Posted: 8/18/06

Baptist Briefs

Foundation grant benefits CBF medical missions. Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Global Missions received a $66,000 grant from the W.C. English Foundation to support the ministry of a CBF medical missions worker in the Middle East. The grant will benefit a CBF worker who serves as medical consultant for a micro-enterprise that hires people with physical disabilities. She offers medical screening, first aid and health education to the employees.

No medical insurance rate increases for 2007. Participants in GuideStone Financial Resources’ personal medical plans will receive no rate increase for 2007—the third year in a row with no rate hike, GuideStone President O.S. Hawkins reported to the agency’s trustees. Other than regular age increases, no personal medical plan participants will receive rate increases, and 40 percent will see their rates decrease, he announced. All state Baptist conventions that have their medical coverage with GuideStone will receive no rate increase in 2007, and 46 percent of the conventions will receive a rate decrease. For all other group plans, 88 percent will receive no increase, and 53 percent will receive a rate decrease.

NAMB leader resigns pastorate to press hot-button issues. Terry Fox, former chairman of the Southern Baptist North American Mission Board and chair of the NAMB presidential search committee, resigned as pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church in Wichita, Kan., after 10 years, saying he wants to spend more time traveling the country to encourage conservative Christian involvement in addressing issues such as same-sex marriage, evolution and abortion. He was instrumental in pressuring the Kansas legislature to place a constitutional marriage amendment on the ballot, and he has been involved in an ongoing battle in the state over teaching evolution in public school science curriculum.

Posted: 8/18/06

BUA students help alumni
in churches across the South

Students from Baptist University of the Americas spent most of their summer traveling through the South—not South America, but seven states south of the Mason-Dixon Line.

BUA students worked on mission projects, conducted Va-cation Bible Schools and parti-cipated in community outreach efforts with Hispanic churches led by alumni of the Texas Baptist school.

“The pastors were so happy to see us,” said Cesar Casasola, a student from Guatemala. “I was surprised to find so many Guatemalans who had come to work on the poultry farms in Alabama.”

The growing Hispanic churches in these communities are a vital source of social support, as well as spiritual nurture, he noted. The students learned how growing opportunities for Hispanic workers in these communities also bring occasional cross-cultural tensions that the churches help members learn to manage.

“Guatemalans tend to be humble people, so it’s easy for them to get taken advantage of. We saw how the churches really encourage the people and help them adjust to American life,” Casasola said.

Casasola’s favorite stop was Lynchburg, Va., where students worked with La Iglesia de Las Americas, a multicultural church that includes Latin Americans, Africans and Asians among its membership.

Under the direction of Pastor Carlos Payán, the team conducted neighborhood evangelism projects alongside other area ministry students and church members.

“The culture of the church was just so rich and open to including everyone,” Cassola said. “It’s the kind of church I would like to serve someday.”

The students also witnessed involvement of Anglo churches in Hispanic ministries when they worked with BUA alumnus Jesus Amaya in Owensboro, Ky.

As Hispanic ministries pastor at Bellevue Baptist Church, Amaya leads worship services and oversees a program of English and life-skills classes.

Student Ester Vallejos of Argentina particularly was impressed with how the Anglo and Hispanic church members work together.

“The Hispanic and Anglo members go out in teams to invite people from the community to come attend English classes,” she said.

“Several of the Anglo members speak Spanish, and then they also teach the classes together. The Anglo youth also build relationships with Hispanic youth in the community through basketball games.”

The community outreach of the student team also helped spread the word about a Hispanic festival the church was to host where more than 1,000 Hispanics were expected for a soccer tournament, food, music and games.

Posted: 8/18/06

Posted: 8/18/06

Artist offers new twist on ancient Christian symbols

By George Henson

Staff Writer

LEWISVILLE—A new twist on a couple of Christian symbols may be just the conversation-starter needed to turn an accidental meeting into a divine appointment, a trio of Texas brothers believe.

Seen from one perspective, a cross is visible. From another, twisted metal bears no identifiable shape. A little more twist, and the fish symbol of Christianity appears.

Scott Cavness said the desire to present the gospel to the world in a fresh way first led him to ask his brother Jac, an artist, to investigate the possibilities.

Jac Cavness has long held a fascination with turning three-dimensional objects into two-dimensional images. While many people tried to draw boxes on paper to appear to be cubes, no one was trying to do the opposite.

