WASHINGTON (ABP) — Religious anti-torture groups said the Aug. 24 release of a partially declassified 2004 CIA report on treatment of terrorism suspects justified their critique of Bush administration policies on detainee treatment.

But they also said the decision by the Justice Department to appoint a special prosecutor to probe alleged CIA interrogation abuses doesn’t go far enough in pursuing those who authorized and oversaw harsh treatment of terrorism suspects in United States custody.

“The [CIA] inspector general’s report adds to the condemning facts already known about detainee abuse in U.S. prisons and facilities by describing threats of imminent death made against detainees and the staging of mock executions in order to coerce confessions or gain intelligence,” said a statement from Evangelicals for Human Rights reacting to the report’s release.

“Its description of cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment employed by CIA interrogators in the years following the horrible attacks of 9/11 clearly shows torture,” the statement continued. “This is a moral failure by our nation as we have disregarded the tradition of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln of treating detainees, in all manners of war, with fairness and even respect.”

The partially declassified report — which the Obama administration was forced to release in response to an American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit — was written by the CIA inspector general’s office in May 2004 and detailed how U.S. officials and contractors treated terrorism suspects in the frantic intelligence-gathering period following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

The report revealed several examples of tactics that went beyond even the harsh techniques for which Bush administration lawyers had provided controversial legal justification. They included:

— Telling detainees that their family members would be hurt or killed unless they complied with interrogators.

— Staging mock executions to convince suspects that they could be killed unless they provided requested information to interrogators.

— Excessive use of the waterboarding tactic, where the sensation of drowning is simulated. One high-value suspect — al Qaeda operative Khalid Sheikh Mohammed — was waterboarded a total of 183 times, according to the report.

— Menacing one detainee with a power drill while he stood naked and hooded.

The same day that the report was released, Attorney General Eric Holder announced he had appointed longtime federal prosecutor John Durham to begin a preliminary investigation of several alleged CIA abuses of detainees or terrorism suspect, including some that ended in death.

Also on Aug. 24, the White House announced an elite new terrorism interrogation unit, comprised of personnel from several agencies and housed at the FBI. And the Justice Department’s special task force on interrogation policies — formed pursuant to a group of Obama executive orders from January that also undid Bush administration policy on many terrorism-detainee practices — announced its recommendations to the White House.

The National Religious Campaign Against Torture released a statement that said the CIA report detailed “horrific abuse” and calling for a more comprehensive inquiry into possible torture than Holder’s investigation.

“Our country will not end this sordid chapter of American history until we understand the full nature of U.S.-sponsored torture and put safeguards in place to make sure that U.S.-sponsored torture never happens again,” the statement said. “It is our responsibility to assure that future generations of Americans grow up in a country that does not torture.”

The CIA report was one of the documents that then-Vice President Dick Cheney cited as confirming that his administration’s interrogation tactics had produced information that prevented future terrorist attacks.

The report said that the overall CIA interrogation program had produced some valuable information and that “detainee reporting has become a crucial pillar of U.S. counterterrorism efforts.” However, the inspectors added, whether the controversial interrogation tactics or more traditional ones produced that information “is a more subjective process.”

Evangelicals for Human Rights — of which Baptist ethicist David Gushee is the director — also renewed its previous calls for a more comprehensive inquiry “so that the world will again see the United States as a nation that lives up to the highest calling of any nation, and all faiths, the call to truthfulness and justice for all people.”

The statement concluded: “Torture is always morally wrong, without exceptions, even if it produces information.”

–Robert Marus is managing editor and Washington bureau chief for Associated Baptist Press.

Previous ABP stories:

Religious leaders call for inquiry into U.S. use of torture (6/16)

MONTCLAIR, N.J. (ABP) — A New Jersey pastor who formerly worked for American Baptist Churches USA has been chosen to lead one of America's largest black Baptist denominations.

Walter Parrish III, senior pastor of Union Baptist Church in Montclair, N.J., was elected general secretary of the Progressive National Baptist Convention at the group's recent annual meeting in Louisville, Ky.

Parrish, 50, will succeed Tyrone Pitts, general secretary of the PNBC since 1989, who is retiring. Parrish is scheduled to take over the job Jan. 1 and will continue as senior pastor of the Montclair church in addition to his role with the PNBC, according to an announcement on the church website.

Before moving to the historic African-American congregation, which is affiliated with both the PNBC and ABC, Parrish worked 12 years for American Baptists' Ministers and Missionaries Benefits Board. He went to Montclair in March 2002, first as interim pastor, and then was called as the church's eighth permanent pastor that May.

Claiming 2.5 million members around the world and 1.5 million in the United States, the PNBC is the third largest African-American Baptist Convention. It formed in 1961 out of a power struggle between younger ministers in the National Baptist Convention U.S.A., Inc., who wanted to move the denomination to the forefront of the Civil Rights Movement and the established leadership that desired to keep politics out of the convention and focus on worship and ecclesiastical concerns.

The PNBC was spiritual home for many of the period's most celebrated civil-rights leaders, including Martin Luther King Jr.. Over the decades since, the denomination has continued to emphasize social justice.

