Posted: 2/04/05

Sloan to step down as Baylor
president, assume chancellor's role

By Marv Knox

Editor

WACO–Baylor University President Robert Sloan will step down June 1, concluding one of the stormiest periods in the 160-year-old school's history, an era marked by expansion but also by division.

Sloan will become Baylor's chancellor at the end of the spring semester, both he and Will Davis, chairman of the university's board of regents, announced at a news conference.

Sloan will focus on fund raising, student recruitment and promoting the university's vision, he said. And he will relinquish all executive leadership for the Baptist school to his presidential successor, Davis added.

Sloan's future at Baylor has been a topic of debate–and at least three votes among the regents–during the past couple of years. But Sloan and the regents reached their decision for transition “by mutual agreement,” Davis reported.

Regents unanimously expressed their personal support for Sloan's move from president to chancellor during a Jan. 20 conference call, Davis said, noting all but two of the 36 regents participated in the evening call.

They were expected to make the decision official when they met for their regular winter meeting, Feb. 3-4. At that time, they were to decide how to proceed in searching for a new president, Davis said, noting they probably would select an interim president at their spring meeting, April 28-29.

Controversy over Sloan's leadership flared a couple of years ago, not long after the regents approved Baylor 2012, the university's long-range strategy to become one of the top schools of its kind in the nation.

Supporters praised Baylor 2012, as well as Sloan's vision for conceiving it. They lauded its core value of blending strong Christian faith and the highest academic standards. They also affirmed such goals as strengthening faculty research, raising academic standards of students, expanding campus facilities to “world-class” quality and making the sports teams strongly competitive in the Big XII Athletic Conference.

Opponents criticized Sloan's implementation of 2012, and some condemned components of the plan. They said Sloan was pulling Baylor away from its traditional Texas Baptist moorings; some even predicting the school would become “non-Baptist” or “fundamentalist.” They claimed beloved long-tenured professors were being shunted aside for younger research-savvy faculty, typical Texas Baptist families no longer could afford to send their children to Baylor and the rapid expansion of campus facilities created unbearable debt.

The divisions split the fiercely loyal “Baylor family.”

Many alumni divided into two new groups, the pro-Sloan Friends of Baylor and the anti-Sloan Committee to Restore Integrity to Baylor. Each bought ads and waged partisan campaigns for their causes.

Faculty also divided, with 418 out of 838 eligible teachers calling for Sloan's dismissal in a recent referendum. Those negative votes comprised 85 percent of the ballots actually cast in the referendum. Sloan's supporters noted many faculty loyal to the president boycotted the referendum.

But the votes that have counted took place in closed session among the 36-member board of regents.

Just last September, the board voted–by what one regent characterized as a “very close” margin–to postpone indefinitely a call for Sloan's resignation.

The motion to postpone the call for resignation was one in a series of votes by regents on the university president's leadership.

In September 2003, the Baylor faculty senate gave Sloan a vote of “no confidence,” and five regents, three former regents chairmen and the editorial board of the campus newspaper all called for Sloan's removal.

The board responded by voting 31-4 to affirm the president.

But by the May 2004 regents' meeting, Sloan's support had eroded to the point that a motion to ask for his resignation failed by an 18-17 secret-ballot vote. That followed a second faculty senate vote of “no confidence” in the president.

At their mid-summer retreat last year, regents took no action on Sloan's presidency other than unanimously affirming Baylor 2012.

Sloan told reporters attending the news conference he first approached Davis about a transition last November.

“Dr. Sloan said to me, 'I believe it's time to resign,'” Davis said. “I asked, 'Would you take chancellor?' He said, 'I'll have to think about it.'”

That set a time-intensive process in motion, he added. Each of the regents was polled, and they agreed to move Sloan from president to chancellor.

Davis denied a rumor that Sloan would have been fired in February if he had not accepted the chancellorship, predicting Sloan could have survived another round with the regents.

Speaking from prepared remarks, Sloan told the news conference crowd that conflict associated with change and the desire to see Baylor succeed pressed him to make the switch himself.

“What I see looking ahead for Baylor is tremendously compelling,” he said. “Our commitment to the 2012 vision, which sets forth the goal of ascending to the top tier of American universities while maintaining our firm commitment to a uniquely Baptist and distinctively Christian identity, ensures that there is no more exciting place to be in Christian higher education than Baylor. …

“But the natural side effect of change is conflict. We moved quickly and boldly to implement the vision and found that Baylor is not immune to the discomfort and insecurity generated by change.

“My leadership has often been a lightning rod for that discomfort,” he acknowledged. “But the focus should always be on the vision, not on the president.

“Though I have worked hard to cultivate mutual understanding with those who disagree with various decisions or even my management style, the reality is that my role as president has become a distraction from the main goal of fulfilling the vision. The vision is more important than any one person. No one is indispensable.”

As chancellor, Sloan will put his energies into “fund raising, recruitment and promoting Baylor 2012 every way I can,” he said. “This university and the vision for its future remain my passion and my calling.”

Asked why he finally agreed to step down as president, Sloan pointed directly to the long-range vision for the school, which he crafted.

“The board unanimously ratified Baylor 2012, … and the faculty senate in the fall unanimously ratified 2012,” he said. “The university, its purpose and leadership, is far more important than one person.”

