Jim Newton, 75, longtime Southern Baptist journalist and Lifetime Member of Baptist Communicators Association, died Jan. 16 at the Baptist Hospital Hospice Care in Jackson, Miss. He passed away within weeks following an unexpected recurrence of his leukemia.

Following his graduation from Baylor University in 1958, he began his career as assistant editor of The Bishop News in Bishop, Texas, then moved on to become press representative for the Baptist General Convention of Texas and later assistant director/news of Baptist Press. While working at the Texas convention, he began a cou... READ MORE

Lifetime Member Robert (Bob) M. Duck, 85, of Montgomery, Ala., passed away Monday, November 21, 2011.

Bob was a loving son, brother, uncle, and friend and faithful servant of his Lord Jesus Christ. He was preceded in death by his parents, Ruth Thomas Duck and Joseph M. Duck, Sr., brother, Joseph M. Duck, Jr., sister-in-law, Betty Duck, and sister, Frances Duck. He is survived by niece, Kim Duck Windsor (Ken) of Sylacauga, Ala., great nephew, Wes Watkins (Amy) of Sylacauga, Ala., great niece, Ginger Watkins Nix (Jeff) of Washington D.C. and great-great nieces and nephew, Marlee and Maggie... READ MORE

Congratulations to Amanda Parrish, a senior communications student at Union University, who received the $1,000 student scholarship from Baptist Communicators Association for the 2011-12 academic year.

A veteran and respected BCA member, Jim Veneman, serves as an instructor to Parrish at Union University. He had this to say about this year's scholarship recipient:

In my classes she has shown that it is never enough for her to simply meet a deadline. She always approaches an assignment as a creative challenge, and sincerely enjoys attempting to produce work that will ... READ MORE

Walking to get a glass of water from the hallway, I saw Georgia Baptist Convention archivist George Houston carrying a set of dusty black folders chock full of yellowing papers. Asked if he was getting rid of some old, useless stuff he corrected me in saying, "Just old."

That led to my going with Houston into the archives (conveniently, for m... READ MORE

It pains me to say this, and please don't tell anybody, but... my writing isn't perfect. Though most of my prose exists on the same plane as Shakespeare, Hemingway and Sartre - not to mention that my leads are the stuff of which Pulitzers are forged - I admit there is at least a hair's width of room for improvement.

I'm kidding of course, bu... READ MORE

Whenever The Next Big Thing in social media comes along the techie squeals of joy are almost drowned out by the groans of practically everyone else. What is another great option for staying connected and finding story resources is also seen as yet another password to remember and site post to update.

It's not hard to find online sources chro... READ MORE

Perhaps I've reached the age where I can now think back and remember a day when time moved slower. A time when there were five television stations that you had to get up to change, most households received a newspaper and the phone had a cord. Perhaps I'm also young enough to appreciate the changes that have been made over the years enabling more e... READ MORE

Many attending BCA in Atlanta enjoyed "shopping with a mission" Friday morning during the market set up by this year's featured mission partner, The Refugee Sewing Society of Clarkston, Ga. The generosity of BCA members totaled $659 in purchases and donations. "We are absolutely thrilled for the ladies," said Cathy Palmer, founder of the the Refuge... READ MORE