• Churches that hit dead end need to turn around, consultant recommends_72604

  Posted: 7/23/04

  Churches that hit dead end need
  to turn around, consultant recommends

  SAN ANTONIO–When a person hits a dead end, he needs to turn around. And congregations that have plateaued or are declining need to do the same thing, according to a Dallas Baptist Association consultant.

  Roosevelt Broach, the association's director of church planting and development, noted 85 percent of Southern Baptist churches have either level or declining membership, indicating a lack of healthy congregations.

  “We've got to turn it around,” he said. “We've got to stop this.”

  07/23/2004 - By John Rutledge

• 

  African American Fellowship sets goals for missions growth_72604

  Posted: 7/23/04

  African American Fellowship
  sets goals for missions growth

  By Janelle Bagci

  BGCT Summer Intern

  SAN ANTONIO–The African American Fellowship of Texas Baptists intends to raise awareness of student mission opportunities in the next year and increase the number of African-American student summer missionaries by more than 12 times.

  07/23/2004 - By John Rutledge

• 

  Chicago pastor urges church leaders to leave markers for next generation to follow_72604

  Posted: 7/23/04

  Chicago pastor urges church leaders
  to leave markers for next generation to follow

  SAN ANTONIO–Christian leaders need to leave “markers” so future generations will know “where the leadership stood” when God worked through them, Chicago Pastor Lacey Curry said during the African American Fellowship/Church Health and Growth Conference.

  Citing the Old Testament story of Joshua telling the Israelites to leave stones marking where God parted the Jordan River, he said such markers tell others “this is where the Lord himself intervened and made possible some things that would not otherwise have been possible.”

  Pastor Lacey Curry of Chicago encourages African-American church leaders to leave markers for future generations.

  Markers help leaders begin correctly, added Curry, pastor emeritus of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Chicago.

  07/23/2004 - By John Rutledge

• 

  Five churches honored for CP giving_72604

  Posted: 7/16/04

  Five churches honored for CP giving

  SAN ANTONIO—The Baptist General Convention of Texas has honored five African-American congregations for their contributions through the BGCT Cooperative Program in 2003.
  

  The honors are based on resident church membership. The five categories and honorees are:
  

  1-50 members: Good Shepherd Baptist Church, Lubbock; Pastor Robert McKenzie; $5,010.

  07/23/2004 - By John Rutledge

• 

  Voices of Praise deliver musical gospel message to Spain_72604

  Posted: 7/23/04

  Some members of “Voices of Praise” perform at a BGCT Church Multiplication dinner during the African American Fellowship/Church Health and Growth Conference. The group recently returned from a trip to Spain where more than 100 people made decisions for Christ.

  Voices of Praise deliver musical gospel message to Spain

  By John Hall

  Texas Baptist Communications

  SAN ANTONIO–More than 100 people made decisions for Christ when pastors put their musical talent to use during a recent mission trip to Spain.

  07/23/2004 - By John Rutledge

• Understanding differences in personality types can help church staff head off potential conflicts, c

  Posted: 7/23/04

  Understanding differences in personality types can help
  church staff head off potential conflicts, consultant says

  By John Hall

  Texas Baptist Communications

  SAN ANTONIO–Most church staff difficulties have more to do with personalities than with issues, a Baptist General Convention of Texas consultant said.

  07/23/2004 - By John Rutledge

• 

  Fitness means exercising good stewardship of ‘temple,’ speaker stresses_72604

  Posted: 7/23/04

  Fitness means exercising good
  stewardship of 'temple,' speaker stresses

  By Ferrell Foster

  Texas Baptist Communications

  SAN ANTONIO–Being healthy is not just about losing weight and looking good; it's about “physical stewardship” of the body throughout life, fitness trainer Marsha Taplett insisted.

  07/23/2004 - By John Rutledge

• 

  Learning styles of Bible study pupils require varied teaching approaches_72604

  Posted: 7/23/04

  Learning styles of Bible study pupils
  require varied teaching approaches

  By John Hall

  Texas Baptist Communications

  SAN ANTONIO–The Bible is powerful, but Sunday school teachers need to vary their methods if they are going to make it stick with their students, according to a Baptist General Convention of Texas youth consultant.

  07/23/2004 - By John Rutledge

• 

  Homecoming for children’s home stirs memories, sparks gratitude_72604

  Posted: 7/23/04

  Homecoming for children's home
  stirs memories, sparks gratitude

  By Craig Bird

  Baptist Child & Family Services

  SAN ANTONIO–A trip to the past nourished the souls of former residents of Baptist Child & Family Services who converged on the San Antonio campus for their first alumni reunion in decades.

  07/23/2004 - By John Rutledge

• Former children’s home residents fondly recall tasty Mexican meals as one housemother’s labor of lov

  Posted: 7/23/04

  Former children's home residents fondly recall
  tasty Mexican meals as one housemother's labor of love

  By Craig Bird

  Baptist Child & Family Services

  SAN ANTONIO–Whether it was a grateful gasp of recognition (“he still wears the same hat”) that greeted Leslie Pullin or the public appreciation of Beatrice Gasca Atu (“no other housemother cooked us Mexican food”) for her culinary generosity, former staff members were a welcome part of the alumni reunion at Baptist Child & Family Services.

  07/23/2004 - By John Rutledge

• American confidence in First Amendment up_72604

  Posted: 7/23/04

  American confidence in First Amendment up

  NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP)–Americans' confidence in the First Amendment, which fell after the attacks of 9/11, is up again, according to a new survey.

  The First Amendment Center in Nashville, Tenn., has released its 2004 survey results on the “State of the First Amendment,” which suggests Americans' concern for protecting freedoms is at levels not seen since before Sept. 11, 2001.

  The survey, conducted in conjunction with the American Journalism Review, showed that when asked whether the First Amendment goes too far in the protections it guarantees, 65 percent said it did not, up from 49 percent in the 2002 poll.

  07/23/2004 - By John Rutledge

• 

  Hunger Hounds track down donations to alleviate suffering, fight hunger_72804

  Posted: 7/23/04

  Hunger Hounds track down donations
  to alleviate suffering, fight hunger

  By Janelle Bagci

  Texas Baptist Communications

  KILGORE–A man and woman living in a shack in the poorest area of town know what it's like to go to sleep hungry. But the mentally disabled epileptic couple still set aside $60 from their meager earnings for world hunger.

  07/23/2004 - By John Rutledge