Posted: 1/06/06

Baptist Briefs

Adams unanimous choice for Illinois Baptist directorship. Illinois native and Southern Baptist missions leader Nate Adams was a search committee's unanimous choice to become the Illinois Baptist State Association's next executive director. The committee will present Adams to the Illinois Baptist executive board at a special called meeting this month. Adams has served the past eight years as vice president of mission mobilization for the North American Mission Board. Prior to joining the mission board, Adams served as corporate vice president of publishing for Christianity Today in Carol Stream, Ill. He has been a bivocational church planter and youth minister in Illinois and interim pastor in Georgia. He has an undergraduate degree in communication from Judson College in Elgin, Ill., and a master's degree in management and human resources from National-Louis University in Evanston. Adams and his wife, Beth, have three sons, Caleb, 17; Noah, 15; and Ethan, 12.

Baptist Health Foundation awards scholarships. Baptist Health Foundation of San Antonio and the former Baptist Health Services Foundation awarded 338 scholarships in 2005 to students at the BHS School of Health Professions. The scholarships totaling $378,744 benefited students enrolled in the school's nursing and allied health educational programs. They were financed through the foundation's unrestricted funds and various donor-restricted funds.

Cooperative Program giving down in 2005. Contributions through the Southern Baptist Convention Cooperative Program totaled $45.4 million in 2005, down 1.8 percent from 2004 receipts, the SBC Executive Committee reported. The total is 95.7 percent of the 2005 budget. Designated gifts in 2005–including disaster relief gifts in the wake of the Gulf Coast hurricanes–totaled close to $10.6 million, up 2 percent over 2004.

Mission board hires Korean church-starter. The Southern Baptist International Mission Board has named Gihwang Shin, a church-starting missionary in Seattle, as mobilization strategist for Korean-American churches. The new position is funded in partnership with Korean Southern Baptist churches. Shin has been an ethnic church-starting strategist in Puget Sound Baptist Association five years.

Midwestern Seminary names new development VP. Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary has named Marty Harkey as vice president for institutional advancement. Harkey, 47, who previously served as the director of property management and as northwest area manager for the Baptist Foundation of Oklahoma, will oversee alumni affairs and development efforts at the seminary. Previously, he was pastor of First Baptist Church in Crescent, Okla.

SBC ad airs during BCS bowl games. The Southern Baptist Convention produced a television infomercial that ran in targeted markets during prime college football bowl games Jan. 2-4 on ABC-TV. The SBC Executive Committee developed the ad to highlight some national ministries funded through the Cooperative Program. The ad can be seen at www.CaringPeopleSBC.net, a new website that provides more information about the featured Southern Baptist ministries.

British Baptists urge prayer for hostages. A month after four Christian peace workers were taken hostage in Iraq, Baptist Union of Great Britain leaders called Christians to continue praying for them. A group calling itself the Swords of Righteousness Brigade began holding British Baptist Norman Kember and his co-workers Tom Fox, Jim Loney and Harmeet Singh Sooden Nov. 26. The four were working as part of a Christian Peacemakers team in Iraq. Nothing has been heard of them since Dec. 8, a day the captors set to kill the four Westerners if all Iraqi prisoners were not released.

West Virginia Baptist church ground-zero for mining tragedy. Praises turned to tears and anger for families gathered Jan. 4 inside a West Virginia Baptist church building waiting for news of their loved ones trapped after a coal-mine accident. Relatives of the 13 trapped miners had waited in the facilities of Sago Baptist Church near Buckhannon, W.Va., for almost two days since the mine explosion, which trapped the miners on the morning of Jan. 2. In the late-night hours of Jan. 3, those gathered in the church received word that rescuers had discovered 12 of the 13 alive. But their rejoicing gave way to mourning about three hours later, when an executive for the company that owns the mine told them the initial report of survivors had been reported upside down, and 12 of the 13 were dead.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.

Posted: 1/06/06

Right or Wrong?
A mosque moving in

Recently, a new structure went up in our neighborhood–a mosque. Should I fear this development?

Some would say the overall relationship between the world of Islam and the "Christian West" has been one of fear for more than 1,200 years. There have been good reasons for that–from both sides of the relationship. Neither Jihad nor Crusade makes for good neighbors.

