Posted: 8/8/03

On the move

Leobardo Flores to Second Church in Harlingen as pastor.

Casey DuBose to Coastal Plains Area as church development director, from Alamo Heights Church in Port Lavaca, where he was pastor.

Adam Espurvoa to Iglesia Emanuel in Bastrop as pastor from Primera Iglesia in Elgin.

Joe Hernandez to Primera Iglesia in Plainview as pastor.

C. A. Johnson to First Church in Bowie as interim pastor.

Randy McBroom to First Church in Randolph as interim pastor.

Tanya Muckelrath as resigned as children's minister at Trinity Church in Gatesville.

George Morrison to Rio Grande Valley Association as associate director of missions from First Church in Los Fresnos, where he was pastor.

Thomas Potter to Harmony Church in Palestine as interim pastor.

Terry Smith to First Church in Floresville as music minister from Trinity Church in Pleasanton, where he was minister of music and senior adults.

Darrel Wallace has resigned as pastor of Turnersville Church in Gatesville.

John Weaver to First Church in Evant as interim pastor.

Rick Wilson to Bethel Heights Church in Gatesville as pastor.

Mike Wyatt has completed an interim pastorate at First Church in Ore City and is available for supply, interim and Sunday School conferences at (903) 777-3946.

Posted: 8/8/03

Owner of James ossuary suspected
in far-reaching antiquities fraud

By Elaine Ruth Fletcher

Religion News Service

JERUSALEM (RNS)–Israeli investigators are exploring the possibility antiquities dealer Oded Golan, now in police custody, was the leader of the alleged forgery of the purported first century A.D. inscription on the famous James ossuary, which included a reference to Jesus.

The bone burial box bearing the words “James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus” had been insured by Golan for $1 million. After previously being displayed in a museum, it was found sitting on an unused toilet seat on the roof of Golan's Tel Aviv apartment building in a police raid in late July.

Based on evidence seized in the late-night raid, investigators now suspect Golan may have been systematically counterfeiting antiquities and selling them for a number of years. They also believe other professionals, including possibly specialists from abroad, collaborated with him in the alleged scam of the James ossuary.

A panel of Israeli experts has determined the James ossuary inscription, along with a second inscription, supposedly written by King Joash of Judah in the ninth century B.C., both were fakes.

But the circle of inquiry now appears to be widening beyond Golan, said Amir Ganor, an Israeli Antiquities Authority officer.

“We now believe that he had partners who collaborated with him, people from the world of science, academia and also professionals,” Ganor said. “We think we know who they are, but we are not willing to publish it at this point.”

While most of the inquiry was focused in Israel, personalities from other countries also had been questioned regarding the alleged scam, Ganor said. But so far, the Israeli police have not officially turned to any police agency abroad in connection with a possible international conspiracy.

The Israeli police, in their raid on Golan's apartment, discovered a rooftop storage room containing various items that appeared to be in the process of being doctored, some with so-called “ancient” inscriptions, he said.

Although police had searched Golan's apartment six months ago, the rooftop storage room was a new discovery.

“We found in this room other inscriptions and antiquities that appeared to be in various stages of being counterfeited,” Ganor said. “We also found a lot of equipment for the process.

“We are investigating suspicions that beyond the two artifacts that have received so much publicity, there was a process of counterfeiting antiquities that was going on for years,” he said. “There are witnesses and evidence that support the suspicion that this is part of something systematic that happened over many years.”

By far the most bizarre discovery in the raid, however, was the location of the famous James Ossuary–sitting in an unused bathroom adjacent to the rooftop storage room. The bathroom was locked by a simple skeleton key. The ossuary sat on a platform perched atop the toilet seat, exposed to the summer heat and humidity of Tel Aviv.

“The picture speaks for itself,” Ganor said. “If this was indeed such an important artifact, I'm sure no normal person would have put it on the roof of a building in a toilet.”

The famous bone burial box was first publicly unveiled last year at Toronto's Royal Ontario Museum and displayed before tens of thousands of admirers before returning to Israel for a full examination by Israeli Antiquities Authority officials. About a month ago, after a panel of experts had concluded their examination of the artifact, it was returned to Golan.

The panel determined the ossuary itself is genuine, but the all-important inscription had been applied only recently and covered with a “patina” that was supposed to make it look aged. Following the mid-summer raid, the ossuary is once again in the custody of Israeli police and antiquities officials, where it may be used as evidence in possible criminal proceedings, Ganor said.

“This whole episode constitutes a serious blow to archaeological history, to the people of Israel and to Christians around the world,” Ganor said. “If he (Golan) had succeeded in his initiative, he would have changed the archaeological world.”

Posted: 8/8/03

PAISANO: Family camping

By George Henson

Staff Writer

ALPINE–About 1,400 people recently returned to Paisano Baptist Encampment near Alpine for a once-in-a-lifetime experience that comes around once a year.

While the encampment also offers a youth camp, Girls in Action camp and retreats throughout the year, the annual General Encampment is the high point of the year.

This year marked the 83rd consecutive year families have gathered for a week of worship, relaxation and fellowship at the camp, located at an altitude of about 5,000 feet between Alpine and Marfa on Highway 90.

Like many other participants, camp president Levi Price, professor at Baylor University's Truett Seminary, has a long history with Paisano. He attended the first time as a boy around 1950. For the next decade and a half, a week of his summer was spent at the annual gathering, with the weeks before spent in anticipation.

“When I was a kid growing up out there in Monahans, I knew all the other kids in those other little towns out there because we spent the week together at Paisano,” Price recalled.

That family-friendly atmosphere has been maintained through the years. The General Encampment, held each year during the last full week of July, has maintained its multi-generational aspect, with this year's attendees ranging from less than a year old to veteran retirees.

