Archives
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Holiday visit with Kenyan orphans changed students’ perspective on world
Posted: 1/24/07
UMHB students Terah Sellers (left) and Katie Speckman sit with all the boys who live at the Good Hope Children’s Home in Nairobi, Kenya, while visiting for Christmas. Holiday visit with Kenyan orphans
changed students' perspective on worldBy Jennifer Sicking
University of Mary Hardin-Baylor
BELTON—Instead of spending her Christmas with her family, University of Mary Hardin-Baylor senior Katie Speckman opted to spend it with 40 children in Africa.
“It was really hard. It was the first time I’d ever done it,” said Speckman, an elementary education major from New Braunfels, about spending the holiday away from home.
01/24/2007 - By John Rutledge
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SBC officials accuse Carter of ‘voodoo ecumenism’
Posted: 1/22/07
SBC officials accuse Carter
of ‘voodoo ecumenism’By Greg Warner
Associated Baptist Press
ATLANTA (ABP)—Southern Baptist officials harshly rejected Jimmy Carter’s effort to unite all Baptists in North America under a compassion agenda, calling the ambitious plan “voodoo ecumenism” and a thinly veiled Democratic strategy to woo values voters.
But other Southern Baptists, including some reform-minded younger conservatives, called the SBC response un-Christ-like and prejudicial criticism from “fundamentalist elites.”
01/22/2007 - By John Rutledge
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Planned 2008 convocation grows from desire for ‘new Baptist voice’
Updated: 1/19/07
Former Presidents Jimmy Carter (at podium) and Bill Clinton (behind him) with Mercer University President Bill Underwood (right) introduce a gathering of more than 30 Baptist leaders at The Carter Center. The group is calling for a convocation of Baptists next year. (CBF Photo by Billy Howard) Planned 2008 convocation grows
from desire for ‘new Baptist voice’By Robert Marus & Greg Warner
Associated Baptist Press
ATLANTA (ABP)—The nation’s two living Baptist ex-presidents have called for a historic convocation in Atlanta next year, intended to improve the negative image of Baptists in North America and unite the majority of Baptists into a loose-knit network to address social ills.
President Jimmy Carter and President Bill Clinton will announce the 2008 convocation in a Jan. 9 press conference in Atlanta, following a meeting of about 80 diverse Baptist leaders at the Carter Presidential Center.
See Related Articles:
• Carter, Clinton use convocation to call Baptists to compassion
• Planned 2008 convocation grows from desire for ‘new Baptist voice’
• Texas Baptist leaders applaud call for inclusive convocation’
• Baptist leaders insist covenant offers chance to heal racial wounds’01/19/2007 - By John Rutledge
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Faith leaders tell Congress: Deliver on promises made to values voters
Updated: 1/19/07
Faith leaders tell Congress: Deliver
on promises made to values votersBy Hannah Elliott
Associated Baptist Press
WASHINGTON (ABP)—Faith leaders are calling for members of Congress to deliver on promises made to values voters during the 2006 mid-term elections.
In a Jan. 9 panel discussion, representatives from Sojourners/Call to Renewal, the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, Let Justice Roll, Christian Peace Witness for Iraq, the National Association of Evangelicals and the National Religious Campaign Against Torture asked Congress to “deliver concrete gains on issues of deep concern to religious voters.”
01/19/2007 - By John Rutledge
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BGCT president’s wife donates building to Lubbock ministry
Updated: 1/19/07
BGCT president’s wife donates
building to Lubbock ministryBy John Hall
Texas Baptist Communications
LEVELLAND—Donna Vernon is donating a Texas Baptist Men-constructed building she won in a drawing at the Baptist General Convention of Texas annual meeting to My Father’s House, Lubbock.
TBM volunteers had constructed the building on-site at the BGCT annual meeting as an exhibition of the organization’s church-building ministry.
01/19/2007 - By John Rutledge
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Students learn to own their faith during college years
Updated: 1/19/07
Students grow up, learn to make
faith their own during college yearsBy Teresa Young
Wayland Baptist University
PLAINVIEW—A teenager might have been the leader of the pack at the church youth group during high school. Or maybe she was the quiet, loyal one who showed up every Sunday and every fellowship. Or maybe he wasn’t very interested at all in church things.
Regardless how involved in church teens were before high school graduation, things are certain to change somewhat when they reach college, whether they’re living in the same town or miles away. But Gary Manning, professor of religion at Wayland Baptist University, insists parents have no reason to panic.
Campus religious events, such as the weekly Plumbline worship service held at Wayland Baptist University, are intended to help students explore their faith and grow spiritually while in college. Related Articles:
• Students learn to own their faith during college years
• Young adults will leave church if they’re overlooked, study says01/19/2007 - By John Rutledge
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Young adults will leave church if they’re overlooked, study says
Updated: 1/19/07
Young adults will leave church
if they’re overlooked, study saysBy Libby Lovelace
LifeWay Christian Resources
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)—More young adults are falling away from church and finding church irrelevant to their lives because their needs are not being met, new statistics released by LifeWay Christian Resources revealed.
In 1980, more than 100,000 people age 18 to 34 were baptized in Southern Baptist churches. But in 2005, that number fell to 60,000—a drastic drop considering the United States population has climbed above 300 million.
Research Project Results:
• Most important spiritual opportunities for young adults who attend church regularly• Most important spiritual opportunities for young adults who do not attend church regularly
Related Articles:
• Students learn to own their faith during college years
• Young adults will leave church if they’re overlooked, study says01/19/2007 - By John Rutledge
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Texas Baptist leaders applaud call for inclusive convocation
Updated: 1/19/07
Texas Baptist leaders applaud
call for inclusive convocationBy Barbara Bedrick
Texas Baptist Communications
ATLANTA—Texas Baptist leaders affirmed former President Jimmy Carter’s call for an inclusive convocation of North American Baptists next year.
Baptist General Convention of Texas Executive Director Charles Wade joined Carter and more than 80 leaders of about 40 Baptist groups in announcing plans for convocation, tentatively slated for Jan. 30-Feb.1, 2008, in Atlanta.
See Related Articles:
• Carter, Clinton use convocation to call Baptists to compassion
• Planned 2008 convocation grows from desire for ‘new Baptist voice’
• Texas Baptist leaders applaud call for inclusive convocation’
• Baptist leaders insist covenant offers chance to heal racial wounds’01/19/2007 - By John Rutledge
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Baptist leaders insist covenant offers chance to heal racial wounds
Updated: 1/19/07
Baptist leaders insist covenant
offers chance to heal racial woundsBy Greg Warner
Associated Baptist Press
ATLANTA (ABP)—Advocates of the New Baptist Covenant championed by former presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton predicted it will help heal the racial divide that has separated Baptists in America since before the Civil War.
William Shaw, president of the National Baptist Convention USA, said a New Baptist Covenant championed by former President Jimmy Carter holds the potential for Baptists across racial lines to address issues in “nonpartisan … (but) prophetic ways.” (RNS file photo by Aimee Jeansonne) Speaking on behalf of 40 Baptist denominations and organizations in the United States and Canada Jan. 9, Carter and Clinton—two of the world’s most famous Baptist laymen—announced the groups had committed to put aside more than a century and a half of social and theological differences to unite behind an agenda of compassionate ministry.
See Related Articles:
• Carter, Clinton use convocation to call Baptists to compassion
• Planned 2008 convocation grows from desire for ‘new Baptist voice’
• Texas Baptist leaders applaud call for inclusive convocation’
• Baptist leaders insist covenant offers chance to heal racial wounds’01/19/2007 - By John Rutledge
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Reyes sees move to Buckner as natural progression
Updated: 1/19/07
Reyes sees move to Buckner as natural progression
By Marv Knox
Editor
Although Albert Reyes’ recent career change caught many Texas Baptists by surprise, he sees it as the next step in God’s plan for his life: An opportunity to minister to millions of orphans whose lives may make an impact on the world.
Nearly eight years ago, Reyes became president of Baptist University of the Americas, a multi-cultural training school for ministers in San Antonio. Under his leadership, BUA multiplied its enrollment, gained certification to grant academic degrees, earned national accreditation and launched a campaign to construct a new campus.
Albert Reyes 01/19/2007 - By John Rutledge
