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Unrealistic expectations cause stress for ministerial families
Posted: 2/17/06
Unrealistic expectations cause stress for ministerial families
By Ken Walker
Special to the Baptist Standard
TUCSON, Ariz.—As a Baptist pastor’s spouse for more than 30 years, Julie Barrier has a firsthand perspective on the stress facing ministers’ families. So when her daughter, Brianna, helped complete a survey of 4,000 pastor’s families while a student at Baylor University, the findings were no surprise to her.
Julie and Roger Barrier lead a seminar for other ministers and spouses. Photo courtesy of Kentucky Western Recorder The survey identified four leading causes of stress for pastors and their families—unrealistic expectations, lack of time, finances and health issues.
02/17/2006 - By John Rutledge
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EDITORIAL: Baylor’s atmosphere: Faith & learning?
Posted: 2/17/06
EDITORIAL: Baylor’s atmosphere: Faith & learning?
This edition of the Baptist Standard includes a package of stories that deliver a message to everyone who thinks the dispute over the future of Baylor University ended with the resignation of former President Robert Sloan: Think again.
Sloan stepped down last summer after more than two years of controversy over his leadership. Interim President Bill Underwood exerted a mediating influence. Morale on campus improved dramatically. New President John Lilley received the regents’ endorsement because of his solid reputation as a reconciler and consensus builder. Also, since he lived his entire adult life far from Waco, he didn’t have a bear in this fight.
Still, the struggle continues. It focuses on “faith and learning”: How does a Christian—in this case Baptist—university integrate the essence of its biblical and theological
foundation into its myriad academic disciplines? Baylor historically has adopted the “atmospheric” model, which affirms the Christian/ Baptist ethos of the university without expecting professors to discuss Christian ideas or principles in every class. Atmospheric advocates note the Christian character of Baylor is pervasive and compelling. They rest their case on more than 150 years of history. Detractors point to other universities founded on the atmospheric model, such as Harvard and Yale, which slid into secularism. They endorse the “integration of faith and learning” model, which mandates a more overt application of Christianity in the classroom. By infusing faith into every area of learning, they contend, Baylor can maintain its distinctive Christian character, even in the face of trends toward secularism. Atmospheric advocates warn the integration approach leads to legalism, thwarts academic freedom, and will destroy Baylor’s Baptist identity and lead to the university’s fall from grace as a respected institution of learning. (See Ken Camp’s articles, which begin on page 12.)
The most recent flashpoint in this debate has been a set of papers prepared by a trio of Baylor professors and presented at the Vatican. The presentations by Michael Beaty, Douglas Henry and Scott Moore are, as you would expect, scholarly and complicated. Presupposing the importance of integrating faith and learning, they take an affirming stance toward the Roman Catholic system of higher education and call on Baptists to take a more ecumenical/accepting posture toward the Roman Catholic Church. This issue flared more recently when a pro-Sloan Baylor regent, Joe Armes, endorsed the professors’ position, and a couple of well-known Texas Baptist educator/ministers, Russell Dilday and Raymond Bailey, wrote papers opposing them.
02/17/2006 - By John Rutledge
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foundation into its myriad academic disciplines? Baylor historically has adopted the “atmospheric” model, which affirms the Christian/ Baptist ethos of the university without expecting professors to discuss Christian ideas or principles in every class. Atmospheric advocates note the Christian character of Baylor is pervasive and compelling. They rest their case on more than 150 years of history. Detractors point to other universities founded on the atmospheric model, such as Harvard and Yale, which slid into secularism. They endorse the “integration of faith and learning” model, which mandates a more overt application of Christianity in the classroom. By infusing faith into every area of learning, they contend, Baylor can maintain its distinctive Christian character, even in the face of trends toward secularism. Atmospheric advocates warn the integration approach leads to legalism, thwarts academic freedom, and will destroy Baylor’s Baptist identity and lead to the university’s fall from grace as a respected institution of learning. 
