Posted: 9/24/04

Health care needs in Texas demand
innovative response, ministry leaders say

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

SAN ANTONIO—Medical needs in Texas are vast, as 8 million uninsured residents struggle to receive adequate and timely healthcare, health ministry leaders maintain.

Jim Walton, senior vice president for the office of community health in the Baylor Health Care System, noted uninsured children are 1.6 times more likely to die during birth and 1.5 times more likely to die within their first year of life.

Uninsured individuals also are twice as likely to die because of an accident, Walton said during a conference for medical ministers sponsored by the Baptist General Convention of Texas Missions Equipping Center.

These statistics largely are due to the fact uninsured and impoverished people often do not receive medical attention regularly or quickly, Walton said.

In response to these needs, Texas Baptists must respond to God’s creative and diverse calling in their lives, said Kevin Dinnin, president and chief executive officer of Baptist Child & Family Services.

Christians need to find ways to provide medical care for people who cannot afford it, he said. That may be a medical clinic supported by a church. It may mean medical mission trips or supporting a medical missionary.

Baptist Child & Family Services has a mobile clinic that visits pockets of people in need of healthcare. Leaders found poor people in colonias did not have transportation to come to church clinics, so Baptist Child & Family Services took the clinic to them.

“The prescription this morning is diverse, and you are the author of how it is worked out in your congregation,” Dinnin said.

No matter the approach Texas Baptists take, Dinnin encourages them to utilize all their passion in doing it.

“Do all you can with all you have,” he said. “And never give up. Never give up.”

Posted: 9/24/04

Medical ministry focuses on patients
as people, not problems to diagnose

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

SAN ANTONIO—It may sound like a cliché, but people are not patients; patients are people. And that is the heart of medical ministry, a leader in the Baylor Health Care System insists.

It is easy for doctors—even those who view their occupation as a ministry—to fall into the rut of viewing each patient as a diagnosis, said Jim Walton, senior vice president of community health in the Baylor Health Care System. Physicians want to correct physical ailments or prevent future breakdowns.

But when doctors move beyond that to uncover the life stories of their clients, ministry begins taking place, Walton said during a healthcare conference sponsored by the Baptist General Convention of Texas Missions Equipping Center.

When the patient and the doctor begin to connect as people, each has something to contribute to the relationship, Walton continued. Physicians are giving medical treatment, but patients also are giving of themselves.

“When you are sitting in their house, you’re close,” he said. “When you’re sitting in the kitchen, you’re closer.”

Walton described his ministry with a paraplegic man who came to Dallas from El Salvador. He was working in this country and sending money back to his wife and three children who remained in El Salvador. When he was injured, his wife traveled to be with him.

During the two years Walton has treated the man, he has become acquainted with how the man felt so far from his children. Walton saw a family, not a patient.

The doctor uncovered his own tendency to see himself as the minister and the patient as someone in need. While that is true, Walton said, he now recognizes each patient is ministering to him as well.

Citing the biblical story of the Good Samaritan, Walton noted each person is made in the image of God and has something to give.

“Your neighbor has gifts and assets,” he said. “It isn’t all about you and your sacrifice.”

Walton now is looking for a missionary in El Salvador who can care for this man. That will allow him to return to be with his children while continuing to get the help he needs.

Posted: 9/24/04

Lifeway trustees approve funds
to revitalize Glorieta, Ridgecrest

By Chris Turner

LifeWay Christian Resources

RIDGECREST, N.C. (BP)—LifeWay Christian Resources trustees adopted a $446 million operating budget for 2005 and approved a significant investment in the company’s conference centers to fast-track their revitalization efforts.

LifeWay expects revenues this year of $427.5 million, $13.2 million more than last year but $21 million short of budget, Chief Operating Officer Ted Warren told trustees during their semiannual meeting at LifeWay’s Ridgecrest Conference Center near Asheville, N.C. The fiscal year ends Sept. 30.

“The fact that we plan to achieve record revenues is good news,” said Warren. “Yet every one of our divisions’ revenues will come in below budget. That means we’ve had less than a successful year.”

Still, he cited major accomplishments in 2004, including the introduction of the Holman Christian Standard Bible, which in a few months has become one of the best-selling Bibles in the United States, and LifeWay's commitment of $1.6 million to help 13 Baptist state conventions and one association double baptisms in 2005.

