Posted: 8/04/06

Baptist Briefs

SBC president flip-flops on women in ministry. Southern Baptist Convention President Frank Page has recanted as “radical” and “extreme” his early views advocating expanded roles for women in ministry. In his 1980 doctoral dissertation at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Page wrote: “There are solid biblical bases for a full recognition of the freedom and responsibility of women in ministry and the freedom of God’s Spirit to bestow the gifts for ministry upon men and women alike. The time has come to declare that since the public activity of a woman is in most areas no longer considered as a breach of the marriage vow and since the law of the land no longer denies to women the right to act independently in mixed gatherings, qualified women are eligible candidates for any office in the church.” But in a recent interview with the Florida Baptist Witness, he said, “I was trying very hard to conform biblical passages to some cultural preferences of the time.” Page insisted he became convinced “through personal study and prayer” that his dissertation was not exegetically sound and reflected the work of an “immature theologian.”

Leland Center president plans to step down. Randell Everett, pastor of First Baptist Church in Newport News, Va., will resign at the end of the year as president of the John Leland Center for Theological Studies, where he has served the past nine years. The Leland Center offers diploma, master of divinity and master of theological studies classes to about 150 students a year. Formed in 1997, the center emphasizes diversity and a commitment to churches in and near Washington, D.C. The center recently received full accreditation from the Association of Theological Schools and soon will become a partner in the Washington Theological Consortium.

IMB trustees elect mobilization VP. Trustees of the Southern Baptist Convention’s International Mission Board unanimously elected Ken Winter vice president for mobilization. Wendy Norvelle, mobilization’s associate vice president, served as interim vice president during the 18-month period since Larry Cox resigned in January 2005 to become director of WinShape International in Rome, Ga. Winter served as a chief financial and management officer before he became associate pastor of administration and later associate pastor for global missions at First Baptist Church in West Palm Beach, Fla. He joined the IMB staff in early 2004, and in November 2005, he was tapped to work with IMB President Jerry Rankin as his executive assistant.

National FAITH Summit set. A national FAITH Summit will be held Oct. 2-3 at First Baptist Church in Cullman, Ala. The event is geared toward pastors, ministers of education and congregational FAITH directors who have been conducting the Sunday school-based outreach ministry for at least three consecutive years. Dean Abernathy of LifeWay Christian Resources will lead four hours of training for experienced FAITH workers. Cost is $55 per participant, which includes one evening meal and summit materials. Reservations are required by Sept. 15. Contact Jim O’Dillon at First Baptist Church, 501 Second Avenue SW, Cullman, AL 35055-4108.

New Glorieta director named. LifeWay Christian Resources has named Hal Hill director of Glorieta Conference Center, near Santa Fe, N.M. Hill has been national camp manager for LifeWay since October 2004. Previously, he worked in LifeWay’s church recreation department and was director of a conference center near Seattle. He also worked for the Georgia Baptist Convention and the Brotherhood Commission and served on staff at three churches. He is a graduate of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Hill succeeds Steve Grassfield, who served as general manager of Glorieta since January 2004.

Recipes from African-American churches wanted. Whirlpool’s African-American Network is sponsoring a “Spirit of Cooking” competition intended to find some of the nation’s best African-American church potluck dinner recipes. Gospel music star CeCe Winans and National Public Radio commentator Vertamae Grosvenor will serve as celebrity judges. Recipes can be submitted in one of four categories—“Jump-Up-and-Shout Main Dish,” “Too-Good-to-be-True Side Dish,” “Celestially Sweet Dessert” or “Bless Your Heart Health Conscious Alternative.” The deadline for entries is Sept. 25. Winners will be notified by Oct. 20. For more information or to submit a recipe, visit www.whirlpool.com/spirit.

Posted: 8/04/06

Posted: 8/04/06

Churches of Christ, Baptists
branch off same family tree

By Ted Parks

Associated Baptist Press

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (ABP)—Some Baptists may remember hearing their Church of Christ neighbors called “Campbellites.” And most Baptists know Churches of Christ are strictly a cappella, preferring unaccompanied singing to pianos, organs or any other instrument. They may not know the group has Baptists in its family tree.

But Baptists, with their well-known history of discord, might be even more surprised to learn that the non-instrumental Churches of Christ and the pro-instrumental Christian Churches met peaceably this summer for the first time in 100 years.

