Baptist Briefs_72604

Posted: 7/23/04

Baptist Briefs

Clingenpeel returns to pastorate. Mike Cling-enpeel, editor of Virginia Baptists' newspaper for the past 12 years, will be the next pastor of River Road Baptist Church in Richmond, Va. Clingenpeel will assume the pulpit of one of the most prominent moderate Baptist churches on the East Coast Sept. 7. He left a Franklin, Va., pastorate in 1992 to edit the 176-year-old Religious Herald, newsjournal of the Baptist General Association of Virginia.

Auction benefits CBF missions. A violin and a collectible C.S. Lewis book were sold to the highest bidders at a silent auction during the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship general assembly in Birmingham, Ala., this summer. The auction raised $18,200 to support ministry projects of CBF Global Missions field personnel around the world. The auction's most valued items were a violin and a 1947 autographed edition of C.S. Lewis' "Miracles: A Preliminary Study." Three other highly-sought items were a painting and two pieces of embroidery by Chinese Christian artist He Qi. He donated his work for the auction as well as a painting to the Fellowship to be displayed in the Atlanta Resource Center.

KCBI, FamilyNet team up. Dallas Christian radio station KCBI and the Southern Baptist Convention's Fort Worth-based FamilyNet television network have formed an alliance to share audio portions of their newscasts. KCBI has won the National Religious Broadcasters' Best News award, several SCRIBE awards for best news on a Christian radio station, and numerous Dallas Press Club Katie awards and Texas Associated Press awards. FamilyNet News is a blend of headlines and stories that affect families. Both news outlets bill themselves safe for children to watch and include "good news" stories with positive endings.

GuideStone offers health screenings. The Southern Baptist Convention's GuideStone Financial Resources (formerly Annuity Board) has joined with Life Line Screening to make convenient health screenings available to Southern Baptist church and denominational workers at an affordable rate. The mission of Life Line Screenings is to make people aware of undetected health problems and encourage them to seek follow-up care with their physicians. Screenings scan for potential health problems related to bone density, blocked arteries that can lead to stroke, aortic aneurysms that can lead to a ruptured aorta and hardening of the arteries in the legs, a predictor of heart disease. For information, call Life Line Screenings at (800) 403-7417.

"Purpose-Driven …" stays on top. Rick Warren's "The Purpose-Driven Life" has received the Book of the Year Award from the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association for the second year in a row. The book by Warren, pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., has spent more than 70 weeks on The New York Times' best-seller list. "The Prayer of Jabez" by Bruce H. Wilkinson also was a two-time Book of the Year winner, in 2001 and 2002. "The fact that books like these have won in consecutive years is a true testimony of the lasting impact a Christian book can have on one's life," ECPA President Doug Ross said. "These titles are mere examples of the power of God working through his people to convey the message of hope. I pray they continue to impact lives for Jesus Christ for many years, driving people to discover the many other resources our industry offers for growth and encouragement."

Multihousing conference set for Fort Worth. The Emerging Multihousing Church conference will train Baptists interested in helping start churches. The national meeting will be held at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth Aug. 26-27. The conference is designed to develop a strategy to help bring residents of multihousing communities to faith in Christ. For more information, and to register online, visit www.experiencemultihousing.org. The cost is $100, and the registration deadline is Aug. 15.