• TEXAS BAPTIST FORUM_110303

  Posted: 10/31/03
  

  TEXAS BAPTIST FORUM:
  Brave Baptists

  Yesterday, I said goodbye to some of the bravest Baptists I have ever known.

  When I first met the members of Colonial Hills Baptist Church in Cedar Hill in December 2001, they were fractured, broken, hurting and scared. Yet they voted to face their demons and begin the journey of intentional interim ministry.

  For more than a year, they looked deeply within themselves, trying to discover what led to their earlier schism, to learn how to prevent a reoccurrence of those problems, and to put into practice what they had learned.

  E-mail the editor at marvknox@baptiststandard.com

  10/31/2003 - By John Rutledge

• New Orleans trustees reject request on sole membership_110303

  Posted: 10/31/03
  

  New Orleans trustees reject request on sole membership

  NEW ORLEANS–Trustees of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary unanimously rejected a request by the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee to name the SBC the “sole member” of the seminary's corporation.

  All other SBC entities have acceded to the request, which was intended to prevent the possibility of a seminary or mission board ever declaring its independence from the national convention.

  New Orleans Seminary President Chuck Kelley voiced strong opposition to the request on grounds of Baptist polity, suggesting such a change would result in a form of Baptist “connectionalism” rather than traditional Baptist autonomy.

  10/31/2003 - By John Rutledge

• Nominees for BGCT boards & committees_110303

  Posted: 10/31/03
  

  Nominees for BGCT boards & committees

  The following information is provided in compliance with the bylaws of the Baptist General Convention of Texas. Nominations to be considered by messengers to the BGCT annual session in Lubbock Nov. 10-11 are presented by the Committee to Nominate Executive Board Members, the Committee on Committees, the Committee to Nominate Coordinating Boards and the Committee on Nominations for Institution Boards.

  Key unless otherwise noted: # new member; % non-church/denominational employee; ^ positions to be elected by BGCT, when the BGCT does not elect all members of the board; + positions to be elected by the board or institution itself; @ elected at an Executive Board meeting and now must be elected at convention; E/ one year extended term, reverts to 2006 term.

  BGCT Executive Board Members to be re-elected

  10/31/2003 - By John Rutledge

• Patterson, trustees join call for seminary offering_110303

  Posted: 10/31/03
  

  Patterson, trustees join call for seminary offering

  FORT WORTH (BP)–Paige Patterson has joined Chuck Kelley in calling for creation of a W.A. Criswell Offering for Southern Baptist Convention seminaries.

  Patterson, president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, made the appeal to seminary trustees Oct. 21. He echoed the earlier words of Kelley, his brother-in-law, who is president of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.

  Faced with rising costs, seminary students are taking fewer hours per semester, working more and accumulating more educational debt, Patterson warned. And that ultimately will hamper ministry, he added.

  10/31/2003 - By John Rutledge

• 

  On the Move_110303

  Posted: 10/31/03
  

  On the Move

  Ken Ansell to Frontier Church in Waxahachie as pastor from Frio Church in Hereford.

  Chuck Barnard to Greenbrier Church in Alvarado as pastor.

  Lucas Biggs has resigned as student minister at Highland Church in Denton.

  10/31/2003 - By John Rutledge

• Organ shortage, but instrument making comeback_110303

  Posted: 10/31/03
  

  Organ shortage, but instrument making comeback

  By Hannah Lodwick

  Associated Baptist Press

  JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (ABP) –Suncoast Baptist Church, a congregation of about 70 people in rural Homosassa, Fla., has been looking for an organist for almost two years.

  10/31/2003 - By John Rutledge

• ‘Partial-birth’ abortion ban headed for implementation_110303

  Posted: 10/31/03
  

  'Partial-birth' abortion ban
  headed for implementation

  By Robert Marus

  ABP Washington Bureau

  WASHINGTON (ABP)–When President Bush gives his promised signature to a newly passed bill, it will be the first time in 30 years the federal government has restricted abortion rights for adults.

  10/31/2003 - By John Rutledge

• 

  Patterson vows alliance with founders in inaugural address at Southwestern_110303

  Posted: 10/31/03

  During a prayer of dedication at his inauguration, Paige Patterson is surrounded by son-in-law and daughter Mark and Carmen Howell, wife Dorothy Patterson, daughter-in-law and son Rachel and Armour Patterson, as well as SBC President Jack Graham and immediate past seminary President Ken Hemphill. (Stephan Blan/BP Photo)

  Patterson vows alliance with founders
  in inaugural address at Southwestern

  FORT WORTH (BP)–Paige Patterson was inaugurated eighth president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary Oct. 21 with a vow to embody the standards set by the seminary's founders.

  “We are headed to a full and thorough reaffirmation of the doctrine of B.H. Carroll and the founders,” Patterson said during the ceremony at Travis Avenue Baptist Church in Fort Worth. “We are headed to the reaffirmation of the centrality and of the incarnation of the atonement of Christ as the essential bedrock of Christianity.”

  The seminary also is headed to a reaffirmation of Anabaptist reformation principles, of a church of “twice-born” men and women who bear witness of their faith through believer's baptism by immersion and a disciplined church membership, he said.

  Patterson signs the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message.

  10/31/2003 - By John Rutledge

• 92-year-old pianist honored for service_110303

  Posted: 10/31/03
  

  92-year-old pianist honored for service

  SAN ANGELO–Baptist Memorials Center honored longtime pianist Rowena Goss for 45 years of service.

  Goss, who started playing the piano when she was 8, said she felt like she wasted years by not starting earlier.

  After a few years of experience, she went on to teach piano lessons to some neighborhood children, charging a penny on up to a dollar for her services. At 12, she was interviewed by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and named “The Youngest Piano Teacher in Texas.”

  Baptist Memorials Center Administrator Pat Crump presents a plaque to pianist Rowena Goss for her 45 years of service at the San Angelo center.

  10/31/2003 - By John Rutledge

• Prayer may be scary, leaders say, but shouldn’t be_110303

  Posted: 10/31/03
  

  Prayer may be scary, leaders say, but shouldn't be

  By John Hall

  Texas Baptist Communications

  Eighty-two percent of adults say they prayed to God in the last seven days, according to a recent Barna poll.

  10/31/2003 - By John Rutledge

• New Mexico disaster relief gets boost from Texas donation_110303

  Posted: 10/31/03
  

  New Mexico disaster relief gets boost from Texas donation

  By John Loudat

  Baptist New Mexican

  GLORIETA, N.M.–New Mexico Baptists' new disaster-relief ministry recently received a boost with the gift of a 24-foot trailer from Texas Baptist Men.

  10/31/2003 - By John Rutledge

• New tool, new desire help church find a God-focused vision_110303

  Posted: 10/31/03
  

  New tool, new desire help church find a God-focused vision

  By John Hall

  Texas Baptist Communications

  VICTORIA–Baptist Temple Church faces the same issues many congregations across Texas stare down daily. More than 500 people packed the Sunday School 50 years ago, but now fewer than 150 people come to worship.

  10/31/2003 - By John Rutledge