Posted: 11/03/06

2nd Opinion:
Allow moment to refine, not define

My favorite feature on the PC in my office is the undo button. My computer skills are minimal, and my propensity to hit the wrong key is pronounced. But having an undo button or ctrl+Z affords me the chance to make things right. I can reverse an error or recover a deleted document just by clicking the mouse on this tool.

Wouldn’t it be a hoot if life came equipped with an undo button? We could annul our gaffes, retract our foul ups and rescind our misapprehensions. But an undo button was not part of our birth package. We make mistakes. We mess up. We are very flawed and brittle, very broken human beings, who always will fall short of God’s glory and our own greatest dreams. And yet it is error-prone, imperfect folk like you and me who fend for their family, raise children, go to work, populate the boardrooms of Fortune 500 companies, establish institutional policies, interface with shifting cultural paradigms, dispatch troops to fight heart-rending wars in faraway places and attend worship, among other things.

A few weeks ago, I was a panelist at a community conversation at Brite Divinity School, and in response to a questioner, I replied, “Being and doing church is messy business.” If anyone doubts this, read the Apostle Paul’s missives to the churches at Thessalonica, Corinth, Galatia, Colossae and Ephesus. Even Paul’s thank-you note to the church at Philippi, which is known as a joyous letter, references a messy dispute between two prominent parishioners that threatened to undermine the cohesiveness of the church. There is nothing tidy, neat and unsullied when it comes to being and doing church or being and doing conventions.

And so in the give-and-take of folk interacting with each other, even in the precincts of the holy, we are reminded all too often that mistakes have consequences. Our misjudgments matter. Even our little errors can have debilitating collateral effects. A seemingly miniscule blooper or blunder can perpetuate stereotypes, spawn ill-advised practices, engender shame and bring out the worst in us. An inadvertent misread or miscue has the potential to hurt feelings, ruin relationships, promote apathy and mitigate distrust.

So here we are, fragile folk, with good religion, mostly well-intentioned, trying our best to relate to one another in the midst of life’s imperfections. And one textbook response to the revelation of life’s imperfections and ours is that we vacillate between blaming ourselves and blaming others because somebody must be to blame. Consequently, progress is stifled and disagreements are accentuated because it’s easier to stop and raise Cain than it is to admit to our shortcomings, regain our equilibrium and take the risks necessary to increase momentum in the direction of God’s purposes and the fulfillment of God’s will.

On Tuesday, Oct. 31, directors of the Executive Board of our beloved Baptist General Convention of Texas met in a special called session. The Executive Board directors heard the findings of the quest into the alleged mismanagement and misappropriation of church-starting monies in the lower Rio Grande Valley. The report was painful, repugnant and sobering. And whatever actions the Executive Board takes to address this egregious wrong, one thing I’m certain of is that the probe and the subsequent reactions will remind us of our faultiness and insufficiencies. Yes, mistakes matter. No, we do not have an undo button. And even further, Walter B. Shurden is right; Baptists are “not a silent people.” But most importantly, it is by the grace of God that we will get past this moment if we allow it to refine us, not define us.

I’m rereading a book, Marching Off the Map, by Halford Edward Luccock, who was, for more than two decades, a professor at Yale Divinity School. In this book, Luccock, who died in 1960, presents a sermon titled “Keeping Life Out of Stopping Places.” A stopping place is a place where we become transfixed instead of transfigured. The Valley tumult is a big deal, but it is not the pivot on which our convention spins. Our convention’s commitment to missions, evangelism and ministry is unwavering. Our message continues to be that God sent Jesus into the world because he desperately loves us.

This message will be front and center at the annual meeting to be held in the Dallas Convention Center, Nov. 13-14. Join us as we move in the direction of God’s vision for our convention. That’s a vision I, for one, am not willing to undo.

Together, we are doing more.

Michael Bell is pastor of Greater St. Stephen First Baptist Church in Fort Worth and president of the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

Posted: 11/03/06

DOWN HOME:
Are we saving time or losing time?

Have you enjoyed Daylight Losing Time the past week or so?