He developed the idea of contorting lines in such a way that they would depict one shape from one dimension and something totally different from another. He calls his artwork perspective sculpture.

That transition from one shape to no shape and then to a second shape gave rise to the company name Eyevolver Sculpture Designs. Jac Cavness also designs larger metal sculptures, one of which sits outside the San Angelo Museum of Art.

A large model of the cross/fish also has been made, but as yet it sits in Scott Cavness’ backyard instead of in front of church, where Cavness hopes it soon will be. He wants it mounted on a pivoting base so the perspective will change each time a person passes.

“We want it to reach out and grab people as they drive by as a way for a church to say, ‘We’re trying to reach out to the world in a contemporary way,’” he explained.

The business team involves Jac as designer, Scott as CEO and president, and brother Tom as project manager.

Scott Cavness said that what his brother, Jac, has done artistically with the cross and fish is unique.

“People have put them together in many beautiful ways, but never like this,” he said.

The pieces, which now come in table models for home décor as well as necklaces, earrings and crystalline keychains, are far more than pretty objects, he insisted. The designs can been seen at www.eyevolver.com.

“This, in a small way, maybe illustrates how the secular world sees God,” Scott Cavness said. “In the secular world, if you look at God from a weird angle, it doesn’t make sense. But as you move to a perspective where you can see God for who he really is, it all starts to make sense.”

He hopes the artwork helps open conversations that may in time lead to conversions.

“The church is trying new and contemporary ways to reach the world for Christ, and this is an attempt to be a small part of that,” Cavness said. “Like God’s design for salvation is simple, this is simple, once you see it from the right perspective.”

Since Cavness believes the process is new, intellectual property rights have been applied for with the U.S. Patent Office. Scott Cavness is sure the concept really originated in the mind of God, however.

Referring to the earrings and necklace that hang from a free-spinning pivot, he said: ‘It’s my prayer that we’ll give people a new way to say, ‘I’m reaching out to make a stand for Christ.’ Because what I’ve seen in wearing the necklace is that people are drawn to it like nothing else I’ve seen. So many people have seen a cross hang from someone’s neck that now they see a cross and just go on. Maybe this will help them see the cross and pause long enough to ponder its significance.

“Not all sermons are spoken, and I hope we’ll be successful in using this to reach people for Christ.”

Posted: 8/18/06

2nd Opinion:
Stem-cell stand: Right but doomed

By David Gushee

President Bush’s veto this summer of any change in his stem-cell research policy was derided by many as a sop to his conservative base. But the price the president and his party are sure to pay for this decision leads me to the conclusion that, whatever the politics of the move, the president actually has been persuaded by the moral argument against embryonic stem-cell harvesting.

Rather than simply dismiss this moral argument as “Luddite,” as Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., did, it would certainly demonstrate more respect for the deeply held beliefs of millions of Americans if the argument were taken seriously. It runs as follows:

However small or undeveloped an embryo might be, it is still human. It is what every one of us was at the earliest stage of life, because life develops along an unbroken continuum, from fertilization until natural death.

Embryonic stem-cell research requires the destruction of the embryos in question. They are exploited, or experimented on, or harvested—choose whatever term you like—by some members of the human community for the benefit of others. They die that others might (someday, maybe) find healing for their maladies.

Few of us would consent to such an arrangement if it involved us. Personally, I would not consent to having my body’s resources exploited and my life ended in order to provide benefits to other people’s bodies and lives. At least, I would want to have the opportunity to make such a decision for myself. Embryos, of course, are not able to speak up for themselves and make such a choice.

The only way we can manage to describe this as something other than exploitation-unto-death is if we decide that embryos are not members of the human community and therefore lack any “standing” that must be considered in our moral decision-making about what we do with them.

Much has been made of the fact that some embryos used for such research are the frozen leftovers of in vitro fertilization and thus would be destroyed anyway, so why not get some good use out of them.

One response would be to draw this analogy: People on death row are going to die anyway, so why not experiment on them, even if those experiments involve killing them? After all, we might as well get some good use out of them. The same thing could be said for, say, millions of people with terminal illnesses, or in nursing homes in their very last days.

