2007 Archives
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WMU joins directors of missions as associations celebrate 300 years
Posted: 6/12/07
Russell Cook (left), director of missions for Pottawatomie-Lincoln Baptist Association in Oklahoma, was elected president of the Southern Baptist Conference of Associational Directors of Missions at that organization's annual meeting June 10-11 in San Antonio. Wesley Pitts, DOM of Long Run Baptist Association in Kentucky, will serve as first vice president. Ron Davis (not pictured) of Greenville Baptist Association, Greenville, South Carolina, was elected second vice president. Tampa Bay Baptist Association DOM Tom Biles (right) will serve on the SBCADOM executive committee for 2007-08 as immediate past president. WMU joins directors of missions
as associations celebrate 300 yearsBy Vicki Brown
Special Assignment
SAN ANTONIO—Unless associational leaders pray for and work with their churches, they run the risk of becoming “as obsolete as a horse and buggy in a NASCAR world,” Jim Henry of Orlando, Fla., admonished Southern Baptist directors of missions.
Henry, a former Southern Baptist Convention president and pastor emeritus of First Baptist Church in Orlando, was the featured speaker as the Southern Baptist Conference of Associational Directors of Missions celebrated 300 years of associational work in the United States June 10.
06/12/2007 - By John Rutledge
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Cybercolumn by Berry D. Simpson: Drinking coffee
Posted: 6/08/07
CYBER COLUMN:
Drinking coffee
By Berry D. Simpson
Every morning when I get to my office, I go through the same routine: I turn on my computer and enter the password so it can run through the boot-up process. Then I walk down the hall to the breakroom coffee maker, move the half-filled pot of regular coffee up to the second warmer and start brewing a pot of decaf . While I wait for the pot to fill, I stand around and crack some jokes or talk about books or movies or theology and then fill my black coffee mug (black mugs don’t have to be washed as often as other colors; in fact, maybe they never have to be washed) and go back to my office and enjoy my coffee and read my morning e-mails.
Berry D. Simpson The first cup of coffee is the best cup of my day. I never stop for coffee on the way to the office, and if I go somewhere for breakfast, I usually drink a Diet Coke. I don’t drink a lot of coffee—at most about three cups in a given morning. I seldom drink coffee in the afternoons unless it is very cold outside. I don’t drink much coffee at home, since Cyndi doesn’t drink it even though she often offers to make it for me.
06/08/2007 - By John Rutledge
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Around the State
Posted: 6/08/07
The 2007 Young Maston Scholars were named as a part of the T.B. Maston Christian Ethics Lectures held at Hardin-Simmons University’s Logsdon Theological Seminary. Scholars and presenters pictured are (front row, left to right) Tommy Brisco, dean of Logsdon Seminary; Taryn Nash, Houston Baptist University; Leslie Strickland, Hardin-Simmons University; Bill Tillman, Maston Professor of Christian Ethics; and Allen Verhey, professor of Christian ethics at Duke University and guest lecturer. Second row, Josh Gibb, HBU; Ryan Saenz, HSU; Chris Talleri, East Texas Baptist University; Chris Bertolino, University of Mary Hardin-Baylor; and Andrea Dale Huffman, Howard Payne University. Third row, Katherine Schnell, Baylor University; and Austin Fischer, UMHB. Fourth row, Gary Price, ETBU; Galan Hughes, Baylor; and Andy O’Quinn, HPU. Around the State
• Rob Nash, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship global missions coordinator, will be the featured speaker at the Truett Theological Seminary luncheon scheduled during the CBF general assembly in Washington, D.C. The luncheon will be held from 12:15 p.m. to 1:45 p.m. Friday, June 29, at the Grand Hyatt, Constitution Ballroom C/D. Reservations are required, and the cost is $50. For more information, call (318) 442-7773.
• Four students received doctor of ministry degrees at Baylor University’s Truett Theological Seminary spring commencement ceremony. Receiving doctorates were Angela Bryant of Picayune, Miss., Charles Chu of Austin, Dean Meade of Victoria and James Palmer Jr. of Marshall. Three students also earned master of theological studies degrees, and there were 40 master of divinity graduates.
• Four Howard Payne University students have been selected to receive the Hatton W. Sumners Foundation scholarship in the Douglas MacArthur Academy of Freedom Honors Program. The recipients, all juniors, are Emily Gore of Grand Prairie, Jennifer Middleton of Katy, Jordan Humphreys of Arlington and Tricia Rosetty of Houston. The scholarship provides $9,000 a year for two years.
A team from First Church in Georgetown travelled to Brazil and ministered in a variety of ways, including bestowing bags of small gifts and toiletries to children involved in an after-school ministry called Projecto Vida in Novo Hamburgo. This young boy was so excited, he immediately took his bag to his mother to show off his treasures. The team also participated in house-church meetings and assisted three missionary couples in reaching out to the German Brazilian people living in the area. • Dallas Baptist University honored Jeannette Sadler and the Methodist Health System with its Good Samaritan Award at its annual partnership dinner. Sadler has been a member of Cliff Temple Church in Dallas 80 years and recently began work with Buckner International and the church to fund a community outreach center that will bear her and her late husband’s names. She also has served DBU as a member of the board of trustees and a financial donor. Methodist Health Systems was recognized for more than 80 years of meeting the health needs of North Texans.
06/08/2007 - By John Rutledge
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What to do if a minister is accused of sexual misconduct
Posted: 6/08/07
What to do if a minister
is accused of sexual misconductBy Jim White
Virginia Religious Herald
Most pastors and staff members are aware that ministry sometimes puts them in unique circumstances with all kinds of people. Most also are aware that a rumor of wrongdoing often is enough to end an otherwise fruitful ministry. For this reason, wisdom requires taking precautions to protect one’s reputation and ministry.
Occasionally, however, the unthinkable will occur. Someone will accuse a minister of sexual misconduct. Because church members are trusting people, and because such allegations are rare, most never have considered what they would do if such charges were made against one of their ministers.
See Related Articles:
• The recycle of clergy abuse
• What to do if a minister is accused of sexual misconduct
• Breaking the cycle
• Stepping over the line: Should sexually straying clergy be restored to ministry?
• Sexual predators often fly under the radar at church
• Sex-abuse victims speak up to help others & find healing themselves
• Ministers not immune from sexual addiction06/08/2007 - By John Rutledge
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Stepping over the line: Should sexually straying clergy be restored to ministry?
Posted: 6/08/07
Stepping over the line: Should sexually
straying clergy be restored to ministry?
By Ken Camp
Managing Editor
DALLAS—Some Baptists consider sexual misconduct by clergy the unpardonable sin when it comes to hiring church staff, and many survivors of abuse agree. But others say it depends on which scarlet letter the minister wears—“W” for “wanderer” or a “P” for “predator.”
Ethicist Joe Trull accepts the distinction between wanderers and predators. He explained the difference between the two types of offenders in a book he and James Carter, former director of church-minister relations with the Louisiana Baptist Convention, wrote on ministerial ethics.
06/08/2007 - By John Rutledge