Christians in America face some new realities, however. New immigration laws in the 1960s meant a more open-door policy that has brought millions of newcomers to our shores from lands where there has not been a strong Christian presence. Since then, the cultural, ethnic and religious mix of the United States has changed dramatically, now including people from countries with traditional religious backgrounds other than Christianity. This includes many nations from northern Africa around to southern Asia, where Islam is a dominating presence.

Obviously, since 9/11, many Americans, Britons and others see the Muslim world as reason for heightened fear. Could the neighborhood mosque provide cover for a militant Islamic sleeper cell? I wish someone could guarantee that such would never be the case. But while most Muslims are peaceful and law-abiding folk, there certainly could be exceptions. Of course, churches also have bred the likes of Richard Butler of the Aryan Nations and Olympics bomber Eric Rudolph. Both of these men would see their infamous projects as expressions of their Christian faith.

Should we be afraid of our Muslim neighbor, though? I don't think so. But let me suggest that we do need to be afraid of some things. We need to fear:

Ignorance. Look at how well the Apostle Paul knew his audiences. Whether with Jews in the synagogues, pagans in the streets or philosophers in debate settings, Paul was able to dialogue in ways that showed his acquaintance with the beliefs of others. Christians can better follow Paul's own model if we take the time to learn even the basics of Islamic faith.

Further, we should fear ignorance of our own faith as well. Specifically, a major point of disagreement between Christianity and Islam has to do with the doctrine of God. Muslims believe the doctrine of the Trinity to be blasphemous nonsense. Christians must be better informed about this central feature of our own faith if we are to engage in meaningful dialogue with a Muslim neighbor. And yet many Christians, while they know the Trinity is basic to our faith, will admit they have little confidence in being able to discuss the doctrine in an informed manner. Pastors must help congregations become better informed concerning the significance of this vital doctrine.

Failure to follow the Golden Rule. Christians appreciate respect for our beliefs from non-Christians; we should provide no less for those whose beliefs differ from our own. While respect does not mean an unwillingness to proclaim truth, it does at least mean we refuse to intimidate, persecute or express bigotry toward those of other beliefs.

One feature of respect, though, often is missing in our context. I believe it is a sign of disrespect for the beliefs of others to refuse to take differences seriously. To assert that "all religions are ultimately saying the same thing" is to reveal a profound ignorance of world religions. Or it is to strip the different world religions of their concrete beliefs by homogenizing them in light of some ideal of what true religion is all about. Such an effort often only infuriates the Muslim who sees in that strategy a demand for cultural assimilation to Western liberalism.

Cultural assimilation. Quite often, it is virtually impossible to distinguish between the cultural perspectives of Western Christians and the prevailing culture around them. If Christians truly were distinguished by their relationship with and commitment to Christ, perhaps relationships with our Muslim neighbors could be very different.

Jeph Holloway, associate professor of religion

East Texas Baptist University

Right or Wrong? is sponsored by the T.B. Maston Chair of Christian Ethics at Hardin-Simmons University's Logsdon School of Theology. Send your questions about how to apply your faith to btillman@hsutx.edu.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.

Posted: 1/06/06

'Acts of God' considered
top national/global story

By Marv Knox

Editor

A couple of “acts of God” trumped all other events to claim the Baptist Standard's No. 1 national/international Baptist story of 2005.

Hurricanes Katrina and Rita wreaked havoc up and down the Gulf Coast late last summer and early fall. In their wake surged a flood of Baptist mercy and compassion, which spread across the Southern lowlands.

See Related Story: Baylor leadership transition the top Texas story in 2005

Katrina claimed about 1,000 lives–far less than the 10,000 originally predicted, but far more than such a storm should have claimed. Her winds scattered New Orleans residents from their saturated and swamped city into Baton Rouge and Houston and Jackson, and on to Dallas-Fort Worth, Memphis and Atlanta. Katrina also shredded coastal communities in Mississippi and Alabama. And while Rita didn't do as much damage, she came on the tailwind of her big sister and upended residents of Louisiana and Texas.

Baptists throughout the South and Southwest opened their churches and homes to provide shelter for victims who evacuated both Katrina and Rita. Led by Baptist Men volunteers from Texas and elsewhere, they also worked in evacuation centers, cooked meals, cut down fallen trees, removed debris, cared for children, helped with logistics, and offered prayer–lots and lots of prayer–on behalf of waterlogged survivors.

