Posted: 11/10/06

Scholarships help missionary kids

By Hannah Elliott

Associated Baptist Press

ATLANTA (ABP)—When Mercer University recently announced it will provide undergraduate tuition scholarships for children of Cooperative Baptist Fellowship global field personnel, it joined a significant number of Baptist schools that provide scholarships for “missionary kids.”

Available for full-time students at both the school’s Macon, Ga., and Atlanta campuses, the scholarships will last eight semesters.

Mercer University President Bill Underwood, who presented the scholarship plan at the national CBF meeting in June, said the plan will honor “dedicated CBF field personnel” wanting to provide a college education for their kids.

“This is an opportunity for the university to re-emphasize its mission of empowering people and transforming communities through ministry and missions,” he said in a university statement.

Larry Brumley, Mercer’s senior vice president and chief of staff, said President Emeritus Kirby Godsey conceived the idea for the awards last spring and worked with current President Underwood to see it through.

With Mercer’s annual tuition of $24,000, the scholarships make an extremely significant statement about the commitment of Mercer to CBF missionaries, he said.

When it comes to offering scholarships for children of ministers and missionaries, though, Mercer isn’t alone. Many Baptist schools across the nation give funds to missionary kids.

Officials at Samford University in Birmingham, Ala., for instance, have offered scholarships to children of Baptist missionaries for years.

Philip Poole, executive director of communications, said the school gives a maximum annual award of $3,200 for up to eight semesters. It makes no distinction between missionaries from the Southern Baptist Convention or the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, he said.

At Dallas Baptist University, the Missionary Kid School Allowance of varying amounts goes to missionaries in active service who have college-age children.

The school even offers a prorated scholarship for some former missionaries, depending on the dates of service.

At Baylor University in Waco, dependents of missionaries actively serving a Baptist international mission agency can get up to $2,500 toward the cost of tuition.

Wendy Norvelle, associate vice president of the International Mission Board, said the SBC agency also gives ample funds to missionary kids.

For children who are eligible, the board gives up to $2,500 per semester, for a maximum of eight semesters. Several qualifiers apply, however, the first being that the child must have been on the mission field for 36 months to receive the funds, she said.

According to a statement from Rob Nash, CBF’s global missions coordinator, all the financial aid gives substantial help to workers “who make significant financial sacrifices in order to pursue their calling to the most marginalized and least evangelized of the world.”

“The expense of a college education weighs heavily on the mind of any parent,” he said.

“Mercer’s generosity ensures that our field personnel can carry on their ministries without being unnecessarily burdened by such concerns.”

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: 11/10/06

Principles learned at Miracle
Farm serve alumni in military

By Courtney Cole

Miracle Farm

FORT RILEY, Kansas—U.S. Army Pvt. Josh Butler holds deep convictions about the importance of character and the value of hard work.

“It takes discipline and respect to make a good soldier. At Miracle Farm, I gained both, and I learned to respect others,” reflected Butler, who enlisted in the Army one year ago.

“This experience helped prepare me for my experience in the military.”

Pvt. Josh Butler serves with the Army’s Fourth Brigade, 128th Infantry Division.

Butler spent formative years at Miracle Farm, a residential ranch program of Children at Heart Ministries.

Today, he serves in the Army’s Fourth Brigade, 128th Infantry Division.

Butler, now 20, takes his four-year commitment seriously. Most recently, he and his brigade have been in the field training as they prepare to deploy to Iraq or Afghanistan.

“I don’t quit, and I’m motivated to keep going no matter what,” said Butler. “I’ve got a job to do, and I’m going do it to the best of my ability.”

Pfc. Will Tarbutton, a Miracle Farm alum now stationed in Iraq, sent an e-mail to say how his experience at Miracle Farm prepared him for what he has encountered since he joined the military.

“My decision to join the Army was motivated by the desire to gain personal stability in my life and to learn some much-needed discipline,” Tarbutton reflected.

“It was Miracle Farm that helped me learn to rely on God when there is nothing else. I can definitely say without a doubt that he has given me strength where I have had none.”

Tarbutton joined the Army Reserves in April 2004 and spent 18 months working as a unit supply specialist. In February 2006, he signed up for active duty.

By late June, Tarbutton’s unit, the 410th Military Police Company based at Fort Hood, had deployed to Camp Stryker in Baghdad, where they’ll remain 12 months. He serves as part of a personal security detachment squad for his company commander and battalion-level officers.