For the coming fiscal year, Warren said, all LifeWay divisions have plans for revenue growth. But along with that are increased expenses as the LifeWay Christian Stores division plans to add new stores, and the church resources and Broadman & Holman divisions will add staff. These factors will require LifeWay to execute its business plan with precision.

“The 2005 budget is based on what we believe to be an achievable revenue target of $446 million, which assumes a continued recovery in the economy,” Warren said. “The revenue budget reflects an $18.2 million or 4.3 percent increase over 2004 projected revenue.”

In 2004, funds provided from operations—money for reinvestment in ministry expansion after all expenses are paid—are expected to be $13.4 million, or 3.1 percent of revenue, consistent with LifeWay's goal of financial performance. The same amount is budgeted for 2005.

In a move to hasten revitalization efforts at LifeWay's conference centers, the trustees approved a business plan that includes an investment of $27 million over the next four years.

At Ridgecrest, the business plan calls for construction of a new 120-room hotel, new convention and indoor recreation centers, renovation of Pritchell Hall and demolition of seven aging and expensive-to-maintain buildings.

At Glorieta, plans call for a new 140-room hotel, a new indoor recreation center, a renovated chapel and demolition of 24 outdated buildings, reducing the center's adult capacity but nearly tripling its youth capacity to better fit seasonal demand.

Posted: 9/24/04

Paris church knows broadcasting
high school football is ministry in Texas

By George Henson

Staff Writer

PARIS—Cable television viewers in Paris know the call-letters “FBC-TV” stand for First Baptist Church. But each fall, they represent the Foot Ball Channel.

The church has had a local cable channel since 1985, and it started broadcasting local high school football games about 10 years ago.

“We do it as a public service to the community,” said Travis Jackson, director of media and public relations for the church. But he admits it also raises the church’s level of visibility in the community.

“It serves to get a lot of people to the channel that might not ever know it was there otherwise,” he pointed out. The church also has aired a health talk show and a local business talk show as a part of its programming in the past.

An all-volunteer crew tapes the football games. Paris has two high schools, Paris High School and North Lamar High School, and the church films the home game with the greatest appeal, making sure to keep the number of games for each team even.

“We’re fortunate enough to have a real nice mobile production unit that is all logoed up with the church’s logo, and our crew has their t-shirts” so there is no escaping the fact that First Baptist Church is broadcasting the local high school gridders on television, Jackson said.

“It lets the people here know that we’re not just a bunch of stuffed-shirts at that church downtown,” he said.

The church doesn’t even accept sponsorships for the football games “except for maybe a free meal for the crew at a local restaurant,” Jackson said.

Jackson started out as a volunteer member of the crew eight years ago, but in January 2001, he felt God leading him to make media ministry his full-time vocation. In May of that year, the position opened up at his church.

“God gave me an opportunity to serve here, and I’m very grateful for that,” he said.

Jackson has attended several conferences dealing with church-run television ministries, and First Baptist Church in Paris generally is the smallest congregation represented.

“This kind of ministry is a lot of work, but it’s a lot of fun, too,” he said. “There’s just so much potential with this type of ministry for churches.”

Posted: 9/24/04

CYBERCOLUMN: Growing edges

By Jeanie Miley

Leaving the hospital after a two-day wait, I drove home through the dark, quiet streets of the city, streets that would be bustling in just a few hours with tens of thousands of patients and the people who care about them—health care professionals and support staff who keep the Texas Medical Center running.

I had just left my own daughter in the care of people I have never seen before and her newborn daughter under the watchful eye of her ecstatic father, whose first words about her were, “She’s so beautiful!”

Madeleine Grace was born four minutes before midnight, and all of us who were exhausted from the long ordeal forgot our fatigue and our anxiety when we saw her, acting like star-struck fools, stepping all over each other to get the best view of our baby.

When I finally fell into bed, I couldn’t stop thinking about how scary labor and delivery are, and how risky life really is. I kept thinking about how anything worth having exacts a terrific price, and that the sometimes-terrifying part of living is that you don’t ever really know what the price of your choices is going to be until you are deep into it, with no turning back.