Pressed to list things he would do differently if he had his decade-long tenure to re-live, he said, “We don't have time” to list them all.

But he cited a litany of steps he would take all over again. “I have absolutely no regrets about our core commitments and decisions about Baylor University,” he said, citing the school's emphasis on Christian character, academic excellence, faculty research, quality athletics, improved facilities, new academic programs and new faculty, as well as a retooled tuition structure. “I wouldn't change one element of that,” he insisted.

Davis praised Sloan and spoke positively about the future.

“It has been a great pleasure to work with Robert Sloan,” he said. “Over the past decade, President Sloan has led Baylor through a period of tremendous growth and progress. … Even with this change in leadership, Baylor's vision going forward will be Baylor 2012, … our blueprint for the future.”

Baylor 2012 also will be Sloan's legacy, Davis predicted, explaining, “He was its foremost designer and first implementer.”

Prior to the news conference, rumors had circulated that Sloan would become Baylor's chancellor and that later, after a new president had been selected, the regents would change the university's administrative structure to make Sloan the chief executive officer again.

Davis stressed that would not happen: “He (Sloan) will not have any executive responsibilities, … any CEO responsibilities as chancellor. He will report to the president.”

In an interview, Davis said of the rumored change to make Chancellor Sloan stronger than the new president: “We couldn't do that. We'd lose all credibility if we did that.”

Baylor's next president has not been pre-selected, Davis said in the news conference.

“The parameters and role of the next president will be determined by the board of regents,” he said. Baylor 2012 “still is the model” for moving the university into the future, and the regents will look at presidential candidates “who can fit that model.”

Of the presidential search, Davis said, “It's starting tomorrow.” Actually, the regents officially start the selection process in February and most likely will name an interim president in April, he said. The length of the search could last “from a few months … to a year, a year and a half.”

The transition from Sloan to the next president will be relatively smooth, Davis predicted, noting the two previous presidents, Abner McCall and Herbert Reynolds, both served as chancellor after they were president.

He also said he does not expect any faculty resignations or significant changes in administration because of Sloan's departure.

“The division we have faced during the last 18 to 24 months should subside,” he said. “There should be a sense of calm. Dr. Sloan made a decision he believes will be the best for Baylor at this time. I see no reason for division.”

Regents will help bring about reconciliation among Baylor's constituencies, Davis said, noting he has a communication plan to reach out to the various groups, including faculty and alumni.

As chancellor, Sloan will serve “at the pleasure of the board” and have an office on campus, Davis said. He declined to report how much Sloan will be paid as chancellor but said he makes $410,000 as president.

Sloan, 55, is a native of Coleman and a graduate of Baylor, Princeton Theological Seminary and the University of Basel.

Before assuming the Baylor presidency in 1995, he was the first dean of the university's Truett Theological Seminary.

Sloan served on the Baylor religion faculty from 1983 to 1995, and he taught at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary from 1980 to 1983.

Sloan has been pastor or interim pastor of about two dozen churches in Texas, Oklahoma, New Jersey and Germany.

He and his wife, Sue, have seven children.

Managing Editor Ken Camp contributed to this article.

Posted: 2/04/05

Sloan's critics, friends alike express thanks

By Ken Camp

Managing Editor

WACO–Expressions of gratitude and best wishes for the future of Baylor University greeted Robert Sloan's announcement that he will step aside as the school's president after the spring semester to assume the chancellor's role.

Bill Carden, president of the Committee to Restore Integrity to Baylor, a group that has been critical of the university president's leadership, expressed personal appreciation for Sloan's decision.

“I admire Dr. Sloan for admitting that Baylor University is far bigger than any one individual,” Carden said. “Those of us who have been critical of Dr. Sloan certainly would not say all that he has done has been bad or wrong, just as I'm sure those who have supported him would not say every decision has been good and appropriate. But that is all in the past.”

Sloan's supporters and his critics alike have been motivated by their deep commitment to “the greater good” of Baylor University, Carden said, and he expressed hope the “wide breach” within the Baylor community could be healed in coming days of transition.

Under Sloan's leadership, “minds have been challenged, leaders have been raised up and lives have been changed,” said Baylor University Student Body President Jeff Leach.

“I will be eternally grateful for the impact that Dr. Sloan has had on my life, and I know I speak for thousands of current students and graduates when I express my heartfelt gratitude for his service to our university,” he said.

Leach expressed the student body's support for the regents “as they continue to lead the Baylor family through these times. We are confident that Baylor will continue to be a city on a hill and will become an even brighter light to the world in the coming days as we unite and move forward together.”

Clifton Robinson, co-chairman of the Friends of Baylor group, said: “On behalf of the thousands of members of Friends of Baylor, I want to first and foremost thank President Robert Sloan for his incredible contributions to Baylor University over the past 10 years.”

Robinson cited Sloan's accomplishments, including improved academic standing, upgraded campus infrastructure, increased enrollment, expanded faculty and doubled endowment.

“Perhaps his greatest legacy will be the implementation of the university's vision for the future–Baylor 2012,” he said. “All of this was accomplished while maintaining a clear Christian identity for the university.