His experiences at Miracle Farm also taught him patience and the importance of effective people skills, he noted.

Enduring the relentless Iraq heat puts patience to the test, but he said God remains faithful to renew his strength as his unit continues making progress in the field.

U.S. Spc. Sean Gabriel enlisted in the Army Reserves in June 2004, shortly after graduating from Georgetown High School. He signed on until 2009 and serves one weekend a month with his unit.

Gabriel smiled as he recalled how his two-year stay at Miracle Farm paved the way for his positive experiences during nine weeks of basic training and 29 weeks of job training.

“I learned how to get along with other people who are different than me, and I developed a lot more patience,” Gabriel said.

“Dean and Debbie Forland were my house parents and great role models for me. They were easy to relate to, and we established a lasting relationship.”

On the weekends Gabriel reports to Fort Hood, he stays busy repairing the weapons and electronics on Apache helicopters.

During his civilian stretch, he lives in Pflugerville, and he recently signed on as a consultant for an insurance brokerage based in San Antonio.

Another Miracle Farm alum, Mark Brown, had dreamed of becoming a soldier since childhood. In spring 2001, he fulfilled that dream by joining the U.S. Army.

Brown quickly moved through coveted assignments as an Army Honor Guard member and instructor to his current spot with an Army Airborne special operations unit.

Since December 2004, he has been stationed at Fort Bragg in Fayetteville, N.C.

Brown has faced some sobering assignments in the past five years, including pulling bodies out of the Pentagon with his unit following terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

Earlier this year, he returned home after a four-month deployment to Iraq. His squad already is preparing through intense field training to deploy again in January 2007 to Afgha-nistan—Brown’s fourth deployment in just three years.

The months spent away from his family while in a war zone are tough. Brown and wife, Tabitha, celebrated their third wedding anniversary last month.

He cherishes time with her, their 2-year-old daughter, Kyli, and year-old son, Colten, and takes advantage of every moment he has with them while at home. But he remains committed to military service.

“I’ve learned to be more disciplined, received good training physically and mentally and have traveled and taken in a view of the real world during my military experience,” Brown reflected.

“There is a great camaraderie with the guys in my squad and platoon, respect is mutual, and the bond is deeper than brothers.” Brown said his experiences during his two years at Miracle Farm prepared him for what he would face in the future.

“The leadership style used by my mentors was effective in instilling a strong work ethic in me and the drive to take pride in my work,” Brown shared.

“I learned the discipline necessary to stick with it no matter what and embraced the commitment to do a job to the best of my ability.”

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: 11/10/06

New Orleans churches’ recovery
a barometer of city’s health

By Bruce Nolan

Religion News Service

NEW ORLEANS (RNS)—All over the New Orleans area, houses of worship, just like other institutions, are dragging themselves back to some sense of normalcy after Hurricane Katrina.

Some are healed. Some still suffer trials. Some are indefinitely comatose, shuttered and perhaps dead—whether they be grand churches like the permanently closed 150-year-old St. Rose of Lima, or modest street-corner churches like the wrecked hulk of Mount Carmel Ministries in the Lower 9th Ward.

But until now, the scope of the damage largely was unclear.

In the first systematic accounting of churches across the metro area, a new survey shows more than half of 800 churches in New Orleans and Plaquemines Parish, and almost two-thirds of nearly 60 churches in St. Bernard Parish, still were closed in July. Overall, around metro New Orleans, about 60 percent of 1,500 churches had managed to reopen by midsummer, according to the survey, organized by researcher Bill Day at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.

Experts say a church’s recovery is a rough indicator of a neighborhood’s health. Physically embedded as they are, churches suffer the same physical damage their neighbors endure. More-over, they require a certain amount of local vitality to reclaim a foothold.

But they are catalysts as well. Experts say if churches, temples or mosques can re-establish an early presence in a devastated neighborhood, they can attract and encourage pioneers who will do the heavy lifting in rebuilding communities.

“One of the problems I see in our communities is a loss of hope. People are getting depressed; they’re feeling like they’re alone,” said Day, an associate professor of evangelism and church health.

In addition to functioning as places of worship where people flock to seek community and renewal of spirit, churches and other houses of worship offer meeting space and provide rudimentary social services like child care or after-school tutoring.

Frequently, they function as clearinghouses for information about families or businesses returning to the neighborhood.

