Baptist Briefs_100404

Posted: 10/01/04

Baptist Briefs

Thomas accepts seminary post. Claude Thomas has resigned as pastor of First Baptist Church in Euless to serve as chaplain at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and special assistant to President Paige Patterson. He also will assist in the seminary's doctor of ministry degree program and student recruitment. Thomas earned two degrees from Southwestern Seminary and is former president of the seminary's National Alumni Association.

Bush’s faith more mainstream American than evangelical, insiders insist_100404

Posted: 10/01/04

Bush's faith more mainstream
American than evangelical, insiders insist

By Robert Marus

ABP Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON (ABP)–While many of President Bush's opponents and critics alike have pointed to his evangelical Christian faith as his defining characteristic, several intimately acquainted with Bush recently told a gathering of journalists the president considers himself in the mainstream of American religious life.

10/01/2004 - By John Rutledge

SBC leader blasts BWA fund-raiser_100404

Posted: 10/01/04

SBC leader blasts
BWA fund-raiser

NASHVILLE–A Baptist World Alliance fund-raising appeal directed to Southern Baptist Convention churches has drawn criticism from Morris Chapman, president of the SBC Executive Committee, who claims the effort violates longstanding denominational policy.

The policy in the SBC's business and financial plan specifies that “in no case shall any convention entity approach a church for inclusion in its church budget or appeal for financial contributions.”

While BWA leaders voluntarily honored that policy when the SBC was affiliated with BWA, the two entities no longer have formal ties.

10/01/2004 - By John Rutledge

Presidential candidates experience, express faith differently_100404

Posted: 10/01/04

President George W. Bush, shown here at Union Bethel African Methodist Church in New Orleans, says he cannot separate his faith from his job as president.(RNS/John McCusker Photo)	Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry, shown here at Second Ebenezer Baptist Church in Detroit, considers his faith a deeply personal matter.(AP/Charles Krupa Photo)

Presidential candidates experience, express faith differently

By Mark O'Keefe

Religion News Service

WASHINGTON (RNS)–One candidate is from the Bible Belt and likes to tell how God redeemed him from a life of destructive drinking, which made him a better husband and public servant for such a time as this.

10/01/2004 - By John Rutledge

Book examines five views on church polity_100404

Posted: 10/01/04

Book examines five views on church polity

By David Roach

Southern Baptist Seminary

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)–What is the most biblical way to structure church government?

10/01/2004 - By John Rutledge

Muleshoe pastor to be nominated for BGCT second vice president_100404

Posted: 10/01/04

Muleshoe pastor to be nominated
for BGCT second vice president

By Marv Knox

Editor

DRIPPING SPRINGS–Stacy Conner, pastor of First Baptist Church in Muleshoe since 1991, will be nominated for second vice president of the Baptist General Convention of Texas this fall.

10/01/2004 - By John Rutledge

Focus on the Family joins call for Procter & Gamble boycott_100404

Posted: 10/01/04

Focus on the Family joins call for Procter & Gamble boycott

By Adelle Banks

Religion News Service

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (RNS)–Focus on the Family Chairman James Dobson has encouraged listeners to his radio program to boycott Procter & Gamble products because of what he calls the company's “tacit endorsement of gay marriage,” but the Cincinnati manufacturer says conservative groups are mistaken about its stance.

10/01/2004 - By John Rutledge

DOWN HOME: For good health, always wash up_100404

Posted: 10/01/04

DOWN HOME:
For good health, always wash up

Talk about a bad job.

The American Society of Microbiology hired people to hang out in airport bathrooms and keep track of the percentage of travelers who wash their hands after they're finished with everything else they do in the bathroom.

I heard about this on the radio. The reporter interviewed one of the “researchers,” who explained he tried to do his job inconspicuously. Like that's easy. He would be the person over by the wall, keeping an eye on the sinks, making tally marks in a notebook, trying not to look thoroughly disgusted.

10/01/2004 - By John Rutledge

EDITORIAL Poll results turn America’s faith tradition upside down_100404

Posted: 10/01/04

EDITORIAL:
Poll results turn America's faith tradition upside down

A new survey illustrates why our nation's Founding Fathers wisely built our government on a constitution and not public-opinion polls.

The Council for America's First Freedom, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting religious liberty, has learned that half of all Americans think the separation of church and state has gone too far.

The council's recent survey revealed 29 percent of Americans believe church-state separation has become “too severe and needs to be less strictly interpreted.” Another 20 percent agree “there is really no need to separate church and state” in the United States today.

10/01/2004 - By John Rutledge

Mexican pastor tracked down a lost boy; set his feet on path toward Jesus_100404

Posted: 10/01/04

Mexican pastor tracked down a lost
boy; set his feet on path toward Jesus

By George Henson

Staff Writer

LONGVIEW–Even though he only was 13 years old, Javier Elizondo already had gone to work and bought his own books and clothes. Since he bought his own shoes and wanted some that would last a long time, he bought a pair of work boots.

10/01/2004 - By John Rutledge

BGCT Executive Board approves $47.38 million budget recommendation_100404

Posted: 10/01/04

BGCT Executive Board approves
$47.38 million budget recommendation

By Ken Camp

Managing Editor

DALLAS–The Baptist General Convention of Texas Executive Board voted to recommend to the convention's annual meeting a $47.38 million budget for 2005.

10/01/2004 - By John Rutledge

Excerpts from the BGCT Mission Statement_100404

Posted: 10/01/04

Excerpts from the BGCT Mission Statement

The Baptist General Convention of Texas Executive Board overwhelmingly approved a set of mission, vision, values and priority statements to guide the convention's work in coming decades. Here are some excerpts.

Values

Bible–God's written word. We value the Bible as the divinely inspired record of God's revelation of himself to us. It serves as the authoritative guide for life and ministry.

Transformational churches. We value the church as the body God has called to carry out his purposes according to his will. We make every effort to develop transformational churches that help believers become Christlike and prepare them to engage culture and advance the kingdom of God. We value being on mission with God in our communities and in reaching a lost world.

10/01/2004 - By John Rutledge