Baptist Briefs_60203

Posted: 5/30/03

Baptist Briefs

Baylor names Schmeltekopf provost emeritus. Baylor University's retiring provost and vice president for academic affairs, Don Schmeltekopf, has been named provost emeritus. Schmeltekopf has accepted a two-year appointment as the Chavanne Professor of Christian Ethics in Business at Baylor's Hankamer School of Business. He also will teach an ethics course at the university's Truett Seminary and a course in higher education administration in the School of Education. During Schmeltekopf's 12-year tenure as provost, Baylor has added four academic divisions–Truett Seminary, the School of Engineering and Computer Science, the School of Social Work and the Honors College.

Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary President Ken Hemphill awards a master of arts in missiology degree to his wife, Paula, while presiding over his final commencement ceremony this month.

Terminated missionaries to speak. Two veteran missionary couples who left the Southern Baptist Convention's International Mission Board because of the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message crisis will address the breakfast meeting of the Mainstream Baptist Network June 27 in Charlotte, N.C. Larry and Sarah Ballew of Macau and Houston and Charlotte Greenhaw of Brazil will speak at 7 a.m. in the Charlotte Convention Center. Reservations should be made by calling (915) 659-4102 or e-mailing [email protected].

CBF repositions for Iraq. The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship has shifted its focus for post-war ministry in Iraq from refugees to meeting immediate needs as well as long-term infrastructure needs of the population within Iraq. CBF is preparing to restart ministry among the Kurds in northern Iraq that had to be suspended because of the military campaign. To date, CBF has channeled more than $40,000 from churches, individuals and existing CBF relief funds toward relief efforts in Iraq.

Golden Gate rethinking music. Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary in Mill Valley, Calif., will continue to offer music courses but will change the way it structures them, trustees were told in their spring meeting. Only 24 students are enrolled for the seminary's two master's degree programs in music, and "that is not enough to sustain them," reported Academic Vice President Rick Durst.

World Day of Prayer scheduled. Baptists will participate in the Day of Prayer and Fasting for World Evangelization June 8, focusing on more than 1 billion Chinese who have not heard the Christian gospel. Scattered throughout the world, from China, to Malaysia, to Mexico, and even Paris, the Chinese represent distinct ethnic and cultural backgrounds.

Pastor elected Georgia editor. Gerald Harris, pastor of Eastside Baptist Church in Marietta, Ga., has been elected editor of the Christian Index, newspaper of the Georgia Baptist Convention. He succeeds Bill Neal, who took a forced early retirement. Harris, 62, is a former president of the Georgia convention and currently serves on the Southern Baptist Convention's Executive Committee.

Coppenger speaks at Midwestern. Mark Coppenger, who was fired as president of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in 1999 for problems related to anger management, returned to the school May 13 to speak in chapel. His topic was bivocational church starting. Coppenger, who now lives in the Chicago area and is a pastor, will be named an honorary alumnus of Midwestern during the annual alumni luncheon June 18.