“The church’s presence in a community assists not just its members, but others around them. Part of the church’s purpose is to minister to people going through difficult circumstances. If that presence is lost,” Day said, “that’s going to impact the repopulation of the community.”

In Central City, for instance, Baptist Builders, a coalition of moderate Baptist churches, has helped rebuild Greater St. Mark, Little Zion and Greater Emmanuel Baptist churches, Elmo Winters said.

“Before Katrina, they had alcohol and drug abuse programs, tutoring programs—all of the things that address the ills of our communities,” Winters said.

Day began the research with a base list of 1,508 churches that had existed before Hurricane Katrina in Orleans, Jefferson, St. Tammany, St. Bernard and Plaquemines parishes. The list, compiled by Baptist Community Ministries, was substantial but not exhaustive.

For instance, it included only three of about 20 local synagogues and Islamic mosques.

Day said his graduate student investigators fanned out last spring and early summer and visited every church on the list. If the church appeared closed, they looked for evidence of recent activity, interviewed neighbors where possible and followed up in other ways.

They hoped to learn whether congregations had pulled themselves together and were meeting off-site in temporary quarters, a common occurrence in post-Katrina New Orleans.

If so, Day counted the church “open,” no matter the condition of the building.

Day’s information was current only until the end of July. Since then, of course, many churches have reopened. Indeed, anecdotal evidence suggests the number of churches announcing they were reoccupying their old quarters increased sharply in August and September, around the first anniversary of the storm.

Having developed basic recovery numbers, Day hopes to broaden his research to identify which characteristics helped churches recover.

In coming months, Day will measure the significance of variables such as physical damage, insurance shortfall, neighborhood vitality and denominational affiliation to see whether they are strong predictors of a church’s recovery.

Not surprisingly, early indicators show a church’s size, its income, the repopulation of the neighborhood and whether the neighborhood was filled with homeowners or renters were good predictors of success, Day said.

The neighborhood’s median or per-capita income seemed not to be a good predictor, based on early data, he said.

“That’s somewhat surprising. I really don’t know why,” he said.

Belonging to a denomination also seemed to help an institution’s chances for recovery because it connected a damaged church to wealth and resources outside the community. But being a member of a denomination can cut two ways.

Faced with uninsured flood losses of $120 million, Archbishop Alfred Hughes was forced to perform triage last spring. In reorganizing worship in 142 parishes of the archdiocese, he closed 30 damaged churches to regular worship, including eight small parishes and missions.

Parishioners were assigned to neighboring parishes until their own churches could be restored. Meanwhile, Hughes channeled insurance and relief money into surviving churches until others could be repaired.

Bruce Nolan is a staff writer for The Times-Picayune of New Orleans

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: 11/10/06

Pastor/policeman carries a Bible, wears a badge

By Greg Garrison

Religion News Service

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (RNS)—Police Officer Marvin Anthony Neal patrols the streets of Birmingham most mornings, but on Sundays, he patrols the pulpit at Galilee Missionary Baptist Church in Alabaster, Ala.

Neal became pastor in August but works as a patrol officer on the 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. shift in Birmingham’s south precinct.

“I’ve seen him work a beat all night Saturday night and have to go in the pulpit on Sunday morning,” said Timothy Woods, pastor of Hopewell Missionary Baptist Church in North Birmingham, who is one of Neal’s mentors. “I pray for him.”

Members at Neal’s church tend to see him as pastor, not policeman, but they respect his other job.

“He’s an inspiration to the church,” said Danny McKnight, a trustee for Galilee Baptist.

Neal grew up in Detroit and moved to Alabama as a teenager. He was on the wrong side of the law as a juvenile with a misdemeanor theft charge.

“I stole something, and they caught me,” he acknowledged. Neal was sentenced to two years’ probation as a youthful offender. “My life turned around then.”

Neal decided to pursue law enforcement as a career, but the theft charge almost kept him from getting work, even though juvenile records usually are sealed.

“I had to go back to the courts and have them expunge it,” he said.

He went to the police academy and worked for the Alabama A&M campus police from 1994 to 1997. He also felt called to ministry. In 1997, he was licensed to the ministry and ordained—the same year he joined the Birmingham Police Department. Working as a patrol officer, he has responded to hundreds of violent incidents, including homicides.

“It gives you a deeper insight on death because you see it so often,” Neal said. “The death part is final. You see them take their last breath. It gives you a sense of the magnitude and importance of life.”

