Posted: 7/14/06

Ethicists weigh in on court’s decision
to protect Guantanamo detainees

By Hannah Elliott

Associated Baptist Press

WASHINGTON (ABP)—While a prominent Southern Baptist leader says a recent Supreme Court decision weakens the United States’ ability to combat terrorists, some other Christian ethicists say even those accused of terrorism deserve to have their rights upheld through the due process of law.

Days after the Supreme Court declared illegal the military tribunal system set up for prisoners in the U.S. detainment facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, White House officials announced July 11 that all prisoners there will be extended the protections of the Geneva Conventions.

The new policy came in response to the high court’s June 29 Hamdan v. Rumsfeld decision. In the 5-3 opinion, the court’s majority said the Pentagon’s treatment of the prisoners was unconstitutional. Before the ruling, the White House planned to try the suspects in military tribunals—without the rights the conventions extend to prisoners of war. The detainees were classified instead as stateless “enemy combatants,” whose rights are not defined under the conventions.

Guantanamo Bay holds about 460 suspected terrorists captured in various parts of the world after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. The White House reportedly has interpreted the Hamdan ruling to mean Congress must authorize a court system for trying the prisoners.

International pressure on President Bush to close the prison has intensified since three prisoners there committed suicide June 10.

In the midst of the debate, Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, said in a Baptist Press report that the ruling will undermine Bush’s efforts to keep Americans safe.

Land is a frequent Bush apologist.

“Make no mistake, we are at war with an enemy that loathes with every fiber of its being everything that we stand for as a nation,” he said, claiming the court’s invalidation of Bush’s policy toward the detainees “weakens presidential powers in a time of war and betrays a serious and perhaps fatal misunderstanding of the nature of the threat we face.”

The most troubling issue was the ruling’s premise “that terrorists, representing no nation and wearing no uniform, are somehow deserving of being accorded the protections of the Geneva Convention covering prisoners of war, protections which exceed those afforded an American citizen arrested for a crime and incarcerated in the local jail,” Land said.

Article 17 of the Third Geneva Convention, which the United States signed in 1949, says, “No physical or mental torture, nor any other form of coercion, may be inflicted on prisoners of war.”

But other experts think Guantanamo prisoners should not be relegated to the tribunals, because such proceedings wouldn’t adequately protect their rights.

David Gushee, the Graves professor of moral philosophy at Union University in Jackson, Tenn., said the court ruling and subsequent protections under the Geneva Conventions were long overdue.

“I was very pleased with the Hamdan decision,” Gushee said. “It was important in setting limits of executive branch power. … It did show the world that we do have three branches of government, and it is possible for our president to be checked by the judiciary.”

And, in contrast to Land’s view, Gushee said the rebuff actually helps national security. For example, he said, for every terrorist detained through excessive, “over-reactive” measures after Sept. 11, probably five more terrorists were created who “hate us with a passion that we can hardly imagine.”

The Hamdan decision “helps our national security because it returns the U.S. to the rule of law in this area,” Gushee said. “It has the potential to normalize our conduct … and maybe restore our stature in the world.”

Jeanne Herrick-Stare, senior fellow for civil liberties and human rights at the Friends Committee on National Legislation, agreed.

The administration has been treating “individual human beings” at Guantanamo in ways it would not tolerate for Americans, she said. The Friends Committee is one of Washington’s largest peace lobbies and was founded by the pacifist Christian Quaker sect in 1943.

“The administration’s cruel and brutal treatment of detainees shows the world an ugly picture of the United States, a picture that reinforces the terrorist recruiting efforts,” Herrick-Stare said.

When it comes to Christian ethics, the end of “ridding the world of tyrannical despots and those who would kill and maim innocents” does not always justify the means of circumventing international agreements on the conduct of war, she added.

“To justify creation of the Guantanamo Bay prison and the other secret prison facilities scattered across the globe, the current administration manipulated and distorted definitions and procedures in international treaties—authoritative guidelines that have serviced the world and protected our own troops for half a century,” she said. “While the goals the administration says it is pursuing may be considered worthy or even admirable to many … the means that the administration has utilized to achieve those goals will forever sully the good intentions with which the goals have been pursued.”

Simply put, by crossing the line into unethical conduct, Herrick-Stare said, the current administration has “shocked the conscience of the world.”

That’s where another benefit from public outcry comes in, Gushee said. Increased public attention to prisoners’ rights could help establish humane environments for prisoners in other war detention centers.