“She’s so beautiful,” I kept thinking, as I tried to relax enough to go to sleep, followed by, “But nothing beautiful comes easy!” And then, I wept.

Indeed, no beauty of any kind is created without some kind of radical commitment and sacrifice. Nothing that enriches our lives is wrought without someone giving unselfishly and, often, sacrificially. Nothing in this world that benefits us or brings true joy and delight to others comes free. There is always a price to be paid.

Easy and fast food and effortless and instant communication seduce us into thinking that life should be quick and easy, simple and pain-free. When we are slapped in the face by the cost of the things that really matter, we are surprised. We take life so for granted that we are shocked and almost offended when life twists us around in a knot to force us to realize that life is fragile and never to be taken for granted for an instant.

Somehow, we are surprised when life is hard and there’s a problem. The truth is that problems are the norm. The real problem for any of us is thinking that there won’t be problems!

No relationship or community is built without incredibly hard work, sustained over the entire duration of the relationship. No excellence or success in any field is gained without unusual and, sometimes seemingly superhuman, effort. And precious things must be protected.

No life comes into this world without the risk of loss or of difficulty. No human being can guarantee an easy and quick delivery, a perfect newborn or a risk-free hospital stay, not even at the very best facilities in the world!

There is no grace that is cheap and no freedom that is free. Indeed, if you want either, you have to pay in some way, and you have to pay until it hurts, and you have to keep on paying to ensure the safety of the things that matter most.

Maybe we forget because it is almost too much for us to hold in consciousness for more than a few minutes at a time that every single thing that has value is bought with a price, and the more valuable it is, the greater the price.

Madeleine came, carrying a message. Life is gift, and it is costly.

Grace really has come to us, and we are the guardians!

Jeanie Miley is an author and columnist and a retreat and workshop leader. She is married to Martus Miley, pastor of River Oaks Baptist Church in Houston, and they have three adult daughters. Got feedback? Write her at Writer2530@aol.com.

Posted: 9/20/04

CYBERCOLUMN: Lighthouses and the Light

By John Duncan

I am sitting under the old oak tree, thinking of lighthouses and the Light and my friend Mike.

Lighthouses dot the landscape on the eastern coast of the United Sates. Imagine a lighthouse creating a fixed point for the captain of a ship to navigate toward safe harbor. Imagine a storm tossing the ship like a bottle floating on the ocean’s surface. Imagine the light penetrating the darkness, shining like a star against the black night sky.

The other day I visited Mike Laird. When I walked into his mobile home with oversized doors, he smiled, and we hugged. When I sat down, I noticed a “Welcome Aboard” sign on the wall. Mike decorated his walls with pictures of lighthouses. One looked like a print from Thomas Kincaid, a cascade of colors aglow with a lighthouse, a garden and the surf of the waters. Another picture was plain and simple, a standard lighthouse with rocks and an ocean view. Still another picture silhouetted a cloudy sky with a white lighthouse with stairs much like your might see if you drove a road by the Atlantic Ocean in Maine, Massachusetts or North Carolina.

The lighthouse, for all that it is, reflects hope for Mike.

“It’s good to see you,” Mike said as he sat in his wheelchair. Mike has swollen feet, arthritic knees and a determined spirit. Doctors recently performed weight-loss surgery on Mike. He has lost about 150 pounds from what once was a 600-pound body.

I asked Mike if I could tell his story. He said, “Yes, sure.”

Mike graduated from Haltom High School in 1973. Mike had a normal high school experience—worked some jobs, and fought his weight issues with diets and the like. Because of medical problems, arthritic knees, an injury to his kneecap, and by his own confession, a poor diet with a love for soft drinks, his weight ballooned.

I have heard Mike speak of the shame he feels when ridiculed in public. I have heard Mike explain the physical problems that contribute to his health. I have known Mike to feel bad that he must depend on friends and family for help. I have received spoken and written words of appreciation when our church has ministered to Mike. I have listened intently as Mike shared with me the importance of his faith in Christ and his hope for better days because of Christ. I have watched Mike shed tears, tears trickling down his cheeks like a waterfall rolling over rocks on a mountainside. The tears roll when Mike feels alone, pained or frustrated with, in the words of one poet, “the plastic dance of circumstance.”