Christian Church leaders invited members of a cappella Churches of Christ to join them in Louisville, Ky., for their annual meeting, the North American Christian Convention. With the theme “Together in Christ,” the 2006 NACC focused on unity between the two fellowships.

Both non-instrumental Churches of Christ and their instrumental counterparts, Christian Churches/Churches of Christ, trace their history to 19th-century religious reformer Alexander Campbell. A third group, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), shares the same roots.

A cappella Churches of Christ have remained separate from instrumental Christian Churches for more than 100 years. Their differences are based on divergent interpretations of scriptural references to musical instruments. Churches of Christ cite Ephesians 5:19 and Colossians 3:16 as authorizing only vocal music, and they consider instruments as an unwarranted addition to the scriptural mandate to sing “in your hearts.”

In the Louisville meeting, convention speakers from both Churches of Christ and Christian Churches said it is time for members from the two traditions to quit quibbling and start cooperating.

“I would characterize our two fellowships as being on target doctrinally, but lacking in the areas of service and unity,” said Dave Stone, senior minister of Southeast Christian Church, a Louisville megachurch. “We’ve each been quite proud of our doctrinal stance in the truth area. It’s the love area where we tend to struggle. We can leave our petty differences behind us.”

Rick Atchley, preaching minister of Richland Hills Church of Christ in North Richland Hills, reminded the convention of the increased potential for witness and mission that unity brings.

Satan “knows that a divided church cannot reach a fractured world,” Atchley said, adding, “unity is an incredibly powerful apologetic.”

Atchley listed several joint projects between Churches of Christ and Christian Churches, including church plants, Hurricane Katrina relief and mission work in Africa. He recalled preaching under mango trees in the African nation of Zambia to an audience ravaged with AIDS.

“I don’t care if you want to sing with or without a guitar, just come stand under that tree and help me tell those people about Jesus,” he remembered thinking.

“Let’s wage unity,” he told the convention. “Let’s no longer be known for what we’re against.”

The combined convention worship services included both a cappella and instrumental music. The guitars, drums, trumpets and other instruments on stage accompanied some songs but remained silent on others. At times, the instruments would stop in the middle of a song so the audience could sing part of it unaccompanied.

With Churches of Christ traditionally strong in the South, particularly Tennessee and Texas, Baptists have often brushed up against their religious neighbors’ a cappella stance as the two groups vied for members. But believers in both camps may not realize the beliefs, practices, and even history they share.

Church historian Bill Leonard, dean of Wake Forest University Divinity School in Winston-Salem, N.C., pointed to the close ties between Alexander Campbell and Baptists on the early 19th-century American frontier. At one time, the Brush Run Church, where Campbell preached, was a member of the Redstone Baptist Association in Pennsylvania.

Though Campbell and the Baptists eventually parted ways, the reformer’s followers and frontier Baptist leaders shared key theological concepts. For example, Campbell sought to restore what he believed to be the simple worship and organization of the primitive church, whose practices had been corrupted by human dogmas.

Similarly, Leonard explained, “Landmark” Baptists extolled the virtues of the “true church,” which they identified with their own tradition. In the revivalistic fervor of the frontier, the two groups competed for members, each one trying to convince would-be converts that it alone bore the marks of Christ’s authentic followers.

Leonard said Baptists and churches tracing their origins to Campbell still share common ground. For example, both traditions practice baptism by immersion and cherish congregational autonomy.

While leaders from Churches of Christ and Christian Churches at the Louisville meeting hope for improved relations as a result of this year’s convention, they admit hard work lies ahead as they attempt to strengthen ties.

“I don’t think you will see many mergers of Christian Churches and Churches of Christ. I do think you will see much more cooperation in ministry—church planting, missions, benevolence, Christian education,” Atchley said.

“For the most part, we will still meet in our separate congregations on Sunday. But I think we will start meeting together a lot more on Monday in the street to serve in Jesus’ name.”

Posted: 8/04/06

2nd Opinion:
‘Hard to tell Christians from lions’

By James Martin

The description of a special method of torture that U.S. soldiers inflicted on Iraqi prisoners sounded instantly familiar. As someone who has read many histories of the Christian martyrs, it didn’t take long to remember where the brand of punishment had been used before.

“Other detainees were locked for as many as seven days in cells so small that they could neither stand nor lie down,” Eric Schmitt recently wrote in The New York Times about U.S. special operations troops in Iraq.

In the 16th century, the Jesuit priests and brothers martyred in England were treated to the same deprivations. The torture used against my brother Jesuits, which had long been viewed as unnaturally cruel, is now used by my own country.