In a hallway interview at the August annual meeting posted on YouTube, Parrish urged younger pastors to involve themselves in the PNBC as a way to "speak truth to power, to talk about prophetic preaching and to talk about social-justice issues that even with a black president we still need to wrestle with and grapple with."

"We want this convention to be one that resources pastors and one where pastors can resource each other," Parrish said.

The son of a Baptist preacher — his father, Walter Parrish II, has been executive minister of American Baptist Churches of the South since 1979 — Parrish is a native of Lynchburg, Va. He grew up there and in Baltimore and Columbia, Md., before heading off to Morehouse College in Atlanta, where he earned an accounting degree in 1981.

While working as a computer analyst, he worshiped at Atlanta's historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, where he was licensed to preach.

From there Parrish left Atlanta to further his ministerial training at Union Theological Seminary in New York City, where he earned the master of divinity degree in 1987. While in New York he was pastor of Devoe Street (formerly the First Italian) Baptist Church in Brooklyn and was ordained to the ministry by the American Baptist Churches of Metropolitan New York.

Parrish went to the MMBB in 1990 and served there in a number of capacities. His last position was associate executive director with responsibility for directing the agency's initiative to provide benefits and services to denominations and denominational groups outside the ABC, including the National Baptist Convention of America, Inc.; the National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc., and the PNBC.

Parrish's wife, Felicia, is also an ordained minister. They have two sons.

ABC General Secretary Roy Medley offered congratulations to both Parrish and the PNBC. "Walter is well-respected within ABC life where he has served for years, and we know he will bring excellent leadership to PNBC," Medley said.

Medley also praised Parrish's predecessor, Tyrone Pitts. "Dr. Pitts has been known internationally for his prophetic ministry, and we wish him God's blessings in his upcoming retirement," Medley said.

Before coming to the PNBC in 1989, Pitts worked nine years as director for racial justice with the National Council of Churches in the U.S.A. He is an ordained minister in the PNBC.

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Bob Allen is senior writer for Associated Baptist Press.

NAIROBI, Kenya—Wayland Baptist University senior Colby Schniederjan wasn’t sure what to expect when he signed up for the summer mission trip to Kenya.

Led by Rick Shaw, director of Wayland’s mission center, a group of students and community members spent several weeks in Kenya this summer, working at outreach projects around Nairobi and Mombasa. Schniederjan, a biology major from Dalhart with visions of medical school in his future, signed up to work with the medical team.

“I had never done this type of mission work before,” Schniederjan said. “I have done volunteer work, but it was all local. This was my first big trip overseas.”

The medical team’s mission was to carry supplies and medication to Kenya, where they worked with various churches in Nairobi and Mombasa, offering free medical clinics to treat patients who otherwise didn’t have the means to seek the medical help they needed.

“We had been told we would be doing all this stuff, but I didn’t expect to see 3,000 people in the short time we were over there,” Schniederjan said.

Colby Schniederjan, a senior biology major at Wayland Baptist University, speaks with a native of Kenya while working with a medical team on mission there this summer.

The team spent approximately 12 days on the ground working the medical camps. The camps were set up like a regular clinic. As patients checked in, they registered with their personal information.

After having their vital signs checked, they would see the doctor, who diagnosed the problem and prescribed the appropriate medication.
The patient would then visit the pharmacy area, where the medication was administered. Schniederjan spent most of his time working in the pharmacy.

“For the most part, we treated everything we saw,” he said. “There was a lot of wound care that we treated for people who couldn’t do it themselves. They had a cut on their leg, or they wrecked their bike and they didn’t have the stuff to take care of themselves or the money, so they would come in and we would treat it.”

Schniederjan also said they treated a large number of HIV patients.

“For us, if we have a fever or cold, it’s not a big deal,” he said. “But the way HIV works, it breaks down the immune system and so a cold or fever to them could develop into pneumonia and could possibly kill them. They were very grateful for the cough syrups and the fever breakers because that was a big deal to them.”

Colby Schniederjan (right) works with the medical team to treat various wounds for people in Kenya.

After a couple of days working the camps, however, the group quickly realized the supplies they brought with them were not going to be enough. They raised some money among themselves then appealed to their home churches for funds they could use to purchase medication. The churches responded, raising several thousand dollars in a couple of days. The group was then able to purchase the medicine it needed to treat the patients.

“We would buy medicine every morning and restock what we had gone through the day before,” Schniederjan explained. “The money went a long way, but we saw a lot of people in a very short period of time.”

The medicine that was left over remained with the churches so they could continue to minister to the needy.

Schniederjan observed if there was one thing he learned from the experience, it is to take advantage of opportunities to help others as they come along.

“Living in America and having such a blessed life, we have a lot of opportunities to do good and influence a lot of people,” he said. “When you are offered opportunities, you need to take them and run with them. It’s a big domino effect, and it starts with you. If you knock down that first domino, you are going to end up affecting that many more people.”

