Posted 6/30/03

Vestal: Diversity must express itself in comon stream of witness

By Mark Wingfield

Managing Editor

CHARLOTTE, N.C.–To be the presence of Christ in the world, members of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship must work together today, Daniel Vestal said at the CBF general assembly.

In his annual address as coordinator of the Atlanta-based Fellowship, Vestal called Baptists to be the hands and feet and mouth of Jesus in a needy world. He spoke at the CBF general assembly June 27.

But that will not be as easy to do as to say, he acknowledged, “because Jesus himself is not quite as simple or as easy to understand as we have thought him to be. Perhaps this Jesus of history, this Christ of faith, is far more beautiful and far more radical and far more profound than we have imagined.”

Vestal listed various emphases people give to the person of Jesus, based on their own special interests or needs. For example, to those concerned primarily with social justice, Jesus is a prophet; to those concerned with evangelism, Jesus is the Savior; and to those in need of liberation, Jesus is emancipator.

Rather than living in isolation, these and other views of Jesus must flow together into a common stream of witness within the Fellowship, he suggested.

“CBF is a place where we affirm each other's gifts and also recognize that none of us is the body of Christ by ourselves. No one of us can stand alone. No one of us has a corner on the truth. No one of us has a complete understanding of the gospel.”

Vestal pointed to 1 Corinthians 3:9, which in the King James Version says, “We are laborers together with God.”

Emphasizing this and other “together” passages of the New Testament, he called for cooperation, partnership and multi-cultural interaction.

“From our formation, we have said we wanted to be inclusive and egalitarian in leadership and membership,” he explained. “It's in our DNA, it's in our desire, to balance leadership between male and female, laity and clergy, and different parts of the country. But as painful as it is for us to admit, we are too white with too few people of color in our midst.”

The time to be the presence of Christ is now, Vestal said. “This is our time. God has given us this day. And it makes no sense to retreat into an idealized past or always be wishing for a perfect future.”

Baptists must press on with the gospel despite the burdens of the times, Vestal insisted.

“I realize many of you live and work in very stressful places. … Many of you serve God on what seems to be an island surrounded by a sea of fundamentalism. Others of you work daily in an environment where people are hostile to Christian values. Some of you are in churches characterized by conflict, and others of you see little fruit in your ministry. … Yet this is our day.”

Vestal called on Baptists to seize the day by making their churches relevant in their communities rather than merely “playing church.” He urged churches to make God's mission their passion, to train effective congregational leaders and to have a global vision.

In the weakness of churches, God can bring strength, Vestal assured.

See related stories:
• CBF: Churches should talk about 'mission' rather than budget to overcome shortfalls

• CBF: Vestal: Diversity must express itself in common stream of witness

• CBF: Youth ministries need to enlist, affirm parents

• CBF: Campolo urges 'Fight the good fight' for justice

• CBF: Healthy churches rest on seven pillars, consultant says

• CBF: Leonard says Baptists 'bog down' relating to people of other faiths

• CBF: Currie calls Patterson statement on women in the pastorate 'arrogant'

• CBF: Missionary couple says they're grateful to serve at all after being fired by IMB

• CBF: Anonymous gift will allow CBF to appoint missionaries despite budget shortfalls

Posted 6/30/03

Youth ministries need to enlist, affirm parents

By Marv Knox

Editor

CHARLOTTE, N.C.–Since parents are three times more likely to influence their children than the church, youth ministries must "pack the stands" with parents if they want to change teens’ lives, youth minister Spencer Good told participants in a breakout session at the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship’s general assembly.

Surveys of teens emphasize the importance of parents and family in shaping young people’s lives, he reported.

"Forty-six percent of teens say their primary role model is a family member, not a pop icon or sports star," said Good, a youth minister at Lafayette Baptist Church in Fayetteville, N.C.

Asked to name their greatest influence, 47 percent of teens picked their parents, he added. The second-greatest influence is church (cited by 16 percent), followed by peers (8 percent) and a relative other than a parent (4 percent), he said.

"Teens care and want parents involved, whether they admit it or not," he observed. "We need to get parents to ‘pack the stands’ (at church events for youth). If youth look to parents as role models, we need to get parents involved."

During dialogue, Good and many ministers in his seminar agreed a surprisingly high percentage of teens attend church without their parents. This factor limits the depth of influence possible among teens, he acknowledged.

"If we’re working with youth only, and not their parents, then we’re sidetracking and trying to become (their) parents, which we’re not," he said.

So, youth ministries need to reach out to parents and partner with them in training and developing their teenagers, he said.

The best way to get parents involved in church youth activities is to "plan good stuff," Good said. He also suggested letting parents help plan some youth ministry events, as well as sponsoring meetings and ministries with and to parents without their children present.

A motivation for ministry to parents is acknowledgement of the fact many parents need to develop parenting skills and need more information to help them help their children, he said. "If parents are the influence, then we’ve got to educate parents first."

