• Joe Carbanaro to First United Methodist Church in Denton as business administrator from First Church in Denton.

• Rick Cochran to First Church in Argyle as music minister from The Church at Trophy Lakes in Trophy Club.

• Jim Gatliff to Hunt Association as director of missions.

• Bryant Johnson to Enloe Church in Enloe as pastor.

• Michael Kelly to Paradise Church in Caddo Mills as pastor.

• Wilmer Lopez to Centro de Restauracion Yo Soy in Denton as pastor.

• Nathan McCarter to Memorial Church in Denton as worship leader.

• Ben Moore to First Church in Wichita Falls as contemporary worship leader from Indiana Avenue Church in Lubbock, where he was university worship pastor.

• Brad Reedy to Rainbow Church in Rainbow as pastor from First Church in Longview, where he was minister to singles/young adults.

• Jim Sherwin to First Church in Celeste as pastor.

• Bill Swinney to Northlake Church in Garland as minister of education and administration from First Church in Floydada, where he was minister of education and music.

• Bobby Walker to Wynnewood Church in Dallas as minister of music.

• Philip Wise has resigned as pastor of Second Church in Lubbock.

• Steven Young has resigned as pastor of New Generation Church in Tyler.

• Brett Younger to Mercer University as professor of preaching from Broadway Church in Fort Worth, where he was pastor.

FORT WORTH (RNS)—The United Methodist Church at its General Conference in Fort Worth held to its traditional rules on homosexuality, refusing to support or celebrate same-sex unions and maintaining language that calls homosexual activity “incompatible with Christian teaching.”

Nearly 1,000 delegates at the quadrennial General Conference spent almost a full day debating Methodist policies on homosexuality. While many Methodists at the assembly acknowledged sharp disagreement within their church on sexuality and biblical interpretation, delegates voted down efforts that would reflect that division in church rules or social policies.

A measure to remove the “incompatible” phrase and replace it with a mandate to “refrain from judgment regarding homosexual persons and practices as the Spirit leads us to new insight” was defeated 517 to 416.

Several delegates warned that actions taken by the General Conference directly affect Methodists in Africa and Asia, many of whom are conservative and whose churches are experiencing explosive growth. About 30 percent of the 11.5 million-member church now lives outside the United States.

Earlier in the day, a solid majority—more than 65 percent—rejected an attempt to change the church’s constitution, the Book of Discipline, to recognize same-sex civil unions.

The ban “reflects the sentiment of most (church) members and the majority of citizens in the U.S. and many other countries,” said the committee that handled the resolution. “Sanctioning homosexual unions would give the church’s approval to homosexual behavior and relationships, which would be inconsistent” with church teaching.

Delegates also refused to commit to support civil unions in wider society. They agreed to open educational opportunities to all persons regardless of sexual orientation.

And, after an emotional debate, a slim majority of Methodists agreed to strengthen the church’s advocacy against sexism by “opposing all forms of violence or discrimination based on gender, gender identity, sexual practice or sexual orientation.”

ABILENE—Pioneer Drive Baptist Church in Abilene is spearheading what has become a communitywide drive to help sweeten a chaplain’s ministry to troops in Iraq.

Capt. Matthew Van Hook, a battalion chaplain, is seeking to give troops a welcoming place to find respite —a coffeehouse at Camp Taji called the Mud House.

“This has been a good ministry because it allows me and the other chaplains to reach a lot of soldiers that normally do not attend our services,” Van Hook wrote in an e-mail. “I’ve done a lot of relationship building with Wiccans, heathens, atheists and nominal Christians at the Mud House.“

To help Van Hook with his ministry, Pioneer Drive Baptist began a campaign that has grown far beyond what the church could do alone. Businesses, churches and individuals throughout Abilene are collecting 25,000 pounds of candy bars and M&M candies.

The chaplains not only will give candy to the soldiers for their own enjoyment, but also will provide them quick means of introducing themselves to the Iraqis in the villages they enter.

Giving candy to Iraqi children

“When they go into these villages, they can give out this candy to the children and their families to show they are friendly and want to have a good relationship,” said Randy Perkins, minister of missions at Pioneer Drive.

In the first week of the drive, the campaign received more than 3,000 pounds of donated candy.

“I can’t tell you how much the community is behind this,” Perkins said. “It’s pretty neat the way it has taken off.”