The counter to this analogy would be that death-row inmates or people in nursing homes are human beings, and embryos are not. But that is precisely what the argument is about—the moral status of the unborn, even the embryonic unborn. The claim in dispute cannot be used as a premise in the argument.

Now, let us step back from moral argument to a broader view for just a moment. Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., a supporter of the president’s view, acknowledged advocates of this stance were “losing the argument with the American people.” It is probable, in fact, that Bush is the last president, Republican or Democrat, who will block federal funding for embryonic stem-cell harvesting. So, by 2009, our government likely will be fully invested in this research.

This is not really surprising. What is truly surprising is that in a country that legalized abortion on demand more than 30 years ago, embryo research could have been slowed down even for this long. In the average elective abortion, a fetus (not an embryo) is destroyed, with no correlated medical or research benefit for anyone. Our nation sees over 1 million of these events each year, and most hardly bat an eye anymore. So it is in fact quite surprising that on the stem-cell issue, where an embryo (not a fetus) is destroyed, here with a (possible) medical benefit for others someday, there would be significant resistance in the name of the embryo’s moral standing.

Opposition to embryonic stem-cell harvesting is rooted in an expansive understanding of precisely who belongs to the human community, in a country that since 1973 has been busily contracting the boundaries of that community in the name of freedom and utility.

The policies of President Bush have been marked by an inconsistent application of the principle of the sanctity of every human life, from womb to tomb, friend or foe (minimum wage, health policy, enemy detainees, etc.). This badly hurts his credibility when he talks about life’s sanctity.

But I do think he is right on the embryonic stem-cell issue, however quixotic his stand may seem.

David Gushee is the Graves Professor of Moral Philosophy at Union University in Jackson, Tenn. His column is distributed by Religion News Service.

Posted: 8/18/06

Go Now Missions workers help Cornerstone Baptist Church in Dallas conduct its children’s camp.

Russia-bound students discover missions in Dallas

By Laura Frase

Communications Intern

A bump in the road left three Russia-bound student missionaries in the midst of prostitution and drugs in South Dallas.

A student team originally planned to minister in Russian orphanages through Go Now Missions—the Baptist General Convention of Texas student missions program—but political turbulence postponed their trip. Three students chose to spend part of the summer at Cornerstone Baptist Church in South Dallas before traveling to Russia.

University of Texas-Pan American student Denise Villarreal already had dedicated her summer to God’s work and wasn’t going to sit idly by.

“I didn’t want to spend half of the summer doing nothing for God,” she said.

Holly Miller, a student at Texas A&M University-Commerce, agreed.

“I told God I would give up my whole summer and do his work,” she said.

Villarreal and Miller worked with the church’s children’s camp, while the third student in the trio, Texas State University student Jeremy Banik, led the youth on a camping trip.

The students saw some fruits of their labor. During children’s camp, a little boy hit a girl. The volunteers told him it was wrong, but the boy didn’t understand why, because he has seen his father hit his mother. The students talked to the boy about how to treat other people, Miller said. The next day, the group played tickle tag, and Miller tickled the boy. After she tagged him, he crossed his arms and became upset, she explained. He told her that he wasn’t going to fight her because it was wrong to hit girls.

“It was so cool to see how God made such a visible change,” Miller said.

Posted: 8/18/06

Divorce affects faith development

By Deborah Potter

Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (RNS)—When Jen Thompson looks at family pictures, the memories still are painful. Her parents divorced when she was 14, and along with the sense of loss came a crisis of faith.

“My father was emotionally just barren—just not available,” she said. “So I came across as thinking that my father was just impossible to please. And that definitely carried over into my relationship with God—that I felt God was just very judgmental.

“God was just waiting for me to slip up and make a mistake, and that I was, in God’s eyes, unforgivable and unlovable.”

It’s a surprisingly common experience.

A recent national survey of adults who were young when their parents divorced found the separation had a major impact on their spiritual lives. They were, for example, much less likely to go to church or to call themselves religious than adults whose parents stayed married.

“One extraordinary finding in our study was that of those grown children of divorce who were active in a church at the time of their parents’ divorce, two-thirds say that no one in the clergy or congregation reached out to them at that time,” said Elizabeth Marquardt, the author of Between Two Worlds, a study of children and divorce.

Her study found adults often feel the church abandoned them as children when their parents were divorcing and that their pastors were no better than anyone else in helping them cope with the experience.