I know, I know. That’s not the name of it. We now officially set our clocks and watches to Central Standard Time. But it feels like Daylight Losing Time to me.

Of course, I realize some people absolutely, positively hate Daylight Saving Time, from which we just rotated. These people have their reasons, which make some sort of sense to them.

In fact, a friend recently sent me a copy of an e-mail letter he shared with another friend. I only read half of the “conversation,” but both of them seem to feel Daylight Saving Time is an abomination. They’re preachers, and one reason they apparently dislike Daylight Saving Time is that it “causes” people to miss church twice a year, on the Sunday mornings after they are supposed to change their clocks.

“Causes” is such an ambiguous word. If anybody blamed the recent time change for backsliding, they’re pulling their preacher’s leg. You know the way to remember which way to change the time: “Spring forward; fall back.” I can see how somebody might show up late for church the first Sunday of April, if they forgot to “spring forward.” But if they forget to “fall back” the last Sunday of October, then—instead of missing church—they should get there in time to brew the coffee and line up the Sunday school chairs.

Anybody who will miss church because of Time-Change Sunday will miss it for just about any other reason. Or no reason.

So, don’t blame Daylight Saving Time for all the church-skipping going on.

My friend who sent the e-mail credited “golfers who want to go home and piddle and play” as the force behind Daylight Saving Time. I see his logic: In the spring and summer, when Daylight Saving Time is in effect, golfers have enough sunlight to get in a round after work but before dark.

But I’m one nongolfer (OK, I have golfed two rounds in my life. When I was 16 and 36. Maybe I’ll go again when I’m 56.) who also thinks Daylight Saving Time is a good idea.

In fact, I’d go for it year-round.

This acquiescence to time change no doubt forsakes my roots in small farming towns, where people order their lives by the sun, not by a timepiece strapped around their wrists.

But I don’t live near or work on a farm anymore. I live in a suburb and commute to work. And when we observe Daylight Losing Time, I sometimes go for five days in a row without being outdoors when the sun shines. So, I’d even go for Double Daylight Saving Time to scoot the ol’ clock around even further and save at least a little sunshine until the end of the day.

Obviously, that’s impractical. And no matter when our clocks and watches are set, I’ll save my pastor the heartburn and try to show up on time for church.

Thinking about Daylight Saving/Losing Time reminds me that it is in the light of God’s love that we want to walk. And we need that even more than sunshine.

–Marv Knox

Posted: 11/03/06

What should be done with frozen embryos?

By Susan Glaser

Religion News Service

CLEVELAND (RNS)—Geri and Scott Bowman started fertility treatments in 2001 with just one thing on their minds—having a baby. Five years and three children later, the couple confronted the fallout of their success.

What should they do with the embryos they created but then no longer needed?

It’s a problem facing thousands of couples nationwide.

Science helps them get pregnant. But science may be less helpful afterward, when it’s time to decide what to do with these nascent life forms—“babies waiting to be born,” as one mother put it—the size of a speck of dust and preserved at minus 320 degrees Fahrenheit, sometimes for years.

“To an awful lot of people, it’s a very difficult decision,” said James Goldfarb, director of the in vitro fertilization program at the Cleveland Clinic.

A study by the RAND Corp. in 2002 estimated there were 400,000 human embryos stored in fertility clinics in the United States, a number that has undoubtedly increased since then; the Cleveland Clinic alone has 4,200, nearly 1,000 of which are more than 10 years old.

“We want to keep them here, under our control, until our patients decide what to do with them,” Goldfarb said. He concedes, however, that for some, doing nothing is a decision in itself.

The embryos are the products of in vitro fertilization, a procedure pioneered in the late 1970s that is now a relatively commonplace treatment for couples experiencing fertility problems.

According to the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, 48,756 children were born in the United States in 2003 as a result of in vitro fertilization.

The procedure involves the retrieval of eggs from a woman’s ovaries after several weeks of hormone treatments.

In a lab, the eggs are mixed with her husband’s (or a donor’s) sperm, then implanted into the woman’s uterus several days later.

Doctors typically transplant two or three embryos into the woman; the remainder—on average, seven or eight—can be frozen for future use.

