Posted: 6/25/04

Paul Pressler and Paige Patterson were among those who reminisced during a "conservative resurgence reunion" the night before the start of the 2004 SBC annual meeting.

'Conservative resurgence' leaders
swap 25 years worth of war stories

By Steve DeVane

North Carolina Biblical Recorder

INDIANAPOLIS (ABP)–An architect of the “conservative resurgence” in the Southern Baptist Convention acknowledged that in the heat of battle during the denominational controversy, he and his colleagues considered a proposal to split the six Southern Baptist Convention seminaries with moderates.

Paige Patterson said the suggestion that conservatives and moderates each get control of three seminaries was made because some leaders of the “resurgence” feared conflict was hurting the convention.

The idea was put aside, Patterson said, after a pointed objection from Homer Lindsay Jr., former co-pastor of First Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Fla.

Lindsay, who died of cancer in February 2000, stood during a discussion about the plan, announced he was leaving and called others in the room a “bunch of wimps,” Patterson recalled.

“I thought I was with men of God,” Patterson quoted Lindsay as saying.

Patterson told the story during a “conservative resurgence reunion” the night before the start of the 2004 SBC annual meeting, during which participants celebrated the 25th anniversary of their rise to power in the SBC.

Patterson used the story as an example of how God guided the convention's sharp turn to the right.

Supporters of the movement generally refer to it as the “conservative resurgence.” Critics tend to call it the “fundamentalist takeover.”

Religious Right leader Jerry Falwell led the opening prayer for the conservative reunion, which attracted about 600 people to the late-night celebration. Falwell is pastor of Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, Va., which was an independent Baptist congregation before affiliating with the SBC in recent years.

“I was not a Southern Baptist when you guys hijacked it, but I joined soon after,” he joked before praying.

Planners said the reunion was intended to remind younger Southern Baptists of the problems that prompted the conservative “take-back” of the SBC.

Richard Land, president of the SBC's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, said the reunion was necessary because great events should be commemorated. But he said there was another reason for the celebration.

“Those who do not know their history and do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it,” he said.

Land, who presented a historical review, said he believes God will bless the SBC.

Richard Land

“We believe God has tested us and he has found us faithful,” he told participants.

Speakers at the rally also included Patterson and Paul Pressler. The two are widely credited with beginning the conservative movement after they realized SBC presidents held a great deal of power over the appointment of trustees to SBC seminaries, agencies and institutions.

In the 1970s, Patterson and Pressler preached liberalism was taking hold in the SBC–particularly in the seminaries. They organized people to come to SBC meetings to elect like-minded presidents.

Patterson now is president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, the largest of the six SBC schools. He is a former president of the SBC and Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C.

Pressler has served in several key SBC trustee posts.

Reunion participants gave Patterson and Pressler two standing ovations.

Before the meeting, Pressler, a retired judge from Houston, talked with admirers and posed for photographs. He said during the meeting he felt overwhelmed.

Pressler, author of “A Hill on Which to Die,” a memoir of the “resurgence” from his perspective, said Southern Baptists must not rest on their laurels.

“My friends, if we hesitate, we're going to lose it,” he said.

Jim Richards of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention–a group that broke away from the Baptist General Convention of Texas–said the younger generation must know about the movement.

“We must never lose sight of the methodology that was used,” he said. “Although we consider ourselves all conservatives, we must not wink at someone who may be wavering.”

The reunion also included video clips of sermons by W.A. Criswell, late pastor of First Baptist Church of Dallas, at the 1985 and 1988 SBC meetings.

Jerry Johnson, president of Criswell College in Dallas, said the 1988 sermon was especially important when conservatives won the SBC presidency by a close margin.

“Dr. Criswell, I believe, turned the tide,” Johnson said.

The video clips started with Criswell asking if he could talk about liberals, whom he said were then becoming known as moderates.

“A skunk by any other name still stinks,” he said to cheers from the videotaped audience and the reunion.

But a former SBC agency executive who was asked to provide a reaction said he was “not impressed” by the celebration.

“Almost without exception, the people I have known across the decades in Southern Baptist life have been Bible-believing conservatives,” said Lloyd Elder, president of the denomination's Sunday School Board from 1984 until 1991.

“So, to have this kind of very sad and continuing battle was not necessary and has not done the kind of good that was claimed.”

Elder noted that, early on in the controversy, many of the conservative movement's leaders claimed they were simply looking for “parity” of conservative representation on the boards of Southern Baptist institutions.

“If there had been such a desire for shared leadership on the part of some of the fundamentalists as is claimed, then why is that not what they have done since they have been in power?” he asked.

Elder noted moderate Southern Baptists now are effectively barred from holding elected or appointed office in the denomination.

“The very nature of power in a democratic society … is the responsibility of the majority to protect the rights of the minority.”

Elder said he was impressed with the effectiveness of the conservative movement, though.

“If their goal was to be in control of the SBC, they have just done a remarkable job,” he said.

However, he added, “If their goal had been to involve the largest number of Bible-believing Southern Baptists in the kingdom cause of Christ as possible, they have been woefully negligent.”

With additional reporting by Robert Marus of Associated Baptist Press

Posted: 6/25/04

SBC turns down appeal for full-scale public school exodus

By Greg Warner

Associated Baptist Press

INDIANAPOLIS (ABP)–Southern Baptists adopted resolutions lamenting America's “cultural drift … toward secularization” and urging Christians to vote according to “biblical values,” but they stopped short of calling for a full-scale withdrawal from public schools.

The 8,500 messengers attending the Southern Baptist Convention's annual meeting in Indianapolis adopted eight resolutions–most with little debate or opposition.

The statements, often a flashpoint for controversy during annual meetings, were presented to messengers by a 10-member committee.

The committee-recommended resolutions included statements supporting the Federal Marriage Amendment, promoting Christian citizenship, honoring the military, and praising the life and presidency of Ronald Reagan.

But the committee declined to act on a highly publicized resolution proposed by T.C. Pinckney of Virginia and Bruce Shortt of Texas asking Southern Baptists to remove their children from “godless” and “anti-Christian” public schools.

A motion by Pinckney to add the anti-school language to the resolution on secularization failed on a show-of-hands vote.

T.C. Pinckney of Virginia

Pinckney's proposed amendment encouraged all Southern Baptists to provide their children with “a truly Christian education” through Christian schools and home schools and asked churches to “provide counsel and assistance” to help parents do that.

“Government schools are becoming actively anti-Christian,” Pinckney said.

Resolutions Committee chairman Calvin Wittman of Colorado said the SBC did not want to “usurp” the responsibility of parents to decide how to educate their children.

“This is a responsibility that God has given to the parents of the individual child, and we encourage parents to exercise their God-given responsibility,” he told messengers.