Public outcry did contribute to the implementation of more humane standards in recent years at Guantanamo, he noted. Similar focus might help force the release of information about detainees in the U.S. government’s many undisclosed facilities around the world, where abuses of power and secrecy may “violate our constitutional and our moral standards,” he added

Most important for the nation, Gushee said, is to have a “basic Christian concern for justice” with “oversight for the powerless and vulnerable.”

In a February Christianity Today cover story called “Five Reasons Why Torture is Always Wrong,” the ethicist noted the Unites States has signed international anti-torture agreements for decades—from the 1948 United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights to the 1985 U.N. Convention Against Torture. As a full partner with these anti-torture agreements, Gushee said, it’s only right that the United States keep up its end of the agreement.

“I sure would like to see (the Guantanamo prison) closed,” he stressed. “If the prisoners there have committed a crime punishable by U.S. law, then they should be prosecuted on U.S. soil. If not, they should be returned to their own countries.”

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: 7/12/06

BaptistWay Bible Series for July 23

Living with single-minded purpose

• 2 Timothy 2:1-17, 20-13

By Joseph Matos

Dallas Baptist University, Dallas

To watch an athlete face a stressful situation is a sight to behold. It does not matter the sport. The pressure is on; all eyes are watching; perhaps a championship is on the line. Some athletes have an uncanny ability to tune out all the distractions. They remain calm and complete their task without succumbing to those distractions. Everything they have been taught comes second nature to accomplish the goal. To be successful, the athlete must know what to focus on and what to discard.

This is even more true for the believer. The Christian life requires focus. The goal is Christlikeness. The distractions are many. The opposition is great.

In chapter 1, Paul encouraged Timothy to fuel the flame of his gift in ministry. Now Paul outlines what is required to stay the course. This chapter is full of positive and negative imperatives. There are actions to follow and activities to avoid. Even some of Paul’s illustrations (soldier, athlete and farmer) have implications about imperatives.

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Timothy is to focus on one thing—the gospel of Jesus Christ (2:8). Any ancillary discussion leads to disputes, quarrels and ungodliness. In his task at Ephesus, Timothy is to embody Christ-centered focus as he guides his congregation in their walk with Christ.

Actions to follow

In 2:1-23, there are no less than seven imperatives exhorting Timothy where to direct his energies. First, “be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.” This could be considered the overarching command. All other commands that follow might be considered supportive of being strong. How, then, was Timothy to be strong?

Next, he was to “entrust” what he learned from Paul to reliable people. Paul’s was a gospel of grace; the false teachers had put emphasis on genealogies, food restrictions and vain arguments. They had turned from the grace of God. Timothy was reminded to pass on to others what Paul had taught him. Furthermore, the perpetuation of the gospel mattered most. Notice the four-generation model—Paul to Timothy to reliable men to others.

Paul himself had endured hardship and was in prison at the time of the writing of this letter for preaching the gospel. Paul exhorted Timothy to endure this hardship with him. Endurance would be key, as becomes apparent in verses 11-13.

Paul offered three illustrations for Timothy on the necessity and rewards of endurance (vv. 4-6). A “good soldier” is undistracted by anything outside his orders; the victorious athlete does not break the rules; and the “hardworking farmer” deserves the first share of the crops. Each stays focused. On these, Paul commands Timothy to “reflect” (v. 7).

The heart of Paul’s list of injunctions is “remember Jesus Christ” (v. 8). As previously in the pastoral letters, here again Paul describes the gospel message. Timothy’s challenge was to keep the Ephesians focused on the truth. That necessitated constant reminders to know the gospel. Again, Paul enjoined Timothy to “endure everything” (v. 10), for peoples’ salvation was at stake.

Then Paul appealed to a “trustworthy saying” (v. 11) as a motivating factor for Timothy. This saying includes four conditional statements (“if” clauses). Two are positive, reflecting the consolation of those who endure; two are negative, reflecting the consequences of those who do not endure. Timothy should endure.

Other positive commands in the chapter are “keep reminding them of these things” (2:14). Distractions will not go away. Christians constantly will be bombarded with challenges and temptations; the key is having a constant reminder of the gospel. In a most famous passage, Paul enjoins Timothy to “do your best” (the King James Version says, “study”) to present himself as one approved (v. 15). Both versions seem to fall short in communicating the strength of Paul’s statement. The command is to “work hard,” “be diligent.” Continual attention is needed.