“The entire Baylor family is blessed to have Dr. Sloan as chancellor of the university, and we look forward to his continued influence and leadership.

“We also congratulate our board of regents, and particularly its chairman, Will Davis, for their wisdom in these matters.”

Texas Baptists will unite behind the agreement Sloan and the regents reached, and they will join in praying for everyone concerned during the transition period, said leaders of the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

“Texas Baptists can come together around this positive decision. Baylor University always has strived to provide quality education in a decidedly Christian context, and none of that will change with this transition,” said BGCT Executive Director Charles Wade.

Wade, citing his friendships with Sloan and regents, said he has been saddened by the recent rancor and desires for Texas Baptists to move forward.

“I know the goal of everyone is to raise the level of excellence at Baylor, along with a desire to deepen its commitment to Christian truth and values,” he said.

Regarding Baylor 2012, the controversial 10-year plan that became the centerpiece–and often the lightning rod–of Sloan's administration, Wade said, “The Baylor family has reason to be grateful for Robert Sloan and the innovative challenge he set before the board and the Baylor community.”

Texas Baptists and Baylor leaders remain committed to the “value of integrating faith and learning in the university community,” Wade continued.

“Baylor has been and continues to be a strong beacon for biblical truth and the importance of teaching Christian values, creating a community of moral leaders. … All of us who love Baylor will pray for the regents as they seek to find a gifted leader for the future”

Keith Bruce, coordinator of institutional ministries for the BGCT, likewise called the “overall goals and principles” of Baylor 2012 “most worthy and commendable.”

“Certainly these past several months have been extremely challenging for the Baylor constituency,” Bruce said.

He expressed hope that changes in leadership will “allow the entire Baylor family to come together once again and focus on the future and the tremendous vision that has been set forth. … Certainly, the prayers and good will of Texas Baptists are with the Baylor constituency and with Dr. Sloan and his family in this time of transition.

“Let us pray especially for the Baylor board of regents as they seek the individual to serve as president of this great institution.”

Posted: 2/04/05

South Texas pastors discover their
similarities transcend differences

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

ALICE–When Lupe Martinez, pastor of Encino Baptist Church in Encino, runs into Jerry Tanner, pastor of University Baptist Church in Kingsville, the ministers do not simply shake hands. They embrace.

It's more than a nicety, they note. This is what family members do; they care for each other, no matter how different they may be.

“We're more alike than different,” said Ross Dudney, pastor of West Main Baptist Church in Alice and one of several area pastors who meet regularly. “We're all from the same family.”

More than a half-dozen ministers regularly come together to support each other and discuss issues they are facing in their congregations. Though group members are of different ages and ethnicities, they all struggle with comparable concerns.

“It helps us to know each other,” said Noe Ortiz, pastor of Primera Iglesia Bautista in Alice. “It helps us to know we have similar problems, and we all serve the same Lord.”

The ministers primarily discuss cultural issues, talking about how to best serve a diverse community of Anglos and Hispanics.

Local Hispanics have different cultures and prefer varying degrees of English and Spanish, making it more difficult for one congregation to serve the needs of all who come.

Through their conversations, the pastors help each other by sharing what is working well in their congregations. Then another church can try that approach. Ministers said they do not compete for members.

“You come down to an area like ours, and there's a need for camaraderie,” Tanner said.

The camaraderie has grown beyond handshakes and discussions. The men recently brought their churches together for a communitywide worship service. More than 400 people attended.

“That really helps the churches,” said Javier Franco, pastor of Open Door Community Baptist Church in Alice. “They realize we're all on the same team.”

Recently, a van belonging to Franco's church burned. Cornerstone Baptist Church in Alice, where Tony Dyer–a consultant with the Baptist General Convention of Texas minister/church relations office–serves as an intentional interim pastor, gave one of its vans to Franco.

The men are preparing several training events in the near future, including a peacemaking seminar, an intentional interim conference and sessions that will include many BGCT staff members.

The courses will be offered in English and Spanish in some form.

Mike O'Neill, director of missions for Coastal Bend Baptist Association, is creating similar minister groups across his area.

These gatherings encourage fellowship and training, he said. Many times members will watch videos or study books, then discuss the material.

“God has brought people together culturally,” he said.

O'Neill hopes the groups continue to spread. They can help strengthen and unify the work of Baptists throughout South Texas. Members of these gatherings eventually can start new pastor groups.

The ministers “just need a time and place,” he said. “In the future, they'll be leading their own groups.”

Posted: 2/04/05

Steven Curtis Chapman and family view adoption as the 'visible gospel'

By Shannon Baker

Baptist Press

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)–Award-winning Christian songwriter and recording artist Steven Curtis Chapman remembers his “aha moment,” when the gospel of Jesus Christ became amazingly clear to him.

“I have spent most of my life wrestling with the depth of Scripture–which is endless and eternal–with how I am to grab a hold of it with just the vapor of my life,” said Chapman, a celebrated Christian artist with 47 Dove Awards, four Grammy Awards, an American Music Award and 41 No. 1 radio hits.

Despite all his success in the music industry, for him, the “aha moment” came when he and his wife, Mary Beth, adopted their daughter Shaohannah from China.

