Posted: 2/29/08

Americans fluid in their religious
affiliation, Pew study reveals

By Adelle M. Banks

Religion News Service

WASHINGTON (RNS)—If you’re Buddhist in the United States, you’re most likely a white convert who lives in the American West. If you’re a Jehovah’s Witness, you’re likely to be a white Southerner, but almost half of your fellow believers are either African-American or Hispanic. And if you’re a Midwesterner, you’re living in the region that best reflects the religious diversity of America.

A new study of more than 35,000 adult Americans by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life captures the depth and breadth of religious America—78.4 percent Christian, 4.7 percent members of other faiths and 16.1 percent unaffiliated.

The U.S. Religious Landscape Survey estimates the religious makeup of the country’s 225 million adults in groups as large as evangelical Protestants (26.3 percent) and as small as Unitarians (0.3 percent).

The study also paints a picture of people who often move from one faith to another, as well as the religious landscape of various parts of the country. Pew researcher John Green called the Midwest a “microcosm of American religion” that closely matches the overall religious profile of the U.S. population’s largest religious groups:

• Evangelical Protestant: 26 percent

• Mainline Protestant: 22 percent

• Catholic: 24 percent

“In religious terms, the Midwest really … does reflect, of all the regions, the great diversity, at least in terms of affiliation,” said Green, a senior fellow at the Pew Forum and an expert on religion and politics at the University of Akron.

Stephen Prothero, who chairs the religion department at Boston University, said that description fits, given the predominantly Catholic Northeast, mostly Baptist South and a Western region known for Buddhists, Hindus and people with no religious affiliation. The Midwest may be known for Lutherans, he said, “but the Lutherans don’t dominate in the Midwest the way that the Catholics do in New England or the Southern Baptists do in the Southeast.”

Other key findings of the study include:

• More than a quarter of Americans—28 percent—have left the faith of their childhoods for another—or no faith at all. Including changes from one form of Protestantism to another, 44 percent of Americans have changed their affiliation or dropped their connection to a faith. Jehovah’s Witnesses and Buddhists are among the faiths with the lowest retention rates of childhood members.

• Of the 16.1 percent of Americans who are not affiliated with any faith, just 4 percent describe themselves as atheist or agnostic. The remaining 12 percent are almost equally divided between the “secular unaffiliated,” who say religion is not important in their lives and the “religious unaffiliated,” who say religion is at least somewhat important.

“Some of those people are between religions,” said Green. “Some of them are just hostile to organized religion. They’re fine with God.”

• Catholics are the religious group with the greatest loss of adherents, with former Catholics making up about 10 percent of the U.S. population. Hindus, on the other hand, are best at retaining their faith; eight in 10 Hindus who were born into the faith remain connected to it.

• The nation’s Protestants make up just 51 percent of the U.S. population, meaning that segment of Christianity is close to becoming a religious minority. Young people are helping fuel that trend: While 62 percent of Americans 70 and older are Protestant, only 43 percent of Americans ages 18-29 are.

Barry Kosmin, a sociologist of religion at Trinity College in Connecticut, said he first detected a drop in Protestant identification in the 1990s. “‘Christian’ has kind of replaced ‘Protestant’ as a term for most Americans,” he said. “If you ask most students ‘What is a Protestant?’ they don’t even know the term.”

• Muslims are the most racially diverse faith group, including 37 percent who are white, 24 percent who are black and 20 percent Asian.

• More than a third of married Americans—37 percent—are married to someone with a different religious affiliation, including a different Protestant faith. Hindus and Mormons are most likely to be married to someone of the same religion, while majorities of Buddhists and the “unaffiliated” have married someone of a different religion.

• Researchers found Jews outnumber Muslims, with Jews comprising 1.7 percent of the adult population and Muslims comprising 0.6 percent.

The Pew survey results are based on more than 35,000 telephone interviews, some of which were done in Spanish, between May and August 2007.

The margin of error for distinct religious groups varies widely depending on sample size.

For the 9,472 evangelical Protestants surveyed, it was plus or minus 1.5 percentage points, but for the 411 Buddhist respondents, it was plus or minus 6.5 percentage points.

Posted: 2/29/08

Grassley targets ministries’
alleged abuse of tax laws

By Robert Marus

Associated Baptist Press

WASHINGTON (ABP)—Sen. Chuck Grassley insists that he’s not trying to impose his Baptist theology on Pentecostal and Charismatic ministries; he simply wants them to obey the tax laws.

The Iowa Republican has drawn fire for using his position as ranking minority member of the Senate Finance Committee to investigate six ministries—most of them embracing so-called “prosperity gospel” theology—for their financial habits.

The ministries already drew scrutiny from former followers or media outlets for spending habits that some would consider indulgent or inappropriate. In an echo of the televangelist scandals of the late 1980s, the charges include using ministry funds to purchase private jets, multi-million dollar homes for ministers and a $23,000 marble-topped chest.