Actions to avoid

Many negative commands are given as well. These take the form of activities to avoid. Timothy should “warn” against quarrelling about words, in which there is no value (v. 14). By the same token, he is to “avoid” godless chatter (v. 16). The only outcome of this kind of talk is more ungodliness. In like manner, Timothy should “have nothing to do with” (or “refuse,” “keep away from”) senseless arguments (v. 23). There is nothing productive in them. They only lead to further quarreling, the very thing Timothy is to prevent.

These negative commands have been about words, but Paul also exhorts Timothy to “flee” the evil desires of youth. Timothy’s youth has been an issue in both Paul’s letters. Rather, continuing the string of positive commands, he is to “pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace,” like those who call on the Lord out of a “pure heart” (v. 22). If he does so, he will be like the man who cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, making himself an instrument for “noble purposes” (v. 21).

Conclusion

Each of Paul’s imperatives applies to us as well. Often in our attempt to live out the Christian life, we allow ourselves to get distracted by side issues. Some side issues are fairly innocuous, harmless. They are points of debate. However, in both Paul’s letters to Timothy, he identified the very destructive nature of many side issues. They become destructive when they threaten to replace the central message of the gospel.

As the seasoned athlete under pressure, may we tune out all the competing voices and listen to the gospel alone.

Discussion questions

• Which of Paul’s imperatives speaks to you most directly today?

• What are the “evil desires of youth?”

• What constitutes “godless chatter?”

• Why is engaging in arguments so appealing? How do we overcome it?

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: 7/12/06

Family Bible Series for July 23

God’s provision is bountiful and continuous

• Exodus 15:22-26; 16:2-4, 31-35

By Greg Ammons

First Baptist Church, Garland

Fairy tale stories often conclude with the phrase “and they lived happily ever after.” Unfortunately, the Christian life is not lived out like a fairy tale. After major victories in our life, it would be nice to simply conclude we will “live happily ever after.”

Perhaps the Israelites felt the same after the Red Sea experience. How do you top the parting of the Red Sea? They must have felt life would be smooth sailing afterward. However, they immediately encountered another difficulty in Exodus 15.

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Why does God test those who belong to him? Some answers to this question are revealed in Exodus 15 and 16.

Tests have godly purposes (Exodus 15:22-26)

After the Red Sea parted and God’s people crossed over, Moses led them into the Desert of Shur (v. 22). They traveled for three days but could find no water. Finally, they arrived at Marah and found water, but it was bitter and undrinkable (v. 23). The bitter-water experience angered the Israelites, and they grumbled against Moses and the Lord (v. 24).

Isn’t it amazing that it took only three verses for God’s people to go from singing his praises to complaining against him? You would think if you witnessed God’s provision through the Red Sea parting that you would never question the Lord again. But the Israelites began complaining about the Lord’s provision almost immediately.

Moses cried out to God on behalf of the people. God showed the leader a piece of wood. He threw the wood into the water, and the water became sweet and drinkable. God tested the Israelites to show them again that he could be trusted (v. 25).

God still tests his children today as well. These tests are not designed to produce evil, like a temptation. They are designed with godly purposes. Our heavenly Father wants us to know he can be trusted. The avenue he often chooses comes to us in the form of a test.

Andrew Murray served faithfully as a missionary to a remote region of South Africa during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He experienced many tests as he served in a 50,000-square-mile area. Yet he saw God’s hand in each test he encountered. Murray lived by the motto: “By God’s appointment, in his keeping, under his training, for his time.”

Tests reveal loyalty (Exodus 16:1-4)

You would think the Red Sea miracle, coupled now with the Marah experience of the water made drinkable, would convince the Israelites to trust God completely. However, three verses later, the Israelites were complaining again.

Moses led God’s people to another desert. It had been about 45 days since the Red Sea parted (v. 1). Again, the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron because they had no food or water. “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt,” they complained (v. 3).

Once again, God provided for his people. He showered down bread from heaven for them (v. 4). But there was only enough provision for one day. The people had to be loyal to God and trust him daily for that day’s provision.

If a sponge is filled with a liquid and you place your finger firmly upon it, the liquid will pour out of the sponge. In much the same way, God often places his hand upon us to reveal what is within our heart. Our loyalty will be revealed. God desires to be the primary obsession of our life. This is why he later commanded his people to have no other gods before him (Exodus 20:3).

