VANCOUVER, British Columbia—Caitlin Woodard long will remember watching downhill skier Lindsay Vonn win an Olympic gold medal for Team USA. But an even more memorable, and meaningful, experience was seeing another student in Vancouver commit her life to Christ. 

Woodard, along with fellow Howard Payne University sophomores Nathan Gilbert and Amanda Burley, spent 10 days at the Winter Olympics working with sport chaplains through Action Ministries International.

While they attended the games, they focused on sharing the gospel through the popular Olympic pastime of pin trading. Fans at the games often trade lapel pins representing their countries, organizations or corporations.

The pins AMI volunteers traded featured a globe with a torch in the center, bearing the name Jesus, and stripes of black, red, white, green and gold. The colored stripes provided any easy way to explain how to become a Christian—black representing sin, red standing for Jesus’ blood shed on the cross, white showing a life cleansed from sin, green standing for new growth and gold symbolizing eternity in heaven with Jesus.

“Using the pin to share with people was a great thing for me because it took away the conversation starter that I always had trouble getting out,” Burley said. “I was able to share with whoever wanted to hear, and I truly believe that God used me in people’s lives.”

The Howard Payne students stayed in a hostel on a busy street near the Olympic Village. They found opportunities to witness practically on their doorstep.

While evangelizing on the streets, Gilbert learned to “not underestimate the power of the Holy Spirit, and to always be ready for God to use you to touch somebody.”

“We never knew if someone had actually been thinking of accepting Christ for a while, or if they had never even thought about if there was a God,” he said. “We had to be ready for any kind of reaction and respond back with the love of Christ.”

The trip changed the HPU students’ perspective on evangelism, making them more aware of the fact many still need to hear the gospel message.

“On the trip, we looked at everyone we saw as an opportunity to share God’s message, and I realized that I need to be more intentional about my conversations with people on a daily basis,” Woodard said.

“If Christ really is the most important priority in my life, then he should be reflected in my conversations.”

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti—A Texas Baptist layman who was ministering in Haiti led a voodoo priest to faith in Christ.

Fred Sorrels, who has been working periodically in Haiti since 2004, went to the nation following the earthquake to check on people to whom he had been ministering, particularly at a school for the disabled.

He found the school in ruins. Eight students and two of the faculty had been killed, and the rest had dispersed.

Sorrels, a member of First Baptist Church in Kingsland, encountered Texas Baptist Men volunteers delivering water filtration buckets. He asked if he could have a few to deliver to the families of the disabled whom he said often are overlooked. The TBM representatives also gave him a few gospel tracts written in Creole.

After delivering the buckets to families in a makeshift tent city, he asked if anyone needed medical attention. He learned about a woman with a crushed foot, and he took her to the Miami Field Hospital at the airport for medical treatment.

The next day, as he walked back to the camp to check on the woman, a man came running up to him and told him he had been injured by falling debris during the earthquake. Sorrels could see the man’s foot was swollen, but he told him they would have to wait until the next day to have it examined by medical personnel.

The man, who introduced himself as Jean Odlin, asked Sorrels to visit his hut. When he arrived, Odlin told Sorrels he had a dream the night before in which Jesus had written his name on his arm. Sorrels took one of the tracts he had received from the Texas Baptist Men and shared the gospel with Odlin.

“He immediately prayed to receive Christ,” Sorrels said. “Not only had Jesus written his name on his arm, but he also had his name written in the Book of Life.”

Odlin explained he was a registered voodoo priest, and he told Sorrells he wanted to destroy the items he used in voodoo.

A Haitian Baptist pastor came upon the scene. After they had gathered the implements into a large pile, the pastor asked Odlin again if he was renouncing voodoo and accepting Christ as his Savior.

“He renounced, and we began to burn. This was this man’s vocation. He made an extremely sacrificial commitment,” Sorrels said.

The pastor later told Sorrels everyone knew Odlin and had tried to reach out to him.

“He had been very resistant. He told me, ‘God brought you here for this purpose.’”

While reading his Bible the next morning, Sorrels came across the account of Jesus washing the feet of the disciples, and knew he needed to wash Odlin’s feet. Sorrels had someone read the passage to Odlin while he washed his feet so he would know what was happening.

“I’d never had the experience of washing someone’s feet before, but it was such an honor,” Sorrels said. “Those feet that had been leading people into darkness will now lead them into the light.”

CORSICANA—Every Sunday morning, Sunday evening and Wednesday evening the last three years, Johnny Hudgens has walked a mile to worship services at Cornerstone Baptist Church in Corsicana. Recently, the trip was a little tougher—and even more joyous— than usual.

Volunteers with Texas Baptist Men and Victim Relief Ministries provide curbside service on a rainy Sunday morning at Prestonwood Baptist Church, carrying into a storage area the food-filled Buckets of Hope for Haiti church members donated.

Hudgens lugged a white bucket filled with 30 pounds of food to church. He’s one of thousands of Texas Baptists who have given a Bucket of Hope—bucket-loads of food for victims of January’s Haiti earthquake.