Van Hook’s family lives in Abilene. Prior to volunteering for service in Iraq, he had been pastor of Noodle Baptist Church near Abilene, and he served Pioneer Drive as minister of missions from 1996 to 2005.

In addition to the candy, T-shirts with the Mud House logo are being sold throughout Abilene for $10. The shirts then are printed, shipped to Iraq and given to soldiers. Each person who purchases a shirt also writes a note that will accompany it.

“It’s amazing to read some of these cards. Sunday, a kindergarten class purchased a T-shirt and wrote, ‘From the kindergarten class to our heroes.’ Most of them couldn’t write their names, but they did the best they could. It was so good,” Perkins said.

Organizers set a goal of selling 1,000 shirts. They sold 500 in just the first week, Perkins noted.

T-shirt sales could be pivotal to ministry's success

The shirts could prove pivotal to the Mud House’s success as a ministry, Van Hook said. “We think the way to preserve this ministry through multiple deployments by different units is to make it famous. The T-shirts play a pivotal role in doing that,” Van Hook wrote. “When soldiers redeploy and wear their Mud House T-shirts at their particular garrison, the word spreads to units who may be deploying to Taji.”

Chaplain Van Hook hopes word about the coffeehouse will spread to other units that deplaoy to Iraq.

For Perkins, the notes that go along with the shirts are just as important. He feels it is so important, he hopes the idea will catch on in churches and communities across the state.

“We’d love for every church in the state to pick a troop or a brigade or whatever they can handle to tell these kids how much they are loved and appreciated,” Perkins said. “If they’ll call us, I’d love to tell them how easy this is to do.”

Perkins can be reached at (325) 437-1337.

BROWNWOOD—Evangelism and ethics both grow out of a vibrant relationship with the God who is love, speakers told participants at the inaugural Currie-Strickland Distinguished Lectures in Christian Ethics at Howard Payne University.

People cannot fully come to know God apart from the Bible, but they cannot really know the Bible apart from God, said David Sapp, pastor of Second-Ponce de Leon Baptist Church in Atlanta, Ga.

“If God breathed it, how can we possibly understand it apart from knowing him?” Sapp asked.

Proper understanding of Scripture and application of its teachings in daily life require disciples to seek the mind of God, he said. Sapp suggested three themes that help Christians interpret Scripture—love, covenant and conquest of fear.

Love is the key

“Love is key to understanding the mind and heart of God,” he said.

But determining the most loving thing to do in the midst of any circumstance proves difficult, he acknowledged. Consequently, many Christians retreat to a rule-based ethic and treat the Bible as a “moral and ethical encyclopedia” from which they pluck isolated verses—usually ones that reinforce their own opinions and prejudices, he added.

God demonstrated his love through covenant relationships, and covenant serves as an interpretive key for reading Scripture, Sapp noted.

“Without commitment, there is no covenant,” he said. “Covenant commitment is an obligation, not just of contract, but of relationship.”

Covenant finds its expression in community, Sapp noted. In the Old Testament, God established covenant with Israel as a people, not strictly with individuals. While the New Covenant has more individual expression, he observed, it still offers invitation to enter into a larger community as part of the kingdom of God.

“Sin is social and not just personal,” he said.

Much sin grows out of fear, and “defeat of fear is part of the agenda of God,” Sapp said. “Much of our sin has its genesis in fear. Fear is fertile soil for evil.”

Both ethics and evangelism express God’s love, said Richard Jackson, director of the Jackson Center for Evangelism and Encouragement and pastor emeritus of North Phoenix Baptist Church in Phoenix, Ariz.

Social justice grow from evangelistic compassion 

“Evangelism is born in the heart of a God of love,” Jackson said. From the earliest passage in Genesis and throughout the Bible, Scriptures testify to God’s loving pursuit of spiritually lost men and women.

“Jesus Christ didn’t come to heal the sick, or he would have healed them all. He didn’t come to feed the hungry, or he would have fed them all,” Jackson said. “He came to seek and save the lost. He healed the sick and fed the hungry because of who he is.”

Likewise, Christians today evangelize because Christ gave them that assignment, he said. Christians meet needs and seek justice because of who they are.

“Because Jesus lives in me, I will reach out to help those who are hurting,” he said.