Wittman noted the SBC in recent years has spoken “sufficiently” on the issue of schools and Christian education, with 11 previous resolutions lamenting the secularization of public schools and supporting Christian schools, home-schooling and Christians teaching in public schools.

Jim Goforth of Missouri, speaking against Pinckney's amendment, said pulling Christian children out of public schools means “darkness will completely take over the schools.”

He told about his son leading a fellow public-school student to faith in Jesus.

“Teach them the truth. They'll know it when they hear it, and they will reject the falsehood,” Goforth said.

Shortt, who spoke in favor of the amendment, said the belief that children will positively influence schools as “salt and light” is “misapplied theology.”

Childhood is a time of discipleship, he insisted, and placing children in an “anti-Christian” school will corrupt them.

After defeating the Pinckney motion, messengers passed the resolution on secularization unchanged. The statement said “the cultural shift in our nation toward secularism obscures moral absolutes under the guise of tolerance.”

Southern Baptists took blame and repented “for our part in the cultural decline that is taking place on our watch.”

The resolution urged Southern Baptists to “aggressively engage the culture by speaking the truth in love concerning every aspect of life, public and private.”

The statement added: “America's only hope is a spiritual awakening by the power of God through the gospel of Jesus Christ.”

A resolution on Christian citizenship urged “all Christians to vote in accordance with biblical values rather than according to party lines, personalities or candidate rhetoric.”

It called on churches to conduct voter registration and education.

The resolution supporting the proposed Federal Marriage Amendment, which would ban same-sex marriage and “the legal incidents thereof” nationwide, would counter attempts to legalize same-sex marriage, the statement said.

The resolution also said the amendment would counteract recent actions by some elected officials to issue “counterfeit marriage licenses.” It asserted “the institution of marriage is in a state of crisis.”

The resolution commending Reagan called him “a man of prayer and strong faith” who “exemplified the hallmarks of a Christian leader.”

It credited Reagan with respecting the sanctity of life and liberating millions of people from communism.

The resolution on the military called Southern Baptists to pray for soldiers and “to find tangible ways” to support them, but it did not take a specific position on the war in Iraq.

Another resolution expressed appreciation to God and to the “many faithful men and women who made sacrifices to lead the conservative resurgence” that wrested control of the denomination from moderates, beginning 25 years ago.

Other resolutions commended LifeWay Christian Resources–the denomination's publishing arm–for producing the new Holman Christian Standard Bible and thanked the people of Indianapolis and those who organized the annual convention.

Posted: 6/25/04

Battle for the Bible won; time for
SBC to return to normal, Chapman says

By Trennis Henderson

Kentucky Western Recorder

INDIANAPOLIS–Celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Southern Baptist Convention's “conservative resurgence,” Morris Chapman declared, “The crusade phase of the conservative resurgence has passed.”

“The battle has been won,” said Chapman, president of the SBC Executive Committee and former convention president. “Southern Baptists have experienced God's miracle of returning us to our biblical roots.

“Now there are other tasks at hand,” Chapman told SBC messengers during his Executive Committee report. “We must not linger at the base camp of biblical authority. We are people not only compelled to believe the book; we are compelled to live the book. Surrender, sacrifice, righteousness and holiness must consume our hearts and minds.”

During his report, Chapman warned that convention leaders “must never cease to be vigilant against heresy.”

Cautioning against both liberalism and hyper-independence, Chapman said: “If Southern Baptists steer too sharply to the right, we will end up on the road of separatism and independence. … If there's ever been a time the devil would like to see the SBC crash and burn, it is now.

“We cannot let this convention be driven by politics,” he added. Chapman urged the convention “to return to some sense of normalcy.”

Otherwise, he said, the SBC could “fall into the error of Pharisaism, … lifeless orthodoxy parading as true faith.”

Recalling his pledge as SBC president to “enlarge the tent” of leadership in Southern Baptist life, Chapman said convention leaders “have never executed to the fullest extent that promise to enlarge the tent.”

While those in trustee positions must be inerrantists, endorse the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message statement and support the Cooperative Program, leadership should be open to those “who listen to God's Spirit, not trustees who are susceptible to politics.”

“Politics does not die easily,” he acknowledged. “The death of politics in a spiritual environment only comes after we die to ourselves.

“We can be both conservative and cooperative,” he insisted. “God is looking for us to change the world and to do it now.”

Among major Executive Committee recommendations, messengers:

— Approved the Annuity Board's name change to GuideStone Financial Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention. The change will require a second vote next year, but the action allows the Annuity Board to use its new name immediately.

— Approved amendments to the Annuity Board's ministry statement that allow it to make retirement and insurance services available to evangelical ministry organizations outside the SBC.

Mitchell Jackson, a messenger from Miner Baptist Church in Sikeston, Mo., expressed concern that the amendments would allow the Annuity Board to serve groups not in sympathy with the SBC. He said some churches affiliated with a breakaway moderate convention in Missouri “literally hate the SBC and want it destroyed but they want the benefit of the Annuity Board.”

Annuity Board President O.S. Hawkins responded, “When the Executive Committee takes issue with certain new state conventions, we don't serve those folks.”

Citing the need to maintain and expand the Annuity Board's asset base, Hawkins said the goal is to “serve the Southern Baptist pastors at the crossroads.”

“We're trying to save an insurance program,” he added, noting that the only way to expand the board's asset base is to expand ministry opportunities.

— Approved a 2004-05 Cooperative Program operating budget of $183.2 million. Major allocations include 50 percent for the SBC International Mission Board, 22.79 percent for the North American Mission Board and 21.64 percent for theological education.

If the budget goal is exceeded, the first $250,000 over budget will be earmarked to fund CP education efforts at the SBC's six seminaries.

Posted: 6/25/04

Southern Baptist Convention rejects name change proposal

By Jennifer Davis Rash

The Alabama Baptist

INDIANAPOLIS–Southern Baptists will remain Southern Baptists.

After a lively debate during the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting, messengers voted 1,731 (55.4 percent) to 1,391 (44.6 percent) against forming a study committee to consider changing the convention's name. The motion to create a study committee was the only motion to make it to the floor for debate out of a record 29 motions.

Richard Land, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, said: “Southern Baptists are ambivalent about their name. They love being Southern Baptists and all that it means.”

There is a strong loyalty to the name, even though many know the name is a hindrance in some areas of the country, he explained.

Claude Thomas of First Baptist Church in Euless introduces a motion asking the Southern Baptist Convention to study changing its name. The motion failed.

Claude Thomas, pastor of First Baptist Church of Euless, submitted the motion, saying: “I brought the motion to this body … because we have gone beyond our southern regional characteristics. We are committed to reach people around the world for Jesus Christ. We are committed to evangelism.

“It is wise to appoint a committee to study our present name. Does it communicate who we are and serve us well, or would there be a better alternative?” he asked.