Tests show God’s provision (Exodus 16:31-35)

The Israelites called God’s provision of bread “manna” (v. 31). In order to show the following generations God would provide, Moses commanded Aaron to take some of the manna and preserve it in a jar (vv. 33-34). Generations to come would know God could be trusted to provide for them. The Israelites ate manna daily for 40 years in the wilderness, until they reached the border of Canaan (v. 35).

God often places us in situations today in which we must trust totally in his provision. You may find yourself today in a circumstance in which you are struggling. The situation may involve difficulties with your children, your health, financial matters, relationship problems or other issues. Whatever your situation, you can trust God’s provision.

Horatio Spafford was a man who remained loyal to God. He lost many of his possessions in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Later, Spafford’s infant son died of disease. In 1873, he lost four daughters in a ship wreck with his wife being the lone survivor. In his deep grief, Spafford penned the wonderful hymn, “It is Well With My Soul.” He knew God provided, although he experienced loss and tragedy. Regardless of the testing you may endure, God will provide all you need.

Discussion questions

• Describe a time when you experienced a great trial.

• Is God truly the prime obsession of your life?

• In what specific ways has God provided for you?

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: 7/12/06

Explore the Bible Series for July 23

Our understanding of God’s ways is limited

• Ecclesiastes 1:1-3:22

By James Adair

Baptist University of the Americas, San Antonio

Like Job, Ecclesiastes is a book that challenges the traditional wisdom of its day. It questions the notion of a moral cause-and-effect universe, the idea that the righteous inevitably are rewarded and the wicked are punished.

However, while Job deals with the darker question of God’s justice, or theodicy, Ecclesiastes addresses the practical question of what humans can know about God and God’s ways and what the implications are for living our lives.

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The book of Ecclesiastes is traditionally ascribed to Solomon, because of references to the “son of David, king in Jerusalem” in 1:2, 12, and 2:9. However, most scholars believe these references are literary devices, much like Dante uses the character of Virgil to lead the narrator through the Inferno in the first portion of his Divine Comedy.

The language of the book is Hebrew, but the Aramaic and even Persian loanwords indicate it probably was composed during the period of Persian hegemony over Judah, perhaps in the 4th century B.C.

If this date is accurate, the problem addressed by the book comes into sharper focus. The Jews living in Judah during the Persian period lived relatively uneventful lives in comparison with the fortunes of their ancestors who lived during the numerous Assyrian and Babylonian incursions into the land.

Although they experienced peace with their overlords, they did not have political independence, nor any hopes of obtaining it, and this political situation probably led many people to experience a sort of despondency, a feeling that their destiny was out of their own control.

In addition, contact with the Persians led to developments in Jewish thought, for example, concerning ideas about God and the afterlife. It was a period of change, and traditional answers to the profound questions of life no longer satisfied everyone. It was in this setting that the book of Ecclesiastes was written.

Ecclesiastes 1:1-11

This introductory section sets the stage for the entire book. The author, or protagonist, of the book is identified with the Hebrew word Qoheleth, a word traditionally rendered “preacher,” or one who addresses the assembly. Some commentators suggest the word should be understood to mean “gatherer,” that is, one who gathers many things, such as wealth, wisdom and possessions. If the word means “gatherer,” allusions to Solomon are certainly applicable, since he was famous for his excesses in gathering many things—wisdom, women and wealth.

Ecclesiastes begins and ends (in 12:8) with the phrase, “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.” The expression “vanity of vanities” is the Hebrew way of indicating the superlative, “the greatest vanity.” Vanity refers not to a narcissistic attachment to one’s appearance, as the word is often used today, but rather to the fleeting, ephemeral nature of life itself. As the author says, life proceeds, sometimes at great speed, but nothing really changes. Streams flow to the seas, but the seas are not full. The eyes take in images continually, but they never stop seeing because they are filled to capacity. Life goes on, but there is nothing new under the sun.

Such sentiments might reflect a kind of despondency, but this is merely the beginning of the author’s quest. If the world really is a continual cycle of events, which are repetitions of past events, how should we live our lives? This is the basic question of the book.

Ecclesiastes 2:1-11

The form of the book of Ecclesiastes is a reflection, a consideration of one’s life from the perspective of advanced years. The author says he has tried several approaches to life in an attempt to find meaning, to get beyond the emptiness (vanity) that seems to characterize it.

His first attempt at finding meaning and happiness was through the pursuit of pleasure. He describes the accumulation of beauty, wealth, entertainment and women, yet at the end of the day, he discovered pleasure was devoid of real, lasting meaning. It was “vanity and chasing after the wind.”

