-church ministry network
NORFOLK — Two Baptist associations — one in Virginia’s highly-urbanized Hampton Roads, the other on the state’s rural Eastern Shore — have merged to form a new network of 96 churches. At separate meetings in mid-April, representatives of the Norfolk…
Galindo stepping down as dean at BTSR to assume new role at Columbia Theological Seminary
RICHMOND — Israel Galindo, dean and professor of Christian formation and leadership at Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond, has been named associate dean for lifelong learning at Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Ga., effective Aug. 1. Israel Galindo Galindo, who…