Many African-American SBC churches have women pastors on staff
Earlier this year, Southern Baptists expelled five churches from the nation’s largest Protestant denomination for having women as pastors. Now, the leader of a fellowship of African-American Southern Baptist pastors wonders if their churches will be next.
Christine King Farris, the last living sibling of Martin Luther King Jr., dies at 95
Christine King Farris, the last living sibling of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., died Thursday, June 29, 2023, at age 95.
Faith and fate of affirmative action
It’s a different colorblindness than the one envisioned in Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to reject the race-conscious admissions programs at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina comes …
VCU’s Project Gabriel hosts second round of community forums
A Virginia Commonwealth University commission has announced two public forums as it moves to carry out a 2021 state law requiring the school to set up a scholarship program for descendents of enslaved people and to memorialize those enslaved who …
Salvation Army gains new leadership
A new couple is in charge of Salvation Army Central Virginia, based at 2 W. Grace St.
Maryland church, with $100,000 in vandalism damage, continues in faith
The Rev. Jerome Jones Sr. is shocked by two things: the extensive vandalism that took place in his church building in Maryland’s capital in early June and the outpouring of support Fowler United Methodist Church has received in the aftermath.
Fourth Baptist receives historic preservation grant
Fourth Baptist Church in Richmond’s East End has been awarded a $150,000 grant to support preservation of the education wing as the church prepares to mark the 164th anniversary of its founding.
A Black preacher, ‘no longer at war with her body,’ on connecting flesh with the divine
Lyvonne Briggs describes herself as “a Black woman spiritual leader who is no longer at war with her body.” Her mission, in her new book, “Sensual Faith,” is to help other women stop being at war with their bodies too.
Athlete, coach and educator Ethan M. Pitts Jr. dies at age 50
For the first time in at least 15 years, veteran Coach Ethan Matthew “Matt” Pitts Jr. was missing from the Richmond delegation to the Virginia Special Olympics summer games at the University of Richmond.
Agnes Wilder Nicholson dies at age 98
Agnes Wilder Nicholson, who spent much of her life in education and civic service, died Saturday, May 6, 2023, at age 98.
Agnes Abuom, global ecumenist, peacemaker and African church leader, dies at 73
Kenya Agnes Abuom, a global ecumenical leader and peacemaker, died on Wednesday, May 31, 2023, at the age of 73 while undergoing treatment in a hospital in Nairobi.
Servant leader Gregory A. Cummings dies at 67
Gregory A. Cummings, a role model for Chesterfield County and Petersburg youths, was memorialized Tuesday at Second Baptist Church in South Side Richmond. He died Saturday, May 20, 2023, at age 67.
Nun whose body shows little decay since 2019 death draws hundreds to rural Missouri
Hundreds of people flocked to a small town in Missouri this week and last to see a Black nun whose body has barely decomposed since 2019. Some say it’s a sign of holiness in Catholicism, while others say the lack …
Tina Turner, unstoppable superstar whose hits included ‘What’s Love Got to Do With It,’ dead at 83
Tina Turner, the singer and stage performer who teamed with husband Ike Turner for a dynamic run of hit records and live shows in the 1960s and ’70s and survived her horrifying marriage to triumph in middle age with the …
John Blake, journalist on religion and race, goes personal with new memoir
Journalist John Blake, who has long written about religion and race in America, is the author of “More than I Imagined: What a Black Man Discovered About the White Mother He Never Knew.” The book recounts how multiracial churches helped …