Ecclesiastes 2:12-26

Since pleasure failed to prove worthy of his pursuits, he turned to wisdom. Wisdom undoubtedly has its benefits, he says, for its value is greater than either madness or folly, but in the end, the same fate awaits the wise as awaits the foolish. This arrangement didn’t seem fair to the narrator, but since there was nothing he could do about it, he again despaired, finding the pursuit of wisdom also to be vanity.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-15

Undoubtedly the best-known section of Ecclesiastes is the first part of the third chapter, which lists the times of life. This passage is often read at funerals, to remind mourners that death is another of the times of life to which we are all susceptible. (It was also made famous in song by The Byrds as an anti-war anthem.)

Contrary to its common use as a statement of comfort, the author’s list of the times of life is an indication of the randomness of life, at least from a human perspective. Yes, there is a time to be born and a time to die, but humans are woefully ignorant of when those times arise. There is a time to seek and a time to lose, but who knows which time it is, before it happens?

Verses 2-8 must be read in the context of the statement in 3:11, “God has put eternity in their hearts, yet they cannot discern the works of God from beginning to end.” The author says God has created us with a sense of the eternal in the core of our being. We can grasp the idea of God, but what do we really know about God and God’s works? We may think we know what God is up to, but do we really? People work hard all their lives, and we know God is at work as well, but what is the relationship between the two? As was the case with pleasure and wisdom, work seems to offer no lasting reward, nor does it shed light on the meaning of life.

The “preacher” will conclude his investigation of life before God in next week’s lesson, then he will begin to analyze the results of his investigation in passages to be covered in weeks to come.

Discussion questions

• Christians often make statements about God and God’s deeds, but how sure are we about the veracity of our statements? Is it possible other people of faith could view the same set of events and understand something entirely different about God?

• Of the three pursuits that the author discusses—pleasure, wisdom and work—which are the most commonly pursued today? What are the pros and cons about pursuing each of these goals?

• What goals do people today pursue in search of life’s meaning? Are significant differences in the goals pursued by people from different religious backgrounds? By people from different parts of the world? By people in difference socioeconomic classes?

• How would you compare the statement in Ecclesiastes 1:18, “For in much wisdom is much vexation, and those who increase knowledge increase sorrow,” with Proverbs 4:7, “The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom, and whatever else you get, get insight”? Is it possible to have too much wisdom?

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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: 7/12/06

Bo Pilgrim provides record gift to DBU

DALLAS—Dallas Baptist University took a major step toward construction of its first chapel building in 108 years, thanks to an $8 million contribution from Bo Pilgrim.

The gift from Pilgrim, co-founder and chairman of Pilgrim’s Pride, the second-largest poultry company in the United States and Mexico, represents half the total of DBU’s $16 million Chapel Campaign.

The 1,400-seat Patty and Bo Pilgrim Chapel will be located in the heart of the DBU campus in southwest Dallas.

“We are grateful beyond words for the generosity of Mr. Pilgrim,” DBU President Gary Cook said. “With this gift, we will be able to fulfill a dream for a chapel, which has been on the heart of members of the DBU family ever since we moved to Dallas in 1965.”

Originally established as Decatur Baptist College in 1898, Dallas Baptist College relocated to Dallas in 1965 and became Dallas Baptist University in 1985.

Chapel services have occupied a central role in DBU student life, but not always an ideal location. In To God Be the Glory, a history of DBU’s first 100 years, former DBU Vice President Fred White described the humble conditions inside the first chapel—a huge canvas tent. Male students lost the shine on their shoes, and the girls even lost their shoes sometimes as they waded through the mud to their assigned seats.

Now, the Chapel Campaign promises to redefine the landscape of DBU’s campus, university officials said. Plans call for a colonial-style sanctuary with a steeple that will be the tallest point on University Hill.

Pilgrim Chapel will accommodate DBU’s Monday, Wednesday and Friday student chapel services and host major campus events such as lectures, musical performances and weddings. Additional space will be allocated for DBU’s Alumni Association office, intercessory prayer ministry and the Cook Graduate School of Leadership.

Despite 18 years of continual enrollment increases, DBU remains one of only a few Christian colleges in the United States not to have a permanent chapel facility. Pilgrim Chapel not only will satisfy student-seating needs, but it also will emphasize DBU’s commitment to Christ-centered higher education, university leaders said.