Grassley’s office sent letters to the ministries Nov. 6, asking them for information on their receipts, expenditures and holdings. He set a Dec. 6 deadline for response. While all of the ministries produced statements saying they complied with all tax laws, only the St. Louis-area Joyce Meyer Ministries provided the information Grassley sought.

At a Feb. 1 press conference following his appearance at a Baptist meeting in Atlanta, Grassley said his office planning to send a second round of letters to the ministries that were not cooperating, asking again for the information and threatening further action. However, the senator said at the time, “It would be awhile before I would think about a subpoena.”

But leaders of several of the targeted organizations have vowed to fight Grassley, with some even going so far as to say they’d go to jail rather than answer a congressional subpoena.

“You can go get a subpoena, and I won’t give it to you,” said Texas-based evangelist Kenneth Copeland at a January pastors’ conference. “It’s not yours; it’s God’s, and you’re not going to get it, and that’s something I’ll go to prison over. So, just get over it. … And if there’s a death penalty that applies, well, just go for it.”

Copeland and other targeted evangelists have said the investigation is violating their religious freedom. While most nonprofits organized under Section 501(c)(3) of the federal tax code have to file information about receipts and expenditures with the Internal Revenue Service, churches do not.

Religious organizations under investigation might claim a First Amendment violation based on a theory of excessive entanglement in church affairs or discrimination based on religion—if they could show they were being targeted on the basis of their religious beliefs, said Holly Hollman, general counsel with the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty.

“Of course, the stated purpose of the investigation is congressional oversight for the tax laws that govern nonprofit entities. The First Amendment certainly does not provide a blanket exemption from the tax laws that govern nonprofits, including many religious entities,” she added.

Grassley stressed he is not targeting churches, per se, but simply investigating whether they are complying with laws that apply to them.

“Here’s the bottom line: The tax laws that apply to nonprofits, there’s no difference between those tax laws as a nonprofit or ABC church as a nonprofit. The only difference between the Red Cross as a nonprofit and the church is that” churches don’t have to report in the same way to the IRS, he said.

Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, who is close to Copeland, also criticized the investigation. In a Feb. 10 appearance on NBC’s Meet the Press, the former Baptist pastor said it was “a little chilling” to him. “Is Congress going to start going after nonprofit organizations?” he asked. “And if so, are they going to do all nonprofits? Are they going to start looking at MoveOn.org?” MoveOn is a liberal group.

But Grassley has repeatedly investigated secular nonprofits, including the Nature Conservancy and the Red Cross. At the press conference, he said he had previously almost always gotten cooperation from nonprofits whose finances he’s investigated.

“Except for Jack Abramoff and his nonprofits—and he’s in prison now—every time I asked nonprofits for information, I got it,” he said, referring to the disgraced former GOP lobbyist.

A former religious adviser to President Bush has said Pentecostals and charismatics will view the investigation as an assault by more mainstream evangelicals like Grassley—potentially driving a wedge between Republicans and part of their conservative Christian base.

Doug Wead, in a Feb. 16 Des Moines Register story, said, “The Grassley probe, by the time it is full-blown and the media does its job of attacking these ministries, will have Pentecostals feeling demeaned and helpless and dirty and targeted.”

Wead, a former board member of one of the targeted ministries, also said the investigation will cause Pentecostals to feel that the media had been “used by a Baptist to settle a score.” In a blog entry, he accused Grassley and other mainstream evangelicals of elitism in pursuing the investigation.

Grassley, for his part, has repeatedly denied that he has a theological agenda in the investigation. “I’m not interested in what they’re preaching; they can call their gospel anything they want to,” he said in Atlanta. “This nonprofit investigation is … about obeying the tax laws and being a trustee of the money of the people that contribute.”

He’s received some backing from at least one prominent charismatic source. Lee Grady, editor of the flagship magazine for charismatic and Pentecostal Christians in the United States, used his February column to call on such ministries to be transparent.

“Perhaps the Lord is offended that our beloved gospel of prosperity has created a cult of selfishness,” he wrote in Charisma magazine. “If so, our best response is to open our account ledgers and welcome correction.”

Posted: 2/29/08

Online site tackles self-destructive behaviors

By Morgan Jerema

Religion News Service

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (RNS)—In spite of depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder that have nagged her since she was a teenager, 20-year-old Krissee is determined to keep the self-destructive manifestations of both conditions in check.

It hasn’t been easy, said Krissee, who asked that her last name not be used.

“To this day, I still want to do it,” she said.

“It” was pulling out her hair, a strand at a time, until she was almost bald.

“It” also involved self-injury. She used a razor blade or craft knife to slash her forearms and legs.

Growing up near Grand Rapids, Mich., Krissee re-members a happy childhood, but one that was tinged with feelings of low self-worth. As the feelings persisted and her anxiety grew, she pulled out her hair and eventually started to cut herself as a way to cope, she said.

“I had this amazing buildup of stress, and this was a way to release that—a physical way to cope,” she said. “I couldn’t always hide what I did, so I’ve got to believe I wanted somebody to know I wasn’t OK.”