The Wayland Baptist University mission center, along with Go Now Missions, sent nearly 40 people on the trip to Kenya. The group divided into smaller teams that worked not only with medical issues, but with orphanages, churches and in other areas where they could assist. The Wayland mission center will work with any church or organization that wants to organize a mission project. For more information on Wayland’s ongoing commitment to Kenya or to join a team, contact Rick Shaw at (806) 291-1162.

Hunger is defeated one person at a time, according to Christians working on the issue.

An individual can have a profound impact in the fight against hunger, said Pamela Barnett, minister of Outreach Texas for Angel Food Ministries. One person’s energy to care for the hungry can be infectious, raising awareness about the issue, which encourages other people to invest themselves in the cause.

“To deal with hunger, we must acknowledge it exists,” said Susan Edwards, director of the Baptist CRISIS Center in Midland. “To deny it denies the humanity and need of your neighbor.”

Awareness becomes the first step in joining the fight to make a person, a community, a state, a nation and the whole world food secure.

“We can go about our normal lives not knowing people are going without,” said Chandra Hawthorne, director of Minnie’s Food Pantry in Plano. “But when you realize where hunger is at and you become part of fighting it, you discover it’s easy to help a brother or sister in need.”

Caring for the needy is one of the church’s duties, said Suzii Paynter, BGCT Advocacy/Care Center director. Helping local people with their physical needs opens the door to sharing Christ and making an impact on the entire community.

“Jesus met people where they were,” said Paynter. “If we want people to understand who Jesus is, we should be emulating his ministry. If this was Jesus’ stepping stone to bringing people to God, then we should be doing the same thing.”

Throughout Scripture, Jesus fed the crowds because of his overflowing compassion for them. If Christians really love others as Christ loves the church, they will not stand idle when it comes to ministry, organizers say.

The Bible encourages Christians to minister out of obedience and love. Throughout the gospels, authors describe physical ministries as both a privilege and a duty of the church.

“It changes a person from being a spectator in his or her faith to someone who is spiritually active so the Holy Spirit can enter their lives and into the lives of the people they are loving,” Paynter said.

Christians should desire to give hope to the helpless out of obedience to God‘s commands, hunger advocates said.

“Ministry becomes an act of worship because you are returning to the Lord what has been given to you,” Edwards said. “The hungry are just a recipient of this type of worship.”

Suzii Paynter, director of the Texas Baptist Christian Life Commission, insists caring for needy people is crucial part of each church’s calling.

The Bible calls Christians to defend the helpless, like children. Advocates note the affects of planting spiritual seeds of hope in an upcoming generation are unknown, but God promises blessings to those who protect the vulnerable.

“When you focus on childhood hunger in Texas, you’re looking at where the opportunities to share God’s love with people are,” Paynter said. “Hungry kids are a great place to start. You have to know the child to know their hunger, and that’s our calling— to know people one by one so you know their need.”

Benevolence ministries guided by the Spirit have a proven track record in biblical and modern times, said several leaders of hunger ministries. They enable the church to go around the globe defending a message of faith in action.

Christians wonder how they can further God’s kingdom in hard economic and devastating social times, but the answer is clear and unchanged since the beginning of the Christian church, advocates say.

In the book of Acts, Luke describes the growth of the Christian church. He says the people met together, breaking bread with sincere hearts and selling their possessions and goods and giving to anyone with a need. He wrote, “The Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”

If the church is ready to see lives changed and people saved, it must be eager to emulate Jesus’ walk and believe his message of provision out of faith, Paynter said. Feeding ministries are an example of sacrificing resources to see God’s kingdom grow.

There are many ways an individual can become an advocate of hunger alleviation, Edwards said. Whether donating food to an organization, volunteering time at a ministry or recycling plastic bags to be re-used at a pantry, every person can make a difference. When a community realizes the impact ending hunger can have, hunger advocacy goes from a one-person effort to a cooperative one.

“Not everyone is called to physically feed children, but there are some people who are,” Paynter said. “By donating to a hunger offering we, as a community of faith, are enabling those who are called into the ministry to do their job. We are giving them strength by supporting them.”

Since 1996, the Texas Baptist Offering for World Hunger has contributed more than $10 million through various Baptist ministries to promote and provide food sustainability around the world. Through Texas Hope 2010—the BGCT initiative to share Christ with every Texan by Easter 2010—the world hunger offering is seeking to raise $1 million for the hungry in 2009 and another $1 million in 2010.

“By giving to the offering, you can be a part of 300 different ministries,” said Joyce Gilbreath of the BGCT Christian Life Commission. “We need to talk about what we can all do together.”

Having developed a three-part strategy to assist the government, various organizations and individuals across the state, Texas Hunger Initiative Director Jeremy Everett believes in order to make Texas a food secure state, people must believe hunger can be ended, work together as a whole and set standards that align with the scope of the situation. The initiative is a partnership of the Baylor University Center for Family and Community Ministries and a partner of the Texas Baptist CLC.

“We will be working with all state agencies dealing with food or hunger in any form to make their already existing programs more efficient,” Everett said. “We are going to work at the grassroots level by working with communities so they know what resources are available by finding sites that are doing something, patting them on the back for doing it, and then developing strategic plans to develop more resources. Lastly, we are going to go around to different university campuses creating awareness and engaging students in the hunger issue.”