Couples can use these frozen embryos if their initial attempt fails or if they want more children, though success rates with frozen embryos aren’t as high as with “fresh,” Goldfarb noted.

Couples are encouraged to make a decision about any unused embryos before they initially undergo in vitro fertilization.

But Geri Bowman, a mother from Tallmadge, Ohio, said that for couples dealing with infertility, decisions about the future always take a back seat to current struggles. “At that point in time, it’s all about ‘I want to get pregnant. I want to have a baby.’”

Years later, however, a parent’s perspective often changes, as it did with the Bowmans. Their decision to donate the embryos to another couple proved more complicated than they expected.

After their fertility doctor declined to get involved in the donation process, they contacted two embryo adoption agencies, settling on a facility in Tennessee, which now has possession of the embryos.

Meanwhile, the issue hung over them for months. “In the back of your mind, there’s no closure,” said Scott Bowman. “I don’t think people understand how big of an issue it is. There are so many embryos out there that people don’t know what to do with.”

Some patients ask their doctors to fertilize just two or three eggs, negating the need to make a decision about any excess. Two years ago in Italy, a law went into effect prohibiting the creation of more than three embryos at a time, and requiring they all be implanted simultaneously.

But most couples in the United States want doctors to create as many fertilized eggs as possible, which has led to the increasing number of embryos in storage, said Goldfarb.

Money plays a role as well. Each in vitro cycle, as the process is known, costs an average of $12,400, according to the Society for Reproductive Medicine, and insurance seldom pitches in. Using a frozen embryo costs just a fraction, about $1,500.

Couples who are finished having children—or finished trying—and have remaining embryos have several options, at least hypothetically. They can opt to have their embryos destroyed. They can donate them to an infertile couple. Or they can designate them for research.

A small percentage of patients dispose of the embryos, usually after they receive a storage bill from their clinics, which charge between $200 and $400 annually.

Research involving human embryos, including embryonic stem cell research, is severely limited in the United States because of a ban on federal funding for such experimentation. Couples can agree to keep the embryos frozen until research opportunities develop.

A strong opponent of embryonic stem-cell research, President Bush has advocated so-called embryo “adoptions,” or the donation of embryos to infertile couples. When he vetoed legislation in July that would have eased funding restrictions on research, Bush surrounded himself with 18 families who had children from adopted frozen embryos.

A handful of embryo adoption centers have opened in the past several years, boosted by millions of federal dollars to promote the practice.

Susan Glaser writes for The Plain Dealer of Cleveland.

Posted: 11/03/06

Bible class shows love
to people with invisible wounds

By George Henson

Staff Writer

CENTER—The women of the Grace Class at First Baptist Church in Center have a special affection for people with invisible wounds.

That’s why they started Empty Arms—a ministry directed primarily toward families who lose children through miscarriage, stillbirth or early-infant death. The women offer solace and words of peace to mothers, fathers and grandparents.

It began after Judy Stegall attended a program at a church in Lufkin where she noticed a brochure describing a similar program. The ministry and the need for it “just jumped off the page,” she recalled

In May, women from Stegall’s Sunday school class delivered their first ministry baskets.

“It’s really just something to tell them that we love them,” Linda Doudna said.

Each basket is a little different, but all include a “burden bear” with a small quilt and poem attached, a memory journal, a copy of Jack Hayford’s book I’ll Hold You in Heaven, comfort items like bubble baths or word puzzle books and a framed version of Proverbs 3:5-6 in calligraphy.

If the sex of the child is known, a blue or pink ribbon is used to tie the lace around the basket. If not, a yellow or green ribbon is used.

“It’s not that we want to help them get over it so much as to help them get through it,” said Edwina Samford, the Sunday school teacher.

The class of more than 20 members ranges in age from the late 20s to “a little older.”

“We all have the same heart for ministry and missions,” Samford said. “Some have had miscarriages and lost children, and some have not. But God has brought us together for a reason.”

The women buy items for the baskets as they run across them during their regular shopping trips, they said. Then they come together for an evening to assemble them.