Youth ministry should "fuse" with family ministry in the church and focus on the five purposes of the church–worship, discipleship, evangelism, fellowship and ministry, he said.

See related stories:
• CBF: Churches should talk about 'mission' rather than budget to overcome shortfalls

• CBF: Vestal: Diversity must express itself in common stream of witness

• CBF: Youth ministries need to enlist, affirm parents

• CBF: Campolo urges 'Fight the good fight' for justice

• CBF: Healthy churches rest on seven pillars, consultant says

• CBF: Leonard says Baptists 'bog down' relating to people of other faiths

• CBF: Currie calls Patterson statement on women in the pastorate 'arrogant'

• CBF: Missionary couple says they're grateful to serve at all after being fired by IMB

• CBF: Anonymous gift will allow CBF to appoint missionaries despite budget shortfalls

Posted 6/30/03

Churches should talk about 'mission' rather
than budget to overcome shortfalls

By Mark Wingfield

Managing Editor

CHARLOTTE, N.C.–Churches that are meeting their budgets are the exception rather than the rule, participants in a seminar on church giving patterns learned June 27.

The session was a breakout meeting of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship general assembly in Charlotte, N.C.

When asked how many of the 50 people in the room came from churches that were meeting their budgets, only three hands went up.

Don Durham, president of the CBF Foundation and a co-leader of the session, reported those three people were the first he had met in such sessions who reported meeting their church budgets.

Most churches aren't meeting budget, he explained, and the reason lies in part with the downturn in the national economy. Total giving to non-profit organizations in the United States began falling in 2001 after more than two decades of growth, he reported.

The sluggish economy should not derail churches from their primary mission, urged Reuben Swint, the other co-leader. Swint is former president of the CBF Foundation and now a strategist with the Genesis Group.

In fact, Swint suggested, talking about “mission” rather than “budget” could help people place a higher priority on giving to the church.

Swint also encouraged churches to present realistic budgets that stand a chance of actually being met.

“People are used to not meeting the budget,” he said. “We need to adopt some realism and bring those numbers into alignment.”

Swint also outlined four questions he suggested churches use to evaluate their budgets:

What is it the church does well and should keep funding as a priority?

What is it the church does OK but could make a bigger impact?

What is an obvious need in the community the church ought to try to impact?

What is it the church never has done well and ought to stop doing or funding?

The fourth question, Swint said, is the one most churches will not ask. “When you're in a struggling economy, you need to ask the fourth question.”

Church budgeters must come to terms with a significant changing reality, both Swint and Durham said. That reality, Swint explained, is that “designated giving is going to be the wave of the future.”

In many churches and religious organizations, undesignated contributions to the budget are declining, while designated contributions are growing, they said.

This trend presents more of a challenge to budget planners, they acknowledged, but it is a reality.

Churches should make clear their policy on handling designated gifts for items that also are in the church budget, they advised. For example, if the budget allocates $500 for choir robes and someone gives a designated gift of $300 for choir robes, does the church have $800 for choir robes, or does the designated gift offset $200 for use somewhere else?

Some churches have inspired greater giving by placing needs for capital items greater than $1,000 on a “wish list” for designated giving rather than burying them in the regular budget, Swint reported.

Americans today perceive that churches do not need their money as much as other non-profits do, Durham noted. And fewer people give habitually or systematically, he added.

The primary competitor to churches today is rampant consumerism, Durham reported.

For example, he cited $38 billion spent on state lotteries in 2001, $85 billion spent on the lawn and garden industry in 2000 and $600 million spent annually on teeth whitening.

See related stories:
• CBF: Churches should talk about 'mission' rather than budget to overcome shortfalls

• CBF: Vestal: Diversity must express itself in common stream of witness

• CBF: Youth ministries need to enlist, affirm parents

• CBF: Campolo urges 'Fight the good fight' for justice

• CBF: Healthy churches rest on seven pillars, consultant says

• CBF: Leonard says Baptists 'bog down' relating to people of other faiths

• CBF: Currie calls Patterson statement on women in the pastorate 'arrogant'

• CBF: Missionary couple says they're grateful to serve at all after being fired by IMB

• CBF: Anonymous gift will allow CBF to appoint missionaries despite budget shortfalls

Posted 7/03/03

Group plans launch of 'non-traditional' theology school

By Ken Camp

Texas Baptist Communications

ARLINGTON–Citing the need for "a more effective and efficient approach to theological education in a radically changing world," a group of self-described "traditional Baptists" met June 27 in Arlington to talk about launching another school for Texas Baptists.

Scotty Gray, retired professor and administrator at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, said a "select group" of about 45 people with expertise in education, church life, administration, legal issues and financial matters gathered for the exploratory meeting. The new school would be called the Carroll Institute, named for B.H. Carroll, founder of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and religion professor at Baylor University in the early 20th century.

Advocates of the Carroll Institute presented it as a non-traditional approach to theological education, with a center in North Texas and a widespread network of "teaching churches" where "mentor-teachers" would provide instruction.