When I visited Mike recently, with a grimace, shortness of breath and determination, he rose from his chair and walked across the room and back to his chair. Mike looked at me and smiled. Mike walked gingerly. Christina Rosetti writes in “Later Life: A Double Sonnet of Sonnets”: “Tread softly! All the earth is holy ground.” Mike and I were on holy ground.

“Wow, that’s great,” I said as I smiled back at Mike. As I glanced at Mike, I noticed the lighthouses on the walls and thought of the light.

While Mike battles every day with his circumstances, I know for both of us life lingers in the light. Clouds gather. A storm rages. The storm tosses the heart like a ship or like a corked bottle floating on the storm, white-capped sea. In the harbor a lighthouse shines light—a light of hope, grace, peace, joy and abundant life. That’s what Mike was saying when he smiled. A smile goes a mile.

The Light of Christ shines. Hope beckons the broken, battered and bruised to come in from the storm into the safe harbor where God’s peace and Light comfort the weary soul. Hope carries us where we tread on holy ground.

John Duncan is pastor of Lakeside Baptist Church in Granbury, Texas, and the writer of numerous articles in various journals and magazines.

Posted: 9/20/04

TBM continues serving in wake
of Ivan; Grenada requests assistance

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

Texas Baptist Men disaster relief work in the wake of repeated hurricanes that blew through the Caribbean Sea and across Florida has expanded to include an additional unit, more personnel and another country.

Victim Relief Ministries chaplains and Texas Baptist Men volunteers are on their way to Grenada at the request of the nation’s government to do preliminary counseling, medical and damage assessments.

Texas Baptist Men are setting up locations where people can drop off items for residents of Grenada. Those locations will be in Denton, Dallas, Tarrant and Wise counties, but churches can send supplies to Texas Baptist Men.

Residents need hygiene items, sleeping bags, pots, pans and non-perishable food, and items such as chainsaws, generators and communication equipment can help residents begin the recovery process, said Bob Dixon, who is coordinating the TBM effort.

These items will empower residents to take the future in their own hands, Dixon said. They can start repairing and rebuilding their homes.

“They become part of their own recovery,” he said.

The TBM South Texas feeding unit has joined the Tarrant Baptist Association feeding unit in Mobile, Ala. The Top O’ Texas Baptist Area feeding unit remains in Pensacola, Fla. All other TBM units were released from stand by status.

The Top O’ Texas team fed more than 1,700 meals and prepared additional food for the Salvation Army to deliver Sept. 19. Tim Willis, team coordinator, expected to double the number of meals served Sept. 20 and said the Texas Baptist Men would stay “as long as they are needed.”

The unit is working in are poorer area of Pensacola where roofs, trees, signs and billboards were blown over, Willis said. Residents are looking for help.

“There’s definitely a big need here,” said Willis, a member of First Baptist Church in Plains.

Hurricane Ivan pushed 4,000 children to shelters in Grenada, according to the Carribean Disaster Emergency Response agency web site. The storm is being blamed for 28 deaths and 353 injuries in the country. An estimated 90 percent of the island’s buildings were damaged or destroyed.

Workers are trying to reconnect the nation’s water supply, but are having issues with residents busting newly laid pipes to get water for themselves, according to the Caribbean response site. Supplies are dwindling and distribution of the remaining food is slow.

The Southern Baptist disaster relief effort throughout Florida and Alabama has grown to 25,000 volunteers in the area who have served more than 1 million meals. The Southern Baptist Convention North American Mission Board, which coordinates Southern Baptist disaster relief work, also has received requests for help in West Virginia where flooding remains an issue.

To contribute financially or with supplies to the Grenada effort, send checks or goods marked “Grenada” to Victim Relief Ministries, 5351 Catron, Dallas 75227. To contribute to TBM’s work in Florida and Alabama, send checks marked “Disaster Relief” to Texas Baptist Men, 333 N. Washington Ave., Dallas 75246.

Posted: 9/17/04

Outreach has nothing to do with
canned meat or unwanted e-mail

By George Henson

Staff Writer

HOUSTON–Twenty-seven people committed their lives to Christ. Sounds like a good reason for another SPAMARAMA next year, organizers say.

