Baptist Briefs_111003

Posted: 11/07/03

Baptist Briefs

11/07/2003 - By John Rutledge

Buckner and church partner to provide food service_111003

Posted: 11/07/03

Buckner and church partner to provide food service

By Russ Dilday

Buckner News Service

DALLAS–A line of cars winds snake-like through the parking lot of First Baptist Church of Urbandale, wrapping around the block.

11/07/2003 - By John Rutledge

New Texas-based seminary names first four faculty; Corley to lead_111003

Posted: 11/07/03

New Texas-based seminary names
first four faculty; Corley to lead

By Mark Wingfield

Managing Editor

DALLAS–Four faculty members have resigned from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary to become the inaugural faculty of the B.H. Carroll Theological Institute.

11/07/2003 - By John Rutledge

cartoon_111003

Posted: 11/07/03 See second cartoon here "Next time, give us more meat. You left milk stains on the carpet."

11/07/2003 - By John Rutledge

Designated gifts boost CBF despite drop in church giving_111003

Posted: 11/07/03

Designated gifts boost CBF despite drop in church giving

ATLANTA–As projected, undesignated gifts to the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship fell short of budget goals for the 2002-2003 fiscal year, requiring a $513,000 dip into reserve funds for operations.

However, designated giving pushed total revenue for the CBF to a record $24.5 million, according to audited figures released by CBF officials.

Total revenue increased 15.1 percent, but contributions from churches fell 2.1 percent.

11/07/2003 - By John Rutledge

Census tracks grandparents raising grandchildren_111003

Posted: 11/07/03

Census tracks grandparents raising grandchildren

ALEXANDRIA, Va.–Nearly 6 million grandparents live in the same household with their grandchildren in the United States, and 40 percent of those grandparents are the primary caregivers for their grandchildren.

The data, based on the 2000 Census, was released by the Census Bureau at a Generations United Conference in Alexandria, Va.

One-third of grandparent caregivers live in “skipped generation” households where neither parent of the grandchildren is present.

11/07/2003 - By John Rutledge

Officials claim no underground church in China_111003

Posted: 11/07/03

Officials claim no underground church in China

WASHINGTON (RNS)–Leaders of government-sanctioned Protestant churches in China said Oct. 22 that “there are no underground churches in China” and dismissed reports of harassed Christians in the communist nation.

Officials from the China Christian Council and the Three-Self Patriotic Movement also agreed with Beijing labeling the Falun Gong movement an “evil cult” that must be stopped.

“The Chinese government is doing a better and better job of ensuring freedom of religious belief,” Cao Shengjie, president of the China Christian Council, said at a news conference at the Chinese Embassy. “If the government had not implemented this policy, the Christian church in China could not have had this development.”

11/07/2003 - By John Rutledge

Scholars see shift in church-state views_111003

Posted: 11/07/03

Scholars see shift in church-state views

By Kristen Campbell

Religion News Service

WASHINGTON (RNS)–In the beginning, Baptists preached, promoted and, yes, probably prayed for separation of church and state.

11/07/2003 - By John Rutledge

ANOTHER VIEW: You don’t need 911 to dial heaven_Wilkinson_111003

Posted: 11/07/03

ANOTHER VIEW:
You don't need 911 to dial heaven

By David Wilkinson

There ain't no busy signal

on the hotline to God.

11/07/2003 - By John Rutledge

DBU students devote fall break to Guatemala trip_111003

Posted: 11/07/03

DBU students devote fall break to Guatemala trip

DALLAS–Fall break brought a respite from study but not from ministry, as 25 students and staff members from Dallas Baptist University traveled to Guatemala with Buckner Orphan Care International.

“We love working with college students, because they have the time and energy to travel, and also because of the special love they have for children,” explained Eraina Larson, mission coordinator for Buckner Orphan Care International. “Specifically, we partnered with DBU because of the quality of the students and their passion to help in countries like Guatemala where the situations are so desperate.”

The team, led by DBU Executive Vice President Blair Blackburn and Ozzie Ingram, assistant vice president for administrative affairs, served 100 children and teenagers at an orphanage in Xela, Guatemala.

11/07/2003 - By John Rutledge

D.C. convention looks ahead despite cuts_111003

Posted: 11/07/03

D.C. convention looks ahead despite cuts

By Robert Marus

ABP Washington Bureau

SILVER SPRING, Md. (ABP)–Despite having nearly a third of its funding cut off by the Southern Baptist Convention, leaders of the District of Columbia Baptist Convention gave upbeat reports during the organization's 127th annual meeting Oct. 27-28.

11/07/2003 - By John Rutledge

COMPANIONS IN DEATH: No One Dies Alone_111003

Posted: 11/07/03

COMPANIONS IN DEATH:
No One Dies Alone

By Inara Verzemnieks

Religion News Service

EUGENE, Ore. (RNS)–And so it has come to this: Alone in a hospital bed, no family or friends to hear the last ragged breaths, the sounds of a lifetime ending.

11/07/2003 - By John Rutledge