“At the time of divorce,” Marquardt said, “people are reluctant to reach out to the children because they don’t know what to say; they don’t want to offend the parents. They’re afraid they might upset the child, so they don’t reach out.”

Jeff Williams, a leader of the Association of Marriage and Family Ministries, was 10 when his parents divorced. No one seemed to notice the cataclysm taking place in his life, he said.

“We went to church, and the older ladies were complaining about the temperature of the sanctuary, and the ushers, the people who served, went on with their rituals, and nothing seemed to change there, while my life had radically changed.

“And I know now they didn’t know what to say. But it’s like you have had a leg blown off or you’ve had a wound and it’s terrible and nobody sees it.”

Linda Ranson Jacobs, executive director of Divorce Care for Kids, or DC4K, said her group’s program, which has been adopted by 2,000 congregations, argues that divorce affects every area of a child’s life—emotional, spiritual and intellectual.

“We wanted to put together a program to teach churches what the children are experiencing, the grief that they’re going through, the stress that they’re under, and bring them into the church family,” Jacobs said.

“You know, what better place for a child who’s lost their earthly family to be than in a church family,” she said.

Training videos by DC4K feature children wrestling with common divorce-related problems, such as being torn between the parents’ two homes and their two churches.

“I think the biggest accomplishment is just keeping God in front of those children, changing how they look at a father image or a parent image,” Jacobs said.

Twenty years after her parents’ marriage dissolved, Thompson—now recently divorced herself—said she still is working on her image of God. “I have had to ask God to make himself real to me and (I) say: ‘I need you to clear this up for me. I’m having trouble seeing you as a loving Father.’

“And sometimes I call him Daddy. Sometimes, when I’m praying … about things that are going on in my own life, sometimes instead of saying ‘God,’ or ‘Lord,’ I just say “Daddy, I’m having a hard time,’” she said. “I’m trying to personify him as that loving Father.”

Posted: 8/18/06

DOWN HOME:
Balls of fire & divining God’s will

Some people try to discern God’s will through every detail of life. But I’m glad the Lord’s plan is broader. Otherwise, I might have left the ministry exactly 25 years ago.

Joanna and I thoroughly enjoyed our lives in Georgia in 1981. But we realized I needed to get a seminary education.

The natural response would have been to return to Texas, to Southwestern Seminary in Jo’s hometown, Fort Worth.

But a job opened up at Southern Seminary in Louisville, Ky., and we moved about as fast as you can say “rental truck.”

I recall my confidence when the truck we rented turned out to be only a few months old, with air conditioning. “This’ll be easy,” I thought. Hmmm.

We planned to drive from Atlanta to Nashville on Day 1, then trek on up to Louisville on Day 2. Jo led in our car, and I followed in the truck.

Just outside Murfreesboro, Tenn., I heard a huge “BAM!” and lost power. When I pulled onto the shoulder and looked under the truck, I saw the muffler glowing red.

Four hours later, a mechanic gashed some holes in the muffler with an air hammer, since the truck company was too cheap to give us (a) a new muffler or (b) a new truck, and since we were too young and inexperienced to throw a walleyed fit.

The truck roared like a Huey helicopter. Minutes later, I was broken down on the outskirts of Nashville. Overnight, a mechanic decided the gas pump was bad. He “repaired” it with wire and duct tape, since the truck company was too cheap to … . Oh, you know.

We believed Day 2 would be better. But we knew what to do when the truck lost power north of Bowling Green, Ky. Jo went for help, while I sat in a lawn chair on the side of I-65, protecting all our earthly goods and seeing who would wave to a guy in a lawn chair behind a rental truck.

Another mechanic tinkered with the fuel pump, and we headed north. We reached Louisville in time to break down in the middle of the city’s busiest traffic interchange in the middle of rush hour. A nice police officer helped me get started. Again.

A bit later, a carload of kids motioned for me to roll down my window. “Great balls of fire are shooting out the back of your truck,” they shouted. I smiled and drove on.

At the next light, a young woman ran up to my window. “Great balls of fire are shooting out the back of your truck,” she yelled.

Since I didn’t want to incinerate all our earthly goods, much less blow myself to Kingdom Come, a wrecker dragged the truck to our duplex.