SPAMARAMA, an acronym for Students Proclaiming Awesome Messages about Repentance and Mercy Available, is a multi-ethnic, multi-denominational, multi-church effort designed to reach students in inner-city Houston.

This was the eighth year of the five-night effort by small churches who team up to put on an event large enough to draw teens who don't regularly attend church.

“Our main purpose is evangelism–that kids come to know Christ,” said Jaime Garcia, minister of youth at Bethel Baptist Church in Houston.

Average attendance for each of the five nights was more than 180 students. All students, not just those needing salvation, are taking something away from the event, Garcia said.

“These students are all coming away with a much clearer picture of where they stand in reference to their walk with God. That can only benefit the churches involved,” he said.

This year's theme was “Living in the Zone.” After registering, students visited either the recreation zone or food zone, depending on their age. Later, they switched places so everyone had a shot at the food and games. Then everyone came together for worship music and preaching.

The 27 people who made professions of faith in Christ even included one adult.

“He was a father who had been dropping off his youth at church and going home for the last two years,” Garcia reported. “After the last service, he found me and said: 'Brother Jaime, I did it. I prayed to receive Christ.' It was great.”

More than a dozen churches participated this year.

“Some churches brought as many as 35 and others only two or three, but everyone had a good time,” Garcia said.

One church who Garcia's youth had met at youth camp came from Brownsville for the event, combining the event with a mission trip during the day.

Most of the youth were from Houston and will see each other at school.

“That's good because when they see each other they will know there are other Christians there,” Garcia noted. “But also as they get to know each other, there will be a level of accountability there, too.”

Posted: 9/17/04

Frances leaves indelible mark on Florida church

By Barbara Denman

Florida Baptist Convention

MELBOURNE, Fla. (BP)–While most people evacuated Cocoa Beach, Dave Guise decided to ride out Hurricane Frances' onslaught inside First Baptist Church, thinking he could help protect the structure in the event of fire or other danger.

Guise spent most of the night crouched in a hallway at the bottom of the stairs leading to the sanctuary. At 1 a.m., as the massive building creaked and groaned under the relentless winds, a thunderous crash drew Guise to the church sanctuary, where the massive steeple broke off from its foundation and plunged through the roof to rest on the church's balcony.

Two days after the storm, he admitted: “It was very scary. I don't think I will ever do that again. I'd think I'd rather fight a war than to have to endure that.”

The beckoning Cocoa Beach steeple was a landmark in the community, said Deacon Don Johnson. Pilots from nearby Patrick Air Force Base are said to line up for the runway using the steeple as a navigational tool–so much so, he said, base officials offered to repair the bell tower light when it burned out one time.

Three dozen members from First Baptist Church of Melbourne survived Frances' seemingly endless march through their community by barricading themselves in the 4-year-old concrete block building, beginning about 1 p.m. on Friday. They joined members of the church's Haitian mission, and everyone shared food they had brought–shrimp, scallops, linguine and clams, said Pastor Larry Bazer.

When the storm ended and the church escaped unscathed except for the loss of power, the congregation gathered for what the pastor called a “catacomb service,” much like the early New Testament church, reported church member Billie Norczyk.

The congregation's first-century Christian mindset continued even as the community sought restoration after the storm. When the church got back its electrical power on Labor Day, the congregation housed displaced families from the community as well as members whose homes had no power.

Bazer and other church members spent Labor Day going throughout the community, using chainsaws to remove fallen limbs and trees and patching roofs.

Posted: 9/17/04

Evangelist wins souls by offering chance to win motorcycle

By Sherri Brown

Baptist Press

BRISTOL, Tenn. (BP)–In the shadow of the Bristol Motor Speedway, just across from a booth selling Dale Jr. T-shirts and down from a fried Oreo stand, Ronnie Hill was making his pitch. “Get your free chance to win a Harley! All you gotta do is listen to me for 10 minutes.”

Like a carnival caller, Hill beckoned: “Bring your beer, I don't care. … Come on, boys, get on in here and win you a Harley!”

Hill, a Fort Worth-based evangelist, came to the races not to cheer on his favorite driver but to talk about Jesus to anyone among the 200,000 race fans who would listen.

“I'm an evangelist. I want to preach to lost people,” he said. “I get so frustrated preaching in churches to five or 10 lost people.”