“It's a safe place where kids can roam free and climb on rocks and just do kids things,” Price said.

Pastor Philip McCraw of First Baptist Church in Alpine, who has attended the last 12 years, said the camp will be forever special for his family.

“All three of my kids were saved there,” he explained. “Even though I'm a Baptist pastor, it happened there, not here.”

McCraw said his children enjoy the week of seeing friends so much that he really doesn't see them a great deal as they participate in activities geared to them and spend free time roaming the vast acreage.

The camp runs a Vacation Bible School-like program for children each morning, and youth have a program in the gym, one of the encampment's newest additions.

The Paisano tradition has its roots in the Bloys Cowboy Campmeeting, which began in 1890. The Bloys camp was sponsored by Presbyterians, Methodists and Disciples of Christ as well as Baptists as a means of spiritual enrichment for the ranchers in the area. Because the ranches were separated by vast regions of uninhabited lands, families found it impossible to worship with their distant neighbors and friends.

William Benjamin Bloys, a Presbyterian missionary, made a circuit of the ranches, but seldom was there a larger gathering. The Bloys Cowboy Campmeeting was the solution to that. Then the Baptists started their own camp meeting at Paisano in 1921 under the guidance of Pastor L.R. Millican.

“The descendents of cowboy/rancher families and the West Texas churches are still a big part of what we are at Paisano,” Price said. He pointed out that a kitchen crew directed by Chris Lacy prepares all the meals. Lacy is a part of the Kokernot o6 Ranch that was an integral part of the camp's founding.

Like everything else in the encampment, the meals are free. Operating funds are provided primarily by a free-will offering taken at the conclusion of the last worship service each year.

That is another reason why so many make the camp their yearly vacation, McCraw said. “I can't afford to take my family to Glorieta. I give an offering at Paisano, but I know it doesn't cover the expense.”

The camp has not built dorms, but some of the churches whose members regularly attend have built cabins, as have some families who attend every year. Other attendees either drive home or stay in hotels.

Lloyd Conner, who recently retired as camp manager but attended this year in his capacity as pastor of First Baptist Church in Marfa, said as society has become more mobile, the camp's range of attendees has widened. One woman from Anchorage, Alaska, arranges her vacation each year so she can stop by the camp and see old friends.

For her, like most others, it is more than friendships that bring her back, Conner said. “There's some real spiritual ties she's made there of commitment and recommitments.”

As in the beginning, Bible teaching is the key emphasis of the camp. While children and youth have their Bible studies, adults are likewise exploring God's word each morning. All ages gather to worship together at the tabernacle each evening.

Conner said almost every member of his church participates in the camp at some level.

The response still astounds McCraw. When he first moved to Alpine, he was taken out to the camp. “I looked around and thought, 'Nobody's going to come out here.' But for that one week each year, this place springs to life.”

Posted: 8/8/03

Majority approve of reciting 'under God'

WASHINGTON (RNS)–More than 60 percent of Americans think government officials should be able to post the Ten Commandments in government buildings and believe it is constitutional for teachers to lead the recitation of “one nation under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance.

The “State of the First Amendment 2003” survey, released Aug. 1, was jointly commissioned by the First Amendment Center and the American Journalism Review.

Sixty-eight percent of respondents said teachers leading the pledge with the words “one nation under God” were not violating the principle of separation of church and state, while 26 percent said they were.

Sixty-two percent of those surveyed agreed with the statement that government officials should be allowed to post the Ten Commandments within government buildings, while 35 percent said they should not.

Researchers found 60 percent of respondents favored allowing the government to give money to churches or other religious institutions to help them operate programs that aim to prevent drug abuse, even if they include a religious message in their program. Thirty-six percent opposed such funding.

However, those favoring such activities often do not view them as religious actions, noted Kenneth Paulson, executive director of the First Amendment Center. “Most of those surveyed regarded government references to God as civic rather than spiritual.”

He cited the finding that 73 percent of respondents said the pledge, including the words “one nation under God,” is “primarily a statement related to the American political tradition,” while 18 percent said it was primarily a religious statement.

The Center for Survey Research & Analysis at the University of Connecticut surveyed 1,000 Americans during June 3-15. The results have a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

Posted: 8/8/03

24 churches join in Progreso mission

By Scott Collins & Lance Wallace

Buckner Benevolences & Cooperative Baptist Fellowship

PROGRESO–Julian Vigil raised the hammer over his head, and with a violent swing, struck the ceiling of Jorge and Ramona Lopez's bedroom.

As he pulled the hammer down, Vigil brought with it a cloud of dust, drywall and rat feces.

Shaeron Moorehead, a member of Wilshire Baptist Church in Dallas, holds a little boy during story time at a Vacation Bible School at Iglesia Bautista Southside in Mercedes.

Vigil's swing launched a three-day project to gut and rebuild the interior of the Lopez's home.

Vigil, a member of Wilshire Baptist Church in Dallas, was part of a joint mission project sponsored by Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Texas, Buckner Children & Family Services and the Global Missions office of the national CBF organization.

More than 200 volunteers from 24 Baptist churches across Texas worked in the lower Rio Grande River Valley this summer, rebuilding homes, sponsoring Vacation Bible Schools, ministering to women and running sports camps.

The project in the Valley is part of KidsHeart, a larger international partnership between the Fellowship and Buckner.

Through the partnership, the Fellowship provides funding and volunteers to assist the ministries of Buckner in colonias in Hildago County. The project is part of Partners in Hope, the Fellowship's rural poverty initiative. A colonia is a small, rural community with substandard housing that lacks services such as electricity, water and sewer.