Southern Baptist messengers lined up on both sides of the issue and were still lined up at the convention hall microphones to debate the issue when the time for debate expired.

Messengers opposing forming a study committee questioned the cost, both to study the name change and to implement it.

SBC President Jack Graham said: “We don't know the cost of (the study). It will require an investment to do the right kind of research. It will require a budget.”

Byron Ingles of Georgia said the money would be better spent on seminaries and missionaries.

Dottie Selman of Dayton, Ohio, said: “You've come to us asking for a study committee but have no idea what it will cost. That is not good business.”

Others disagreed, however. The pastor of a New York church plant said, “I would rather spend the money than have a name that … has become an impediment to sharing the gospel.”

Herb Stoneman of Salt Lake City noted the SBC now exists in two nations–Canada and the United States–so it needs a name “that would better reflect who we are.”

Ed Taylor of Virginia said, “It is a waste of time to study because no matter what we change our name to, the media will let the secret out that we really are Southern Baptists.”

Doug Austin of Lynnwood Baptist Church in Lynnwood, Mo., said: “It is who we are, not where we are. We need to be explaining Jesus and his saving grace. We don't need to spend the money.”

George Pettington of Ohio said he spoke against the name change before and would say the same thing again: “There is no need to change the name, so there is no need to study it. It means we are Bible-believing and Bible-teaching churches.”

Glen Peck of St. Louis, Okla., added: “We are proud of our hard-won heritage. We know and project our doctrine by our name.

“We have media, for or against, immediately identifying who we are and what we stand for. There is no good time for a bad idea. This is a bad idea.”

But Lane Yarborough of Michigan said he served on the committee that studied a name change in the 1980s. “This has not been studied in quite some time. If the name is a hindrance, we should consider changing it.”

Rob Zinn of California said: “I am appealing to you to see if God would raise up a better name for all Southern Baptists. … It is just possible there is something better to reach people for Christ. … If we can't find anything better, then we will stay what we are.”

Another motion that garnered debate from the floor dealt with the Executive Committee naming the SBC as its sole member. The motion was referred to the Executive Committee because it has to be the final entity to come under sole membership, said Morris Chapman, president of the Executive Committee. “It is necessary for the Executive Committee to be done last.

“Next June when we meet, assuming New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary complies with your requests, we will be able to bring you the New Orleans charter amendments and the SBC charter amendments,” he said.

“The Executive Committee of the SBC will be delighted to make the Executive Committee a sole member of the SBC. … We would be glad to do it in due haste,” Chapman said. “I have a charter naming the Executive Committee a sole member of the SBC, dated 1997. We've had it in hand in order for us to implement it once all other entities had implemented it.”

Wiley Drake, pastor of First Southern Baptist Church of Buena Park, Calif., appealed to the convention to overrule the chair when two of his motions were ruled out of order.

He asked that newly elected SBC President Bobby Welch write letters of commendation. One would go to Walt Disney Pictures for producing the movie “America's Heart and Soul” and accompanying Bible study material. The second would go to Rick Scarbourgh and Vision America for calling American Christians to prayer and fasting.

Graham said: “A clear distinction is made between a resolution, which is a concern, and a motion, which calls for an action. … We felt your motion fell more in the category of resolutions.”

Drake said: “I want a specific action commending them for what they are doing. If (the committee is) going to rule things out of order because they don't want to do anything, then we are getting back to the way we were years ago when us conservatives were having our mics turned off on us. I will appeal to the body to overrule the chair. Let the messengers vote.”

The messenger voted to support the committee's decision to rule them out of order.

Other submitted motions either were referred to an SBC agency or ruled out of order.

One motion referred to the North American Mission Board asks for a reconsideration of the requirement that Southern Baptist chaplains be ordained by a local church.

A motion to consider a boycott of Carnival Cruise Lines and require the SBC Annuity Board to sell its Carnival stock as soon as possible was referred to the Annuity Board and the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission.

The Annuity Board had been under fire from some critics in the SBC for holding stock in Carnival because gay groups promote “gay-friendly” cruises on its ships.

Posted: 6/25/04

Convention preacher issues challenge
to rebuild crumbling spiritual walls

By Lonnie Wilkey

Tennessee Baptist & Reflector

INDIANAPOLIS–Alabama pastor Steve Gaines challenged messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention to rebuild spiritual walls that have crumbled in the United States.

America is in a state of crisis, said Gaines, pastor of First Baptist Church of Gardendale, Ala., in the annual convention sermon in Indianapolis.

International terrorism and an uncertain economy might be immediate threats, but abortion and homosexuality “will determine the future of America,” he predicted.

“We are at a crossroads. Our spiritual walls have crumbled,” Gaines said.

Gaines cited the Old Testament prophet Nehemiah as an example for Southern Baptists to follow.

Preaching from Nehemiah, Gaines noted that Nehemiah was a wall builder. Though he had tremendous opposition, Nehemiah refused to come off that wall, Gaines said.

“Southern Baptists, we must do the same. Don't come down,” he exhorted messengers.

Gaines, who was elected president of the Southern Baptist Pastors' Conference earlier in the week, said God “is calling us to be spiritual wall builders.”

Gaines said Southern Baptists are called to a great work, they must be committed to that work, and they must complete that work.

“We, as Americans, can't expect God to bless our nation unless we pray and glorify his name and preach his holy word,” Gaines told messengers.

Only prayer and the preaching of God's word can rebuild America's spiritual walls, he said.

“Prayer needs to be the priority of your life and preaching the priority of your ministry.”

The Alabama pastor said Southern Baptists also must provide a prophetic voice in today's world. “We are to be the salt and light.”

But Hollywood sets today's moral standards for many Americans, Gaines said. “God has not called Hollywood to set the moral tone. He has called Christians.”

Southern Baptists must speak out and address the issues of abortion and homosexuality facing America, he stressed.

Stating 42 million babies have been aborted since the Roe vs. Wade decision in 1973, Gaines spoke against federal judges and others who say abortion is a woman's right. “Abortion is murder, it is sin and it is an abomination in the eyes of God,” he said.

Gaines also exhorted Southern Baptists to address the issue of gay marriages and the homosexual agenda. “Wake up,” he told the messengers. “We need to lead the way and help pass the Federal Marriage Amendment Act. We must lead the way to take God's nation back from militant gay activists.”

Gaines challenged Southern Baptists “to speak the truth in love” when dealing with homosexuals. “Homosexuals are not our enemy. The devil is our enemy,” he said.

He called on pastors to preach what the Bible says about homosexuality and to remember homosexuals can “be saved and set free by God.”

Gaines offered three suggestions for stopping the “homosexualization” of the United States:

Educate people on the issues.

Register people to vote. Churches can sponsor voter registration drives without threatening their tax-exempt status, he said.