So far, they have ministered to more than a dozen families. While it started out as a ministry to people who had miscarriages or stillbirths, the ministry has expanded to include a family with a child with cancer, the family of children killed in a fire and also the family of two children who died after being left in vehicles in the scorching summer heat.

The ministry also began with the thought that it would focus on Shelby County, but Stegall, who is the ministry’s coordinator, said the group has far exceeded any geographical bounds.

“Wherever the Lord impresses our heart, wherever God is working, that’s where we send a basket to,” she said.

The women don’t deliver the baskets directly out of respect for recipients’ privacy. Some are unmarried women who don’t want anyone to know they were having a child. Others may not be emotionally ready at that point to be ministered to, Stegall said.

“When we deliver them, maybe Mommy’s not ready to go through the basket,” she explained. “She may put it aside for awhile until she is ready.”

The baskets are left at the local funeral home and hospitals until needed on some occasions, and even when a basket is made for an unexpected cause, a third party is used.

Included in the basket is a letter from the Sunday school class and one from the church’s pastor, Michael Hale.

Part of the letter from Grace Class reads: “This is such a personal journey, and there’s nothing that I can say to you that will ease the pain you are feeling. I do know someone who can. He is a bereaved parent himself. His Son, Jesus, died on the cross for our sins. He cares for you and can handle your hurt, your anger and your questions. Go to him. He is where healing begins.”

The letter also includes a telephone number if the person wishes to talk to someone from the class.

Even though the women don’t meet the recipient unless she wants them to do so, each basket still represents an emotional investment, Samford said.

“You can’t help but be connected,” she said. “Even though we don’t have the personal contact, every one is a heartache.”

The women particularly want to communicate that they know the loss is real and profound.

“Today’s world wants you to think it’s just tissue; but it’s not, it’s a soul,” said class member Jan Morris. “This is a way to say it’s important to someone besides them.”

“It’s not a piece of tissue; it’s a living being,” Nori Latimer reinforced.

This is a ministry needed in every community, Doudna said.

“Not only is it a need everywhere, but it can happen to anyone—rich, poor, it doesn’t matter. It’s a good way to reach out with the love of Christ,” she said.

The class has a history of reaching out with the Christ’s love. After Hurricane Katrina hit Mississippi, the women thought about the feelings of teenaged girls whose families had been devastated.

They collected 300 prom dresses to send to Moss Point High School in Moss Point, Miss.

As exciting as it was to see all the thrilled teenaged girls, the women said the most special item for them was a wedding dress that had been donated along with the prom dresses.

When they arrived at the school, they asked if a teacher had a daughter getting married who needed a dress. A call was made, and a teacher came hurrying down the hall.

“When she saw the dress, she started shaking. She was afraid to check the size, but it was a size 6, and so was her daughter. It fit her beautifully,” Stegall recalled.

“That just shows it was a God thing,” Morris said. “You can’t even go to a store and find a dress that doesn’t need to be altered.”

The women also have ministered the last three years to carnival workers who come to Center each year for Poultry Fest.

Church members have fed them dinner the night of their arrival each year, and this year, the women also provided each of them with a gift bag of toiletry items.

“When they opened them up, it was like Christmas,” Hale said.

“When you get involved with them, you can’t wait for them to come back,” Morris said.

“When we started, it was a ministry to them, but it’s a ministry to us. There are no words to express how wonderful they are.”

“They told us that never before had anyone fed them, and that broke our hearts,” she added.

“They said nobody sees them. People walk by, but nobody sees them. They are invisible.”

But not to the women of Grace Class, who specialize in tending unseen wounds.

Posted: 11/03/06

Outreach project offers single mothers Fresh Start

By Laurie Entrekin

Associated Baptist Press

ATLANTA (ABP)—Some mothers call it the love lottery. Other moms describe it as a lifesaver. Basically, it’s something that gives them a sense of belonging, they say.

What began in 2003 as a community support group for single mothers in Richmond, Va., has evolved into an eight-week, faith-based program replicated in churches and communities nationwide.

The program, called A Fresh Start for Single Mothers and Their Children: Community Outreach Project, provides education to women who often feel they have no one to turn to for help. More than 150 mothers and 200 children have participated in the program the past three years.

