History of the calendar
is an adventure through time
___By Delia Rios
___Religion News Service
___WASHINGTON (RNS)--We turn the pages of our calendars almost unthinkingly, a mundane task that moves us toward a third millennium.
___The human impulse to order time has been evident as long as we
could follow the cycles of the moon and the passage of seasons.
___The calendar organizes the business of human lives the world over, so it seems a secular creation. But while the need for regular taxation to support armies and governments has played a part in the pursuit of a reliable accounting of time, the real force behind most calendars has been religion.
___We use the Gregorian calendar, named for Pope Gregory XIII who oversaw its reforms. This name carries a history with roots in Christian theology, obscuring the fact it extends back to the Julian calendar devised in 46 B.C. under the rule of Julius Caesar.
___However spiritual its origins, the calendar's story is replete with political whims and crises, bureaucratic delays, religious disputes and even the odd calamity.
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El Paso messengers will consider budget & 2 studies, honor Pinson
___Messengers to the 114th annual session of the Baptist General Convention of Texas will meet at the El Paso Civic Center Nov. 8-9 to consider a $51 million budget, elect officers and honor the retiring executive director.
___"Putting God's Word to Work" is the theme of the two-day annual business meeting of the Texas Baptist state convention.
___Russell Dilday, distinguished professor of homiletics at Truett Theological Seminary in Waco, will preside at the convention. Dilday is completing his second one-year term as BGCT president.
___Messengers will elect officers to succeed three incumbents--President Dilday; First Vice President Jaclanel McFarland, a Houston attorney; and Second Vice President Ed Hogan, pastor of Jersey Village Baptist Church in Houston.
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Southwestern revises curriculum
___By Marv Knox
___Editor
___FORT WORTH--Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary trustees affirmed a "Theological Education for the 21st Century" master plan during their fall meeting Oct. 18-20.
___A core curriculum focusing on basic ministry skills provides the backbone of the plan, President Ken Hemphill told trustees.
___"We asked, 'What does every church have a right to expect from Southwestern?'" Hemphill said. The answer is a broad-based set of skills that will be presented to all students in all three of the seminary's schools --church music, educational ministries and theology.
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