Encourage people to vote only for candidates with Christian values. Don't tell people who to vote for, don't let Democrats or Republicans tell you how to vote and don't vote with your pocketbooks, he challenged messengers. “Let God tell you how to vote.”

Gaines exhorted messengers to build spiritual walls and not to come down from the wall. “The world needs us, whether they know it or not.”

Steve Gaines, pastor of First Baptist Church, Gardendale, Ala., delivers the convention sermon at the Southern Baptist Convention in Indianapolis.

Posted: 6/25/04

Preaching at Pastors' Conference,
Patterson laments lack of baptisms

INDIANAPOLIS–With “Jesus Came Preaching” as their theme, Southern Baptist leaders came preaching during the 2004 Pastors' Conference in Indianapolis.

Paige Patterson, president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, reminded Southern Baptists that since the “conservative resurgence” began in 1979, the annual baptism numbers have not increased.

“And we have baptized mostly our own, many of them for the second time,” he said. “Many of us are guilty of the infant baptism we used to criticize everyone else for.”

Patterson said the doctrine of the exclusivity of Jesus Christ “is the most hated doctrine in all the world today,” but he challenged Southern Baptists to stick to it. “Let us preach to make men free. God help us if we preach anything else but Jesus and him alone for salvation.”

During officer elections, Steve Gaines, pastor of First Baptist Church of Gardendale, Ala., was elected president of the 2005 Southern Baptist Pastors' Conference. Gaines was elected over Terry Fox, pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church in Wichita, Kan.

Johnny Hunt, pastor of First Baptist of Woodstock, Ga., placed Gaines' name in nomination on behalf of former SBC President Adrian Rogers, who is recovering from heart surgery.

Paige Patterson

Scott Wilkens, a church planter from Kentucky, and David Thompson, pastor of Northpointe Community Church in Nashville, Tenn., were elected first vice president and secretary-treasurer respectively.

Evangelist Voddie Baucham of Spring said preaching the gospel in today's culture takes courage because it is not accepted as it once was. “I believe there is coming a time when we will pay a price for preaching the gospel.”

Jerry Vines, pastor of First Baptist Church, Jacksonville, Fla., told the conference: “Our job is not to dilute the message, delete the message, dissect the message, doctor the message or dumb down the message. Our job is to deliver and to declare the message of the living God.”

Ted Traylor, president of the 2004 Pastors Conference, found himself preaching during a slot reserved for Adrian Rogers. Rogers, pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis, Tenn., was not released by his physician to preach following heart bypass surgery March 16.

Traylor shared thoughts about the authority, anointing and announcement of the “peerless preacher.”

“There are some people outside of our normal paths that we must begin to do a better job reaching,” Traylor said, noting three specific groups–various ethnic groups, teenagers and twentysomethings. “Something must change with the way we are pronouncing the gospel, so we can announce to them that Jesus is Lord.”

Ronnie Floyd, pastor of First Baptist Church, Springdale, Ark., said teaching, preaching and the practice of a biblical theology of stewardship are missing in most Southern Baptist churches today.

Drawing from the example of David in 1 Chronicles, chapter 29, Floyd encouraged pastors to be courageous spiritual leaders who put biblical theological stewardship into practice. Only then, Floyd said, will God provide “supernatural contagious results.”

Another Arkansas pastor, Bryan Smith of First Baptist Church of Van Buren, said pastors should never forget the primary reason of their call–preach the word of God.

Smith, who was vice president of the 2004 SBC Pastors Conference, said the same persecution under Saul that dispersed the early church is evident today.

He said 250 million believers live in communities under threat of persecution, prison or death. “These are not just heroes or statistics but they are our family. It should be a joy and a blessing to suffer for Jesus Christ.”

Eddie Echarri a former prisoner who now directs community outreach for Olive Baptist Church in Pensacola, Fla., urged church leaders to reach out to those who need Jesus.

“Broken spirits and broken hearts are showing up at your church,” he said.

Mike Haley, manager of the gender division of the legislative and cultural affairs department of Focus on the Family, Colorado Springs, Colo., was another who told of God's grace in his life. He described his life from being a homosexual and gay activist to leaving that lifestyle and becoming a youth pastor, husband to a woman who had had two abortions and a father of two sons.

“I pray … that you've not heard the story of an ex-gay man or the story of a post-abortive woman but instead the story of a powerful God that will go out of his way to reach one that many believe to be beyond his grasp,” he said.

Paul Negrut, pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Oradea, Romania, said service for Jesus involves calling, vision, passion, character and reward.

“We are working for the King of Kings, Lord of Lords, the One who is coming soon and coming with a great reward.”

Johnny Hunt, pastor of First Baptist Church of Woodstock, Ga., challenged his listeners to be “satisfied to be called a preacher.”

“Brethren, we're not CEOs,” he said. “Who wants to be a chief executive officer reporting to the company when you can be a called-by-God pastor reporting to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords?”

Fred Luter, pastor of Franklin Avenue Baptist Church in New Orleans, challenged Southern Baptists to become kingdom citizens by becoming like Christ. In order to be like Christ, one must love the Scriptures, the Savior and the saints, Luter said. “How can we win the world if we don't love one another?” he asked.

Don Wilton, pastor of First Baptist Church, Spartanburg, S.C., said today's pastors must repent, overcome issues, overcome prevalent beliefs, decide on action and settle on a focus.

Ergun Caner, a professor at Liberty University, Lynchburg, Va., and the Southern Baptist son of an Islamic leader, said he became a Christian, and several other family members were saved in following years, “all because one stubborn, obnoxious high-school kid took the Great Commission seriously. … Thank God that we are united in missions and evangelism, because I wouldn't be standing here if it were not for your hearts and your work and your programs.”

Ed Hindson, assistant chancellor and dean of the institution of biblical studies at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va., told pastors that Jesus ties the Old Testament with the New Testament. “Jesus is the theme of the Bible,” Hindson said. “Preach him and change the world.”

Posted: 6/25/04

Convention asks New Orleans
Seminary to make the SBC its sole member

By Bill Webb

Missouri Word & Way

INDIANAPOLIS–Messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting voted by a 2-1 margin to “respectfully request” that trustees of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary amend the school's charter, naming the Southern Baptist Convention as the seminary's “sole member.”

The recommendation was presented by the SBC Executive Committee and debated during the convention's opening session in Indianapolis. When a raised-ballot vote was too close to call, President Jack Graham called for a ballot vote.

Messengers denied pleas by New Orleans President Chuck Kelley and seminary trustees to delay the matter to allow them to bring to the 2005 convention both a sole-member proposal and a yet-to-be-determined alternative. The seminary board believes this would ensure convention ownership of the seminary but take into account the unique nature of Louisiana non-profit law and better protect Baptist polity.