At Bristol, Hill found more than a handful of lost people. During the three-day Sharpie 500 race, standing in front of a Harley-Davidson Sportster 883, he preached a 10-minute salvation message 21 times to about 1,800 people. More than 750 of them indicated they had prayed for salvation for the first time. Most of those were middle-aged adults. Hill will send a letter to everyone who made a profession of faith, encouraging them to find a church home in their communities.

On the day before the race began, drivers lined State Street–the dividing line between Bristol, Va., and Bristol, Tenn.–to sign autographs and greet fans.

Hill and a group of volunteers–situated in a parking lot just down from NASCAR driver Rusty Wallace–passed out tickets “for a free chance at winning a Harley.” On the hour, Hill preached his message–a brief, pull-no-punches NASCAR version of the gospel.

At the conclusion of his short sermon, Hill asked everyone to fill out the ticket with a name, address and phone number. If they prayed the prayer of salvation for the first time, they were to check the box at the bottom. He assured them that checking the box would not give them a better chance at winning the motorcycle.

The rest of the weekend, Hill partnered with Raceway Ministries, a group that sets up at all of the NASCAR races. Located at one of the main entrances to the speedway, volunteers distributed 40,000 tickets for a chance to win the Harley.

Janis Horn, a 56-year-old Christian from Monee, Ill., won the motorcycle and drove it home from Tennessee.

Hill originally had scheduled a revival for the weekend of the races, but the pastor who invited him canceled.

“There wasn't enough time to schedule another revival. I was telling a friend of mine from Bristol about it, and he said to come on up and he'd get tickets to the races. I told him if I came to the races, I was coming to witness,” Hill said.

And that's what he decided to do. Hill knew the NASCAR audience. He knew the majority of fans would be spiritually lost people. He also knew it would take something dramatic to convince them to stop and listen to his message. A Harley-Davidson motorcycle would do it.

Working with the Sherman-based Plyler Family Evangelism Foundation, Hill bought the $12,000 Harley and arranged to have it shipped to Bristol.

“NASCAR fans are big on name brands. I knew if we bought a Honda, they'd never look at it,” Hill said.

Along with the Harley, Hill wrote and designed a color gospel tract and a ticket that would attract the crowds.

David Plyler of the Plyler Foundation believed Hill was on the right track.

“Ronnie meets people on their level. He draws people to the message. The message is simple. It's not a feel-good message; it's an honest presentation of the gospel,” Plyler said.

Posted: 9/17/04

Congressman outed by gay-rights website

By Robert Marus

ABP Washington Bureau

NEW YORK (ABP)–Rep. Ed Schrock (R-Va.), one of Congress' staunchest opponents of gay rights, has declined to seek re-election to a third term in the House after a website claimed he solicited sex with men on a gay telephone-rendezvous service.

Schrock, a layman in an Indpendent Baptist church, shocked many of his fellow Republicans in New York City for the Republican National Convention when his office said he would not seek re-election.

The Virginia Beach-based representative referred to unspecified “allegations” that “will not allow my campaign to focus on the real issues facing our nation and region.”

While Schrock and his spokespeople have not elaborated further on those allegations, his announcement came less than two weeks after he became the latest subject of a controversial “outing” campaign against Capitol Hill personalities by a Washington gay-rights activist.

Schrock is the first member of Congress to be targeted in the campaign.

For several weeks, gay-rights activist Mike Rogers had been posting the names of gay aides to members of Congress who support a proposed constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage.

Even many gay-rights leaders have criticized the campaign as mean-spirited, but Rogers has defended his project by saying he simply is exposing hypocrites.

Schrock is a co-sponsor of the proposed Federal Marriage Amendment to ban same-sex marriage.

He also voted for the Marriage Protection Act, which passed the House earlier this year. That bill would strip federal courts of the ability to overrule part of the Defense of Marriage Act, a 1996 law that defines marriage, for federal purposes, exclusively in heterosexual terms.

The conservative Christian Coalition gave Schrock a 92 percent approval rating in its 2003 voters' guide.

In the 2001-2002 session of Congress–the last term for which figures are available–the gay-advocacy group Human Rights Campaign gave Schrock a score of zero percent in his support for gay-rights issues.