But organizations, initiatives and offerings cannot complete the task alone.

“Every person is an important part of ending hunger,” said Cheryl Jackson, founder of The Giving Movement, a nonprofit organization in Plano. “If you end hunger in your world and I end hunger in my world, together we can change the entire world.”

AUSTIN—Gov. Rick Perry signed into law Aug. 20 landmark legislation against human trafficking, a bill the Texas Baptist Christian Life Commission helped navigate through the lawmaking process.

The bill makes Texas the first state in the nation to provide assistance to domestic human trafficking victims, which account for 74 percent of the sex trade market. The U.S. State Department reports nearly 20 percent of the nation’s human trafficking victims come through Texas. Houston and El Paso recently were named major human trafficking hubs.

“Most people think human trafficking happens elsewhere in places like Thailand and Cambodia, but the reality is that it is happening in our own backyard,” said Rep. Randy Weber, R-Pearland, who authored the legislation that also was sponsored by Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio. “In fact, the vast majority of the victims identified within Texas are actually our own citizens.”

The bill establishes a statewide Human Trafficking Prevention Task Force in the attorney general’s office, creates a human trafficking training component for law enforcement officers, starts a program to connect services to human trafficking victims and begins a grant from groups that provide assistance to domestic human trafficking victims.

“The taskforce created by this bill will focus state efforts on ending this criminal activity that primarily targets women and children,” Perry said. “Human trafficking is a serious problem, and this legislation sends a message to those who would profit from exploiting others in this fashion—Texas won’t stand for it.”

The CLC was one of a number of community and faith-based groups who backed the legislation. Human trafficking was one of the issues that was highlighted and discussed during the CLC statewide conference this year.

“The bill signing today is sends an important message: ‘human beings are not for sale in Texas,’” CLC Director Suzii Paynter said. “Passage of this legislation is the result of the cooperative efforts of advocates, agencies and bipartisan leaders to improve prevention and prosecution of modern day slavery.

“We applaud the efforts of Attorney General Greg Abbott and his staff, who have provided a blueprint for action. The Christian Life Commission has worked to bring awareness and cooperation for this issue through legislative work and congregational education, including a presentation at the CLC Conference by Sen. Van De Putte, a major author of human trafficking legislation. Sadly, the job is not done. The taskforce created by this legislation will continue taking steps to end human trafficking in Texas.”
 
The CLC and BGCT Community Care Ministry provide ministry opportunities to do something to combat human trafficking. Purchase Good News Goods at www.goodnewsgoods.com to support missional businesses helping victims. Contact Tomi Grover at tomi.grover@bgct.org for victim assistance ministry in Texas.

Eighteen Baylor University ministerial students have been named the initial recipients of endowed scholarships made possible through a $4 million gift from the estate of Allene Hubler, who designated the money for Baylor’s ministry guidance program.

Five are preparing for preaching and pastoral ministry, five for youth ministry, four for missions, three for preschool and children’s ministry and one for Christian counseling.

Freshmen receiving the scholarship are Karington Buchanan of Dallas; Benjamin Hager of Port Neches; and Chris Gilchrist, Matt Hodges and David Lieberman, all of The Woodlands.

Sophomore recipients are Richard Britt of Woodway; Caitie Compton of Murrieta, Calif.; Jaime Orth of Saginaw; Ryan Russell of Abilene; and Alison Sheffer of McKinney.

Junior recipients are Luke Bryant and Jennifer Shaw, both of Arlington; Connor Schaars of Coppell; and Alex Tworkowski of Washington, D.C.
Seniors receiving the scholarship are Anna Castleberry of Chesapeake, Va.; Meredith Monroe of Highland Village; and Mike Quinlan of Coppell.

Scholarship recipients were selected on the basis of SAT scores and church leadership. More than 50 students submitted applications for scholarships for this school year. Scholarships are for $10,000 each school year.

A portion of the Hubler gift also was designated to establish an endowed chair and an endowed professorship in the ministry guidance program.

Jeter Basden, director of Baylor’s ministry guidance program, was named the the Raymond O. Hubler Chair of Ministry Guidance, and Dennis Horton, an associate professor of religion and associate director of ministry guidance, was named to the J. David Slover Professorship in Ministry Guidance.

[This article has been edited for security purposes]

SABINAL—Two years before Leah Radford said she heard God speak to her, he already was working well ahead of her.

In 2007, ministers from all seven of Sabinal’s churches began praying for God to work in their city.

“We wanted to see God move and bring some reconciliation and some harmony,” said Monty Benson, pastor of First Baptist Church.

That prayer laid the groundwork for an effort that would bring the city together. Two years later, God built on that foundation when he laid a burden for the town on the heart of Leah Radford, a Bentwood, Tenn., resident who formerly lived in Sabinal.

The burden remained on her heart until she shared it with her father, James Love, a former pastor of First Baptist Church in Sabinal. He in turn shared her feelings with Benson, who was moved almost to the point of tears.

