Evangelicals make mark on society as they bring faith into marketplace, author says_32204

Posted: 3/19/04

Evangelicals make mark on society
as they bring faith into marketplace, author says

DALLAS–Evangelical Christians are making a mark on American society as they bring their faith into the marketplace, author Michael Lindsay told students and faculty at Dallas Baptist University.

Lindsay, a Baylor University graduate who is completing his doctorate in sociology at Princeton University, recently delivered the second annual George Gallup Jr. Distinguished Lectures Series at DBU.

At one point in American history, faith was deemed private and not appropriate for discussion in the public sphere, he told a DBU chapel audience.

03/19/2004 - By John Rutledge

Hearing held on same-sex marriage_32204

Posted: 3/19/04

Hearing held on same-sex marriage

By Robert Marus

ABP Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON (ABP)–The Senate Judiciary Committee's subcommittee on the Constitution held a hearing recently to discuss the advisability of amending the Constitution to ban gay marriages.

03/19/2004 - By John Rutledge

DEEP IN THE HEART OF TEXANS: Range Writer Western author Elmer Kelton_32204

Posted: 3/19/04

RANGE WRITER:
Western author Elmer Kelton

Elmer Kelton is the author of more than 40 novels, including his latest, “Texas Vendetta,” now on bookstore shelves. He is the winner of seven Spur awards from the Western Writers of America and has had three of his novels appear in Reader's Digest Condensed Books. Four have won Western Heritage Awards from the National Cowboy Hall of Fame. He has been honored by the Texas Institute of Letters, the Western Literature Association, the National Cowboy Symposium in Lubbock and the Larry McMurtry Center for Arts and Humanities at Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls. He received honorary doctorates from Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene and Texas Tech University in Lubbock.

A native of Crane, Kelton attended the University of Texas, earning a bachelor's degree in journalism. He spent 15 years as farm and ranch writer-editor for the San Angelo Standard-Times, five years as editor of Sheep and Goat Raiser Magazine and 22 years as associate editor of Livestock Weekly, from which he retired in 1990.

He and his wife, Ann, have two grown sons and a daughter, four grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. They live in San Angelo.

Q.

03/19/2004 - By John Rutledge

Some ministers’ children drawn to life of ministry_32204

Posted: 3/19/04

Some ministers' children drawn to life of ministry

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

Being a minister can be tough. Church members expect their ministers to be perfect while dynamically leading congregations to bring heaven to earth.

03/19/2004 - By John Rutledge

Panhandle preaching conference focuses on reconciliation_32204

Posted: 3/19/04

Panhandle preaching conference focuses on reconciliation

By Toby Druin

Editor Emeritus

PLAINVIEW–Reconciliation was the theme of the 83rd annual Panhandle Pastors' and Laymen's Conference, and before it was over, conference planners got a chance to apply it.

03/19/2004 - By John Rutledge

Churches slow to acknowledge members have problem with pornography_32204

Posted: 3/19/04

Churches slow to acknowledge members
have problem with pornography

By Beau Black

Religion News Service

FORT WORTH (RNS)–Pornography is a multi-billion-dollar industry and widely available via the Internet–no longer just a dirty little secret.

03/19/2004 - By John Rutledge

At 95, Bev Shea still awed by the wonder of it all_32204

Posted: 3/19/04

At 95, Bev Shea still awed by the wonder of it all

By Ken Camp

Managing Editor

George Beverly Shea often wished he could preach like his father and grandfather, but he seemed to lack the “gift.”

03/19/2004 - By John Rutledge

Emergency food shipment arrives in war-torn Haiti_32204

Posted: 3/19/04

Emergency food shipment arrives in war-torn Haiti

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

DALLAS–A planeload of food sent by Texas Baptist Men arrived earlier this month in Haiti, a country recently ravaged by civil war.

03/19/2004 - By John Rutledge

Houston church believes ministry begins at home, particularly among the church staff_32204

Posted: 3/19/04

Houston church believes ministry
begins at home, particularly among the church staff

By George Henson

Staff Writer

HOUSTON–When Lisa Archinal started seeking a ministry project for her Sunday school department, she realized she didn't have to look beyond the households of her church's staff.

03/19/2004 - By John Rutledge

Worship growing more diversified, survey of Protestant churches says_32204

Posted: 3/19/04

Worship growing more diversified,
survey of Protestant churches says

By Ken Camp

Managing Editor

The typical worshipper in a Protestant church today is more likely to be singing choruses projected on a screen and taking notes from his pastor's PowerPoint presentation than he was five years ago, a new study reveals.

03/19/2004 - By John Rutledge

Around the State_32204

Posted: 3/19/04

Around the State

Dusty Burris, a student at East Texas Baptist University, will be the opening act for the contemporary Christian singing duo Shane & Shane March 30 at Centenary College in Shreveport, La. The concert is free to area college students with a valid student identification card. Burris is a member of Immanuel Church in Marshall, where his father Carlton Burris is pastor.

Jessica Wright, president of the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor Nursing Students Association, has been elected Southern Regional Director by the Texas Nursing Students Association.

Girls in Action from First Baptist Church in Friendswood recently delivered a check for $851.71 to Texas Baptist Encampment in Palacios to help repair the damage dealt by Hurricane Claudette. They had attended the camp a few weeks before the storm and were upset to learn it had been damaged. They raised money by having a bake sale, cake walk and parents' night out. The girls are pictured with camp Director Rob Kessler in front of the Gulf Coast dorm, one of the buildings destroyed by the hurricane.

Williamson Association will hold a team leadership training course at its offices April 5 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Deadline for registration is March 29. For more information or to register, call (512) 930-0965. Clint Anderson is director of missions.

03/19/2004 - By John Rutledge

Baptist Briefs_32204

Posted: 3/19/04

Baptist Briefs

Lottie Moon Offering shows increase. If initial projections hold true, giving to the 2003 Lottie Moon Christmas Offering will be up between 18 percent and 22 percent over the previous year, Southern Baptist Convention International Mission Board President Jerry Rankin announced recently. Surpassing the $133 million goal–or reaching the $150 million challenge goal–would enable the IMB to loosen restrictions on missionary appointments imposed in 2003, he said. The record $115 million Southern Baptists gave to the offering in 2002 was an increase of 1.15 percent over 2001 but $10 million short of the goal.

SBC online registration available. Churches can register their messengers to the 2004 Southern Baptist Convention in Indianapolis online at the convention's website, www.sbc.net. A church-authorized representative can complete the registration process by providing the church's seven-digit ID number (found on the Annual Church Profile); the name of the church's moderator or clerk; the church's membership, gifts to SBC causes, state convention and associational affiliations; and the messengers' names. Online registration ends at midnight June 12.

SBC child and youth registration opens. Registration is open for families who want to enroll their children in the preschool child care, the children's conference or the youth Centrifuge held in conjunction with the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in Indianapolis. For all information regarding registration, visit www.sbc.net and click on "2004 SBC Annual Meeting Pre-Registration."

03/19/2004 - By John Rutledge