Throughout the three-day project this summer, teams worked on five homes in the Progreso colonia. Workers tore out and replaced old walls. They also roofed houses, painted, replaced carpet, installed new kitchen appliances and nailed new siding on the homes.

With daytime high temperatures exceeding 100 degrees, volunteers sweated through demolition and reconstruction, surrounded by the poverty they had come to address.

Behind the Lopezes' “new” house stood the burned-out hull of their old house, a 10-foot by 20-foot structure that would serve as a backyard shed in most American suburban neighborhoods.

Less than 10 minutes after arriving, the sounds of hammers hitting drywall and crowbars pulling creaking nails from weathered walls filled the air. A thick fog of dust caused volunteers to don face masks.

Josh Houston, also a Wilshire member, joined Vigil working on the Lopez house. Houston was brought to the Valley because of a “calling, a deep conviction,” he said. “Something needs to be done, and somebody's got to do it.”

Mission activities included an evening sports camp for children.

Organized by the missions committee of CBF Texas, the first-ever KidsHeart workweek included five home rehabilitation projects, five VBS sites and three sports camps. Buckner has been working in the colonias of the Rio Grande Valley for more than two decades, and churches come down to work year round.

“That's the beauty of this partnership,” said Tom Ogburn, CBF's liaison to Buckner for the KidsHeart partnership and assistant coordinator for partnership missions. “Buckner has been working here for 25 years, so they know the people, they know the needs. CBF has made a 25-year commitment to be here and improve the conditions. We have access to resources to plug in to the existing work as well as the commitment to be here long term.”

Church groups comprised of children, youth, adults and seniors traveled up to 15 hours one way to participate in the pilot project that resulted in changed lives, among both the church workers and Valley residents alike.

“When we met in January in Dallas to begin planning for this event, we asked ourselves, 'How can we capture the hearts and imaginations of Texas Baptists?'” said David Wright of Willow Meadows Baptist Church in Houston and chair of the Texas CBF missions committee. “We all knew the answer–missions and ministry. That's how this was born.”

The committee, with guidance from Jorge Zapata and Tommy Speed of Buckner and Ogburn of CBF, decided to plan an event that would include small and large congregations alike, where churches didn't have to make logistical arrangements but could plug into a pre-planned project.

Zapata, director of Border Ministries for Buckner Children & Family Services, identified the construction sites among the most pressing needs in the colonias throughout the Valley. Under Ogburn's supervision and with $5,000 to $10,000 of seed money from the Fellowship, the construction projects made dramatic gains in the span of three days.

“We've done a lot,” said homeowner Jorge Lopez through an interpreter. “I wasn't expecting this much help. I thought we might get the bedroom and bathroom finished, but they have done the whole house. We want to thank Jorge Zapata and Buckner for bringing the people here. It's because of Buckner that these people are here to help.”

After they installed new walls and carpet in the Lopez home, volunteers added trim around all the baseboards, doors and windows. (Russ Dilday/Buckner Photo)

First Baptist Church of College Station was the first to sign up for the project and sent a team of 30 to assist, including many who were experienced in overseas construction projects with Texas Baptist Men.

“The church has a lot of resources, and they use them,” Pastor Rodney McGlothlin explained. “We hope to keep this relationship going. Texas A&M built many of the community centers down here, and we have a lot of church members from the A&M community, so it's a natural tie for us.”

Steve Dominy, pastor of First Baptist Church in Gatesville, said his church sent five people on the trip because his goal is to “see our church become more involved, more hands-on doing missions work rather than just giving to the mission offerings and feeling like we've done our part for the kingdom.”

Dominy also worked on the Lopez house, tearing out the walls and ceiling in the family's kitchen. By Friday, Dominy and the kitchen crew had hung new drywall, taped the seams and begun the painting process.

“This is not just us coming to do some work and feeling good about ourselves,” Dominy said. “But we can give some benefit to the community.”

The message Dominy takes back to the church in Gatesville is that work in the Valley provides an “opportunity to reach an increasing Hispanic population in our state, and there is an opportunity to influence them for the gospel and to help them further that influence as they grow throughout the state,” he said.

“The benefit for our church is that they can see that they are capable of more than they ever dreamed and they can also see ways that God can use them. They take that home, and we can begin to put that to work in Gatesville.”

Across Farm Road 1015 on the other side of Progreso colonia, Heather Duke stood on top of the Montezuma family's house. Covered in roofing tar, the soon-to-be high school senior from First Baptist Church in College Station nudged her sunglasses back into place using her wrist.

“I'm doing this because I love Jesus,” Duke said, squinting in the morning sun. “I love the Lord, and I know I'm helping other people, and I know that they can see God through me doing this. The Lord shows his love through us.”

Volunteers remove the old the walls from Jorge Lopez's house before completely rebuilding the inside of the home.

The mission project represented Duke's first time to roof a house, but she believes the experience is good for her and those she helps.

“I know that not only are we being blessed, but the people around us are being blessed,” she said. “The people inside this home are being blessed.”

Each day while teams of 12 to 30 worked on homes, the other groups operated Vacation Bible Schools at four churches and one community center. At Iglesia Bautista Southside in Mercedes, there weren't any children to attend on the first day, so members of Wilshire Baptist Church and First Baptist in Gatesville canvassed the neighborhood and brought 10 to 15 children.

“Every year, groups come and do Bible schools and construction work,” said Ruben Huerta, Southside member for 11 years. “We never tell them 'no.' As long as they are doing the Lord's work, we keep the doors open to them to come.”

After several transportation setbacks caused Cindy Cole of First Baptist Church in Hereford to call off the trip, a sleepless night and a lingering sense of calling to participate in KidsHeart caused her to un-cancel the trip.