Gray identified himself as one of four directors for the new entity, but he declined to name the other three. Russell Dilday, who was fired as president of Southwestern Seminary by fundamentalist trustees in 1994, attended the meeting and has been "supportive" and "committed to the concept" of the institute, Gray said, but Dilday is not one of its directors.

The meeting was not open to the press.

The institute already is an incorporated legal entity and a business plan is being finalized, Gray said. Representatives from the institute have contacted the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board regarding the Texas Education Code, as well as a major accrediting agency, and the institute "has indications of significant financial support," he added.

Creating the institute was a reaction neither to the recently announcing hiring of Paige Patterson as president of Southwestern Seminary nor to any controversy surrounding the direction of Baylor University, Gray said.

Patterson was one of the architects of what he calls the "conservative resurgence" in the Southern Baptist Convention and what critics have labeled a "fundamentalist takeover." Robert Sloan, president of Baylor University and former dean of Truett Seminary, has been under attack recently by alumni and others who have challenged Baylor 2012, the long-range plan for the school.

"The exploration that led to this point preceded any recent events," Gray said. "It's not a reaction to anything at Baylor, Southwestern, Logsdon or anywhere else. It's in response to what we see as the need for a new approach to theological education in a radically changing world."

Logsdon School of Theology at Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, like Baylor's Truett Seminary, is supported by the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

The Carroll Institute will have a center in the Dallas-Fort Worth area to house offices, a library and some classes, Gray said. Staff recruitment for the center is "still being finalized."

The institute will offer most of its instruction through distance learning, using a network of "teaching churches" and Internet-based resources, he explained.

Gray did not specify what degrees, if any, the institute would plan to offer.

In addition to teaching classes, professors at the center in North Texas will plan and design curricula for the institute. They also will coordinate the work of "academically qualified mentor-teachers" in teaching churches around Texas. The goal, Gray said, is for teaching churches to be identified throughout the nation and the world to create a "network concept."

A minimal amount will be spent on buildings in the Dallas-Fort Worth center so that resources can be funneled into recruiting faculty and providing technology, he explained. Teaching churches will use available space in local church facilities that may otherwise be unused on weekdays.

Gray predicts that the Dallas-Fort Worth center will open in January, and directors hope the first semester of classes will be offered in fall 2004.

"The institute definitely will be Baptist in orientation, but it will not be affiliated with any organization," he said. "It will be self-sustaining, both in its governance and its finances."

Initially, directors of the institute are recruiting individual donors to provide financial backing for the venture. They hope to secure grants from foundations once the institute achieves accreditation, Gray said.

A press release issued after the Arlington meeting stated: "This group of traditional Baptist educators is developing the approach out of a desire to meet the urgent and growing needs in a non-traditional, non-duplicating, non-political, non-competitive way. Learning is intended to flourish in an innovative, collegial, encouraging environment with freedom of inquiry and will be biblical, scholarly, practical, widely available and affordable to a broad spectrum of Christian leaders."

Keith Bruce, coordinator for institutional ministries related to the BGCT, noted, "The goals of the Carroll Institute are certainly consistent with the stated goal of the BGCT in making quality, biblically sound, practical and genuinely Baptist ministry training and theological education accessible to all Texas Baptist ministers. Quality theological education must be provided in a variety of venues using many creative methodologies. Thus the discussions held in this exploratory meeting are most commendable.

"At the same time, we also affirm the tremendous efforts and resources that the BGCT and its partner universities and schools have committed over the past few years to create and expand a network of Baptist theological education."

The BGCT has made "great strides" in helping to develop "an informal yet very effective system of theological education and practical ministry training" that is now in place at more than 20 locations around Texas, noted Royse Rose, director of theological education for the BGCT.

In addition to Truett and Logsdon, the BGCT network also includes professional and doctoral degree programs, several new master's degree offerings at five Texas Baptist universities, baccalaureate programs at nine schools and "entry-level programs that continue to grow and develop, including a strong emphasis on the training of ethnic and multi-cultural leadership," Rose said.

"These quality programs are busy providing education to almost 5,000 future ministers and deserve the full and continuing support of Texas Baptists seeking to cooperate together through the BGCT," he added.

Posted 7/03/03

CBF clarifies what it means to be a partner

By Mark Wingfield

Managing Editor

CHARLOTTE, N.C.–What does it mean to be a “partner” ministry with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, and how much financial dependency should go with that title?

Currently, the CBF devotes 28 percent of its budget to fund partners–including 13 theology schools, the Baptist Joint Committee, Associated Baptist Press, Baptist Center for Ethics, Baptists Today and the Baptist World Alliance. A budget priorities task force has recommended reducing partner funding to 20 percent of the CBF budget, presumably channeling more money to global missions and ministries run by CBF's Atlanta staff.

That means the total amount of money partners receive would be 30 percent less than before, on the heels of a mid-year budget cut in 2002-2003.

Funding for these partners has become a front-burner issue as the CBF faces the budget challenges confronting almost all non-profits in the current national economy.