“I said to Jim: ‘We’ve been praying for two years for God to do something. He’s answered our prayers. Your daughter is his instrument to get something done,’” Benson said.

In a few months, area churches had organized and began planning an event in the park that would bring the community together for free food, games, demonstrations and a service where Christians could share their faith through music and preaching.

Throughout the process, God connected the town to other Christians, Ben-son said. In addition to Radford and her family in Tennessee, Christians came from Boerne and San Antonio, and even from as far away as Missouri. God seemed to work out all the details.

Christians walked every street in Sabinal and prayed for every home. They prayed for the area, which has been in a drought. As a result of their prayers, they were able to connect with people in the city and invite them to the event in the park. The temperature dropped significantly the week of the event, and it rained twice.

“This is God’s movement, not ours,” Benson said. “He set this in motion, not us.”

Several hundred people turned out for the park event. Smiles beamed from children’s faces as facepaint dotted their cheeks. Hugs were given out as often as the free hot dogs.

Don Snyder, pastor of First United Methodist Church, said the Christians were “presenting the Lord, maybe in a different way than the people of this town have seen the Lord in recent years. We’re trying to bring the town together and bring the community together behind one common cause, and that is Jesus Christ.”

Benson was pleased to see the town come together for the event, dubbed “Selebrate Sabinal.” Christians were able to share the gospel though the activities, a pillar of Texas Hope 2010, a Baptist General Convention of Texas initiative to share the hope of Christ with every Texan by Easter 2010 and meet urgent human needs.

“Our purpose has been to reach this community, to share that this community of faith cares about you,” he said. “We really do care about you. We’ve been praying for you. We want to share the gospel with you. It fits with the Texas Hope 2010 prayer, care and share.”

ETBU sets date for inauguration. East Texas Baptist University will hold the inauguration ceremony for Samuel W. “Dub” Oliver as the school’s 12th president at 2 p.m., Oct. 2, in Baker Auditorium of the Ornelas Spiritual Life Center on the ETBU campus. ETBU trustees named Oliver president of the university in October 2008, and he assumed the office June 1. He came to ETBU from Baylor University, where he served as vice president for student life.

Wayland service to military acknowledged. Wayland Baptist University has been recognized in two publications for its work with military service personnel. G.I. Jobs included Wayland in its 2010 list of Military Friendly Schools, which honors the top 15 percent of colleges, universities and trade schools that welcome America’s veterans and servicemen as students. The list was based on surveys involving more than 7,000 institutions. Also, Military Times EDGE magazine included Wayland in its list of “50 most popular colleges” as chosen by active-duty service members. Rankings are based on Department of Defense data that measure usage of the military tuition assistance provided by the government.

Bible Drill dates set for 2010. The dates and locations of the regional and state 2010 Bible Drill and Youth Speakers’ tournaments have been established. The first regional semifinals for the competitions will take place April 9-10 at South Main Baptist Church in Pasadena, First Baptist Church in Lubbock and Shiloh Terrace Baptist Church in Dallas. The second set of regional semifinals will take place April 23-24 at Colonial Hills Baptist Church in Tyler, Woodlawn Baptist Church in Austin and First Baptist Church in Arlington. The 2010 state finals will be held April 30-May 1 at the Baptist Building in Dallas. Organizers suggest church competitions take place March 21, and association competitions take place March 28. For more information about the Bible Drill and Youth Speakers’ competitions, call (888) 244-9400.

Expert on American religion joins Baylor institute. J. Gordon Melton, a leading authority on American religious bodies, has been named a distinguished senior fellow at Baylor University’s Institute for Studies of Religion. The author of more than 40 reference and scholarly books, Melton is noted for his Encyclopedia of American Religions, first published in 1979 and now in its eighth edition. The encyclopedia provides the history, theology and current statistics for more than 2,300 independent American religious bodies. Melton earned a Ph.D. in the history and literature of religion from Northwestern University and has been director of the Institute for the Study of American Religion since 1968. In recent years, Melton has held a position as a research specialist in the department of religious studies at the University of California at Santa Barbara.
 
Corrections noted. The name of composer Stuart Townend in the Aug. 10 cover story “Faith that sings” was misspelled as “Townsend” in the print edition. In that same issue, Children’s Emergency Relief International was incorrectly identified as “Children’s Emergency Relief Services” in a photo cutline on p. 20.

• Chris Anguiano has resigned as pastor of First Church in Dale.

• Brad Cox has resigned as pastor of Calvary Chapel in Cleburne.

• Travis Garcia to Trinity Church in Kerrville as youth minister.

• Bruce Hall to First Church in Dale as pastor.

• Barry Hazel to First Church in Dimmitt as minister of music and missions from Bono Church in Godley.

• Parker Hulsey to Calvary Church in Harlingen as associate pastor for worship and education from Oak Park Church in New Orleans, La., where he was minister of music.

• Gene Jones to Calvary Chapel in Cleburne as pastor.

• Jason Martin to First Church in Breckenridge as pastor from Robert Lee Church in Robert Lee.

• Bob Mayfield to Pine Springs Church in Tyler as pastor from Trinity Church in Tyler.