Evangelism and ethics—“winning people to Jesus and wanting people to act like it”—bring Baptists together, noted Jimmy Allen, former denominational executive and recent coordinator of the New Baptist Covenant celebration in Atlanta.

Allen recalled his experiences as pastor of First Baptist Church in San Antonio, leading a church with a historic commitment to missions and evangelism to recognize ethical challenges and injustices in their own community.

A need to be challenged

At the downtown San Antonio church, Allen noted, people already possessed the necessary desire. They just needed to be challenged.

“A church will follow the vision of its pastor if the pastor has a passion for it,” he said.

But in some churches, he added, members must be shaken from their complacency and challenged to look beyond the four walls of the church building to see community needs.

“The moribund church never looks outside its windows except to see if the grass is mowed,” he said.

Gary and Molli Elliston of Park Cities Baptist Church in Dallas established the Currie-Strickland lectures in honor of David Currie, executive director of Texas Baptists Committed, and in memory of Phil Strickland, longtime director of the Baptist General Convention of Texas’ Christian Life Commission.

MARSHALL—Bob Riley has announced plans to retire in July 2009 as president of East Texas Baptist University.

Riley announced his retirement plans during the May 9 meeting of the ETBU trustee board. At his retirement, he will have served 16 years.

“Although this presidency has been a wonderful experience, Gayle and I believe that it is time for a new vision and leadership for ETBU,” said Riley, whose term as president is the second longest in the 96-year history of the school.

“God has blessed our university immeasurably over the years with outstanding men and women to serve as faculty, staff, and trustees at this very special place.”

During Riley’s tenure at ETBU, the school has posted record enrollments, significantly increased its endowment and completed more than $25 million in capital projects.

Expanded campus

“Dr. Riley has led ETBU as its president for over 15 years,” said Hal Cornish, chair of the ETBU trustees. “During that time there have been many significant accomplishments at ETBU. The campus has been expanded greatly and beautifully through the addition of many new buildings and the renovation of several others. The quality of student education has also been greatly improved.

“Dr. Riley and his wife, Gayle, certainly deserve a long and enjoyable retirement. They have been good for ETBU and have represented the university well over the years both externally and inside the ETBU community. He has been a man of integrity and has engendered that quality within the faculty and staff.”

Trustees will follow established policy that defines how to proceed in the search and selection of a new president, Cornish said.

“Our goal is to conduct a national search and have a new president in place prior to Dr. Riley’s retirement next year to assure continuity in that important position,” he said.

From Howard College

Riley arrived at East Texas Baptist University in 1992, following eight years as president of Howard College in Big Spring.

“Universities are deeply blessed by continuity of leadership as the mission and purpose of the university is consistently advanced.  A short drive or walk through the campus bears evidence of the significant improvements under Dr. Riley’s leadership, including academic buildings, athletic fields, and residence halls,” said Paul Sorrels, provost and vice president for academic affairs. “Nearly every building has been improved, extensively renovated, or built during his tenure.

“The more notable advancements, however, have been in the academic arena, the prime purpose of an educational institution.  The credentials and reputation of the faculty have significantly improved, with the number of faculty holding doctorates or terminal degrees increasing from 63 percent to consistently over 70 percent and at one point, even over 80 percent.

New fields of study

“Several new major fields of study have been initiated in athletic training, mass communication, liberal studies, university studies, and management information systems. Partnerships have been established or maintained with three international universities in China and Poland.  Nearly one-half of our graduates pursue additional formal study after graduation.”

“On a personal note, Dr. Riley has been a very supportive president, mentor, and valued friend and colleague.  His contribution and loyalty to the university, the faculty and staff, and many students cast a very long shadow, one which has and will benefit all of us for many years to come.”

Riley noted he will leave some unfinished goals for the new president, including the completion of the university student center and the design and construction of a new performing arts center.

 “There will always be a new building to build or a project to complete,” said Riley, 65. “Gayle and I believe what Ecclesiastes teaches, that there is ‘a time for everything,’ and now is the time for us to move on to the next chapter of our life. We leave with an almost overwhelming love for ETBU and the belief that the ‘light on the hill’ will never die.”

Texas Baptist volunteers honored for Scout activity. The Association of Baptists for Scouting awarded the Silver Good Shepherd Cross and Staff to three Texas Baptists—James and Dorothy Gebhart of Mission, members of Trinity Baptist Church in McAllen; and Inez Eggers, former administrative assistant at Plymouth Park Baptist Church in Irving. The award denotes a minimum 50 years service to children, youth and families through churches and Cub Scout, Boy Scout, Explorer or Venturing units.