Her parents tried to find her help, she said, and a “parade of every sort of counseling, therapy and medication you can think of” brought some good results. But it didn’t make her invincible.

“I needed a safe place to talk,” she said.

Then a friend told her about heartsupport.com, and Krissee volunteered to be one of the first to share her story with a new online community whose organizers want to be a source of hope and healing for people who are hurting.

She posted a video testimony of her experiences on the website, and today she serves as a live-chat moderator.

“The main thing is, you’ve got to talk about it,” Krissee said. “When I finally talked about it to the people I loved, that’s when the healing really started.”

Heartsupport.com is a new ministry for people with substance abuse or self-injury issues, eating disorders, depression or suicidal thoughts.

The ministry was started last October by friends Jon Bell, 24 (whose brother, Rob Bell, is pastor of Mars Hill Bible Church in Grandville, Mich., and a popular Christian author); website designer Clint McManaman, 27; and Craig Gross, 32, an ordained minister and former youth pastor perhaps best known as the founder of anti-pornography ministry XXXchurch.com.

McManaman, a former drummer for the Christian rock band Sub Seven, said he had heard stories from fans while on the road touring about their personal struggles.

Eventually, the trio of friends decided they wanted to do more.

Heartsupport.com includes features such as live and e-mail support with licensed counselors, chats and message boards where posters can share their experiences, and the chance for people to upload their video stories.

The idea behind heartsupport, as described in Bell’s online bio, is simple: “Sometimes the most important words for a person to say are, ‘Me too.’”

An addiction to porn was how McManaman connected with Gross. For Bell, it was a struggle with drugs and clinical depression that led to his involvement with heartsupport.

“I realized I was depressed in seventh grade,” Bell recalled.

Instead of seeking help, he said, he numbed his pain with drugs.

“I didn’t feel like I could let my parents or siblings down, and I didn’t feel like church was a safe place to talk about what I was going through,” Bell said.

“I think that’s common, the feeling that people will think: ‘What do you mean, you’re not doing OK? You’re in church.’ I think a lot of people feel a need to have everything together.”

Admitting that he had a problem led to treatment and counseling and al-lowed those closest to him to pull him up and out of his misery.

Had someone recommended an online resource, he probably would have used it, Bell said.

“It’s a safer conversation to say, ‘Go to heartsupport’ than, ‘You should see a counselor,’ even though what they’re really saying is, ‘You should see a counselor.’”

Bell blogs on heartsupport’s depression page.

“We believe everybody’s story is important and that nobody should struggle alone,” he said. “People who are struggling put up walls. We’re trying to kick down as many walls as possible.”

In its first month, heartsupport.com had 10,000 hits. Visitors to the site typically range in age from 14 to 40.

The trio largely relies on word-of-mouth to promote the website. They also speak to church groups and at conferences, and starting this month, Bell will take part in a 37-city concert tour that will include a heartsupport booth, where concert-goers can film their own stories to be uploaded to the website.

“If they don’t have anyone around them they feel they can talk to, now they have somewhere to go on their own time, in privacy,” McManaman said. “Maybe this is the step they need in talking to someone face to face.”

Morgan Jarema writes for The Grand Rapids Press in Grand Rapids, Mich.

Posted: 2/29/08

IN BETWEEN:
Turning Texas Baptists toward hope

Something special happened in Texas Baptist life a few days ago. The Baptist General Convention of Texas Executive Board elected a new leader, Randel Everett, for our work together. It has been awhile since I have experienced such positive affirmation of a decision. And the following day, the BGCT staff gave a jubilant welcome to Randel and his wife, Sheila. These have been exciting days.

Randel’s theme for the work of Texas Baptists is summed up in one word—hope. Not just a general feeling of hope, but the kind of hope that comes only through life in Christ. This hope in Christ needs to permeate our individual lives and the work of our churches, associations and the BGCT.

Jeremiah quoted the Lord when God promised to bring Israel back from Babylon. He said, “For I know the plans I have for you. … Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11).

Randel’s first day with the BGCT will be March 31. As the staff prepares for new leadership, as we prepare for the future, our role is to focus on the calling that God gives your church for reaching a lost Texas, training disciples and ministering in Jesus’ name.

We all know the oft-quoted phrase from Scripture, “Without a vision, the people perish.” Randel already has held up a goal to envision as we begin this work together. That goal is for everyone in Texas to hear the good news proclaimed in his or her language and in his or her cultural context by Resurrection Sunday 2010.

No one can argue with the importance, even the urgency, of such an effort. Will it be easy? No. But Texas Baptists are a vast family, and there probably are others who will join us in the task. It is a task that leaps out from the very pages of Scripture, and those have always been the tasks that Baptists, especially those in Texas, have loved to tackle.

Randel will lead the BGCT staff in helping our churches accomplish this goal and others that God may lay before us.