• Greg Peschel to Trinity Church in Kerrville as minister of discipleship/media, where he had been youth minister.

• Ricky Pugh has resigned as youth minister at First Church of Sherwood Shores in Gordonville.

• Zack Randles to First Church in Wichita Falls as student minister from First Church in Grapevine.

• Jeff Scott to Pioneer Drive Church in Abilene as youth minister.

• Matthew Singleton to First Church in Skidmore as pastor.

• Isaac Torres has resigned as pastor of El Buen Pastor in Beeville. He is available for supply preaching at (361) 455-1392.

• John Woods to Northside Church in Victoria as minister of worship/music.

• Baylor University’s Truett Theological Seminary will honor several people as honorary alumni during its fall convocation Aug. 25. They include Mark Brister, founder of Mark Brister Ministries of Alvarado; Doris-anne Cooper, pastor of Lake Shore Church in Waco; Kathy Hillman, associate professor and director of Special Collections for Bayor’s Central Libraries; David Lowrie, pastor of First Church in Canyon and president of the Baptist General Convention of Texas; and Bernie Moraga, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship missional global church engagement specialist.

• Houston Baptist University’s Dunham Bible Museum will open an exhibit, “Soli Deo Gloria,” Aug. 27. The exhibit features the personal, hand-annotated Bible of Johann Sebastian Bach. Bach’s Bible will be on loan from Concordia Theological Seminary through Oct. 1. In connection, Thomas Rossin,  a composer and church musician, will deliver a lecture titled “Johann Sebastian Bach: His Bible and His Music,” Sept. 27 at 3 p.m.

• An information meeting and workshop will be held Sept. 11 from 1:30 to 5 p.m. for families interested in domestic adoption. The workshop at the Buckner’s Children Home campus in Dallas will include information on the adoption process, fees and children available for adoption. Interested families must complete a free pre-application available online at www.dillonadopt.com prior to attending the workshop. To register, call (866) 236-7823. Also, an informational meeting concerning international adoption will be held Sept. 15 from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. A representative will give an overview of adoption from China, Korea, Haiti, India, Hong Kong, Ethiopia, Russia and Honduras, and new opportunities in Ghana and Nepal also will be discussed. For more information or to make a reservation, call (214) 319-3426.

• A conference on ministry to marginalized people will be held Sept. 24-27 at Crestview Community Center in Waco. The conference is sponsored by Mission Waco, the Baptist General Convention of Texas, the Baylor University School of Social Work, Baptist University of the Americas and Crestview Church of Christ in Waco. Ray Rivera, who along with his family heads a holistic community-based ministry in the Bronx, New York, is the keynote speaker and will speak at the opening banquet at 6:30 p.m. Thursday. Many workshops will be offered, including “Mental Illness Workshop for Pastors,” “Understanding Addiction,” Working with Higher Risk Children,” “Confronting Human Trafficking,” “Working with the Deaf” and “Immigration Issues: The Ruth Project.” The $60 registration fee includes two continental breakfasts and two box lunches. The cost to attend only the Thursday night banquet is $12, or $35 to attend only Friday or Saturday. For more information or to register, go to www.bgct.org/noneedamong you .

• Rusty Wheelington, assistant professor of Christian studies at Howard Payne University, traveled to Interlaken, Switzerland last month as a presenter at the International Baptist Convention Summer Assembly. He addressed the topic of adolescents and how their experiences affect their faith development.

For the second time in three years, students from First Church in Henderson traveled south to help families recover from hurricane damage. In three days, the 21 students and eight adults painted the exterior of two homes, painted the exterior of a church, hauled out debris from a home damaged by Hurricane Ike and helped a single mother move back into her home. Pictured moving the debris are Morgan Partin, Ainsley Hughes, Meagan Dowden and Kelsi Reynolds.

• Dallas Baptist University presented degrees to 236 people, including 135 undergraduates and 100 graduate students, during its summer commencement service. Randel Everett, executive director of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, also was given an honorary doctor of humanities degree.

• Kate Bean, a master of divinity/master of social work dual degree student at Baylor University, has been elected to the board of directors of the North American Association of Christians in Social Work. She is the first student representative from Baylor to serve on the board.

Anniversaries

• Rick Cundieff, 20th, as pastor of First Church in Llano, Aug. 16.

• First Church in Whitesboro, 150th, Sept. 27. After a time of fellowship, a service celebrating the faithfulness of God will be highlighted by former pastors Johnny Flanagan and Harold Watson at 10:30 a.m. A catered meal will be followed by an afternoon song service. Mike Flanagan is pastor.

Retiring

• James Hill, as pastor of First Church in Graham, Aug. 30. A retirement luncheon will be held following the morning service. He has served the church 15 years and has been in the ministry 50 years. The churches he served in Arkansas and Texas  also include First Church in Caldwell and Baptist Temple Church in Houston.