Baptists launch ministry for Caribbean immigrants. A group of Baptist ministers has launched a fellowship to minister to former residents of the Caribbean now living in English-speaking countries. According to the Baptist World Alliance , the fellowship has been discussed since at least 1993. Delroy Reid-Salmon, pastor of Grace Baptist Chapel in the Bronx, is president of the new Caribbean Diaspora Baptist Clergy Association.

Georgia pastor to be VP nominee. Bruce Barber, pastor of First Baptist Church in Roanoke, Va., announced he plans to nominate John Connell, senior pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Savannah, Ga., for first vice president of the Southern Baptist Convention. Connell has been senior pastor at Calvary since 2003. He previously served churches in Muscle Shoals, Ala.; Hammond and Ferriday, La.; Atlanta; and Brunswick, Ga. In the Georgia Baptist Convention, Connell has been chairman of the Committee on Order of Business, the Resolutions Committee and the strategy team for Cooperative Missions Champions. He has been a trustee of Brewton-Parker College in Mount Vernon, Ga., including a term as the board’s vice chairman. He served on the Southern Baptist Convention Tellers Committee in 1996 and 2007.

SBC 2nd VP nominees announced. A Dakota Baptist denominational executive and a Georgia evangelist will be nominated for second vice president of the Southern Baptist Convention. Fred MacDonald, pastor of Westside Baptist Church in Rapid City, S.D., announced he will nominate Jim Hamilton, executive director-treasurer of the Dakota Baptist Convention, and Rusty Newman, pastor of First Baptist Church in Snellville, Ga., said he will nominate Brian Fossett, a vocational evangelist from Dalton, Ga. Hamilton has led the Dakota convention since Jan. 1, 2004. Prior to that, he was pastor of First Baptist Church in Sellersburg, Ind., four years. Hamilton has served as president of the Baptist conventions in Indiana and Alaska and chaired the Executive Committee of the Alaska Baptist Convention. He also has served on the SBC Committee on Nominations. Fossett is president of the Conference of Southern Baptist Evangelists and immediate past-president of the Conference of Georgia Baptist Evangelists. A member of Liberty Baptist Church in Dalton, Fossett has served as a member of the North American Mission Board’s National Evangelism Strategy Taskforce.

SBC baptisms lowest in two decades. The number of people baptized in Southern Baptist Convention-affiliated churches fell for the third straight year in 2007 to the convention’s lowest level since 1987. According to LifeWay Christian Resources’ Annual Church Profile, baptisms in 2007 dropped nearly 5.5 percent to 345,941, compared to 364,826 in 2006. Membership in Southern Baptist churches fell from 16,306,246 in 2006 to 16,266,920. On the other side of the ledger, the number of SBC-related churches grew by 1.1 percent to 44,696; primary worship attendance increased slightly to 6.15 million; and total mission expenditures topped $1.3 billion.

Brad Russell, vice president for university relations at Baptist University of the Américas, has joined the Baptist Standard staff as marketing director.

Russell, 44, will maintain the overall advertising program and develop a marketing strategy for the Standard, including promoting new resource content, products and services that will become available through the Standard’s growing online edition.

“In addition to professional expertise, Brad brings a creative mind, a heart for ministry and a love for Texas Baptists,” Editor Marv Knox said. “We feel blessed to have him working with us in this vitally important role.”

Russell joined Baptist University of the Américas in 2005 as director of communications and moved into the vice president’s position last year. He also taught as adjunct professor of missions.

Prior to joining the BUA staff, Russell created the rebranding strategy in cooperation with the executive staff when the school’s name changed in 2003.

Russell was founding pastor of The Springs Church of San Antonio, and he served previous pastorates at First Baptist Church in Gonzales and Edna Hill Baptist Church, near Dublin.

Before he entered vocational ministry, he worked in advertising with the Atkins Agency and the Pitluk Group in San Antonio and Parr Advertising in Austin.

Russell earned a doctor’s degree in evangelism and missions in a multicultural context from Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. He holds a master’s degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and a bachelor’s degree in advertising from the University of Texas at Austin.