The situation remains fluid as well because the CBF and its partners have much looser connections than most denominational bodies have with schools and publishing houses and missions agencies. None of the partner ministries are owned by the CBF, and the CBF has not asked for any authority to name members to the various ministries' boards of directors.

In his address to the CBF general assembly June 27, Coordinator Daniel Vestal called on the CBF to strengthen relations with its partners, but he also called for clarification on what it means to be a partner.

“For us, partnership is more than a word,” he said. “It represents one of our core values and defining characteristics. … Our mission statement says that 'we prefer to cooperate in mutually beneficial ways with other organizations rather than to establish, own and control our own institutions.'”

That doesn't mean the CBF doesn't believe in institutions, Vestal added. “Theologically, we believe in them. But many of us are afraid of them. Perhaps it's because of our past. We have seen how people can worship institutions more than God or be more committed to preserving them than being committed to the mission for which the institutions were created.”

The CBF was birthed as a dissident movement out of the Southern Baptist Convention, the nation's largest Protestant body–and one that has honed institutional life to a fine art. In fact, one of the foremost drivers in creating the CBF was the desire of moderate Southern Baptists to create alternative ways of funding missions and ministries they once had supported through the SBC.

But the CBF made an intentional decision not to structure itself like the SBC, due in part to leaders' observation that blind loyalty to institutions prevented some people from abandoning the SBC even though leadership of those institutions changed radically.

The main component the CBF offers internally is its global missions program, which draws about 56 percent of undesignated budget funds. The percentage going to global missions increases when designated gifts are factored in.

From that base, however, the CBF has developed a variety of support ministries within its Atlanta resource center and built relationships with other autonomous ministries for theological education, publishing, ethics, religious liberty and wordwide partnership.

The recent report of the budget priorities task force, while not officially adopted or binding, could help determine the allocation of future money among the causes competing for CBF dollars. The document has not been put to a vote at a general assembly.

In addition to proposing the cap on partner funding, the task force identified six areas for highest-priority funding–most-neglected and unevangelized people, church starting, developing partnership missions with local churches, supporting theological education, nurturing congregational health, and fostering congregational leadership. Except for theological education, all the top priority areas relate to the CBF's own Atlanta-based programs.

It also identified four areas least important and, presumably, the first suggested for budget cuts–collegiate ministries, marriage and family, chaplaincy and Baptist identity.

In the new budget, Baptist identity includes funding for ethnic and regional networks, interim pastor support and allocations to the Baptist Joint Committee, ABP, BCE, Baptists Today and the BWA.

Vestal hinted at the coming struggle over partner funding in his Charlotte address: “Who exactly is a partner, and how should they be funded? What are the reasonable expectations from partners, and what are the different kinds of partners? This next year, our Coordinating Council will be working hard to clarify and strengthen our institutional partnerships.”

Those words, combined with the sagging gifts to the CBF budget and the report of the task force, have generated concern among leaders of the CBF partner ministries.

“Baptists Today is grateful for a voluntary, mutually beneficial partnership with CBF,” said John Pierce, editor of Baptists Today. “However, I am concerned about the continual decline in financial support.

“There seems to be a disconnect between CBF's stated priorities and an appreciation for the role we play in fulfilling those priorities. In his report to the CBF Coordinating Council, Daniel Vestal stated that CBF's primary focus is on serving churches, developing leaders and supporting missions. Then partnerships were listed as a low priority. However, Baptists Today helps the Fellowship achieve their highest priorities. … Key church leaders routinely tell us that the information provided through Baptists Today enables them to make wise choices about supporting mission causes that are consistent with their values.”

Rebecca Wiggs, immediate past chairman of the board for ABP, echoed Pierce's concern that the value of CBF partner ministries might be understated.

“In a perfect world, we would get no money from CBF,” she said, citing the news service's desire to report objectively on all Baptist entities, including the CBF. However, she added, “I think CBF must see ABP as a vital part of its overall ministry by keeping Baptists informed.”

Wiggs, an attorney from Jackson, Miss., said she hopes CBF leadership “understand that the whole CBF constituency does desire for a partner like us to be funded. … I hope (CBF) continues to be an organization that exists to support its partners instead of the other way around.”

Ideally, CBF should be “more of a flow-through organization rather than one that starts needing more money to support its own infrastructure,” she added. “I don't like the trend toward supporting more internal CBF organizations as opposed to where the people want to go.”

Robert Parham, executive director of BCE, said the CBF's partner organizations “are the most visible and tangible evidence of the investment that churches and individuals make in CBF with their financial gifts.”

While grateful for those gifts, he said, BCE in turn “provides an excellent return on their investment by building constituency and providing resources to local churches. Imagine what we could do with more funding.”

Brent Walker, executive director of the BJC, also expressed appreciation for CBF financial support as one of the “primary avenues through which churches and individuals have supported the BJC's ministry.”

At the CBF Coordinating Council meeting prior to the general assembly, the partnership question drew comment from several council members.