“The Lord wanted me to help someone else who doesn’t have what I have,” he said. “God doesn’t want me to be selfish.”

Texas Baptists collected more than 9,000 Buckets of Hope—roughly 270,000 pounds of food for Haitians.

“It's just one way church people can help people in Haiti. This way children and adults can be involved and know that it is going to a specific family. It’s a family ministering to another family. That’s what makes it special,” said Leo Smith, executive director of Texas Baptist Men.

Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano collected more than 3,000 Buckets of Hope. Fifty-two churches from the Basin Baptist Network collected more than 700 Buckets of Hope. Cornerstone Baptist Church in Corsicana collected more than 500, as did Parkway Baptist Church in College Station. Congregations in Wichita-Archer-Clay Association collected roughly 500 Buckets of Hope.

Each bucket is filled with 30 pounds of food for earthquake victims in Haiti.

“Buckets of Hope are continuing to pour into our more than 50 Texas Baptist drop-off locations and six collection points located across the  state,” said Texas Baptists’ Church2Church Partnerships Coordinator Marla Bearden, who is facilitating the effort throughout the state in partnership with Texas Baptist Men.

“Texas Baptists have embraced the idea of collecting enough food to feed a Haitian family for one week. This one simple act of purchasing a relatively small amount of food and placing it in a five-gallon bucket along with $10 for shipping has turned into a beautiful expression of the love and support Texas Baptists have for the devastated people in Haiti.”

Wayne Keller, intentional interim pastor at First Baptist Church in Sterling City, said the Buckets of Hope campaign empowered the congregation to participate in hands-on missions.

Buckets of Hope are continuing to pour into more than 50 Texas Baptist drop-off locations and six collection points located across the  state.

No matter how old or young, members embraced the effort, he noted. One church member walked in with a cane in one hand and a sack of groceries in the other. Another church member came in with a walker and a sack of groceries on top of it.

Ted Gross, director of missions for Burnett-Llano Baptist Association, said six of the association’s churches and one non-Baptist congregation contributed roughly 200 Buckets of Hope.

Ed Geron, director of missions for Concho Valley Baptist Association, said people across the community eagerly responded to an opportunity to help Haitians. Large churches and small churches participated. Baptists and non-Baptists helped. Groups, families and individuals collected buckets.

“It’s been a very positive experience for us out here,” Geron said.

“People were more than willing to want to bring hope to the Haitians who were so devastated by the earthquake.”

Paul Carter, pastor of Cornerstone Baptist Church in Corsicana, contributed to this article

MARSHALL—Fire trucks, ladder trucks, ambulances and other emergency vehicles arrived in the parking lot of Ornelas Stadium at East Texas Baptist University one Friday afternoon recently.

They were not there for an emergency but rather to conduct an agility test. After more than 30 years of using the same testing facility, a new one was being developed at ETBU.

“ETBU’s Randy Pringle was a big help in assisting the department in designing an obstacle course using the parking lot, as well as the inside of the stadium, to place each station that had to be similar to an active firefighting operation,” he explained

Every current Marshall fireman age 18 to 36 years old was required to run through a series of eight timed events. These eight events were exhaust fan carry, stair climb, ladder raise, ladder removal, hydrant exercise, hose advance, hammer sled and rescue dummy drag. Since this was a new course, a baseline, or a standard time, had to be calculated to determine a pass or fail mark.

After the firemen’s times were recorded and averaged to determine the standard baseline time, one question was left in mind: What about female firefighters? Currently the Marshall Fire Department does not have any female firefighters employed.

“The department needed females who were in good physical shape to run through the course to make sure our baseline time was not biased,” said Dunagan.

The fire department turned to ETBU’s women’s softball and soccer teams to volunteer to run the course.

“I thought the course looked very challenging,” said soccer player Danica Saxon from Tyler. “The part that gave me the most trouble was dragging a 175-pound rescue dummy 30 yards. This event came at the very end of the course, and it took a lot of upper-body strength.”

After Ashton Brey, a softball player from Lindale, ran the course, she called her father, a swing lieutenant for the Dallas Fire Department. “The course was tough, and I was just hoping I was going to be able to stay standing up when I finished,” she said.

Overall, the experience was very rewarding for all the ETBU athletes who participated. “It was just an amazing feeling to be one of the people to help the Marshall Fire Department out,” said softball player Megan Surovik from Belton. “I told each one of the firefighters that I was amazed by the things they have to go through fighting fires. I hold my head high to firefighters,” said Surovik.

CONROE—For the past four years, Iglesia Bautista El Buen Pastor has spent 21 days each January in a Daniel fast, modeled after the diet of the Old Testament prophet. Participants only partake of vegetables, fruits and water for three weeks. And they pray, asking God to do mighty acts in their midst.

Each year, God has answered prayers as the church has sought the heart of God, members note. Some have seen dramatic turnarounds in health. Others have seen neighbors attend church for the first time, receiving the hope of Christ in their lives.