Located in the Texas Panhandle, First Baptist of Hereford split its participants among several vehicles, and they drove 15 hours on Monday. After a day of training, Hereford teamed up with First Baptist Church of Copperas Cove to lead VBS at Mision Bautista Calvario in Weslaco. Three children attended.

“We were so discouraged,” Cole said. “We thought, 'We came all this way and overcame all of the problems with our van and trailer to only get to minister to three kids?'”

On Tuesday night, their group prayed for greater attendance. The next day, with the help of a local college student who served as an interpreter during door-to-door canvassing, more than 40 children poured out of the neighborhood to participate.

“The Lord answered our prayer,” Cole said.

“Everybody just lit up when we saw all the people coming down the street,” said James Cotten, youth minister at First Baptist in Copperas Cove. “The rest of the week was great. The kids were very receptive, and they didn't want to leave when it was over.”

After arriving at one family's home in Progreso, volunteer builders from First Baptist Church of College Station determined they needed to install all new windows and siding on the house. Volunteers install a new front window.

Karen Gilbert, missions minister at Wilshire and organizer of the Bible school for the week, said the goal of the KidsHeart project is simple: “We are hoping to tell the gospel story in three days and give them something to plant seeds with as far as who Jesus is. Hopefully we've said to the community that we love them because Jesus love us. And we know that Jesus loves them too.”

Gambrell Street Baptist Church in Fort Worth sent 17 people to the effort. In addition to their work in morning VBS and evening sports camp, they took several opportunities to perform as a youth choir.

“With the VBS, our kids enjoyed interacting with the children,” said Mike Farnell, minister of music at Gambrell Street. “One of our girls was able to share the plan of salvation in a meaningful way with one of the girls at VBS.”

While children attended VBS, Buckner trustee Esther Fraire led meetings for women. With 15 to 20 women at some of the sessions, Fraire determined to continue the ministry after the week in a more systematic way.

The daily schedule called for afternoon breaks when temperatures reached 104. By 6 p.m., the teams were back at it, hosting sports camps at community centers in San Juan and Progreso and a school in San Carlos.

“Using a ball breaks down all the walls,” said KidsHeart sports camp organizer Karen Murphy, minister of children and recreation at First Baptist Church in Harlingen. “The children listen to you give instructions, and you gain their trust. Then, they listen to you when you tell them about Jesus.”

The sports camps provided instruction and experience with baseball and softball, basketball and soccer. First Baptist of College Station brought soccer uniforms donated to the church by a local league. They distributed them on the first night at San Carlos, and on the second night, the children returned dressed in their uniforms.

The sports camp devotions featured simple object lessons using jellybeans, peanuts and the sports themselves to drive home the gospel message.

“Even if they didn't understand all the devotion, they understand love,” said Liz Rogers of First Baptist in College Station, after delivering a devotion at San Carlos. “Relating to them on a personal level opened doors. That's what it's all about.”

As he taught young boys to dribble a basketball, Nathan Cole, a member of First Baptist in Hereford, said the most important part of the sports camp was the devotion time.

“That's the main part of it,” he said. “Get them hooked with the fun stuff, and then tell them what it's all about. It's about Jesus dying for our sins and accepting him as their Savior and serving him every day.”

That message is the reason for the entire project, Zapata stressed.

“We work with people who don't know Christ,” he said. “They can come and have a relationship with us, and we can share Christ with them. That is what the body of Christ is doing, and I'm excited that we are doing it here in the Valley.

“We're excited because we're seeing people being transformed by the power of God and by the love of these people who came from all over Texas,” Zapata said. “Even though there are a lot of churches, we have become one body this week.”

The churches that participated were Ash Creek Baptist Church, Azle; Clear Lake Baptist Church, Houston; Community Baptist Church, Harlingen; Crossroads Baptist Church, Rotan; Elkins Lake Baptist Church, Huntsville; First Baptist Church, Arlington; First Baptist Church, College Station; First Baptist Church, Copperas Cove; First Baptist Church, Donna; First Baptist Church, Gatesville; First Baptist Church, Harlingen; First Baptist Church, Hereford; First Baptist Church, Lewisville; First Baptist Church, Richmond; First Baptist Church, Tyler; Gambrell Street Baptist Church, Fort Worth; Iglesia Bautista Getsemani, Elsa; Iglesia Bautista Southside, Mercedes; Keys Valley Baptist Church, Belton; Mision Bautista Calvario, Weslaco; Primeria Iglesia Bautista, Santa Maria; The Springs Baptist Church, San Antonio; Willow Meadows Baptist Church, Houston; and Wilshire Baptist Church, Dallas.

Other churches, such as First Baptist Church of Abilene, First Baptist Church of Sanger and Iglesia Bautista of Alice, sent donations for the work. Each work team also brought school supplies for the children at community centers in the Valley to assembly into packages to send overseas through World Vision's school kits project.

Posted: 8/8/03

Religious affiliation adds
a jolt to appointment debate

By Sean Reilly

Religion News Service

WASHINGTON (RNS)–When Bill Pryor won a full four-year term as Alabama attorney general in 1998, advocates of religious tolerance also chalked up a victory: In a state with a long history of antagonism toward Roman Catholicism, Pryor's staunch allegiance to that faith publicly never stirred a murmur.

Five years later on Capitol Hill, that restraint has vanished during Pryor's beleaguered bid for a federal appeals court judgeship. But it is his allies who are pushing religion to the forefront.

In a concerted campaign begun in late July, Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., and other Republicans have charged that Pryor's critics are singling him out for his Catholic beliefs and in particular for following the church's doctrine of uncompromising opposition to abortion.

At least in recent history, it is unprecedented to openly inject a judicial nominee's faith into the debate, several experts said. They offered mixed readings on whether the approach would work.