In the weeks following the storms, Baptists opened their pocketbooks to help hurricane evacuees relocate and settle into new communities, far from home. In many cases, they provided apartments or at least furnished them. They helped evacuees find jobs, secure clothing, settle children into schools, fill out government paperwork and, as much as possible, feel at home in strange neighborhoods and friendly churches.

Many Baptists also gave funds to help decimated churches find and minister to members, begin to repair or replace damaged buildings, and chart unsteady courses into uncertain futures. The Baptist General Convention of Texas provided $1 million to Baptists in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama to help churches meet needs in their communities.

And as the year drew to a close and monumental needs remained, Baptists across the region seemed to echo the same refrain: “We're in it for the long haul.”

The Standard's other top 10 Baptist stories include:

2. Federal courts.

Particularly at the national level, Baptists tried to shape the federal judiciary. Baptists populate both sides of the argument over whether the courts have become too “activist” in recent decades. Both sides have a vested interest in the appointment of judges. So, they weighed in when President Bush nominated John Roberts to fill the seat vacated by the death of Chief Justice William Rehnquist at the U.S. Supreme Court, as well as when the president nominated Harriet Miers and then Samuel Alito to replace Sandra Day O'Connor when she retires. Baptist pundits and activists also sought to influence congressional decisions regarding lower-level judges.

3. Tsunami recovery.

The South Asia tsunami killed about 180,000 people, making it one of the greatest natural disasters in history. Christian and humanitarian relief agencies from around the globe poured into the region to care for the wounded and help rebuild communities wiped flat by the surging water. Baptists joined the efforts.

Texas Baptists responded with aid to victims of the tsunami.

Baptist Men volunteers from across the United States, including many Texans, traveled to Sri Lanka to serve the victims. Benevolence agencies rallied to the cause as well, channeling a variety of resources to the neediest people. And since the wall of water impacted one of the world's most Christian-resistant regions, missions agencies sensed the tsunami might soften hearts long hardened to the gospel. They reallocated both personnel and material resources to meet physical needs while they also demonstrated the love of Christ to people who, only days or weeks before, might have killed missionaries for preaching the gospel.

4. BWA centennial.

The Baptist World Alliance celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2005, as Baptists from many of the 211 member conventions and unions traveled to Birmingham, England, for the Baptist World Congress, an event held every five years. The past couple of years have been difficult for the BWA, particularly because the Southern Baptist Convention accused Baptists elsewhere of not being up to its standards of orthodoxy and consequently pulled out of the organization during its 99th year. Fortunately, Baptists elsewhere–such as the Baptist General Convention of Texas, Baptist General Association of Virginia and Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, all in the United States–rallied to the cause. So, despite the SBC's absence, about 13,000 Baptists from around the globe converged on Birmingham for a joyous centennial celebration, marked by who arrived and not by who failed to show up.

5. University transition.

At least six Baptist universities encountered significant change in 2005. In Texas, Baylor University saw the resignation of President Robert Sloan, whose administration had divided regents, faculty and alumni; a period of healing under interim President Bill Under-wood; and the election of John Lilley as the next president by a sur-prising–some would say miraculous–una-nimous vote. Mercer Univer-sity in Macon and Atlanta, Ga., and the fundamentalist-controlled Georgia Baptist Convention parted company, alleviating the GBC of financial obligations and the university of the threat of an SBC-style takeover. At the end of the year, Underwood was elected Mercer's president, to succeed longtime President Kirby Godsey. Also in Georgia, Shorter College lost a court battle to separate from the state convention, which then named a new slate of trustees for the school. In Tennessee, Belmont University attempted to separate from the Tennessee Baptist Convention, a move complicated by a little-known founding provision that the Nashville school's property should revert to the TBC if the school ever left the convention. At year's end, Samford University in Alabama was set to elect Andrew Westmoreland as president, to replace longtime leader Tom Corts. And that move provided implications for yet another school, Ouachita Baptist University in Arkansas, where Westmoreland is president.