Chuck Kelley

Executive Committee Chairman Gary Smith said the Executive Committee made the sole-member request of New Orleans trustees seven years ago and that the seminary had long been the sole holdout of the 11 SBC institutions.

Executive Committee leaders said the convention action is intended to ensure the right of the convention to continue to elect seminary trustees, to guarantee ownership of the seminary remains with the convention and to protect the Southern Baptist Convention from ascending liability.

Convention attorney James Guenther told messengers the charter change to name the SBC as the sole member of the seminary board ensures both entities will continue to enjoy their historic roles.

“The convention would clearly own the seminary and elect its board of trustees,” he said. “The board would then, as it does now, operate and manage the seminary.

“It's not about changing the historic covenant between the convention and the seminary; it is about sealing that covenant to make sure that a Baylor-like event does not occur in this convention.”

Trustees of Baylor University in Waco voted in 1990 to make the school's governing board self-perpetuating. Previously, the Baptist General Convention of Texas had elected all members of the university's board of trustees. The BGCT and Baylor later reached an agreement in which the convention elects one-fourth of the governing board and the Baylor regents elect the remaining three-fourths.

“This recommendation is not rooted in suspicion,” he said.

“The Executive Committee members do not believe this seminary board would ever flee the convention.

“I personally believe, and the Executive Committee members believe that the present trustees of that seminary are honorable, loyal Southern Baptists. But the time to close the barn door is before there are any horses wanting to get out.”

Kelley pleaded with messengers to defeat the recommendation so seminary trustees could bring their own plan to the 2005 annual meeting in Nashville.

“You have not yet been given all the facts and the other side of the sole-membership story,” he noted.

“The bottom line is that Louisiana law is different than that of other entity states, and that difference makes sole membership more harmful than helpful for the SBC.”

New Orleans was not the only institution yet to make the SBC the sole member of its corporation, Kelley added.

The Executive Committee, which is a Tennessee corporation, has not made the SBC the sole member of its corporation, nor have they announced yet an intention to do so.

Guenther later told messengers the Executive Committee was prepared to submit its own sole-member charter changes when the New Orleans Seminary situation was resolved.

Kelley said some agency heads have said they are having second thoughts and wish they could reconsider their decision.

He had promised seminary trustees would bring both a sole-member proposal and an alternative charter change “consistent with Louisiana law and Baptist polity” to next year's annual meeting.

“Whichever one you choose, we will immediately implement next year,” he pledged.

Kelley previously said seminary trustees would honor a request to make the charter change granting sole membership to the SBC only if the request came as a result of convention action such as that taken in Indianapolis.

The recommendation approved by messengers calls for the seminary board to specify the SBC's right to:

Elect and remove the seminary's trustees.

Approve any amendment of the charter adopted by the board of trustees.

Approve any merger, consolidation, dissolution or other change in the entity's charter.

Approve the sale, lease or other disposition of the corporation's assets.

The convention expects the charter changes to be submitted for consideration by the Executive Committee in its February 2005 meeting, then presented to messengers at next year's annual meeting for approval before it is filed with the Louisiana secretary of state.

In October 2003, seminary trustees voted unanimously not to change the articles of incorporation naming the SBC as its sole member. That prompted the Executive Committee to decline to give the seminary until 2005 to bring its proposal and instead to bring the issue to 2004 messengers.

That decision by the Executive Committee was made the day before the start of the annual meeting with only about a half dozen of Executive Committee members voting against it.

Posted: 6/25/04

Gay activists unfairly lay claim to civil
rights mantle, African-Americans say

By Karen L. Willoughby

Baptist Press

INDIANAPOLIS (BP)–African-American Christians need to stand against same-sex marriage, the president of the National African American Fellowship said.

President Robert Anderson, pastor of Colonial Baptist Church in Randallstown, Md., told the fellowship at its annual meeting in Indianapolis: "It is very important that we as the National African American Fellowship make a statement on same-sex marriage. We've been silent too long."

Jerry Dailey. pastor of Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church in San Antonio.

Gay activists have “come into our territory to claim the mantle of civil rights for their cause,” Anderson said.

“We as blacks ought to be able to give voice to God's word. Leviticus 18:22 says homosexuality is an abomination before the Lord.

“Maybe we've been silent because we have them singing in our churches. For them to be thinking homosexuality is OK, we have done them an injustice. Wrong is wrong, and God doesn't cover up sin.”

Pointing to Psalm 11:3– “When the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?”–Anderson said: “There are times God says stand, and this is such a time. God is going to fight the battle for you, but you must stand.”

Anderson urged fellowship members to contact their two senators before the Federal Marriage Amendment comes up for a vote in July and voice support for the measure.

“Fight the good fight,” he said. “I want you to know; God is waiting for you to do so.”

Anderson also urged African-American Christians to minister to former inmates who are trying to re-enter society.

Noting a wave of people being released from prison who were incarcerated during the 1970s' and '80s' war on drugs, he said the upswing started last year and will continue for another two or three more years.

“More than 600,000 are being released every year, and 42 percent of them are African-American,” Anderson said. “Please consider economic development in reaching and helping these coming out of jail.

“Yes, there's a risk. If it were easy, everyone would do it. If we're talking about reaching the low, reaching the poor, reaching the needy … let us consider these people and their families.”

Guest speaker Jerry Dailey, pastor of Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church in San Antonio, spoke from Isaiah 5:1-6 about the danger of God cutting off those who do not tend to the vineyard with which he entrusts them.

“This is a song of indictment; there's not much celebration in it,” Dailey said. “God wants, God expects your best–especially in light of all he's done for you. He's healed you, protected you, delivered you, provided for you. …”

Officers of the National African American Fellowship through 2005 include Anderson, president; Mark Croston Sr., pastor of East End Baptist Church in Suffolk, Va., vice president; Frankie Harvey, a member of Nacogdoches Bible Fellowship, secretary; and Leon Johnson, pastor at Bread of Life Baptist Church in Chicago, treasurer.

Jerry Dailey, pastor of Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church in San Antonio, preaches at the National African American Fellowship meeting in Indianapolis.

Posted: 6/25/04

Annuity Board renamed GuideStone,
will offer services outside SBC circles

INDIANAPOLIS (BP)–Messengers to the 2004 Southern Baptist Convention approved recommendations to change the Annuity Board's name to GuideStone Financial Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention and to expand its products and services to evangelical ministry organizations outside the SBC.

The recommendation to change the board's name, its articles of incorporation and SBC bylaws require two successive votes of the convention, but a provision authorizing the board to do business as GuideStone for one year pending a second affirmative vote at the 2005 convention was included and approved. The same process was used when LifeWay Christian Resources changed its name a few years ago from the Baptist Sunday School Board.

“The name change and the opportunity to expand the scope of our work will further undergird our efforts to enhance the financial security of the pastor at the crossroads and other Southern Baptist ministers and employees we serve,” said SBC Annuity Board President O.S. Hawkins.