It even had a name. In his book Jesuit Saints and Martyrs, historian Joseph Tylenda relates how English soldiers captured Edmund Campion and two other priests in 1581. The three Catholics, who had been pursued throughout the country by “priest-hunters,” had not submitted to the Oath of Supremacy that recognized the Anglican religion, outlawed Catholicism and demanded citizens recognize Queen Elizabeth I as the head of the church in England.

On July 22, the three priests were dragged to the Tower of London to await execution. But before his death, Campion was placed in a notorious room known as the “little ease.”

Tylenda describes it as “a cell in which a grown man could neither stand upright nor lie flat.” After enduring the rack several times, Campion was hanged in early December. His body was disemboweled and hacked apart before a cheering crowd. Though other martyrs underwent even worse cruelties (the Catholic Church itself also was guilty of torture during the Inquisition), the “little ease” represents another sign of the unwillingness to regard one’s enemy as human.

The Catholic Church, to say nothing of most other Christian churches and mainstream religious traditions, opposes torture because it offends the inherent dignity of every human person. Cardinal Theodore McCarrick noted in June in conjunction with a statement from the National Religious Campaign Against Torture: “It is because of this that we all feel that torture is a dehumanizing and terrible attack against human nature and the respect we owe for each other.”

Many otherwise religious people believe torture is justified if it can save innocent lives. But as ethicists—religious and otherwise—have pointed out, this is a dangerous calculus.

Besides the historically dubious value of information extracted with torture, how many people is it permissible to torture to save a life? Would you torture one person? Ten? Twenty?

Torture is an affront to the dignity of the individual. And belief in this dignity is supposed to be cherished by the same politicians who proclaim their support of the “culture of life,” especially during election years. But respect for life does not end at birth; it should continue unbroken from birth to natural death.

In a nation where the name of Jesus comes too easily to the lips of political leaders, his most essential teaching is proving easy to ignore. Jesus said that we should love and even pray for our enemies—not torture them.

The degradations undergone by the Christian martyrs are now being employed by our nation against our enemies. In the new global Colosseum, it is becoming difficult to tell the Christians from the lions.

James Martin is a Jesuit priest and author of My Life With the Saints. His column is distributed by Religion News Service.

Posted: 8/04/06

Criswell era ends at Dallas First Baptist

By Ken Camp

Managing Editor

DALLAS—An era ended at First Baptist Church of Dallas Aug. 2. Betty Criswell, widow of legendary Pastor W.A. Criswell, died at Baylor University Medical Center of Dallas of respiratory illness at age 93.

Mrs. Criswell stood beside her husband through his early pastorates in rural Oklahoma and nearly a half-century of ministry at the downtown Dallas church.

She also taught a popular and influential Sunday school class at First Baptist Church that was broadcast regionally on radio for close to 30 years. She taught the class—attended by up to 300 people—for the last time July 9.

“She devoted herself to Dr. Criswell's gospel ministry during his life, and after his death continued to preserve his legacy through First Baptist Church and the Criswell College,” a statement posted on the church’s website said.

“‘Mrs. C’ was a blessing and a beacon to all who knew her, as well as the many thousands who listened from her radio audience. We mourn her loss as a church family and staff and celebrate her homegoing to see her Savior face to face, whom she has so wonderfully served.”

Evangelist Billy Graham—a non-resident member of First Baptist Church in Dallas—issued a statement from his home in Charlotte, N.C.: “We join in rejoicing that Betty Criswell has joined her husband in heaven at the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ, whom she has served for so long. Her tremendous ministry will be greatly missed at First Baptist Church of Dallas.”

Mrs. Criswell born in Louisville, Ky. She graduated from Western Kentucky University.

She met her future husband when he was leading a prayer service in her hometown of Mount Washington, Ky. They married in 1935 in the chapel at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

She was preceded in death by both her husband and their daughter, Mable Ann Criswell, in 2002. She is survived by two grandsons and their families.

Posted: 8/04/06

DOWN HOME:
And for an encore, clean the garage

We have done the unthinkable.

Well, unthinkable to me, anyway.

Joanna, the brains of our outfit, however, has been thinking the unthinkable for quite awhile. My wife pays attention to trends and outcomes and scenarios. Plus, she loves me and wants what’s best for me.

So, we sold our house. And we agreed to buy a new one, which makes sense unless living in a washing-machine box under the overpass becomes the next home “thing.”