6. Flood, race and poverty.

Hurricane Katrina left a mess in New Orleans. At year's end, much of the city remained uninhabitable. And the future of the Crescent City–as well as its former residents, now scattered across much of the country–remained an open question. Also at question is the relationship between race and poverty in America. Of course, geography played a major role in the New Orleans catastrophe. Since urban planners began channeling the Mississippi River generations ago, the city has sunk. So, a hole in a levee naturally means flooding in the city. But this tragedy shined a bright light on several other facts: Years of benign neglect left the levees weak and the city vulnerable. New Orleans already was one of the nation's poorest cities. It also was one of the cities with the largest black population. And when the floods came, the city's poor African-Americans suffered the most. Many Americans, from politicians to pundits to preachers, noted the connection between race, poverty and devastation is too strong to ignore. Figuring out how to remove toxic waste from New Orleans is one thing. Deciding how to treat Americans more fairly is quite another.

7. Warren & the world.

During the past 25 years, Rick Warren's Saddleback Community Church in California has become the largest Southern Baptist congregation and provided one of the major models for church growth. More recently, he wrote The Purpose Driven Life, which has touched hundreds of thousands of people. But in 2005, Warren turned his attention to poverty and AIDS. He said God convinced him he should be a good steward of the affluence and influence his mega-selling book has afforded him. So, he is taking on five “global giants”–spiritual darkness, lack of servant leaders, poverty, disease and ignorance–that affect billions of people. He has crafted a PEACE plan–plant churches, equip servant leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick and educate the next generation–to eliminate poverty, starvation and AIDS, as well as spread the gospel. If churches flock to PEACE in anywhere near the numbers that have adopted Purpose Driven, one can only wonder what 2006 will bring for Warren and the world.

8. Sex & culture.

Last year, Americans thought about sex almost as much in the courtroom and ballot booth as they did in the bedroom. In particular, they thought–and talked and argued–about same-sex marriage. And by and large, proponents of gay marriage won legal battles, while opponents won elections, such as the November referendum in Texas. Meanwhile, homosexual-rights activists and people who minister to gays and lesbians debated: Is the tendency toward homosexuality prompted by nature or nurture? Do homosexuals choose their lifestyle, or are they born that way? And can they choose to change? If anything, the debate will grow louder in '06.

9. Ten Commandments cases.

In two closely divided, carefully nuanced decisions, the U.S. Supreme Court drew a fine line between acceptable and unacceptable presentation of religious text and symbols on public property. By 5-4 votes, with Justice Stephen Breyer casting the swing vote in both cases, the court settled the two most significant church-state cases of its 2004-05 term. In Van Orden v. Perry, the justices ruled placement of a 6-foot-tall stone Ten Commandments monument on the Texas Capitol grounds is constitutional. But in McCreary County v. ACLU of Kentucky, they determined a framed copy of the commandments in a county courthouse is impermissible. While the Texas case provides government officials with precedent for displaying the Ten Commandments, the Kentucky decision warns that such displays must serve a secular purpose or else they're out of constitutional bounds.

10. School curriculum.

In one of the final major court cases of the year, a federal judge ruled the theory of “intelligent design” is not science and cannot be taught as science in public school classrooms. U.S. District Judge John Jones III ruled unconstitutional the Dover, Pa., school district's policy of requiring biology teachers to suggest evolution is “not a fact” and to state that intelligent design–the belief that some life forms are too complex to have evolved naturally and must have been aided by an intelligent designer–is a plausible alternative. While binding only in Dover, the court's decision is expected to warn districts in other parts of the country away from intelligent design. In a parallel debate, Americans argued whether Bible teaching in the nation's schools–such as materials published by the National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools–is a legitimate course of study that is protected by the Constitution or a subterfuge for proselytizing students against their will.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.

Posted: 1/06/06

Mission Arlington building
damaged by apparent arson

By Ken Camp

Managing Editor

ARLINGTON–Fires apparently set by an arsonist on Christmas Eve and in the pre-dawn hours on Christmas caused significant damage to a Mission Arlington building.

But by the next day, the community ministry was operating–moving some services usually provided in the fire-damaged building to other facilities and setting up a clothes closet under a tent in an adjoining parking lot.

Investigators ruled out accidental causes. Although no accelerants were used, the fires apparently were set intentionally. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported investigators questioned a "person of interest," but no charges have been filed.

Although some news sources reported the ministry sustained $30,000 in damages, Mission Arlington Executive Director Tillie Burgin said: “I don't know where they got that. I can't imagine that would even begin to cover it.”