“Until we adopted Shaohannah, I didn't fully understand the depth of what Jesus has done for us,” Chapman said. Without Christ “I was hopeless, without a future, without a name. … Then Jesus came into my life, gave me hope and a future. He gave me a new name.”

Calling adoption the “visible gospel,” a term he borrows from Christian author John Piper, Chapman said, “Adoption is the perfect picture of what God has done for each of us in making us his children through Christ.”

Pausing to let it all sink in, Chapman added: “God's done amazing things in our family. Without a doubt, adoption has been the most profound experience in God.”

The Chapmans experienced the miracle of adoption through the prompting of their oldest daughter, Emily. Already with three children of their own–Emily, Caleb and Will–the Chapmans adopted Shaohannah, who is now 5, in March 2000. Three years later, they brought home Stevey Joy Ru, now 2, and in the summer of 2004, they adopted Maria Sue, age 1. All three adopted daughters came from China.

In addition, the Chapmans began “Shaohannah's Hope” a nonprofit organization based in McLean, Va., that provides information and assistance to people who want to adopt but lack the financial resources.

The children of singer Steven Curtis Chapman pose for a group photo. Pictured are (top row) Will (12), Emily (18) and Caleb (13). They are holding (left to right) Stevey Joy Ru (2), Shaohannah (5) and Maria Sue (1).

“There are a lot of people who have room at their table but not room in their wallet for another family member,” Chapman acknowledged. “Yet there are roughly 34 million orphans around the world.”

“If God can adopt us into his family and call us his own, it is our hope that others consider following his example by adopting a 'fatherless' child into their families.”

To raise awareness about adoption, the Chapmans co-wrote their first children's picture book, Shaoey & Dot: Bug Meets Bundle. This first installment in a series about adoption retells Shaohannah's adoption adventure in a whimsical way. A portion of the proceeds of the book, distributed through Thomas Nelson, will go to support Shaohannah's Hope.

Chapman concedes the adoptions also have inspired his newest project, All Things New, his 14th record with Sparrow Records. The CD debuted in September.

The Chapmans' efforts have been noticed. They were honored in the Angels in Adoption Program, sponsored by the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute. The nonprofit, nonpartisan organization is dedicated to raising awareness about the tens of thousands of foster children in the United States and the millions of orphans around the world in need of permanent, safe and loving homes.

Angels in Adoption award winners are selected by members of Congress to represent their states at a Washington-based gala given in their honor.

The congressional institute also is a founding partner of National Adoption Day, a collective national effort to raise awareness about children in foster care who are waiting to find permanent families.

Now in its fifth year, National Adoption Day has celebrated adoption and has made the dreams of thousands of children come true by finalizing their adoptions.

National Adoption Day was held Nov. 20, when courts, judges, attorneys, child welfare agencies and advocates nationwide finalized the adoptions of thousands of children from foster care and celebrated and honored all families who adopt.

Since its inception in 2000, National Adoption Day has grown from events in eight jurisdictions to 50 states. That year, the Alliance for Children's Rights created and organized the first National Adoption Day with the support of the Freddie Mac Foundation and the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption.

National Adoption Day now is sponsored by a coalition of national partners–the Alliance for Children's Rights, Casey Family Services, Children's Action Network, the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute, the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, the Freddie Mac Foundation and Target Corporation.

The growing support is necessary because about 542,000 U.S. children live in foster care. More than 126,000 of those are available for adoption–waiting for someone to discover the “visible gospel.”

Posted: 2/04/05

Christian Life Commission will retain familiar name

By Ferrell Foster

Texas Baptist Communications

DALLAS–The Christian Life Commission gets to keep the name it has carried for nearly 55 years, the committee drafting new bylaws for the Baptist General Convention of Texas has decided.

The governance committee had considered Christian Life Council as an alternative to Christian Life Commission. The “council” language more effectively connected with the new governance structure, but some Texas Baptists believed the current “commission” name should be kept because of its familiarity around the state and its history of effective ministry said Wesley Shotwell, chairperson of the committee.

The committee decided the “wisest course of action was to keep the name Christian Life Commission because of its historic recognition across the state,” Shotwell said.

The panel had planned to conduct a scientific survey to test the name's recognition, but after more discussion members “decided that a survey was not the wisest use of time and money,” he said.

On another matter, the committee established a three-person subcommittee to analyze concerns about and possible alternatives to a proposed means of electing BGCT Executive Board members. Some members expressed concern that West Texas would not receive adequate participation under the proposed plan.

Subcommittee members are Mitch Wilson, pastor of First Baptist Church in Shallowater, near Lubbock; Jim Nelson, an Austin attorney; and David Nabors, treasurer and chief financial officer of the BGCT.

The subcommittee decision came after “healthy discussion about the issue of drawing sector lines and how to give people the best opportunity to have their voices heard,” Shotwell said. “We wanted to be sure we had completely thought out all of the ramifications of how we select Executive Board members.

“We want to make sure it's as fair as possible, but it will not be perfect.”

A proposed BGCT constitution approved on first reading at the convention's annual meeting in November 2004 calls for a system of electing board members based on resident Baptist membership in counties.

Because of the sparse population of Baptists in West and South Texas, an equal division based on membership would create large geographic “sectors” in those two regions from which board members would be elected.