Neal also serves as a police department chaplain. He has never hesitated to share his faith with fellow officers.

“People have come to Christ right in the cruiser with me,” he said.

He also preaches to people he meets on the street.

“I’m trying to offer something other than a ticket and a gun,” Neal said. “I’ve had crack addicts and alcoholics throw their crack pipes away when I pray for them.”

Neal first served as a pastor in 2003. That’s when he began frequently alternating between a police cruiser and the pulpit.

“He’s trying to hold up what’s right, and justice,” Woods said. “They can really work hand in hand. He’s responsible for the lives of people with both professions.”

There’s no conflict in carrying a badge and a Bible, Neal said.

“You’re trying to keep people from jail, and on the other end you’re trying to keep people from hell,” Neal said. “I’m always preaching about staying right—civically, socially and spiritually. I thank God for both jobs.

“It’s enough to keep you praying. I wouldn’t trade it.”

Greg Garrison writes for The Birmingham News in Birming-ham, Ala.

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: 11/10/06

Officers struggle with trust issues

By Polly House

LifeWay Christian Resources

RIDGECREST, N.C. (BP)—Don’t trust. Don’t feel. Don’t talk. Counselors know advice like that is a recipe for emotional and spiritual disaster. But any law enforcement officer knows such advice could save his life.

“We struggle with the word ‘trust,’ every day,” said Jack Poe, chaplain for the Oklahoma City Police Department.

“But this summit is a safe place. It’s a place where you can let your guard down for a while and relax. We’re all family here.”

Poe joined more than 150 law enforcement officers, firemen, federal agents, chaplains and their spouses at the fifth Law Enforcement Summit at LifeWay Ridgecrest Conference Center near Asheville, N.C. LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention sponsored the summit.

Paul Gilbreath—area commander of the Dallas region of Homeland Security, working in Immigration Customs Enforcement, and pastor of Crossroads Baptist Church in Lancaster—led one of the many breakout sessions during the summit.

In his seminar, titled “When a Cop is not a Cop,” he reminded officers they have to take off their gamefaces sometimes.

“When the weapon is secured and the badge and the uniform are hanging in the closet; when you’re second-guessing the decisions you made during your shift and you can’t get that picture of that small child out of your mind; when you keep hearing over and over the echo of the radio traffic from the officer calling for back up ‘now’ and you know you can’t get there quickly enough—when all these things build up in your mind, how do you release it?” Gilbreath asked.

“Some drink. Others build up walls around themselves and become mean.

“Still others isolate themselves to a point that no one, not the wife or the children or the best friend, can penetrate. But you have to find a way to cope with the life of being a cop.”

Law enforcement personnel have a stress unique to their jobs, and the results of that stress can have outward signs such as lower job satisfaction, higher divorce rates, higher alcoholism and drug use and higher suicide rates.

“For every cop killed in the line of duty, three are killed by their own hand,” Gilbreath said. “The stress is a killer.”

While he reaches people in the pew in his growing church, Gilbreath said as a police officer, he has had the opportunity to influence and minister to people the church will never reach.

Churches can help law enforcement officers and their spouses cope with the stresses they live with every day by offering support, spiritual encouragement, prayer and patient understanding, participants at the summit noted.

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: 11/10/06

On the Move

• Jared Gibson has resigned as minister of students at First Church of Wake Village in Texarkana.

• Jonathan Godfrey has resigned as music minister at Trinity Church in Gatesville.

• Jerry Hibbs to Southside Church in Granbury as minister of music.

• Scott Higginbotham to First Church in Lampasas as youth minister.

• Stephen Knott to McQueeney Church in McQueeney as pastor.

• Jim Love has resigned as pastor of Westover Church in San Marcos.

• Doug McPherson has resigned as music minister of Coryell Community Church in Gatesville.

• Charles Nicholson to Westover Church in San Marcos as interim pastor.

• Butch Perkins has resigned as pastor of First Church in Lometa.

• C.C. Risenhoover to Waples Church in Granbury as pastor.

• Barry Schahn to First Church in Gorman as pastor, where he had been interim.

• Jim Simmons to Coryell Community Church in Gatesville as music minister from First Church in Evant.

• Matt Ward to First Church in Godley as minister of music/minister of education.

• Barry Wellman to Cottonwood Church in Bryan as interim pastor.

