Baptist Briefs
___
Emeritus missionary dies. Samuel Lee Jones, emeritus Southern Baptist missionary to Zimbabwe, died Dec. 11. He was 77. Born June 23, 1922, in San Saba, Jones grew up in San Angelo. He and his wife, the late Ona Knight Jones, pioneered Southern Baptist work in the city of Salisbury, now called Harare, where Jones directed the radio-cassette ministry. Jones was a graduate of Baylor University and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
___ Baylor prof helps BJC. Derek Davis, director of Baylor University's J.M. Dawson Institute of Church-State Studies, has been named special counsel at the Baptist Joint Committee for the year 2000. Davis, 50, will assist the Washington-based organization with projects including writing court briefs in coordination with the general counsel's office. He will also continue to work full time at Baylor. Davis also is editor of the Dawson Institute's "Journal of Church and State."
___ Lindsay retiring. Homer Lindsay Jr., co-pastor of First Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Fla., for nearly 31 years, will retire March 26. The church will reportedly seek a younger co-pastor to work alongside former Southern Baptist Convention president Jerry Vines, who has shared duties with Lindsay there 17 years. Lindsay, 72, succeeded his father, Homer Lindsay Sr., as pastor in 1969. With a membership of 26,000, the church ranks third in size among SBC churches.
___ Literature previews on-line. The Sunday school group of LifeWay Christian Resources is offering Southern Baptist churches a preview of new curriculum pieces on the Internet at www.lifewaysundayschool.com.
___ Bates dies. Carl Bates, a former president of the Southern Baptist Convention and of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, died at home Dec. 21 of cancer. Bates, of Horse Shoe, N.C., was 85. He was SBC president from 1970-72. Before launching a 21-year pastorate at First Baptist Church of Charlotte, N.C., in 1959, he was pastor of First Baptist Church of Amarillo and First Baptist Church of Texarkana. Bates was elected BGCT president in 1958, but did not preside at the 1959 convention because he had moved out of state.
___ White House comment brings Baptist ire. Southern Baptist Convention officials voiced strong opposition to White House spokesman Joe Lockhart's Dec. 16 description of their denomination as an organization that perpetuates "ancient religious hatred." SBC President Paige Patterson responded: "Apparently, because the president has very few convictions, he harbors deep resentment against those who do. I would say that the president or his press secretary or both have once again demonstrated that the one thing for which they have no regard is truth." Lockhart's one-line comment was given in the context of a press conference question about the president's view on the SBC's effort to evangelize Jews and Hindus.
___ Correction: The Standard's Dec. 15 feature on changing end-times views in the 20th century incorrectly identified Charles Haddon Spurgeon as a postmillennialist. Modern scholars offer various interpretations of Spurgeon's views, with strong evidence that he was a premillennialist.
Contents/ Masthead / Why We're Here / Links / Archive / E-mail us/ SUBSCRIBE!