During this interim time while I am working with the staff, please let me know if we are not providing the type of help your church needs in pursuing its kingdom tasks. Let me know if we are dropping any balls.

My phone number is (214) 828-5301, and my e-mail address is jan.daehnert@bgct.org. Of course, I also would like to hear how our staff is helping your congregation move forward.

We may not be able to solve every problem immediately, but only by knowing about them will we be able to be the valued partner in ministry that our churches need and expect.

This is a great new day. I’m grateful to God for Randel and Sheila. God has prepared them through many years of ministry for this new time of ministry.

But more importantly, I’m grateful God has called the BGCT to help our churches.

Jan Daehnert is interim executive director of the Baptist General Convention of Texas Executive Board.

Posted: 2/29/08

On the Move

• Mark Borum has resigned as minister of music and senior adults at First Church in Kingwood and is available for music supply, interims and special events at (281) 682-9556.

• Clarence Bryce to New United Church in Greenville as pastor.

• Tanner Butkay to Cowboy Fellowship of Atascosa County as minister of youth.

• Matt Cagle has resigned as minister of youth at First Church in Cleburne.

• Bobby Cates to First Church in Slidell as pastor.

• David Emerson to First Church in Cleburne as associate pastor and Southwest Metroplex Association as church planting adviser.

• Henry Goodson has resigned as minister of music at Memorial Church in Denton. He is available for supply at (817) 319-5104.

• David Kelly to First Church in DeLeon as pastor.

• Bill Magee to Wellborn Church in Wellborn as intentional interim pastor.

• David Mills to Crestmont Church in Burleson as interim pastor.

• Zachery Mosby to Levita Church in Gatesville as pastor.

• Russell Page to First Church in Kerrville as associate pastor from First Church in Charlotte, where he was pastor.

• Steven Parker to First Church in Weslaco as pastor from First Church in Cotulla.

• Derek Peters to Lane Prairie Church in Joshua as minister of youth/children.

• David Plunk to First Church in Paris as director of family activities.

• Kelly Reagan to North Church in Greenville as pastor.

• Milton Ross to Peoria Church in Peoria as pastor. He had been working with Evangelistic Crusade for Christ, based in Kansas City, Mo.

• Roy Slaughter to Sand Flat Church in Cleburne as minister of youth.

• Jay Smith has completed an interim pastorate at First Church in DeLeon.

• Scotty Smith to Cowboy Fellowship of Atascosa County as associate pastor, where he had been youth minister.

• Paul Tanner as pastor of Ovalo Church in Ovalo.

• David Towns to First Church in Blum as pastor.

• Fred Tyson to Iglesia Nueva Vida in Pearsall as pastor.

• Jim Watson to First Church in Charlotte as interim pastor.

Posted: 2/29/08

When a teen becomes pregnant,
what should a youth minister do?

By George Henson

Staff Writer

DALLAS—Every youth minister prays it won’t happen in his church. But for many, at one time or another, it does. A girl in the youth group announces: “I’m pregnant.”

The youth minister’s most important words at that point may be the ones left unspoken, counselors at Buckner Adoption and Maternity Services agreed.

“This is not a situation (youth ministers) can fix,” Erica Penick, a maternity and adoption counselor at the agency, said. “They can help them get through it, but they cannot fix it.

“A vital role for the youth minister is helping this girl talk to her friends in the youth group, and if she hasn’t told her parents, he can go with her in that very frightening circumstance. The important part is to walk alongside her when she can feel so alone.”

If the youth minister is male, it is important that he bring his wife or some other adult female into the conversation quickly, she added.

“Those young men need be bring a woman alongside who provides a woman’s perspective—someone who can understand the emotions, the fears and questions this young girl is feeling. Most girls grow up dreaming of having children and families and maybe even have picked out names years ago for their children. Now all that has become confused, and a woman can better understand those dreams and desires of being a wife and mother this girl has carried with her for so long,” Penick said.

Other young people—and perhaps the entire church—are watching to see how the youth minister will respond, she pointed out.

“They should model the behavior they want their youth group to respond with,” Penick said.

Young people in a church generally will treat the girl the way their youth minister does. If the youth minister is accepting, they will be also. If the youth minister turns away from her, the church’s teens most likely will follow that example.

Since the girl is at such a crucial time not only physically and emotionally, but also spiritually, this can be a determining factor in how this teenager and her family see the church for the rest of their lives, Penick said.

“You don’t want to damage a woman,” she said.

The youth minister needs to be aware of the large role he plays in this young woman’s life, Ashley Hinton, a Baylor University intern at Buckner, pointed out.

“The youth minister is not just modeling moral adult behavior, but as the girl’s spiritual adviser, he is to model the acceptance of God. If she doesn’t find acceptance and support from the youth minister, she may feel God doesn’t accept her,” Hinton said.

While some youth ministers may feel acceptance might be interpeted as approval of premarital sex, pregnant teens already are aware of their mistakes, and no one has to reinforce that for them, said Rachael Daugherty, community and family program coordinator for Buckner Maternity and Adoption Services.