Deaths

• Rafael Aurispa, 98, June 13 in Laredo. He was pastor of Primera Iglesia in Laredo almost 20 years. He was born in Sicily, but moved to Argentina at age 3. He abandoned a boxing career to follow a call to ministry. He pioneered and served as pastor of churches in three cities in Argentina. In 1959, he moved to Laredo to become pastor of Primera Iglesia. During his tenure, he initiated and led several mission congregations in the area that eventually became churches. He traveled regularly to conduct services in Olton, Mirando City, Encinal and other communities throughout South Texas and northern Mexico. He was instrumental in organizing the Latin American Ministerial Alliance of Laredo and served as president. He conducted numerous evangelistic crusades and conferences throughout the United States and Central and South America. He is survived by his wife of 66 years, Paulina; son, Eddie; daughter, Gracie Grant; nine grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

• Sara Buckner, 99, Aug. 10 in Tallahassee, Fla. She was the last of the Buckner generation who helped establish and operate the ministries of Buckner Children’s Home founder R.C. Buckner. She served alongside her husband, Robert, grandson of R.C. Buckner, at the Buckner Orphans’ Home from 1936 to 1954. She assumed her husband’s duties at the home during World War II when he served in the China-Burma-India Theater as a U.S. Army infantry colonel loaned to the Chinese Nationalist army. She helped care for 800 to 900 children during this time. She also traveled to Texas City in April 1946 to find homeless children that needed care following an oil field explosion that leveled buildings and homes. After leaving the orphanage, she taught school in Dallas until her retirement, when she returned to Tallahassee to live in her family home. She is survived by her sons, Greg and Richard; his daughter, Bonnie Buckner; and her daughter, Emma Hargreaves.

• Edith Bond, 90, Aug. 10 in Waco. She was the former dean of students at Dallas Baptist University and the former assistant to the chaplain at Baylor University. She was dean of students at DBU from 1988 until 1999. In 1994, the DBU Women’s Auxiliary Board presented her with its Ruth Award. Two years later, the university named one of the Fisher’s of Men statues in her honor. At her retirement at age 80, the university established an endowed scholarship fund in her honor. In 2002, DBU presented her with an honorary doctor of humanities degree. Prior to coming to DBU, she served on the staff of First Church in Waco from 1953 to 1970 as elementary and day school director. In 1974, she began her work as assistant to the chaplain at Baylor, where she met DBU President Gary Cook, who was assistant chaplain. When he came to DBU, he invited her to join him there. She was preceded in death by her husband, Jack, former head of the Baylor chemistry department, in 1981. She is survived by her daughter, Anedith Nash; sons, Thomas and Robert; six grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

• Steve Fitzgerald, 47, Aug. 12 in Colleyville. The son of missionaries to Gaza, he served with them there from age 5 to 18. A Baylor University graduate, he started his own medical practice and later was chief of surgery staff at All Saints Hospital in Fort Worth from 2004 to 2006. He was a member of First Church in Grapevine, where he worked on the missions committee and taught Sunday school and Awanas. He is survived by his wife, Marie; parents, Dean and Dona; daughter, Nancy; sons, Ben and Mark; sister, Kathy Roy; and brothers, Kenneth and David.

• Nathan Neel, 24, Aug. 14 in Palo Duro Canyon State Park during a solo hiking trip. He had been called as youth minister at New Home  Church in New Home just days before. He had traveled to the canyon for some time alone with God, and he slipped and fell. A formal engagement announcement to his girlfriend, Nicolle Meers, had been anticipated. He is survived by his parents, Joe and Carolyn; brother, Jason; grandmothers, Dorothy Neel and Reba Burks.

Events

• More than 40 singers and musicians will present “The Grand Ole Gospel Sing” at Brookhaven Church in Dallas Aug. 29 at 6:30 p.m. No love offering will be taken. For more information, call (972) 241-2006. Glen Meredith is pastor.

• A Fresh Start divorce recovery program will be hosted by First Church in Belton beginning Sept. 9. The five-week class will meet from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. each Wednesday. Topics include the stages of grief, communication, re-entry into life and dealing with children. The workbook costs $15. Register by calling (254) 939-0705.

• Stanley Lemmons, historian at the First Baptist Church in America in Providence, R.I., will speak Sept. 13 at Wilshire Church in Dallas. The Providence church was founded by Roger Williams in 1638, and Lemmons wrote an extensive history of the congregation, where he also has been a member since 1967. He will address a joint session of young adult Sunday school classes, and then he will speak at a Baptist heritage lunch. The lunch is $5; no reservation required. The event is part of the observance of the 400th anniversary of the Baptist movement. George Mason is pastor.

• Dellview Church in San Antonio will dedicate the renovation of its sanctuary Sept. 13. A covered-dish luncheon will follow the morning service. Phil Risley is pastor.

• Hunters’ Glen Church in Plano will hold a senior adult revival Sept. 13-16. Step Martin will be the preacher, and Alan Celoria will lead the music. On Sunday evening, the church choir will present a night of classic gospel music. Monday through Wednesday, service times are at 10:30 a.m. A lunch will follow the Tuesday service. The lunch will cost $5, reservations can be made by calling (972) 867-1610. Kim Hall is pastor.