Fresh Start national coordinator Sylvia Stewart said the idea for Fresh Start came from frustration among a few single mothers.

“These women felt they did not fit in and were being judged or looked down on by the people at their church. And because of this discouragement, many of them were not attending worship services anymore,” Stewart said.

Stewart saw the need to get these women and children back into the church—and to connect them with other mothers who faced the challenges of single parenting. Many also dealt with abuse, poverty and despair.

“The single woman lives in a very lonely place,” Stewart said. “Fresh Start is about instilling hope, forgiveness, prayer, and tapping into the power of God to bind up the broken heart and use it all for God’s glory.”

Jane Stout, the Fresh Start leader for Bethlehem Baptist Church in Richmond, Va., coordinated the program at her church. According to Stout, the program was a wild success, as women bonded together more closely than they had expected.

“Our mothers learned so much from it that they wanted to keep meeting throughout the summer,” Stout said. “They each have somebody now they can talk to and relate to. It took a lot of the loneliness away.”

While Fresh Start employs a “subtle evangelical approach,” Stewart said, it teaches straightforward, practical topics for single mothers.

Topics include budgeting, interviewing strategies, domestic violence, car care essentials, self-defense strategies and starting a relationship with God. Each week, a local professional leads a training seminar, which also helps women network with community leaders who can provide valuable help and resources as they progress.

Rick Clore, coordinator of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of Virginia, has seen the Fresh Start ministry improve over the last year.

“Single mothers and their children are among the poorest and most severely distressed in our nation,” Clore said. “Fresh Start offers churches a nonjudgmental, hope-filled approach to meeting the needs of single mothers and children in their communities.”

Posted: 11/03/06

Kurt Carr, Take 6 inducted
in Gospel Music Hall of Fame

By Adelle Banks

Religion News Service

DETROIT (RNS)—Gospel musicians Kurt Carr and Take 6 are among the new inductees to the International Gospel Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

Carr, who worked as an accompanist with the late James Cleveland and Andrae Crouch, formed the Kurt Carr Singers in the early 1990s. The winner of Grammy and Stellar Awards is known for writing such songs as "The Presence of the Lord is Here” and “In the Sanctuary.”

Take 6, a sextet known for 20 years for its tight harmonies and distinctive blend of jazz and gospel, has performed with a range of musicians—both Christian and secular—including Stevie Wonder, the Winans and Ray Charles.

The group has won 10 Grammy Awards and an equal number of Dove Awards from the Gospel Music Association.

“For a decade, we have successfully achieved our goal—the furtherance of gospel music worldwide,” said David Gough, founder of the hall of fame.

Other 2006 inductees are:

• Joe Bagby, a gospel broadcaster on KHVN, a Christian radio station in Dallas.

• Phillip Brooks, founder of the Northeast Michigan State Choir and pastor of the New St. Paul Tabernacle Church of God in Christ in Detroit.

• The late David Sisters, a quintet based in Philadelphia who performed from the 1940s to the 1960s.

• Merdean Fielding Gales, co-host of Bobby Jones Gospel on Black Entertainment Television.

• Albert Jamison, chairman of the Gospel Music Workshop of America.

• Curtis Lewis, former gospel organist for Motown Records, and dean of instruction of the Church of God in Christ’s music department.

• Iris Stevenson, president of the international music department of the Church of God in Christ.

• Rodena Preston, minister of music of the Gospel Music Workshop of America.

Previous inductees include Aretha Franklin, Shirley Caesar, the Mighty Clouds of Joy, CeCe Winans and Della Reese.

Posted: 11/03/06

Harvard may require
reason & faith course

By G. Jeffrey MacDonald

Religion News Service

BOSTON (RNS)—In a nod to the growing significance of religion in world affairs, a Harvard University faculty committee is recommending all undergraduates be required to take a course in “reason and faith.”

The recommendation was part of a report issued recently by Harvard’s Task Force on General Education. In the report, the nine-member faculty panel also recommended a required course in ethics and two under the rubric of “The United States and the World.”