He has held numerous positions in denominational service at the associational, state and national levels, including terms on the Baptist General Convention of Texas committee on committees and committee on Baptist integrity, as well as the Christian Life Commission’s council of consultants.

He and his wife, Kenda, have three children—Madyson, 13; Aaron, 10; and Alyssa, 8.

WACO—The Blake Bollinger Band’s roots run deep at Baylor University in Waco.

As a freshman at Baylor in 1999, Bollinger was asked to lead worship for chapel services, which put him in front of thousands of students each week.

Before long, Bollinger began responding to requests for out-of-state engagements. As the tour dates began to pile up and the miles of weekend travel kept increasing, Bollinger and his fellow band members felt pressure to drop out of school and pursue music full-time.

But after many hours of discussion and prayer, the band members decided to finish school and to turn down some offers and concert requests.

“We all found a way to work our class schedule to always be free on Fridays,” Bollinger said. “This allowed us to play Thursday through Sunday and then drive back through the night for our classes on Monday mornings.”

After graduating from Baylor in December 2003, Bollinger was able to focus on music full-time. Today, he keeps a busy schedule performing concerts and leading worship at events around the country, including youth camps, retreats, conferences and Disciple Now weekends. In addition, Bollinger serves as a worship leader at Second Baptist Church of Houston’s Pearland campus and frequently performs for events at Baylor.

“I’m humbled and grateful for an opportunity to get to spread the Good News through the powerful vehicle of music,” Bollinger said. “Leading worship needs to be taken very seriously. It’s not just playing songs. It’s leading people into the throne room of the Lord. We pray each time before we lead worship that God’s face will be seen and not ours— that we’ll just be a vehicle to lead people in worship.”

Wherever Bollinger performs, his goal is to offer more than a concert. Bollinger desires to provide students and young adults a life-changing encounter, he said.

We can know our destination

“At a lot of the camps and youth events we go to, we see youth struggling and being unsure of where they’re going to spend eternity,” he said. “We want them to be sure of their salvation and a fulfilling life by having a relationship with Christ. The young people of our generation need to know that they can have a hope and a future. We want them to know that there is more to this life than the here and now and the pursuit of self. We can truly know our destination and have a purpose for life on earth.”

In August 2007, Bollinger’s newest CD, No Holiday, was released. All of the songs on the CD are about situations Bollinger either has experienced or watched others experience.

“My goal was to create songs that connect with all people, but are particularly meaningful and relevant to believers,” Bollinger said. “In order to write a song, I have to really be passionate about the subject. I love to write songs that have redemptive qualities; that start with a struggle and end with hope.

Take it All

“I think the last track, ‘Take it All,’ is my favorite. The words of the song really convey my heart to God.  The chorus says, ‘Take it all, take all of me, take it all, take everything, and take it now, I don’t want it back, take all that I have and all I lack, take it all.’ … God gives us gifts to use for his kingdom, but he also allows us to have faults and flaws that leave us totally dependent on him. When we give him the things that we consider weaknesses, he can turn them into something beautiful and complete.”

WASHINGTON (ABP)—One classic joke about Baptists is that wherever two or three are gathered, there are four opinions among them.

The same can be said of bloggers, and Baptists seem to have taken to blogs with particular gusto, on both the institutional and individual levels. But as a democratically governed and notoriously fractious bunch, blogging Baptists also seem to have put a new virtual twist on the time-honored tradition of contentious business meetings.

For instance, the recent highly publicized spat over homosexuality, pastoral leadership and other issues at a Texas Baptist church made headlines in local and national media outlets after a handful of members wrote about it in their personal blogs.

Two years ago, reform-minded bloggers in the Southern Baptist Convention helped an outsider candidate get elected president of the denomination for the first time in more than a decade. But their critiques of the denomination’s entrenched power structure earned them the enmity of some of their fellow conservative SBC supporters, who have denounced bloggers like Wade Burleson and Benjamin Cole with the ugliest accusation possible in modern-day Southern Baptist life—calling them “liberals.”

Rancorous?

Are Baptists prone to virtual fighting, and, if so, why? Prominent bloggers said that the rancorousness associated with many Baptist blogs may simply be a reflection of the rancorousness of Baptist life in general. And such contentiousness, while aired more prominently when sent to millions of homes via the Internet, isn’t inherently evil.