“One of the biggest things that we have been seeing is how God can change lives,” said Yony Matute, pastor of Iglesia Bautista El Buen Pastor in Conroe. “Other churches are hearing what God is doing in our church. A lot of pastors call me and ask what the secret is. There is no secret. We have just been seeking God and praying. We just want God to send a revival to our church.”

Ruben Alas agreed, saying as church members are learning to put Christ first in their lives and seek him for open doors to minister to the community, God is proving faithful, improving the lives of churchgoers and others in the community.

“What we can see is most of our brotherhood is improving, not just financially but in appearance, mission and better goals because they now think differently,” Alas said.

Because many in the church never had fasted, members read through a book explaining the theology of fasting before this January. The church modeled its approach after the Old Testament example of Daniel, who consumed only vegetables and water for a period after he was taken to Babylon. Although Alas was anxious about taking part in the fast for the first time, he now sees how faith through fasting is affecting the church and his own life.

For the past four years, members have spent 21 days in January fasting and praying.

“First, we were scared when we began, but when we tried and saw the results, it became a spiritual fix,” Alas said. “Then in my case and for many, it becomes a lifestyle, because we find it is worth it to practice not just for health but for the spiritual aspects.”

Each year during the time of fasting, the church building is open additional hours so members can come together and pray. To encourage prayer throughout the year, Matute and his wife are available daily from 4:30 to 7 a.m. to pray with church members who call.

“We started with five people coming to the church four years ago,” Matute said. “Now, we have more than 300 people coming, and God gave us a facility from an Anglo church. Every year that we have the fasting, we put everything in God’s hands for the whole year, and we have seen God move in a tremendous way.”

In the past year during a time of reorganization, Southside Baptist Church in Conroe gave its $2.5 million facility to Iglesia Bautista El Buen Pastor because it recognized what God was doing within the Hispanic church.

Also, several members began a counseling ministry for people dealing with addictions to alcohol, drugs and pornography, as well as those in need of job and family counseling.

Many members have been seeking God’s direction about individual matters, but the church came together this year to petition God about three possible endeavors—starting a Christian radio station, gaining 1,000 more members and opening a mission church in Cleveland.

Members of Iglesia Bautista El Buen Pastor gather for prayer.

“We have a desire in our heart to have a Christian radio station in Spanish,” Matute said. “And we want to reach 1,000 new members this year. We started a family support ministry so that when anyone who comes to the service, we designate a support family. We already have 60 families ready to connect with new people. We ask if it’s OK if the family can visit with the visitors and pray for them.”

The outflow of fasting has produced obedient people desiring to share Christ with their city and the world, Matute said.

Last year, the church participated in its first international mission trip. A team traveled to Honduras to put a roof on a mission church there.

“The mission is that people are getting involved more and more,” Alas said. “And people are coming more and more to the church, and it’s amazing. I feel like my soul rests now, that I can eat of the eternal rest.” 

Orlando Sinisterra, a member of the church who recently became the pastor at the church’s mission in Grangerland, said God is sending a spiritual awakening through the fasting and through Scripture. As the members are fasting and seeking God, their church naturally is drawing others from the city.

“With fasting and prayer, God is sending people because they are ready,” he said.

“When the church humbles itself and repents of sin and prays, God will heal our sins and heal our land. The spiritual healing is what causes the Lord to send the people our way.”

Alas agreed, noting the church has become more open to how God wants to use members to share the hope of Christ with their community.

“Fasting makes you feel more sensitive to the Spirit,” Alas said. “The congregation becomes more sensitive to the Spirit, showing more love to newcomers. Fasting became a new topic and accountability for our church.”

Now that the church has participated in the Daniel fast for several years, Matute has been compelled to lead the church in a fast for the entire year. Matute is recruiting at least 60 people so every day of the month, two people will fast and pray for the ministries of the church.

“God brought to my heart, why do we just have to fast 21 days?” Matute said. “I feel that he has called me to do this a whole 365 days. … The whole year, what we want to do is reach the city for Christ.”

In just three weeks, at least 42 people professed faith in Christ through the church’s prayer and outreach efforts.

PORTLAND, Ore. (RNS)—When it comes to Facebook, Jesse Rice sees an immensely popular social networking site that’s great for sharing photos and keeping in touch with friends.

He also sees something that encourages attitudes and behaviors that don’t work as well in real life.

Rice, 37, is the author of The Church of Facebook: How the Hyperconnected Are Redefining Community. A former worship leader an evangelical megachurch in California, he has degrees in organizational communication and counseling/psychology and—just as important to his readers—a sense of humor.

On a video he uploaded to YouTube, he explains his credentials for writing the book. “I can look at various parts of an organization, at the flow of communication back and forth within the independent structure, and I can identify all the ways that it’s your parents’ fault,” he quips.

And “I have an actual Facebook account with well over 100 friends.”

Yes, he acknowledges some people have 6 million fans on a Facebook fan page.