“This is not a Hail Mary pass,” said University of Akron political scientist John Green, resorting to a football metaphor, “but it is a very risky pass.”

Pryor has condemned the game plan as a smear campaign, but the quarterbacks may see little to lose. Since President Bush recommended Pryor in early April for the lifetime seat on the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the 41-year-old Mobile native has emerged as one of the White House's most at-risk nominees.

After a fractious debate, the GOP-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee sent his nomination to the full Senate on a party-line vote of 10-9. Democrats are likely to employ the stalling tactic known as a filibuster.

Instead of 51 votes normally needed to approve a nomination in the 100-member Senate, a filibuster requires 60 to cut off debate. Republicans have so far been unable to jump that fence for two other Bush judicial selections, meaning Pryor's candidacy could be in jeopardy should Democrats wage a similar campaign against him.

The issue of Pryor's Catholicism first surfaced at a June 11 hearing in Washington when Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, asked him to state his religious affiliation. Although Hatch said he was simply trying to rebut allegations that Pryor has been insensitive to non-Christian faiths, Sens. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Arlen Specter, R-Pa., quickly protested that the question was out of bounds.

But in a speech to the Christian Coalition of America last fall, Hatch already had accused Democrats of voting down judges “based on their religious views.”

And in mid-summer, a Republican-allied organization helped pay for newspaper ads accusing Pryor's opponents of attacking him for “deeply held Catholic beliefs.” The ads showed a courthouse door with a sign reading: “Catholics need not apply.”

The ads ran in Rhode Island and Maine, two heavily Catholic states that also are home to moderate Republican senators crucial to Pryor's chances of winning final Senate approval. They were sponsored by Ave Maria List, a Catholic anti-abortion organization, and The Committee for Justice, a Washington-based group that promotes Bush's judicial nominees.

“This issue has been bubbling between the parties for a long time, and we're calling attention to it,” said Sean Rushton, the committee's executive director.

Although Rushton stopped short of labeling Democratic lawmakers anti-Catholic, he said that by consistently opposing nominees for views on abortion and other issues stemming from their faith, the legislators are attempting “to scrub the square clean of religion and religious people.” A radio blitz has followed the newspaper ads, he said, and the committee is considering expanding the campaign to other states.

Meanwhile, religious leaders have taken up the fight to keep issues of faith outside the discussion of a judicial nominee's competence. At a briefing at the Senate held by the Interfaith Alliance–a coalition of 65 faith groups dedicated to fighting intolerance and extremism–Episcopal, Jewish, Baptist and Catholic leaders spoke out against the discussion of Pryor's religion, calling it inappropriate and unconstitutional.

“Religious values inform an appropriate patriotism and inspire political action,” said Welton Gaddy, president of the Interfaith Alliance. “But a person's religious identity should stand outside the purview of inquiry related to a judicial nominee's suitability for confirmation. The Constitution is clear: There shall be no religious tests for public service.”

Leahy said at the briefing the accusations of anti-Catholic bias leveled at Democrats by Pryor's supporters amounts to no more than a smear campaign.

Through a spokeswoman, Pryor would not comment on whether he approved of the tactics used on his behalf. While White House political strategist Karl Rove has made no secret of his eagerness to woo traditionally Democratic Catholic voters, Rushton denied coordination with the Bush administration.

Posted: 8/8/03

Deja Richardson, a kindergarten student at J.L. Everhart Primary School in Longview, receives a free eye exam from a Heaton Eye Associate volunteer at the Back-To-School Carnival Aug. 3. At right: Nine-year-old Kabreuntray Jackson was one of three children in the Jackson family to receive school supplies from the School Supply Train.

School Supply Train greeted eagerly in Longview

By Amy Seale

Buckner News Service

LONGVIEW–In the corner of a dimly lit hallway, separated from the crowd, two girls sat beneath the light of an open window. Before them, a colorfully illustrated book lay open, detailing the life of Christ and his gift of salvation. For one of the teens, it was the perfect opportunity to talk about Christ with her young friend–an opportunity that began with a truckload of school supplies and a gym full of backpacks.

Buckner Children & Family Services of Northeast Texas, the Junior League of Longview and First Baptist Church of Longview partnered to meet the physical needs of school children in the Longview community. In addition, more than 200 volunteers sought to meet spiritual needs as well.

What began more than a decade ago as a simple community service project to collect school supplies has exploded into a three-day event, the School Supply Train, to distribute backpacks and school supplies to hundreds of children.

A student from Kilgore College of Cosmetology gives a free haircut at the event, held at First Baptist Church of Longview.

“It has truly been an affirmation of who God is,” said Jane Ann Crowson, Buckner gift planning and stewardship officer for Northeast Texas. “If you lift him up, he will draw people.”

As the distribution weekend concluded Aug. 3 with a Sunday Back-to-School Carnival, more than 1,500 parents and children crowded the halls of First Baptist Church's recreation center to participate in the festivities. Children anxiously waited in line to receive balloon hats and have large crosses painted on their faces. They carried newly distributed Bibles and wore their new backpacks as they waited to receive vision screenings, immunizations and free haircuts.

“You have to be able to meet the physical needs first,” said Tim Watson, pastor of First Baptist Church. “We are not only seeing people share Christ with their mouth but also sharing Christ with their hands by doing whatever it is we've asked them to do, whether it is cutting hair or giving out backpacks or giving eye exams. We are not just doing social work or social ministry but evangelism.”

With no plan and no budget set aside for the School Supply Train carnival, things just fell into place, said Julee Rachels, recreation and activities director at First Baptist.

“God has been incredibly faithful through the whole project,” added Crowson. “It was strictly a God project.”

