BEEVILLE—Nine-year-old Carlos’ eyes lit up as wrapping paper flew in every direction and squeals of excitement filled the room. Blanco Baptist Association church members have looked forward to such moments for 50 years.

“So many of the people who come to the Blanco Christmas party have been involved with many aspects of STCHM throughout the year,” Moore explained. “Everything from serving and giving to praying for our kids and staff. The kids are always encouraged that someone thought enough of them to come to campus and spend an evening of fun and celebration with them.”

This was only the second year for brothers Carlos, Joe and Steven to attend the Blanco Christmas party.

“It was fun unwrapping presents,” said 11-year-old Joe. “It was like family time. I got a Play Station game.”

Ever since he became a Christian, Christmas is all about joy, 14-year-old Steven declared. He accepted Christ into his life “on the last Wednesday in May,” shortly after coming to live at Dimmick Cottage on the home’s campus. He was in the seventh grade at the time and is now a freshman.

“I am thankful for all the people who make the Blanco Christmas Party happen,” Steven said. “I love to meet new people, and my Christmas sponsors at the party were really neat. God has done a lot in my life through special people.”

Carlos captured the beauty of the evening: “We got gifts there that we don’t even deserve.”

Blanco Baptist volunteers would agree the same can be said about Christmas and God’s greatest Gift of all.

(ABP) — The year 2010 began badly with a deadly Jan. 13 earthquake in Haiti that killed an estimated 230,000 people and affected 3 million. The 7.0 magnitude quake left what was already one of the world's poorest countries in shambles, but it prompted unprecedented compassion in the United States.

The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship is part of a cooperative effort to rebuild homes in Haiti. Using rubble from a family's previous home, permanent housing for earthquake victims can be built for about $3,000

News of Baptist groups reaching out to earthquake victims dominated Associated Baptist Press in the months that followed. In all, ABP published 37 stories on relief efforts between Jan. 13 and Nov. 12. Subjects ranged from immediate response, fund raising and cooperation between Baptist organizations, projects like fitting victims who lost limbs with prosthetic devices and rebuilding permanent homes from earthquake rubble to recent medical response to a cholera outbreak.

Other newsmakers from 2010 included:

— "Bloated bureaucracies." The term first used in a chapel address by a seminary president advocating a "Great Commission Resurgence" in the Southern Baptist Convention stuck as shorthand for work of a task force studying ways to improve efficiency of the second largest faith group in the United States.

Recommendations approved at the SBC annual meeting in June included a major revamping of how Baptist associations, state conventions and the North American Mission Board will cooperate in church planting.

The sea change coincided with several high-profile leadership changes. Kevin Ezell, a pastor known for working outside official mission-funding channels like the Cooperative Program unified budget and Annie Armstrong Easter offering for home missions, proved a controversial choice as new president of the North American Mission Board. After taking office in mid-September, Ezell immediately offered a retirement-incentive package to senior employees with a goal of reducing staff by 25 percent. By year end he surpassed the goal, downsizing the 250-member staff by 99 jobs.

Two key posts were vacated — presidencies of the Executive Committee and International Mission Board. The Executive Committee chose former SBC president Frank Page to succeed Morris Chapman, who retired at the end of September. IMB trustees haven't announced a successor to retired President Jerry Rankin.

Similar conversations got underway this year at the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. After several years of stalled funding, a group of CBF leaders went on a retreat in April to discuss the organization's future. It led to formation of a two-year study by a task force expected to report in 2012. Listening sessions are underway.

— Ken Starr. The choice of former Whitewater prosecutor Ken Starr as president of Baylor University in February took nearly everyone by surprise. Baylor is one of the world's most famous Baptist universities. Starr's religious background is Church of Christ, but he pledged to join a Baptist church after moving to Waco.

— Ergun Caner. After years of earning a reputation among Southern Baptists and other evangelical groups as an expert on Islam, the president of Liberty Theological Seminary became controversial after videos of him exaggerating his testimony from a Muslim to a Christian surfaced on the Internet. Claiming to have grown up overseas and trained as a terrorist, documents showed that Caner actually spent most of his childhood in Ohio. After an investigation, Liberty trustees voted in June to remove Caner as president.

