Baptist Briefs

Posted: 11/11/05

Baptist Briefs

Alabama Baptist conservatives declare mission accomplished. Alabama Baptist Conservatives, a network of pastors organized in 1997, officially disbanded recently, saying they accomplished their goal of steering the state's Baptist convention in "a conservative direction." The group–originally known as Southern Baptist Conservatives of Alabama–formed out of concern about Cooperative Baptist Fellowship activity in the state, said former moderator John Killian, pastor of Maytown Baptist Church in Mulga, Ala. "We did not want to go the direction of Texas and Virginia, where there was a split in the state convention and the original convention aligned with the moderate forces," he said.

Hungarian Baptists discover no quake survivors. A Hungarian Baptist Aid search-and-rescue team, who arrived two days after an earthquake hit Pakistan, found no survivors beneath the ruins of schools in northern Pakistan. However, the team attended to almost 400 casualties during their first five days on the scene. As the rescue and recovery work continued, hundreds of victims who had been without food came down from mountain villages carrying the injured with them. The Hungarian rescue team–two medical doctors, two paramedics, two technical-rescue experts, two rescue dogs, a rescue commander and a coordinator–helped search three school buildings and remove several bodies from the ruins. All the team members participated in distributing aid and helped guide helicopters to places of need. The unique work of the Hungarian team is coordinated through Baptist World Aid, the relief arm of the Baptist World Alliance. BWA is supporting the earthquake relief effort with an initial $40,000 grant to Hungarian Baptist Aid.

GuideStone offers dental plan choices. GuideStone Financial Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention will offer a choice of three dental plans through CIGNA Dental beginning Jan. 1. Southern Baptist ministers, denominational employees and seminary students are eligible to participate in the dental plans available through GuideStone. Dental plans for 2006 will include two plans available in all states and a dental HMO plan available in 35 states. A list of dentists participating in the CIGNA Dental network can be found at www.cigna.com or by calling CIGNA at (800) 244-6224. For rates and a summary of benefits, visit www.Guide Stone.org or call (800) 262-0511.