The primary reason we’re moving is because Jo loves me and doesn’t want me to drive 28 miles one-way through Dallas traffic to work and back any more. The secondary reason we’re moving is because Jo lives with me and is sick of listening to me whine about driving 28 miles one-way through Dallas traffic to work and back.

When we began to consider the previously unthinkable, we looked at three geographical options.

Option A is a section of Dallas immediately southeast of the Baptist Standard office. It’s so close to work I could go home for lunch. But we would have to pay a gazillion dollars for a house not much bigger than a washing-machine box.

Option B is a lovely section of Dallas, with stately decades-old trees, winding lanes and great homes. We couldn’t find any good reason not to move over there.

Option C is just a little south and possibly a smidge west of where we’ve lived in Lewisville for almost 11 years. The big difference is we could get away from Interstate 35 and simultaneously shorten and simplify my daily drive to work.

A few Sundays ago, while passing the offering plate, Jo mouthed to me, “We’ve got to talk after church.” We’ve been married and loved each other so long that she didn’t need to say what she said on the way to the car: “I can’t leave our friends here.”

We knew we would love churches near our potential Option A and Option B homes. But, as Jo said, “We’ve invested more than 10 years in these friendships, and you can’t walk away from that.”

She’s right, of course. Church is about many things. But the vitality and urgency of the friendships and spirit of community that embrace us when we’re part of a fellowship of faith we call church is profound.

So, we’re moving. But only a few miles away. It’s far enough to cut my commute tremendously, but not so far that we need to find another church family. The appropriate theological response to this development is clear and unambiguous: “Hooray.”

But back to the unthinkable. After our friend Andy helped us find a buyer for our home, I realized why I’d refused to think about ever moving away: The attic.

For almost 11 years, our attic has been the Dead Sea of our home. Stuff flowed in; nothing flowed out. Until a couple of Saturdays ago, when we spent hours working up there. Thirty-nine gallons of sweat and a rafter-conk on the head later, we had hauled about half our stuff out of there. Now, I can’t wait to take on the garage.

I must be crazy from the heat.

— Marv Knox

Posted: 8/04/06

EDITORIAL:
Sooner or later, one day will be final

Are we living in the final days?

The question has been asked quite a bit lately. With all the fighting between Hezbollah and the Israeli army, even secular media have wondered if the time has come for the final showdown between good and evil. The End Times question inevitably arises when the nation of Israel goes to battle. Several reasons prompt such speculation.

First, some people say God has a special relationship with Israel. They point to the covenant between God and Abraham, recorded in Genesis 12. They equate the secular political state of Israel with the descendants of Abraham. And they believe God’s covenant with Israel—whether Israel is an ancient tribe, a religious people group or a modern nation—extends to today. So, they expect God to protect the nation of Israel.

Second, some people read the highly symbolic message of Revelation literally, interpreting it to mean a battle in the Holy Land could signal The End. This interpretation particularly applies if the fighting reaches the plain of Megiddo. Also known as Armageddon, it was the site of many ancient conflicts and the location of a prophesied battle in Revelation 16:16, “And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.” Some interpreters of Revelation assume any battle at Megiddo, particularly a war with religious overtones such as the current conflict, could signal the final good/evil showdown.

Third, still others look to the third chapter of 2 Timothy, which says, “But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days.” It cites a litany of moral failures and cultural woes: “People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.” They point to these signs of “terrible times,” wave a newspaper and proclaim: “See? The end is near.”

So, are we living in the final days? Three answers:

• Yes.

Biblically and theologically speaking, we indeed live in the last days. But so did the apostles, all the popes, Martin Luther, our Baptist forebears and every other Christian.

We can divide history thus far into four epochs—(1) Creation to Abraham; (2) the Old Covenant, from God’s promise to bless the offspring of Abraham to the Messiah; (3) the life of Christ; and (4) the New Covenant or last days, from Ascension to Second Coming. Clearly, the Apostle Paul and first century Christians expected Jesus to return during their lifetimes, and so have believers in every generation. But we all have lived between Christ’s Resurrection/Ascension and his return, what Paul called the “last days.”

• It’s probably not what you think.