“I operate on the philosophy that if you don't have money, you can't spend money,” Chuck Moates, chairman of the budget priorities task force, told the Coordinating Council. All the CBF priority areas are “significant and very important,” Moates said, “but when you are faced with a scenario of having limited dollars to spend, where do you want to spend the money?”

Added CBF Moderator Phill Martin of Dallas: “We want to be good partners, but we want to be fiscally responsible for CBF national.”

“We are paying partners at our detriment,” said Philip Wise, chairman of the budget committee and pastor of Second Baptist Church in Lubbock.

Tim Brendle, another member of the budget priorities task force, pushed the issue further, suggesting the partners need to be more proactive in raising money for all of the CBF.

Partners ought to be “promoting together our budget, rather than this being a cash cow,” Brendle said.

Posted: 7/11/03

ANOTHER VIEW:
Parents must take steps to help children combat obesity

By Branda Polk

According to a report from the Journal of the American Medical Association, 15.5 percent of 12- to 19-year-olds are overweight or obese. Childhood obesity is rising at a rate that parallels the adult population. The Centers for Disease Control reports that 60 percent of U.S. adults are overweight or obese.

Childhood obesity is causing a myriad of health problems, including high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol and joint pain that once were experienced only by adults. If we don't address this issue with our children now, statistically, they will become obese or overweight adults.

This is a critical issue for the whole family, and parents have a responsibility to help their children to grow, mature and develop disciplined habits. Consider the following suggestions for establishing healthy habits for yourself and your children.

Pray for your children.

Ask God to guide you as you parent through this challenging period. Pray for strength as you set a healthy example in your choices.

Evaluate and educate yourself.

Take a look at your own habits. Do you choose healthful foods and exercise regularly? Your habits are passed to your children. Educate yourself on healthy food choices and living an active lifestyle. Be diligent to set a positive lifestyle example in your home.

Set limits and boundaries.

Limit time spent on sedentary activities like watching TV or playing computer games to one hour or less per day. One study shows metabolism is slower while watching TV than sleeping. Set limits on the types of food that will enter your home. If chips, cookies, ice cream and other processed empty foods are around, they will be consumed. Set limits on the number of times your family eats in fast-food restaurants. Make cooking healthful meals at home a priority.

Provide healthy food.

Avoid having foods that are off limits to one person and fair game for another. Junk foods are of little or no benefit to anyone, no matter what a person weighs. Consider making healthful snacks easy to choose. Provide fresh fruit and vegetables, non-fat yogurt and light popcorn for snacking. Involve your older children in menu planning and cooking. Include lean portions of meat, whole-grain side dishes, and lots of vegetables and fruit with lunch and dinner meals. Provide whole-grain cereals and bread, skimmed milk, peanut butter, fruit and juice for a quick, healthy breakfast. Your discipline as a parent with the foods you choose will directly impact the success your child has in developing healthful eating habits.

Encourage action.

Turn the TV off and go for evening walks or bike rides as a family. Play a team sport. Sign up for dance lessons. Swim. Take hikes. All of these fun activities increase physical fitness and burn extra calories. The more fun movement you encourage, the more your child's health will improve.

Avoid strict or extreme diets.

Children and younger teens are still growing and physically maturing. Strict and extreme diets may deprive your child of vital nutrients needed to continue developing. Focus on creating healthy habits, and let God control their growth. If a specific eating plan is necessary, consult a professional dietitian for direction based on your child's needs. Avoid rewarding or punishing with food. God designed our bodies to require food for fuel to function. Establish other incentives for good work or behavior. Establish other penalties for disciplinary measures.

Set a good example.

Avoid degrading yourself if you need to lose weight. Your child looks to you as a life example and learns even when you don't know it. Your children love you exactly as you are, and when you use negative words about your health or appearance, they personalize it. Use your wellness journey as a model for how a godly family will live. Show your children that we can all make improvements and trust God to help us, strengthen us and walk with us along the way.

Branda Polk is a certified fitness instructor, personal trainer and wellness coach in Memphis, Tenn. Her column is distributed by Baptist Press

Posted: 7/11/03

DOWN HOME:
Eye in sky tracks wayward animals

You may remember that we “lost” our dog, Betsy, a few weeks ago.

Actually, she lost us. Normally a stay-close-to-home dog, she ran out through a broken slat in our backyard fence late Friday night and stayed gone the better part of a weekend.

We think she must've spotted a rabbit out near the drainage ditch behind our house, chased the critter until she got lost and wandered around, looking for home. Joanna, Lindsay, Molly and I spent a heart-breaking weekend looking for our aging pooch, and by Sunday afternoon, we had pretty much given up on ever seeing her again.

That's when a neighbor in the next subdivision to the west called and said, “I think we found your dog.” She had seen one of the zillion flyers we posted throughout our part of town and figured Betsy was the dog we described.