“But, back off, Vin Diesel,” he snarls. “It is possible to be too fast and too furious.”

Actually, being too fast to judge others and too furious to write a well-considered post are two ways Facebook thwarts meaningful community, according to Rice, who argues that online social media redefines the term altogether.

“Our definition of community has shifted,” he said. “Now it’s a continuum, with 10 being your best friend and 1 being people you just sort of bump into online. But it’s all community.”

Facebook has its bashers, especially in Christian circles. While some believers say they find genuine community online, others insist face-to-face interaction is essential to a life of faith. Some users find satisfaction in building and sharing their profiles, but others worry that Facebook breeds an all-about-me attitude and is eroding the capacity to listen and empathize.

Don Pape of David C. Cook, a Colorado publisher of Christian books, was looking to help curious pastors and parents who aren’t on Facebook learn more about it. Another writer suggested Pape take a look at Rice’s manuscript. “I was hooked from the beginning,” the publisher said.

In broad strokes and funny asides, Rice creates a context for Facebook and connects it to Christian experience. It’s too early to tell how the book will do, Pape says, but sales have surpassed 5,000 copies, and the publisher’s preparing a second printing.

Rice, who admits he had an early crush on Facebook, said he and the social networking site are just living together now, although he expects the relationship to last. Launched in 2004, Facebook has more than 350 million users, and more are joining all the time.

“Facebook has become part of our lives,” he said. “And we’re just beginning to learn how to be human in it.

“Online, we have power over how we express ourselves. You can take the time to choose your words carefully, edit your responses, PhotoShop a picture until you get it just right. Real conversations, real relationships don’t allow that. They include awkward silences.”

Rice has seen people give up on “embodied relationships” because they feel freer on Facebook.

“People do argue that there’s a richness to relationships online,” he says. But it could be that they don’t know what they’re missing. “We don’t feel that hunger anymore.”

Rice figures most of his readers—he also blogs at http://churchoffacebook.com—are pastors and parents wondering how Facebook fits into the lives of people they care about.

In a little more than 200 pages, Rice recounts the brief history of Facebook and compares it to other technological achievements that have transformed modern life. Air conditioning, for example, changed where and how Americans lived, ate, worked and spent their leisure time. Facebook shows signs of doing the same.

But Rice draws on his counseling experience to argue that prolonged hyperconnectivity shortens attention spans; that fear of missing out tethers people to technology and undermines their sense of control; that creating a Facebook profile turns some people into celebrities and their friends into an entourage or audience.

Rice is sparing in his Christian references, lest he alienate non-Christian readers. But he uses the New Testament story of Jesus asking a Samaritan woman at the well for a drink of water.

Jesus approaches the woman with “intentionality, humility and authenticity,” Rice said. Those qualities transform an ordinary encounter into a life-changing experience, he insists.

While he still has concerns, Rice said Facebook in many ways is just the latest version of an age-old concern.

“Whatever technology that’s in front of us always challenges us,” he said. “Our parents thought we listened to the radio too much.”

About 250 Baptist churches in Chile were destroyed in the powerful earthquake that shook the country Feb. 27, according to the Baptist World Alliance. The congregations are affiliated with the Union of Evangelical Baptist Churches in Chile, one of two BWA member bodies in the nation. Baptist World Aid, the relief and development arm of the BWA, is sending $25,000 in relief funds to Chile. The Southern Baptist Convention released $50,000 for immediate relief needs in Chile.

African-American Baptists pledge $50 million for Haiti. The five largest historically African-American Baptist organizations in the United States are cooperating to raise $50 million to help rebuild Haiti and provide aid to victims of an earthquake that devastated the area surrounding the capital of Port-au-Prince. The African-American Baptist Mission Collaboration marks the first time the groups representing 40,000 church congregations and 10 million Christians nationwide have worked together on such a large scale. Leaders of the Progressive National Baptist Convention; Lott Carey Baptist Foreign Mission Convention; National Baptist Convention, USA; National Missionary Baptist Convention of America; and National Baptist Convention of America announced the collaboration. Funds raised will provide assistance for plans including five health care clinics to provide restorative health services and wellness, 50 schools with enhanced learning environments, 500 reconstructed churches to serve as center points for community empowerment and 5,000 homes to house victims left homeless following the earthquake. The coalition already is working on weekly deployment of medical professionals to provide critical medical services and care and daily feeding programs.

Glorieta seeks volunteers. LifeWay’s Glorieta Baptist Conference Center near Santa Fe, N.M., is seeking volunteers who serve a minimum of one month in maintenance, conference support, grounds or food service. Volunteers will work at least 30 hours a week. Glorieta provides a full hookup RV site or efficiency apartments and meals, when available. For application materials, contact the coordinator of volunteers at (505) 757-4298, mail an inquiry to P.O. Box 8, Glorieta, NM 87535 or download at www.glorieta.com.

