okhotin_63003

Posted: 6/27/03

MISSION IMPOSSIBLE:
Baptist worker held in Russia

By Frank Brown

Religion News Service

MOSCOW (RNS)–Andrew Okhotin, a Baptist youth pastor, took the 10-hour flight from New York to Moscow in late March on a quick and joyful mission. He was going to deliver a $48,000 cash gift from American believers to Russian Baptists, visit for a few days with relatives and then return to the United States and his studies at Harvard Divinity School.

06/27/2003 - By John Rutledge

onthemove_63003

Posted: 6/27/03

On the Move

Brad Davis has resigned as music minister at First Church in Hamilton.

Denise Deaton to First Church in Covington as minister of music and students.

Jami Demel to Saint Paul's Church in Schulenberg as youth director.

06/27/2003 - By John Rutledge

ossuary_fake_63003

Posted: 6/27/03

Israeli scholars say James ossuary
a fake; others not so quick to quit

By Alexandra Alter

Religion News Service

WASHINGTON (RNS)–An inscription on an ancient stone burial box suggesting it held the remains of James, the brother of Jesus, is a fake, Israeli archaeological experts say.

06/27/2003 - By John Rutledge

patterson_election_63003

Posted: 6/27/03

Patterson elected unanimously
to lead Southwestern Seminary

By Toby Druin

Editor Emeritus

FORT WORTH–Pledging he would not “clean house” but would build a faculty committed to Southern Baptist Convention guidelines, including the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message, Paige Patterson was elected eighth president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary June 24.

06/27/2003 - By John Rutledge

patterson_enrollment_63003

Posted: 6/27/03

06/27/2003 - By John Rutledge

patterson_profile_63003

Posted: 6/27/03

Paige Patterson profile

Ordained to the ministry at age 16 by First Baptist Church of Beaumont.

His father, T.A. Patterson, was executive director of the Baptist General Convention of Texas from 1961 to 1973.

He earned the bachelor of arts degree from Hardin-Simmons University, the master of theology degree and doctor of theology degree from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.

06/27/2003 - By John Rutledge

prison_study_63003

Posted: 6/27/03

Study says prison ministry effective

WASHINGTON (RNS)–A study of the effectiveness of a key faith-based prisoner rehabilitation program has found graduates of the program are less likely to return to a life of crime.

The study was released June 18 after leaders of Prison Fellowship, the ministry founded by ex-convict and Nixon aide Chuck Colson, met with President Bush and White House officials to discuss the program's impact on ex-prisoners.

The study, conducted by Byron Johnson of the University of Pennsylvania's Center for Research on Religion and Urban Civil Society, found graduates of Prison Fellowship's program are less likely than non-graduates to return to a life of crime. The program provides spiritual counseling, job training and mentoring to prisoners nearing the end of their sentences.

06/27/2003 - By John Rutledge

punchard_gift_63003

Posted: 6/27/03

Retired teacher left major
gift to Temple church and UMHB

By Mark Wingfield

Managing Editor

TEMPLE–When Memorial Baptist Church set out to relocate, the congregation had no idea the tragedy that would befall it in 2003. Nor could it have imagined the incredible gift it would receive in the same year.

06/27/2003 - By John Rutledge

row_wade_63003

Posted: 6/27/03

Attempt to revisit Roe nixed

By Jenny Hartgraves

Staff Writer

DALLAS–Efforts by Norma McCorvey–“Jane Roe” from Roe vs. Wade–and her legal team to reverse the 1973 abortion case were rejected June 19 as a federal judge ruled her petition for reconsideration did not come in a “reasonable time.”

06/27/2003 - By John Rutledge

tidbits_63003

Posted: 6/27/03 Texas Tidbits CenturyMen travel to Europe. The CenturyMen, a 100-voice men's chorus, is traveling in Germany, Austria and Switzerland through July 8. The chorus of music ministers, including…

06/27/2003 - By John Rutledge

together_63003

Posted: 6/27/03

TOGETHER:
Numbers paint picture of missions

Summer brings a change of pace for most of us. Family vacations are most often planned for this time of the year. Churches take on a different dynamic, too, as the sounds of children and youth can be heard throughout the week. Camp programs, Vacation Bible Schools, summer mission trips, Super Summer youth evangelism conferences, recreational activities and local community mission involvement all contribute to the “hum” around the church house.

That hum goes on statewide, as well. Rosemary and I, along with scores of Baptist General Convention of Texas staff, attended the annual meeting of the Hispanic Baptist Convention June 22-24. In a few days, the African-American Baptist Fellowship will convene in Houston, July 8-11. What I love about these meetings is the way entire families show up. There are activities for children and young people. And the adults celebrate and rejoice in the achievements of their children and grandchildren.

It is the stated goal of the BGCT to “reach all people.” We want, as a pastor in the Valley expressed, our churches and convention to look like the face of Texas. We want Hispanics, African-Americans, Asian-Americans and anyone else to feel as much at home in the BGCT as do Anglo-Americans. And if we are to do that effectively, we must encourage one another, and in order to do that, we must know one another.

06/27/2003 - By John Rutledge

truett_grads_63003

Posted: 6/27/03

Truett Seminary to produce 79 graduates in 2003

WACO–Baylor University's Truett Theological Seminary honored 79 members of the class of 2003, including 35 spring graduates, during baccalaureate ceremonies.

Bill Sherman, pastor of First Baptist Church of Fairview, Tenn., delivered the baccalaureate address on “The Compulsion of the Cross.” Sherman told the graduates, “The Christ of the cross compels us to believe and to believe strongly, … to act and to act greatly, … to love and love supremely … and to praise and praise gloriously.”

Sherman admonished the seminarians, using the words of British World War I chaplain G.A. Studdert-Kennedy, to “serve in such a way that you will hear God as you stand before him in eternity say, 'Well done' rather than, 'Well!'”

06/27/2003 - By John Rutledge