After that, the only problem was getting Betsy weaned back to normal dog food. The people who found her must've treated her royally, because she didn't want any part of her regular meal for about a week. She's such a finnicky eater, she reminds me of when Molly was a toddler.

Well now, a Japanese firm is set to fluff the fur of dog- and cat-lovers who want to avoid the trauma we endured.

Secom, a company the Reuters news service calls “Japan's largest home and office security provider,” now offers the ultimate in high-tech pet-tracking.

For a mere 5,000 yen ($43) registration fee and 800 yen ($7) per month, pet owners can strap a global positioning system transmitter around Fido's or Fifi's neck and never wonder where they roam.

Satellites “11,000 miles above Earth” monitor the whereabouts of the participating pets. If a puppy or kitty runs off, the owner logs on to a website and locates the cavorting canine or frolicking feline to within 164 feet.

The system is supposed to be available in the United States sometime this summer.

Why didn't I think of that?

But I've got a better idea. Betsy's only gotten lost once in 11 years. But at least once a week, I misplace my glasses and/or car keys. So, why not hook them up to a global positioning system too? Of course, the range of accuracy would have to be much narrower than 164 feet, but I'm figuring it could catch on.

You're in a rush to get to work and can't find your keys. You log on to my website, and my satellite tells you to look under the magazines on the coffee table in the den. Ta-da! This could be the “Put the Knox Girls Through College Keys- and Eyeglasses-Finding System.”

Sometimes, like Betsy, I chase off on misguided tangents and lose my way. Fortunately, my heavenly Father's universal/eternal positioning system always works. He knows where I am, calls me by name and guides me home.

Posted: 7/11/03

EDITORIAL:
Each Baptist should support at least 1 missions cause

No matter what Baptist brand you wear, you've heard a discouraging word lately.

Due to a shortage of funds, the Southern Baptist Convention's International Mission Board has reduced by 100 the number of missionaries it will appoint in 2003 and 2004. The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship's Global Missions program wouldn't be able to appoint any new missionaries this year and next if not for two anonymous gifts totalling $9 million. And the Baptist General Convention of Texas' Church Starting Center already has distributed all its funds for the year.

Several factors account for this missions malaise.

The International Mission Board's receipts from the Cooperative Program unified budget are on target; however, the board has experienced a $10 million shortfall in the 2002 Lottie Moon Christmas Offering goal of $125 million. Like many other organizations, the board has suffered from declining investment income. And its troubles have been compounded by rapid deployment of new missionaries in recent years, spiking the missions payroll at the same time external conditions have depressed annual income.

The view isn't any rosier across the theological/political street. The Fellowship expected to end its fiscal year June 30 with a $650,000 shortfall in undesignated receipts below expenditures, even while keeping expenses at 85 percent of budget. Annual budget income was expected to reach about $15 million, well short of an $18.2 million basic budget goal. And without the anonymous $9 million in designated gifts, appointing new missionaries would be out of consideration.

Similarly, repeated budget trimming–necessitated by defection of churches to a competing convention–has taken its toll on the Baptist General Convention of Texas' budget. The BGCT's Cooperative Program and the Mary Hill Davis Offering for Texas missions have declined. The slumping economy also has come into play, sapping the BGCT's New Church Fund with reduced return on its investments. Consequently, the Church Starting Center ran out of cash in May. The center still will work with churches, associations and others to help create congregations, but much of the seed money has dried up.

Texas Baptists aren't surprised to receive this news. From Booker to Brownsville and Texarkana to El Paso, Texas churches, businesses and families are struggling. Economic woes have spread so broadly we can feel each other's pain. We pray and hope the recent upturn on Wall Street will mean good conditions across the Lone Star State. We need an economic rebound–for our families and churches as well as our larger causes.

The other key variable in this missions miasma is not directly economic but carries a tremendous financial impact: A quarter-century of discord has eroded trust in and support for the denomination. Some Baptists have been disaffected by the Southern Baptist Convention, while others remain staunchly loyal. The same can be said for the Baptist General Convention of Texas and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. Some Baptists support one group and not the others. Many have pulled back support for all three. Each decision has eroded support for missions.

That is a crying shame, whatever kind of Baptist you claim to be. The world needs more missionaries, not fewer. Texas needs more churches, not fewer. No matter what your views on politics or theology or any religious -ism happen to be, the missions enterprise can use more of your support and more support from your church. Every Baptist ought to find a like-minded missions endeavor and give sacrificially to see it completed.

While collecting an offering at a recent Baptist gathering, author/speaker Tony Campolo made an announcement that applies to Baptist missions funding. “I've got good news and bad news,” he said. “The good news is we have all the money we need. The bad news is it's in your pockets.” Campolo's wisdom touched that crowd, and they nearly doubled the offering's goal.

Even during tough economic times, when we think about missions and the funding shortfall, we've got good news and bad news. The good news is God's people have all the money necessary to fund the Great Commission. The bad news is we're still sitting on it.

Information gathered by the Barna Research Group illustrates church members hold the financial keys to the missions kingdom:

More than one-third–37 percent–of church-going adults (those who attend once a month or more) do not contribute any money.

