GAINESVILLE—A number of Baptist groups have come together to bring health care to a Mexican community where there is none.

The people of El Arenal, in the state of Jalisco, have to drive three hours to Guadalajara for medical care. When that information came to Pastor Juvel Garcia and his wife, Silvia, of Primera Iglesia Bautista in Gainesville, they decided something needed to be done.

Mrs. Garcia, who practiced medicine in Mexico, said she learned of the need when she went to Mexico last year. “They told me they had a big problem without medical assistance,” she said.

She learned many who made the trip to Guadalajara waited as long as three days to be seen in the emergency room. Many gave up and made the long drive back to El Arenal without ever seeing a doctor.

“The idea emerged to begin a medical facility in El Arenal,” she continued. “We want to give medical resources to the people who have no money.”

The Garcias also stressed the clinic will be a place for people to hear the gospel. “One of the purposes is evangelism. If people come to the clinic for a medical consultation, they can also wait 20 minutes to hear about Christ,” Mrs. Garcia said.

Baylor Health Care System’s Faith in Action Initiatives is helping that idea become a reality. Baylor Health Care is donating four hospital beds, two stretchers, an neonatal incubator, two wheel chairs, desks, file cabinets, lobby chairs and other equipment.

“This fits perfectly with the purposes of the Faith in Action Initiatives office,” Director Don Sewell said. “It deals with getting the strengths and assets of Baylor Health Care System outside our walls to those who need it most.”

The donated items will have a “second life” at the Mexican clinic, he added.

They are stored in a Gainesville warehouse now, waiting for clearance from the Mexican government.

The Garcias are being helped on this side of the Rio Grande by Hands in Service Ministries. Officially, the hospital equipment from Baylor was donated to the nonprofit organization. Hands in Service, in turn, will donate the medical equipment to Manos Hermanos, a Mexican nonprofit lay organization that will give the equipment to the clinic in El Arenal.

The Mexico-Americano Baptist Hospital in Guadalajara will have an ongoing relationship with the clinic.

“It’s a whole lot of people in the Baptist family working together to bring health care to people who have none,” Sewell said.

DALLAS (ABP)—One of the Southern Baptist Convention’s most historic and prominent congregations officially has embarked—with four simultaneous Oct. 30 building implosions—on what it is calling the biggest church renovation-and-expansion project in modern history.

Members of First Baptist Church of Dallas joined dignitaries gathered to observe the demolition of the buildings, which stood on land the congregation will use for a $115 million project to build a new, modern sanctuary and recreate the church's historic campus.

“The last time anyone has seen this view of our church was 1927,” said First Baptist Pastor Robert Jeffress. “And now, we are seeing the sanctuary in a whole new light.”

“This is a very positive (thing) for the city of Dallas,” said Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert, who attends First Baptist Church.

“The best part of the story is yet to come. This change is a new gateway into an important part of Dallas. It will give the entire downtown area a different feel.”

Demolition experts used 450 pounds of dynamite to bring down the church’s Burt Building—which dated from 1927—as well as its Christian Education Building, Ruth Ray Hunt Building and Veal Building.

Those structures—some of which originally had been built as office buildings that the church acquired and converted—soon will be joined by the Truett and Mary C buildings, to be demolished by wrecking ball.

Once debris is cleared, construction will begin on a facility that includes a glass-enclosed sanctuary seating 3,000 as well as educational facilities and a large public green space surrounding a cross-topped fountain.

The project is one of several massive building projects ongoing or recently completed in downtown Dallas, and church officials expect it to be completed in time for Easter 2013.

“As I look around downtown, I see spectacular temples of commerce, culture and government—many new, some restored to former glory, and all intended to stand for generations,” Jeffress said. “The kingdom of God needs a home to equal them—a spiritual oasis in the middle of downtown.”

Demolition experts took special care to shield the church’s historic sanctuary from potential blast damage by boarding up its stained-glass windows and erecting a massive earthen berm to prevent pieces of debris from bouncing off the street and damaging the sanctuary. The ornate worship hall—much of which dates to 1890—served as home base for two legendary Baptist pastors, the late W.A. Criswell and George W. Truett.

Once the new sanctuary is completed, the historic building will continue to be used for weddings, funerals and other special services.

Church officials say they already have pledges secured to cover the project’s price tag.

DALLAS—Baptist Standard Publishing is building a $5 million community— FaithVillage, an interactive Internet presence designed to provide high-quality Christian resources and a social network to serve 20 million evangelicals ages 18 to 44.