While the youth minister should do more listening than talking, he should “help them choose life and promote sanctity of life issues,” Penick said.

Youth ministers are walking a tightrope during this situation. It’s important for them to remember the limits of their role as spiritual advisers, Daugherty suggested.

“If they get too involved and try to pair the girl up with a family in the congregation or community who wants a child, it not only raises legal liabilities, but it also blurs their roles,” she said.

“Also, when the youth minister focuses on fixing, it makes unconditional acceptance more difficult,” Hinton added.

If teen parents accept the advice of the youth minister but later regret the decision, it can poison the youth minister’s ability to minister in the future, Penick noted.

The counselors agreed young fathers-to-be should be encouraged to accept the responsibility they bear.

“They have participated in a very adult act, and they need to make very adult decisions about the present and future with the best interests of the child in mind,” Penick said.

Youth ministers “don’t have to give advice, but they can help them go through the thinking of various courses of action,” Hinton said.

“If I do this, this will be the result. On the other hand, if I do this, this will probably happen.”

The most important thing the youth minister has to offer is not wisdom, but an accepting presence in a frightening and traumatic situation, Penick said.

Every youth minister’s toolbox should contain a list of agencies that can help. While Buckner is known primarily as a place to go when an adoption is planned, Penick said the agency also helps those who decide to parent their child.

While an unplanned pregnancy can be the thing that short-circuits a girl’s spiritual life, it doesn’t have to be that way, Penick pointed out.

“This is an opportunity for the church to demonstrate the love and acceptance of Christ and draw them in,” she said.

Posted: 2/29/08

Children’s home opens cottages to
leadership program for intercultural youth

By Vicki Hewitt

South Texas Children’s Home

BEEVILLE—Donors’ dollars benefited multiple ministries, thanks to a partnership between South Texas Children’s Home and a Baptist General Convention of Texas leadership-training ministry for young people from varied ethnic and cultural backgrounds.

When Dorothy Bobbitt wrote out her check to South Texas Children’s Home last year, she thought of the children there and whispered a prayer. Helping provide food, shelter and a loving Christian environment for children who need it always brings her joy. What Bobbitt couldn’t know was the other Baptist ministries her dollars would support as God multiplied her investment.

Recently, the children’s home opened its cottage doors to a group of 125 students from the Leadership Training Institute, a BGCT ministry for older high school and college students in intercultural churches in Houston and Dallas. The institute offers Bible study, accountability, mentoring and mission trip opportunities for students involved.

The Mystery of God Weekend event was modeled after the popular Disciple Now program and was expanded to include younger children, adult staff and houseparents, as well.

Becky Moore, STCH director of student ministries, said the children and youth living at the children’s home couldn’t wait for the intercultural students from the institute to arrive.

“The students from LTI are very accepting of STCH kids,” Moore said. “They emulate Christ’s love and acceptance, and our kids need to experience that from others outside the world of STCH.”

Cathy Dundas of the BGCT agreed that STCH has been a wonderful partnership for the young people involved in the institute. The campus provides an opportunity for intercultural students to apply newly formed leadership skills in an environment outside their local churches.

Sarah Ven, an 18-year-old University of Texas student, came to STCH that weekend to serve as small group leader for 9th and 10th grade girls. Sarah is the first American-born child in her Cambodian family. She’s been a member of the institute since its inception in 2006. Although apprehensive at first, she quickly realized that God was doing something special in the lives of the girls she came to serve and in her own life as well.

“The weekend really opened up my emotions to how easy it is to love someone,” Sarah said. “The girls opened up so much during our small group time. They didn’t hold back and were really seeking. I learned to open up more myself and it was really amazing. No matter who we are, we are all brothers and sisters in Christ and fellowship is so important.

“The kids are so young, but it is amazing what STCH has done for them. They know that God is the One to look to for help.”

Matthew Pa, a 21-year-old college student of Cambodian descent, served as the 7th and

8th grade boys’ group leader. He expected the typical leadership experience where he would “start conversation, interact with kids, and just hang out with them.” Instead, Pa said, he learned that part of the mystery of God is how he uses people and situations to teach Christians more about who he is and how he wants to use them.

“A few days before and throughout the weekend at STCH I was in such a battle with myself, arguing whether I liked this place or not and not liking it because of the reasons the kids have to be here,” he said.

“But this world is corrupt and a place like STCH helps kids who need it. I wasn’t sure what the struggle was and there were times when I felt sad for no reason and was fighting to keep tears from falling. It didn’t make sense to me because I’d never experienced this feeling before. I remember it so clearly because it was the start of a change for me.”

During the Sunday evening worship service, Pa recalled being overcome with emotion. Weak-kneed and fighting back tears, he gathered with his cottage group for prayer.

“After the service, I wrote a small letter to this family and headed to their cottage… leaving words of encouragement with them,” he recalled. “I had never been able to have the courage to go up to someone the way I was doing that night. When I arrived at the house, the house dad came out. I said something like, ‘It is a great thing for you to be here and for these kids to have people like you guys.’