“Historically, we Baptists have been dissenters,” said Aaron Weaver, a graduate student at Baylor University who operates the the Big Daddy Weave blog. “The blog is merely a new medium … Baptists use to dissent when dissent is necessary. In some ways, blogs are a form of congregationalism.”

But in an age where megachurch pastors have a strong hand in their congregations’ decision-making and where an entrenched and well-funded bureaucracy holds tight political control over the Southern Baptist Convention, such congregationalism is less common, according to bloggers.

“The blog medium has tapped into the growing sense that congregational polity is an increasingly rare commodity among Baptists,” said Cole, an associate pastor at an Oklahoma church.

Two years ago, Cole’s now-inactive Baptist Blogger site helped contribute to the election of Frank Page as SBC president. He currently is a regular contributor to the SBC Outpost blog.

Outlet for frustration

“The frustration that the disenfranchised and unempowered have sensed on account of the new Baptist magisterium has given rise to their advent in the blogosphere,” he said.

And heretofore powerless bloggers can produce results that dissenting groups couldn’t have expected in Baptist life just a few years ago, in the pre-blog era. That, he said, is because “bureaucracies on both the local-church and denominational levels are too big and too slow to counter the speed with which dissident bloggers have articulated their ideas and ad-vanced their causes.”

Weaver agreed.

“The format of the blogosphere disallows coercion tactics that have been employed in the past by dictatorial church leaders,” he said. “The blog medium serves as a safe haven for those who feel that public dissent is their only option.”

Both Cole and Weaver agreed blogs can lend themselves to nastiness. But, they warned, don’t throw the baby out with the proverbial bath water.

The medium is neutral

“Blogs are not inherently bad,” Weaver said. “Negative and destructive blogs are a reflection of the blogger—not the blogosphere. I suppose anonymity can lead to people being dishonest. But if honesty is an issue, it is an issue of character and not the medium of blogging itself.”

Cole and other SBC bloggers have been criticized by their fellow conservatives for using blogs to reveal less-than-flattering information about prominent SBC leaders. But Baptist blogging’s critics are overlooking the whole of Baptist history, he said.

“Quite frankly, those who lament the ‘unhealthy’ and ‘un-Christian’ character of blogging must have been ridiculously blind or purposefully naïve for the last 400 years of Baptist bickering,” he said. “That some of the current SBC leadership weep and wail over blogging, and gather round like huddled martyrs, and yet they were the selfsame provocateurs of the fundamentalist juggernaut would be laughable if it wasn’t so pathetic.”

Cole concluded: “Would Christ blog about the malfeasance run amok in Baptist life? Probably not. Neither would he sit quietly and cover the backsides of the worst denominational offenders, as some of our convention trustees seem content to do.”

For some people, blogs are like a family reunion where people barely know each other. There’s a lot of talking going on, but there’s little agreement on much of anything.

But for many of the increasing number of Baptist bloggers, that’s the beauty of it.

A blog—short for “web log”—is a website or online journal where authors regularly publish commentaries on personal and public issues. Typically, blogs allow readers to comment on posts, creating the opportunity for readers to dialogue with each other and a post’s author.

Related Articles: • Blogging Baptists • Blogs become Baptist battleground • Looking for guidelines for Christian blogs? Start with the New Testament

The blogosphere is the world’s online dinner table, where people from all perspectives can share their thoughts and opinions on what is going on in their lives and the world around them.

Diane Schiano, researcher at the Palo Alto Research Center in Palo Alto, Calif., said people sit at the cybertable for as many reasons as there are blogs. Some are meant to update friends and family about what’s going on in someone’s life. Some use blogs as a kind of self-validation, seeing other people reading their blog as an indication that what they’re doing or saying is important. And younger people are clamoring to have their own place in cyberspace, she added.

“There are a lot of people who want to feel in constant contact,” Schiano said. “I call it hyper-connectivity. Wherever they go, whatever they’re doing, they want to be able to reach out to someone.”

Family, evangelism

Amanda Sturgill, a journalism professor at Baylor University , blogs on media and religious issues at aejrmig.blogspot.com . She believes Baptists, in particular, blog for two reasons—they are family-oriented, creating a desire to share their family lives with others, and as evangelicals, they believe they have something important to add to the global conversation.