The site will provide a single location where users can access:

• A social media platform with personal pages, groups, forums and blogs.

• News, information and other articles.

• Video, music, podcasts and Web-based seminars.

• A digital marketplace that will feature books, music, ministry resources, Christian gifts and other merchandise from vendors, as well as user-generated content.

The site’s unique design—a street scene with buildings such as “Grove Theater” for video resources and “City Pod Studios” for audio—provides users a visual sense of visiting a physical community where they can enter buildings to find a wide array of content.

“The driving vision for FaithVillage.com is to provide a vibrant online community that expands personal faith, fosters robust sharing of ministry resources and deepens collaboration among vital Christian causes,” said Brad Russell, senior editor and chief operating officer of the new venture.

Through the social media platform, users will be able to reserve their own “lofts,” where they interact online with other users in a safe, secure environment free from offensive ads or unwelcome comments common on some social media sites.

Churches will be able to use the platform to create user groups for Bible studies and discipleship and collaborative groups for missions and ministry teams and committees, as well as providing their members a safe and enjoyable place for social networking.

FaithVillage will enable ministries, institutions and nonprofit organizations a vehicle to connect with global online audiences and network with like-minded ministry partners.

The idea for FaithVillage grew out of the Baptist Standard’s desire to inform, inspire and engage the rising generation of Christian leaders, said Marv Knox, editor of the Standard and publisher of FaithVillage.

“We became open to broadening the vision of the Baptist Standard as we faced the disappointing truth that traditional newspapers are not reaching a young audience,” Knox said. “Our staff and our board of directors began to ask, ‘What can we do to meet the needs of young adults?’”

The Standard conducted nationwide research of evangelical Christians ages 18 to 44 to explore how they use the Internet, how they practice their faith and how those two factors intersect. Additional research involved looking at evangelical Christian sites already on the Internet.

The Standard discovered a potential market of 20 million young evangelicals—and found that what those Christian young adults said would be helpful and what they would like to find online does not exist in any single, easy-to-navigate location on the Web.

Among respondents, 82 percent said they belong to social media sites. Half said they had visited a faith-oriented site in the previous six months, but half said they were not satisfied with available Christian websites.

Those findings led to the development of the FaithVillage concept—an idea that will require $5 million to become reality.

“Because we receive no Cooperative Program funds, we are raising the money to build out the site and operate it for three years until it can become self-sustaining,” Knox said.

To date, $1.1 million has been raised, including a $1 million gift from the Christ is Our Salvation Foundation, founded by Paul and Katy Piper, and another significant gift from an anonymous donor.

“Our board believes in this so deeply, and is so convinced now is the time to move forward, that it authorized a $2.1 million loan from our reserves to build FaithVillage now,” Knox said. “We will continue to raise money to repay that loan.”

While the audience for FaithVillage reaches beyond Texas Baptist life and the scope of the site extends beyond traditional journalism, the Baptist Standard remains committed to its 122-year-old mission as the news journal of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, Knox emphasized.

“The news operation is not going away,” he said. “That’s a commitment that reaches back more than five generations. One of the buildings in FaithVillage will be the newsstand, and the Baptist Standard will be featured prominently there, along with other news sources.

“Beyond that, we will continue to provide the news through multiple avenues of delivery, including the Standard’s own website, apart from FaithVillage.”

The public launch for FaithVillage is scheduled in October 2011, Russell said. Partner churches, organizations and individuals who enlist as “FaithVillage Fans” will be invited to test the site late next summer. Reservations for “loft space,” will be available about that same time, he added, but prospective content or merchant partners should make contact now. For more information, e-mail brussell@faithvillage.com or call (214) 630-4571, ext. 15.

MARSHALL—East Texas Baptist University biology major Lauren Charron had the sought-after opportunity to conduct undergraduate research at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School. But the summer internship almost didn’t materialize.

“I had applied to eight different summer research programs and was denied acceptance,” said Charron, a senior from Grand Prairie.

Haley Banks

Lauren Charron

“I was disappointed, but I knew that God had great plans for me. I surrendered to and trusted him with my summer.”

She landed her research position after a phone call and conversation with the dean of the UT Southwestern Graduate School for Biomedical Sciences.

“I sent her my resume and transcript, which she forwarded to the principal investigator in the immunology lab,” she said.

“I was offered the position and became part of the summer undergraduate research fellowship program.”

Charron wants to become a biomedical researcher—an interest that grew from personal experience.

“My mother has Crohn’s disease, which is an autoimmune disease,” she said.

“Seeing how this disease has affected her life has pushed me to go into research so that I can hopefully find a way for people with autoimmune diseases to be able to live full and healthy lives.”

Charron found her Christian faith challenged and strengthened by the internship.

“Being from a small Baptist school, I am able to openly and frequently talk about the love of my Savior and the many things with which he has blessed me. However, in my experience this summer, I found that most people do not believe in God. Some even looked down on those who do have faith, because they believe that if you have science you do not need God,” she said.

Another ETBU biology major, Haley Banks of Palestine, worked in a research internship at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. It marked her second consecutive summer working at M.D. Anderson.

“The goal of the project that I was working on was to discover the mutational status of DNA,” said Banks, who hopes to become a pediatric cancer researcher.

“ETBU has prepared me for graduate-level research. The education that I am receiving at ETBU has helped me understand the context of what was happening in the lab I worked in.”

Charron said, “In graduate school you have to learn things on your own. I have had classes at ETBU that have made me think critically, thus pushing me to find information on my own.”

Charron and Banks both noted the benefits of the summer internships.

“I now have a brief understanding of what my life will look like during the lab years of graduate school as well as the career I hope to pursue,” Charron said.

Banks added, “This experience has not only been humbling and eye opening, but I have gained a new respect for how hard doctors and nurses work to find a cure for cancer.”

Charon plans to graduate in May and hopes to attend UT Southwestern Graduate School for Biomedical Sciences.

Banks has been invited back next summer to M.D. Anderson to continue her research.

DALLAS—Parents of Dallas Baptist University students had the opportunity to see for themselves what their children have learned about servant leadership—and join in service alongside them—during Family Weekend.

More than 350 students, parents and family members took part in the DBU 2010 Family Weekend, and more than 60 joined members of the DBU staff for a Saturday-morning service project at Mission Arlington.

“I think it’s important for the parents to see another glimpse of the value DBU places on serving the community and sharing the gospel,” said Christy Gandy, director of global missions at DBU and coordinator of the Family Weekend service project.

After a morning on the DBU campus spent getting to know members of the Student Life staff and meeting DBU professors, the students and their families loaded buses and headed for Mission Arlington.

After Mission Arlington founder Tillie Burgin and her son, Jim, greeted the team, volunteers went to work clearing out storage rooms to make space for the upcoming Christmas season.

“It was nice to be able to be together and work together and serve the Lord,” said Hannah Cheves, a freshman from San Antonio.

Growing up as the youngest of three children in a close-knit Christian household, Cheves noted how different her experience at college had been compared to her older siblings who attended large state schools.

“When my parents took my brother to college, the school basically told them, ‘Your child is 18, and you have no say in their lives now,’” Cheves explained. “But at DBU, everything is so family-oriented. Kids are not pressured to kick their parents out of their lives so quickly.”

At the end of their time at Mission Arlington, the team met for prayer and headed back to campus, having experienced more than just typical college life.

“It was great to be together as a family,” Cheves said, “and to work together and serve the Lord.”

–Sally Waller contributed to this article.

NAIROBI, Kenya—Dickson Masindano will take all the help he can get for the Buckner International ministries he oversees in Kenya. But he wants everyone to know his goal is less, not more.

Ask Masindano where he’s headed with Buckner Kenya, which opened ministries here in 2001, and the passion pours out of him. “It’s all about self-sustainability,” he said. “Our goal is to do more with less.”

And by less, he’s talking about less dependency on outside sources of revenue to keep operations going. That’s why the Buckner ministries in Kenya are diversifying and developing strategies that can stand on their own. From the urban slums of Nairobi to rural communities like Kitale, Busia and Bungoma, the Buckner Kenya staff is planting crops, generating bio-fuel by recycling cow dung, and operating health clinics that charge nominal cost-recovery fees for their services.

As the Buckner ministries in Kenya have grown over the past decade, the need to find additional sources of in-come also has grown. Today, the Buckner Kenya staff includes more than 80 employees, from house parents at the two orphanages, to farm workers and schoolteachers. It includes nurses, social workers, counselors, cooks and accountants.

Buckner Kenya started like Buckner’s work in so many other places—at the re-quest of an existing organization. The Baptist Children’s Center in Nairobi opened in 1989, the result of several groups coming together as the wave of orphans from AIDS/HIV was starting to hit Africa.

Children living at the Baptist Children’s Center, operated by Buckner International, stand outside the home. Today, the home is the mainstay of Buckner’s work in Kenya and includes the Munyao Memorial Baptist Chapel, Baptist Health Clinic, a school for 300 children from the nearby Mali Saba slum, a technology education center and a farm. (PHOTOS/Scott Collins/Buckner)

By the late 1990s, leaders at the center realized they needed professional advice on running the or-phanage.

That’s when they heard about Buckner and asked for help.

When Buck-ner International staff from Dallas visited the Baptist Children’s Center in 2000, it was home to about 60 children living in two crammed houses. And while the center’s staff did the best they could, it was obvious the children’s home needed help.

That’s when Dickson Masindano showed up from Abilene. Masindano was finishing his master’s degree at Hardin-Simmons University and was headed back to his home country when he was introduced to Buckner. By the time he got on an airplane bound for Kenya, Masindano was the first Buckner Kenya employee. Buckner Kenya applied for nongovernmental status in 2000. The next year, Buckner Kenya became operational, with the Baptist Children’s Center as its first ministry.

Today, the campus of the Baptist Children’s Center is a bustling hive of activity. While the orphanage is the mainstay of the work, the site is also home to Munyao Memorial Baptist Chapel, Baptist Health Clinic, a school for 300 children from the nearby Mali Saba slum, a technology education center and a farm.

Along with the work taking place at the Baptist Children’s Center campus, Buckner also sponsors about 90 children in foster and kinship care throughout Nairobi. Add that to the 22 children living at the orphanage, and Buckner has more than 110 children in residential care on any given day in the city—far more than 10 years ago, but with far fewer living in an institutional setting, always a goal of Buckner ministries.

Tony Wenani, di-rector of the Baptist Children’s Center programs, said the children living at the orphanage to-day are among the “most vulnerable children in Nairobi. Many of them have been abused or neglected.”

Children stand outside the Herbert H. Reynolds Ministry Center in Cherangani, Kenya, on their first day of school. Buckner opened the center last year, which now serves as a preschool, houses Buckner foster care and kinship care staff, and provides a water well for the community and the Greater Zion Medical Center. (PHOTO/Scott Collins/Buckner)

Many are orphans due to the death of their parents from AIDS.

The goal of the Baptist Children’s Center, Wenani said, “is to keep the children at (the center) for as little as possible. We want to put them in families.”

Like the Buckner programs themselves, both Masindano and Wenani want the children and families to become self-sustaining as soon as possible.

“Initially, the (Baptist Children’s Center) model was keeping the orphans here, but we know better now,” Wenani said. “They become too dependent on the institutional setting if they live here. The best thing we can do is find ways that we can keep them in the community.”

To accomplish that goal, the orphanage has become more of an assessment center where children are cared for and counseled while the Buckner staff determines the best place for each child. Most children move from the center to foster or kinship care, where they live with a trained foster family or with relatives, all under continued monitoring from Buckner caseworkers.

“A child should be able to look back and say, ‘If it were not for Buckner, where would I be?’” Masindano said. “We want to give them an inheritance, because in Africa, an inheritance is very important. So, we can give them an inheritance of a basic education.”

That inheritance is also being offered for children living near the center who attend its school. The families pay a school fee—what Masindano calls “cost sharing.” The school enables Buckner to reach into the entire community.

“All children are vulnerable regardless of where they live,” Wenani said. “So, we want to offer holistic care to the children here and in the community as a package. There is too much emphasis placed on orphans sometimes and not enough on vulnerable children who are at risk of being abused or neglected. We are trying to prevent that.”

And while both Masindano and Wenani emphasize self-sustaining models for Buckner and the families they serve, they want groups from the United States to know they still are desperately needed in Kenya.

“We need the groups to keep coming and providing medical, technical and educational support,” Wenani said. “That’s very, very important. Sometimes the most important thing you can do is just play with the children and spend time with them.”

Sammy Nyongesa estimates the tomatoes growing in the greenhouse at Seed of Hope Orphanage in Kitale will top 2,600 pounds a year. More than 40 acres of corn and beans encircle the children’s home, and in a stall at the back of the campus are two new calves that soon will join the growing herd of cows furnishing milk for the children.

Nyongesa is the farm manager at Seed of Hope, and the work he and his crew do is moving the orphanage and its ministries closer to self-sustainability. Like Tony Wenani in Nairobi, Director Esther Ngure is creating independence for the Seed of Hope ministries in Kitale and the children who live there.

Located in northern Kenya, Seed of Hope was founded by German evangelical missionary Carsten Warner. Three years ago, Warner approached Buckner about taking over the ministries when he moved back to Germany, with the promise that Warner would continue raising support for the work—a promise he is keeping.

Since then, Buckner has expanded work in and around Kitale. Current ministries include the Seed of Hope orphanage; foster and kinship care; two medical clinics; a school for children in grades 1 through 8; an early childhood center known as the Kay School after Roy Kay, grandfather of donor Katy Reynolds; a church located on the school grounds; and the 40-acre farm.

Nearby in the village of Cherangani, Buckner opened the Herbert H. Reynolds Ministry Center last year, which serves as a preschool for neighboring children, houses the foster/kinship care staff that oversees more than 50 children in the community, a water well for the community, and the Greater Zion Medical Center, built by the Greater Mount Zion Baptist Church in Fort Worth and opened this past summer.

Ngure said about 70 children live at the Seed of Hope Orphanage.

And while the campus is the center of ministry for Buckner’s work in Kitale, multiple programs serving the community extend the ministry’s reach far beyond the orphanage. Programs like home-based care enable needy families to receive support. Currently 12 families, mostly parents who are HIV positive, receive assistance.

“The goal is to ease the burden of the families who have a heart to help their children but don’t have the financial support to take care of the children,” Ngure said. That small investment allows the children to stay with their families rather than being moved to an orphanage or left homeless. She added that the hope is to have “well-balanced children who become good parents who are able to stand on their own as adults.”

Ten years after he started all this in Kenya for Buckner, Dickson Masindano knows the key for the next 10 years and beyond is self-sustainability, wherever Buckner starts new programs. That remains a primary criterion for him.

“We need to do that for the betterment of ourselves,” he said. “If you’re not doing something about self-sustainability, you will just leave empty buildings.”

For the past 10 years, Buckner International has facilitated short-term mission trip opportunities—usually one week to 10 days long—for individuals and churches. Now, Buckner offers longer opportunities ranging from one month to one year.

With images of extreme poverty plastering the media each day, more and more Americans’ eyes have been opened to the needs. And many want to do something about it, Buckner officials noted.

“There is a new generation who wants to be more engaged and hands on with missions opportunities, and there are a lot of retired professionals who are looking to give back, too,” said Jane Ann Crowson, director of volunteer management and performance at Buckner International.

“We want to connect these volunteers with our ministry needs around the world to more effectively minister to children and families.”

Buckner provides volunteers logistical help, including travel arrangements and accommodations, as well as helping them develop a budget for their time of service.

“Volunteers then are responsible for raising the necessary funds to cover the budgeted cost,” Crowson explained.

Buckner also provides cross-cultural training and preparation before departure, she said.

Jordan Smith from The Village Church in Flower Mound serves in Kitale, Kenya, on a one-year assignment as a business sustainability project coordinator. During his tenure, he will help develop cost-saving techniques, like the use of bio-gas and greenhouses, and also develop micro-franchising and financing opportunities for families.

“I think when you take a step back and find yourself, like I did, falling into the trap of trusting your own abilities and following your own pursuits as opposed to trusting in the grace of God … you can’t sit around like nothing is wrong. You have to act,” he said.

“My goal is to help achieve the goals of Buckner Kenya, but I also want to put myself in a position of readiness to work for the glory of God and share the gospel where it is needed.”

Available opportunities through Buckner International for skilled workers may include clerical work, like volunteer management, or office assistance, teaching English, medical or dental work, light construction and business development.

Buckner is recruiting volunteers to serve in Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Dominican Republic, Peru, Kenya, Ethiopia, Russia and in the Lower Rio Grande Valley.

At this time, Buckner is accepting only individual adult volunteer applicants.

For more information, contact Crowson at jcrowson@buckner.org.

SAN ANTONIO—A historically African-American college and a Hispanic theological university have entered a partnership to train Christian leaders for worldwide service.

Representatives of the Guadalupe School of Religion, an independent African-American college founded in 1884, and Baptist University of the Américas, a Texas Baptist-affiliated school, signed an agreement allowing students of the Guadalupe School access to the BUA library and research resources.

Having access to BUA academic resources will greatly advance the Guadalupe School of Religion’s efforts to regain its ac-creditation with the Association of Higher Biblical Education, according to Carl Johnson, president of the Guadalupe School and pastor emeritus of Greater Corinth Baptist Church in San Antonio, and BUA Provost Javier Elizondo.

The agreement also opens the possibility of course credits transferring between the two schools. Johnson will attend the national meeting of ABHE in February as a guest of BUA.

The two schools will remain totally independent and focus on their own missions.

Johnson and Elizondo signed the articulation agreement Oct. 26 at a service attended by students, faculty and staff from both institutions.

While acknowledging the linkage of schools with traditionally different ethnic emphases is unusual, if not unique, they both saw it as consistent with the unity of the Christian church.

“What God has done at BUA is a gift, and we do not honor those who made it possible and we do not honor God if we don’t share with Christian brothers,” Elizondo said. “God has blessed and surprised us with a growing and rich relationships with African-Americans the past several years. African-Americans are the fastest growing segment of our student body. This is a natural obedience to God’s work in our midst.”

Hispanics and African-Americans “are saved by the same blood and redeemed by the same Savior,” Elizondo added.

WACO—Discussions about dignity and dying benefit from a clear understanding of dignity’s source and meaning, a founding member of the President’s Council on Bioethics told a Baylor University gathering.

Gilbert Meilaender, professor of Christian ethics and chair of the theology department at Valparaiso University, a Lutheran school in Indiana, spoke to a symposium on “Human Dignity and the Future of Health Care,” sponsored by Baylor’s Institute for Faith and Learning.

Meilaender distinguished between the kind of dignity marked by exceptional achievement and the kind inherent in every person created by God.

Understood in the first sense, he asserted, dignity invites comparison to other people or to standards of excellence. But understood in the other sense, “grounded not in relation to each other but to God,” all people stand as equals, he insisted.

Secular modern and postmodern commitment to equal dignity of all people, understood apart from any religious underpinning, is “a commitment in search of a rationale,” Meilaender said.

When it comes to death and dying, both aspects of dignity must be considered, he asserted. Each death is part of “an inevitable trajectory of decline” common to all life in a fallen world, but at the same time, “at the point of death, each is singular and unique.”

Declining health and diminished capacities may rob an individual of dignity in comparison to other people. But those factors have no impact on the dying person’s standing before God, nor do they take away the rights inherent in his or her equality before God, he asserted.

Christians, particularly, should recognize the dual reality of death as both friend and enemy, Meilaender said. On the one hand, it represents the natural end of a journey, recognizing “we are not meant to live here forever,” he said. At the same time, it means the loss of earthly attachments and painful loss for those who are left behind.

During a panel discussion on faith in practice, Helen Harris, senior lecturer in the Baylor School of Social Work, reflected on her 13 years spent in hospice ministry.

“When dealing with end-of-life issues, it’s important to recognize who the expert is, and it’s not you,” Harris said. “The expert in the room is the patient—and the family—the people who are going through the experience.”

Chaplains, social workers and pastoral caregivers should be informed by faith—both their own and the faith of the person who is dying, she said. One challenge caregivers face in dealing with terminal patients relates to hope, she observed.

“We may need to redefine hope. If it is not hope to get well, maybe it is hope to live well in the meantime,” she said.

Another panelist and professor in the Baylor School of Social Work, James Ellor, emphasized the capacity of each individual for transcendence, keeping in mind the physical, social, emotional and spiritual dimensions of living.

“Just because a person does not have cognition,” he said, “that does not mean they do not have a spiritual nature.”

Current medical practice often tends to objectify and dehumanize patients, as in “the kidney in Room 5,” said Stephen Post, director of the Center for Medical Humanities, Compassionate Care and Bioethics at Stony Brook University in New York.

Institutional pressure to minimize time with patients to maximize revenue leaves patients feeling demeaned and doctors feeling demoralized, Post noted.

“The loss of compassion is bad for clinicians, and it’s bad for patients,” he said.

But in a setting where physicians are encouraged to engage in attentive listening and to “look for the personhood in people,” care improves at all levels.

“Compassionate care is a matter of choice and an expression of commitment to maintaining a healing space, regardless of the practice environment,” he said.

“Where doctors are compassionate, it results in early and more accurate diagnoses, as well as more efficient treatment planning and adherence.”

• Dee Blasingame to Calvary Church in Aransas Pass as pastor.

• Josh Burgett to First Church in Floydada as minister of students.

• John Darden to First Church in Tahoka as youth minister.

• Trevor Dickson has resigned as minister of music at Crescent Heights Church in Abilene.

• Loren Fast to First Church in Cotulla as pastor.

• Roger Ferguson to First Church in Justin as pastor.

• Zachary Francis to First Church in Devine as minister of youth.

• Daniel Harper to First Church in DeLeon as pastor, where he was minister to students.

• Matt Johnson to Richards Church in Richards as associate pastor for youth.

• D. Lowrie to Bowie Association as Baptist Student Ministries director.

• Randy Martinez to Crescent Heights Church in Abilene as minister of music.

• John McCulloch to Lytle South Church in Abilene as minister of music from First Church in Lovington, N.M.

• Kyle Medlock to Midtown Church in Brownwood as pastor, where he was interim.

• Roland Ouellette has resigned as pastor of East Sherman Church in Sherman.

• Roger Perkins to Memorial Church in Marshall as pastor.

• T. Wayne Price to First Church in Refugio as pastor from First Church in Sonora.

• Lupe Rando to Primera Iglesia in Floydada as pastor from Iglesia Nueva Vida in Vernon.

• Ashton Reynolds to Wellborn Church in Wellborn as minister of youth and children.

• Johnny Roland to Stagecoach Cowboy Church in Waxahachie as interim pastor.

• Darren Shaddix has resigned as pastor of Calvary Church in Simms.

• Joe Trull to Gribble Springs Church in Sanger as interim pastor.

• Bobby Walker to Wynnewood Church in Dallas as pastor.

• Chris Walker Jr. to Grace Fellowship in Three Rivers as pastor.

• Bob Williford to Karnack Church in Karnack as pastor.

• Afshin Ziafat to Providence Church in Frisco as pastor.

Study says more link Christian faith to being American. As the United States has grown more diverse, more Americans believe being a Christian is a key aspect of being “truly American,” researchers say. Purdue University scholars found that between 1996 and 2004, Americans who saw Christian identity as a “very important” attribute of being American increased from 38 percent to 49 percent. Scholars said the findings, published in the journal Sociology of Religion, couldn’t definitively be tied to a particular event, but they suspect the 9/11 attacks and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan could have played a role. The findings are based on an analysis of data from the General Social Survey, collected by the National Opinion Research Center, in which more than 1,000 respondents were queried in 1996 and 2004. In a separate survey, Public Religion Research Institute found 42 percent believe “America has always been and is currently a Christian nation.”

Most Protestant pastors nix Obama. Six out of every 10 Protestant pastors say they disapprove of President Obama’s job performance, a LifeWay Research survey found. Researchers said of the 61 percent who disapprove of Obama’s work, 47 percent disapprove strongly. The survey found 30 percent of pastors approve of the president’s performance, including 14 percent who strongly approve. Nine percent were undecided. When the Southern Baptist-affiliated research group surveyed Protestant pastors about their voting intentions just before the 2008 elections, 20 percent indicated they planned to vote for Obama, compared to 55 percent who planned to vote for GOP candidate John McCain. The new research was based on interviews with 1,000 Protestant clergy Oct. 7-14 and had an overall margin of error of plus or minus 3.2 percentage points. Researchers also found 84 percent of Protestant pastors disagreed with the idea of pastors endorsing political candidates from the pulpit.

Stem cell-funding agency apologizes for poem. The California agency that distributes public funds for stem cell research has apologized for honoring a poem that appropriated language from the Last Supper. The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine held a poetry contest to promote Stem Cell Awareness Day and draw attention to the complex and controversial field of medical research. When the two winners were announced, some Christian groups protested that one, “Stem C,” by Tyson Anderson, was blasphemous. The poem begins, “This is my body/which is given for you,” and concludes, “Take this/in remembrance of me,” words of Jesus during the Last Supper as recorded in the Gospels and memorialized at Christian worship services during Communion. The California institute, which helps distribute $3 billion in state funds for stem cell research, said it has removed the poem from its website. While many scientists say embryonic stem cell research holds great medical promise, some Christians call it a wanton destruction of human life because embryos must be destroyed in order to harvest the stem cells.

–Compiled from Religion News Service

• Paul Stripling will present guidance on “How to Minister to Those Experiencing Grief” at noon Nov. 11 as part of the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor ministers’ forum series. It will be held in the Shelton Theater. Participants are encouraged to bring a lunch.

• Dallas Baptist University will hold homecoming festivities Nov. 15-20. The week will begin on Monday with an alumni dinner for the College of Education. On Thursday, the alumni dinner for the master of arts in counseling program will be held at 7 p.m., and the university’s annual Mr. Big Chief competition is set for 8 p.m. in the Burg Center. On Friday, the university will host a pre-game pep rally and parade at 3 p.m. in The Quad. At 6 p.m., DBU will hold its annual alumni homecoming banquet. This year, honorary alumni awards will be presented to Stephen Holcomb, DBU professor of music and director of choral studies, as well as Rose-Mary Rumbley, former DBU professor and Dallas historian. At 8 p.m., the Homecom-ing Extravaganza will kick off with this year’s theme, “Days at DBU: A Broadway Revue.” Saturday will be filled with a variety of celebrations, including reunion luncheons for university alumni at 1 p.m. At 4:30 p.m., students and alumni alike are invited to a tailgate party that will lead up to the homecoming game. The DBU Patriot basketball team will take on the Howard Payne University Yellow Jackets at 7 p.m. in the Burg Center. For more information on DBU Homecoming 2010, visit www.DBU.edu/ homecoming.

• The Howard Payne University board of trustees has elected officers for the coming year. Brad Helbert of Abilene was re-elected chairman, and David Lowrie, pastor of First Church in El Paso, was re-elected first vice chairman. Robert Carter of Fort Worth will be second vice chairman, and Nell Hoffman of Bedford will be secretary.

• Tommye Lou Davis has been appointed vice president for constituent engagement at Baylor University. She has taught Latin to Baylor students since joining the faculty in 1966. She is a member of First Church in Waco.

• Dub Oliver, president of East Texas Baptist University, has been selected the Texas A&M Student Affairs Administration in Higher Education Alumni of the Year. He is the first recipient of this award.

Anniversaries

• Lisa Vyers, fifth, as director of children’s ministries at Tabernacle Church in Ennis, Nov. 15.

• First Church in Devers, 120th, Nov. 21. Fred Rainey will be the guest preacher, and Appointed by Grace will present the special music. A meal will follow the morning service. For more information, call (936) 549-7653. Harry McDaniel is pastor.

• First Church in Alba, 125th, Nov. 21. The church also will celebrate the retirement of the debt on its new worship building. Former pastors and music ministers have been invited to attend. A meal will follow the morning service.

• Robin McGee, 30th, as minister of music at First Church in Sherman.

• Kenny Eiben, 20th, as pastor of Calvary Church in Corpus Christi.

Deaths

• J.H. Wright, 95, Oct. 15 in Grand Prairie. He was pastor of churches in Holliday, Henrietta, Olney, Levelland, Grand Prairie and Corpus Christi. His first sermon was at First Church in Canyon. “It was on a very cold night, sleet and snow was falling outside, but the 12-minute effort brought as much perspiration as bailing hail in July,” it was recalled at his funeral. “The text was Romans 6:23, and the effort was so feeble, he did not use the text again until some 40 years later.” He also served 17 churches as interim pastor after his retirement. He was a trustee of Wayland Baptist College nine years, and served two terms as a trustee of Decatur Baptist College, including the board that moved the school to Dallas. He then served that school, Dallas Baptist University, 13 years as a trustee. He also was a trustee of South Texas Children’s Home nine years and was a member of the Executive Board of the Baptist General Convention of Texas. The children’s building of First Church in Grand Prairie is named in his honor. He was preceded in death by his wife of 68 years, Virginia, and his son, Johnny. He is survived by his son, Tom; daughter, Joy Heatherly; two sisters; two brothers; seven grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren.

• Mary Godsey, 82, Oct. 22 in Plainview. She was a pastor’s wife 62 years and a Sunday school teacher 64 years. She served as president of the Texas Woman’s Missionary Union for four years in the Hispanic Baptist Convencion. She served a two-year term as the Hispanic convention’s president’s wife. She traveled throughout Mexico and Texas as a missionary. She is survived by her husband, Glen; son, Lynn; daughters, Yolanda Rodriguez, Corina Cavaness and Betty Godsey; six grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren.

• Terry Bratton, 67, Oct. 26 in Abilene. He was a former associate professor of computer science and associate vice president for information technology at Hardin-Simmons University. Prior to coming to HSU, he was an assistant professor of business at Wayland Baptist University. He was pastor of Gilliland Church in Gilliland from 1978 to 1985. He was a member of College View Church in Abilene. He is survived by his wife of 47 years, Carol; sons, Terry, Kenneth and John; daughter, Jennifer Freeman; and seven grandchildren.

Event

• Trinity Church in Bryan will hold homecoming services Nov. 21. Former pastor Barry Chinn will preach. Henry Stovall is pastor.

Ordained

• David Chandler as a deacon at Rayburn Parkway Church in Bronson.

• Roger Perkins to the ministry at Memorial Church in Marshall.

• Marco Rodriguez and Jim Wesberry as deacons at South Garland Church in Garland.

Revivals

• First Church, Merkel; Nov. 7-10; evangelist, Jonathan Hewitt; music, Wes James; pastor, Todd Keller.

• First Church, Whitesboro; Nov. 7-10; evangelist, David Allen; pastor, Mike Flanagan.