Peace-bearing Was Theme of Convocation

Peace-bearing:  Embracing Peace in Self, Church, Community & Beyond was the theme of a convocation sponsored by the Center for Baptist Heritage & Studies in May.  Key presenters included Dr. Isam E. Ballenger, professor emeritus of Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond; Karen Bullock, professor of Christian heritage at the B.H. Carroll Theological Institute in Texas; Robert Parham, executive director of the Baptist Center for Ethics; Ken Kessler, Empowering Leaders team leader of the Virginia Baptist Mission Board; LeDayne McLeese Polaski, program coordinator of the Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America; and David Brubaker, associate professor at the Center for Justice and Peacemaking at Eastern Mennonite University.

The Heritage Center is producing a DVD resource on the Peace-bearers Convocation which will be released in the summer.  When it becomes available the information will be posted on this website.

Peace-bearers Booklet Available

The Heritage Center has published a booklet entitled Peace-bearers:  Church, Community & Beyond.  It contains an essay on the meaning of peace written by Dr. Isam E. Ballenger and biographical sketches on five Virginia Baptists who have exemplified peace-bearing in their lives and ministry.  The five individuals are James Massey, Henry Langford, Elmer S. West, Jr., Jim Fox and Mary Campbell Cosby.  The sketches were written by Cole Eskridge, a student at the University of Mary Washington and the Center's Heritage Fellow for 2009-10.  The reseach, interviews and writing constituted the Heritage Fellow's project.

A copy of the Peace-bearers booklet is available free of charge.  Please send $3 to cover shipping and handling and request that a free copy be sent to you.  Telephone the Center at (804)289-8434 to request a copy.

NEW BOOK PUBLISHED ON YOUNG LEADERS

Memories of the Future:  A Memoir of Virginia Baptists' Young Leaders Program by Robert Dale has been published by the Center for Baptist Heritage & Studies.  "Bob" Dale designed and led the innovative Young Leaders' Program which aided some 300 ministers over its 20-year span.  The author reveals the steps involved in creating the program and shares the methods of instruction.  Copies of Memories of the Future are free of charge to individuals who request them and send $6 to cover shipping and handling.  Orders for the free book can be sent to Center for Baptist Heritage & Studies, P.O. Box 34, University of Richmond, VA 23173.  Copies are available while supplies last.

DVD Resource on Diversity & the Church

"The Swirling Center:  Prospects for Diversity in the Church" is a three-disc DVD set of the presentations and dialogue at the convocation sponsored in 2009 by the Center for Baptist Heritage & Studies.  Speakers included Loyd Allen, Baptist historian at the McAfee School of Theology of Mercer University, Emmanuel McCall, a Baptist world statesman, and Doug Hicks, a professor in the Jepson School of Leadership at the University of Richmond.  Also included are reflections by three Baptist ministers:  Henry V. Langford, a 90-year-old minister who confronted social clhange in the 1950s; Barbara Filling who speaks on gender issues especially as related to a woman's calling to the ministry; and Michael Cheuk who addresses ethnicity issues especially as related to his own personal experiences as a pastor of Asian background serving a traditionally Anglo congregation.  The convocation included some 40 invited participants who dialogued on the subject of diversity in church life.  The DVD gives everyone a front row seat to hear the challenging speakers and to sense the concern which the participants exhibited over the topic.  Also included while supplies last is a copy of the papers written by the 2008-9 Heritage Fellows who examined the state of diversity in all phases of Baptist life:  local, state and national levels.  To order send a check for $25 including shipping and handling to Center for Baptist Heritage & Studies, P.O. Box 34, University of Richmond, VA 23173.  Ask for the "Swirling Center DVD".

Celebrating Baptist Beginnings

Please visit here for more information and resources to celebrate this Baptist milestone.