Among church members who actually contribute, only 3 percent to 5 percent tithe.

The average adult who attended a Protestant church only contributed $17 annually.

Two-thirds of Protestant pastors believe their churches are not living up to their giving potential.

People hold a strong perception that churches do not need money as much as other charities do.

If all Baptist under-givers would incrementally begin to support missions causes only nominally, we could finance all the missionaries who want to go to the field and start churches as fast as we can find property and call pastors.

Of course, talking to Baptist Standard readers about this is like preaching to the proverbial choir. You already support missions. But Standard readers are influential in their churches. Present the cause for missions in your church. You can help others understand they can participate in God's plan for reaching Texas and the world for Christ. You can be a financial ambassador for the missions cause of your choosing. And you don't have to wait until the fall or Christmas to send money to support missions. You can do it now. Don't wait.
–Marv Knox
E-mail the editor at marvknox@baptiststandard.com

Posted: 7/11/03

Campbell: Patterson's pick
shows BGCT study was right

HOUSTON–Paige Patterson's election as president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary proves the validity of the Baptist General Convention of Texas Seminary Study Committee, according to the chairman of that committee.

Bob Campbell, who chaired that committee in 1999 and 2000, currently serves as president of the BGCT. He is pastor of Westbury Baptist Church in Houston.

The BGCT committee studied all six Southern Baptist Convention seminaries and concluded all, to one degree or another, had moved away from the basic theological tenets and church polity practiced by a majority of Texas Baptists.

At the time, the committee recommended greatly reducing BGCT funding for all the SBC seminaries except Southwestern.

With Patterson's election at Southwestern, “the SBC seminaries have all changed their educational procedures from open, conservative, biblical, evangelical, Baptist scholarship and education to a closed, restrictive, fundamentalist, neo-Baptist indoctrination,” Campbell charged.

“If there was ever any doubt about the nature of the 'new' SBC and its seminaries, all doubt should be totally erased with the election of Patterson. It is more imperative now than ever before that our Texas Baptist universities and seminaries be recognized by all BGCT churches as the best place to receive a solid Baptist education.”

Logsdon School of Theology at Hardin-Simmons University, Truett Seminary at Baylor University and Hispanic Baptist Theological Seminary “must receive the BGCT's full support with prayerful loyalty and financial assistance,” Campbell said. “More and more Texas Baptist churches and other national and international ministries will now rely on the consistent, conservative, traditional, Baptist education produced through our BGCT-operated schools.”

Posted: 7/11/03

CBF: Governments are the Babylons
of Revelation, Campolo warns at BJC luncheon

By Robert Marus

ABP Washington Bureau

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (ABP)–Human governments are the Babylons referred to in the Book of Revelation, and America's Babylon is the temptation for religious charities to accept government money, Baptist sociologist Tony Campolo said in a May 27 speech.

Campolo, a former professor at the American Baptist-related Eastern University in suburban Philadelphia, spoke at the annual luncheon of the Religious Liberty Council of the Baptist Joint Committee on Public Affairs. The luncheon took place during the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship's general assembly in Charlotte, N.C.

“Whenever the church finds itself in a particular political-economic system, then of course that system must be referred to as Babylon,” Campolo said in reference to the allegory of the “whore of Babylon” in Revelation 17.

“The system is out to seduce the church, and that is exactly what is going on right now with 'faith-based initiatives,'” Campolo continued. “It has become the most dangerous seduction that I've ever seen come down the pike.”

Campolo referred to President Bush's bid to place thoroughly religious groups–such as churches and mosques–on an equal footing with secular groups in receiving government grants for performing social services. Many religious leaders have endorsed the idea as a more effective way of providing social services that work, while many others have viewed it as a violation of the Constitution's ban on government support for religious groups.

Churches and religious charities that think it's a good idea to take government money are looking to the wrong place for their funding, Campolo said. “The people of God have the resources to do what needs to be done, and we don't need to be looking to the government.”

The risk is greater to the church's freedom than it was to the state's integrity, he added. “We will lose our prophetic edge” if churches take government money. “Separation of church and state is crucial if the church is going to influence the government.”

But churches can't offer a meaningful critique of government if they are in debt to it, he continued. “Whoever pays the fiddler calls the tune.”

Campolo, a sociologist by training and a popular Christian speaker on social-justice issues, also used the opportunity to opine on several areas of public policy.

Discussing new restrictions on Americans' freedom, Campolo questioned why more Christians in the United States aren't speaking up for Muslims. “Following Sept. 11, the religious freedom of Muslims is being seriously threatened” in the United States, he said.

Campolo condemned new laws and Justice Department policies that make it possible for government police–such as FBI agents–to spy on religious services and groups without probable cause.

“They're sending spies into mosques, and we're not saying a word,” he said. Campolo pointed out that, during the Soviet era, American evangelicals often expressed outrage over reports of KGB agents spying on churches and keeping intelligence files on Christian leaders, sometimes imprisoning them.