In order to take effect, the proposed constitution must be approved at this year's annual meeting, Nov. 14-15 in Austin.

Posted: 2/04/05

Former Texas pastor finds
Hong Kong a fertile field for evangelism

By Orville Scott

Special to the Baptist Standard

Harry Lucenay, former pastor of First Baptist churches of Longview and San Antonio, said he witnessed and preached to more non-Christians in his first year as pastor of Kowloon International Baptist Church of Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong, than during 30 years as a pastor in the United States.

Lucenay faces a challenge of trying to teach, preach and communicate with people speaking more than 50 dialects.

Texas Baptists Jim and Mary Humphries, former missionaries to Vietnam, described the scene at the church on a typical Sunday morning.

Worshippers crowd in for both the contemporary and traditional services. Since the sanctuary cannot begin to accommodate them all, the church uses other available space as overflow rooms.

“After the service, some worshippers make their way toward home in China, Hong Kong Island or down the streets and alleys of Kowloon City,” Humphries said. “Others linger to talk with church members, seek counsel and hungrily try to learn as much as they can about Jesus.”

Many “seekers” make an appointment to visit with Lucenay during the week. A British student visiting for the third straight Sunday said she had been inside a church previously only four times –when she was baptized as an infant and the three times she served as a bridesmaid at weddings.

She attended a Sunday school class taught by the pastor's wife, Nancy Lucenay.

On Monday, the phone rang. Mrs. Lucenay exclaimed to her husband, “Our British friend has just accepted Jesus as her Savior and wants to talk about baptism.”

Recently, the church's deacons received names and information about 30 people who were inquiring about Christianity. One deacon, who welcomed the task of contacting the people he had been assigned, said, “This is what I thought deacons were supposed to be about when I became a deacon.”

A young businessman whose son is physically challenged wanted to thank the church for ministering to his family. He installed video transmitting and receiving equipment in the sanctuary and overflow rooms.

“As we watched students and families responding to the ministry of Kowloon International Church, we couldn't help thinking that the seekers are looking for a family to give them strength,” Humphries said. “They have found that in the Kowloon church.”

Posted: 2/04/05

Did God send tsunamis to punish persecutors of Christians?

By Ken Camp

Managing Editor

DALLAS–Experiencing God author Henry Blackaby believes the tsunamis that hit South Asia were God's punishment of an area where Christians have experienced particularly intense persecution. But some missions experts with links to the region question both his theology and his assertions about persecution.

Blackaby told a Kentucky pastors' conference workshop he recognized God's hand of judgment in the tsunami after he saw a map published by Voice of the Martyrs showing areas of intense persecution of Christians worldwide.

Many of the areas highlighted on that map “match to a T” the tsunami's impact, he said.

He later told a reporter for Baptist Press: “If you read the Old Testament, especially, God is very concerned how the nations treat his covenant people. The nations that persecuted, offended and killed his people, God came down and destroyed them. And he's the same God today. He's just as concerned about his people.”

Voice of the Martyrs spokesman Tom White expressed appreciation for Blackaby's Experiencing God materials, but he took issue with the author regarding the tsunami.

“We do not agree with Blackaby's suggestion regarding the tsunami,” he said. “We do not agree that God was behind the deaths. Our Indonesia staff is rushing to deliver material and spiritual aid to the Muslims in that region. God desires all men be saved.”

The idea of God using natural disasters as instruments of punishment is “a biblical concept,” said Todd Johnson, director of the Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. Some Christians in South Asia have expressed the idea that the tsunamis were God's punishment for some wrongdoing, he noted.

But Johnson urged caution before definitively linking any natural disaster to divine wrath–particularly without the benefit of long-range hindsight.

“It's so difficult to know,” he said. “We don't want to write God out of the equation, as the secular world would do. But the problem lies in interpreting an event” either as God's judgment on evildoers or as a “wake-up call” to Christians.

Keith Parks, who served 14 years as a missionary in Indonesia before becoming president of the Southern Baptist Foreign Mission Board and later coordinator for Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Global Missions, agreed it's risky for Christians to try to interpret natural calamities as God's instruments for accomplishing his plan.

“My personal view is that God's way of working is so far above us and his thoughts are so far beyond our thoughts that we're on very uncertain biblical ground when we try to define God's purpose in natural disasters,” he said.

He pointed to the New Testament account in which Jesus asked whether some Galileans who were killed by Pilate or some people on whom a tower in Siloam fell were worse sinners than anyone else.

“It's hard for me to believe that these folks (in South Asia) were the most sinful people in the world,” he said.

Ebbie Smith, a Christian ethicist and missiologist who taught at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, agreed the Bible teaches God has used natural disasters at times to punish wrongdoing.

But he added: “Unless God says it's so, it's not our place to interpret it that way. Other parts of the world are likely as guilty as those that were hit, but it's not appropriate for us to make those judgments.”

Smith expressed concern that Blackaby's remarks would reinforce the negative ideas many people in South Asia have about Christians, and his comments could make Christian work in the region more difficult.

Blackaby needs to understand that “statements like this have consequences, and in a world of instant communication, words like this live on” and fuel conflict between Christians and other religions, said Charles Kimball, a professor of world religions and Christian mission at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Viewing the suffering caused by the tsunami as divine retribution for the persecution of Christians represents “horrifically bad theology,” said Kimball, chairman of the university's religion department.