Prior to the approval of the recommendation extending the board's services to other evangelical ministry organizations, Mitchell Jackson of Sikeston, Mo., raised questions about the value of extending the board's products and services to non-Southern Baptist organizations and the limited information available about the eligibility guidelines.

Hawkins responded by saying the eligibility guidelines are listed in the “New Name, Expanded Ministry” brochure available at the board's exhibit, which states the board will “work with evangelical church and ministry organizations that are eligible to participate in a church plan and are not in conflict with the Southern Baptist Convention.”

In addition, the board's trustees will approve the guidelines and will be involved in determining the evangelical ministries to be served. Among the factors to be considered as a part of the guidelines are:

Belief that Scripture has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter.

Belief in the local church, with the primary task of proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Belief in salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.

Even with the opportunities to service non-Southern Baptist entities, legal documents will require the majority of participants served by GuideStone Financial Resources be Southern Baptists. All trustees must be members of Southern Baptist churches and elected by the SBC as they have been since the board's founding in 1918.

“This … ministry expansion will enable us to first and foremost keep our focus on preparing our ministers for a secure financial future in addition to maintaining our high-touch customer service, competitive fee structure and enhance the buying power for risk management products,” Hawkins said.

“The continued growth of the Annuity Board's asset base is vitally important to the overall health of our organization and our ability to be an advocate for our participants,” he added. “We have three opportunities to enlarge our ministry–retention, growth and expansion.

“We work diligently to retain our existing clients and assets. Growth is becoming more challenging since we have saturated the Southern Baptist market, but the third opportunity is through expansion. Expanding our markets will allow us to provide a larger client base and ultimately more assets under management,” Hawkins said.

“Market expansion will also benefit our life, medical and disability programs by giving us greater buying power and enhancing the board's ability to provide more competitive products and services.”

Even though the board will offer its retirement, investment and insurance products and services to other evangelical organizations, its relief ministry to retirees will remain exclusive to Southern Baptist ministers and denominational employees.

Annuity Board trustees initially approved the recommendations July 30, 2002, and the SBC Executive Committee gave its approval Sept. 23 of last year.

The new name, GuideStone, was selected after several months of research and deliberation. An extensive pool of naming specialists with a clear understanding of the uniqueness of the Southern Baptist Convention assisted in the process.

“The name 'GuideStone' offers a unique combination of familiar words and the feeling of strength to provide a fitting symbol for our new identity,” said Curt Sharp, Annuity Board executive officer for denominational and public relations.

“Over the years, our mission has grown, and we have improved and expanded our products and services,” Hawkins added. “The one missing piece was a name that encompasses our history along with a broader vision of the scope of our mission.

“We believe 'GuideStone Financial Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention' will be a name that will help guide our future while enabling us to build on our legacy of trust, service, values, experience and strength.”

Posted: 6/25/04

Franklin Graham's vision: a student
evangelist in every public school class

By Jennifer Davis Rash

The Alabama Baptist

INDIANAPOLIS–One child in every public school class witnessing for Jesus. That's the vision Franklin Graham shared during his address at the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in Indianapolis.

Graham, president and CEO of Samaritan's Purse and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, said his organization has developed a witnessing program that children can complete over the Internet.

“When a child completes the program, we will send them a card with their name on it saying that they are a certified evangelist with the Billy Graham Association,” he explained.

“I want to see at least one child in every class in every public school in America who is trained as a witness for Jesus Christ.”

Franklin Graham

In a veiled reference to a resolution rejected by the SBC Resolutions Committee that would have called for Christian parents to withdraw their children from public schools, Graham said: “Let's don't surrender public schools; let's take them back. … We are going to have witnesses in every class–a young kid who can stand up and share his faith in Jesus Christ.”

Graham said the children would learn Scripture they can use to share the gospel. The association also will host an Internet chat room where the young “evangelists” can talk to each other and post prayer requests.

Challenging all Southern Baptists to focus on witnessing, Graham said: “We don't have a lot of time. I believe the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords is coming soon. Let's be ready for it. Let's start telling people about the Lord Jesus Christ.

“I don't want to go around kicking people in their shins or stomping on their toes. This is serious business.”

Preaching from Acts 1:8 and the first two chapters of Galatians, Graham said: “A witness has to tell the truth always, no matter what.

“We are to be witnesses to the truth” of Christ, he said. “We are to tell the truth always, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.”

Posted: 6/25/04

Churches seek to make amends for persecuting Anabaptists

By Rich Preheim

Religion News Service

WASHINGTON (RNS)–In the early 16th century, groups of European Christians started splitting from the Roman Catholic Church in what is now known as the Protestant Reformation. But while Protestants and Catholics were at odds, they had one thing in common: Anabaptism had to be eliminated.

Reformed Christians drowned Felix Manz, the first of thousands of Anabaptist martyrs over the next two centuries. Catholics burned at the stake Michael Sattler, author of the first Anabaptist confession of faith.

Even Martin Luther, who is credited with ushering in the Reformation, urged the execution of all Anabaptists as heretics.

Such persecution helped drive the early Anabaptists–the direct spiritual ancestors of today's Mennonites, Amish and Hutterites and somewhat-distant relatives to Baptists–into isolation, suspicious of the rest of the world.

But now nearly 500 years later, the Catholic, Lutheran and Reformed churches–primary antagonists of Anabaptists in the 16th and 17th centuries–are seeking to make amends.

“We all have black sheep in the family. We all have ancestors that we aren't proud of,” said Joseph Martino, head of the Vatican-appointed delegation that last fall concluded five years of meetings with a group from Mennonite World Conference, the global Mennonite fellowship.

In addition to the Catholics, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and Mennonite Church USA this spring finished a two-year series of meetings, and the Reformed Church in Zurich, Switzerland, scheduled a reconciliation ceremony this summer with participation by Anabaptist descendants from around the world.

As Catholics, Lutherans and Reformed re-examine their history, so Mennonites are prompted to introspection.

“It's always healthy if we should engage another tradition,” said Mennonite historian John Sharp. “That strengthens our own faith.”

The Protestant Reformation was born in 1517 when Catholic monk Martin Luther challenged the church by posting his 95 theses in Wittenberg in what is now Germany. He went on to found the Lutheran Church.

Another pivotal development came in the early 1520s, when priest Ulrich Zwingli renounced Catholicism but remained in the pulpit of Zurich's main church, leading to the start of the Reformed movement.

But some Christians thought Luther, Zwingli and other reformers did not go far enough–particularly regarding infant baptism. For generations, newborns had been baptized, but some believers argued only adults can make a decision to follow Jesus Christ and join the church.

Anabaptists insisted on believers' baptism–first conducted in Zurich in 1525–and refused to have their children baptized as babies.

