November 4, 2002
___ Montana moves to convention status. Southern Baptists of Montana celebrated 50 years of organized work in the state by voting to move from fellowship status to full convention status with the Southern Baptist Convention. Meeting at Emmanuel Baptist Church in Billings Oct. 2-3, the 175 messengers voted without opposition to seek convention status.
___ Accrediting agencies looking closer at Golden Gate. Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary, one of six Southern Baptist Convention seminaries, is preparing for a spring visit by its two primary accrediting agencies, President Bill Crews told trustees in their Oct. 6-8 meeting. Crews has appointed a task force to help respond to specific concerns raised by the Association of Theological Schools and the Western Association of Theological Schools. Among them: Clarification of faculty roles in matters of academic governance; revision of financial reporting processes to comply with new general principles of accounting rules; and implementation of a planning and evaluation cycle to track institutional effectiveness.
___ Midwestern shuns Missouri foundation. Trustees of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, a Southern Baptist Convention school, will remove $877,000 in seminary funds from the Missouri Baptist Foundation. The reason: The foundation, an affiliate of the Missouri Baptist Convention, has amended its charter to create a self-perpetuating board rather than allowing the state convention to continue naming the board. "Midwestern's bylaws require us to invest in a Southern Baptist institution," said trustee David Tolliver, pastor of Pisgah Baptist Church in Excelsior Springs, Mo. Because the foundation is no longer controlled by the state convention, it has no connection to the SBC, Tolliver reasoned. Foundation President James Smith said he was "grieved" by the trustee action. "The Missouri Baptist Foundation is a Southern Baptist institution," he said. "Our mission has not changed. We stand on our record. We have recruited and employed Southern Baptists on our staff and nominated Southern Baptists to our board." Further, the foundation has distributed about $6 million this year to ministries supported by the SBC's Cooperative Program.
___ Corts to Justice Department. Paul Corts, president of Palm Beach Atlantic University for nearly 12 years, has been appointed U.S. assistant attorney general for administration. He leaves the university Nov. 15 for Washington, D.C., where he will oversee the Justice Department's justice management division. Corts became the Florida university's fifth president in 1991, when enrollment was 1,544 students. With a current enrollment of 2,800, Palm Beach Atlantic currently is engaged in $49 million in campus development.
___ Southwestern honors two couples. Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary gave its L.R. Scarborough Award Oct. 22 to Bill and Ernestine Harwell and James and Carrie Clark of Houston. Clark is pastor of Park Place Baptist Church in Houston, and Harwell is business administrator. The seminary recognized them for leading the congregation to donate its $7 million property to Southwestern. The facility now houses Southwestern's Southeast Texas campus.
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