“If it was outrageous to send spies into churches, then it is also outrageous to send spies into mosques,” he declared.

At the same time, he called on the U.S. government to pay particular concern to the peril a Shiite Muslim theocracy in newly liberated Iraq would create for that country's religious minorities–including hundreds of thousands of Iraqi Christians.

Campolo particularly took to task American Christian leaders who have made incendiary public statements about Islam in recent years.

“I can tolerate difference of opinion, except when they're stupid,” Campolo said. “Do these people understand how this plays out for our Christian missionaries in Muslim countries?”

A better approach, he suggested, would be for American Christians to persuade leaders in Islamic countries of the value of religious freedom.

“We've got to resist that seduction of Babylon,” he said, “but we've also got to ensure that the New Jerusalem has the right to exist in every Babylon around the world.

Posted: 7/11/03

Court says Mormon Church can't
regulate speech on public access

WASHINGTON (ABP)–The Supreme Court has let stand a lower court's ruling that the Mormon Church may not regulate speech on a Salt Lake City park it owns because of the park's past as a public street.

On June 23, the justices declined, without comment, to hear an appeal from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints to the ruling by the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. In October, a three-judge panel of that court ruled city officials violated the First Amendment by selling a section of a downtown street to the LDS Church for use as a religious park.

Terms of the sale said the area would remain accessible to the public but allowed church officials to regulate speech, such as barring distribution of “anti-Mormon” literature and disallowing sunbathing or other forms of clothing church officials deemed immodest.

The site formerly was a block of Salt Lake City's Main Street that divided the church's main administration complex from the historic Mormon Temple and other religious sites. The city sold the block to the church in 1999. Since then, the church turned the space into a pedestrian plaza featuring religious statues, plants, benches and a reflecting pool.

However, the city retained an easement that allowed the general public pedestrian access to the site after the sale. When city officials and church representatives later drew up the official deed, they added language clarifying that public access did not include making the site a forum for free speech.

But the 10th Circuit panel ruled in October that parts of the plaza that were once city sidewalks remain a “traditional public forum” for speech.

“The purpose of the easement is to provide a pedestrian throughway that is part of the city's transportation grid, and in this respect it is identical to the purpose the sidewalks along that portion of Main Street previously served,” the judges said.

But the Mormon Church said the plaza no longer resembles a city street and therefore is not a public forum. Attorneys for the LDS Church argued, among other things, that allowing the city to control a plaza filled with religious imagery could be viewed as state establishment of religion, which the First Amendment bans.

“A reasonable observer could well perceive a message of endorsement of religion in the city's direct control and regulation of a plaza filled with the religious displays and symbolism of the LDS Church,” according to a motion filed in the case.

Several religious groups filed friend-of-the-court briefs supporting the Mormons' claim. They included the Colorado Baptist General Convention, the Baptist Joint Committee on Public Affairs, the United Methodist Church and the Islamic Society of Colorado Springs.

But some Christian leaders in Utah supported the court's ruling. Southern Baptist minister Kurt Van Gorden has been arrested on the plaza twice by LDS security guards for passing out literature that church officials deemed “anti-Mormon.”

Posted: 7/11/03

Polls find agreement with
court but not with gay unions

WASHINGTON (RNS)–A majority of Americans oppose same-sex marriages, but six in 10 believe consensual gay sex should not be illegal.

The data on same-sex marriages came from a new USA Today/CNN/Gallup poll.

The poll found opposition to gay marriage, while significant, is eroding. Fifty-five percent of Americans oppose gay marriage–down from 68 percent in 1996. Thirty-nine percent of respondents said they favored the right of gay men and lesbians to marry.

In May, another Gallup poll found Americans were evenly split at 49 percent in supporting or opposing “civil union” laws that give gay couples some of the same legal rights as married couples.

Younger people seem to be more accepting of gay marriage–61 percent of people between ages 18 and 29 support gay marriage, while only 37 percent of those ages 30-49 support it.

After the U.S. Supreme Court struck down state sodomy laws June 26, more than six in 10 Americans polled said consensual gay sex should be legal, while 37 percent said sodomy should be criminalized. In 1977, when Gallup first asked about legalized sodomy, only 43 percent of Americans said it should be legal.

Fewer Americans, however, believe homosexuality is morally acceptable. A slight majority–54 percent–said “homosexuality should be considered an acceptable alternative lifestyle.” Forty-three percent said it was not acceptable.

A Gallup poll conducted in May asked Americans to rate whether certain activities were “morally acceptable.” Forty-four percent said homosexual acts were morally acceptable, ahead of abortion (37 percent) and human cloning (8 percent) but behind divorce (66 percent) and having a child out of wedlock (51 percent).

Americans were evenly split on whether gay couples should be able to adopt children–49 percent said they should have adoption rights, while 48 percent were opposed. Respondents also were evenly split at 46 percent on whether newspapers should publish announcements for same-sex unions.