2007 Archives
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Small coffee company takes ‘fair trade’ one step further
Posted: 4/13/07
Roastmaster Matt MacBride moves freshly roasted beans through a cooling pan at the Beneficio Coffee Co. in Sacramento, Calif. (RNS PHOTOS/Max Whittaker) Small coffee company takes
‘fair trade’ one step furtherBy Joanna Corman
Religion News Service
SACRAMENTO, Calif.—For the 15 years that Tom Angus worked for a company that negotiated the lowest possible prices for coffee beans, he occasionally would travel to Costa Rica, meet with farmers and hear about their desperate poverty and how they were losing their land.
Angus insists he was able to remain “mentally disconnected” from the poverty he saw.
04/13/2007 - By John Rutledge
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Book Reviews
Posted: 4/13/07
Book Reviews
River Rising by Athol Dickson (Bethany House)
Welcome to 1927 Louisiana. Pilotville is a sleepy little Gulf Coast town, unique it its equal treatment of all people, regardless of their color. It’s a town that takes pride in its generous spirit while turning a blind eye to the shroud of fear that sits heavy on its African-American citizens. Until, that is, Reverend Hale Poser arrives in search of his past.
River Rising is a story about the search for a lost baby girl by a man in search of his parents. What he discovers is that Pilotville, an apparent oasis of equality, is really the last stronghold of slavery and racism.
What are you reading that other Texas Baptists would find helpful? Send suggestions and reviews to books@baptiststandard.com. The novel also is the story of faith. And as we follow Poser’s realization that he is a miracle worker, we discover the greatest mystery of all. True faith is something we must work out “behind our backs.” The moment we become aware of it, it disappears.
04/13/2007 - By John Rutledge
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Baptist Briefs
Posted: 4/13/07
Baptist Briefs
Georgia Baptist communicator killed.
Diane Reasoner Diane Reasoner, 57, longtime communications specialist for the Georgia Baptist Convention, was killed in an auto accident April 1 in metro Atlanta. Her husband, Richard, clinical director of Christian Counseling and Psychological Service, in Suwanee, Ga., was injured in the three-car accident on Interstate 985 that killed two and seriously injured five others. Diane Reasoner had worked for the Georgia Baptist Convention 20 years. She oversaw the work of the Georgia Religion News weekly radio program, electronic media, the convention website, public relations and print materials. She also was developing Georgia Baptists’ Internet radio ministry, scheduled to launch in May. In addition to her husband, she is survived by two sons, Rich and Rob, and three grandsons. Reasoner was a member, along with her husband, at First Baptist Church of Duluth, Ga.
Baptist historian to be honored.
04/13/2007 - By John Rutledge
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Self-examination benefits church with pastor, too
Posted: 4/13/07
Self-examination benefits
church with pastor, tooBy Jonathan Petty
Wayland Baptist University
PLAINVIEW—At some point, every church needs to step back and re-evaluate its purpose. Micheal Summers, Wayland Baptist University’s director of church services, believes an intentional interim minister can most effectively lead churches through that process, but churches with pastors can benefit, also.
Summers has served as intentional interim throughout his 10-year tenure with Wayland. In his experience, he always has seen churches grow as a result of the process.
Micheal Summers 04/13/2007 - By John Rutledge
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Standard, others launch new era of collaboration
Posted: 4/13/07
Standard, others launch
new era of collaboration
The current print edition of the Baptist Standard represents the first in a collaborative venture that also involves Associated Baptist Press and the Virginia Baptist Religious Herald and soon will expand to include the Missouri Baptist Word & Way.
The editorial staffs of each partner in the venture now work together to select content for many of the pages that contain stories of general interest, including the cover stories and related articles. Lindsay Bergstrom of Associated Baptist Press then provides the graphic design for each of those jointly planned pages.
The collaborative arrangement not only provides cost savings for partner publications that split the cost of the design fee, but also broadens the scope of each newspaper, Baptist Standard Editor Marv Knox noted.
“Baptist Standard readers will benefit from the combined newsgathering resources of our partners as we work together,” Knox said.
04/13/2007 - By John Rutledge
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2nd Opinion: Good manners & speaking truth
Posted: 4/13/07
2nd Opinion:
Good manners & speaking truthBy Beth Newman
The early onset of the presidential campaign has brought a call for a “return to civility.” There seems, however, little prospect for any immediate restoration of such civility, assuming it ever existed. We’re not sure any longer what such civility would look like; and there is a great deal at stake.
In Cormac McCarthy’s novel No Country for Old Men, Sheriff Bell is speculating on the causes of violence enveloping his Texas county: “It starts when you begin to overlook bad manners. Any time you quit hearin’ ‘Sir’ and ‘Ma’am,’ the end is pretty much in sight.” This observation provoked some amusement for reviewers, but McCarthy is quite serious. He knows—and we ought to remember—manners always are a code for something deeper. They proceed from a prior understanding of the world.
