• Houston flooding sweeps ministry’s residents into sudden evacuation_120803

  Posted: 12/05/03
  

  Waist-deep floodwaters made it difficult for residents of Gracewood, a Baptist General Convention of Texas ministry in Houston, to leave the property as more water surged in. TBM volunteers (right) responded to help repair water damage.

  Houston flooding sweeps ministry's
  residents into sudden evacuation

  HOUSTON–November flood waters threatened the single mothers and their children taking refuge at the Gracewood ministry of Texas Baptist Children's Home & Family Services.

  But Texas Baptist Men came to the rescue the next day, as workers began surveying the extensive damage.

  With little warning, rising floodwater blanketed the Gracewood campus in Houston.

  12/05/2003 - By John Rutledge

• Friendly families sought to host international students at holidays_120803

  Posted: 12/05/03
  

  Friendly families sought to host
  international students at holidays

  By George Henson

  Staff Writer

  DALLAS–Dallas-area families looking for a cultural exchange this holiday season will find just that through the Friendship International House program at Dallas Baptist University.

  12/05/2003 - By John Rutledge

• Texas Baptist Forum_120803

  Posted: 12/05/03
  

  TEXAS BAPTIST FORUM:
  Alcohol & stumbling

  At the recent Lubbock convention, the Baptist General Convention of Texas adopted a resolution calling for Texas Baptists and others to “take positive steps toward the reduction of alcohol use and abuse in our communities … .”

  E-mail the editor at marvknox@baptiststandard.com

  At best, a Christian's public drinking is a stumbling block to other believers and waters down the witness of the individual, as well as the church and denomination represented. Normally, alcohol contributes to the denigration of families and, many times, to the deaths of persons through vehicle accidents, violent crime and disease.

  Not all Texas or Southern Baptists agree alcohol is a spiritual and societal evil to be avoided, though it's incorporated into the church covenant embraced and displayed by many of our churches. But one would expect that our visible Baptist leaders should and would lead the way in setting the public abstinence example.

  12/05/2003 - By John Rutledge

• Marriage amendment proposed in U.S. Congress_120803

  Posted: 12/05/03
  

  Marriage amendment proposed in U.S. Congress

  By Robert Marus

  ABP Washington Bureau

  WASHINGTON (ABP)–The United States Senate has become the latest battlefield in the ongoing culture war over gay marriage. A quintet of conservative Republican senators introduced the Federal Marriage Amendment Nov. 25, shortly before senators adjourned for their holiday break.

  12/05/2003 - By John Rutledge

• Missouri president bans newspaper from convention events_120803

  Posted: 12/05/03
  

  Missouri president bans newspaper from convention events

  JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (ABP)–In a move unprecedented in Southern Baptist circles, a state convention president will attempt to bar a Baptist publication in Missouri from attending or reporting on state Baptist meetings.

  David Tolliver, recently elected president of the Missouri Baptist Convention, informed the editor of the Word & Way that the staff of the 107-year-old news journal no longer will be allowed to attend convention meetings, including Executive Board sessions and committee meetings. Tolliver also will attempt to bar Word & Way from the convention's annual meetings, events frequently attended by secular media.

  In a Nov. 19 letter to Editor Bill Webb, Tolliver explained that his “directive” is a result of the action the Word & Way and four other convention agencies took to establish self-perpetuating trustee boards.

  12/05/2003 - By John Rutledge

• ‘Nones’ aren’t the loneliest number when it comes to religion_120803

  Posted: 12/05/03
  

  'Nones' aren't the loneliest
  number when it comes to religion

  By Mark O'Keefe

  Religion News Service

  PORTLAND, Ore. (RNS)–Their numbers have more than doubled in a decade, to nearly 30 million. Organized as a religious denomination, they would trail only Catholics and Baptists in members.

  12/05/2003 - By John Rutledge

• 

  On the Move_120803

  Posted: 12/05/03
  

  On the Move

  Scott Arant to First Church in Bloomington as pastor.

  Roy Fish to First Church in Center as interim pastor.

  David Forshee to Blue Ridge Church in Marlin as pastor.

  12/05/2003 - By John Rutledge

• Theological society won’t oust two ‘open theists’_120803

  Posted: 12/05/03
  

  Theological society won't oust two 'open theists'

  By Adelle Banks

  Religion News Service

  ATLANTA (RNS)–The Evangelical Theological Society voted last month to retain two members whose status had been challenged after they published controversial views supporting open theism–the belief that God may not always know the future.

  12/05/2003 - By John Rutledge

• Must states recognize same-sex marriage?_120803

  Posted: 12/05/03
  

  Must states recognize same-sex marriage?

  By Robert Marus

  ABP Washington Bureau

  WASHINGTON (ABP)–Will the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court's decision to legalize same-sex marriage lead to gay marriage in all 50 states?

  12/05/2003 - By John Rutledge

• Grand Prairie sewing ministry mends broken hearts, covers fragile lives_120803

  Posted: 12/05/03
  

  Grand Prairie sewing ministry mends
  broken hearts, covers fragile lives

  By George Henson

  Staff Writer

  GRAND PRAIRIE–The women of Fairview Baptist Church handcraft gifts of love for people who need a unique kind of shelter.

  12/05/2003 - By John Rutledge

• Can tax-funded church schools discriminate?_120803

  Posted: 12/05/03
  

  Can tax-funded church schools discriminate?

  By Robert Marus

  ABP Washington Bureau

  WASHINGTON (ABP)–If a church-run school takes public money in the form of vouchers, can it expel gay students on moral grounds?

  12/05/2003 - By John Rutledge

• Conservatives fail to gain ground in Tennessee_120803

  Posted: 12/05/03
  

  Conservatives fail to gain ground in Tennessee

  JACKSON, Tenn. (ABP)–Several attempts to place more conservatives in leadership of the Tennessee Baptist Convention and its institutions failed during the convention's annual meeting.

  The convention's 1,905 messengers also adopted resolutions supporting the proposed Federal Marriage Amendment and the phrase “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance. A 2003-04 budget of $35.55 million was adopted, which is 4.4 percent less than the current budget. The Southern Baptist Convention will receive 37.5 percent of undesignated funds, while 62.5 percent will finance the state convention's ministries.

  Led by a group called Concerned Tennessee Baptists, conservatives offered seven substitute nominees to those presented for election by convention committees. All seven nominations from the floor failed.

  12/05/2003 - By John Rutledge