• Friendship International will celebrate its 40th year of ministering to international students in Austin with two events at Hyde Park Church. On Sept. 20, a luncheon and slide show as well as a speaker will celebrate the ministry’s service with past leaders and workers. On Sept. 24, the ministry will begin the new year with a welcome coffee for internationals.

• Tabernacle Church in Gainesville will hold homecoming services Oct. 4 to commemorate its 106 years of service to the community. In addition to a time of fellowship, there also will be a time of remembrance of members who have died. In keeping of the theme of “May All Who Come Behind Us Find Us Faithful,” there will be a ceremony marking the passing of a torch from one generation to another. Hollis Parsons is pastor.

Ordained

• Mark Caswell to the ministry at First Church in Denton.

• Kristopher Thompson to the ministry at First Church in Hallettsville.

EDE, Netherlands (ABP)—A Hispanic Baptist theologian insists overreaction to Catholic veneration of the Virgin Mary has caused Baptists to miss important biblical teaching associated with the mother of Jesus.

Nora Lozano, associate professor of biblical and theological studies at Baptist University of the Americas, found potential liberation for women—both Protestant and Catholic—in Latin America and elsewhere by taking another look at the biblical story of Mary, Jesus’ mother.

Lozano, a participant in theological conversations between the Baptist World Alliance and the Vatican, made the remarks in a presentation to the BWA Commission on Doctrine and Interchurch Cooperation at a meeting of global Baptists in the Netherlands.

She noted the Mexican story of the Virgin of Guadalupe—a purported apparition of Mary to an indigenous peasant in Mexico City in the 16th century—and how closely it ties the identity of the nation’s Catholicism with Mary. There are comparable Mary cults of devotion in other Latin American countries.

Mexican Baptists and other Protestants, meanwhile, actively ignore Mary, to the extent of giving the biblical character short shrift, Lozano said.
“It seems that there is a consensus among these Baptists to disregard, neglect or reject the Virgin Mary,” Lozano said, speaking of an informal survey she had done of some of her global Baptist colleagues.

And, in countries where Catholics are a majority, she added, “Baptists tend to move back and forth between actively rejecting and simply ignoring Mary.”

That attitude becomes a major barrier to relations between Catholics and Baptists, she noted.

Alluding to the relationship of Hispanic American Protestants with culture, Lozano stressed the need of evaluating, under the light of Jesus, what is life-giving in the culture and rejecting what is oppressive. She continued by affirming that reevaluating and embracing the biblical Mary can be both healthy for all women and a bridge between Latin American Protestants and Catholics.

Lozano pointed to two passages dealing with Mary in the Christmas story as recorded in Luke’s Gospel: The angel’s announcement to Mary that she would bear Christ (Luke 1:26-38), and Mary’s song of praise to God, often called the Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55).

Mary is not a passive presence in those stories, Lozano pointed out, but an active and willing participant in God’s work who was “well aware of social injustices,” she said.

Faith groups draw volunteers. Faith-based organizations attract more volunteers than any other type of organization, according to a recent survey by the Corporation for National and Community Service. More than one-third of the country’s almost 62 million volunteers served through religious organizations last year. The  report showed adults over the age of 65 and youth who regularly attend religious services are more likely than general volunteers to serve in faith-based organizations. The report is based on data obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau and Bureau of Labor Statistics and provides the most comprehensive data assembled on volunteer trends and demographics.

Religious freedom panel watches India. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has put India on its watch list, citing the country’s “inadequate” response to recent waves of violence toward religious minorities. In 2002, when organizations related to the Hindu Nationalist party were on the rise, India was designated a “country of particular concern”—the commission’s most condemning category—but has since been removed from that list. With attacks against Christians in December of 2007 and into 2008, the commission’s attention has been called back to India. The panel reported inadequate police and judiciary response to the violence and the subsequent displacement of 60,000 or more Christians in August and September of 2008.

Christian schools report closures. A Colorado-based organization of Christian schools reports more than 200 schools closed or merged in its last fiscal year. As of June 30, 186 schools had closed and 16 had merged, according to the Association of Christian Schools International. That’s up from an average of 150 school closures  the association has reported in previous years.

Court OKs animal sacrifice at home. A Santeria priest can continue to sacrifice animals in his North Texas home, a federal appeals court has ruled. Jose Merced of Euless was told in 2006 he needed a permit to slaughter goats, sheep and turtles in his house, rituals he said he had been performing 16 years without incident. Merced sued the city, saying that it had violated his right to practice his religion. Euless officials cited potential health concerns over the animal sacrifices. But the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the city had inhibited Merced’s ability to practice Santeria. The court established that Merced’s only available ceremonial space was in his house, due to the lack of Santeria temples in the United States. Euless authorities said the city plans to file for a rehearing.

Senate confirms Vatican ambassador. The U.S. Senate confirmed a Cuban-born theologian as the ninth U.S. ambassador to the Vatican. Miguel H. Diaz, 45, will be the first theologian and the first Hispanic to serve as American envoy since Washington established formal diplomatic ties with the Holy See in 1984. Diaz has taught theology at the College of Saint Benedict and St. John’s University in Collegeville, Minn., since 2004.