In recent decades, Harvard students haven’t had to take a religion class in order to graduate. But that should change, according to the faculty panel, because religion affects so many areas of life.

“Harvard is no longer a religious institution,” the report says, “but religion is a fact that Harvard’s graduates will confront both in their lives in and after college.”

Courses fulfilling the requirement will not consist of “religious apologetics,” the report explains, but will instead “examine the interplay between religion and various aspects of national and/or international society and culture.”

The recommended religion requirement comes as Harvard undergoes a curriculum review years in the making.

Harvard College, the nation’s oldest, formed in 1636 as a training ground for Congregational ministers. By 1708, however, the college had appointed its first president who was not a clergyman, and scientific areas of study soon replaced theological pursuits. Now, the report suggests, the scientific study of religion is too important to leave as a mere elective for motivated students.

“Harvard has today many courses in the catalogue on religion, so it has never been a neglected area,” said task force Co-chair Louis Menand. “But it’s clear that the role religion plays in life, and always has played, is salient in new ways: Events, both international and domestic, have brought it into focus. We think students should know something about religion’s role historically and today if they are to be educated for the 21st century.”

A full faculty vote is required before recommendations would be adopted as university policy. Such a vote could come as soon as this winter, Menand said.

Posted: 11/03/06

Texas Baptist Forum

Man of integrity

Charles Wade is a man of integrity and Christian character. I base this on my 46 years of knowing him.  In 1960, when I became pastor of First Baptist Church of Chickasha, Okla., I met Charles, who was pastor of a mission of that church. He and his wife, Rosemary, became close friends of my wife and me. 

Letters are welcomed. Send them to marvknox@baptiststandard.com; 250 words maximum.

“The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it.” Flannery O'Connor U.S. novelist, 1925-64 “As long as it remains private, it’s not problematic to me, because I don’t know.” Paige Patterson Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary president, speaking in regard to the use of private prayer language by faculty (BP) “God’s commands are an expression of God’s grace because, in the end, they are for our own good. God knows what causes human life to flourish—and what causes it to wither. Those who have wrestled seriously with the issue of forgiveness usually come to realize forgiveness is necessary for our own well-being. Revenge may be a dish best served cold, but in the end, we are the ones who get the heartburn from eating the ashes of past resentments. Failure to forgive doesn’t just destroy others; it can destroy us.” David Gushee Graves professor of moral philosophy at Union University (ABP) “Our walk talks, and our talk talks. But our walk talks louder than our talk talks.” Tommy Malone President of Texas Baptist Men, advocating for hands-on ministry

We have preached in each other’s pulpits and served together on boards and committees. I was a member of the search committee that recommended him to be our executive director. I have found Charles Wade to be a man of unimpeachable character.

I stand ready to refute any charges that would reflect on the character of this Christian gentleman. Who of us in ministry for any time have not had our trust betrayed? And who of us have not made some unwise choices? I am thankful the churches I served had no desire to destroy me once they learned I was less that perfect. 

My executive director has suffered enough because of the disappointment that is his. It is time for us to rally around Dr. Wade as he works with others in correcting this situation and in leading us on to greater days ahead.

Jerold R. McBride

San Angelo

Heavenly investments

I tithe to my home church and consider other giving separately. I do not see tithing as legalistic (Oct. 16). I tithe because it holds me accountable when tempted to justify compromises and modifications based on my reasoning.

If I slip two twenties into the Bible of a visiting seminary student or make 10 boxes for children at Christmas, I don’t deduct my costs from my tithe. There are countless variables to which this kind of thinking could lead. A league of deductions separate my gross pay and net pay. Where does it stop? I cannot justify considering my “take-home” pay as my real earnings.

When I tithed as a child on an early birthday dollar, I gave it all. My needs were met by my parents, and the value of the dollar meant nothing to me. My needs still are being met by a loving, heavenly Parent, and a dollar’s value still shouldn’t rule.

Scheming to write a smaller check to my church is more about me than following God’s leadership. “Caesar” takes a lot these days, and with some of the funding and budget shortfalls I’m hearing about, he’s going to take more.