• Dennis Whitmire to First Church in Nash as pastor.

• Aaron Woods to College Avenue Church in McGregor as minister of youth. 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: 11/10/06

Prepare for unexpected,
preschool leader urges churches

By George Henson

Staff Writer

GRAND PRAIRIE—Church preschools and mothers’ day out centers must plan for the unexpected so when a crisis arises, protocols already are in place, a veteran preschool leader said at Dallas Baptist Association’s Institute for Childcare Excellence, held at First Baptist Church in Grand Prairie.

Judy Lewis, who has been director of the child development center at Cliff Temple Baptist Church in Dallas five years and has worked in preschool leadership 35 years, said churches need to be proactive in their approach.

“Disasters can come just like that. They are not planned. We may think it can’t happen to us—and especially not on a Sunday morning—but it can,” she said.

Every plan for dealing with unexpected situations needs to have at least three components, Lewis counseled—evacuation, transportation and rejoining children with their parents.

Preschoolers and children may need to leave the rooms they normally are in for a variety of reasons, such as fire, tornados and terrorist attacks among others, she said. That relocation point needs to be spelled out to parents and other people who have a need to know.

If children are going to be relocated to a basement room in another building, for example, the local fire department needs to know that relocation point so that time will not be wasted trying to locate where the children have gone.

The transportation of children to an alternate location can be especially troublesome logistically, Lewis said.

“I have a 10-passenger van and 200 children in my daycare. I have to have a plan for all those children,” she said.

The final facet is how to get children and their parents back together after the crisis is over.

One thing a plan does is give the adults involved a rubric that can allow them to feel the situation is under control, which is what the children in their classrooms need, she said.

“If we as adults are panicked, what is going to happen to them? They are going to panic, too,” Lewis pointed out. A plan can help keep everyone calmer, she said.

Lewis also pointed out that whatever the danger, children are more at risk. In an aerosol chemical emergency, aerosols rapidly descend to children’s levels. Also, children have smaller lungs and so have more rapid respirations, causing them to inhale more of the gas. Children have thinner skin, she said, so they are also more susceptible to caustic skin agents. Even e-coli or flu outbreaks are worse for children, because they have fewer body fluid reserves.

“‘Children are little adults.’ We hear that all the time, but nothing could be more false. We have to get rid of those thoughts. Children are far more vulnerable to almost every danger and must be protected,” she said.

Lewis divided the dangers that might call for emergency action into two types—man-made and natural. Man-made crises include domestic violence, shootings or terrorist attacks. Tornados, winter storms, excessive heat, earthquakes and fires are examples of natural events for which plans should be in place, she said.

As an example, Lewis said her site went into a lockdown mode just a few weeks before, when an armored-car robbery and a domestic disturbance led to a shooting, with an at-large suspect in the area sought by police.

During that time, teachers manning the locked doors kept in contact with one another using the walkie-talkies already in place for such an event. Each teacher had an evacuation roster of students in attendance that day on a clipboard, so they knew exactly for whom they were responsible.

Also, each teacher has a backpack with crucial supplies, such as diapers, sanitary wipes, flashlights and other emergency items, that is kept packed and ready to go near the classroom door, she noted.

It is important for the items to be placed in something like a backpack so that teachers can put it on their back and have both hands free to help children, she said.

Child-care providers not only should have a plan, but also rehearse emergency drills from time to time, she noted.

“If you don’t practice your drills, you’re asking for trouble,” she said.

Teachers and other adults should know what the plans are and what their responsibilities are in each situation, she added.

“If you don’t have an employee handbook to help your employees know what to do in a difficult situation, you need one,” Lewis said.

Also, each teacher should know if any children are diabetic or have other medical problems that require regular medication—particularly if students remain beyond regular school hours. It also is important not only to have home and work telephone numbers for parents, but also cell phone numbers as well, she said.

“Take time now to prepare your centers, because it can save you a whole lot of time in the future,” she 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: 11/10/06

Reader’s Theater workers
model Christ-like patience

By Miranda Bradley

Children at Heart Foundation

ROUND ROCK—Asking a child with a speech impediment to read aloud could be a recipe for disaster, making him a prime target for ridicule.

Instead, as he nervously reads It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, he is assisted through his stumbling by another child.

Encouraging children to help one another is one way Texas Baptist Children’s Home, which sponsors the after-school Reader’s Theater program at Round Rock’s Gattis Elementary School, teaches Christian principles by example.