“The Pilgrim Chapel will stand as a symbolic proclamation of our core purpose as an educational enterprise and will serve as a center for spiritual development where our students can worship, connect and grow,” said Adam Wright, DBU’s assistant to the president for advancement.

Pilgrim has been a frequent guest speaker at DBU chapel services held at the Burg Center, a multi-use facility that doubles as the school’s gymnasium. During a recent visit to campus, he presented DBU students, faculty and staff with copies of his biography, One Pilgrim’s Progress, describing his rise in business from humble beginnings to heading Pilgrim’s Pride. During the chapel service, Pilgrim pointed to God’s grace for every good fortune that has come his way.

Pilgrim is a former member of the DBU board of trustees and a recipient of the 1995 DBU Russell H. Perry Free Enterprise Award. In addition, he received an honorary Doctor of Humanities degree from DBU in 2002. Patty and Bo Pilgrim are members of First Baptist Church in Pittsburg. Their son, Ken, is a current member of the DBU board of trustees and executive vice president of Pilgrim’s Pride.

For information on the Patty and Bo Pilgrim Chapel Campaign, contact Adam Wright at (214) 333-5597 or by e-mail at adam@dbu.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: 7/07/06

Baptist colleges face crisis, Godsey says

By Marv Knox

Editor

ATLANTA (ABP)—Baptist higher education faces a monumental crisis, due in large part to abuses of control and financial dependence, longtime university president Kirby Godsey told participants at the Whitsitt Baptist Heritage Society’s annual meeting.

Godsey will retire this summer after 27 years as president of Mercer University in Macon, Ga. He received the Whitsitt Society’s 2006 Courage Award and delivered the society’s Penrose St. Amant Lecture on “The Future of Baptist Higher Education.”

“Baptist politics are wreaking havoc on Baptist higher education,” Godsey said. “Baptist higher education has never been more fragile.”

Because of their dependence upon Baptist state conventions, which provide a portion of their budgets and typically elect at least a majority of their trustees, Baptist schools increasingly are being “forced to sacrifice their intellectual integrity to ensure the flow of funds,” he reported.

Two Baptist universities have been involved in lawsuits with Baptist state conventions with which they are affiliated, and a suit looms on the horizon for another university and convention, Godsey said.

While Baptist educators and denominational leaders can chart a course of hope that benefits both church and school, “our present course is terrible,” he stressed.

“If they do not create a relationship based on mutual respect, Baptist educators will have to make the choice between being Baptists and being educators,” he added.

Control—most particularly financial control—breeds difficulty, he said, noting state conventions’ control over funding is being used to “enforce rigid religious orthodoxy.”

Some Baptists insist that their colleges and universities teach only concepts and ideas that align with their view of the world and religious beliefs, Godsey observed. But such narrow thinking restricts the schools from fulfilling their central mission, he added.

“The university’s highest obligation is to pursue the truth and teach the truth,” he insisted, calling for commitment to academic inquiry and intellectual freedom. “A college or university cannot be a good Baptist college or university without first being a good college or university.”

Baptist schools traditionally have identified themselves with the denomination through “money and history”—receiving partial funding from and/or having a historical relationship with a Baptist convention, he said.

Now schools must “determine what it means in substance to be a Baptist university,” he added.

“What does the college do differently or what priorities are more prevalent because we are a Baptist college or university? … Without coming to terms with our own sense of destiny, we have no place to stand.”

Godsey prescribed several suggestions for advancing educational or intellectual freedom while strengthening churches. They included:

— Re-thinking trustee selection.

In recent years, many schools have been impacted negatively by trustees who are appointed to the institutional boards with specific political/theological agendas, which narrow the schools’ focus, he said.

This “unseemly intrusion of the Religious Right … reflects the fear of a decaying denomination,” he noted. The selection process that puts such trustees in place is outmoded and ineffective, he added.

And it puts pressure on trustees to act against the best interests of the schools whose interests they represent, Godsey said.

“Trustees should not be forced to choose between what’s right for the institution and what’s acceptable to the denomination. … Churches should get out of the business of selecting trustees.”

— Elevate the school’s mission above politics.

“Trustees are accountable not to a church constituency, but to (the school’s) mission,” he explained.

— Replace “language of control.”

Much of the rhetoric surrounding Baptist educational institutions has focused on power, control and win-lose scenarios, he reported, noting this “must yield to the language of cooperation.”