“My voice cracked and I couldn’t speak any more, so I handed him the letter. He said, ‘thank you’ and gave me a hug. I knew at that point, walking back to the chapel, that I had really grown as a person.”

“God really broke the hearts of the intercultural LTI students that weekend for the real difficulties the STCH kids have gone through in their lives,” Dundas shared. “Through that brokenness, God is raising up even more compassionate and competent leaders. I appreciate the opportunity to work with STCH and see the life changes in all the students that participated.”

Before the Mystery of God Weekend retreat ended, STCH youth and institute students tackled the ropes challenge course at Zephyr Baptist Camp on Lake Corpus Christi near Mathis.

There, the bond between the students from different worlds grew even stronger as they cheered each other on and found the courage to climb to new heights together—physically and spiritually.

Posted: 2/29/08

Texas Tidbits

BGCT mentoring partnership aims to help children of inmates. The Baptist General Convention of Texas is entering a partnership with Amachi Texas to change the lives of children of incarcerated family members through mentoring.

Nearly 400,000 Texas children have a parent in prison, on parole or on probation. Those young people have a 70 percent likelihood of going to prison, unless there is positive intervention. Through the partnership, the Baptist General Convention of Texas will recruit churches to provide volunteer mentors for young people. Amachi Texas—an initiative of the governor’s office, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Big Brothers and Big Sisters, Texas Workforce Commission and the OneStar Foundation—will train those volunteers how to mentor young people. Research indicates after 18 months with a mentor, young people were 46 percent less likely to begin using illegal drugs, 27 percent less likely to start using alcohol and 52 percent less likely to skip school.

Lubbock ministry joins Buckner. My Father’s House, Lubbock, became part of Buckner Children & Family Services Feb. 22. The ministry provides job training and mentoring in a residential setting for low-income women and their children. Buckner is assuming full operation of the ministry, and My Father’s House, Lubbock, will retain its name. Buckner already operates Buckner Children’s Home in Lubbock.

More than 1,000 attend regional evangelism events.

View a slideshow of photos from the Engage meetings here.

Engage XP events, the regional evangelism conferences sponsored by the Baptist General Convention of Texas in El Paso, Belton, Kingwood, Universal City and Midland, drew about 1,000 participants. Combined with the statewide Engage conference in Rockwall and the Hispanic Evangelism Conference in Houston, more than 3,100 people have attended BGCT evangelism events this year.

San Antonio health foundation awards scholarships. The Baptist Health System School of Health Professions in San Antonio received $162,900 from Baptist Health Foundation of San Antonio for 154 scholarships. These scholarships were awarded to spring semester students enrolled in the school’s nursing and allied health educational programs. Since Baptist Health Foundation of San Antonio opened in 2005, the School of Health Professions has received nearly $1.5 million in scholarship assistance.

Summit focuses on church-based childcare. The Center for Family and Community Ministries at Baylor University’s School of Social Work and Buckner Children & Family Services will sponsor a church-based childcare summit, “Who Cares for the Children?” May 12-13 in Dallas. Participants will focus on the question: What is the mission of the church in caring for children and their families in weekday childcare programs? The program will feature two leading researchers of the topic, Diana Garland, dean of Baylor’s School of Social Work, and Eileen Lindner, head of research for the National Council of Churches USA. For registration or more information, visit the website, www.baylor.edu/cfcm, or call the School of Social Work at (254) 710-6400.

Posted: 2/29/08

Friends, family honor Wade at dinner

By Ken Camp

Managing Editor

DALLAS—Hailed as a man of integrity, a loving pastor and devoted husband and father, friends gathered to honor Charles Wade at a retirement dinner held prior to the Baptist General Convention of Texas Executive Board meeting.

Wade retired Jan. 31 after eight years as BGCT executive director. Throughout the evening, speakers gently gibed Wade for his tendency to speak beyond allotted limits, praised him for his commitment to making the BGCT more reflective of Texas ethnically and racially, and lovingly recalled instances that illustrated his pastoral care for people.

Wade led with the courage of his convictions and with a gracious and welcoming spirit, said BGCT Executive Board Chairman John Petty of Kerrville.

“My generation of Texas Baptists has never known a time when we have not benefited from your leadership,” Petty said. “You have shepherded us.”

Phil Miller, leader in the Bible study and discipleship area, said the BGCT Executive Board staff always will fondly remember Wade’s “heart for people and ready smile.”

Leaders from several BGCT-related universities, childcare agencies and hospitals presented commemorative gifts to Wade and his family.

Dennis Linam, vice president for external affairs at Dallas Baptist University, announced the creation of an endowed scholarship in honor of Charles and Rosemary Wade. Linam also noted Wade will serve as an adjunct part-time professor at the school, teaching a course in the global leadership master’s degree program.