Many people expect the end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it every time the Israeli army fires a gun. They believe God has a special deal to protect Israel, and the final battle will be fought on Israeli soil. This thinking is doubly flawed. First, the Old Covenant, the linchpin of God’s special relationship with Israel, ended with Christ. From a New Testament perspective, the church—not the Jewish people—is the new Israel, the recipient of God’s special relationship. Second, even if the Old Covenant were in effect and God still has a deal with the Jews, the nation of Israel is not the same as the people God promised to bless through Abraham’s “seed.” Although most of its citizens are Jewish, Israel is a secular nation. Many of its citizens are not even observant Jews. And why should the nation of Israel get picked? More Jews live in New York City than in Tel Aviv, Israel’s capital. If God were looking to protect the Jewish people, maybe God would keep a closer eye on Brooklyn than Haifa.

• Maybe; God only knows.

Jesus said even he did not know the day or the hour of his return; only the Father knows. The Bible says that, in God’s timing, a day is as a thousand years and a thousand years is as a day. So, we have no way of reading God’s calendar. Christians in every generation expected to see Christ’s return and live through the final days, and up to now, each of them has been wrong. Someday, some will be right. Not because they correctly interpret God’s calculus, but because they happen to be alive at the right time.

In the meantime, the days are numbered for each of us. We may not witness the Final Day, but our final day will come. And for us, that moment will be as ultimate as a future apocalypse. In the meantime, may we live expectantly and faithfully, inviting others to join us on the journey.

Marv Knox is editor of the Baptist Standard.

Posted: 8/04/06

All God’s children have
a place in corporate America

By Candace Goforth

Religion News Service

WASHINGTON (RNS)—Experts suggest these ways to give employees room to express their faith without smothering others:

• Holiday swapping

Provide a process by which employees can swap days to cover religious holidays not included in the corporate holiday calendar. This could be as simple as providing a list of dates known to be observed by different faiths. Workers sign up for the days they need off and swap with others, subject to supervisor approval.

• Flexible paid time off

Instead of separating time off into banks for vacation, sick days and personal days, combine them into one large bank. Employees can use the time for whatever they like, including religious holidays that aren’t observed throughout the organization.

• Education

Whether through brown-bag lunches or seminars, employers can invite workers from different backgrounds to share their experiences and their traditions. These efforts can help individuals understand their similarities, but they must never be mandated.

• Maintain a strong anti-harassment policy

Include a clear prohibition of harassment on religious grounds. Indicate in writing that the organization will not tolerate harassing behavior that targets someone’s religious views or unwanted attempts to sway others toward a religious view.

• Handle complaints swiftly

Provide employees with an efficient way to make complaints about those kinds of harassment. Make sure they understand the procedure.

• Model appropriate expression

An organization’s mission statement or code of conduct can set the tone for the company’s expectation that employees treat one another with dignity and respect, but also emphasize that the focus of the company is productivity and service to its customers.

• Make basic accommodations automatic

When employees have to ask for particular provisions, such as time off for a holiday or a quiet place to pray, it invites the perception that those employees are getting special treatment.

Instead, put in place accommodations—designating a private space for prayer or quiet reflection and addressing time off for religious holidays—before the issue develops.

Sources: Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding; Cleve-land Society for Human Resource Management; Tom Wiencek, Brouse McDowell law firm.

Posted: 8/04/06

Federal funds flow to religious activities

By Adelle Banks

Religion News Service

WASHINGTON (RNS)—An examination of the White House’s faith-based initiative has revealed some organizations are not separating religious activities from federally funded services.

At the request of two members of Congress, the U.S. Government Accountability Office spent more than a year conducting a review of federal and state agencies related to the White House Office of Faith-based and Community Initiatives. The GAO also investigated religious groups that have received government grants.

The report said officials at 26 faith-based organizations visited by investigators said they understood government funds could not pay for religious activities.

But reviewers found “four of the 13 FBOS (faith-based organizations) that offered voluntary religious activities—such as prayer and worship—did not appear to understand the requirement to separate these activities in time or location from their program services funded with federal funds.”

One faith-based worker told investigators she discusses religious matters while providing a service funded by the government if a participant asks and others don’t object. In a few cases, staffers at faith-based groups said they prayed with program beneficiaries if they requested it.

Alyssa McClenning, a spokeswoman for the White House faith-based office, said efforts are made to prevent such situations.

“The administration is engaged in continuous efforts to ensure that the regulations governing appropriate use of federal financial assistance are disseminated and understood by grantees,” she said.

But the congressmen who sought the review said the results show management of the fund is in question.

“The Bush administration has failed to develop standards to verify that faith-based organizations aren’t using federal funds to pay for inherently religious activity or to provide services on the basis of religion,” said Rep. Pete Stark, D-Calif., who requested the report with Rep. George Miller, D-Calif.