Volunteers from Heaton Eye Associates provided free vision screenings for the children, and students from Kilgore College of Cosmetology volunteered their time to cut hair.

“Even people who are coming to help don't know Christ, and we have the opportunity to share Christ with them too,” Rachels said.

Tracy Moore, a member of First Baptist and a student at Kilgore College of Cosmetology, fought back tears as she cut hair beside many of her classmates.

“Initially, I felt it was God wanting us to minister to the kids,” she explained, “but then God was revealing to me that this was for my fellow students.”

For some, it was their first time to be in a church, their first time to see the love of Christ given freely. For others, it was an opportunity to share a gift they only recently received themselves.

Theresa Perez and her husband professed faith in Christ only six weeks ago, but for three days she faithfully volunteered at the School Supply Train. She also visited with neighbors and shared her new faith in Christ with others.

Throughout the three-day event, more than 2,700 children in the community received new backpacks and school supplies.

As a school teacher at Pine Tree Elementary, Meredith Clay, Junior League volunteer and chairman of the School Supply Train, has seen first-hand the effects the school supplies have on these children. “I saw last year those kids that came in with those supplies and how proud they were. It really does make a difference.”

Kimberly Jackson, a mother of five, said receiving the backpacks and school supplies was a tremendous blessing. The family had lost everything they owned in a house fire only days before.

Posted: 8/8/03

Mitsura Watanabe, one of the first four music majors at the Brazilian seminary, is shown with Ed Spann 30 years ago and at the reunion.

Memories Spann the ages
as professsor visits school he started

By George Henson

Staff Writer

DALLAS–Ed Spann recently returned to the scene of the sublime as he traveled to São Paulo, Brazil to celebrate the anniversary of a school of sacred music he started 30 years ago.

Spann, now dean of the College of Fine Arts at Dallas Baptist University, went to the Faculdade Teological Bautista de São Paulo as a Foreign Mission Board music missionary in 1973 to start a music program at the seminary.

Spann's twin brother, Fred, had preceded him as a music missionary to Brazil in 1964, teaching at the Brazilian seminary in the northern part of the country.

“We both had real interest in missions; we were very much influenced by our leader in Royal Ambassadors,” Spann recalled. “I didn't really feel called to missions like my brother did. I had a real interest, but I didn't feel like I had been called to missions.”

That interest in missions, however, led him to contact the Foreign Mission Board, which told him to finish his seminary training. He resigned the minister of music position he held in a Little Rock, Ark., church and moved to Fort Worth to study at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

After earning his master's degree there, he went to Florida State University to earn a Ph.D. in preparation for an opening in Hong Kong. Before he could complete his studies, however, the Hong Kong position was filled, so he took a job at Shorter College in Rome, Ga.

Serving as the college's chairman of church music, Spann revised the school's curriculum and course descriptions. “That prepared me perfectly for what I did in Brazil,” he realized.

Thurman Bryant, president of the São Paulo seminary, had contacted Spann's brother in Recífe, Brazil, and asked if he knew anyone like him who would start a music program there. “He told him he knew somebody exactly like him–me,” Spann recalled with a grin.

Soon Spann was in language school learning Portuguese and translating much of the curriculum he had prepared at Shorter. When Spann returned for the school's 30th anniversary, he learned that curriculum remains largely intact. The textbook he wrote, “Musica e Louvor” (“Music and Praise”), is still used throughout the extension training system acquaint pastors with the importance of music as a worship tool.

The school began with only four music majors, but now more than 60 students major in music each semester. The importance of the seminary as a training ground cannot be overestimated, he said. It is the only Baptist seminary in the area, and the metropolitan area of São Paulo has a population of more than 20 million people–about the same number of people in all of Texas.

The anniversary celebration focused on a week of special music, much of which Spann directed. He was thrilled to see the growth of the choirs, not only in the number of participants, but also in musical excellence. He also led the Sunday morning worship music for Iglesia Bautista Liberdade, where he had served as minister of music.

While Spann was a Foreign Mission Board appointee, the school did not receive any funds from the missions agency. That meant Spann had to get his own equipment. The Foreign Mission Board did pay his moving expenses, however, so he brought his own piano as well as another piano and organ donated by churches.

“My piano is still sitting in the same spot in the chapel where I put it in 30 years ago,” Spann found on his recent trip. “It still sounds pretty good too.”

In addition to the keyboard instruments, churches also sent him choir robes and music. Music publishers he had relationships with also sent copies of overstocked music.

The lyrics were in English, however, so Spann then spent hours translating the words into Portuguese, typing them out and then pasting them over the English.

He was exceptionally busy in those days–teaching classes in conducting, ministry of music, hymnology, music literature, worship and praise, introduction of music to the church, and teaching private voice.

While Spann founded the music school there, he stayed only a little more than two years.

“Part of a missionary's job is to put himself out of a job,” Spann said. Once the school was up and running, he found a Brazilian to take over. Spann returned to the U.S., teaching at Houston Baptist University and then moving on to DBU in 1989.

In Brazil, however, he left behind a legacy of well-trained musicians. Many of Spann's first music students now leader at the Brazilian seminary, including the president, Lourenco Rega.

“Teaching students, especially at the higher-education level, is important because they are making destiny-determining decisions,” he said. “It's been a real ministry in my life to help these students find where the Lord wants them to be.”

Posted: 8/8/03

A NOTABLE PERFORMANCE:
Musical premieres at Glorieta

By Jenny Hartgraves

Texas Baptist Communictions

GLORIETA, N.M.–It started noisily, with 52 children marching down the aisle, carrying large pool noodles shaped like pencils and pens, sticking notes of Scripture on people in the crowd. It finished quietly, as children filed into the dark, while glowing lanterns lit a path toward a giant Bible at the center of the stage.