Workers cannot promote their religious beliefs among students at the public school, but that doesn’t keep them from sharing their faith through actions, said Sarah Eubank, HOPE program supervisor.

“We just try to be an example of God’s love by accepting these kids where they are,” she said.

Reader’s Theater began five years ago through Texas Baptist Children’s Home HOPE program, with the goal to build the confidence of the school’s less-capable readers. Teachers select students they feel could benefit from the program. Through time, creativity and patience, Eubank said, she sees great progress in students they serve.

“One girl came here and spoke in a whisper, so you could barely hear her. She was very shy,” she said.

“The next year, she came back as a leader. She was ready to stand in front of the class and read.”

As children become more proficient in their skills, the program encourages them to reach new levels. First, it’s reading out loud in a circle. Next, they recite lines from a play in front of the class. By the end of the semester, HOPE staff brings in props, and the students perform an entire piece.

“We want to build on their reading skills,” Eubank said. “By the end, they are much more confident and able to read out loud. It’s a wonderful transformation.”

HOPE provides outreach to apartment communities throughout the Round Rock area, offering children a place to focus their energy and time. They also assist with financial relief, referrals and other resources for hurting families.

Recently, HOPE also began providing parenting classes through other area schools.

“We’re here to help the community,” Eubank said. “Whatever their needs, if we can’t fulfill them, we will find someone who can.”

During a recent Readers Theater, as the story of the Great Pumpkin was finished, the student chose their own pumpkins to decorate for fall. As they shared colors and praise with their peers, Eubanks observed, the seeds of positive influence were taking root.

“We focus on having a strong relationship with the children,” Eubank said. “If the kids ever ask me about my faith, I will tell them. Until then, we’re modeling Christ by loving them and being there when they need us.”

For more information on the HOPE Program, visit www.tbch.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: 11/10/06

Same-sex marriage bans
a mixed bag at the polls

By Robert Marus

ABP Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON (ABP)—Gay-rights supporters and opponents both claimed victory after the Nov. 7 midterm elections, with voters in seven states approving same-sex marriage bans and Arizona becoming the first state in the country to reject such an amendment.

The measure failed narrowly, with 51.4 percent opposed to Proposition 107 and 48.6 percent in favor.

In the seven other states where marriage bans passed, most received a comfortable majority. Nonetheless, the margins were narrower, on average, than in the 13 states that approved similar bans in 2004.

In South Dakota—overwhelmingly rural and with high percentages of white Catholic and evangelical voters—the marriage amendment passed on a 52-48 percent vote.

And in Virginia, voters approved the measure on a 57-43 percent vote. That matches the margin of victory for a 2004 anti-gay-marriage amendment in much more liberal Oregon.

Most of the 2004 gay-marriage amendments passed by majorities of 70 percent or more. But on Nov. 7, such ballot measures garnered support exceeding 60 percent in only three of eight states—Idaho (63 percent), South Carolina (78 percent) and Tennessee (81 percent).

Either way, the constitutions of a majority of states now explicitly ban same-sex marriage. Many of those also ban “civil unions,” legal arrangements approximating the status of marriage for same-sex couples. That shows Americans still oppose gay marriage and continue to fear judicial decisions will impose legalized same-sex marriage on an unwilling populace, according to the head of one conservative Washington think tank.

“We see once again (that) when traditional marriage is put to the people, they will support traditional marriage,” said Jim Tonkowich, president of the Institute on Religion and Democracy, in a statement.

In a related matter, Colorado voters also rejected a bid to institute domestic partnerships for same-sex couples.

As of late afternoon Nov. 8, it appeared that voters had rejected by a 53-47 percent margin a proposition to create the marriage-like relationships. 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: 11/10/06

Abortion ban overturned in South Dakota

By Hannah Elliott

Associated Baptist Press

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (ABP)—Voters in South Dakota overturned the nation’s most stringent abortion ban Nov. 7—55 percent to 45 percent. Supporters of the ban had hoped to use it to challenge the 33-year-old Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion.

Mike Rounds, South Dakota’s Republican governor, signed the act into law March 6. Called Referred Law 6, or the "Women's Health and Human Life Protection Act," it prohibited abortions during all stages of pregnancy and in cases of rape and incest. Although it offered no exceptions for mothers in poor health, the ban did allow abortion if the mother’s life was threatened.