Committee recommends reduced SBC budget again. The Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee is recommending $4.5 million in spending cuts next year in a Cooperative Program allocation budget to be voted on at the SBC's 2010 annual meeting June 15-16 in Orlando, Fla. The Executive Committee voted to present a unified denominational budget of $199,822,090 for the 2010-2011 fiscal year. That is 2 percent less than $204,385,592 in the current budget as reported in the 2009 SBC Annual. It will mark the second consecutive year that messengers to the SBC annual meeting will vote on a reduced budget. The 2009-2010 budget adopted last summer is $1.3 million smaller than the 2008-2009 spending plan of $205.7 million. If approved, as expected, next year's budget will be the first under $200 million adopted by the convention since 2006.

THOMAS, Ala. (RNS)—J.W. Archie stepped into the pulpit and performed his usual duties as associate pastor for Mount Hebron Missionary Baptist Church.

He introduced the walk-in song. He led the Scripture reading and the responsive reading, prayed, took up the benevolence offering and presided at the altar call.

Sunlight streamed through a tinted window and cast flickers of honey-colored light on Archie’s black suit jacket. He studied a piece of paper under the glow of a reading lamp over the lectern as he led the responsive reading.

Not bad for someone who just turned 100 years old.

When he led his prayer, he spoke from the heart, in the studied rhythms of decades of practice.

“Thank the Lord for last night’s sleep, and thank the Lord for this morning’s rise,” he said. “Bring home wandering minds and scattering thoughts. We ask this in the name of Jesus, our Savior. Amen. Thank God.”

The dark wood-paneled walls of Mount Hebron blend into the stained-wood pews and the brown curtain hiding the baptistry. Two singers and an organist belted out a gospel song, “You Brought Me From a Mighty Long Way.” Then Archie yielded the pulpit to Pastor Thomas Smith.

Archie was born Nov. 10, 1909 and moved to Birmingham in 1941, the same year he joined Mount Hebron church. He was ordained and began preaching there in 1977.

“It was my calling,” he said.

He’s lived in the same house in the steel mill village since September 1941. His health has held up well, Archie said.

“It’s fair,” he said. “I take a cholesterol pill. … That’s all I take.”

He wears glasses in the pulpit to read from the Bible and the responsive readings. He preaches when the pastor goes on vacation. He plans to keep up his church duties as long as he can, he said.

“Ain’t nobody in my family lived as long as I have,” Archie said. “I just thank God.”

Unlike many centenarians, he has no longevity tips to offer.

“Ain’t got no secrets,” he said. But he does have words of wisdom to live by.

“Treat everybody straight and trust God for his word,” he said.

Baylor sponsors green run. Baylor University’s Bearathon March 20 will be the nation’s first cup-free half-marathon—an event to raise scholarship funds for students and promote environmental stewardship. By giving every entrant a water-dispensing device called Hydra-Pouch and using only its accompanying HydraPour-equipped dispensers, Bearathon 2010 will foster better hydration, environmental sustainability and a cleaner, safer course for runners, organizers insist. The HydraPouch will prevent the waste of a projected 28,200 paper cups.

Clarifications: An article in the Feb. 15 print edition of the Baptist Standard, “Dallas church finds renewal in opening doors to ethnic congregations,” reported Gaston Oaks Baptist Church began its multiethnic ministry among the Karen people in 2008. Gaston Oaks’ ministry to the Karen dated back to an initial contact through Wallace Yay in 2006, and it originally developed under the leadership of Jenny Knighten, Pamela Culbertson and Pastor Bruce Troy. A photo on page 20 of the March 1 issue pictured Mark Edwards, a volunteer with a Habitat for Humanity construction project. He incorrectly was identified as a member of Hyde Park Baptist Church in Austin. Edwards is a member of Highland Park Baptist Church in Austin.

Community service honored. Dallas Baptist University was named to the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll with Distinction, and Hardin-Simmons University and Howard Payne University have been named to the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll. DBU enlisted about 5,200 students, who gave more than 130,000 hours of community service. Since the start of the 2009 fall semester, Hardin-Simmons students have logged more than 7,400 hours of community service with more than 600 students participating. More than one-third of the student population at Howard Payne participated in a recorded 15,524 hours of community service for the 2008-09 academic school year.

DBU receives $2 million gift. Joan and Andy Horner of Dallas have contributed a $2 million lead gift to Dallas Baptist University to construct a fine-arts building. Horner Hall will be a two-story, 11,800-square-foot facility housing a state-of-the-art audio recording studio, a music laboratory, communication department classrooms and College of Fine Arts faculty offices. The Horners’ gift will fund nearly half the cost of the building, slated for completion in January 2011. Joan and Andy Horner have been members of First Baptist Church in Dallas since 1951 and were instrumental in forming radio station KCBI.

Mission-minded Plains church provides for its own. First Baptist Church of Plains—which has been involved in missions and disaster relief worldwide, including homebuilding for hurricane victims in Southeast Texas—has committed to a missions project close to home. The team plans to build a house for Linda Wright, widow of recently deceased Pastor Bill Wright. Donations to the First Baptist Church 2010 Mission Fund will be used exclusively for this project. For more information, contact (806) 456-3661; rickwood@fbcplains.org; or P.O. Box 299, Plains 79355.