Baylor Health Care System President Joel Allison noted his board made a contribution to the medical system’s chaplaincy program in Wade’s honor.

Gus Reyes, leader of the congregational relations team on the BGCT Executive Board staff, thanked Wade for his leadership on behalf of the affinity groups that relate to the BGCT—African-Americans, Hispanics, cowboy churches, intercultural ministry and bivocational or small-church ministers.

Praising him as a “make-it-happen man,” Reyes noted that diversity within the Baptist Building staff and on BGCT governing boards and committees serves as Wade’s legacy.

Jimmy Allen, retired denominational executive and past president of both the BGCT and the Southern Baptist Convention, described Wade as “a friend and companion on the journey.”

He recalled how Wade visited him when Allen was pastor of First Baptist Church in San Antonio to learn how his congregation was making an impact in the community. In time, he said, Wade took those ideas and built on them as pastor of First Baptist Church in Arlington.

He praised Wade as a Christian who has a vital relationship with God, a pastor who “reached out to all kinds of folks” and “a man of integrity” who led with courage—particularly in the area of race relations.

“Reaching across racial and ethnic lines is just a natural part of Charles Wade’s Christian walk,” Allen said.

Bill Bruster, retired networking coordinator for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, told how he and Wade served as Royal Ambassadors under Bob Banks’ direction, roomed together at Oklahoma Baptist University and carpooled together during their seminary studies.

Bruster told humorous stories about their college days and Wade’s courtship of Rosemary, and offered thanks for their formative friendship.

“He recommended me to the first church I served,” Bruster said. “He helped shape me.”

Mark Wade described how he benefited from his parents’ example, particularly the love and respect they consistently demonstrated for each other through the years. He expressed gratitude for the Christian life his father not only taught him to follow, but also modeled for him.

“He is a man of character. You never have to doubt his word,” he said. “He is a man of integrity. He’s the same man in private as he is in public. …Words don’t mean a lot unless they are lived out in actions.”

Tillie Burgin, director of Mission Arlington, remembered Wade enlisting her to join the staff at First Baptist Church in Arlington.

“You allowed me to come on as minister of missions when I didn’t know what that was, and you didn’t either,” she said, directing comments to Wade.

But she recalled a shabbily dressed young man who came to church at her invitation on Sunday night after she had helped him during her first day on the job. That night, he walked the aisle at the church and committed his life to Christ.

“God affirmed something here,” she remembered Wade saying that evening. In time, Mission Arlington grew to become a multi-faceted ministry of apartment-based Bible studies and wide-ranging social programs for the poor.

Posted: 2/29/08

Congress considers workplace freedom bill again

By Greg Trotter

Religion News Service

WASHINGTON (RNS)—Congress again is considering a bill to protect religious expression in the workplace, but the bill—bandied about for a decade or more—continues to draw steep opposition from business interests.

The Workplace Religious Freedom Act would require employers to be more accommodating of employees who wish to wear religious headgear, for example, or take time off for holy day observances.

The bill has broad bipartisan support and backing from an unusually large swath of religious groups, including Seventh-day Adventists, Orthodox Jews, Catholic bishops, the Islamic Supreme Council of North America and the Church of Scientology.

But it also has attracted opposition from business groups like the HR Policy Association, which represents corporate human resources departments, and the American Civil Liberties Union. Both are concerned that one employee’s religious expression may unfairly impact co-workers or customers.

Many corporations maintain Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 already protects employee rights, and they say the bill would further complicate an already complex set of rules, said Michael Gray, an attorney for HR Policy.

“The law goes too far in demanding that companies provide accommodation for one employee while risking unfairly burdening the other employees in the process,” Gray testified at a recent House committee hearing.

The debate centers on what steps an employer must take before employees’ requests become an “undue hardship” for managers.

Supporters of the bill, including Richard Foltin, legislative director for the American Jewish Committee, say a 1977 Supreme Court decision weakened protections when it found that anything more than a minimal added cost was to be considered an “undue hardship.”

The proposed bill says employers must accommodate employees unless it means a “significant difficulty or expense.” It would also provide tests to clarify terms like “reasonable accommodation,” and “undue hardship,” Foltin said.

“This bill will clarify the employer’s responsibility for accommodation,” Foltin said.

Some opponents also are concerned a redefinition might affect the rights of third parties—other employees who would have to cover for fellow workers, for example.

Helen Norton, a law professor at the University of Colorado at Boulder, raised the scenario of a patient who is denied access to contraceptives from a hospital employee who objects on moral or religious grounds.

Under the current law, the hospital would not have to make an exception for that employee, but the proposed bill would change that, Norton said.

But supporters say the bill gets to the very heart of American religious freedom. Seventh-day Adventists, for instance, hold worship services on Saturdays, and believers shouldn’t be forced to choose between work and faith, said James Standish, the church’s legislative affairs director.

“If we raise our daughters to be Seventh-day Adventists, how can we know they won’t be discriminated against?” he asked, pulling out a poster-sized picture of his children.

Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, D-N.Y., a cosponsor of the bill, said she was confident language could be crafted that would satisfy all sides—as long as all parties are open to compromise.

“We’re not that far apart,” she said. “If we can come out with a bill that everyone complains about and no one is happy with, that’s a good bill.”

Posted: 2/26/08

Buckner to resume mission trips to Kenya

By Analiz González

Buckner International

NAIROBI, Kenya—The signing of peace agreement in Kenya—and reports of stablization throughout the area—led Buckner International to announce it will resume sending volunteer mission groups to Kenya in the summer.

“This is a result of our U.S. missions staff listening closely to our staff in Kenya,” Buckner President Ken Hall said. “It’s an answer to prayer that Kenyans have recognized the need for peace and that our teams will be able to be the hands of Christ to a country that needs healing.”

The decision opens the opportunity for previously scheduled church teams to send volunteers to Kenya. It first will affect summer trips planned by four churches—Valley Ranch Baptist Church in Coppell, First Baptist Church of Amarillo, Wilshire Baptist Church in Dallas and Memorial Baptist Church in Columbia, Mo.

“We’ve been in constant contact over the last month with our Kenya staff, and things are much more stable now,” said Randy Daniels, vice president of global initiatives at Buckner. “A peace accord was signed … and all Kenya is celebrating. They anticipate stability, continued growth. The climate has dramatically changed over the last few weeks.”

Kofi Annan, past secretary general of the United Nations, mediated a power-sharing agreement between rival political factions in Kenya after riots broke out following a disputed presidential election. President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga agreed to the peace accord Feb. 28.

Buckner’s reinstating the trips will be an encouragement to the Kenyan children and staff, Daniels said.

“Not going over there would be akin to not seeing your family for a year,” he said. “When Kenyans see us in their country, it reassures our staff that they have our support. We are with them, walking beside them. We won’t abandon them. I mean, we weren’t going to put people at risk, and they understood that in Kenya, but they will be celebrating our presence now.”

Buckner set Feb. 28 as the deadline to make a decision because the mission groups need to plan their flights early, Daniels said. Early that day, he received a message from Dixon Masindano, director Buckner Kenya, saying the peace accord was signed and things looked positive for mission trips.

“Unfortunately, it was too late for our college interns to go because they need to start raising funds early on,” he said.

“When the turmoil started, we wanted to switch the (mission teams) to travel to another country instead,” said Victor Upton, vice president of missions resource group. “But they wanted to hold and pray about it. And it came through for them.”

Posted: 2/29/08

RIGHT or WRONG? True religion

Our pastor has just preached a sermon in which he said the Epistle of James says true religion is characterized by how we treat orphans and widows. We have neither in our small community. So, how do we express true religion?

Your pastor should be commended for alerting you to an important principle straight from the New Testament. And commendations to you for taking the point seriously. You obviously want to make direct transfer from the Scriptures to real life.

In your case, the literal orphans and widows are not immediately around you. Of course, taking Scripture seriously means we must continue to find the points of enacting the directives of Scripture, even if a quick, direct application cannot be made.

In the case of “widows and orphans” the theme predates even James, in fact, into the antiquities of the Old Testament. You can find these points of instructions from God in the Pentateuch, the prophets and the wisdom literature, all of the three major divisions of Old Testament Scripture. As you find those passages, you will note that often the “widows and orphans” phrase had added to it “sojourners” or strangers. One can read the book of Ruth and ascertain that Ruth fit each of those descriptive categories. Boaz’s responses to her can be noted as how a faithful follower of Jehovah would treat those who came into the community from somewhere else and without the usual means of livelihood.

And there we are on how we can understand this phrase in our own time. The “widows, orphans and sojourners” became what can be called a prophetic formula. The prophets used the phrase to appeal to their audiences toward how they should treat those in their midst who were disadvantaged, oppressed, physically challenged—anyone who needed assistance from others to make way through life. The prophets insisted how one treats others depicts either an authentic or an inauthentic faith practice.

Jesus continued this idea when he talked about “the poor you will always have with you.” He was making a realistic assessment of life in this world, but also that the poor around us constitute a concrete reminder of who we all are without the protection and sustenance of God. Further, as Jesus vividly enacted, he initiated conversation and received conversation with an overwhelming number of people in the first century society who were “people who had less.” They were people who had less than those who were able to make a living and provide for family and kingdom work.

So, authentic Christian faith can be seen, for others and for ourselves, in how we treat not only “widows and orphans,” but anyone who is not our kind, is in need of help at whatever level. Therefore, look at your community again. My guess is that there are people who need your actions which depict “true religion.”

Bill Tillman, T.B. Maston professor of Christian ethics

Logsdon School of Theology

Hardin-Simmons University, Abilene

Right or Wrong? is sponsored by the T.B. Maston Chair of Christian Ethics at Hardin-Simmons University's Logsdon School of Theology. Send your questions about how to apply your faith to btillman@hsutx.edu.