George Washing-ton University Law School professor Ira Lupu, said the overall report showed no widespread abuse of federal funds but pointed out the need for more monitoring on church-state matters.

“People don’t understand that you couldn’t do a prayer service in a government-funded program, that you had to do it separately,” he said. “People somehow think in those groups so long as it’s voluntary, it’s OK. … That’s not the constitutional law.”

Posted: 8/04/06

Christian graphic novels illustrate timeless truth

By Angela Best

Communications Intern

Robert Luedke loved reading comic books and drawing when he was growing up. A few years ago, he fell in love with Jesus. Now, Luedke is bringing the loves of his life together.

Luedke, president of Head Press Publishing and author of Eye Witness—A Fictional Tale of Absolute Truth and Eye Witness Book Two—Acts of the Spirit, is pioneering a new literary genre—the Christian-themed graphic novel, or illustrated Christian fiction.

Robert Luedke’s Eye Witness graphic novels present New Testament stories in a comic-style format.

“A groundswell of creativity is occurring,” Luedke said. “Creative people from all walks of the entertainment industry are being drawn to be a witness through their artistic ability. The graphic novel offers a wonderfully effective tool for sharing God’s word and story with young readers.”

A graphic novel looks similar to a comic book, but it differs from a comic in that it is usually novel-length, tells a complete story, is written to appeal to an older audience and is bound similarly to text-only literature.

Even though Luedke has had a life-long love of comic books and art, his subjects have not always dealt with Christian themes, since he didn’t become a Christian until he was almost 40.

Always skeptical about religion, Luedke pursued a career in the secular comic book industry for 15 years. Despite his success, he still felt a sense of emptiness and a desire for something more.

It wasn’t until the deaths of his father, one of his closest friends and a co-worker—all within just six months—that Luedke considered that the void he felt in his own life could be filled by a relationship with Christ.

In 1999, Luedke attended Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, where he heard a presentation of the archeological and medical evidence of the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. The evidence he heard solidified his faith.

“Someone needs to put this evidence into an illustrated form,” Luedke recalled thinking to himself. But he didn’t consider doing it himself until later.

The concept behind the Eye Witness novels—the first two of a trilogy—originated in 2000, but Luedke mulled over the idea two years before he began writing.

He released book one in 2004, and the second volume this summer. Luedke expects to complete the trilogy in 2008.

“I grew up as a lover of comic books and graphic novels,” Luedke said. “If I would have had access to something like Eye Witness when I was in my teens, I might not have waited until I was almost 40 to explore what Jesus was all about.”

While the first book of the trilogy focuses on the Passion of Christ, book two begins the morning of Christ’s resurrection. It follows the timeline through Saul’s conversion to Christianity in the New Testament book of Acts and the development of the early Christian church.

Luedke bases his storylines on Scripture, but he adds characterization, as well as a modern-day action/adventure story to make the novels unique and intriguing to readers regardless of whether they are familiar with the Bible.

On average, each graphic novel takes Luedke 18 months to complete, with the first three months dedicated to writing the story—similar to a screenplay—and the rest spent drawing the pictures by hand and then scanning them to a computer where color and special effects are added.

But all the time is worth it to Luedke, who desires not only to reach non-believers, but also open the door for other publishers to accept and produce this form of literature.

“I look at this project as a ministry,” he said. “The graphic novel is my method of reaching out to young people in a very culturally relevant way and to share God’s glory.”

For more information, visit www.head press.info.

Posted: 8/04/06

One American in five attends
a house church, research shows

By Hannah Elliott

Associated Baptist Press

DALLAS (ABP)—For the first time, advocates of the house-church movement in America have solid facts to back up their enthusiasm. Research indicates about one in five American adults attends a house church at least once a month.

While participants themselves have long said that an increasing number of Americans are moving from First Baptist on Main Street to living-room congregations, the very nature of home churches—decentralized, undocumented and unadvertised—has made them difficult to study until now.

In a recent report, evangelical researcher George Barna said 70 million Americans regularly attend or have “experimented with” a house church. That’s an increase of 8 percent since 1996, the report said. Moreover, the movement is taking on evidence of permanence, he said.

“The traditional ways of thinking about and experiencing ‘church’ are rapidly being revolutionized by a form of ‘religious choice,’ in which people are taking greater personal responsibility for their spiritual experience and development,” Barna said in the report.

