Baptist Briefs_110804

Posted: 11/05/04

Baptist Briefs

Hankins named Louisiana executive director. David Hankins, vice president for Cooperative Program for the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee, was elected executive director of the Louisiana Baptist Convention. The former pastor of Trinity Baptist Church in Lake Charles, La., will begin his new duties Jan. 1 as director-elect and will assume full duties Feb. 1 after Executive Director Dean Doster retires Jan. 31. Hankins served the Lake Charles church 10 years before becoming vice president for convention policy for the SBC Executive Committee in January 1996. In that capacity, he guided the process of restructuring the convention and its agencies, adopted by the SBC in 1995. He assumed his present post with the Executive Committee in 1998 and directs the development and promotion of Cooperative Program ministries and giving. Born in Alameda, Calif., Hankins, 54, grew up in Texas and received his undergraduate degree at Dallas Baptist University. He received both master of divinity and doctor of philosophy degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth.

Move afoot to nix N.C. giving options. North Carolina Baptists expect a motion from the floor of their state convention that will propose scrapping optional funding plans in the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina's budget. The move would eliminate funding of causes popular among moderate Baptists in the state and strengthen ties to the Southern Baptist Convention. Ted Stone of Durham, N.C., announced he will make a motion at the annual meeting "to restore the single-giving plan of the traditional Cooperative Program as the sole method of doing missions together." Jim Royston, the executive director of the North Carolina state convention, said Stone's proposal could cost the convention $1.5 million. Currently churches giving to the state convention can choose one of four giving plans, making it possible for churches to direct funds to a variety of causes, including the Baptist World Alliance and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. Stone's proposal would eliminate three of the giving options, leaving only a plan in which the state convention would keep 65 percent of the money and sends 35 percent to the Southern Baptist Convention.

BJC names communications director. The Baptist Joint Committee in Washington, D.C., has named Jeff Huett director of communications. Huett, 26, joined the BJC staff in 2001 as associate communications director. He succeeds Larry Chesser, who left the religious liberty agency in May to pursue business interests in Arkansas. Huett has served as acting communications director since then. Executive Director Brent Walker praised Huett as "bright, hardworking and with judgment beyond his years." A native of Montgomery, Ala., Huett graduated from Baylor University with a degree in journalism and business, and he earned a master's degree in media and public affairs from George Washington University, where he was named a Larry King Scholar. At Baylor, Huett was the editor-in-chief of the Baylor Lariat student newspaper. As an undergraduate, he completed internships at Associated Baptist Press in Jacksonville, Fla., and Buckner Baptist Benevolences in Dallas. Huett is a member of Columbia Baptist Church in Falls Church, Va.

Conference focuses on missions calling. Antiphony, a student conference focused on vocational calling and global missions sponsored by Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Global Missions and The Samuel Project, will be held in Birmingham, Ala., Dec. 29 to Jan. 2. Worship leaders include Colleen Burroughs, executive vice president of Passport; Julie Pennington-Russell, pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Waco; recording artist Ken Medema; and the Dramatic Vagabonds. The cost starts at $150 and includes conference fees and lodging. Online registration is available at www.antiphonyonline.org. Registration deadline is Nov. 15. Deposits are refundable until Dec. 1.