“We hear that kind of–I don't know whether to call it dreadful or ridiculous–theological pronouncement every time there's a natural disaster,” he said. “I find it difficult to square with any understanding of God I can imagine or with how the Bible portrays God.”

Kimball pointed to the Christian communities in parts of South Asia the tsunami left devastated, the continuing threat of disease and the specter of orphaned children becoming victims of sex-traffickers.

“Is that how God works? For someone to suggest that God would bring about this suffering just to make a point–I find that offensive,” he said.

For some observers, the numbers just don't add up. Even if God either caused or allowed the disaster in South Asia to accomplish some corrective purpose, Johnson pointed out that while some persecution of Christians has occurred in the region, the most intense persecution was not in the areas hit hardest by the tsunami.

“It just doesn't make quantitative sense in that respect,” he said.

Indeed, reports on the Voice of the Martyrs website indicate persecution of Christians in three countries hit by the tsunamis–Indonesia, India and Sri Lanka. But ethnic strife between Muslims and Christians in Indonesia has been centered in portions of the country not greatly affected by the tsunami rather than in the hard-hit Aceh province, which is almost entirely Muslim.

Aceh province is the only part of Indonesia specifically authorized to implement Islamic law, but the U.S. State Department in its report on the country last year noted “no criminal sanctions for violators … either Muslims or non-Muslims.”

The U.S. Commission on International Freedom listed only two tsunami-affected nations–India and Burma–as “countries of particular concern” regarding religious freedom abuses.

Burma suffered minor losses from the tsunami compared to other neighboring countries. And the commission was divided in its decision to name India as a country of particular concern because conditions appeared to improve there after the ruling fundamentalist Hindu party lost in the most recent national elections.

Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, served on the U.S. Commission on International Freedom at the time the group issued its listing of countries of particular concern. Land was unavailable for comment.

Regardless whether persecution is more intense in South Asia than in other parts of the world, Stan Parks, international liaison with the Baptist General Convention of Texas-affiliated WorldconneX missions network, said he would “categorically disagree” with Blackaby's assessment.

“If anybody deserves judgment, it's Christians who hoard the gospel and who lavish God's blessings on themselves with bigger buildings and finer homes,” he said, adding if God gave people what they deserved, American Christians would have more to fear than non-Christians in South Asia.

Parks recently returned from a nine-day trip to Indonesia–where he served 10 years–to meet with Christian leaders, as well as business and governmental representatives.

He acknowledged some Christians in the region saw the tsunami as evidence of God's wrath. But they viewed it in terms of divine judgment on themselves for not sharing the gospel more diligently with their non-Christian neighbors.

Parks noted that people around the globe who haven't heard the gospel already are in the middle of “a spiritual tsunami, sweeping them into an eternity of separation from God,” and in some respects, the tidal waves that hit South Asia were evidence of God's mercy rather than his wrath.

While disasters happen in a “sinful and fallen world,” it appears God has used this natural tragedy to “break down barriers,” he said.

Rather than trying to discern the meaning behind disasters, Parks said Christians have a responsibility to respond to new opportunities to share God's love with needy people who have not heard or seen a Christian witness.

Robert Marus of the Associated Baptist Press Washington Bureau contributed to this article.

Posted: 2/02/05

CYBERCOLUMN: My season on the brink

By Brett Younger

“We don’t have a coach for your son Caleb’s team. I don’t know what we’re going to do. I guess children better get used to being rejected, but this isn’t that hard. The coach only has to be at one practice and one game a week. You’d think someone would think these kids are worth two hours. It makes me want to cry.”

The 19th century Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard suggested that there are moments that call for a “leap of faith,” but this may have been more of a “look before you make a leap of studipity” moment.

I had never started a phone conversation with “My name is Brett Younger, and I’m your basketball coach.” The 2020 NBA All-Star team sounded no more confident than I did.

“Have you played much basketball?”

Brett Younger

“No, but my mom says I have to play something.”

I borrowed a copy of Youth Basketball: The Guide for Coaches and Parents. The author makes Bobby Knight seem laid back. The book covers in detail: shooting (I’ve suggested our players aim in the general direction of the basket); dribbling (try to avoid hitting your own feet); passing (I hope to cut down on how often we scream “throw it to me”); defense (we try to get in front of players screaming “throw it to me”); and conditioning (I hand out candy).

I planned our first practice in detail. I would share our terminology, go over defensive and offensive philosophies, lay the groundwork for intricate plays and instill an understanding of man-to-man and zone defenses.

The practice I planned didn’t happen. It was less like a John Wooden practice and more like the inside of a popcorn popper. Quantum physics says it is possible for matter to be in two places at once. After coaching 11-year-olds, this is no longer hard for me to believe.

I said, “The off guard sets a screen on the point guard’s man as the three cuts across the line.” When I blew the whistle everyone ran in random directions.

I patiently explained, “In a zone defense, each player is responsible for an area of the floor.” When I blew the whistle, everyone chased the ball.