“Baptist churches must be free, and Baptist colleges and universities must be free to pursue intellectual freedom,” he explained. “Denominational leaders trying to control educational decisions is no more appropriate than schools seeking to control pulpits.

“Let the preachers preach and the teachers teach. God’s truth will prevail.”

— Reclaim the power of administrative leadership.

College and university administrators must “lead with resolve,” he said. Administrators, not faculty, are responsible for preserving academic freedom, preventing a “spiral of academic decay.”

“Lead with conviction and courage,” he exhorted university presidents and other administrators.

— Invest in the Baptist ideal.

Baptist principles have “seriously eroded in recent years,” Godsey said, asserting the schools are responsible to “keep alight the light of freedom.”

“Baptist institutions of higher education should take greater responsibility for sustaining the substance and significance of the Baptist witness,” he said. “It’s not the job of the church alone. Hold high the Baptist ideal of freedom.”

After retiring as president at Mercer, Godsey will serve as chancellor and professor at the school, until recently affiliated with the Georgia Baptist Convention.

On receiving the Whitsitt Society’s courage award, Godsey noted: “You don’t always ask to be courageous. You get pushed into it. … Courage is being scared to death and saddling up anyway.”

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: 7/07/06

Yee urges Fellowship
to become fully intercultural

By Marv Knox

Editor

ATLANTA (ABP)—The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship must transcend mere multiculturalism to become fully intercultural, CBF Moderator Joy Yee told participants at the group’s general assembly in Atlanta.

The fellowship of traditional, progressive Baptists can be multicultural simply by gathering people representing various ethnicities, races, geographies, ages, genders and classes in the same place, Yee noted. But to be intercultural, it must dynamically involve each group with all the others, she explained.

Yee, pastor of 19th Avenue Baptist Church in San Francisco, embodies interculturalism. She is the first female senior pastor and first Chinese-American to lead the 15-year-old Atlanta-based CBF. She lives on the West Coast but is the highest elected leader of CBF, an organization primarily associated with the Southeast. And she is a relatively young mother leading a movement founded by the preceding generation.

“I am encouraged by the work CBF does. … Barriers are being broken and diversity is being modeled as we seek to work interculturally,” Yee said.

Under God’s leadership, CBF is becoming intercultural—transcending ethnicity, class, geography, generation, gender, economics and other human barriers, she said.

“To be intercultural implies a mutual respect, communion and unity that does not demand uniformity,” she added. “When we are together, God brings all these cultures into a whole— if we will let him.”

Yee illustrated her call for interculturalism by describing musical harmony.

“Producing beautiful music does not always mean we are singing the same notes or in chords that sound beautiful,” she said. “There is a different richness that comes from adding harmony.”

Sometimes, the harmony is dissonant—sounds that at first appear to clash, but which add richness and texture to the song, she reported.

“Together, we do not all sing the same melody,” Yee said of CBF’s intercultural diversity. “But there are interesting and breathtaking harmonies. Even in dissonance, the song can be more beautiful (because it is) woven around and anchored upon the melody written by God.”

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: 7/07/06

Convocation urges immigration reform

By Craig Bird

Baptist Child & Family Services

ATLANTA (ABP)—The central question in the debate on immigration reform is not about economics or politics, Hispanic Baptist leaders told the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.

“The basic issue is whether Jesus still has a mission to the poor,” Albert Reyes, president of Baptist University of the Americas, explained as he introduced a document titled “Proclamation for Immigration Reform” at a solemn assembly held during the CBF general assembly.

Hispanics are called to a prophetic role on immigration reform, Reyes told about 80 parti-cipants: “Our role is not to make law; we are not legislators. But we are called to encourage those who do make the laws to take a Jesus-type of action.”

The National Convocation of Hispanic Baptist Leaders also focused on the 1-year-old convocation’s purpose—“to create a national network of Hispanic Baptist leaders who work together to provide leadership, encourage ministry and share strategies for Christian impact.”

The one-page immigration proclamation opens by noting, “Our beloved United States of America, a nation of immigrants, is in the midst of the most dramatic immigration policy reform in the 21st century.”

It affirms reforms championed by the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference and others that urge “more responsive legal avenues for workers and their families to enter our country and work, the option … to apply for permanent legal status and citizenship, and border-protection policies that are consistent with humanitarian values.”

The document also cites a Hispanic Baptist Convention of Texas resolution encouraging “proactive involvement of ministry activity among immigrants, documented and undocumented, through prayer and action.”