But the Anabaptist position, while religious, also was political. Baptism not only was the rite of entrance into the church but also into citizenship in the state, since state and church were one, whether Catholic, Lutheran or Reformed. So rejecting infant baptism was seen as threatening the civic order.

As a result, Anabaptists were severely persecuted, forcing them to frequently flee across Europe and eventually to the Americas in search of security to practice their faith.

But that was then, and this is now, church leaders say. In fact, said Lutheran Paul Schreck, many church members are unaware of that chapter of their church's history.

“I think most Lutherans around the world would be horrified that their forebears put to the sword people who disagreed with them,” he said.

Both the Catholic and Lutheran dialogues covered many topics, but they also included repentance.

In the final report of the Catholic-Mennonite meetings released this spring, the Vatican delegation said Catholics “can express a penitential spirit, asking forgiveness for any sins which were committed against Mennonites, asking God's mercy for that, and God's blessing for a new relationship with Mennonites today.”

Following their meetings with Mennonite Church USA, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America participants released a statement repudiating state-sanctioned Lutheran persecution of Anabaptists.

Starting next year, the conversation will go global, as the Mennonite World Conference and Lutheran World Federation start meeting together. One of the items on the agenda is the Augsburg Confession, a 1530 document still used by Lutherans that includes condemnations of Anabaptists.

The study of history was an important element to both the Catholic and Lutheran dialogues. Martino said it is important for all sides in a conversation to have a common understanding of the past.

“A lot of time, people have strong feelings based on certain things they regard as gospel truth,” said Martino, bishop at Scranton, Pa. “Once the playing field is leveled, then you get into a position where you can talk on a secure foundation. The perceptions and the judgments are adjusted.”

That applies to Anabaptist history, as well as Catholic and Lutheran history. Their martyr heritage has been crucial to Mennonite, Amish and Hutterite identity. Important to those groups is “Martyrs Mirror,” a 17th-century book of 1,290 pages with hundreds of accounts of persecuted Anabaptists.

But that heritage may need re-examination, said Mennonite World Conference Executive Secretary Larry Miller, not to “betray the blood of the martyrs” but to be sure the stories are accurate.

“We like to say we were just being obedient,” Miller said. “But if you take a look at it from another angle, you can say we were socially provocative.”

While Lutheran and Catholic repentance for the persecution of Anabaptists is new, it is not new for the Reformed.

The World Alliance of Reformed Churches apologized more than 20 years ago.

The recent event in Zurich is different, Sharp said, because the ties to mistreatment of Anabaptists are direct and local. The Evangelical-Reformed Church in Zion is taking responsibility for what happened in its territory centuries ago.

The Zurich event, commemorating the 500th anniversary of the birth of Reformed leader Heinrich Bullinger, included a joint worship service and the dedication of a memorial to Manz, who was drowned in the city's Limmat River in 1527.

“The Reformation started as a movement of renewal but immediately turned out to become a story of separation,” said Peter Dettwiler, ecumenical officer of the Evangelical-Reformed Church in Zurich.

“It's time to set a memorial in the city of Zurich, where the roots of both the Reformed and Anabaptists are to be found.”

While Mennonites have historically resisted ecumenical relations, interchurch connections are inevitable, say dialogue participants. Mennonites no longer live in isolated enclaves but consistently rub shoulders with members of other denominations, be it through international relief efforts or local Bible studies.

So intentional religious dialogues “can help us understand we are among Christians,” said Sharp, director of the Mennonite Church USA Historical Committee.

“Let's figure out who we are in relation to them and not over and against them.”

Posted: 6/25/04

New NAMB missionaries with ties to Texas
Carla Clements	Jonathan Pettigrew	Christine McFadden	Jeff McFadden	Denise Dodson	William Dodson

Around the State

Faculty from the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor's College of Fine Arts won first and second places in the 2004 Barclay Literary Arts and Music Composition Competition. Under instrumental entries, Stephen Crawford, associate professor/director of bands and instrumental activities, placed first for his composition, “Remembering Tomorrow,” and also received a merit award for excellence. Lon Chafin, associate professor of music, placed second for his composition, “Urban Sketches,” and also received a merit award for excellence. In the vocal entries, John Pinnos, music instructor, placed second for his composition, “The Minstrel Boy.”

Two faculty members in the Hardin-Simmons Kelley College of Business have received promotions. Charles Walts, assistant professor of accounting and finance and director of the master of business administration program, was named associate dean for the college of business. He joined the faculty in 1995. William Curtis, associate professor of finance and economics, has been named director of internships and placement.

Don Ashmore (left) was elected president of the Hardin-Simmons University staff council. Ashmore, associate vice president for finance and management and controller, succeeds Travis Seekins who completed his term of service. A 1978 graduate of the university, he joined the school's staff in 2001. Other officers pictured are John Neese, secretary, and Dorothy Kiser, vice president. Neese is athletic director and Kiser is registrar and associate vice president for student records and registration. (Charles Richardson Photo)

James McGlothlin, pastor of Lakeside Baptist Church in Dallas 18 years, has been named church relations representative in the office of church and community relations of Buckner Baptist Benevolences. In his new duties, McGlothlin will cultivate and maintain contact with congregations, develop church-related programs that relate to the ministries of Buckner and serve as minister-at-large for Buckner. He will be based in Fredericksburg. McGlothlin had served on the Buckner board of trustees since 1988 and was vice chairman from 1995 to 1997. He also previously had served as pastor of churches in Galveston, Galena Park, Rosebud, Morgan Mill and Talpa. He may be reached to speak about Buckner at (800) 442-4800, extension 8103 or by e-mail at jmcglothlin@buckner.org.

Jane Abbott-Kirk, associate professor of piano at Baylor University, has been named 2004 Collegiate Teacher of the Year by the Texas Music Teachers Association. She joined the Baylor faculty in 1973.

Churches looking to build or renovate buildings may contact Mission Service Corps volunteers Shirley and Travis Wright for help. They should be called before the church contacts a lender, builder or fee-charging design professional. They can be reached at (903) 674-5403.

Appointments

Six missionaries with ties to Texas have been appointed by the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. Carla Clements serves in Dallas, where she is a Nehemiah Project church starter intern working as part of a church starting team. William and Denise Dodson will serve in Washington D.C., where he is a church starting missionary pastor. A Texas native, he is a graduate of Texas Tech University and received a law degree from Baylor University. He worked as an attorney, district attorney, judge and director of pubic policy for the SBC Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission before becoming a church starter last August. He and his wife, also a native Texan, have two children, Allison and Andrew. Jeff and Kristine McFadden will serve in Seguin, where he is a church starter. He previously served as a youth or music minister for churches in Mesquite, Brookesmith, Kerrville and Brownwood. The McFaddens have one daughter, Esmee. Jonathan Pettigrew serves in Indianapolis, Ind., as a collegiate evangelism associate. He was appointed under the US/C-2 program in which young adults complete two years of missions service in the U.S. or Canada. A graduate of Angelo State University in San Angelo, he was a youth worker and college minister for Hillcrest Church in San Angelo.