State legislators passed the measure last spring thinking court litigation from opponents would force the U.S. Supreme Court to reevaluate its 1973 abortion decision. Instead, opponents gathered enough signatures to hold a statewide referendum on the measure, effectually letting voters decide the outcome.

Ban opponents said it seriously endangered the health of women. Some doctors said it would affect their ability to treat pregnant women for serious illnesses like diabetes and cancer.

Supporters said the ban did not prevent emergency morning-after contraceptives, which are becoming available over the counter. They said abortion was being used too often as a form of retroactive birth control at the state’s one abortion clinic, located in Sioux Falls. The clinic performs roughly 800 abortions a year.

Jeff Carr, chief operating officer of the evangelical social justice group Sojourners/Call to Renewal, said the results don’t necessarily mean conservatives aren’t concerned about abortion, but it means they want to address its root cause—unwanted pregnancy.

“In South Dakota, clearly the abortion law was really very strict,” he said. “When 60 percent of women (nationwide) get abortions for economic reasons, it seems to me that there are some really important decisions that Congress could make to really reduce the number of abortions without criminalizing women.”

Similarly, Eric McFadden, field director for Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good, said Catholic conservatives “do not want to stand for abortion,” but they believe criminalization is not the answer. He said election results in other states, like wins for pro-life governors, show that people have begun to seek solutions to unwanted pregnancies instead of blindly legislating against abortion.

“What we saw was that when these issues were talked about, like unwanted abortions, (candidates) were very popular when thinking of ways to actually address the problem of abortion,” he said.

Still, the overturned ban dealt a blow to conservatives, who had raised $2 million to defend it. Thomas Euteneuer, president of Human Life International, thanked pro-lifers in South Dakota who “worked tirelessly to defend” the abortion ban. He also called on them to pray for additional energy in campaigning against abortion.

“These results should confirm the resolve of all pro-lifers that we must redouble our efforts to protect all innocent human life,” he said in a statement following the vote. “While South Dakotans fought valiantly to defend their babies, we once again witnessed an almost total lack of support from the national leadership in addressing this foundational issue that defines our nation's future."

Human Life International is the world's largest pro-life, pro-family human rights organization, with over 90 affiliates in 75 countries around the world.

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: 11/10/06

‘Sunday-best apparel’ is not what it used to be

By Erica Harms and Sammie Jo Barstow

Associated Baptist Press

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (ABP)—Depending on where a person worships, wearing one’s “Sunday best” to church today might not mean what it once did.

On Sunday mornings, more and more people are passing on dresses or ties and opting for blue jeans or khakis instead.

A dilemma now exists between the argument that casual clothing makes visitors feel welcome and the desire to dress in finer clothes out of respect for God’s house.

Harold Fanning, pastor of Shoal Creek Baptist Church in Decatur, Ala., said his church is more “business casual” than anything else.

“Personally, I wear a suit on Sunday mornings, but I usually dress casual on Sunday evening—more of a sport jacket, slacks and no tie,” he said.

But for Cecil Taylor, dean of the School of Christian studies at the University of Mobile, going casual means a slightly different look. Taylor wears jeans to church and said he doesn’t mean any disrespect to God by doing so.

After all, Taylor recalled, David was anointed king of Israel after working in the fields.

In the biblical story, David’s divine appointment is preceded by God telling Samuel of other candidates, “The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

“The important thing is to come before the Lord,” Taylor said. “I think whether I wear jeans or a three-piece suit is immaterial before the Lord.”

The definition of “casual” and how it’s worn is immaterial—the real battle is against the suggestive clothing creeping into the churches, said Theresa Shadrix, a member of the Association of Image Consultants International.

“There is so much of the world in church today that we no longer stand out as a group of people by the way that we dress,” Shadrix said.

Shadrix, who also is co-director of the Miss Jacksonville State University pageant, has helped women of all ages find their style and motivate them to dress in a way both enjoyable and true to their religious convictions.

The moment Shadrix gave her life to Christ at the age of 19, she said, not only did her heart change, but so did the clothes her closet flaunted.

“I was not raised in a Christian home, so when I dedicated my life to Christ and married my Christian husband, I had to clean out my closet—literally,” she said.

That was an issue that also concerned several women at First Baptist Church in Tuscaloosa, Ala. Bare midriffs, too-short skirts and strapless dresses were becoming common Sunday attire, they said. The women wondered if fashion and modesty could be combined.

To that end, they hosted a fashion show involving more than 70 models ranging in age from 18 months to 70-plus years. Ten vendors furnished everything from casual clothes to dressy suits and eveningwear.

“We wanted to show women, young and old, that we can be feminine, stylish and fashionable while still remaining modest in our dress,” Robin Ford, who coordinated the event, said.

“Although I don’t have a daughter, I do have a son, and I am concerned about the young women who will turn his head one day,” said Ford, who became concerned about inappropriate dress about three years ago.

“I realized that modesty needs to be emphasized. And I believe the perfect organization to teach modesty to women is the one God created—the church.”

Between segments of the fashion show, Barbara Gladney provided a Bible study emphasizing biblical guidelines on dress and encouraging women to value themselves and the image they portray as Christians.

For teens, that image is difficult because they get mixed signals about fashion from society and the church, said Shadrix, the image consultant.

Pastor Fanning said as long as his church’s teenagers aren’t wearing sexually inappropriate clothing, he is thankful to have them in church, however they are dressed.

Students with body piercings may challenge the norm for church appearance.

“But I’d rather have a kid looking like … he fell headfirst into a tackle box than out somewhere other than church,” he said.

With reporting by the Alabama Baptist and Religion News Service.

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: 11/10/06

Texas Tidbits

Baylor Neuroscience Center recognized. Baylor Neuroscience Center at Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas has been designated a Neuroscience Center of Excellence by the 2006 Neuroscience Center of Excellence Survey, co-sponsored by NeuroSource in Chicago and HealthTech in San Francisco. The Baylor Neuroscience Center also was listed as one of the nation’s top neuroscience programs in U.S. News & World Report’s 2006 list of America’s Best Hospitals. The 2006 survey, the only one of its kind in the neurosciences, analyzed 150 neuroscience programs, across 41 states. A hospital’s overall performance is determined by measuring program progress in four key areas—clinical and research programs, staff, facilities/technology and business. The Baylor Neuroscience Center at Baylor Dallas was awarded the highest possible recognition—Institute Status.

Business educators discuss ethics. Business ethics was the focus of the recent meeting of the Southwest Council for the Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs, held at Dallas Baptist University. The conference drew business educators from 32 schools in five states to DBU. Keynote speaker Carlos Sepulveda, president and chief executive officer of Interstate Batteries, told the group how his company uses biblical principles—alongside common sense and sound business practices—as guideposts. “It means, ‘If it’s not yours, don’t take it,’ and ‘Treat others the way you want to be treated,’” he explained.

Three scholarships endowed at Wayland. Three West Texas couples recently created endowed scholarships at Wayland Baptist University. Leon and Dorothy Foote of Seminole dedicated a scholarship in their name to assist students at Wayland seeking a Christian education. Lee and Nita Parks of Midland endowed the Juanita Clepper Parks Women’s Athletic Scholarship Fund. Clinton and Gerry Kennedy of Plainview endowed a scholarship in memory of his brother, Edwin Lee Kennedy, who was severely mentally and physically handicapped and died at the age of 15. The scholarship is designated to support students with physical or mental challenges to enable them to further their education and lead more productive lives.

ETBU to host Shadow Day. High school seniors and college transfer students will have the opportunity to “shadow” current East Texas Baptist University students and learn about campus life during Shadow Day, Nov. 30-Dec. 1. The campus visit allows prospective students to spend a night in the dorm, socialize with current students and visit with professors at breakfast and by attending classes. Shadow Day participants will join current students in attending a Thursday evening event by Jonathan Dupree, a Christian illusionist and former ETBU student. Space is limited and registration required. A $15 nonrefundable fee must be paid to reserve registration. For more information, visit www.etbu.edu or call (800) 804-ETBU (3828).

Howard Payne volunteers join Walk-A-Thon. More than 200 Howard Payne University students, faculty and staff participated in a recent Breast Cancer Awareness Walk-a-Thon, raising $2,273.44. All proceeds will support the Breast Cancer Awareness Program of the YWCA of Abilene, which serves a 23-county area, including Brown County. It supports educational initiatives, as well as helping women obtain detection and treatment services. Howard Payne nurse Sandy Smith organized the five-hour event, which ended with a candlelight vigil. During the vigil, names of friends and family who are battling or have fought breast cancer were read aloud.

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.