We ended up playing “outshoot the coaches” (Assistant Coach Graham Younger kept this from being embarrassing). We had a few layup races and a rousing round of “king of the hill.” As we finished our first practice, I wasn’t sure they had the nuances of the pick and roll, but I liked my players (and still like calling them “my players”).

The parents had other concerns: “My son’s uniform is too small.” (They’re all the same size.) “Where is Johnny’s basketball?” “My mother’s car won’t start. She told me to come and get you.”

Just before tip-off of our first game, I made a slight change in the defense. Instead of a 2-1-2 match-up zone, we would have three players chase the ball. On offense we would stick with our plan of ignoring the plays.

In French Louisiana, the Creole word “lagniappe” refers to an extra, unexpected gift of grace. In a moment of pure, unlikely-to-be-repeated lagniappe, we won our first game. The coach’s son hit seven of nine shots and made the coach look smarter than he is.

I know I’m making too much of this sacred hoops experience, but it reminded me that the hardness of the world threatens to keep us from seeing the extra, unexpected gifts of grace. Annie Dillard said, “The world is fairly studded and strewn with pennies cast broadside from a generous hand.” Some of those pennies land on basketball courts.

Brett Younger is pastor of Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth and the author of “Who Moved My Pulpit? A Hilarious Look at Ministerial Life,” available from Smyth & Helwys (800) 747-3016.

Posted: 2/04/05

Around the State

Two Texas Acteens have been named to the 2005 National Acteens Panel. Abby Baldridge is a member of Rocky Point Church in Steph-enville, and Martha Sicking is a member of First Church in Bay City. In addition, several Texans also have been selected by the Woman's Missionary Union as Top Teens of 2005. Included were Shannon Burdett of First Church in Midland, Ashley Nash of Freeman Heights Church in Garland, Elizabeth Santamaria of Iglesia Bautista Nueva Esperanza in Houston and Kimberly Zimmer of First Church in Kingwood.

Houston Baptist University will host an open house for prospective students and their families Feb. 17 at 7 p.m. in the Mabee Theater. For more information, call (281) 649-3211.

A single adult retreat sponsored by San Jacinto Baptist Association will be held Feb. 25-26 at Lake Tomahawk Baptist Encampment in Livingston. Open to singles of all ages, the cost is $35. Donna Schmoyer of First Church in Houston will be the retreat leader. Send registration to the association at P.O. Box 1533, Baytown 77522-1533. For more information, call (281) 422-3604.

Wayland Baptist University will hold a one-day seminar called “Crossing Cultures for Ministry” Feb. 26 in the McClung Center, room 211. Patty Lane, director of intercultural initiatives for the Baptist General Convention of Texas, will lead the seminar. It is aimed at bridging cultural gaps within communities. The workshop will be held from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., with lunch provided by the university. There is no charge to participate, and additional materials will be available for purchase. For more information, call (806) 291-1165.

The sculptural works of Waco artist and Baylor art professor Terry Roller are on display at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor in an exhibit titled “Dangerous Art.” The exhibit is in the Tyson Gallery of the Townsend Memorial Library and will continue through March 4. It is free and open to the public.

Alan Page, Minnesota's first African-American Supreme Court justice, will be the speaker for Hardin-Simmons Univer-sity Academic Foundation's McIntyre Distinguished Speaker Series April 27. The event will begin at 7 p.m. in the Abilene Civic Center's conference room. Page not only is known for his time on the judicial bench, but also as a member of the “Purple People Eaters,” the famed defensive unit of the Minnesota Vikings in the 1970s.

Ted and Sue Getterman received Baylor University's 2005 Founder's Medal Jan. 31. Both Baylor graduates, the Gettermans have endowed scholarships in the schools of music, business and education, athletics and Truett Theological Seminary. They also made the largest gift to women's athletics in Baylor's history, resulting in Getterman Stadium, home of Baylor softball. They are members of Columbus Avenue Church in Waco.

Debbie Kubo of Arlington and Pam Foster of Haslet have been endorsed as chaplains by the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. Both serve with healthcare institutions.

Pamela Bryant has been named head of the department of physical sciences at Howard Payne University. She joined the university's faculty in 2001.

Three Texans were among New Orleans Seminary's December graduates. Joel Bratcher, Baptist Student Ministry director at Texas A&M University, received the doctor of ministry degree. Benton Bush, whose home congregation is in Sagamore Hill Church in Fort Worth, also received the doctor of ministry degree. Brent Spears of Houston received the master of divinity degree.

Anniversaries

John Crowe, fifth, as pastor of River Bend Church in Fulshear.

Cary Todd, fifth, as youth minister at First Church in Columbus.

Stan Ortner, 25th, as pastor of First Church in Bremond.

First Church in Farmers Branch, 135th, Feb. 20. A catered lunch will follow the morning service. Sam Under-wood is pastor.

Burke Church in Diboll, 116th, March 13. Members first thought this would be a centennial celebration, but information with an earlier founding date was discovered. All early church records have been lost, and anyone with information regarding the church's history is asked to contact the church at 3855 Tidwell Road, Diboll 75941-9802. Bonner Magness is pastor.

Lake Brownwood Church, 25th, March 13. Lunch will follow the morning service. For more information, call (325) 784-6930. Arthur Switzer is pastor.