If my treasures are here, my world will crumble when the financial world crumbles. Christ intended for his followers to be content with less in earthly kingdoms in order to make heavenly investments in his. If we give only out of our abundance, have we really given at all?

Alicia Treat Watts

Simms

Entertainment centers

More and more, our Baptist churches are becoming entertainment centers.

When you charge at the door for your members to hear a popular vocal group, the church is no longer a holy, reverent place to worship our Lord.

You may say, “Times have changed,” but our Bible has not. Groups who charge to enter our houses of worship should either rent a place or do it for free.

If you see yourself here, pray about it, and God will tell you it’s wrong. And, pastors, you are the ones held accountable, as you are “in charge.”

Joyce Hammons

Fort Worth

Posted: 11/03/06

On the Move

• Cindy Addy to First Church in Paris as interim preschool and children’s ministry director.

• Greg Allen to Kentuckytown Church in Whitewright as pastor.

• John Bell to First Church in Bridgeport as associate pastor/minister of music.

• Nate Brown to First Church in Denison as youth minister.

• Adrian Coleman has completed an interim pastorate at First Church in Rosebud.

• Drew Davies to Second Church in Dallas as minister of music.

• Tan Flippin to Parkside Church in Denison as minister of education.

• Marty Francis has resigned as pastor of Pleasant Olive Missionary Church in Waco.

• Bob Hairston to First Church in Alief as interim pastor.

• Gene Hawkins has completed an interim pastorate at First Church in Ropesville.

• Byron Jackson to Allen Heights Church in Allen as pastor from Plymouth Park Church in Irving, where he was minister of singles and family life.

• Carl Jennings Jr. to First Church in Rosebud as pastor from Southern Calvert Church in Lusby, Md.

• Richard Lewis to First Church in Matagorda as pastor.

• Doug Norvell to First Church in Rowlett as minister to middle school and high school youth.

• Troy Peeples to First Church in Gunter as pastor.

• Marty Richardson to First Church in Gainesville as minister of worship, where he had been interim.

• Philip Sherrod to Beverly Hills Church in Waco as interim music minister.

• Alan Six to Trinity Memorial Church in Marlin as pastor.

• Dennis Trammell to First Church of Possum Kingdom Lake as pastor from First Church in Quanah.

• Larry Van Hook to First Church in Louise as pastor.

• Chris Watson has resigned as minister of youth at First Church in Godley.

• Stephen Wilhite to First Church in Howe as minister of music from Faith Church in Decatur, where he had been interim.

Posted: 11/03/06

Pentecostals and charismatics
reshaping Christianity globally

By Hannah Elliott

Associated Baptist Press

LOS ANGELES (ABP)—Groundbreaking international research on Pentecostal and charismatic Christians shows growth in their numbers—and socio-political influence—around the globe.

The 10-nation study, sponsored by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, also found one of the hallmarks of Pentecostalism—speaking in tongues—less prevalent than some might suppose.

Several Christian demographics experts have estimated 25 percent of the world’s 2 billion Christians are renewalist—a general term used to describe Pentecostals and charismatics—in theological and ecclesiological outlook. The Pew survey looked specifically at renewalist groups in the United States, Brazil, Chile, Guatemala, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, India, the Philippines and South Korea.

In every nation surveyed except India, at least 10 percent of the total population is renewalist. Five percent in the selected areas of India surveyed is renewalist. In Brazil, Guatemala and Kenya, close to 50 percent of the population is renewalist.

In Brazil, Chile, Guatemala, Kenya and the Philippines, more than two-thirds of Protestants either are Pentecostal or charismatic.

Luis Lugo, director of the Pew Forum, said he initially questioned some of the survey results, but came to realize the numbers were valid. Now, he said, he doesn’t think it’s too far-fetched to imagine Christianity may be on its way to “being Pentecosta-lized.”

“I do think that it’s not an overstatement to suggest that renewalist movements are reshaping Christianity throughout the world,” he said.

“These folks are very supernaturally oriented, but that does not lead them to otherworldliness. That in no way diminished their commitment for social justice for the poor. They keep throwing curves at us (researchers)—things that are unpredictable.”

