Baptist Briefs

Posted: 8/19/05

Baptist Briefs

African-American conventions partner with college. Officials from four leading African-American Baptist conventions gathered at a Kentucky Baptist college recently to launch a new partnership. Meeting at Georgetown College in Georgetown, Ky., leaders of the National Baptist Convention, U.S.A., National Missionary Baptist Convention of America, Progressive National Baptist Convention and National Baptist Convention of America agreed upon an arrangement that will include archiving important African-American resources and increasing the number of minority students at the predominately white school. Already, the college houses the Kentucky Underground Railroad Research Institute on campus in a building that once served as slave quarters.

Retiree Ministries Retreat registration tops 400. With more than 400 registered in advance, the Retiree Ministries Retreat at Glorieta Conference Center, Sept. 19-23, will be one of the largest meetings of the year at the New Mexico retreat center. "Do It Now" is the theme of the retreat, sponsored by the Baptist General Convention of Texas, Glorieta Conference Center and LifeWay Christian Resources. BGCT Executive Director Emeritus Bill Pinson will lead the Bible study; D.L. Lowrie, retired pastor of First Baptist Church in Lubbock, is the featured preacher; and Dick Baker, music evangelist and retired minister of music at Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, will lead music. To register, call toll-free (800) 797-4222.

Oklahoma pastor tapped as IMB vice president. Southern Baptist International Mission Board trustees are expected to approve Tom Elliff, pastor of First Southern Baptist Church in Del City, Okla., as the mission board's senior vice president for spiritual nurture and church relations. Board trustees officially will ratify his selection during their Sept. 12-14 meeting in Pensacola, Fla. Elliff, 61, has been pastor of the Oklahoma church 20 years. He served two terms as president of the Southern Baptist Convention.