Blue Ridge Baptist Association

09/05/2026

09/01/2026

Mark your calendars!!!

08/28/2026

Director of Missions Bruce Conley is home resting after having a heart ablation today at Wi******er Medical Center.

We want to thank the many people in our churches who prayed for Pastor Conley. Please continue to pray that his recovery goes well.

08/26/2026

Summer 2026 BRBA Pulse Newsletter is now available. https://blueridgebaptist.org/newsletter/

08/16/2026

There are roughly 340,000 churches in the USA. Of those churches, less than 1% are considered “mega-churches.” . In fact, the median attendance of a church in the US is about 65 people, with the overwhelming majority of churches (70%) being under 100 in attendance.

Next time you hear a comment like “tax all churches,” or “pastors make too much money,” take a moment to consider that most churches can’t afford to pay their pastor. A significant amount pastors are now bi-vocational.

08/06/2026

You can't make this stuff up .....

Man sued church over his tithe:
When a Tithe Becomes a Business Transaction

Baptist Press, September 10, 1974

MIAMI, Fla.--A man who sued his church claiming he didn't get his money's worth when he tithed (gave 10 per cent) got a refund. Hugh McNatt said he was happy after receiving a check for $800.

The 43-year-old unemployed electrical worker had sued the Allapattah Baptist Church for donations he made in response to the pastor's promise that "blessings, benefits and rewards would come to a person" who gave 10 per cent of his wealth. After three years McNatt said he had not received blessings, benefits nor rewards.

Alton S. Newell, a San Antonio, Tex., businessman who invented the Newell auto shredder, sent a letter to Allapattah lawyer Jeffrey Tew and Donald Manuel, the pastor, saying, "I sympathize with anyone who gives money to the church and sits back and expects God to immediately hand it back to him, with interest, by some specific act.

"I have never tried to make a deal with God like that, but for 36 years my wife and I have found that God will honor those who honor him."

Newell enclosed a check for $800 and an autographed copy of his autobiography. They were given to McNatt who agreed to drop his suit against the church.

— Baptist Press, September 10, 1974