• Jeff Bachman to Martindale Church in Martindale as pastor.

• David Bagwell to First Church in Yantis as pastor from First Church in Liberal, Kan.

• Ricardo Barbee to Rock Hill Church in Aubrey as youth minister.

• Chris Barfield to First Church in Denton as children’s minister.

• Jim Barron to Hilltop Church in Weatherford as pastor.

• Randy Bland has resigned as junior high minister at Rock Hill Church in Aubrey.

• Chris Burrus to First Church in Denton as associate student minister.

• Don Caldwell to First Church in Iredell as pastor from First Church in Lakeside.

• Keith Cogburn to First Church in Point as pastor.

• Gary Dyer to Austin Church in Austin as pastor from First Church in Midland.

• Angela Hamby to Rock Hill Church in Aubrey as associate youth minister.

• Preston Harrison has resigned as pastor of Spring Hill Church in Aubrey.

• Alvin Howell to First Church in Thorp Springs as pastor.

• Bobby Kacal to First Church in Moran as pastor.

• Gary Martin to First Church in Ranger as pastor.

• Carlos Martinez to Iglesia Calvario in Lytle as pastor.

• Brent McDougal to Cliff Temple Church in Dallas as pastor, effective June 1. He has been coordinator of Alabama Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.

• Dwight Reagan will conclude an intentional interim pastorate at First Church in Elgin March 23.

• Craig Rhotan to Lake Leon Church in Eastland as pastor.

• Mac Robinson to Country Fellowship Church in Glen Rose as pastor.

• Ralph Smith to First Church in Wimberley as interim pastor.

• Richard Wade to College Hill Church in Simms as pastor.

• Billy Weckel to Clear Fork Church in Weatherford as pastor.

Sour economy pushes offerings down. One year after a majority of Americans said they hoped the economy wouldn’t affect their church giving, three in 10 Americans now say they are putting less in the offering plate, a Barna Group study shows. Compared to a similar study Barna conducted at the end of 2008, the percentage of Americans who have reduced their donations has increased by a staggering 45 percent. Almost one-quarter of church donors cut their contributions by at least 20 percent. The Barna study was based on telephone interviews in January and early February with a nationwide sample of 1,008 adults; it has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.2 percentage points. A year ago, a separate survey of U.S. donors by Cygnus Applied Research found more than half of actively religious donors planned to give the same or more to charitable causes in 2009 as the year before. In addition, that survey also found 43 percent of actively religious respondents remained “seriously committed” to giving in the face of economic uncertainty, compared to 23 percent of those who were not religious at all.

Bible Belt lives up to its reputation. At 68 percent, Mississippi had the highest percentage of weekly church-goers in 2009, a new Gallup Poll showed. Vermont remained the least church-going state, with only 23 percent regularly attending. The top and bottom rankings remained unchanged from last year. Out of the top 10 states, nine are in the South. Utah’s large Mormon population boosts it to the top as well, making it the odd state in the West. States in the West and all of New England were among the least church-going. In addition to Mississippi and Utah, the most church-going states are South Carolina, Louisiana, Tennessee, Arkansas, North Carolina, Georgia and Texas. The lowest church-attending states were reported in New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Nevada, Hawaii, Oregon, Alaska and Washington. The poll’s margin of error is plus or minus 1 percentage point. Nationally, 41.6 percent of Americans reported attending church at least once a week in 2009.

Anglican archbishop laments ‘chaos’ over women, gays. Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams warned Anglican clergy that their debate about female and gay bishops is causing “chaos” that must be resolved if the Church of England is to be unified. Williams pleaded with the General Synod—the church’s parliament—to start listening to each other and stop pursuing a “zero-sum, self-congratulating” course. Otherwise, he said, “the present effect is chaos.” The archbishop added, in an apparent reference to the Episcopal Church, that “certain decisions made by some provinces impact so heavily on the conscience and mission of others that fellowship is strained or shattered and trust destroyed.” In December, the Episcopal Church, which is the U.S. branch of the Anglican Communion, elected an open lesbian as an assistant bishop in Los Angeles. The 2004 consecration of an openly gay priest as bishop of New Hampshire has caused deep dissent within the Anglican Communion.

–Compiled from Religion News Service

• The eighth Congreso Hispano de Predication at Baptist University of the Americas will be held March 26-27 and feature an internationally known Mexican pastor and celebrate the ministry of the late Texas Baptist leader Rudy Sanchez. Luis Gabriel César Usunza, pastor of Iglesia Bautista de Ciudad Satélite in Mexico City since 1986, will be the keynote speaker. The congreso will be renamed for Sanchez who died in February 2009 in recognition of his decades of service. The Sanchez family will lead a Friday afternoon preconference workshop titled “Effective Preaching: Recognizing the Preaching of Rudy Sanchez.” Many other workshops also will be offered. The $10 registration fee includes three meals. Information and online registration is available at www.bua.edu.

