Compensation survey available online. Ministers and staff serving in Southern Baptist churches have the opportunity to take the 2012 Compensation Survey at www.guidestone.org/compensationsurvey . A printed version of the survey may be obtained by contacting GuideStone Financial Resources at (888) 984-8433 between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. Monday-Friday. The deadline for completion is May 31. The survey provides an accurate baseline of compensation among similar-sized churches in each state convention. Because of the surveys, administrators, personnel/finance committees and minister-search teams are able to receive customized reports that allow them to better determine adequate compensation for ministers and staff. All information is kept confidential, and no individual answers will be reported. The compensation survey is provided through the joint efforts of Baptist state conventions, LifeWay Christian Resources and GuideStone. Survey results will be released this summer.
Baptist journalist Newton dies at 75. Longtime Baptist journalist Jim Newton died Jan. 16 at Baptist Hospital hospice care in Clinton, Miss., after a battle with leukemia. Newton, 75, was born in Kingsville, into the third generation of a family of weekly newspaper editors. After graduating from Baylor University in 1958, he worked as associate editor of The Bishop News until he became press representative of the Baptist General Convention of Texas in 1959. He was assistant director of Baptist Press in Nashville, Tenn., from 1965 to 1973. After that, he worked eight years as editor of World Mission Journal, published by the SBC Brotherhood Commission in Memphis, Tenn. In 1980, he joined the staff of the Home Mission Board in Atlanta, retiring in 1992 as public relations director to accept a communications position with the U.S.-based office of World Vision International in California. After retiring to Clinton, Newton worked with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of Mississippi and was a member of Trace Ridge Baptist Church in Ridgeland, Miss. He also served as a news and media consultant for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. He is survived by his wife of 50 years, Patricia Tullos Newton, two daughters and five grandchildren.
Haitian school and orphanage dedicated. Two years after an earthquake killed thousands in Haiti, Baptists on the island nation and their international partners dedicated a school and orphanage for children affected by the disaster. Representatives of the Baptist General Association of Virginia, the Baptist World Alliance and Hungarian Baptist Aid participated in the dedication of the Source of Light complex in the Delmas 19 neighborhood of Port-au-Prince. The school for about 200 preschool, kindergarten and primary students has begun classes, and the orphanage, which will house about 50 children, will begin operations in early February. The Baptist World Alliance provided the majority of the funds through BWAid, its relief and development arm. The Virginia Baptist Mission Board contributed about $200,000. Hungarian Baptist Aid supervised construction in association with the Haiti Baptist Convention.
—Compiled from wire services
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