Those creative scenes bracketed a Texas Baptist children's choir performance during Music Week at LifeWay Glorieta Conference Center in New Mexico this summer.

Sarah Stafford, children's choir coordinator at Park Cities Baptist Church in Dallas, directed the premiere of the children's musical “Sticky Notes and Bible Quotes.”

The musical, written by Dennis and Nan Allen, focused on Scripture for both its lyrics and script. It emphasized the Bible's living power to deal with topics like self-worth, forgiveness, weakness, fear and materialism.

LifeWay Christian Resources staff approached Stafford in February and gave her a week to listen to the musical before she made her decision to direct the premiere. But she had no doubts whether to accept the invitation.

“It's been a dream of mine for years to take a group to Glorieta for Music Week,” she said.

But she knew it would take more than her church to fill the stage. Stafford invited South Garland Baptist Church, where she previously served as interim music minister, and Wilshire Baptist Church in Dallas to join her children's choir.

Children from 6 to 13 came together for the first time at a music camp held at Park Cities July 7-11. They learned the music in the mornings and performed the show for parents and friends at the end of the week.

Stafford has taught children musicals in a week's time for more than 15 years, she said. Watching children learn music and seeing children from the Garland and Dallas churches become friends was a “sweet experience,” she added.

When Stafford received the musical without any production notes, she sought creative minds to put together props and backdrops for the set, she said.

“Most musicals end big, with the spotlight on the children,” she said. “We wanted to do something different and unique, make it stand out.”

While singing the words “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path,” the children set out battery-operated lanterns, creating a pathway toward the Bible as they slowly filed into the dark.

“It was an incredible experience for the children and me as well,” Stafford said. “We received a standing ovation.”

The most important part of the musical, she said, was teaching the children Scripture. Each child memorized verses and wrote them on sticky notes to place on people in the crowd.

“We taught them that the Bible was the answer to help us in sticky situations,” Stafford said. “Not only are these children going to have the memory of performing forever, but they'll have the Scripture in their hearts.”

Posted: 8/8/03

Churchgoers found to be more altruistic

By Hannah Lodwick

Associated Baptist Press

CHICAGO (ABP)–Good deeds may not get folks into heaven, but they are a pretty good indication of who is faithful, a recent study found.

Scientists at the National Opinion Research Center have determined that nothing inspires altruism except faith–not gender, race, social class, political affiliation or locale.

Americans on average do 109 altruistic acts each year, according to the study “Altruism in Contemporary America.” But people who attend a place of worship weekly–church, synagogue, mosque or temple–report doing an average of 128 good deeds a year. People who never attend perform only 96 acts of kindness on average.

In addition to worshippers, people who pray reportedly show more kindness than those who don't. The report said those who pray did three times as many acts of kindness as those who never pray.

Tom Smith, director of the two-year study, said one reason why faith-based acts of kindness proliferate is that the core values of all major world religions incorporate charity-related deeds in their beliefs.

“People who are actively engaged (in a religious community) help others,” Smith said. “What made a difference was attending church and praying more often. If we're actively engaged, we're a part of a religious community, and opportunities to help others come up more often as a member of a congregation.”

The research team began the study looking for predictors of altruistic acts–things like activity in social services, gender or rural values, Smith said. The fact faith supercedes other factors could involve what Smith called “opportunity structure.”

“We expected people in rural areas to have higher values, be more altruistic, but that was not the case,” Smith said. “If you live in a city, opportunities to do good deeds are more likely to turn up.”

For the first-of-its-kind report, Smith and his colleagues evaluated 1,366 people with a list of 15 “good deeds,” asking them how often they performed the acts in the past week, month and year. The deeds included giving food or money to a homeless person, volunteering, giving directions to a stranger, offering a bus or train seat to someone standing, and helping someone find a job.

The most common good deed–cited by 92.6 percent of respondents–was spending time talking to someone who felt depressed.

The 15 good deeds studied are commonly used in similar surveys. Researchers shied away from deeds that involve rare occurrences–saving someone from drowning, for example.

“We tried to pick things … that weren't rare, things you would have the opportunity to do in daily life,” Smith said.

While men and women were equally altruistic, women were much more likely to feel empathy than men. Forty-five percent of women felt disturbed by others' misfortunes, but only 25 percent of men reported the same feelings.

In fact, Smith said, gender made the only difference when it came to empathy.

Posted: 8/8/03

Texas Tidbits

Bullock leaves TBM. John Bullock has resigned as director of men's ministry with Texas Baptist Men, effective Sept. 30. He joined the Texas Baptist Men staff in 1995 as director of Royal Ambassadors and Challengers, the missions programs for boys and young men. After several years in that role, he assumed the responsibility for directing adult missions and men's ministry.

The 41-member youth choir of First Baptist Church in Salado traveled to Washington, D.C., and Gaithersburg, Md., this summer, conducting a Vacation Bible School, distributing water and gospel tracts on the National Mall and singing at the Jefferson Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial and the U.S. Capitol.

HSU's Keeling wins coaching award. Hardin-Simmons University's head football coach, Jimmie Keeling, has received the Johnny Vaught Head Coach Award given by the All-American Football Foundation. Keeling joined former Texas A&M and Alabama head coach Gene Stallings and former Kansas State head coach James Dickey in receiving the award. Keeling, who will enter his 14th season at the helm of the Cowboys football program, has amassed a 109-34 record while at Hardin-Simmons. In that time he also has won eight conference titles. Five times he has been named the conference coach of the year, and twice he has been named the South Region Coach of the Year by the American Football Coaches Association.