Both fires occurred in Mission Arlington's “first house”–the northern-most unit in a long, two-story facility that houses a clothes closet and a childcare facility and that served as the staging area for Christmas donations.

Mission Arlington staff discovered the first fire mid-afternoon Dec. 24.

“It was in a closet where we keep coats and blankets,” Burgin said. “It was put out quickly and caused minimal damage. … We were just praising God it was so contained.”

Sometime after 2 a.m. on Christmas, Burgin received a phone call reporting a second fire in the same facility. It caused significantly more damage.

“The whole inside of the building will have to be redone,” she reported.

Even so, she expressed thanks that the building was unoccupied, the fire didn't spread to adjoining units and the inventory of Christmas toys already had been distributed.

“We had just given 20,000 people toys. There were still some left over, but not much,” she said. “It could have been so much worse. It could have spread to the second, third and fourth houses. Nothing was occupied, and nobody was injured.”

While professionals examined the facility to assess damage, volunteers joined staff in the early stages of cleanup and in receiving year-end donations from the community–including much-needed blankets and coats to replace ones destroyed in the fire.

“We're grateful for the prayers of God's people, and our prayer is that God will be glorified even through these circumstances,” Burgin said. “We teach people all the time how to work through crisis. Now we get to practice what we preach.”

Burgin founded Mission Arlington in 1986 as a ministry of Arlington's First Baptist Church. Mission Arlington now provides ministry to 600,000 people each year and sponsors Bible studies at 254 sites that involve 4,000 people each week.

To contribute financially to Mission Arlington, send a check to 210 W. South St., Arlington 76010 or contribute online at www.missionarlington.org.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.

Posted: 1/06/06

Underwood urges graduates
to think for themselves

By Ken Camp

Managing Editor

WACO–Bill Underwood ended his tenure as Baylor University's interim president by challenging graduates to think for themselves and respect the right of other people to disagree with them.

“You are entering a world where you will be discouraged–even repressed–from thinking for yourself,” he said. “You will be discouraged from challenging what you see, hear and read in the media. You will be discouraged from challenging political authority. You may well be accused of being unpatriotic if you do. You will be discouraged from challenging ecclesiastical authority. You may well be accused of being a heretic if you do.”

Underwood told the graduates at Baylor's December commencement ceremony they owe it to themselves not to give in to those who would deny their freedom of thought.

“Your responsibility to yourself demands that you not be discouraged from thinking for yourself. Your responsibility to yourself demands that you exercise your individual freedom of conscience. Let me go further. Let me suggest that your responsibility to others–to your community–demands that you exercise your freedom of conscience,” he said.

Underwood, president-elect of Mercer University, used his final address at Baylor to underscore themes of individual liberty of conscience and academic freedom–ideals many Baylor observers viewed Underwood as championing during the last turbulent years of Robert Sloan's tenure as university president. Those same issues also appear on the front burner at Mercer, which recently cut ties with the Georgia Baptist Convention.

“If we are to be a great Christian university, we cannot be afraid to pursue the course of truth, wherever that course might lead. Indeed, if our pursuit of truth leads us to question our existing view of God, it may just be that God is trying to tell us something,” said Underwood, who assumes the helm at Mercer July 1 after Kirby Godsey retires as president. John Lilley became Baylor's president Jan. 2.

Students attending Baylor these last few years had a ringside seat to observe a debate over the nature of Christian higher education, Underwood noted. He characterized the controversy as “a conversation among good people” about how truth is taught, about individual freedom of thought and about responsibility to the community.

“You have witnessed a conversation that has captured the attention of much of the Baylor community and even the world of Christian higher education–a conversation about two ideas that throughout history have been in endless antagonism,” he said.

Indeed, some of the graduates literally might have been in the audience more than a year before, when Underwood–then a law school professor–debated then-Provost David Lyle Jeffrey on the proper role of academic freedom in a religious university.

At the time, Underwood spoke against the evils of “autocratic dictates”–seen as a not-too-veiled reference to Sloan's and Jeffrey's interpretation of what it meant to integrate faith and academics.

In speaking to the Baylor graduates, Underwood quoted with alarm a statement by theologian and ethicist Stanley Hauerwas of Duke Divinity School: “No task is more important than for the church to take the Bible out of the hands of individual Christians in North America.”