• Literacy ConneXus will hold two regional literacy conferences in upcoming weeks. Paramount Church in Amarillo will be the site of the March 26-27 Panhandle Literacy Conference. Cost is $20 per person. Participants registering for the Culture of Poverty seminar will have no cost, but registration still is required. Registration deadline is March 18 and can be made at www.paramount.org/event-registration. Literacy Lubbock will hold a literacy conference April 16-17 at Premier High School. The cost is $20 per person by March 19 or $25 by April 9. Registration can be made at www.literacylubbock.org.

• Wayland Baptist University will hold a preview weekend March 26-27. The two-day event for prospective students begins at 8:30 a.m. Friday with registration and sign-ups for scholarship auditions and portfolio reviews. The day of information and events is capped off by a music concert featuring Barlow Girl, Stellar Kart and Vota and a late-night breakfast and other activities. Saturday will include a financial aid seminar and a number of other activities. Cost for the weekend is $25 per person, which includes meals, housing and activities for prospective students. Housing for parents or other family members is not a part of the weekend. Scholar-ships will be awarded in drawings throughout the weekend. For more information, call (800) 588-1928.

• Jennifer Roback Morse, founder and president of the Ruth Institute, will give the inaugural lecture of The Guild Institute in Christian Family Studies at Houston Baptist University March 29 at 7 p.m. in the Morris Cultural Arts Center. The free lecture will explore the question of “What happened to the culture of marriage in the West?”

• A free meeting for prospective host families in Dillon International’s Angels from Abroad program this August will be held April 6 from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on the Buckner Children’s Home campus in Dallas. The program provides older orphans an opportunity to learn about American culture, share their Russian culture and experience living with a family. It also helps raise awareness about the need for adopting older children. The children are ages 6 to 12. For more information, call (214) 319-3426.

• East Texas Baptist University will sponsor the East Texas Christian Writers Conference April 9 and 10 in Scarborough Hall. The cost of attending Saturday only is $80. There is an additional cost of $40 to attend the preconference sessions held Friday. Registration fees cover workshops and materials. To register or for more information, call (903) 923-2083.

• Jim Cymbala and Jim Denison will lead a day of personal renewal and encouragement call “At His Feet” April 12 from 8:30 a.m. until 3 p.m. at the Cityplace Conference and Event Center in Dallas. Registration is $50 and includes lunch and study materials.

• Tony Martin, professor of New Testament, Greek and world religions at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, will be the speaker at the university’s ministers’ forum April 22 at noon. He will speak on “The Roman Catholic Sacraments and Baptist Ordinances: What They Are and How They Differ.” “My experience tells me that most Protestants do not understand the Catholic sacraments, and most Catholics do not know why Protestants do not observe them,” Martin said. “We will try to explain both points of view.”

• Travis and Beth Burkhalter were among the missionaries commissioned by the International Mission Board last month. The couple will serve as church starters in the Americas. He formerly served as minister of missions at Team Church in Fort Worth. They consider The Crossing in Fort Worth as their home church. They have three children—Isabella, 7; Sophia, 5; and Isaac, 2.

• The Baylor University regents recognized the contributions of former board Chairman Drayton McLane by bestowing on him the designation of regent emeritus “in recognition of a quarter century of distinguished service that has consistently reflected visionary leadership, Christian commitment, personal integrity and a profound and active love in support of his alma mater, Baylor University,” said Dary Stone, chairman of the board of regents.

• Steven Arze, medical director of the Baylor Garland emergency department, and Kathy Agbeshie, a certified nurse assistant, recently were named “Partners in Spiritual Care,” an annual award given by the pastoral care and counseling department at Baylor Garland in collaboration with Baylor Health Care System. The award is given to individuals who consistently attend to spiritual needs of patients alongside the patients’ clinical needs.

• A “Night to Remember” allowed Breckenridge Village in Tyler to raise more than $46,000 for the specialty campus for developmentally disabled adults. During the evening, more than 800 supporters were treated to music from the 1950s and ’60s.

• Howard Payne University’s Student Speaker Bureau Speech and Debate Forensics Team took fifth place overall at the Texas Intercollegiate Forensics Assoc-iation Spring Championships. Hosted by Texas A&M University, 21 teams participated in the competition.

Anniversaries

• First Church in Westhoff, 100th, Feb. 14. Rich Schaller is pastor.

• Marshall Johnston, fifth, as pastor of First Church in Aransas Pass, March 7.

• Galilee Church in San Angelo, 50th, March 7. Corey Grays is pastor.

• Bill Whitehead, 25th, as pastor of Downtown Chapel in Sherman, March 15.

• First Church in South Houston, 100th, March 20-21. The church’s centennial actually was in 2009, but the celebration had to be postponed a year while the church repaired its facilities following Hurricane Ike. The celebration will begin on Saturday, with a catered dinner at 5 p.m. followed by a concert at 6:30 p.m. Cake and fellowship will cap the evening. Sunday will begin with breakfast fellowship at 9 a.m. Former Pastor Robert Hughes will preach in the morning service. A congregational photo will be taken at the end of the service. Manny Longoria is pastor.

