Archives
-
Baptist Briefs
Posted: 3/02/07
Baptist Briefs
Hammond recommended as NAMB president. The North American Mission Board’s presidential search committee has recommended Geoffrey Hammond to become the agency’s next president. Hammon is senior associate director of the Souther Baptist Conservatives of Virginia. The NAMB board will vote on the recommendation at its March 20-21 meeting. Hammond, 49, is a graduate of Spurgeon’s Seminary in London and earned a doctor of ministry degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
Final Arizona defendants sentenced. The five final defendants affiliated with a fraud scandal at the Baptist Foundation of Arizona have been sentenced. Donald Dale Deardoff, former BFA treasurer, received four years in prison and was ordered to pay $150 million in restitution. Sentenced to three years of supervised probation and ordered to pay restitution after accepting plea agreements were Harold Dewayne Friend, a businessman who allegedly participated in fraudulent financial transactions; Jalma W. Hunsinger, director of two BFA subsidiaries; Edgar Alan Kuhn, former president of two BFA subsidiaries; and Richard Lee Rolfes, former owner of a firm that provided accounting services for some BFA subsidiaries. Last September, former BFA President William Crotts and former legal counsel Thomas Grabinski were sentenced to eight and six years, respectively, on fraud and racketeering charges.
03/03/2007 - By John Rutledge
-
EDITORIAL: Two issues resolved, 3rd straight ahead
Posted: 3/02/07
EDITORIAL:
Two issues resolved, 3rd straight aheadThe last time we met on this page, we waited to see how the Baptist General Convention of Texas Executive Board meeting Feb. 26-27 would turn out. The board faced three key issues. It deftly resolved two of them, but the third still stands as Texas Baptists’ most crucial challenge:
• Church-starting scandal.
A special oversight group presented a positive report on the convention’s response to misappropriation of church-starting funds in the Rio Grande Valley. Executive Board staff took the lead and, supported in some cases by Executive Board directors and others, moved to implement all seven recommendations offered by outside investigators who uncovered the extent of the scandal. Although some parts of a few recommendations are not completely functional, progress has been solid. (See story, page 2.)
“Vigilance” is the watchword for moving forward in BGCT church-starting. But Texas Baptists can feel confident lessons have been learned, accountability processes are being put in place and we will benefit from a stronger, more reliable church-starting program.
03/03/2007 - By John Rutledge
-
Politics plays role in hunger elimination, Beckmann says
Posted: 3/02/07
Politics plays role in hunger
elimination, Beckmann says
By Hannah Elliott
Associated Baptist Press
AUSTIN (ABP)—The movement to eradicate hunger and extreme poverty for millions of people around the world is not a lost cause, the president of Bread for the World stressed.
In fact, despite the population explosion, the number of people who are undernourished is slightly lower now than it was in the early 1970s, David Beckmann said. He participated in the Ethics Without Borders conference in Austin, organized by the Baptist General Convention of Texas’ Christian Life Commission.
David Beckmann of Bread for the World says he believes it is possible to cut hunger and poverty in half before 2015. (Photo by John Hall) 03/03/2007 - By John Rutledge
-
‘Clash of civilizations’ view too simplistic, expert says
Posted: 3/02/07
‘Clash of civilizations’ view
too simplistic, expert says
By Hannah Elliott
Associated Baptist Press
AUSTIN (ABP)—The “clash of civilizations” view of Muslim and Christian conflict only prolongs problems and encourages dangerous forms of fundamentalism, a prominent scholar told participants at the Ethics Without Borders conference.
Charles Kimball, who has visited the Middle East 40 times and worked closely with Congress, the White House and the State Department, spoke at the event, organized by the Baptist General Convention of Texas’ Christian Life Commission.