“Today, house churches are moving from the appraisal phase into the acceptance phase. We anticipate house-church attendance during any given week to double in the coming decade and a growing proportion of house-church attenders to adopt the house church as their primary faith community.”

Furthermore, the study noted, more than 20 million adults attend services in home churches each week. Over the course of a month, that number rose to 43 million. Findings were based on a year of research that included phone interviews with more than 5,000 adults nationwide.

House churches—also known as “organic churches,” “home groups” or “mosaics”—tend to be decentralized in structure, committed to forming in-depth relationships and patterned after first-century Christian fellowship, before church institutions, bureaucracies and denominations emerged.

Some emphasize spiritual experience over rational analysis; others are led by ordained pastors with seminary degrees. Most are nondenominational and include roughly 20 people, children included.

Although it has come into its own in America during the past decade, the house-church model of faith community is nothing new. During the 1970s, the United Kingdom experienced a rapid proliferation of house churches that later conglomerated into larger, more traditional church bodies.

And in communist countries like China, Christians have used an underground home-church model for years. Experts estimate that 80 million Chinese Christians gather in homes each week.

Of course, for early Christians, home church was the only church. The original Christian churches depicted in the New Testament were small gatherings led by followers of Jesus.

Texan Tony Dale, an Austin physician and founder of House2House, a home-church network, said the New Testament teaching of Jesus is the very thing on which house churches depend. Jesus was the “antithesis” of modern church leadership, Dale said, in that he had no social position, no backing and no seminary degree. Jesus simply had “a darn good relationship with his Father,” Dale said.

New Testament Christian leaders were distinguished not by their seminary degrees but by showing kindness, he added.

Dale and his wife, Felicity, came to the United States from the United Kingdom in 1987. They got involved in house churches after their traditional church changed locations and their pastor encouraged them to begin a more organic movement.

House2House, a result of that move, encourages and supports home churches with a magazine, newsletters, books and a website. Dale is an unpaid member of the House2House board of directors. Felicity’s latest book, An Army of Ordinary People, was published in 2005. Together they host conferences and training seminars about home churches.

They also start churches in the Austin area and then “leave as quickly as possible.”

After they started leading home churches, Tony Dale said, he noticed certain intangibles in the smaller, more intimate format had faded away unnoticed as his “legacy” church grew. For him and many others, it’s the subtle things—a spirit of community and the participation of everyone, regardless of station or age—that make the difference.

“Being a Christian has become a series of events,” Dale said. “Christianity has nothing to do with meetings; it’s about how we live. Jesus came that we might have life, not meetings.”

Dale’s sentiment echoes what other home-church proponents have said—that the church model of the New Testament is a far cry from the traditional churches most American Christians attend today.

David Anderson, a former Presbyterian minister, said he had the same inclination when he “began to feel increasingly uneasy about the format of our services and the leadership structures, when compared to Scriptures.” Anderson said the meeting of believers in 1 Corinthians was “participatory” in that several people spoke and others were encouraged to “judge the message. We were not doing that.”

Anderson runs the House Church Network and its website, housechurch.org, which serves as a directory and information board for other house churches. The site, which lists 1,193 house churches nationwide, started in 1992.

The 53-year-old father of six sees “many advantages to a plurality of elders all equal in their responsibilities.”

Anderson said his favorite part of the house-church model is its spontaneity in everything from teaching to the food people often bring to share after services. For the past 15 years, he has belonged to the same house church, which meets at a different house every Sunday.

“The appeal is joy of ministry (and) serving others in Jesus’ name,” Anderson told ABP. “The appeal is that the form fits the function—function being the exercise of the (spiritual) gifts, equipping, ministry and priesthood of every saint.”

While methods differ from church to church, most house churches take the “priesthood of every saint” mandate seriously, allowing children to suggest worship songs and read from the Bible. In Anderson’s group, children stay with adults during the whole meeting, and all people participate in discussions of the text.

In most house churches, offerings go completely and directly to outreach and charity work, since meeting in homes translates into almost no operating costs. Often, house-church communion involves eating a full meal together, and baptisms happen in bathtubs, rivers and—in Dale’s case—a Jacuzzi.

The ordinance of baptism reveals another important tenet to the house church, one which some critics attack as a shortcoming—the absence of a single position of authority. In Dale’s group, for instance, whoever leads a convert to faith performs the baptism for the new believer. Sometimes that freedom means a two-day-old Christian baptizes another new Christian.