• Anderson Church in Anderson, 165th, March 21. The church also will dedicate the completion of the Mueller Activity Building. Kyle Childress is pastor.

• Eugene Lewis, fifth, as pastor of Union Church in Refugio.

• Lamar Church in Arlington, 25th, April 18. Katie Warren will be the guest singer for the day. After the morning service, a luncheon will be held, followed by games and a concert. Troy Rackliffe is interim pastor.

Retiring

• Raul Hernandez, as pastor of Iglesia Nueva Vida in Zapata, March 3. He served the church eight years. He will move to Corpus Christi and work from there with churches and groups in Mexico.

Deaths

• Will Long, 88, Feb. 23 in Belton. A graduate of Baylor University, Baylor College of Dentistry and Baylor College of Medicine, he served on the Baylor University board of regents from 1991 to 2000. He was a member of the Old Main Society and Bear Foundation. He was honored in 2004 with Baylor’s Founders Medal, and in 2005, Long received the W.R. White Meritorious Service Award. For his establishment of several scholarships, he was recognized as a member of the Director’s Circle in the Endowed Scholarship Society. He also gave to many other projects and organizations on the Baylor campus over the years. He also was active at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, where he was named an honorary alumnus. He was presented the UMHB Outstanding Service Award in 1995. He was know in the community for driving his tractor and pulling 32 little red wagons filled with his grandchildren and friends in Belton’s Fourth of July parades. His annual appearances in the Lion’s Club Show always featured his playing the tub fiddle and his sweet potato. He was a deacon at First Church in Belton. He is survived by his wife of 65 years, Mary; sons, William and Robert; daughters, Daryl Edwards and Linda Fletcher; 12 grandchildren; and 11 great-grandchildren.

• Earle Ellis, 83, March 2 in Fort Worth. Ellis was research professor of theology emeritus and scholar in residence at Southwestern Seminary. He joined the seminary’s faculty in 1985. Throughout his career, he published numerous articles and several books, and before his death was laboring to complete a commentary of 1 Corinthians. His funeral was held in the seminary’s Truett Auditorium during the chapel hour. He is survived by his sister, Mary Lou.

• Norman Diehl, 78, March 5 in Huntsville. A pastor for five decades, he found God faithful to the end. He dictated this note to his son while awaiting death: “Dear family and friends, I have been a pastor for 53 years, and at the King’s command, it is time for me to leave you for a while, but this final message is to you. I fought a good fight, and I finished my course, and I kept the faith. And King Jesus is waiting. In a few moments, I will be throwing palm branches as he comes for me. I say to you, your battle is before you. Your job is to be obedient to him. In closing, for all the churches I have pastored, thank you so much for making me look good. I love you and will see you soon.” He was preceded in death by his wife of 39 years, Eleanor; and his second wife of nine years, Audrey; sister, Adele Williams; brothers, Curtis and Sam; granddaughter Kristy Lawson; and great-grandchildren, Cameron and Kara Beth. He is survived by his wife, Sue; sons, Gene and Mark; daughters, Lisa Gregory and Ginny Richards; stepson, Wayne Bartee; stepdaughter, Susan Hoeser; brothers, R.D., Bobby, Bill and Ronnie; 10 grandchildren; four step-grandchildren; and six step-great-grandchildren.

• Barry Keldie, 31, March 5 in Frisco. He was the founding pastor of Providence Church in Frisco. He formerly was student pastor at The Village Church in Highland Village. He is survived by his wife, Charity; son, Will; and daughter, Layla.

Events

• The Heights Church in Richardson will hold a free family festival March 27. The Easter Extravaganza will begin at 10:30 a.m. Toddlers through third graders will be divided into age groups to hunt 7,000 candy-filled plastic eggs. The event includes bounce houses, face painting and skits. Gary Singleton is pastor.

• “Christ in the Classics,” an evening of classical music and art, will be presented March 28 at 6:30 p.m. at Columbus Avenue Church in Waco. Through the mediums of music and art, the evening will follow Christ’s life from the beginning of time to the prophecy of his birth and his life here on earth, ending with the portrayal of his death and resurrection. Admission is free. Brian Dunks is pastor.

Ordained

• Randy Roy to the ministry at College View Church in Abilene. • Apple Springs Church, Apple Springs; March 21-24; evangelist, Herman Cramer; music, Louis Decker; pastor, Lindsey Nimmons.

Revivals

• Apple Springs Church, Apple Springs; March 21-24; evangelist, Herman Cramer; music, Louis Decker; pastor, Lindsey Nimmons.

• Rochelle Church, Rochelle; March 25-29; evangelist, Robert Barge; music, Jeff Gore; pastor, Kenneth Barr.

• First Church, Pettus; March 26-28; evangelist, Bubba Stahl; music, Doug Burton; pastor, David Silva.