Scholarship gains another Beckham name. The name of the late Agnes Beckham of Abilene, a former trustee and longtime financial supporter of Hardin-Simmons University, has been added to an existing scholarship established originally in the memory of a son, Caldwell Beckham, an Amarillo dentist who died in 1979. Mrs. Beckham died in 2002. Her name was added to the scholarship through a gift to HSU from her estate. Mrs. Beckham, widow of the late Lacy Hiram Beckham, a former president of the HSU Alumni Association who died in 1962, was a longtime friend and financial supporter of HSU. She was an HSU graduate and recipient of the Keeter Alumni Service Award.

UMHB to host Tree concert. Two-time Dove award winners By the Tree will perform at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor Sept. 4, at 7 p.m. Tickets will be $10 at the door and $8 in advance; group rates are $8 per person. Groups purchasing 15 tickets or more will receive a complementary ticket per group. For more information, contact the university at (254) 295-5150.

DBU grads to walk stage. Dallas Baptist University awarded undergraduate and graduate degrees to 218 students at commencement Aug. 8 at 10 a.m. in the Burg Center on the DBU campus. Artyom Tonoyan, a native of Armenia and a recent DBU graduate, delivered the commencement address. Darold Morgan, former president and chief executive officer of the Southern Baptist Annuity Board, received an honorary doctor of divinity degree during the commencement ceremony.

Newman heads HBU business college. Ray Newman has been named dean of Houston Baptist University's College of Business and Economics. He was a healthcare executive for more than 20 years and is a former partner of an accounting firm, where he was responsible for consulting services in strategic planning and marketing. His academic career includes teaching at New York University and Tulane University.

UMHB receives grant. The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor has received a $150,000 grant from a local foundation for the fitness center in the new Frank and Sue Mayborn Campus Center. The gift will provide fitness center equipment, including free weights, treadmills, elliptical and non-elliptical cross trainers, stationary bikes and strength and conditioning equipment. The university held a groundbreaking ceremony for the new facility June 25, with a projected completion date of fall 2004.

Dallas association encourages letters. The Executive Board of Dallas Baptist Association has approved a recommendation from the association's Christian Life and Family Ministries Committee urging churches and individuals with the association to write letters protesting a recent decision by the Dallas Morning News to publish announcements for same-sex commitment ceremonies. The Executive Board also wrote a letter of its own to the newspaper. Pastors and members have been asked to write their letters of protest as soon as possible and to notify the association of how many letters have been written by calling (214) 319-1166.

Gonzalez scholarship named at HSU. The Jacqueline Rowe Gonzalez Endowed Presidential Scholarship has been established at Hardin-Simmons University. It is named for the Abilene resident, who is widow of the late Homero Gonzalez, former vice chairman of the HSU board of trustees. Mrs. Gonzales is a published poet and member of First Baptist Church of Abilene.

Baylor Med ranks high. For the 11th consecutive year, Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas has been ranked among the nation's top hospitals by U.S News & World Report. In the guide, which ranks hospitals on certain specialities, Baylor ranked among the nation's top 50 hospitals in digestive disorders (22), orthopedics (29), gynecology (46), urology (47) and cancer (50).

Posted: 8/8/03

TOGETHER:
Pray & give to meet great needs

Earlier this summer, Rosemary and I participated with Woman's Missionary Union of Texas in the 50th anniversary celebration of Texas Leadership Conference at Baylor University.

I was moved by worship experiences as we sang and prayed for our missionaries. WMU has kept alive in many of our churches the ability to pray with understanding and passion for individuals and families who make real sacrifices for the sake of the gospel of Christ.

I was inspired by testimonies of missionaries and mission leaders in local churches who work with children and young people, giving them a heart for the world and presenting opportunities for mission service.

I was encouraged by the growing ethnic diversity in our Texas Baptist family. The TLC crowd included Korean, Cambodian, Vietnamese, African-American, Hispanic and Anglo women. If women from all our churches could come to the Texas Leadership Conference to improve leadership skills, gain a mission vision as big as the world and become friends with women from every culture in Texas, then we would be a people more passionate for Jesus and his kingdom than we have ever been.

I also was privileged to attend another great missions gathering this summer, the Baptist World Alliance conference in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In 2005, the BWA will celebrate its 100th anniversary in Birmingham, England. Southern Baptists were present at the beginning of BWA and have long been heavily involved in the work of this worldwide body, which helps represent Baptist concerns and mission vision around the world.

Where persecution of Baptists has been rampant, BWA leaders have interceded for the persecuted. Gathered under the great doctrines of the lordship of Christ, the authority of holy Scripture, salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ and commitment to believer's baptism, they also have represented the great Baptist ideals of evangelism and missions, religious liberty, priesthood of believers, autonomy of the local church and separation of church and state in cultures where those ideas are not generally known or appreciated.

The BWA helps link national Baptist bodies in networks of cooperation for missions. And through Baptist World Aid, Baptists are able to channel funds to help people who face famine, natural disasters and deprivation related to war. It is a grand privilege to be a Baptist and to share in the fellowship of Christ with these amazing brothers and sisters. I am humbled by their faithfulness in the most difficult circumstances.

Please pray especially for our Baptist family in Liberia as they undergo their most painful and frightening time. The end of civil war there appears to be near. If your church would like to help the dear people there, send a special disaster relief offering to BWA through our convention. Baptist World Aid will make sure it gets to those who need it most. Emile Sam-Peal, executive secretary for the Liberia Baptist Missionary and Education Convention, wrote me last week. He asked Texas Baptists to pray for his people and to remember their need for assistance to “help with the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Liberia.”

The needs are great in so many places. Please pray. And give if you can.

We are loved.

Charles Wade is executive director of the Baptist General Convention of Texas