Jesus “placed the poor and the oppressed at the center of his mission on earth,” the document notes. Congress should “pass just and compassionate legislation that addresses stronger border security, respect for the law and a process for citizenship with regard to U.S. undocumented immigrants,” it adds.

The issue reaches beyond the borders of the United States, stressed Javier Elizondo, vice president of academic affairs at Baptist University of the Americas.

“When we pray, we should also pray for the governments of Mexico and Guatemala and Chile—whichever countries the undocumented come from,” he urged.

Focusing on the National Convocation of Hispanic Baptist Leaders’ purpose statement, Reyes reported that it embraces seven goals:

• “Help Hispanics of all ages excel in their education by completing high school or obtaining a GED (high-school equivalency certificate), and graduating from college.”

Reyes noted the national His-panic school dropout rate is 30 percent to 40 percent. Hispanic Baptists can’t prevent all young people from dropping out of school, but “we can concentrate on the youth in our churches and promote higher education,” he said.

“We need to focus on educating our pastors, because he is the stabilizing force to be passionate about preventing dropouts. It is not a sin that we let them drop out, but it’s very close.”

• “Support Hispanic Baptists who desire to pursue graduate studies and earn doctoral degrees.”

Over time, many Hispanic Baptist leadership positions will become vacant, he said, calling for convocation members to locate doctoral candidates and other potential leaders.

• “Assist in training leaders for Christian ministry among the Hispanic community.”

“In February 2003, Hispanics became the largest ethnic minority in the United States,” Reyes said, noting Hispanics will comprise a majority in Texas by 2015. Those statistics illustrate the need for leaders to start and guide churches.

• “Encourage Hispanic congregations in the U.S. to start churches, evangelize the lost and participate in global missions.”

• “Affirm ministry leadership among Hispanic Baptist women and youth. We have not taken advantage of feminine leadership,” he said. “We can’t wait. The needs are vast.”

• “Connect Hispanic church leaders to Spanish Bible study and discipleship resources.”

• “Promote Hispanic cultural awareness among Baptist churches in the United States.”

“We find ourselves in a global, multicultural context,” Reyes said. “People from all over the world are right here in our communities. We need cross-cultural understanding.”

Marv Knox contributed to this article.

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: 7/07/06

WMU may move annual meeting

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

DALLAS—The Woman’s Missionary Union of Texas board of directors voted to explore holding the missions organization’s 2008 annual meeting at a time other than immediately prior to the Baptist General Convention of Texas annual meeting.

Texas WMU Executive Director-Treasurer Carolyn Porterfield said the board will consider whether moving the meeting could increase attendance and be a wiser use of the organization’s funds. The board will hear the findings of the exploration during its November meeting.

For the past several years, Texas WMU has held its annual meeting on the Sunday before the BGCT annual meeting. However, the meeting has been moved several times, having been scheduled in the spring, during the BGCT annual meeting and after the BGCT annual meeting.

In the current schedule, the Texas WMU annual meeting occurs at the same time as a Hispanic Baptist rally, a Texas Baptist Men rally and an African American Fellowship meeting, Porterfield noted. Women have to choose between the meetings rather than participating in all the events.

“I believe we have been hurt by moving our meeting to Sunday evenings,” Porterfield said.

Texas WMU Executive Director Emeritus Joy Fenner said the women’s organization has “bent over backwards” to hold its annual meeting in conjunction with the BGCT annual meeting—perhaps to the detriment of the Texas WMU gathering.

Porterfield also noted the current two-hour Texas WMU annual meeting costs about $9,000. She believes there may be a more effective way to use those funds—possibly a two-day meeting in the spring. A spring date was discussed, but the board will explore all options before making any final decisions, she said.

“I don’t feel a two-hour meeting is sufficient to do the business we want to do,” Porterfield said, suggesting a longer meeting could allow women to further focus on Texas WMU ministries.

A new annual meeting format also would provide an opportunity for Texas WMU volunteers to be together, since the statewide Texas Leadership Conference has been replaced with regional Awakening conferences, Porterfield said.

The decision to explore other dates for the annual meeting is not a move away from Texas WMU’s support of the BGCT, Porterfield said. Texas WMU leaders remain staunch advocates of the convention and wish to have a presence at the BGCT annual meeting each year, she said.

“This is not about that,” she said. “This is about WMU as an autonomous organization doing what we need to do.”

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.