Schrock, a Vietnam veteran, also is on record supporting reinstatement of the military's ban on homosexuals. He opposed former President Bill Clinton's so-called “don't ask, don't tell” policy requiring military officials not to conduct investigations into the sexual orientation of servicemen and women.

In his original Internet accusation about Schrock's sex life, Rogers said Schrock “has made a habit of rendezvousing with gay men” on “an interactive telephone service on which men place ads and respond to those ads to meet each other.”

After Schrock announced his resignation, Rogers posted a downloadable audio file of one of the sexually explicit phone messages alleged to be Schrock's. Rogers has declined to say what proof he has that the voice on the message is Schrock's. Several media reports have quoted Virginia Republican officials as acknowledging Rogers' allegations as the reason the congressman is stepping down.

Posted: 9/17/04

American Protestant ministers unfamiliar with other faiths

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)–Protestant ministers in the United States often have some familiarity with the core beliefs of Islam but little familiarity with faiths such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Scientology or Wicca, a recent study revealed.

Protestant clergy tend to be most familiar with Roman Catholicism and Judaism among non-Protestant faith groups, the study found.

Ellison Research, a marketing research firm in Phoenix, conducted the poll for LifeWay Christian Resources' Facts & Trends magazine.

Ellison reported large numbers of Protestant clergy have little familiarity with the core beliefs of numerous non-Protestant religious groups.

Protestant ministers were asked to rate how familiar they are with the core beliefs of 13 religious groups, using a scale of 1 for not at all familiar to 5 for extremely familiar.

Not one of the 13 groups has a majority of Protestant ministers claiming to be extremely familiar with its core beliefs, Ellison found.

The groups most likely to be extremely familiar to Protestant ministers are Roman Catholicism at 41 percent, Judaism at 33 percent, Mormonism at 21 percent and Jehovah's Witnesses at 21 percent.

If the top two levels of familiarity on the survey scale–ratings of 5 and 4–are grouped together, 85 percent of all Protestant clergy claim to be relatively familiar with the core beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church, and 80 percent are familiar with the core doctrines of Judaism.

This decreases to 61 percent for Mormonism and 60 percent for Jehovah's Witnesses, Ellison said.

These still are the only four faith groups with which a majority of Protestant ministers are relatively familiar.

Forty-seven percent are familiar with the core beliefs of Islam, 43 percent with New Age beliefs, 31 percent with Satanism, 28 percent with Buddhism, 27 percent with Hinduism, 15 percent with Scientology, 13 percent with Wicca, 13 percent with Baha'i and just 5 percent with Sikhism.

On the other end of the scale, if the two lowest responses–1 and 2–are combined, large numbers of Protestant clergy have little or no familiarity with the beliefs of Buddhism at 33 percent, Hinduism at 35 percent, Satanism at 45 percent, Scientology at 54 percent, Baha'i at 66 percent, Wicca at 67 percent or Sikhism at 85 percent.

Familiarity with different faith groups does not vary much by different areas of the country, but there are some differences denominationally.

On average, of five major denominational groups examined separately in the study findings, Methodists are the least likely to be familiar with the beliefs of other faith groups.

Methodist ministers' familiarity with Islam, Jehovah's Witnesses, Satanism and New Age beliefs is particularly low, the study revealed.

Ministers in Pentecostal and charismatic denominations also tend to be less familiar than average with other belief systems. Pentecostal clergy have a relatively high level of familiarity with Satanism compared to other denominations but are average or below average on the other faith groups.

Pentecostal ministers are especially likely to be unfamiliar with the core beliefs of Islam, Hinduism and Judaism, the study showed.

Lutherans, on the other hand, tend to feel more familiar with non-Protestant groups than do pastors from other denominations. Baptists tend to be about average in their familiarity with non-Protestant faiths.

Ellison Research said its sample of 700 Protestant ministers included only those who are actively leading churches.

The study's total sample is accurate to within plus or minus 3.6 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level with a 50 percent response distribution.

The study was conducted in all 50 states, using a representative sample of pastors from all Protestant denominations.

Respondents' geography, church size and denomination were tracked for appropriate representation and accuracy.

More complete data on the study, including denominational detail, is available at www.ellisonresearch.com/PastorStudy.htm.