And with no pastor, house churches can fall victim to one dominating participant. As Anderson said, “The blessings of intimacy in a small group can actually become a curse if love doesn’t prevail at all times.”

An absence of leadership also concerns some who fear small groups of people could gradually depart from biblical truth and sound theology.

Jim West, pastor of Petros Baptist Church in Petros, Tenn., recently railed against house churches on his blog, petrosbaptistchurch.blogspot.com. West, who received degrees from Andersonville Baptist Seminary and Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, deplores house churches because they involve “untrained persons doing a job they have no skills for.”

“If there’s no sermon, then where’s the proclamation of God’s Word?” West wrote. “Frankly, one’s feelings are not a very good indicator of the will of God. When emotionalism dries up and one is left with no more excited feeling, where will those who depend on that emotionalism turn?”

Resentment for past wrongs or hurt feelings from the institutional church drive some proponents of the home-church movement to seclude themselves, West said. Bitterness is not exactly the best thing on which to build a church, he said.

But many home-church proponents say God and the Bible are the only sources of authority necessary for church to happen. Movements that remain simple and “lay-led” will be better able to focus on the Bible, they insist.

Home-group leaders also claim that, historically, heresy emerges as leadership becomes more formal, not when it springs from the grassroots.

Perhaps the greatest weakness a home church faces, Dale suggested, is the tendency to “turn in on itself.” House-church leaders must use their influence for “strong evangelistic” growth, he said. They must also watch for potentially manipulative personalities and lack of love in their midst, he said.

“There are lots of negatives” about house churches, Dale said, noting that “flaky” leadership and negativity can also hamper growth. But he added: “To be honest, that’s true in traditional churches as well. What we do see is that the Holy Spirit seems to be orchestrating some fascinating checks and balances” in the house-church model.

Both supporters and critics agree home churches are growing in the United States. According to the report, the people most likely to attend a house church are men, home-school families, residents of the West and minorities. Dale said Barna’s report also demonstrates the house-church movement is growing more diverse.

“It’s almost inconceivable to me that almost 9 percent of the population last week attended a home church,” Dale said. “This is huge. It’s obviously involving every type of background.”

More important perhaps, Barna says the growth is here to stay. When a movement maintains 15 percent market penetration for at least six years, Barna said, it qualifies as a cultural trend. If his estimates for monthly participation are accurate, house churches have reached that plateau. At that point, it becomes a permanent fixture in society, the report said.

No matter the roots or outcome of the trend, many house-church attendees say they bear no animosity toward the traditional churches they left behind. They look to them as a source of history and a foundation that can complement the trend.

“I am honored to be among Christians at any place or any time,” Anderson said. “I wish the home-church movement could be an influence for true unity. The church should return to apostolic hospitality, which means that where Christians are, other Christians are welcome too.”

Posted: 8/04/06

IRS cracks down on church campaigning

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

The Internal Revenue Service is stepping up efforts to stop illegal political campaigning by non-profit organizations, including churches.

The IRS is increasing enforcement to stop illegal campaigning during the political season, said IRS Commissioner Mark Everson. The IRS opened reviews of 132 cases of alleged illegal campaigning as a result of complaints from the 2004 elections. Twenty-two cases were closed without contacting the taxpayer.

As of February, 82 examinations were complete, with 55 confirmed cases of illegal activity, Everson said. Twelve of those substantiated cases were “religious leaders using the pulpit to endorse or oppose a particular candidate.”

“The law does not allow charities to participate in political campaigns,” he said. “While the vast majority of charities, including churches, did not engage in politicking, our examinations substantiated a disturbing amount of political intervention in the 2004 electoral cycle. As the 2006 electoral season approaches, we are going to provide more and better guidance and move quickly to address prohibited activities.”

Most of the cases involved an isolated incident and resulted in the IRS sending written advisories, but three cases resulted in the IRS recommending that non-profit organizations’ tax-exempt status be revoked.

Suzii Paynter, director of the Texas Baptist Christian Life Commission, said churches must be aware of what they can and cannot do politically without jeopardizing their tax-exempt status.

This is even more important during an election year, when political leaders are trying to gain influence through churches by holding events in them and asking to use their mailing lists, she added.

“Churches need to have a sense of their own due diligence and not get caught in the flattery of a political person asking them to do something,” Paynter said.

If a church has a question about what it can and cannot do politically, leaders or members can contact the CLC’s Austin office for more information at (512) 473-2288. For a complete list of government regulations political campaigning by a church, visit www.bgct.org/clc.