Anniversaries

Larry Soape, 20th, as minister of education and administration at First Church in New Braunfels.

Wally Black, 10th, as minister of music at First Church in New Braunfels.

Regan Miller, fifth, as pastor of First Church in New Braunfels.

Billy Barnes, fifth, as senior adult minister at First Church in New Braunfels.

Lakeside Church in Breckenridge, 10th, June 6. The congregation also celebrated the burning of their note that day.

Melodee Stillwell, fifth, as associate student minister at First Church in Lewisville June 7.

Howard Chapman, 35th, on staff at First Church in Wichita Falls June 13. He began his service there as minister of recreation and later transitioned to become minister of senior adults.

Brian Dodridge, fifth, as associate pastor/discipleship at First Church in Lewisville June 16.

Six former directors of missions and their wives got together for lunch in Abilene recently. Attending were Bryan and Alice Ross of San Angelo, Malcolm and JoAnn Brown of Abilene, Roy Lee and Mary Lou Williams of Abilene, Herman and Marie Lancaster of Abilene, Dan and Dale Connelly of Brownwood, and Ferris and Romona Akins of Ballinger.

Northside Church in Corsicana, 70th, June 26-27. The festivities will begin at 7 p.m. Saturday with a game night. There will be no early worship service Sunday, but Sunday school will begin at 9:45 a.m. David Hale will preach in the morning service. A lunch will follow at Fullerton-Garrity Park. At 4 p.m., the choir will present a special program, “The Family of God, A Church Family Celebration. Bob Webb is pastor.

River Road Church in Amarillo, 60th, July 4. Former Pastor Carl Neal will preach in the morning service. A catered barbecue lunch will follow. Micah Meurer is pastor.

Westside Victory Church in Fort Worth, 10th, July 11. The date also marks the 10th anniversary of founding pastor Larry Neathery. The morning service will include performances from Psalm 151 and Forgiven. A lunch will follow. For more information, call (817) 731-4968.

First Church of Elm Mott, 125th, July 17. The church will celebrate its anniversary July 18 beginning with a 9 a.m. continental breakfast. The morning service will include preaching by Walter Crouch and Weldon Koepf leading the music. Former Waco Assocation Director of Missions Paul Stripling and Paul Smith also will participate. A lunch will follow the morning sercie and a 2 p.m. song service is scheduled. Jody Gousset is pastor.

First Church in Glen Rose, 125th, July 17-18. Saturday's events will begin at 5 p.m. with a hamburger/hot dog supper and special activities for children. At 6:30 p.m., a service featuring former staff members John Wheat and Larry Lormand will begin. Also, former staff member Phil Moore will bring his adult choir from Dumas to sing. Former Pastor Bill Schibler also will speak. At 7:30 p.m., festivities will move to the Texas Amphitheater to view The Promise. Sunday will begin with a continental breakfast at 8:30 a.m. There will be no Sunday school, but the morning service will begin at 9:30 a.m. with Pastor Brent Ferren preaching. A lunch will follow.

First Church in Hull, 85th, July 19. The church will hold homecoming services July 18. Former Pastor Jack Maddox will preach in the morning service and John Marshall, previously music minister, will lead the singing. Lunch will follow, then a concert by the Marcontells will begin at 1:30 p.m. David Pursley is pastor.

First Church in Port Lavaca, 150th, July 24-25. Activies will begin at 4 p.m. Saturday with tours of the newly renovated educational facilities and a dedication service. At 6:30 p.m., there will be a time of food, fellowship and entertainment at the nearby Bauer Community Center. Sunday's activities will begin at 9 a.m. with services which will reflect on the church's history, look toward the future, while not forgetting God's current vision for the church. Former pastors and staff expected to take part in the celebration include pastors James Bailey and David Bush, interim pastor J.V. Helms, music ministers Bobby Watkins and David Hairel and education director Frank Ward. Associational Director Tommy Billings also will attend. Mike Gresham is pastor.

First Church in Kingsville, 100th, Aug. 1-8. The church will kick off its centennial celebration Aug. 1 with the presentation of the musical “God is Good” by its choir, drama team and orchestra. Former member and current pastor of First Church in Florence Troy Allen will lead afternoon services Monday through Wednesday from 12:10 p.m. until 12:50 p.m. Missions night will be held Wednesday, beginning with the 5:30 p.m. meal, cost $3. A 7 p.m. service will celebrate the mission churches started by the congregation and recognize their current pastors. Friday will feature a golf scramble at the L.E. Ramey Golf Course, cost $22 per person. Saturday a trap and skeet shoot will be held at the Kleburg County Trap and Skeet Club with a cost of $27 per event. The celebration banquet will be held that evening at 6:30 p.m. at Texas A&M-Kingsville. The cost is $12 per person with childcare available at the church. Former pastor Dan Wooldridge will be the speaker. Sunday's morning service will feature former staff members and a message from former Pastor Ken May. A covered dish luncheon will follow. The dedication of a state historical marker also is scheduled. For more information or to register for events, call (361) 592-3344. Ron Earley is pastor.

Hillcrest Church in Denton, 50th, Aug. 8. Former staff and members are asked to send addresses to call Eloise at (940) 383-1555. Robert Richardson is pastor.

Licensed

Justin Hamm to the ministry at Second Church in Victoria.

Events

The Heights Church in Richardson will present special patriotic services July 4 at 9:15 and 10:50 a.m. The services will include a number of musical and multimedia components. A freedom museum in the atrium will feature artifacts and dramatic presentations such as Abraham Lincoln reciting the Gettysburg Address, Betsy Ross working on her 13-star flag in her rocking chair and the Andrews Sisters singing World War II-era tunes. Gary Singleton is pastor.

North Pointe Church in Hurst will hold special services July 4 at 6 p.m. The day will include patriot music and the naturalization ceremony of new citizens who are serving in the U.S. military. Lt. Col. Gregory Tate, a chaplain at Randolph Air Force Base, will speak. The church also will have a freedom museum open from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m.

First Church in Kildare will hold homecoming services July 11 celebrating 127 years of service to the community. A lunch and afternoon song service will conclude the day. Todd Lawrence is pastor.

Austin Association will offer a Leading Self workshop and experiential training opportunity beginning Aug. 17. The 10-session training will meet once a month, concluding May 17, 2005. Sessions will cover how personality affects behavior and the reaction of others, personal distinctives and the discovery of mission and vision. Participants also will be led to discover their belief system, passion, communication skills, means of self-discipline, life management and balance. The cost of the seminar is $200 and registration must be made by July 31.