Pentecostals are defined in the report as people who belong to historic Pentecostal denominations, like the Assemblies of God or the Church of God in Christ.

More loosely grouped, charismatic Christians are defined in the study as having had an “in-filling” of the Holy Spirit but who are not members of classic Pentecostal denominations. Instead, they stay within non-renewalist denominations or go to nondenominational churches.

Growing numbers of Roman Catholics and Protestants in non-Pentecostal denominations define their faith in renewalist terms, the survey noted.

While the Pentecostal and charismatic traditions historically shunned political involvement, that may be changing. For example, 52 percent of American Pentecostals surveyed said the government should take special steps to make the United States a “Christian” country. Only 25 percent of all Christians agreed with that sentiment.

In nine of the 10 countries, at least half of Pentecostals and charismatics surveyed said religious groups should express their views on social and political questions. In the United States, 79 percent of renewalists agreed with that statement, while only 61 percent of the public as a whole agreed.

On the other hand, in seven of the 10 countries surveyed, “majorities or pluralities of Pentecostals say there should be a separation between church and state.” In three countries, including the United States, Pentecostals who favor separation of church and state are outnumbered slightly by Pentecos-tals who say the government should take steps to make their government more Christian.

According to Lugo, the findings also show renewalists tend not to compartmentalize their faith. Pentecostals and charismatics see God playing a direct role in politics and expect him to act in all aspects of life.

“These folks are as engaged as they come,” Lugo said. “These folks not only talk the talk, they walk the walk, if these results are to be believed. There are more recent converts among Pentecos-tal churches than among other churches.”

That attitude may contribute to renewalists’ strong focus on evangelism, as noted by the study.

In eight of the 10 countries surveyed, majorities of Pentecostals tell others about their faith at least weekly. Charismatics tend to be somewhat less likely than Pentecostals to share their faith on a weekly basis.

The report noted in seven of the 10 countries surveyed at least 50 percent of Pentecostals said their church services included people speaking in tongues, prophesying or praying for miraculous healing. In charismatic groups, those services were less common, but still fairly prevalent, the report said.

And in all of the countries surveyed, large majorities of Pentecostals—from 56 percent in South Korea to 87 percent in Kenya—said they have experienced or witnessed a miraculous healing. In all of the countries but India and South Korea, majorities of Pentecostals said they had received a direct revelation from God.

Speaking in tongues, however, “was not as common as many (renewalist) theologians would expect or hope them to be,” said John Green, a Pew Forum researcher. “Even among classical Pentecostals, the level of speaking in tongues is considerably less than you might expect.”

In fact, in six of the 10 countries surveyed, at least 40 percent of Pentecostals said they never speak or pray in tongues.

Lugo said because of those statistics, attempts to define Pentecostal and charismatic Christians solely in terms of tongues can be misleading.

“If that’s the case, then half the Pentecostals around the world are not Pentecostal, because they say they never speak in tongues,” he said. The poll was funded in part by the John Templeton Founda-tion.

Posted: 11/03/06

Poll reveals dissatisfaction with both parties

By Daniel Burke

Religion News Service

WASHINGTON (RNS)— An increasing percentage of Americans believe neither Democrats nor Republicans share their attitudes about the role of religion in politics, a new poll revealed.

The poll also showed a drop in the portion of Americans who say the parties represent their values, with the GOP losing more ground than the Democrats.

About 41 percent of Americans believe the Republican Party shares their views on religion in politics “moderately well” or “very well”—an overall drop of 12 percentage points from one year ago.

For Democrats, who have tried to woo religious voters since the 2004 elections, the figure is 48 percent, an overall drop of 5 percentage points from October 2005.

The USA Today/Gallup Poll, based on a sample of 1,002 adults, has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

On the question of values, 51 percent of Americans in general said the Republicans represent their values “very well” or “moderately well,” a drop from 57 percent one year ago.

For Democrats, the comparable figure was 56 percent, down from 58 percent a year ago.

While both parties saw an eight-point increase among actual voters who say their values are reflected “moderately well,” the Republicans are down 14 percentage points among voters who see their values reflected “very well,” compared to a 10-point drop for Democrats.

Posted: 11/03/06