Underwood underscored that view as consistent with the position of a “colleague here at Baylor” who “has described the idea that individual believers have the freedom to reach their own conclusions regarding the Scriptures as 'incoherent or simply a bad idea.'” Underwood later declined to name the person who made the statement, saying he wanted to focus on the ideas rather than the personalities.

Taken to its extreme in an academic setting, he noted, the same attitude prompted Adrian Rogers, a recently deceased leader among Southern Baptist fundamentalists whom Underwood also did not mention by name, to declare that teachers should be required to teach agreed-upon orthodoxy, “And if we tell them to teach that pickles have souls, then they must teach that pickles have souls.”

“Under this idea, we would have spiritual masters to tell us what to teach, what to learn and what to believe,” Underwood said, comparing that attitude to the scribes and Pharisees of Christ's day.

“God has given us the gift of reason,” he continued. “And Jesus commanded us to use our minds–to love God with our hearts and our souls–but also to love God with our minds. Surely, keeping this greatest of all commandments requires us to think for ourselves and come to our own conclusions.

“Indeed, when we stand before God on judgment day, it would hardly be a defense to say that we just believed as we were told. You see, we are responsible for our souls. It is this responsibility that requires us to think for ourselves and come to our own conclusions.”

Underwood disputed the criticism that commitment to individual freedom of conscience leads to cultural relativism and the belief that there is no objective truth.

“There is truth. There is right. There is wrong. And sometimes, we are wrong. Sometimes, our ideas are lousy and ought to be rejected by others,” he said. “Our great theologians are sometimes wrong. Our philosophers can be wrong. Even our university presidents are sometimes wrong.”

The awareness that no one possesses perfect knowledge should lead to a humble pursuit of truth, both by individuals and by Christian schools, Underwood said.

“This pursuit of truth requires exposing our students to the great thinkers of today and yesterday–not so that they will blindly accept the conclusions of others, but instead to aid them in their search for truth,” he said.

“Christian universities must also equip our students with the critical thinking skills needed for a lifelong pursuit of truth. This requires encouraging students to think for themselves and then to test their ideas in free and open discourse with others, even ideas that are controversial–even ideas that challenge prevailing viewpoints.”

Underwood challenged students to think for themselves and exercise their individual freedom of conscience, even if it means challenging prevailing wisdom. At one time, he noted, racial segregation was the “prevailing orthodoxy” in the South, and too few free thinkers challenged it.

“How many other beliefs at one time firmly held as true have been proven false with the passage of time? What so-called 'truths' that we hold dear today will the passage of time prove false? And how will we know if we accept what others have declared as orthodox without question?” he asked.

Repeating his charge to the graduates, Underwood closed: “Use the intellect that God has given you. Think critically. Have courage. And acknowledge–no, embrace–the right of others to disagree.”

The full text of Underwood’s commencement address to Baylor graduates is located here.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.

Posted: 1/06/06

Church shows love to
teenaged parents at Care Fair

By George Henson

Staff Writer

FARMERS BRANCH–More than 50 teenaged unwed mothers and mothers-to-be gathered at First Baptist Church in Farmers Branch for an aptly named Care Fair.

The young women–and a few young men– learned about a variety of topics throughout the event, organized by members of the church's Woman's Missionary Union. But the overarching concept the church wanted to communicate was simple: Regardless of choices that had been made, the teens still were loved.

Representatives of the state attorney general's office opened the day with information about paternity and child-support laws. A question-and-answer period produced questions from a young man about how he could secure visitation of a child he believed to be his.

Other sessions included information on child development, learning activities for young children, infant massage and infant sign language.

At lunch, teenaged parents heard the testimony of a woman who years ago found herself in a similar circumstance but now is a successful professional.

Pastor Sam Underwood said the event helped the church minister to many segments of the community.

“Even though we've been here since 1870, we're seeking new ways to be a church on mission,” he said. “From our perspective, it's a way of reaching out to some people who we might not otherwise meet. Also, it meets a tremendous need in the lives of these young people.

“The easiest way to explain why we do this is that it's the Christian thing to do. … I have to give credit to our women. Our Baptist Women saw the need and really just ran with it. It has really energized that group.”

