Baptist Briefs

Vestal to head Baugh Center at Mercer. Retiring Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Executive Coordinator Daniel Vestal will direct Mercer University's new Eula Mae and John Baugh Center for Baptist Leadership. Vestal, 67, will assume his new role July 1, the day after he retires as head of the Atlanta-based CBF, where he has served since 1996. The new center is endowed by a $2.5 million grant from the Eula Mae and John Baugh Foundation. The Baugh Center will foster research and learning in Baptist history, theology, ethics and missions, partnering with Mercer's James and Carolyn McAfee School of Theology, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and the American Baptist Historical Society, as well as Mercer's Center for Theology and Public Life and other programs.

GuideStone releases tax guide. The 2012 edition of GuideStone Financial Resource's annual Tax Return Preparation and Federal Reporting Guide is available. The guide provides active and retired minsters step-by-step help in understanding the latest tax laws, along with sample tax forms to assist them in preparing their 2011 federal tax returns. Richard Hammar, a CPA, attorney and author who specializes in legal and tax issues for ministers, wrote the guide. GuideStone's compliance staff edited the material to address the tax issues that affect the greatest number of Baptist pastors. The guide, which also includes a special section detailing federal reporting requirements for churches, can be obtained in PDF format at www.GuideStone.org/TaxGuide. GuideStone participants can order a free printed copy by calling (888) 984-8433.

Lilly Endowment benefits Oklahoma City church. First Baptist Church in Oklahoma City is among 158 congregations selected as part of the National Clergy Renewal Program, funded by the Indianapolis-based Lilly Endowment. The program will enable Pastor Tom Ogburn to take an extended time of renewal and reflection, visiting churches in New York City, Boston and England that are involved in ministry to immigrants and refugees. While Ogburn is away, First Baptist Church will engage in a church census program with the Baylor University School of Social Work to help the church, pastor and staff focus on the most critical spiritual needs of the church.

Ethicist disputes magazine cover story. A Baptist ethicist accused Newsweek magazine of feeding fear with a cover story headlined "The Global War on Christians in the Muslim World." Robert Parham, executive director of the Baptist Center for Ethics, took issue with an article by Ayaan Hirsi Ali, who cited a "rising genocide" of Christians in the Muslim world being murdered because of their faith. "We already have enough religious conflict and self-righteousness without one of the nation's foremost weekly publications feeding fear and hatred," Parham said, adding it is unfair to characterize Christians as always being victims and Muslims as perpetrators of violence.