Baptists may be supplying information and perspectives that Internet surfers are wanting, Sturgill noted. Research indicates 25 percent of web users have looked for religious information on the Internet.

“People from evangelical faiths have classically seen new media technologies as being a great witnessing tool—allowing believers to reach all the world in an expeditious manner. This has been true for everything from print to the World Wide Web. It’s no accident that Gutenberg’s first product was a Bible. But usually it doesn’t live up to hopes. There is Christian broadcasting, but mostly existing Christians watch and listen, for example,” Sturgill said.

“Blogs have the potential to be different because they can, at the same time, be both a megaphone and an intimate conversation. But to do this requires the blogger to actually interact with readers through comments and the like.”

Iron sharpening iron

Many Baptist bloggers point to participating in the online conversation as the primary reason they write. They talk about “iron sharpening iron,” noting that thinking through blog posts and responding to comments helps them improve their ministries. They also hope it helps others.

Marty Duren, a former contributor at www.sbcoutpost.com —a prominent blog pushing for change within the Southern Baptist Convention—now blogs on missional living at www.iemissional.com .

Duren believes he has learned some lessons in ministry and hopes to help others, multiplying his spiritual influence. And he wants to bring a biblical perspective to issues.

The blog also has given him the opportunity to meet people he otherwise wouldn’t have met. Recently, he had lunch with an Atlanta atheist he met through his blog.

Melissa Rogers, director of Wake Forest University’s Center for Religion and Public Affairs who blogs at melissarogers.typepad.com , said her blog was a natural outgrowth of her regular media tracking and discussions.

“I thought since I’m tracking these things anyway, they may be of use to others as well,” she said.

Access to younger generation

Aaron Weaver, a Baylor graduate student who blogs at www.thebigdaddyweave.com , uses his blog to stay informed of Baptist issues related to politics, but he also advocates what he calls Baptist distinctives. He believes blogging is a way to connect with younger generations.

“For the most part, the young Baptists that I know don’t read Baptist publications. They don’t read denominational newspapers. But they do read blogs; they like blogs. Many even have blogs of their own. They are exchanging ideas with each other, and they are willing to read blogs from other Baptists of all ages,” Weaver said.

“Their blogging is definitely not limited to Baptist or even religious subjects, but some young Baptists are thinking and writing about topics of interest to other Baptists. It is my hope that more younger Baptists will discover the Baptist blogosphere and become more interested in our distinctives, history and the future of Baptists.

“In our increasingly pluralistic, post-modern, post-denominational world, what is the future of Baptists?  That is a question which Baptists—young and old—should be dialoging about. The Baptist blogosphere is the perfect place in which to have that much-needed conversation.”

The New Testament book of James compares the tongue to raging fire and a wild beast that cannot be tamed. And the author of that book never was “flamed” on a blog or in a chat room.

Words have power, whether spoken or written in cyberspace. And Christians don’t get a free pass to ignore the Golden Rule when they log on to their computers, according to ethicist Bill Tillman.

“Basic civility and communication etiquette should always be in place for a Christian, no matter the medium,” said Tillman, the T.B. Maston professor of Christian ethics at Hardin-Simmons University’s Logsdon Seminary .

“The same guidelines such as those from James regarding discipline with our tongue should be translated over to any form of getting words to others or for others. Unfortunately, too many in the Christian circles who blog have operated with the guidelines you can find anywhere else in society. Usually, when cultural guidelines are used on format, style and word choice, things move to a lower level of style.”

Crossing the line

While self-expression has its place, some bloggers cross the line by focusing more on themselves than on the ideas they are trying to express, Tillman observed.

“I recognize a dynamic at work in some of them that the blogger is so intent on establishing herself or himself as a person of significance and all his or her ideas are so important that the communication comes off as nearly yelling,” he said. “There is quite a bit of emotional exhibitionism going across the Ethernet.”

Not everyone who claims to be speaking prophetically—or blogging prophetically—truly bears the mantle of prophet, Tillman noted.

“Being prophetic is not clearing off a space and having a fit, whatever the subject matter or the medium in which it is communicated,” he said.

Like any tool, blogging can be used for good or bad purposes, said David Gushee, distinguished professor of Christian ethics at Mercer University’s McAfee School of Theology .

“Blogging at its best represents the democratization of the media. It reflects an entrepreneurial culture in which skill and interest can override official status, title or position. An effective blogger can have more influence than the evening news or a thousand official press releases,” Gushee said.