Suzanne Devine, a leader in the church's WMU, said her church does not elect officers–everyone just gets involved. At First Baptist, the WMU meets every Tuesday night.

To prepare for the Care Fair, volunteers made 90 baby blankets, but not all were made by WMU members. Men, children and youth also participated.

Plans begin for the next Care Fair just weeks after one is completed, Devine said, with concentrated focus the four months preceding the next event.

“This is really a project that involves the whole church,” she said. Members who could not help make the blankets donated money to buy the material, provided food for the event or served as hosts and hostesses.

Men's involvement is an important compenent, Underwood noted. “We want (the young parents) to see that families include men,” he said.

Devine said the school-age mothers fit a variety of profiles. Some are pregnant with their first child, while others already have had their babies and some have more than one child. Some came with the child's father, while others have no connection to the father of the baby.

Seven males attended this year's Care Fair, up from two last year.

WMU members feel a responsibility to provide the best day of instruction possible for the young people.

“We want to make sure they get good information and don't just get out of school for a day,” she said. “I don't think they feel like they've been on a field trip when they leave here, but more like a parenting seminar.”

WMU member Margaret Wilkerson believes the event is beneficial not only for the high school parents, but also especially for their children.

“I'm a mom, and being able to raise a child to be an educated, contributing member of society is one of the most important things a mom can do. These kids are now doing that at a disadvantage, but maybe this will help them along,” she said.

“Also, I think this makes them aware of their huge responsibility, but also gives them encouragement that they can get through it.”

Parenting is a big responsibility, but “you can be an effective, responsible parent and still have a lot of fun,” she said, noting she tried to demonstrate by example.

Helping make the blankets also provided her an opportunity to talk to her 9-year-old son, Shafer, about some topics that may not have come up otherwise.

“He had some questions, and I talked with him about how important it was these girls feel important and welcomed and how these presents would do that,” Wilkerson said. “It also opened the door to wider conversations about God's plans for our lives, and about how decisions have consequences.”

While the church would like to see the young people return, it did not collect names and addresses or any other contact information.

“That's not what we set out to do,” Devine said. “But these girls are from our community. Our children know them. Younger children attend school with their siblings. It's not 'here today and gone tomorrow.'”

Devine has a broader focus.

“I want them to know that we feel they are a vibrant part of our community, that we respect the choices they made and that the door here is always open and that there will always be someone here for them who will receive them without judgement,” she said.

Her pastor agrees.

“We don't know that any of these young people will come to our church, but they certainly would be welcome. We hope through this that we will have a Christian witness and will show them what a church is all about–loving others as Christ loves us,” Underwood said.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.

Posted: 1/06/06

Mexican families enjoy new
homes, thanks to Baptist efforts

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

LA CAPILLA, Mexico–Baptist General Convention of Texas River Ministry leaders presented 11 families with keys to new homes that can help them begin their lives again after Hurricane Emily.

The hurricane blew through Mexico in late July, destroying thousands of homes in the northeast portion of the nation.

Texas Baptists intended to help immediately in the affected areas, but they needed to ready themselves for hurricanes Katrina and Rita, which made landfall shortly after Emily.

River Ministry coordinators turned their efforts toward recruiting local men to construct homes. The volunteers worked with the new homeowners and a few Texas Baptist construction teams to build the new homes.

Each family that moved into a new home attends the Baptist church in La Capilla and will cherish the new furnishings, River Ministry Asssociate Director Loren Fast said.

La Capilla is a fishing village with dirt roads. Many people live in small wooden homes and use outhouses. Many times, a car battery powers the lights for evening church services.

The new homes are larger than the old ones and are made of cinder blocks and cement. The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and Central Baptist Church in Knoxville, Tenn., helped Texas Baptists support this project.

“It's very simple, but it means a lot to the families,” Fast said.

“They will treasure it. They will take care of it.”

The new homes create opportunities to share the gospel, River Ministry Regional Coordinator Juan Lambarria said.

The families can tell others how God provided for them through the help of other Baptists.

Baptists also gained a better understanding of the international family of believers through this project, Lambarria said. Christians on both sides of the border are working together to further the kingdom of God.

“The project is important because we can see we are God's people all around the world,” he said.

“We may be different people, have a different language, but we can see our Texas brothers working hand-in-hand with Mexican Baptists.”

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.

Storylist for week of 12/19/05