But as odd as it might sound, “manners” as lack of offense has led to a distortion of Christian discipleship. The pressure to be nice, maintain civility, get along, be agreeable has crippled our ability to speak truthfully. Too often, these kind of “manners” picture God as a therapeutic nice guy who simply wants us to be nice too.
As is well known, Jesus’ words offended his listeners time and again.
04/13/2007 - By John Rutledge
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DOWN HOME: Bundle of fur mends broken hearts
Posted: 4/13/07
DOWN HOME:
Bundle of fur mends broken heartsGuilt pangs strike at the oddest moments.
Like when I’m cuddling with her, amazed by her comely looks and loving nature. Suddenly, I realize the reason she’s here is because the one who came before her no longer is part of my life.
Then, when I’m startled or excited, I forget for a second, and I call her the name of the one who came before her. Although she never acknowledges the slip, I feel absolutely awful.
Adjusting to a new puppy never is simple. Especially when the one who came before her was part of our family 14 years.
04/13/2007 - By John Rutledge
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EDITORIAL: BGCT prepares for torch to be passed
Posted: 4/13/07
EDITORIAL:
BGCT prepares for torch to be passedCharles Wade’s announced retirement means 2007 will be an exceptional year for the Baptist General Convention of Texas.
Of course, Wade won’t retire as executive director of the BGCT Executive Board until early next year. But several processes that will occur in the coming months will ensure 2007’s legacy as a red-letter year in BGCT history: Wade will spend much of the year focusing on work begun during his tenure, seeking to complete several projects. A committee selected by Executive Board and BGCT officers will nominate Wade’s successor, who should be elected in early fall. And the executive director-elect should work alongside Wade for three months, seeking to ensure a smooth leadership transition.
So, 2007 will be a pivotal year for the BGCT, as one era ends and another begins. This doesn’t happen often. In the past century, only 14 people have held this post, and that number was padded by three short tenures in the late 1920s and early ’30s. Only five leaders have been executive director in the past 54 years, and the impact of each rippled into the tenure of the next one. History teaches us the shadow of Wade’s legacy will fall onto the new days of his successor.
At the proper time near his retirement, the Baptist Standard will offer a retrospective of the eight-year Wade administration. Now, however, several items bear remembering.
04/13/2007 - By John Rutledge
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Fair Trade sales skyrocket
Posted: 4/13/07
Fair Trade sales skyrocket
By Katherine Boyle
Religion News Service
WASHINGTON (RNS)—Fair Trade sales are skyrocketing across the nation, with programs selling more coffee, handicrafts and chocolate from Third World countries than ever before.
“Fair Trade gives people of faith the option of an ethical consumer choice,” said Kattie Sommerfeld, the Fair Trade projects coordinator at Lutheran World Relief, where handicraft sales have doubled over the past year. “It’s a holistic approach to helping development.”
04/13/2007 - By John Rutledge
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Faith Digest
Posted: 4/13/07
Faith Digest
Amish school reopens after shooting. Amish children entered their new school in Lancaster County, Penn., exactly six months after a gun-toting neighbor walked into their old schoolhouse and shot 10 students, killing five. The Amish demolished the old schoolhouse to erase a reminder of the horror experienced there. Four of the five girls who were shot Oct. 2 have returned to the new school, called New Hope Amish School. The fifth, a 6-year-old, needs a feeding tube and is not able to communicate, the Associated Press reported.
Flying imams test tolerance. Six Muslim imams filed suit after being thrown off a US Airways flight when other passengers reported suspicious behavior. The imams allegedly were praying in their seats, speaking negatively about President Bush and the Iraq war and asking for longer seatbelts, which passengers feared would be used as weapons. The imams are suing the airline, the airport and “those who may have knowingly made false reports against the imams with the intent to discriminate against them,” according to a letter from the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Washington-based Muslim civil rights group. The news prompted the U.S. House to pass shield laws to protect individuals who report suspicious behavior.
04/13/2007 - By John Rutledge
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Texas Baptist named to head international aid ministry
Posted: 4/13/07
Dearing Garner, recently named executive director of Children’s Emergency Relief International (the overseas arm of Baptist Child & Family Services), visits with a resident of the Brinzen Home for mentally handicapped adults in Moldova. Garner was there directing distribution of 12,495 pairs of winter boots as part of a CERI program. (BCFS photo/Craig Bird) Texas Baptist named to
head international aid ministryBy Craig Bird
Baptist Child & Family Services
Dearing Garner, longtime Texas Baptist pastor, has been named executive director of Children’s Emergency Relief International, the Houston-based overseas arm of Baptist Child & Family Services.
Garner previously headed the agency’s work in Africa. Steve Davis, who had the organization’s work in Moldova, has been named associate executive director of the agency.
04/13/2007 - By John Rutledge