David Gushee

“Blogging at its worst represents public speech unbound by public standards. It can damage both the blogger and especially the blogged-about. It can also waste enormous amounts of time and can become habitual or even addictive. It is the latest but not the last form of an addictive new technology.”

Time wasting or ministry?

Tillman echoed that theme of time-wasting, but he also noted blogs’ potential as ministry tools.

“There are actually ministry facets that can be addressed through blogging,” he said. But he urged caution—particularly for ministers who blog during office hours.

“Pastors and other ministers often have a great deal of time that is essentially handed to them by a church for the minister’s discretionary use,” he said.

“So much is left to the individual’s conscience to handle the time and how it’s used. With that said, I have to say that from some of the blogging I have read, probably some infringement is done on churches’ good will regarding their staff’s time.”

Blogs as a communications medium are neither good nor bad—but they have the capacity for both good and bad, Tillman added.

“There is a certain neutrality about the technology and the medium. But, just like fire, it’s how it’s used that qualifies its ethicality,” he said.

Some characteristics of blogs set them apart as distinctive, such as their potential reach and their capacity to allow anonymous expression in a public place. But those traits really just demonstrate the human capacity for good or evil, Gushee observed.

“Like all things human, blogging illustrates the exalted and debased nature of the human person and human community,” he said. “Moral responsibility involves curbing the damaging dimensions of blogging while elevating those dimensions that contribute to human wellbeing and the common good.”

LULING—The Governor’s Division of Emergency Management praised Baptist Child & Family Serives for its role in caring for children taken from a polygamist Fundamentalist Latter-Day Saints ranch in West Texas. But the highest praise came from the people whose opinions matter most—the children themselves.

“You’re nice,” a 6-year-old girl told BCFS Executive Vice President Nanci Gibbons as she walked past her on the playground at the BCFS Youth Ranch at Luling, where 75 children received care.

Gibbons thanked the child, but she asked why she believed she was nice.

“Because your shirt says BCFS,” the girl answered. “It means Best Care for Children.”

“For the children to recognize that the folks in BCFS shirts are there to help and be ‘nice’ is the best compliment we could get,” BCFS President Kevin Dinnin said.

Keeping siblings together

Placing 75 of the 462 children at the Youth Ranch allowed Child Protective Services to keep many sibling groups together. It also kept BCFS in overdrive mode to staff the facility and activate support programs with local school districts. A mobile medical unit also was stationed at the ranch.

The San Antonio-based agency was alerted April 4, just as the operation to remove children from the ranch in Eldorado got under way. Officials told BCFS to be ready to receive 24 children at the Youth Ranch. But the next day, Dinnin was asked if BCFS could supervise sheltering operations in San Angelo “for up to 150 women and children.”

At its peak, the shelters housed 550 women and children. Texas Baptist Men disaster relief, Victim Relief Ministries and volunteers from churches such as First Baptist in Plains served.

As incident commander, Dinnin provided overall command and control of all responding agencies. During the three weeks the shelters operated in San Angelo until the court ordered the children placed in child care facilities across the state, about 1,000 state, county and city personnel and volunteers worked under BCFS supervision as the agency interacted daily on critical incident decisions with various governmental agencies and officials.

Full deployment

BCFS deployed 55 employees, including most of its senior administrative staff, and more than $1 million worth of assets. In addition to two mobile medical clinics and a mobile feeding unit, BCFS provided the communication technology for the operation.

While CPS and the state courts decided about placement of the children, BCFS ministered to emotionally stressed women and children around the clock; accommodated religious practices by providing organic, non-processed meals and acceptable toys and play activities; treated outbreaks of chicken pox and upper respiratory infections; created an alternate phone system when the cable to the shelters and command post accidentally was cut; developed contingency plans for any of the possible court rulings; processed mountains of laundry; and handled all the purchasing.

When the courts ordered the transfer of the children to facilities across the state, BCFS tracked the bus convoys dispatched around the state by global positioning system.

“To categorize the sheltering operations as ‘highly successful’ is a gross understatement,” Dinnin added. ”To quote Chief Colley of the Governor’s Division of Emergency Management, BCFS was ‘the rock star of the San Angelo operation.’ We do appreciate that—but being noted for providing Best Care for Children is the highest compliment possible.”