BAPTIST BRIEFS
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Harmon to Campbell. Steven Harmon, a 31-year-old expert in theology of the church fathers, has joined the faculty at Campbell University Divinity School in Buies Creek, N.C., as assistant professor of Christian theology. Harmon is a graduate of Howard Payne University and Southwestern Seminary.
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___ Missions emphases combined. The Week of Prayer for International Missions and the International Mission Study will be combined this year for the first time. Traditionally, the annual events were observed separately in Southern Baptist churches. The two emphases will be combined into the week traditionally set aside for the week of prayer, Nov. 28-Dec. 5. Also this year, the traditional boxed mission study will not be published. Free resources for the mission study will be found in the November editions of "The Commission" magazine, "On Mission with God" videos and mobilization fliers.
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___ Balloon flies 300 miles. An Indiana woman seeking a message from God found it--in a balloon launched by a small church in Tennessee. At the conclusion of Quebeck Baptist Church's vacation Bible school in mid-June, 99 balloons were set free. Each one carried a strip of paper containing the name of a VBS participant along with the 23rd Psalm. One of the balloons was found by Angie McKinney of Lynnville, Ind. "The Bible verse was meant for me," she wrote the church. She had been asking God for a sign to know that he heard her prayers.
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___ Volunteers sought in Oklahoma. Baptist officials are seeking church groups willing to volunteer their time and labor to participate in "Project Rebuild," a plan to construct 60 homes for the neediest of victims of last spring's devastating rash of tornadoes. Individuals or church groups interested in volunteering should contact Sam Porter at (405) 942-3800, ext. 337.
___ CP up at end of third quarter. Gifts to the Southern Baptist Convention's Cooperative Program unified budget were up nearly 6 percent over last at the end of June, the last month of the third quarter. For the fiscal year to date, gifts totaled $125.8 million, compared to the previous year's total of $119.1 million, an increase of $6.68 million.
___ Midwestern trustees meet privately. Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary's trustee executive committee met in executive session in late June, reportedly to discuss matters pertaining to the seminary's president, Mark Coppenger. Acting on an anonymous tip, Associated Baptist Press was able to confirm that a meeting took place and that another meeting of the executive committee was scheduled July 29-30. Trustees refused to disclose why the meeting was held or what was discussed. Coppenger was traveling and unavailable for comment. Trustee chairman Carl Weiser said he is not in a position to comment.
___ Gifts to Fellowship increasing. The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship ended its fiscal year with contributions 10 percent above last year. Gifts for the year totaled nearly $15.1 million, up 10.4 percent. Undesignated donations totaled $8 million, 97 percent of the amount budgeted. Gifts to global missions exceeded $5 million, up nearly 13 percent. Designated gifts, meanwhile, grew by 52 percent, to $2 million. A total of 1,806 churches gave money to the Fellowship last year, 124 more than the previous year.
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