Charles Kimball, a religion professor at Wake Forest University, says an “us-versus-them” mentality toward Islam shows a deep bias on the part of Westerners. (Photo by John Hall) 03/03/2007 - By John Rutledge
-
Networked church key to ministering in 21st century
Posted: 3/02/07
Networked church key
to ministering in 21st century
By John Hall
Texas Baptist Communications
AUSTIN—A “networked” church is poised for ministry in the 21st century, Anna Robbins of the London School of Theology claimed.
The world is being stretched by the simultaneous emphasis on context and culture as well as belief in a worldwide bond, Robbins said.
03/03/2007 - By John Rutledge
-
Development key in Texas Baptist fight against world hunger
Posted: 3/02/07
Development key in Texas Baptist
fight against world hunger
By John Hall
Texas Baptist Communications
The Texas Baptist Offering for World Hunger feeds people today, tomorrow and long into the future.
Funds given through the offering are used to purchase food for starving families around the world, but more than of half of the donated money is used to empower people to support themselves.
03/03/2007 - By John Rutledge
-
Christian Churches Together seeks united front against poverty
Posted: 3/02/07
Christian Churches Together
seeks united front against poverty
PASADENA, Calif. (ABP)—Leaders from 36 Christian bodies and religious organizations have issued a joint statement addressing domestic poverty and urging constituents to alleviate the problem as part of their Christian duty.
“As Christian leaders in the wealthiest society on earth, we are called by God to urge our churches and nation to strengthen and expand efforts to address the scandal of widespread poverty in the United States and around the world,” the statement said. “The gospel and our ethical principles place our service of the poor and vulnerable and our work for justice at the center of Christian life and witness.”
Leaders convened at a meeting organized by Christian Churches Together, a loose coalition begun in 2001 to unify the “diverse expressions of Christian faith today.” It includes representatives from evangelical, Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Pentecostal and Protestant congregations.
Leonid Kishkovsky of the Orthodox Church of America said the annual gathering is “good news” for American Christians.
03/03/2007 - By John Rutledge
-
Faith Digest
Posted: 3/02/07
Faith Digest
No pope for Anglicans. An Anglican-Catholic commission has warned that doctrinal disputes within the Anglican Communion are an obstacle to unity between the two churches. An upcoming report by the International Anglican-Roman Catholic Commission for Unity and Mission lays out areas of doctrinal agreement and disagreement between the two churches and outlines ways to continue ecumenical dialogue. But contrary to rumors, officials said, the report does not propose a plan for Anglicans to unite under the pope. “Talk of plans to reunite the two communions is, sadly, much exaggerated,” the commission said. The “present context” of Anglican dispute would make it premature to issue a formal Anglican-Catholic statement of shared beliefs, which was the goal set by Anglican and Catholic bishops who launched the commission in 2000.
Beliefnet names ‘most influential black spiritual leaders.’ Two Texas pastors—T.D. Jakes of the Potter’s House in Dallas and Kirbyjohn Caldwell of Windsor Village United Methodist Church in Houston—have been listed among the 17 “most influential black spiritual leaders” by Beliefnet, an interfaith website. “Whether inspiring their congregations to stand up against social injustice or urging a focus on God-centered family values, African-American religious leaders are a crucial component of a rich and diverse spiritual landscape,” the Beliefnet editors wrote in their introduction to the list. Others on the list include William Shaw, president of the National Baptist Convention, USA, and Gardner Taylor, senior pastor emeritus of Concord Baptist Church of Christ in Brooklyn, N.Y.
03/03/2007 - By John Rutledge
-
Author seeks to connect the dots between sex and God
Posted: 3/02/07
Author seeks to connect the
dots between sex and God
By Charles Honey
Grand Rapids Press
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (RNS)—About halfway through his new book, Sex God, Rob Bell recalls a scene of exquisite torture at a middle-school dance.
He was 12, lined up with all the boys on one side of the cafeteria, while all the girls were lined up on the other. Then he worked up the guts to “bravely venture across this massive chasm” and ask a girl to dance.
03/03/2007 - By John Rutledge