First Church in Texas City, 100th, March 16-20. Events will kick off Wednesday at 6 p.m. with the dedication of a state historical marker. A pizza party reunion will be held Friday from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. for former and current youth and youth workers. Cost is $5. A brunch will be held at 9 a.m. Saturday, followed by tours of the church beginning at 11 a.m. A dinner will be held at the Doyle Convention Center beginning at 6:30 p.m. The cost is $10 per person. Sunday's service will begin at 10 a.m. For more information, call (409) 945-2309. Bobby Tollison is pastor.

Retiring

Cliff Herrington, as associate pastor of First Church in Conroe, Feb. 27. He was ordained in 1950 at El Paso Church in Roby. He served the church as pastor from 1964 through 1982, when he became pastor of First Church in Georgetown. He retired there in 1990, returning to Conroe to serve in an unofficial pastoral capacity. He was called as associate pastor in 1998. A retirement celebration will be held Feb. 27 at 7 p.m.

Event

First Church in Center will hold a women's conference March 4-5. Janet White is the featured speaker. Kim West will lead the music. Prior to Feb. 15, the cost is $20, including lunch on Saturday. Registration at the door is $25. Registration will begin at 6 p.m. Friday and 8:30 a.m. Saturday. Childcare will be provided for children under age five for a small fee. They will be fed a sack lunch Saturday. For more information, call (936) 598-5605.

Deaths

Robert Campbell, 88, Jan. 4 in Longview. He was pastor of churches in Looney, Cotton Flat, Dodd City, Rotan, Oyster Creek, Pledger and Kermit. He was a member of Emmanuel Church in White Oak at the time of his death. He was preceded in death by his brothers, Carthel, Freeman and Mel; and sister, Geneva. He is survived by his wife of 59 years, Jean; sons, Dale, John, Stanley and Thomas; daughter, Lori; brother, Don; sister, Mary Lou; 16 grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.

Elliott Smith, 79, Jan. 21. Ordained at Gambrell Street Church in Fort Worth, he was pastor of churches in Texas, New Mexico and California. He began working with the Home Mission Board in California in 1971, retiring in 1994 after being diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. He was preceded in death by his son, Norman, and his wife, Ruth. He is survived by his daughters Cindy Smith and Nancy Smith.

Bob Herman, Jan. 21 in Abilene. Herman joined the Hardin-Simmons University mathematics faculty in 1960 and became head of the computer center in 1966. He also was business manager of the Region XIV Education Service Center in Abilene 29 years. He is survived by his wife, Anne; son, Alan; daughter, Pam Dugger; father, Harry Herman; sister, Joyce Herman; and six grandchildren.

Jimmy Walker, Jan. 22 in Tuscaloosa, Ala. A long-time pastor in Alabama and Mississippi, he was the father of one-time Texas Woman's Missionary Union staffer Cindy Gaskins. Walker and his wife, Charlotte, also served 21 years as Foreign Mission Board missionaries in Malawi, Rhodesia and Bophuthatswana. He is survived by his wife; daughters, Cindy Gaskins, Caroline Engle, Cheryl Stone and Colleen Burroughs; and 10 grandchildren.

Ernestine Carver, 98, Jan. 22 in Amarillo. She was the wife of Texas pastor Douglas Carver. Their ministry together began in White Deer. Other churches served included First Church in Harlingen, University Church in Abilene and First Church in Pampa. She began playing piano in church at age 12 and was pianist at the Pampa church for many years. She was preceded in death by her husband in 1966. She is survived by her daughters, Carolyn Byrd and Gwen Loerwald; three grandchidren; and seven great-grandchildren.

Rudy Hernandez, 77, Jan. 28 in Grand Prairie following a battle with cancer. Hernandez was a former officer of both the Baptist General Convention of Texas and the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention. He was pastor of churches in San Antonio, Menard, Eden, Galveston, Fort Worth and Corpus Christi. Since 1973, he was president of Rudy Hernandez Evangelism Interna-tional. He was the first Hispanic evangelism director of the BGCT, serving from 1955 to 1969, and was second vice president of the both the BGCT and the Southern Baptist Conven-tion. He later was president of the SBTC. He is survived by his wife, Lucy; children, Robert, Mary Elizabeth, Ruben, Eunice and Gina; 12 grandchildren; and 10 great-grandchildren.

Leon Vorpahl, 86, Jan. 29 in Hillsboro. He was pastor of churches in Troy and Bartlett before serving First Church in Sinton 13 years. He left there to become pastor of First Church in Hillsboro, where he served 21 years prior to retirement. He was in ministry 60 years following his ordination at First Church in Beasley. He was a former member of the Executive Board of the Baptist General Convention of Texas and the Human Welfare Commission. He was preceded in death by his brothers, Elmer and Marvin; and sisters, Ella Solomon, Lorene Walzel, Elbertha Gerke and Lillian Boone. He is survived by his wife, Ardis; daughters, Kathie Boyd and Lynette Jones; son, George; six grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.

Revivals

First Church, Earth; March 4-6; evangelist, Joel Gregory; music, Jeff and Cindy Petillo; pastor, Jeff Huckeby.

Spring Creek Church, Weatherford, March 6-9; evangelists, Bill and Vicki Murphy; pastor, Mike Martin.