— The "Idaho 10." What began as a mission of mercy for two Southern Baptist churches in Idaho turned into a cautionary tale of good intentions gone awry when 10 volunteer missionaries were arrested in Haiti while trying to remove 33 children from the country illegally. Officials said they suspected human trafficking, while the Baptists insisted they were just trying to find the earthquake victims temporary shelter in the neighboring Dominican Republic. Eight of the 10 were released after spending three weeks in a Haitian jail. A ninth was freed March 8. The last to be released, team leader and organizer Laura Silsby, remained jailed until May 17, when a judge found her guilty of reduced charges and sentenced her to time already served.

— Arson. A rash of 10 church fires in January and February set off a wave of fear in East Texas. Residents breathed a sigh of relief Feb. 21 with the arrest of two suspects. Jason Bourque, 19, and Daniel McAllister, 21, who had attended youth group together at a Southern Baptist church before drifting away a few years ago, pleaded guilty Dec. 15 to setting five fires. They await sentencing Jan. 10.

— Belmont University. After being out of the news since settling a lawsuit that severed ties with the Tennessee Baptist Convention, Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn., became an unlikely symbol in debate over gay rights in recent weeks. Lisa Howe, women's soccer coach at Belmont for six years, left her job suddenly Dec. 2 after telling her team she is a lesbian. Student and community protests accused Belmont's administration of firing her because of her sexual orientation. Belmont President Robert Fisher said the university does not discriminate against gays. Belmont's faculty senate voted Dec. 17 to recommend adding "sexual orientation" to existing nondiscrimination policies in faculty, staff and student handbooks.

— 20th anniversary of Associated Baptist Press. OK, so it probably isn't on anybody else's top-story list, but 2010 marked the 20th anniversary of the founding of Associated Baptist Press. Charles Overby, ABP's first board chair, accepted an award in October on behalf of board members and Baptist state paper editors who founded the news service. July 17 marked the actual anniversary of the firing of two top editors of Baptist Press in 1990 that led to formation of an alternative news source not subject to censorship by denominational leaders.

–Bob Allen is senior writer for Associated Baptist Press.

(ABP) — Here are some notable Baptist newsmakers who died during 2010.

— Bill Hogue, 82, former executive director of the California Southern Baptist Convention, Jan. 13.

— Max Lyall, 71, a concert and church pianist who taught for 25 years at Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary, Feb. 18.

— Emmie Cecelia Mears Webb, 8, daughter of Amy Mears, co-pastor of Glendale Baptist Church in Nashville, Tenn., killed Ash Wednesday when a deer crashed through the windshield and fatally injured her as she sat between two siblings in the back seat of a sedan driven by her father.

Fletcher Allen

— Fletcher Allen, 78, former editor and associate editor of Baptist state newspapers in South Carolina, Maryland/Delaware and Tennessee, Feb. 27, after a long battle with cancer. 

— Tom Logue, 88, who led Baptist Student Union work in Arkansas for more than three decades and in retirement was founding coordinator of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of Arkansas, March 6.

— Nancy Schaefer, 74, a conservative Christian activist and former two-term state senator in Georgia, found dead with her husband March 26 in their north Georgia home in what was described as a murder-suicide.

— David Mueller, 80, longtime theology professor at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, March 26.

— Michael Spencer, 53, acclaimed "Internet Monk" blogger, April 5, following a four-month battle with cancer.

Cecil Sherman

— Cecil Sherman, 82, one of the most visible moderate leaders in the Southern Baptist Convention controversy of the 1980s and first coordinator of the breakaway Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, April 17, from complications of a heart attack. At a memorial service in Asheville, N.C., attended by hundreds, historian Walter Shurden recalled Sherman as someone who "stood on a higher hill" than his contemporaries.

— Douglas Green, 85, husband of seminary president Molly Marshall, May 23.

— Stephen Carter, 51, a former Baptist camp director awaiting trial on six child-sex charges, of an apparent suicide May 24. 

— Andy Lester, 70, a professor of pastoral care and counseling popular with a generation of Baptists who attended Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in the 1970s and 1980s, June 10, after a year-long battle with pancreatic cancer.

— Robert Bratcher, 90, the New Testament translator for the Good News Bible, July 11.

— Avery Willis, 76, a former Southern Baptist missionary and administrator best known as developer of the MasterLife discipleship materials used around the world, July 30, nearly eight months after being diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia.

Clark Pinnock

— Clark Pinnock, 73, an influential theologian whose spiritual pilgrimage led him from a fiery fundamentalism as a young professor to an openness that caused some to brand him a heretic, Aug. 15, of a heart attack.

— Warren Hultgren, 89, pastor of First Baptist Church of Tulsa, Okla., from 1957 until 1992, Nov. 14.

— Edgar Cooper, editor of the Florida Baptist Witness from 1971 until 1983, Nov. 14, one day shy of his 92nd birthday.

—Morgan Patterson, 85, a historian who taught at four Southern Baptist seminaries and was president of a Georgetown College, Nov. 19.

–Bob Allen is senior writer for Associated Baptist Press.

(ABP) — Here are some of the more memorable quotes that appeared in Associated Baptist Press stories and commentaries during 2010.

"In the midst of your concern for me I want you to compare my situation with the 4 billion oral learners who haven't heard and don't understood the Words of Life. At least 1.5 billion people have never heard of Jesus. They are the ones who need our attention and prayers." (Southern Baptist missions leader Avery Willis, who died July 30, on his diagnosis with leukemia. After retiring from the International Mission Board, Willis worked with populations that are functionally illiterate.)

"Love trumps evil." (Linda Dulin, telling her son-in-law Matt Baker, a former Baptist pastor convicted of killing her daughter in 2006, why she must forgive him.)

"T-shirt fronts serve as great tissues."

(Jinny Henson, on lessons she learned in the first six months after her daughter died from injuries received in a church-bus accident.)

"There are scads of photos of Baptist university and seminary presidents being inaugurated and a good number of images of presidents kneeling for the 'laying on of hands' as an act of spiritual blessing. I dare say there are none depicting the baptism of a new president." (ABP Executive Director David Wilkinson, on the choice of Kenneth Starr, son of a church of Christ minister, as president of Baylor University.)

"I thought the way Cecil spoke truth intimidated his adversaries and scared the daylights out of his friends." (Baptist historian Walter Shurden at the April 23 memorial service for Cecil Sherman, first coordinator of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.)

"There are no barriers in God's love. There should be no barriers in God's house." (Ginny Thornburgh, director of an interfaith initiative for the American Association of People with Disabilities.)

"People are always saying 'Why don't you appoint more funded missionaries?' The fact is we don't have the money. What is amazing is that we have not had to call any missionaries home." (Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Executive Coordinator Daniel Vestal.)

"Let's stop worrying about our name and start reclaiming our witness." (Historian Bill Leonard, speaking at the CBF General Assembly.)

"It's too bad that I didn't take homiletics, because I have been preaching ever since." (Former WMU executive director Carolyn Weatherford Crumpler on study in the School of Religious Education at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. She took all her electives in the School of Theology but could not enroll because she was a woman.)

"A translator — especially a translator of the Scriptures — should not be known, because the important things are the words and the message that come through those books and not the person who did the translation." (Bob Bratcher, lead translator of the Good News Bible, who died July 11 at age 90.)

"A free flow of news remains vital for any democracy, and Baptist polity is the purest form of democracy." (Baptist Standard Editor Marv Knox, on the 20th anniversary of the firing of two Baptist Press editors that prompted formation of Associated Baptist Press.)

"We threw a rock at Goliath. We don't know yet whether or not we are Davids." (Shirley Taylor, on demands by a Christian women's right group that the Council for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood apologize for teaching that subordinates women.)

"Some of us who have been speaking for so long need to be quiet and do some listening…. If we listen to each other, we'll have wiser words to say to each other." (North American John Upton, new president of the Baptist World Alliance.)

"The faithful are often the most susceptible to fear." (Bill Shiell, pastor of First Baptist Church in Knoxville, Tenn.)

"These are perfect projects for churches." (Tim Brendle, coordinator of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship's relief in Haiti, on a new technique for building permanent homes for earthquake victims using rubble created by the January quake.)

"If you're not willing to lose an election over important principles, then you don't deserve to ever win an election." (Rep. Chet Edwards)

–Bob Allen is senior writer for Associated Baptist Press.

NEW YORK (ABP) — Observers of religion in public life have been scratching their heads about inclusion of a Baptist scholar known for advocating the separation of church and state in a recent Newsweek magazine article titled "Faces of the Christian Right."

The photo slideshow named Melissa Rogers, director of the Center for Religion and Public Affairs at Wake Forest University School of Divinity, as one of 11 individuals who speak for a new Religious Right described as "more strategically, denominationally and ideologically diverse" than before.

Melissa Rogers

Her name appeared alongside well-known social conservatives including Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council and Jim Daly of Focus on the Family as possible successors to leaders like Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson and James Dobson now retiring from the political stage.

Newsweek chose Rogers, a former staff member at the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, for her recently finished term as chair of President Obama's Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. The group made recommendations about how to provide taxpayer funding for social services by religious institutions without violating the First Amendment's restriction on government sponsorship of religion.

"It's not as sexy as praying with the president, but it's the sort of stuff that fundamentally shapes the relationship between the government and the church for years to come," Newsweek reported.

Pundits that follow religion and politics reacted swiftly.

"Legal scholar Melissa Rogers is most decidedly not a member of the Christian right," Sarah Posner, associate editor of Religion Dispatches, weighed in.

Posner described Rogers, who also is a senior fellow with the Washington think tank the Brookings Institution, as "one of the country's best authorities on church-state separation law and an advocate for enforcement of the Establishment Clause."

Posner continued: "Not only would Rogers herself be surprised to be on the list, I'd imagine, but so would the Christian right itself: one of its core aims is the reversal of Supreme Court jurisprudence on the separation of church and state."

Looking over the Newsweek listing, Steve Thorngate at Christian Century found little they all have in common "other than being Christians, broadly right to center-left theologically, who have some degree of political influence in one area or another."

Sarah Pulliam Bailey at the Get Religion blog recalled an article she wrote last year in Christianity Today questioning whether the term "Christian/religious right" is even helpful anymore.

Rogers said she talked to reporters at Newsweek and hoped the headline would be changed. After it appeared that was not going to happen, she registered her objection in a comment on Newsweek's website.

"I'm a Christian, but I'm not part of the 'Christian Right,'" she wrote "That's partially because the terms 'Christian Right' or 'Religious Right' suggest that a person holds a set of positions, a number of which I have actively opposed."

While no one familiar with her work "would describe me as a member of the Christian Right," Rogers said, "At the same time, I don't claim to be part of the 'Christian Left.'"

"Part of my concern with both of these titles is that they often describe situations in which political views define religious views," she commented.

Another name on the Newsweek list was Jim Wallis, a progressive evangelical whose advocacy against social ills like poverty and inequality earlier this year prompted Fox News personality Glenn Beck to advise his conservative listeners to leave churches that teach "social justice."

Aaron Weaver, a doctoral student in religion, politics and society who writes a weekly news review for Baptists Today labeled the Newsweek article "religion journalism at its worst."

–Bob Allen is senior writer for Associated Baptist Press.

TYLER—The fifth annual Christmas in the Village event drew more 1,500 visitors to Breckenridge Village of Tyler, a Baptist Child & Family Services assisted-living campus for adults with developmental disabilities.

A holiday gift shop in the Breckenridge Village chapel featured handcrafted items created by residents, including hand-dipped scented pine cones, candles, gift bags, knitted caps, Christmas cards and note cards.

This year, patrons cheered as the local fire and EMS department put on a show with their whirling fire truck lights and a helicopter circling above the campus that safely landed with its crew.

Guinness world record holder David Slick with “Slick Jugglers” from Fort Worth kept the crowd entertained with juggling, unicycling, skateboarding and stiltwalking.

Breckenridge Village’s resident musicians, the Rhythm Band Rockers, performed at the event, along with the Young Men’s Quartet from All Saints High School, Matt and Megan Magill, the Candy Crocker’s Girls, as well as Green Acres Baptist Church’s Elevate and Vertical Praise groups.

Pam Toulouse from Green Acres Baptist Church sang “O Holy Night” during the ceremonial lighting of the campus chapel, which shed light on a live Nativity scene.

The 2010 Christmas in the Village raised more than $35,000 that will go toward the scholarship fund established to help residents continue to make Breckenridge Village their home.

DALLAS—A regional accrediting agency has issued an official warning to Criswell College, citing issues regarding “institutional effectiveness” in planning and assessment.

The Bible college—established about 40 years ago by First Baptist Church of Dallas and named for its longtime pastor W.A. Criswell—retains its accreditation but will be monitored by the accrediting agency for the next year.

A warning is the least-severe public citation the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools issues. The maximum time during monitoring any school can be on warning is two years. The warning grew out of the accrediting agency’s regular review of the school, scheduled every 10 years.

“The cited standards expect an accredited institution to provide evidence that it (1) has an ongoing, integrated, and institution-wide planning and evaluation process supporting the accomplishment of its mission, (2) identifies and evaluates expected outcomes and uses findings to improve educational programs and administrative and educational support services, (3) has the capability and processes for completing a quality enhancement plan, and (4) identifies college-level general education competencies,” according to a statement issued by the SACS Commission on Colleges.

Criswell College President Jerry Johnson told the Dallas Morning News the school will deal with the agency’s concerns. Johnson resigned as the college’s president two years ago after a public disagreement with church leaders about the school’s future. This summer, the college officially separated from First Baptist Church of Dallas and established an independent board. The new board voted unanimously last month to rehire Johnson as president.

Johnson told the Dallas Morning News he was pleased the accrediting agency cited no issues related to the governance change, and he promised the school would demonstrate progress in planning and assessment.

“The school had not been focused on that during this year of transition,” he said. “We will be focused on that in a greater way.”

Next year, Criswell College will submit a report to SACS in September and be visited by the agency in October. The school likely will learn in early December if the warning has been lifted.

Three years ago, the accrediting agency placed Criswell on probation for not meeting standards in financial stability and financial control, but it was cleared a year later.

Johnson reported Criswell College had 365 students enrolled in its fall semester and is financially sound.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP) — The vast majority of Americans celebrate Christmas and most consider it a religious holiday, but for many Jesus isn't the only — or even the main — reason for the season, according to a new report by LifeWay Research.

"Americans give Jesus a head nod at Christmas but spend most of the season pleasing their eyes, ears and taste buds with decorations, music and meals," said Scott McConnell, director of the research division of the Southern Baptist Convention publisher LifeWay Christian Resources. "Many celebrate Christmas the way most have celebrated Halloween — the fun traditions without sharing the religious significance."

LifeWay Research polled more than 2,100 people representative of the adult population of the United States between Nov. 29 and Dec. 1. Despite the annual debate over whether merchants should avoid using "Merry Christmas" as a holiday greeting out of respect for non-Christians, LifeWay found that only 9 percent are at risk of being offended, because nine in 10 Americans (91 percent) say they celebrate Christmas.

The holiday is even popular for non-Christians. More than half of atheists (55 percent) and nearly two thirds (62 percent) of people claiming other religions said they personally observe the holiday that celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ.

Three fourths (74 percent) of Americans said they either strongly agree or agree somewhat that Christmas is primarily a day for religious celebration and observance. Seventy percent said they believe that Mary was a virgin when she gave birth to Jesus and 79 percent said they believe "Jesus is the reason for the Christmas season."

For most Americans, however, worship takes a backseat to secular observances like gathering with family and exchanging gifts. Four out of five (81 percent) chose family traditions as the most important part of their Christmas holiday.

Two thirds (67 percent) said many of the things they enjoy during the Christmas season have nothing to do with the birth of Jesus Christ.

Four out of five Americans put up a Christmas tree, 79 percent listen to Christmas music and 77 percent decorate their homes.

Christians (94 percent) are more likely to give gifts than non-Christians. Researchers said that may explain why Christians are most likely to encourage belief in Santa Claus.

Overall, a little more than one-third of households (38 percent) encourage belief in Santa, compared to 42 percent of Christian households. Just 27 percent of agnostics or those without a religious preference, 22 percent of those claiming other religions and 18 percent of atheists encourage belief in Santa Claus.

At 58 percent, encouraging belief in Jesus as Savior is actually more common than encouraging belief in Santa, but  only 28 percent said they read or tell the Christmas story from the Bible as part of their holiday celebration.

Ed Stetzer, president of LifeWay Research, said the research demonstrates both the increasing secularization of the Christmas experience and an opportunity for Christians.

"Churches often look forward to some of their largest attendance of the year at Christmas week services, and 47 percent of Americans say their household typically attends such church services," Stetzer said. "It may not be a huge percentage, but the survey suggests that Christmas does provide an opportunity for churches to reach typically unchurched individuals."

Stetzer urged Christians to step into the "gap between Christmas participation and biblical information" to proclaim the story of Jesus Christ.

"Christians can often get distracted during Christmas and completely overlook the opportunity to represent Christ to their neighbors," Stetzer said. "Believers can and should put Christ first in our Christmas celebrations and then represent Him to a world in need of the biblical understanding of 'peace on earth.'"

Previous research by LifeWay in 2008 found that people are more open to considering matters of faith during the Christmas season than at other times of the year.

DALLAS— The Baptist General Convention of Texas Executive Board unanimously approved a 15-person committee to find the convention’s next executive director.

Voting electronically, board members Dec. 17 approved the 15 people nominated by the chair and vice chair of the board and the elected convention officers.

Members of the search committee members are:

• Ron Lyles, pastor of South Main Baptist Church in Pasadena and BGCT Executive Board member. He will serve as chair of the committee.

• Jerry Dailey, pastor of Macedonia Baptist Church in San Antonio and BGCT Executive Board member

• Charlotte Young, member of First Baptist Church in Dimmitt and BGCT Executive Board member

• Ernestine Haas, member of Park Cities Baptist Church in Dallas and BGCT Executive Board member

• Fred Roach, member of The Heights Baptist Church in Richardson and BGCT Executive Board member

• Jay Abernathy, pastor of First Baptist Church in Palestine and BGCT Executive Board member

• John Wheat, pastor of First Baptist Church in Kenedy and BGCT Executive Board member

• David Lowrie, pastor of First Baptist Church in El Paso and immediate past president of the BGCT

• Jesse Rincones, pastor of Alliance Baptist Church in Lubbock

• Charles Price, director of missions for San Antonio Baptist Association and member of First Baptist Church in San Antonio

• Gloria Mills, Texas WMU president and member of First Baptist Church in Henderson

• Frank Sanchez, member of the Cowboy Church of Ellis County in Waxahachie

• Frances Barrera, member of Crossroad Baptist Church in Plainview

• Jason Lee, pastor of Tallowood Chinese Baptist Church in Houston

• Michael Evans, pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Mansfield

Four people have been put forward as non-voting advisors to the committee:

• Jerry Bradley, president of Children at Heart Ministries in Round Rock

• Paul Armes, president of Wayland Baptist University in Plainview

• Bill Arnold , president of Texas Baptists Mission Foundation

• Joyce Ashcraft , regional ministry director for Texas Baptists’ Collegiate Ministry

The search committee members are grateful to be chosen to serve Texas Baptists in this role and will seek God’s guidance as they seek out the convention’s next executive director, Lyles said.

“I believe that I speak for each member of the committee in declaring that we are humbled and honored to be asked to serve in this capacity. At the same time, we realize that membership in this group is not an honorary position but one that will require an investment of spiritual discernment, meaningful evaluation, harmonious cooperation, relational trust, personal energy, and devoted time,” he said.

“My commitment to Texas Baptists is that I will seek to guide the deliberative process of this search committee in a way that will keep us singularly focused on the goal of finding the one whom God desires to be our next Executive Director. I invite all Texas Baptists to join us in this significant task by praying that we will seek the wisdom of God’s Spirit with integrity and sensitivity.”

In a letter to the executive board members that presented the nominations, BGCT Executive Board Chair Debbie Ferrier said the elected officers worked together to formulate the nominations, noting they sought Texas Baptists “who live their lives every day according to what the Scriptures teach” and “who affirm Hope 1:8 and who are living their lives every day reaching the world for Christ.”

Hope 1:8 is a convention campaign based on Acts 1:8 that seeks to encourage each Texas Baptist and each Texas Baptist church to share the hope of Christ locally, across the state and around the world.

“My request is that Texas Baptists will be mindful of the search committee and pray for them daily,” Ferrier said. “Pray for the staff and employees of the BGCT. Pray for the officers of the convention.  Pray for the executive directors. Pray for our institutions and their leaders. Pray for the churches and pray for those who are still seeking the hope that only comes from Jesus Christ.”

On Dec. 13, the board electronically voted to empower Steve Vernon, associate executive director, “to assume all responsibilities and authority related to the role of executive director in the absence of an executive director.”

Vernon will take on that role following the departure of Executive Director Randel Everett, who will become pastor of First Baptist Church in Midland on Jan. 16. The board overwhelmingly approved the motion with only one member voting against it.

SAN ANTONIO—Hardin-Simmons University’s women’s soccer team won the NCAA Division III National Championship with a 2-1 win over Messiah at the Blossom Athletic Complex in San Antonio.

“This is big for our whole school and our conference,” said Marcus Wood, HSU head coach. “Our girls came out and I thought took it to them early in the game. We got the two goals, and then even after that, I thought we held our composure and were able to do a lot of good things in the game. Messiah is a great team. We definitely earned the win tonight.”

The Hardin-Simmons University team receives the trophy as NCAA Division III National Champions.

HSU's Erin Low was named the offensive MVP of the tournament, and her teammate Rebecca Roth was named the defensive MVP.

“Erin Low played the best game of her life,” Wood said. “I have coached Erin since she was 11 years old as a club player. I have never seen her play better than she did this weekend. She was a senior, and I started a freshman over her for most of the season. Erin didn’t like it, and she told me that, but I told her to stay with us that we would need her. The freshman got hurt, and Erin played great throughout the playoffs. She took advantage of her time.”

Roth finished the night with six saves, including four in the second half.  

“As a goalkeeper, you live to have the ball hit at you,” said Roth. “I am so proud of my teammates, and we are so excited to be national champions. Our whole team just beat a very good soccer team. We made the plays we had to over and over tonight.”

Messiah came into the tournament as the two-time defending NCAA champion. The team had not lost since the 2007 final against Wheaton. They finished the year with a record of 24-1.

Hardin-Simmons finished the season with a 24-0-1 record. The one tie was in the semifinals, and HSU advanced on penalty kicks. The NCAA title was the first for Hardin-Simmons as a member of Division III. The university joined Division III in the 1996-97 school year.

VALLEY FORGE, Pa. (ABP) — A delegation of 12 American Baptist leaders recently returned from a 13-day study tour in the Middle East. Goals of the trip included helping American Baptists become more familiar with the life of the church in the Middle East, learning how Christians and Muslims in the Middle East are building bridges in the face of the rise of radical Islam and better understanding the forces at play that make the Holy Land a powder keg.

Roy Medley

Roy Medley, general secretary of American Baptist Churches USA described the Nov. 28-Dec. 13 trip as "an excellent learning experience."

Highlights of the trip included a day-long visit with Prince Ghazi, a member of the royal family of Jordan, at a recently opened center on the Jordan River marking the spot where Jesus is believed to have been baptized.

Medley delivered a major address Dec. 2 to a predominantly Sunni Muslim crowd about Baptists' role in defending religious liberty in the United States.

The tour began with intensive study at the Arab Baptist Theological Seminary in Beirut facilitated by author Colin Chapman, an expert on Christian-Muslim relations in the Middle East. Prior to making the trip the Americans read books including Chapman's Cross and Crescent and Blood Brothers by Elias Chador.

In addition to dialogue with Muslims, the group had opportunities to interact with Arab Christians in the Middle East. "It is clear that our Arab sisters and brothers need our continued prayers as they faithfully strive to serve Christ under extreme and challenging conditions that tear apart their daily lives," the group stated in a press release.

One message driven home more than once was that when derogatory or inflammatory statements are made about Islam in the West, the churches in the East suffer as radicals use those statements to inflame others.

Medley said delegates also came away keenly aware of negative effects of Christian Zionism — a view that Israel has absolute right to the land because the Bible says so — and the complexities of U.S. policies in the region.

In a blog written on the road Dec. 5, Medley said the path to peace and reconciliation in the Mideast is not an easy one.

"The attitudes towards Israel vary from 'we can never accept its existence' to 'we can live with Israel as a state if there is justice for the Palestinians,'" he wrote. "The appeal for justice for Palestinians, both Christian and Muslim, demands our attention."

"Just as Christians do not accept uncritically every action of our government as in accord with our faith, nor can we accept every action of Israel as worthy of support," Medley said. "As U.S. Christians we are rightly challenged to develop a more balanced view of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the justice issues present in those communities."

The group said it found a "genuine desire" among many Islamic leaders for improved relations between Muslims and Christians. Arab Baptist Theological Seminary received high marks for its efforts to promote dialogue and reconciliation between the two faith communities.

While dialogue among religious leaders and scholars is important, participants agreed the real need is to get similar conversations going on in villages and communities to bring people together locally to better understand one another and work together for the good of all.

"I came on the trip with an open mind, wanting to learn as much as I could," said participant June Peters, "but there is much more to learn and much more work to be done in this part of the world."

WASHINGTON (RNS)—While more than nine out of 10 Americans say they plan to celebrate Christmas this year, they are divided on whether businesses should use messages like "Season's Greetings" rather than "Merry Christmas," according to a new poll.   

The latest PRRI/RNS Religion News Poll , released Dec. 16, found Americans are split, 44 percent in favor and 49 opposed, on whether retailers should use generic holiday greetings out of respect or people of different faiths.   

The so-called "War on Christmas" has been a rallying cry for conservatives in recent years as they resist attempts to remove nativity scenes from town squares, Christmas carols from public schools and the words "Merry Christmas" from sales flyers. 

The poll found a significant number of people engaging in secularized celebrations of Christmas, with Americans more likely to watch Christmas movies like It's A Wonderful Life (83 percent) than attend religious services on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day (66 percent). 

The holiday season is also slightly interreligious: One in 10 Americans say members of their families also celebrate another December holiday, such as Hanukkah or Kwanzaa. 

Researchers said the range of ways that Americans celebrate Christmas could explain why the holy day is taking on a less religious feel.

Robert P. Jones, CEO of Public Religion Research Institute, which conducted the poll in partnership with Religion News Service, said Christmas has always evolved, from its Dec. 25 date claimed from a Roman pagan festival, to the decorated tree from German tradition.

The fact that significant numbers of Americans read both the biblical story of Jesus' birth and "`Twas the Night before Christmas" is a continuation of that tradition, he said.

The PRRI/RNS poll also found:

• College graduates, Democrats and people with no formal religious ffiliation are more likely to have family celebrating more than one December holiday.

• Slightly more Americans (43 percent) read "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" than read a Christmas story from the Bible (40 percent).

• Half of Republicans, three in four white evangelicals, and two in three black Protestants say they read the Christmas story from the Bible. Fewer portions of Democrats (34 percent), white mainline Protestants (37 percent) and Catholics (26 percent) do likewise.

• Most white evangelicals (79 percent) and Catholics (82 percent) attend Christmas Eve or Christmas Day services, compared to 63 percent of white mainline Protestants.

• White evangelicals (69 percent) and Republicans (64 percent) are most likely to say stores should use "Merry Christmas," while a majority of Democrats (58 percent) and Catholics (55 percent) prefer generic holiday greetings instead.

• People in the Midwest (56 percent), South (54 percent) or rural areas (53 percent) are more likely to object to generic holiday greetings than those living in the Northeast (33 percent) or urban areas (47 percent).

While some Christians bemoan the commercialization of Christmas, interfaith organizations and Christmas advocates see reason to cheer its wider appeal.

Robert Putnam, a Harvard scholar and co-author of American Grace: How Religion Unites and Divides Us, said he found it surprising that nearly half of Americans choose "Happy Holidays" as their preferred consumer greeting.

"That represents a major change over the last 50 years toward greater interfaith sensitivity," he said.

Although there's no long-term data on the trend — "because no one would even have thought to ask that on a survey," he said — Putnam
suspects it closely mirrors American's growing acceptance of intermarriage.
  
Phil Okrend, president of MixedBlessing, a company that makes interfaith and multicultural holiday cards, said it makes sense to consider regional demographics regarding December behavior.

"If you live somewhere with a majority of Christians, then you can say `Merry Christmas,' and if you're in a more diverse area, you can say
`Happy Holidays,'" he said. "It's not diminishing anything, because we're more alike than not."

The PRRI/RNS Religion News Poll was based on telephone interviews conducted Dec. 9 to 12, with 1,015 U.S. adults. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.