If Jo and I had been looking for God’s validation in our move, I never would have set foot in a seminary classroom. And if we had divined God’s will through great balls of fire, we would have missed out on one of the great blessings of our lives.

If you’re trying to follow God’s leadership but feel like you’re broken down on the side of the road or besieged by great balls of fire, keep the faith and keep on truckin’.

God is with you on the journey.

— Marv Knox

Posted: 8/18/06

EDITORIAL:
Just the antidote for social isolation

America is an increasingly lonely place.

The average American’s circle of close friends has closed significantly, signaled by a one-third drop in the number of people with whom we can discuss important matters.

These findings surfaced in research conducted by sociologists at Duke University and the University of Arizona. They compared national polls from 1985 and 2004. American Sociological Review published their study this summer. Time magazine and newswatch.com reported the findings.

The surveys revealed the average number of people with whom Americans can discuss important matters declined by almost one-third, from 2.94 people to 2.08. And nearly 25 percent of Americans said they have absolutely no one with whom they can discuss such matters. That figure has more than doubled.

“Americans have fewer confidants, and those ties are also more family-based than they used to be,” Lynn Smith-Lovin, a sociology professor at Duke and one of the study’s authors, told newswatch.com. “This change indicates something that’s not good for our society. Ties with a close network of people create a safety net … of people who will help and support us, both in terms of routine tasks and also of extreme emergency.”

The shrinking number of close contacts reflects increasing dependence upon spouses and parents but less interaction with friends.

When viewed as mere statistics—each person has 2.08 really close friends as opposed to 2.94 (as if you could have 0.04 or 0.94 of a friend)—the change may seem insignificant. But that’s not true, Robert Putnam, a professor at Harvard University, wrote in a Time essay: “As a friend said, ‘So what if the average American now has two close friends, not three? Two is plenty.’ But that’s like saying, ‘If global temperatures rise from 65ºF to 70ºF, I wouldn’t even notice.’ That’s fine, as long as you ignore the indirect effects, like mega-hurricanes in the Gulf.”

This “indirect effects” of social isolation are numerous and troubling, added Putnam, who wrote Bowling Alone, a book on the problem. “Kids fail to thrive. Crime rises. Politics coarsens. Generosity shrivels. Death comes sooner.”

Researchers point to several possibilities for America’s increasing isolation. They admit people may have answered the question differently in 1985 than they did in 2004, defining “discuss” or “important” differently. But they also cite other changes that may contribute to the tightening circle of friends: More people move because of their jobs, scattering family and friends. People spend more time at work and less time in social activities outside their homes. Technology both absorbs larger blocks of time and makes face-to-face contact less frequent. Putnam also fingers suburban sprawl and longer commutes, two-career families, ethnic diversity and—his “favorite culprit”—TV.

Social isolation presents the U.S. church with a challenge and an opportunity.

First, the challenge: The trend toward scaling back on friendships and staying home impacts all kinds of social institutions. Putnam’s Bowling Alone documents this phenomenon and gets its name from Americans’ declining involvement in all kinds of groups, including bowling leagues. So, if people are less inclined to be “joiners,” they’ll be less inclined to get involved in a church. No matter the reason, whether they’re far from the place where they grew up, overworked, addicted to video games or moon-eyed in front of the tube, they’re standing off from signing up. If the statistics are anywhere near correct, this cuts into church attendance, not to mention membership.

Now, the opportunity: This country is full of lonely people who need a friend. They may not yet know they need a relationship with Jesus, but deep down, they realize they need friends. A few years ago in The Purpose Driven Church, Rick Warren identified fellowship, the task of encouraging and sustaining people, as one of the five purposes of the church. Too often, church people tend to denigrate fellowship as merely “social.” But people are social beings, who need interaction with each other or else they will die. So, we’re talking about a life-sustaining ministry.

How do we do this? Look inward and outward. We need to examine church rolls for members who have dropped out but who need to be contacted, encouraged and loved. And we need to study our communities, looking for interesting, winsome ways to bring folks together. If you don’t know how to do that, start with a door-to-door survey, asking people how your church can help them feel part of a community. If the research is correct, they’re already home. Alone.

Posted: 8/18/06

TBM helps flood victims in El Paso

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

EL PASO—As floodwaters began to recede in much of El Paso, Texas Baptist Men volunteers rushed in to help victims of recent storms begin to put their homes back in order.

Working where as much as several feet of water entered homes, trained TBM workers from across the state started removing damaged furniture, belongings and drywall from flooded homes in the southern and western portions of the city.

Mary Bess Jackson removes damaged drywall in an El Paso home.

After removing the wet and damaged items, teams clean the remaining portions of the homes with soap and a disinfectant to help prevent further mold growth. From there, families can begin to rebuild.

Mary Bess Jackson, a member of First Baptist Church in Midlothian, said some families are at a loss for what to do after losing most of their belongings. TBM volunteers are able to listen to their needs, comfort them and share God’s word while cleaning a home.

“Those people need a hope and a future, and God can give it to them through Christ,” she said, as a tear slid down her cheek.

John Nickell, a member of First Baptist Church of Woodway in Waco, said he hopes to help people see a bright future by assisting them in the clean-up. El Paso residents learn firsthand about God’s love through the ministry of Texas Baptist Men, he noted.

“People are hurting everywhere,” he said. “I’ve hurt, and people have helped me. I think God has called us to help our neighbor. There’s no thinking about it—he has called us to help our neighbor. I believe that’s what we should do. If we’re given the talents, the ability and the time to help, we should help.”

TBM’s work has changed lives, said Rey Villanueva, a member of Choate Baptist Church near Kenedy.

One man who lost nearly everything could barely stop crying when the TBM team arrived.

All he could think about was the destruction. TBM volunteers helped the man decide what to keep and what to discard, one object at a time. As they did, they listened to him and ministered to him.

Before the TBM team left after finishing his home, the man prayed with the volunteers. He began to see a future for him and his family, Villanueva said.

“It was just a complete transformation by the time we left,” he said.

To support Texas Baptist Men’s ministry, send checks marked “TBM disaster relief” to 5351 Catron, Dallas 75227. Donations also can be made by calling (214) 381-2800.

Posted: 8/18/06

ETBU World Cup Team
shares gospel with soccer fans

By Mike Midkiff

East Texas Baptist University

East Texas Baptist University’s Tiger World Cup Team journeyed to Germany this summer—not to play soccer but to share Christ with fans from around the world.

Allan Thompson, director of ETBU’s Great Commission Center, led the nine-member student team, which served in Hamburg and Berlin with International Baptist Church and the Kickoff 2006 organization.

In Berlin, the team worked at a hospitality booth on the “fan mile”—a one-mile stretch of a road leading through the center of the city and into the Brandenburg Gate that was designated exclusively for World Cup pedestrians and vendors.

East Texas Baptist University student Christine Southard hands out gospel tracts to sports fans attending the World Cup in Germany.

Volunteers distributed hundreds of gospel tracts that included the Christian testimonies of famous soccer players.

The student group also worked with another volunteer team from Australia to sponsor a block party.

Amber Ethridge, who attends Crossroads Baptist Church in Marshall, saw the trip to Germany as an answered prayer.

“I have been praying since I was in the 10th grade for an opportunity to go to Germany. I have known that I am called to be a foreign missionary. This trip was the perfect opportunity to get a glimpse of what the country is like, how the people are and what techniques might be most effective there for ministry,” she said.

“The time in Germany really renewed my faith. It was like living a dream. God just kept providing these awesome ways for me to talk to people about Christ.”

Posted: 8/18/06

New faith-based initiatives chief named

By Adelle Banks

Religion News Service

WASHINGTON (RNS)—Jay Hein, president of an Indianapolis-based international think tank, has been chosen as the new director of the Office of Faith-based and Community Initiatives.

Hein, president of the Sagamore Institute for Policy Research, will succeed Jim Towey, who left the White House post to become the president of Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pa., July 1.

“Jay has long been a leading voice for compassionate conservatism and a champion of faith and community-based organizations,” President Bush said. “By joining my administration, he will help ensure that these organizations receive a warm welcome as government’s partner in serving our American neighbors in need.”

Hein also is vice president and chief executive officer of the Foundation for American Renewal, a charity that provides grants and other support to community-based organizations.

Prior to his leadership of the Sagamore Institute, Hein was executive director of civil society programs at the Hudson Institute, now based in Washington.

He previously worked as a welfare reform policy assistant to former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson.