JULY 2009 | Vol

JULY 2009 | Vol. 27, No. 7 | baptiststoday.org $3.95

Listening to Luther Veteran broadcaster creates community page 4

JULY 2009 | Vol. 27, No. 7 John D. Pierce Executive Editor Baptists Today serves churches by providing a reliable source of [email protected] Jackie B. Riley unrestricted news coverage, thoughtful analysis and inspiring Managing Editor features focusing on issues of importance to Baptist Christians. [email protected] An autonomous national Keithen M. Tucker Baptist news journal Development and Marketing Director [email protected] Tony W. Cartledge P E R S P E C T I V E Contributing Editor [email protected] > Dozing off in church . . . history ...... 7 Bruce T. Gourley By John Pierce Online Editor [email protected] > Street Question: ‘Why are Baptists against drinking ...... 8 Vickie Frayne and dancing (wink, wink)?’ Art Director By Bill J. Leonard Jannie T. Lister Connie Pursiful Office Assistant Office Assistant > A time for generosity ...... 26 Lauryn C. Dant By Ruben Swint Circulation Assistant > When water flows freely ...... 31 Walker Knight Jack U. Harwell Publisher Emeritus Editor Emeritus By Bill Ross Board of Directors Gary F. Eubanks, Marietta, Ga. (chairman) Photo by John Pierce. Kelly L. Belcher, Spartanburg, S.C. I N T H E N E W S Chattanooga radio personality Luther (vice chair) Masingill is friend to the community Z. Allen Abbott, Peachtree City, Ga. > BJC seeking new space on Capitol Hill ...... 11 Jimmy R. Allen, Big Canoe, Ga. — including churches. Page 4 Nannette Avery, Signal Mountain, Tenn. > Review & Expositor bridging academy, church ...... 12 Ann T. Beane, Richmond, Va. Thomas E. Boland, Alpharetta, Ga. Huey Bridgman, Columbus, Ga. > Benefits group studies clergy compensation ...... 13 Robert Cates, Rome, Ga. Anthony D. Clevenger, Pensacola, Fla. > Poll: Americans moving rightward on social issues ...... 13 Gifts to Kenny Crump, Ruston, La. David Currie, San Angelo, Texas > Mainline clergy OK with gay rights; ...... 14 Baptists Today James M. Dunn, Winston-Salem, N.C. cautious on gay marriage James L. Evans, Auburn, Ala. have been received W.M. Gilbert Jr., Lavonia, Ga. > Home-school numbers on the rise ...... 14 R. Kirby Godsey, Macon, Ga. William B. Greenhaw, Macon, Ga. > Religious leaders say time running out...... 17 In memory of Leslie D. Hill, Lexington, Ky. Jimmy Little, Hartselle, Ala. for Palestinian Christians Nathan C. Byrd Jr. Michael M. Massar, Tyler, Texas From his wife, J. Thomas McAfee, Macon, Ga. > Ethicists mark 75th anniversary of ...... 23 William T. Neal, Stone Mountain, Ga. German ‘Confessing’ movement Frieda H. Byrd Ella Wall Prichard, Corpus Christi, Texas Michael G. Queen, Wilmington, N.C. > Hockey as religion? Many Canadians think so ...... 27 Mary Etta Sanders, Dalton, Ga. In memory of Macon Sheppard, Folly Beach, S.C. Walter B. Shurden, Macon, Ga. > Wikipedia bans Scientology from editing entries...... 27 J. Lauren Clark Charlotte Cook Smith, Raleigh, N.C. From Ed and Sarah David M. Smith, Houston, Texas > Twitter goes to church ...... 34 Leo Thorne, Valley Forge, Pa. Timmerman Sarah Timmerman, Cairo, Ga. > Priest’s conversion strains ecumenical ties ...... 37 Clement H. White, St. Petersburg, Fla. In memory of Louis and Advocates Mary Jayne Allen, Chattanooga, Tenn. F E AT U R E S Gladys Hamilton Randy L. Hyde, Little Rock, Ark. From their children, Sherry McGlaughlin, Liberty, Mo. > Krumping gives movement to the Spirit’s call ...... 15 David Woody, Daniel Island, S.C. Bill Hamilton and Baptists Today (ISSN 1072-7787) > Sanctuary for challenged children, parents ...... 16 Charliene Hooker is published monthly by: Baptists Today > A bigger connection to Baptist life ...... 32 P.O. Box 6318 In memory of Jim Lockhart Macon, GA 31208-6318 > Wayne Oates’ legacy of caring continues...... 33 From his wife, To subscribe or place an advertisement, > ‘Lebanon 10’ serve as emissaries for peace ...... 38 Nell Lockhart call 478-301-5655 or toll-free 1-877-752-5658. Subscription rates: 1 year, $20 2 years, $35 I N E V E R Y I S S U E 1 year groups of 25 or more, $15 1 year Canada, $35 1 year foreign, $50 Editorial 7 Readers’ Responses 24 Periodical postage paid at Macon, Ga. 31208 Quotation Remarks 10 In the Know 25 POSTMASTER: Resource Page 18 Lighter Side 28 Send address corrections to: Baptists Today P.O. Box 6318 Formations Commentary 19 Reblog 29 Macon, GA 31208-6318 Classifieds 23 Media Shelf 35 © 2009 Baptists Today. All rights reserved.

July 2009 • Baptists Today | 3 F E A T U R E STORY AND PHOTOS BY JOHN PIERCE Listening Veteran broadcaster creates community to Luther

For more than six decades, Luther Masingill has reported on everything from major news stories to lost puppies, winning the trust of his listeners.

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — Only one person is credited with reporting the technological changes in broadcasting over the decades, Luther does not care much for Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the assassination of President John F. change on a personal level. Kennedy and the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the same radio station. He met his wife, Mary, at Avondale Baptist Church — just two houses down is name is Luther Masingill — of Georgia — keenly aware of everything from where he lived — and has not changed but in the hills and valleys from world news to a local church group’s wives or churches since. And he and Mary around Chattanooga, the last upcoming car wash. continue to live in the only home they have name is unnecessary. The affable ever owned despite changes in the commu- H STAYING PUT man with the familiar mellow voice is just nity and the relocation of their congregation. “Luther.” Though a recipient of the prestigious “I’m funny; I’m working for the same Every weekday morning, as he has done Marconi Award who was offered broadcasting company I started out with 63 or 64 years for more than six decades, Luther rises to a jobs in larger markets, Luther has stayed put ago — it’s changed hands once but is the 4:15 alarm and makes his way to the studios — “all 87 years of my life” — in his home- same station with the same call letters,” he of WDEF. There he keeps residents of the town except for a three-year stint in the said, spinning his chair away from the micro- Tennessee Valley — including the northeast military during World War II. phone during a taped commercial. “I don’t do corner of Alabama and the northwest corner While he has embraced the remarkable much changing.” 4 | Baptists Today • July 2009 I N F O RFMEAATTIUORNE

QUIET SERVICE have to get in the lost dogs and cats and “You never know who you are going to “I’ve been a Baptist all my life,” said Luther of other announcements.” run into out there,” he said with a smile. “Somebody will come up and say, ‘You found his longtime involvement with Avondale ‘DOG GONE’ Baptist Church.” a dog for me — 25 years ago.’” Yet he does not use his local celebrity Luther is a one-man lost-and-found depart- On this day he reports on a lost black status for a bright religious spotlight. Rather ment. He is so well known for his faithful and brown Chihuahua north of town and a he has always preferred quieter contributions efforts to reconnect homeowners with their nursing female cat that jumped out of a car to kingdom work — like mowing the church pets, that he does a daily television segment and fled down Rossville Boulevard. lawn and caring for widows. on WDEF News 12 called “Dog Gone.” He even tried to help someone who lost When ice delivery stopped decades ago, When out and about, Luther hears a camera case — “not the camera, just the Luther discovered one elderly neighbor who gratitude for his compassion and concern. case” — in Ringgold. refused to buy a new-fangled refrigerator. So he would bring bags of ice for her cooler — Longtime radio personality Luther and, in the winter, coal to keep her warm. Masingill (right) with co-host James On the air Luther has long been a friend Howard outside the Chattanooga to churches and other religious groups seek- studios from which their show is broadcast on Sunny 92.3 every ing to spread the word about their work. weekday morning. Public service announcements (PSA’s) flood into the station — now by email, voice mail, fax and in stamped envelopes. “I’ve had (station) managers along the way who have said, ‘You talk about the church so much,’” Luther recalled. “Well, that’s the community.” CHURCH NEWS Some of the announcements making his “Community Calendar”— which he also shares on television — are typed out on an old Royal typewriter. On this day in early June, he tells of a gospel music benefit at Mount Vernon Baptist Church, a carwash the Silverdale Baptist youth are using to fund a mission trip to Peru, a community-wide baby dedication at a Church of God congregation, a flea market at First Centenary United Methodist Church and the 39th Annual Lutheran School Horseshow. “From the things people have said to me over the 60-plus years, you know they appreciate what the station does for churches, religion, and for keeping a good clean broadcast station,” he said. “It makes you feel good.” Concerts, revivals and other church- sponsored events — along with civic and personal interests — create a thick and ever- growing file on Luther’s desk. “The ratings are good; the (ad) sales are good,” said Luther of the Sunny 92.3 morning show he co-hosts with news director James Howard. But he suspects the church news will be pared down a good bit “when I pass on.” “I try to get every (church announce- ment) — in an abbreviated version — on the air at least once,” said Luther. “But I also

July 2009 • Baptists Today | 5 F E A T U R E

CONNECTING PEOPLE much,” said Luther. “I didn’t realize how big So he just keeps getting up early and it was until other bulletins started coming in: coming down to the station. Luther connects people to other people as ‘Ships sunk.’ ‘More ships sunk.’ Then the “It’s a great business and I’ll miss it if I well. He gives daily funeral notices with an total casualties, (and) then the president have to get out of it,” he said. “I enjoy com- empathetic voice. He offers well-wishes to spoke.” ing to work everyday.” those in times of grief and celebration. Luther said he was so young, that it was But then he added: “The mornings that “When I think of Luther, I think of two or three days later before he realized the are most difficult are … when the alarm is community instantly,” said his on-air partner full significance of it. going off at 4:15 and I can hear the rain and friend, James Howard. “He just loves “And I was on the air the time President coming down the downspout outside my people, and he loves helping people.” And the love is often returned, said the Kennedy was killed (in 1963) and announced bedroom window.” veteran broadcaster whose mellow voice has his death,” he recalled. “I never thought, in Yet no one else in the greater Chatta- been booming across the region for so long. my lifetime, we would see one of our presi- nooga area could possibly spread the word “That look they give you when they dents assassinated.” about lost pets, church fundraisers, funeral walk up, that’s the warmest feeling in the “I’ve been on the air when a lot of announcements and world events quite like world,” said Luther. “Being a Baptist and things have happened in our history,” he said Luther. being a Christian, I can see a look of love in reflectively. “If you pull any kind of shift, At 87, he still travels the tall stairs up to their faces because of something done for you’ll cover a lot of that.” his second-story studio in impressive fashion. them over the years.” People want to know his secret to a long, healthy “That’s one of the rewards,” Notes of church news and other he said of the radio business. community concerns are tapped life. out on Luther's manual type- He tells them: “For Then, with good comedic tim- writer before being read on his ing, he deadpans: “The pay isn’t radio and television broadcasts. many, many years I will get that great, but …” up, bathe, shave and all of that, and then before I GETTING STARTED come to work I touch the As a teen, Luther worked at a tips of my shoes 50 times gas station frequented by Joe without stopping.” Engel, the popular owner of the And he adds: “Then I Chattanooga Lookouts baseball take the shoes off the team and the upstart WDEF dresser and put them on radio station that would sign on my feet.” New Year’s Eve 1940. Staying active by doing Hearing Luther’s good something you love is his voice, Engel invited him down more serious answer to the to the station to apply for a job question of a long and pro- answering the telephone. But instead he was Of course, Luther has not pulled just ductive life. That’s why his familiar voice put on the air. “any kind of shift” but has taken to the air- continues to be a comfortable part of starting “(Joe Engel) liked to say, ‘I gave Luther waves for more than six decades — with his the day for many in this scenic region. his start,’ and he did,” said Luther. “He also only break being his time in the Army Signal “It has kept me busy all these years and hired me as the public address announcer (for Corp where his communication skills were probably has kept me alive — doing some- the Lookouts). I introduced the players until put to good use. thing rather than retiring and sitting on my each one batted once — and then the pinch- “I kid about it and say: ‘Yes, I was in butt.” hitters. World War II. I fought and I fought and I Luther said he does less public speaking Luther spent about two years on WDEF fought — but I still had to go.’” now and spends most of his off-air time at radio, while still in high school, before going Luther also reported the terrorist attacks home or at church. He does get out on occa- into military service. As a teen, he reported on American soil that occurred on Sept. 11, sion to visit family and friends — and to the big event on Dec. 8, 1941, that started 2001. “I was on the radio and watching it on brush elbows with the many fans who treat the worldwide conflict. TV and announcing it live.” him like family. “I was on duty at that time and heard On a recent Sunday he met his brother the bell ringing in the newsroom indicating LONGEVITY’S REWARD and other relatives for lunch at a German a bulletin,” he recalled. “Ding, ding, ding, Affirmation from listeners he encounters in bakery over in Tracy City, Tenn., near ding …” restaurants and grocery stores means a lot to Monteagle Mountain, where the WDEF He picked up the news bulletin that read Luther. signal travels. something like: “Japanese have attacked by “That’s one of the rewards of being in With his typical dry wit, Luther said: “I air the ships on the island of Oahu.” this business,” he said. “Seeing that expres- told my brother I’d have to leave church a lit- “It was Pearl Harbor, but to me, as a sion on their face. It’s that feeling of affecting tle early to get there in time — right before young high schooler, it didn’t mean too someone’s life in a good way.” they take up the collection.” BT

6 | Baptists Today • July 2009 P E R S P E C T I V E e d i t o r i a l Dozing off in church . . . history By John Pierce

altimore, in the racially charged and what many consider to be the first Baptist whitsittbaptist.org. challenging days of the early ’60s, is congregation. This anniversary year is a good time to B the setting for the musical Hairspray. All Baptists would do well to attend one pay closer attention to the people, places, In the 2007 movie version, Nikki Blonsky of the many events throughout the nation causes and conditions in which our deep con- plays the main character, Tracy Turnblad — and world that spotlight this occasion. Or, at victions and unique approach to faith and a chubby young white girl with good dance the least, to read one of practice developed. Even a casual familiarity moves and a strong social conscience. the many excellent books with our Baptist past will reinforce an under- She is expressing her idealism about about those who shaped standing about those principles for which racial equality and interaction when African- the Baptist movement. Baptists have long stood and even died. American actress Queen Latifah’s character, While at high risk Our history reveals to us a profound Motormouth Maybelle, responds: “Have you of offending many commitment to freely-chosen/non-coercive been dozing off during history?” friends who have also faith, non-hierarchal denominational struc- It is a question that has frequent applica- written excellent and rel- tures with voluntary cooperation, equal and tion. We often encounter words or actions evant books on Baptist individual access to God and Scripture, unfet- that suggest a need to look backward before history, let me suggest just a few: Portraits of tered congregational autonomy, and full moving ahead. Courage, by Julie Whidden Long, The Story religious liberty for all persons while seeking As Baptists, we have reached a signifi- of Baptists in the United States by Pamela and no special governmental favors. cant historical milestone as various groups Keith Durso, and Roger Williams by Edwin It is the thread of freedom — for indi- within our denomination celebrate four cen- Gaustad. vidual conscience and congregational turies of a spiritual movement that began in Many good biographies of early Baptists direction — that is woven throughout the obscurity and resistance before growing into such as Smyth, Helwys, William Carey, 400-year quilt of the Baptist movement. It is prominence and influence. Andrew Fuller, Luther Rice, Adoniram and a unique tradition that values dissent. Yet, too often, Baptists — including Ann Hasseltine Judson, and John Leland are Speaking to the First Baptist Church of many in significant leadership roles — seem enlightening. And the broader Baptist history Bennington, Vt., recently, American Baptist to have dozed off during history. picture is well painted by the good works of leader Roy Medley shared the story of Joanna Various celebrations are being held this Baptist historians Walter Shurden, Bill P. Moore, a white Baptist in the 1800s who year in recognition of the 400th anniversary Leonard, Leon McBeth, William Brackney, was denied appointment by the American of the worldwide movement that most church Charles Deweese, Robert Gardner, Jesse Baptist Home Mission Society to work with historians trace back to a small band of Fletcher and Doug Weaver — among many. newly freed slaves. But she would not be believers who dissented against control by The Internet is full of resources as well stopped, and formed the Women’s Home church authorities. The group, led by forma- with good starting places being: baptist Mission Society to carry out her calling. tive Baptist leaders John Smyth and Thomas history.org, centerforbaptiststudies.org, “Like any good Baptist, she ignored Helwys, organized in Amsterdam in 1609 baptistheritage.org, abhsarchives.org and the church authorities of her day, and she plowed ahead,” Medley said to the congregation, according to the Bennington Banner YES! I/We want to support BAPTISTS TODAY by… newspaper. ______J Making a gift of $______(enclosed). Can you imagine any other faith tradi- NAME tion in which a denominational leader J Making a pledge of $______to the ______Keystone Fund to be given over three years. publicly celebrates dissent against church (Initial gift enclosed) PHONE ______authority and identifies such action as the J Making a gift of $______in memory or honor (circle one) of ______. ______defining norm? No. Baptists, only Baptists, ADDRESS J Providing a church group subscription would do that. ______(25 copies) through a gift of $450. Being marked by such freedom is risky. CITY J Sending individual gift subscriptions to But the historic Baptist understanding of this _____ friends at $20 each for one year or ______$35 for two years. (Enclose names and STATE ZIP prized principle does not suggest reckless free- addresses of recipients.) ••• dom — but rather responsible freedom where J Exploring ways to support Baptists Today MAIL completed form with check to: Baptists Today, P.O. Box 6318, the individual person is responsible for relat- through estate planning. (Contact Keithen Macon, GA 31208-6318 — or, to use a CREDIT CARD, call ing to God and the individual congregation is Tucker at 478-330-6223 or 478-361-5363 1-877-752-5658 or 478-301-5655. or [email protected].) responsible for charting its course of ministry. BAPTISTS TODAY IS A 501(C)(3) CHARITABLE ORGANIZATION. GIFTS OF SUPPORT ARE GREATLY APPRECIATED. This is no time to be dozing off. BT July 2009 • Baptists Today | 7 P E R S P E C T I V E BY BILL J. LEONARD

‘STREET QUESTIONS ABOUT BAPTISTS’ Editor’s note: This is the seventh article in a series titled “Street Questions about Baptists,” in celebration of 400 years of the Baptist movement. ‘Why are Baptists against drinking and dancing (wink, wink)?’

I did not attend my high school senior prom. It was a dance and we Baptists, at least our little Baptist church on Fort Worth’s south side, opposed dancing, especially for the youth group.

o Pene, Cheryl and I, all church against “Eli Clark, a black member . . . for Dancing involved multiple dangers. It members and seniors at Paschal High parting with his Wife, getting drunk and fostered physical contact with the opposite sex S School, had our own little party with dancing — he being then present acknowl- that could (and preachers said often did) lead friends and stayed away from the prom lest edged the charges … (and) he is by this to more explicit sexual encounters; it could we compromise our witness. Church excluded” (W. Sweet, Religion on the occur in contexts that were themselves thought Consequently, I never learned to dance. American Frontier: The Baptists, 387). to be morally compromising — taverns, bars, By the time I realized (about a year or so ago) In 1815 all “black members” of the night clubs and, worse yet, “honky-tonks”; that one could choose to dance, and still Forks of Elkhorn Church were slaves, an issue and it could induce musical states of being remain a professing Christian (and not hit never addressed by the disciplinary action of that unleashed animal instincts. hell wide open), it was just too late to learn. the congregation. The editor of the Religious Herald Whatever rhythm I had was lost forever in Nonetheless, Baptists’ responses to these (Richmond, Va.) summed it up in an article revival meetings and other “rededication” issues are important for what they reveal published on March 16, 1876: “Dancing, we services. about piety, practice and the relationship judge, is not sinful per se (but) it requires no (One of my all-time favorite sermon between Christian living and cultural context. prophet to perceive that the ardor and incon- titles, preached by an infamous Texas pastor, Why were the sins of dancing and drink- siderateness of youth, the excitement of the addressed the martyrdom of Jesus’ prophetic ing signposts on the road to discipleship, music, and the frivolities engendered by cousin as “The Baptist preacher who lost his holiness and covenant responsibility for association, would be likely to lead to unwar- head at a dance!”) Baptists? There were multiple reasons. rantable familiarities between the sexes” Across much of 19th and 20th century First, I think that in many ways they (R. Spain, At Ease in Zion, 199). America, Baptists in general and in the South reflect an understanding of what it means to Second, Baptist piety (and that of other in particular were known as the non-dancing, be born-again, a turning from one way of life Protestant denominations) often pressed non-drinking, non-smoking, non-movie-going to another. As seasonal revivals and camp believers for all or nothing in their Christian denomination, the source of curiosity, humor meetings became a normative way of con- commitments. In other words, “moderation” and even ridicule from secularists and certain fronting sin and entering into faith, Baptist on issues such as dancing and especially more “free” (or more “worldly”) Christians. evangelists called persons to radical conversion drinking was actually little more than com- Some suggest that such practices were that broke all connections with “the world,” promise with the world, a sell-out to the simply the attempt of preachers and congre- often requiring anti-dancing, anti-alcohol principalities and powers of the present evil gations to control the private lives of their commitments as outward and visible signs of age. members, stealing the joy out of them, and a genuine profession of faith in Jesus Christ. Where alcohol was concerned, what dictating certain conformity to the popular began as a movement for “temperance” morés of the day. turned soon enough into a requirement of Others suggest that by concentrating on total abstinence. individual sins of dancing and alcohol, It was not always so. The earliest Baptists distracted themselves from the Bill J. Leonard is Baptists were Puritans, most of whom harder and more divisive questions of such founding dean and rejected drunkenness, but consumed alcohol social sins as war, poverty and, of course, professor of church history moderately. They also used wine in commun- human slavery. at the Wake Forest ion, a biblical witness. For example, records of the Forks of University Divinity School During the colonial period, beer and Elkhorn Baptist Church in Kentucky from in Winston-Salem, N.C. wine were the cheapest alcohol available. On April 1815 note that a “complaint” was made the frontier, however, “hard liquor” (whisky)

8 | Baptists Today • July 2009 P E R S P E C T I V E

was often the drink of choice, even among while eliminating another sacramental norm biblical exegesis and ecclesial practice. church folks. Indeed, bourbon whisky itself (wine) so readily. Some Baptists now dance in the Spirit was “invented” by none other than the These days Baptists demonstrate multi- while others move their bodies in response to Reverend Elijah Craig, a Baptist dissenter ple responses to issues such as dancing and something called “Christian heavy metal” exiled from Anglican Virginia, who preached drinking. Some have not moderated their music. And then there is the matter of health the gospel and founded churches across opposition to both practices, claiming infalli- and antioxidants, of all things. Kentucky. ble biblical authority. Others suggest that Ironically, Paul’s admonition to Timothy Because liquor was sometimes a “money moderation may be possible as long as to “Take a little wine for your stomach’s sake” crop,” certain frontier Baptists pledged bar- Christian witness is not compromised. (1 Tim. 5:23) might be worth revisiting rels to the church as part of their annual Young conservative Baptist bloggers are biblically and physiologically, by a new gener- offerings. Churches sold the whisky to cover challenging their elders’ claims that alcohol ation of Baptists. But not if it makes you expenses. abstinence is the only biblical norm. Still dance (B. Leonard, Criswell Journal of The rise of the “Gospel Temperance” others note that Baptist global diversity Theology, Spring 2008, 17). BT movement brought together two coalitions of illustrates varying options drawn from Christians in one grand crusade. Revivalistic pietists attacked “demon rum” as the agent of physical and spiritual defilement, corrupting the body, the very “temple of the Holy Ghost.” Social Gospel and Women’s Rights advocates united with evangelicals to fight the communal familial results of the excessive alcohol consumption — spouse abuse, poverty and familial hopelessness. Many insisted that preachers must address not only the individual responsibility for alcohol abuse, but also the failures of employers evident in the lack of a livable wage, tenement housing and the exploitation of labor — all of which weakened human resolve and could lead to alcohol abuse. In 1907, Baptist Social Gospel leader Walter Rauschenbusch wrote that: “Alcoholism is both a cause and an effect of poverty. The poor take to drink because they are tired, dis- couraged, and flabby of will… Tuberculosis and alcoholism are social diseases, degenerat- ing the stock of the people, fostered by the commercial interests of landowners and liquor dealers, thriving on the weak and creating the weak” (Christianity and the Social Crisis, 242). The rise of the Temperance/Abstinence Movement was the primary reason that many American Protestants, including Baptists, largely dropped the use of wine at communion in favor of unfermented grape juice. Not all were willing to relinquish biblical literalism so easily, however. John G. Crowley cites a Primitive Baptist elder who observed that Southern Baptist “and Methodist use of grape juice in communion was quite appropriate, since their doctrines bore the same resemblance to truth as grape juice bore to wine” (Primitive Baptists in the Wiregrass South, 180). Such Primitive Baptists asked how other Baptists could continue to demand immersion as the biblical norm for baptism

July 2009 • Baptists Today | 9 P E R S P E C T I V E quo a ion t t r e m a r k s

“… We are called to witness, not “Listen closely to today’s self- “I am glad that he is dead. Now I am public relations. We must aim to be proclaimed conservative Christian sad that he went to hell, because he gracious and winsome in our witness radio talk shows, an“d you too will had a choice just like e”verybody else to Christ, but the bottom line is that hear the timeless tug of war between did. He could have chosen Jesus the gospel will necessarily come into the powerful and powerless.” Christ and when he died went to open conflict with its rivals.” —Bruce Gourley, interim director of Mercer heaven. But he chose the devil.” —R. Albert Mohler Jr., president of the University’s Center for Baptist Studies and online —Wiley Drake, pastor of the First Southern Baptist Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (BP) editor for Baptists Today (Baptist Studies Bulletin) Church of Buena Park, Calif., and former second vice president of the Southern Baptist Convention, speaking to his June 1 radio audience about “… Whether you believe in human- “Baptists, much to our peril, tend to Dr. George Tiller, the controversial abortion provider induced global warming or whether espouse a terribly thin theology of gunned down in his Wichita, Kan., church (ABP) you’re like me, really skeptical about vocation.” that, there is one thing we can agree —Ben Cole, who now works on public-policy issues “Murdering someone is a grotesque on, and that is the earth is the Lord’s in Washington and is often identified as and everything in it.” “a former Southern Baptist pastor” (ABP) and bizarre way to emphasize one’s commitment to the sanctity of —Barrett Duke of the Southern Baptist human life. People who truly believe Convention’s ethics agency during a May conference in the sanctity of human life believe on creation care organized by young SBCer “This is why healthy, growing, Jonathan Merritt (ABP) in the sanctity of the lives of abortion aggressive church leaders are providers as well as the unborn seeing this as a huge option babies who are aborted.” “Teaching is an intellectual under- taking in which the teacher is just as on the table that didn’t exist a —Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty much of a learner as the student.” few years ago.” Commission, on the May 31 shooting death of —Jim Tomberlin, of Third Quarter —Minori Nagahara, a former sixth grade teacher Dr. George Tiller in New York City who now teaches in Tokyo, in an Consulting, on the availability of affordable article titled “Teaching as a Christian Vocation” commercial properties that were previously out (Baylor University’s Christian Reflection) of the reach of congregations (RNS)

“No one denies that religion has always played an important role in the “When you wear these shades, In the news, 25 years ago . . . lives of Americans. There is also no you’re saying you love Jesus.” doubt that religious differences have —Gerome Singletary who, along with his brother, “… [Paul] excludes women from pas- been the cause of much controversy introduced a line of evangelistic sunglasses called toral leadership (1 Tim. 2:12) to and conflict in our nation’s history. “Shades of Glory” (RNS) preserve a submission God requires That is why the framers of our because the man was first in creation Constitution were careful to preserve “If they leave the church, they won’t and the woman was first in the the peace and tranquility of our free be covered, and that is a shock for Edenic fall (1 Tim. 2:13ff).” and diverse society by securing lib- many churches.” —From a resolution passed at the erty of conscience for all citizens by —Rex Frieze, an Orlando-based expert on church separating government and religion.” accounting, urging religious groups to tell employees 1984 Southern Baptist Convention —Bruce Prescott, executive director of during hiring that they won’t qualify for meeting (SBC Today, July 1984) Mainstream Oklahoma Baptists (ABP) unemployment benefits (RNS)

10 | Baptists Today • July 2009 STORY AND PHOTOS BY JOHN PIERCE I N F O R M A T I O N BJC seeking new space on Capitol Hill

ASHINGTON — “Location, location, location” is the mantra W of real estate professionals. That is also what leaders of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty (BJC) have in mind as they search for new space in Washington, D.C. “Symbolically, it’s important for us to maintain our Capitol Hill presence,” said Brent Walker, executive director of the religious liberty advocacy organization supported by 15 diverse Baptist denominational groups. Currently, the BJC rents office space in the Veterans of Foreign Wars building near the Supreme Court Building on the Hill. While a great location, it does not provide space to host visiting groups or offer any street-side visibility. Yet the strategic location allows BJC staff easy access to the Supreme Court where briefs are filed and to the Congress where much advocacy for religious liberty occurs, said Walker. The envisioned Center for Religious Liberty would also provide a better setting for the third prong of the BJC’s work — education. Groups visiting the nation’s capital could be hosted for events focused on religion free- Above: While in an ideal location, the Baptist dom and the role the BJC plays in that effort. Joint Committee's rented offices do not provide “We’re in the process of looking at prop- the street-front benefits that leaders such as erty,” said Walker, who described the ideal Brent Walker (right) hope will come with the new Center for Religious Liberty on Capitol Hill. facility as a new, or more likely an older facility needing renovation, with 5,000-6,000 square feet of space and within three to four blocks of the Capitol. continue to give and to pledge and to be Walker agreed: “Having a street-front And with a purchase price that does not partners with us as we finish out the year.” entrance is integral … with a sign that reads exceed $5 million, he added. While trying not to set firm time targets, ‘Center for Religious Liberty.’” The vision to raise funds for a new Walker said he and other BJC leaders would The new facility, Walker said, would Baptist Center for Religious Liberty was cast like to have the new Center for Religious have other benefits as well — such as show- in 2003. The campaign to make this dream a Liberty operative well ahead of the current casing Baptist contributions to religious reality has now brought in $3.2 million in lease that expires in three years. He also liberty, increasing meeting space for coalition pledges — including $2.2 million in the expressed hope that the entire project can be work with other religious liberty groups, cre- bank. funded without a mortgage so that the cur- ating state-of-the-arts communications and Walker said that support has led them to rent budgeted funds for rent can go into providing space for a larger number of engage a real estate agent to begin the search programming. interns to serve. — with hopes that at least another $1.5 mil- Reginald McDonough, former executive The dream is moving toward reality, BJC lion can be raised before the purchase. He director of the Baptist General Association of leaders said. The only remaining tasks are to credits BJC supporters with rallying behind Virginia and chair of the campaign, said the find the best available space and to complete the effort — especially two longtime friends. new facility would expand the BJC’s work the campaign. “We are as far along as we are in large and give it greater visibility. “We feel that when we find a specific measure due to two donors — Babs Baugh “We feel we’ve got to create a spot to property then we’ll be able to wrap up (the and the Baugh Foundation, and Pat Ayres,” host visiting delegations from churches, campaign),” said McDonough. BT said Walker of matching-fund offers over two colleges and seminaries,” he said. “And we consecutive years. “We hope people will really need a front door.” For more information, visit www.bjconline.org.

July 2009 • Baptists Today | 11 I N F O R M A T I O N BY JOHN PIERCE ‘Scholarly but accessible’ Review & Expositor still bridging gap between academy, church

ATLANTA — After more than a cen- longtime mission of open academic inquiry. “The journal became independently tury of tackling theological issues incorporated under Kentucky law, (but) the and enduring varying and, at times, change did little to alter the nature of the journal,” said Keown. “Content decisions conflicting Baptist opinions, the aca- and issue planning had long been the province of the editorial board without demic journal, Review & Expositor, interference from the seminary administra- continues its longtime mission of tion.” With the emergence of several new bridging the gap between the acad- Baptist seminaries and divinity schools fol- emy and the church. lowing the SBC’s rightward shift, a new opportunity availed itself in 1996. Under Gerald Keown and Nancy deClaissé-Walford egun as a publication of the the leadership of Dan Stiver, managing edi- Southern Baptist Theological tor at that time, a consortium agreement B Seminary faculty, the R&E is now put the editorial board and the financial produced through the collaborative efforts well being of the quarterly journal into the of several Baptist institutions of theological hands of sponsoring institutions — that education. could invest at one of two levels, as either “It is scholarly, but accessible,” said sponsors or patrons. current managing editor Nancy deClaissé- In 2001, however, Baylor University’s Walford, a professor at Mercer University’s Truett Seminary — one of the original spon- McAfee School of Theology and the first sors along with Baptist Theological woman to guide the 104-year-old journal. Seminary at Richmond and McAfee School “It is applicable to the local church context.” of Theology — pulled out after the publica- Gerald Keown, associate dean at tion of a controversial article on theology Gardner-Webb University’s School of and sexuality written by a pastoral counselor. Printed in the front of each quarterly Divinity, wrote about the journal’s history According to deClaissé-Walford, steps issue is this stated purpose: “The Review & and influence at its century mark in 2004. were taken to avoid similar reactions while Expositor is a quarterly Baptist theological The journal began in April 1904 under the seeking to not over-react. As a result, she journal dedicated to free and open inquiry guidance of then Southern Seminary said, “All members of the editorial board of issues related to the Church’s mission in President E.Y. Mullins. can now preview each issue ahead of its the contemporary world.” “(Mullins) stressed the importance of a printing and give feedback.” “We plan our issues a good two years forum in which diverse perspectives could Other schools involved with the jour- in advance,” said deClaissé-Walford, noting be voiced in areas of theological signifi- nal’s sponsorship and editorial direction that the spring issue always contains a cance, diversity which would even include include Gardner-Webb, Logsdon School of Bible study. The remaining content, she non-Baptist voices.” Theology at Hardin-Simmons University, added, is designed to be “broad-based but The practice of including the perspec- Campbell University Divinity School (now (with) sound theology.” tives of non-Baptist scholars continues said a sponsor) and Baptist Seminary of Topics for this year and the next deClaissé-Walford. Kentucky as well as two institutions with include “Scripture on Scripture,” archaeol- The journal’s early focus, said Keown, ties to American Baptists — Central ogy, worship, prophetic preaching, and was on offering reviews — as the name Baptist Theological Seminary and teaching the Bible in a congregational con- suggests — of various theological resources American Baptist Seminary of the West. text. available to ministers. In time, the scope of Many noted Baptist theologians and New technology has also impacted the the publication broadened. educators — such as Glenn Hinson and journal. Electronic subscriptions are avail- When controversy wracked the Frank Stagg — have guided the journal able as well as the print format. And Southern Baptist Convention in the 1980s along its long course, said deClaissé- collections of past issues are now available and 1990s, and the Louisville-based semi- Walford. While hot-button theological — 11 years worth of R&E on a CD or 50 nary was undergoing tremendous change, issues impacting the church are constantly years of Bible study editions on DVD. the publication’s editorial board took steps changing, the journal’s mission has These resources and other information may to ensure the journal would continue its remained consistent, she added. be found at www.rande.org. BT

12 | Baptists Today • July 2009 I N F O R M A T I O N American Baptists study clergy compensation

NEW YORK — The Ministers and Mission- worshippers and a history reaching back at was 28.5 percent of average operating aries Benefit Board (MMBB) initiated a study least 100 years. Most of the churches had expenses. in 2007 of churches providing MMBB bene- fewer than four employees, most of whom Nearly four out of five churches respond- fits to learn more about their compensation were part time. ing to the survey (79 percent) reported that levels and practices. The overall average total compensation they review and adjust the pastor’s salary The American Baptist-related group’s for lead pastors was $50,768, but the largest annually based on — in order of frequency stated objective was “to gain information single group of pastors earned between — cost of living, a general evaluation of the independent of MMBB’s plan administration, $40,000 and $49,999. (Total compensation pastor and comparisons with other profes- reinforce MMBB’s longstanding position as a includes cash salary, housing allowance and sionals, such as school superintendents. trusted source of knowledge on clergy com- Social Security offset.) Responding churches reported they increased pensation matters and improve MMBB’s Of the churches responding, the current pastoral compensation by an average of 4.99 ability to advocate on these issues.” lead pastor had been with the church for an percent in their previous fiscal year. A 2008 survey requested demographic average of nine years and, on average, had 24 The Midwest and the Northeast had the information on the churches; information on years of ministry experience; 85 percent of highest number of responding churches; these the lead pastor’s tenure, experience and edu- those lead pastors had completed a master of churches also have the smallest worshipping cation; compensation and benefit levels for all divinity degree or doctorate. congregations, total operating expenses and employees; and optional contact information. Those with comparable work in the lowest lead pastor compensation levels. The survey was mailed in April 2008 to nonprofit world receive compensation that is, Churches reporting from the South and West all 3,240 churches currently contributing to on average, 11⁄2 times higher than the average regions had larger worshipping congrega- MMBB benefits on behalf of their employees. lead pastor in this study. tions, larger total operating expenses and The 18.8 percent response rate was consid- The average percentage of the churches’ higher lead pastor compensation levels. BT ered higher than the industry standard of 5 annual operating expenses that supports the percent for surveys of this type. lead pastor was 17.8 percent. In churches The full report is available at The majority of responding congrega- with congregations of less than 100, the aver- www.mmbb.org/clergy_compensation_ tions had no more than 100 weekly age annual compensation for the lead pastor survey_2008.cfm. Poll says Americans moving rightward on social issues By Bob Allen points lower than last year. While nearly percent a year ago to 52 percent now. two-thirds said divorce is morally acceptable Both Republicans and Democrats PRINCETON, N.J. (ABP) — A week after (62 percent), the number is down from 70 increasingly expressed doubts about the releasing a poll for the first time showing a percent in May 2008. Five percent fewer morality of gambling, but the drop was majority of Americans describe themselves Americans now view gambling as morally faster among Republicans. Among as pro-life, the Gallup Organization acceptable (58 percent) compared to a year Democrats, acceptance of gambling dropped reported new numbers showing public opin- ago. from 67 percent to 64 percent, while among ion moving to the right on a number of Most Americans (62 percent) view the Republicans it dropped six points to 55 per- other social issues as well. In a May 20 poll, death penalty as moral, same as last year, cent. Half of Democrats (52 percent) accept fewer Americans said it is morally accept- and just under half (49 percent) approve of the morality of abortion, compared to fewer able to clone humans, have an abortion or gay or lesbian relationships, up one point. than one in four Republicans (23 percent). conduct stem-cell research using human On the question of buying and wearing Nearly twice as many Democrats (66 per- embryos than those polled a year earlier. clothing made of animal fur, 61 percent said cent) as Republicans (35 percent) affirm A majority still finds stem-cell research it is moral, an increase of seven points from same-sex relationships. morally acceptable, but support for such 54 percent who said so last year. Few Americans view a married man research dropped five points to 57 percent. The survey said most movement and woman having an affair as moral Just one in three Americans (36 percent) toward the right occurred for Republicans. (6 percent). About the same number believes abortion is morally acceptable, Support for stem-cell research declined nine (7 percent) said it is moral for a man to be down four points in the last year. Support points among Republicans, to 41 percent, married to more than one woman at the for human cloning fell from 11 percent to while the percentage of Democrats finding same time. Fifteen percent said suicide is 9 percent. it moral remained steady at 74 percent. morally acceptable, the same percentage as A slight majority said sex between an Democrats’ attitude toward divorce also last year. unmarried man and woman (57 percent) or remained unchanged, with 74 percent find- The survey was based on telephone having a child out of wedlock (51 percent) ing it morally acceptable, while among interviews with 1,015 adults conducted May is morally acceptable, both four percentage Republicans that view dropped from 64 7-10. The margin of error is 3 percent. BT

July 2009 • Baptists Today | 13 I N F O R M A T I O N Mainline clergy OK with gay rights Still cautious on issue of gay marriage

By Daniel Burke “the most in-depth study of mainline clergy Religion News Service attitudes on LGBT issues ever undertaken.” More than two-thirds of mainline Mainline Protestant clergy are generally clergy support hate crimes legislation and more likely than most Americans to protections from workplace discrimination endorse gay rights, but only one in three for gays and lesbians; more than half (55 ABC clergy opinions supports same-sex marriage, according to a percent) say gay couples should be allowed new study. to adopt children. According to this study, 20 percent of About one-third of mainline clergy But the survey found “significant and surveyed ministers affiliated with the support civil unions and one-third oppose sometimes stark differences” between main- American Baptist Churches, USA, any legal recognition for gay couples, found line Protestant denominations, with clergy affirms that same-sex couples should be Public Religion Research, a Washington- in the United Church of Christ and allowed to marry. A slightly higher per- based consulting firm, which released part Episcopal Church most supportive of centage (28) believes that gay couples two of its “Clergy Voices Survey” on May LGBT rights. Clergy in the United should be allowed to enter into civil 20. Methodist Church and American Baptist unions. According to a Washington Post/ABC Churches USA are least supportive. Additionally, 52 percent of Amer- poll released in April, 49 percent of The other denominations surveyed ican Baptist ministers believe that no Americans say they support gay marriage, were the Presbyterian Church (USA), the legal recognition should be extended to and 47 percent are opposed. Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, same-sex couples. Here are a few more Five states have legalized gay marriage and the Christian Church (Disciples of of the study’s findings on American with a sixth, New Hampshire, set to join Christ). Baptist clergy: their ranks once legal protections for reli- Overall, mainline Protestant clergy • 52 percent supports hate crimes gious groups are put in place. have become more supportive of equal legislation. Such assurances that churches and con- rights for gays and lesbians over the last • 33 percent supports adoption rights gregations will not be required to perform decade, and 45 percent now favor the ordi- for gays and lesbians. gay marriages make mainline Protestant nation of gays and lesbians with no special • 28 percent supports the ordination of clergy much more willing to accept them, requirements, the survey found. gays and lesbians. according to the report. Support for gay Still, a slight majority (51 percent) of • 31percent stated that the church marriage jumped from 32 to 46 percent mainline ministers said that disagreements should not oppose making homo- with the “religious liberty” assurance, in their church over homosexuality have sexuality acceptable. according to the survey. become a crisis. Among that majority, 40 • 33 percent supports gays and lesbians The “Clergy Voices” report details the percent say the crisis is about how the Bible as lay leaders in their church. response of senior mainline clergy from should be read, 27 percent say it concerns seven denominations to more than 60 ques- what the church is supposed to be and 23 Poll results provided by Aaron Weaver tions about gay, lesbian, bisexual and percent say it’s about core Christian doc- who blogs at www.thebigdaddyweave.com. transgender issues. The researchers called it trine, according to the survey. BT Federal government finds home-school numbers on the rise WASHINGTON (RNS) — The number of home-schoolers reported in 2003, according to home-schooled students has nearly doubled in the report. the last eight years, with parents’ desire to pro- More than 8 in 10 parents said they vide religious and moral instruction the most home-school their children to provide religious oft-cited cause, according to a recent report by or moral instruction, up from 72 percent in the Department of Education. 2003. Thirty-six percent said that was the An estimated 1.5 million students — most important reason they home-school their nearly 3 percent of the country’s school-age children, followed by concern about the school population — were home-schooled in the environment (21 percent) and dissatisfaction spring of 2007; that’s up from 850,000 home- with the academic instruction available at schoolers reported in 1999 and the 1.1 million other schools (17 percent). BT

14 | Baptists Today • July 2009 BY STEVEN G. VEGH, Religion News Service F E A T U R E Krumping gives movement to the Spirit’s call

CHESAPEAKE, Va. — On a peaceful afternoon in a suburban home garage, Demetrus Leslie, 17, jerked like he was dosed with strychnine. His arms lashed menacingly, then he dropped to the floor, only to rear up smoothly. His chest popped in and out, convulsing as if an alien larva heaved within. He ranged around the garage, “traveling,” or following the direction of his foot stomps and arm swings. “Go, go!” admiring friends yelled over the pounding music. In his spontaneity, speed and mesmerized concentration, they could see the tell-tale symptoms. Demetrus had got krump. Praise the Lord! Krump is a frenetic dance born on the West Coast, combining flashes of modern dance, break-dancing, tribal-like dance, hip hop, “pop lock” steps and free-form motion, often at blurring speed. Leslie and his friends say Krump truly is Kelvin Weldon shows some of his krumping moves to fellow members of the ”Kreative Mindz Crew” in Chesapeake, Va. Photo by Stephen M. Katz/The Virginian-Pilot. all about God. “When you’re going the fastest, that’s Alexis Hinton, in contrast, shot wolfish One rule is to keep up with school work. when you unleash, that’s when God takes looks, baring her teeth while stamping and “I don’t look for C’s and D’s; I look for A’s over,” said Demetrus, who belongs to a local clawing the air with outstretching arms. and B’s,” said Leslie, who often checks in krump group, Kreative Mindz Crew: The Despite the feminine bows on her red flats, with parents about teens’ grades. Syfer Family, that aims to keep kids off the she radiated anger. Krumping, she said, is a Leslie also feeds dancers a steady diet of street and in the church. powerful emotional release. Bible verses and expects them to make Jesus The origins of the name krump are Nohnee Purvis, a high school sopho- Christ their model. The twice-weekly dance obscure, but fans including Demetrus’ older more, said he first krumped for fun but soon, practices start with prayer. Dancers are brother, Kreative Mindz manager Danyasius “the whole spiritual thing of it just hit me in expected to go to church. Leslie, give it this definition: Kingdom the chest,” he said. Now, he even acts differ- The group has performed about 25 times Radicals Uplifting Mighty Praise. ently. during Sunday worship at New Light Full “How would I describe krump?” said “Sundays, I’d just sit in the house, sleep, Gospel Baptist Church in Virginia Beach, Danaysius, 29. “I would say, because I have a talk on the phone,” Purvis said. “Now I get which Leslie attends. Bishop Rudolph B. Christian background, that it’s the power of up and go to church. My whole mind has Lewis said some older congregants initially God that moves.” changed. We got Christ up.” recoiled when he allowed krumping at services. For Kreative Mindz dancers, to krump is Leslie started the group two years ago Lewis himself said he understands to praise God through movements inspired by with his brother and some friends, inspired krump dancing no better than his parents’ the Holy Spirit. “It’s God, man, all we do is by “Rize,” a lauded 2005 documentary on generation understood Elvis Presley’s risqué give the glory to God,” said Jaren Goodridge, krump by renowned photographer David swivel-hips in the ’50s. But he’s told parish- 15. LaChapelle. ioners that teens are more likely to attend Krump’s spiritual dimension may not be According to Leslie, a hip-hop dancer church — and to say no to gang-banging — immediately apparent to the uninitiated spec- named Tommy the Clown started krump in if they know their unorthodox worship styles tator, and Leslie conceded it can be hard for California in the 1990s. The expressive, are welcomed. outsiders to see the thrashing and jumping as freestyle dance caught on as an alternative to “God wants to hear what you want to divinely inspired. street violence, with dancers competing, or say, and he don’t care how you say it, and if In the Leslies’ garage, lithe Goodridge “battling,” one another to display their moves you say it like this” — Lewis contorted him- danced like a caffeine fiend, slender arms and krumping prowess. self, krump-like — “he hears you.” BT swinging, bending and jabbing triple-time, Leslie’s dance practices in his garage fasci- one motion flowing into the next, his gaze nated neighborhood kids and he began —Steven G. Vegh is a writer for The fixed on the floor. recruiting, setting conditions for membership. Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk, Va.

July 2009 • Baptists Today | 15 F E A T U R E BY KEN CAMP, Baptist Standard Sanctuary for challenged children, parents

DALLAS (ABP) — Parents of squirming children who cannot stay “One of the greatest services churches can provide is to give families a place where they focused and who often end up labeled as “troublemakers” sometimes feel safe,” Angelotti said. “Churches are at feel isolated — and maybe even unwelcome in church. Author Maren their best when they help children to become what God intended them to be.” Churches Angelotti believes they are in good company. The parents of John the become more welcoming places for families of children with learning disabilities when adults Baptist and the Apostle Peter might have felt the same way. who work with the children understand them, several children’s ministers noted. t’s obvious from God’s word that he has of prideful self-sufficiency, Angelotti insisted. First Baptist Church in Port Neches, no problem working with people who are And the churches themselves must move out Texas, seeks to be the kind of place where I different. ... In fact, he seems to prefer of denial that a need exists, she added. parents feel their children are affirmed and it,” Angelloti writes in her book, Of Different “The faith community has to realize loved — not rejected, said Jeanette Harvey, Minds: Seeing Your AD/HD Child Through there is a problem. It’s not so much that the minister to children and preteens. “We try to the Eyes of God. church has dropped the ball, but it hasn’t build trust with these parents who probably Angelotti — who earned a master’s really picked up the ball, either,” she said. already have their defenses up. Some of them degree from Dallas Baptist University in Matthew Stanford, professor of psychol- have been told by teachers and other authori- teaching for the learning-different student — ogy and neuroscience at Baylor University, ties, ‘Your child is a problem,’” she said. understands learning disabilities such as has noted AD/HD, in “We want to love on them and let them attention deficit disorder, hyperactivity, particular, is a controver- know we want them here.” A key way teach- dyslexia and perceptual dysfunctions. sial topic among some ers and workers can help children with As a reading therapist who specializes in evangelicals. learning differences is by making accommo- remediation programs for dyslexic students, “Within Christian dations to their special needs in ways that she recognizes the neurological differences circles, some have gone don’t single them out. between the brain activity of the general as far as to suggest that “They get enough of that at school and population and children with learning AD/HD is nothing more everywhere else they go,” noted Amy Owens, disabilities. than rebellion, resulting children’s minister at First Baptist Church in Maren Angelotti But she also understands learning differ- from bad parenting, or Garland, Texas. ences experientially. Three of her four society’s attempt to turn sin into sickness,” In the Sunday school classroom, the children have learning disabilities — two Stanford writes in Grace for the Afflicted: accommodation may be as simple as encour- diagnosed with ADD, dyslexia and related A Clinicial and Biblical Perspective on aging teachers to vary their teaching styles to disorders, and one with ADD and auditory Mental Illness. appeal to a variety of learning styles. By processing disorder. And she realizes the chil- While he acknowledges AD/HD has incorporating different styles that reach dren inherited those traits — she is dyslexic, been misdiagnosed, and probably over- visual, auditory, tactile and kinesthetic learn- and her husband, Bob, has ADD. diagnosed, that does not negate its reality or ers — children who learn best by seeing, One big challenge parents of children churches’ responsibility to respond. hearing, touching or moving — the needs of with learning differences face is AD/HD is “a real disorder that affects children who process information differently floundering in what the lives of real children and their are met, she noted. Angelotti calls “the sea families,” he writes. “When a teacher uses more than one of denial” and failing to “These children wrestle daily approach frequently, that helps every child in come to terms with the with debilitating physical, psycho- the class, because the more senses they use, special needs their children logical and spiritual issues. the more they absorb and learn,” Owens said. have. Although mistakes may have been Bible Drill competition — a contest “Pride is really the made in relation to diagnoses in based on children’s ability to find selected bottom line. They have a the past, this does not change Scripture passages quickly, as well as memo- tendency to say, ‘Nobody the fact that children who do rizing key verses and the books of the Bible needs to help me,’” she said struggle with this disorder can — presented a special challenge, but First in an interview. be effectively treated. And Baptist Church in Garland worked to level But if churches seriously the church has a significant the playing field for children with dyslexia. want to minister to all families — role to play in their healing.” “We advocated at the associational and including parents of the more than An important first step churches can take state levels for an easy accommodation for 2 million children in the United States with is to educate members — particularly Sunday them,” said Owens, who has a daughter with learning differences — they must approach school teachers and children’s workers — dyslexia. They changed the procedure of the parents in ways that break down those walls about learning differences and learning styles. competition slightly. When a monitor would

16 | Baptists Today • July 2009 I N F O R M A T I O N call out verbally a Scripture passage or book in the Bible, he or she would hold up a visual cue Religious leaders say time running at the same time. The accommodation not only helped the dyslexic children, but also was bene- ficial to competitors who were more visual out for Palestinian Christians learners rather than auditory. Children with By Bob Allen grows and hardliners are strengthened.” learning differences may require special atten- The leaders said the current stalemate tion, such as having a worker assigned WASHINGTON (ABP) — Religious demonstrates that Israelis and Palestinians specifically to that child to make sure he or she leaders warned President Obama that con- cannot reach a negotiated agreement with- gets what is needed in order to learn, she noted. tinuing strife between Palestinians and out America’s strong helping hand. They While it generally can be done discreetly, Israelis threatens to wipe out a Christian urged the Obama administration “to pres- sometimes other children will notice the extra presence in the Holy Land. ent proposals that go beyond the mere attention one child receives. When dealing Fifty-six representatives of various principle of two states and lay out a just with older children — particularly preteens Protestant and Catholic faiths — includ- and equitable solution that provides dig- who already may have made a commitment to ing several Baptists — wrote a letter June nity, security and sovereignty for both follow Christ — teachers may want to gently 4 applauding the president for making peoples.” explain the special needs of one of their class- peace in the Holy Land a top priority but One leader signing the letter was mates. warning that time is running out for a Jimmy Allen, coordinator of the New “Children are all about being fair. If we viable and peaceful two-state solution to explain to the older kids that someone is get- Baptist Covenant, a movement aimed at conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. uniting Baptists in North America divided ting extra attention because they need a little While concerned about Jews and special help in order to be even with every- by race and denomination on common Muslims, the leaders said they are particu- concerns such as poverty and justice. body else, in their minds, that’s fair larly worried about the plight of the Other Baptist signers included Joy treatment,” she said. Palestinian Christian community. Fenner, former president of the Baptist “Our kids are more compassionate than “In the birthplace of our faith, one of General Convention of Texas; David we give them credit for. Particularly if they the world’s oldest Christian communities Goatley, executive secretary-treasurer of the already have become Christians, they have the is dwindling rapidly, and with them the Lott Carey Baptist Foreign Mission Holy Spirit working in them. They are look- possibility of a day when three thriving Convention; Wayne Johnson, general sec- ing for opportunities to express that faith communities live in shared peace in retary of the National Missionary Baptist relationship they have with Christ.” Jerusalem,” the letter said. Convention of America; Willie Maynard, Churches also can minister to families of Unless there is an Israeli-Palestinian treasurer of the National Baptist children with learning differences by offering peace agreement, the leaders warned Convention, Inc.; Roy Medley, general sec- programs that directly benefit the parents. “Christians in the Holy Land may cease to Since most learning disabilities are inherited, exist as a viable community.” retary of American Baptist Churches USA; oftentimes at least one parent has learning dif- The leaders said a “window of Tyrone Pitts, general secretary of the ficulty — including many that went opportunity” for a two-state solution Progressive National Baptist Convention, undiagnosed as children, Angelotti noted. establishing peace and security “is rapidly Inc.; and William Shaw, president of the “Adults typically don’t seek help for them- closing” in the Middle East. National Baptist Convention, Inc. selves, but churches can provide assistance by “Continued settlement growth and Some of those individuals signed an offering literacy and reading training,” she expansion are rapidly diminishing any earlier letter to the president drafted by noted. possibility for the creation of a viable Christian leaders invited to a two-day Churches also can provide marriage Palestinian state,” the letter said. “The summit on growing despair in the Holy enrichment ministries or even subsidized targeting of Israeli civilians through ongo- Land at The Carter Center in May. counseling that help couples directly address ing rocket fire and the insistent rejection In that letter religious leaders pledged issues that put strains on their marriage. by some of Israel’s right to exist reinforces to Obama “to continue to build con- Among families affected by learning disabili- the destructive status quo. These actions, stituencies that will advocate for a just ties, most often one spouse has AD/HD, along with the route of the separation bar- political settlement to the Israeli- dyslexia or some other dysfunction, and the rier, movement restrictions and continued Palestinian conflict” and committed to “an other learns to compensate, Angelotti home demolitions, serve to undermine ongoing conversation with you about observed. “That can lead to a martyr syn- Palestinians and Israelis alike who seek achieving the solution we can no longer drome, where one spouse feels he or she has to peace. As hope dims, the threat of violence postpone.” BT take care of everything,” she said. “Finances particularly can be a point of tension that destroys a marriage. There is a high divorce The current stalemate demonstrates that Israelis and rate among this group. Palestinians cannot reach a negotiated agreement without “When marriages are healthy, children America’s strong helping hand. are healthy — mentally, spiritually and physically.” BT

July 2009 • Baptists Today | 17 R E S O U R C E S

Brought to you this month 2007 by Mike Harton The Resource Page ... creative and practical ideas Baby boomers, volunteerism and the future of church leadership

ews flash: “Churches losing market and they want to make a difference. see why people choose to volunteer outside share as boomers exit the ranks of Couple this with a perhaps surprising the church. N leadership.” This could be the head- effect of the economic downturn, the con- So what can churches do to attract and line if churches continue business as usual scious decision to focus on significance over keep baby boomers (and others) as volunteers? when it comes to their laissez-faire practices of success, and you get a virtual tsunami of • Recognize and bless their service in the caring for volunteers. This is particularly true potential volunteers. Already the value of vol- community. when it comes to baby boomers — that “pig unteer hours runs into millions of dollars, and • Make available the same benefits they find in the python” generation, 72 million strong, this statistic is growing. in the community. born between 1946 and 1964. The opportunities for volunteering in the • Present the challenge and expectations of It is no stretch to realize that churches are community continue to grow: School-aged each ministry opportunity. probably the longest standing users of volun- and adult literacy (in some areas called men- • Provide orientation and training. teer services of all community organizations. toring), English as a Second Language, • Enlist their help in setting goals. From teaching Sunday school classes to helping older adults, addressing hunger and • Identify channels of accountability. staffing committees to operating the various homelessness issues, teaching hobbies and life • Give feedback on the quality of service done. mission efforts, churches are almost com- skills, and the list goes on and on. • Find multiple ways to recognize their serv- pletely dependent upon unpaid volunteers. But you may protest, these are all things ice. (Examples: Ask volunteers to give That is why the future of program and min- that many churches do — which is true. testimonies in worship and in the newsletter istry leadership in churches is in jeopardy. When baby boomers evaluate the options for about why they serve. Write notes and Jeopardy? Are people going to stop vol- investing their time, however, they are e-mails of appreciation to them for specific unteering? No. Are churches in danger of affected by such things as the quality of orien- acts of leadership. Treat them with a gift loosing volunteers? Yes. For years churches tation to the job, clarity of expectations, the card. Share e-mail links related to leadership have found it increasingly challenging to staff training provided, the promise of supportive or their area of responsibility.) programs and ministries, and that challenge yet honest supervision, feedback and recogni- • Offer short-term opportunities for service; will increase. The primary reason has nothing tion, clearly stated goals, and often the talk in terms of weeks and months rather to do with lack of dedication or poverty of possibility of short-term commitment. than in terms of years. time, but rather the increasing opportunities How do churches stack up in these areas? for volunteering in the community. Let’s be honest, usually when we enlist volun- If programs and ministries are to survive, It appears that community agencies are teers for a task … churches must awaken from their malaise and more in tune with demographics and trends, show potential volunteers that the opportuni- • Goals and expectations are not clearly which leads them to be more adept at attract- ties provided are worthy of their investment stated. ing and holding volunteers. This is particu- of time and energy. No amount of guilt or • Little or no orientation and/or training is larly true of baby boomers, the first wave of appeals to spiritual motivation will substitute provided. whom are approaching retirement or have for meeting volunteers’ expectations. • Real supervision is missing. retired early with no desire to spend all their Need some motivation to get started? • Feedback is lacking on how well or poorly time knitting, playing golf or fishing. Visualize being able to staff only one huge the task is done. Indications are that this will be the most adult class, having no children’s activities for • There is little or no recognition for service. active retired cohort in history so far. High lack of help or else ill-equipped huge classes numbers of boomers are actively searching for Add to the list above the likelihood that vol- consisting of all ages, and few mission activi- meaningful ways to give their time in service unteers fear becoming lifers (“If I accept that ties. Continue the status quo, and that’s what to their communities. They want engagement, job, I’ll never get out of it!”), and it is easy to we’ll reap. BT

THE RESOURCE PAGE is provided by the Congregational Life office of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship in partnership with Baptists Today and for those dedicated lay leaders working in the educational ministries of local churches. This month’s page was written by Mike Harton, an adjunct professor at Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond and Bluefield (Va.) College and an educational coach living in Midlothian, Va. Resource Page Archives are available at www.thefellowship.info/Resources/Church-Resources/Baptists-Today-resource-page.

18 | Baptists Today • July 2009 2009 Formations Commentary Bible Study resources for the adult Formations lessons available from Smyth & Helwys Publishing (www.helwys.com)

LESSONS FOR: from having our relationship with God in ing or removing the cause of alienation” Sunday, Aug 2-30, perspective first. (p. 199). The expiation of our sin is an act of 2009 Walking in the light has to do with let- God that reconciles us to God. This is not Written by Chris ting the holiness of God be the illumination of only a gift for us, but also for the whole O’Rear, executive direc- our character. We cannot be in God’s light and world. tor for clinical services say that we have no sin. When in the presence Fellowship with one another begins with at the Pastoral Counseling Centers of of the Holy, we should be aware of our imper- our relationship with God through Jesus. It involves keeping perspective on our own Tennessee, Inc. in Nashville. fection and then feel a sense of humility. This is a key component in having meaningful fel- behavior in order to better have relationships lowship with others because it keeps us from with others. We are to monitor our sinfulness thinking too highly of ourselves. John writes and seek to walk in the light of God’s holiness here that if we say we have no sin, then we and love. Aug. 2, 2009 deceive ourselves. We are imperfect and should These verses are not for us to use as a Sin wisely not think too highly of ourselves. measuring rod to determine if others are in We are not hopeless in our imperfection, the light or in the darkness. These verses 1 John 1:5–2:2 however. If we acknowledge our sin to God, he encourage us to seek within ourselves and It has been said of the church I attend that “if is faithful to his promise to forgive us and to judge our own hearts, to be honest with our- there is one of them in Baptist life, then there cleanse us from our unrighteousness. The other selves and with God. We have confidence that is one of them in our church.” This is often side of acknowledging our imperfection is real- when we find things in our life that keep us said to describe the diversity of thoughts that izing that God loves us. Therefore, in our alienated from God, others or ourselves, co-exist within our fellowship. It is a constant imperfection, we should not be too critical of God has already acted to make our reconcilia- and intentional act to maintain this diversity, ourselves. When we stand before God and real- tion possible. So, with the humility of and we do this better at some times than oth- ize our sinfulness, God makes us clean and new. self-evaluation, we are able to have fellowship ers. At the same time there must also be some We are made righteous by his work and his gift with others. common beliefs that bind us together as a through Jesus. We must balance not thinking body. In matters of difference, we often seek too highly of ourselves with the reality that we McDowell, Edward A. Vol.12. The Broadman to understand and respect one another rather are valued, loved and gifted by God. Bible Commentary. Nashville: Broadman than label and marginalize one another. The So, if we know we are sinful and we Press, 1970. ability to be a body of believers is predicated know that we can be forgiven by God when on each member of the church trying to live we do sin, we may be tempted to think that it Aug. 9, 2009 out our church motto of “Loving God, Loving is okay to continue in our wrongdoing or not People.” worry about it. John is clear, however, that we Practice discernment The first epistle of John is instructive for should live in such a way as to try to avoid 1 John 2:18-27 my church and others because John’s goal was sinfulness, but know that when we do sin, we to identify a set of core beliefs the early fellow- have the gift of Jesus to save us. If we fully The world of the Christian church is diverse. ship of believers should embrace. John wanted recognize the magnitude of God’s love for and Christians have been divided and subdivided to clarify how the fellowship could appreciate gift to us, then our attempts to avoid those over a number of secondary issues related to — rather than just tolerate — the diversity of things that separate us from God, ourselves the practice of our faith. its membership. and others are simply a gift of gratitude we Some believe that baptism is required for John begins his description of right living give to God. This is made clearer by the use of salvation; others see it as a symbol. Some and right fellowship by building on the life “expiation” to describe Jesus’ saving work on believe that infants must be baptized; others and message of Jesus and describing him as our behalf. believe that only those who have made a deci- both “light” and “truth.” Walking in the light The word hilasmos, translated as expia- sion to follow Jesus should be baptized. Some means believing in the person of Jesus as tion or propitiation, is derived from the Christian churches put more emphasis on God’s Son and following his example and Hebrew word kipurim for covering. Edward Jesus taking the form of humans and being teachings. If we believe, we are forgiven our McDowell writes, “The scriptural use of the born, while others emphasize Jesus’ death on sins. And if we follow Jesus, then we have [word] is not to convey the idea of appeasing the cross or Jesus’ resurrection from the dead right fellowship with others — which flows one who is angry toward another but of alter- as being the most significant. Christians are

Cooperative Baptist Fellowship provides these Bible study resources to church leaders through this supplement to Baptists Today. For more information on how CBF is “serving Christians and churches as they discover their God-given mission,” visit www.thefellowship.info or call 1-800-352-8741 F O R M A T I O N S C O M M E N T A R Y

divided on the style of worship, meaning of rather than just an intellectual knowledge. one another as believers is not to be in exclu- worship and order of worship. There are The abiding in Christ should produce fruit; it sion of the love for our enemies or the love for Christians who are “pro-life” and Christians should bring about growth and transforma- others in the world. who are “pro-choice.” We are liberal and tion. Those who fell away from the church The story of Cain and Abel (Genesis 4) conservative, Republican and Democrat. could not have been connected to Christ in has been problematic for me in the past While the body of Christ should be able to this way or they would not have left the because at first look, the acceptance of Abel’s make room at the table for a variety of views fellowship (2:19). offering and not Cain’s seems arbitrary. Upon and personalities, some tenets of our faith The connection to Christ seems to be a closer reading, however, it seems there is ought to be non-negotiable. As stated in the predicated on “abiding” in what was heard something about Cain’s attitude and life that previous lesson, part of the reason for writing from the beginning. Therefore, we should made his offering unacceptable. God offered 1 John is to warn against those who claim to continually focus our attention on the life and Cain the opportunity to make it right and to have a truth but do not have the truth. teachings of Jesus. We should connect our- master whatever sin he had kept in his heart, In the language used in today’s text, we selves with his commandment to love one but Cain did not change his life. What made see why there is a historic connection between another (John 12). We should remind our- Cain evil was not the offering he brought 1 John and the Gospel of John. In this section selves through study of scriptures and prayer God, but how he handled his relationship with of the epistle and in John 15:4-10, there is a of the saving acts of Jesus’ life, death and res- God and how he treated his brother. Instead language of abiding in Christ. Also in this part urrection. We need to share our experiences of correcting his relationship with God, Cain of 1 John there is a description of the role of and reflections with other believers to test our grew angry with his brother and killed him. the Holy Spirit to guide and instruct like that understanding and to encourage one another. John points out that when we have a in John 14:26, 15:26, and 16:7-11, 13-14. When we are grounded in these things, right relationship with God, those who do not Similarly, we find in 1 John and in John we cannot be led astray by those who bring may hate us. John’s primary focus in 1 John, 14:10-11 and 6:24 a warning against false other teachings. We are not tempted to deny however, is on believers loving one another. teachings regarding the relationship between the experience of salvation we have through Sadly, loving others within the church Jesus and God the Father. There is also a Jesus, and we are not lured into hatred of one community can often be difficult. At church shared sense of urgency of time (John 16:32). another. We cannot be deceived about our we deal with matters of ultimate concern for As John is writing, he refers not to one own sinfulness or tempted to think too highly us, things about which we feel strongest. “Antichrist” but many, evidently believing his of ourselves. When we are grounded in what Often times, church is a place where we are contemporaries are already living in the “Last we “heard from the beginning,” we have the more concerned about appearances than hon- Hour” (v. 18). Edward McDowell points out, potential for true community and the Spirit’s est and open communication. When we find though, that the Greek for “Last Hour” does teaching to protect us from being mislead. places where we differ, we are tempted to dis- not have a definitive article; “The” is missing. count or ignore the differences or else we The absence of the article leaves the time McDowell, Edward A. Vol.12. The Broadman focus on the differences and nurture divisions ambiguous. “Last hour” therefore indicates Bible Commentary. Nashville: Broadman and hatred. However, can hatred and murder that the days are critical, but not necessarily Press, 1970. really be the same, as John suggests? the last days. What makes the time critical One of my favorite preachers, Tom seems to be the presence of those who bring Richter from Queens, New York, humorously Aug. 16, 2009 alternate teachings about Jesus. said in a recent sermon, “If you wake up Most writers on 1 John agree that those Care for one another tomorrow and you have the choice to hate me to whom John refers as the antichrists are or kill me, please, just hate me.” There does probably former members of the early church. 1 John 3:11-22 seem to be a big difference between the feeling It is believed that these former members of the In John 13:34, Jesus tells his disciples he is and the act, but Glenn Barker writes, “To hate body were followers of an early form of giving them a new commandment to love one is to despise, to cut off from relationship and Gnosticism. As such, they may have had a spe- another. This is the message the followers of murder is simply the fulfillment of that atti- cial anointing that they believed gave them Jesus have heard from the beginning. As John tude” (p. 335). special knowledge about God. They would points out in 1 John, love is also the mark of a Hatred of a brother or sister reduces that have held beliefs that denied either the divine true follower of Jesus and having love is a way person to simple ideas or labels. It is easier to nature or the human nature of Jesus, stating of discerning whether we are truly a child of hate an idea than a person. When we substi- he was either all one or all the other. God. tute a person for his or her ideas, we reduce John is reminding those in the early As a child of God, we are to have love for the individual to an object — a sum of our church that they also have an anointing — our brothers and sisters. We are to be a family labels. When we objectify the other, we effec- one by the Holy Spirit. He reminds them of of God. Perhaps this is why John offers Cain tively kill the personhood of the other. We what they have learned and what they have as an example of the antithesis of this love; have more difficulty hating, and I imagine, known. John’s use of the word “abide” here is because Cain killed his own brother, Abel. would have difficulty killing, a person we reminiscent of the use in the vine and Loving those in our Christian family is some- really take the time to know and understand branches references in John 15 and implies a times difficult, but is possible when the love of (and perhaps even love.) more complete relationship that fills a person Christ is in us. The love we are to have for The drastic contrast to the division and 20 | Baptists Today • July 2009 F O R M A T I O N S C O M M E N T A R Y

objectification that can lead to hatred and interstate or insults the character of your attends a church. murder is the self-sacrificing love of Jesus. mother in a disagreement. That church has not been a place of love Jesus’ act of laying down his life for us is to be Talking and theorizing about love is and grace for many is a sad testimony to our our example of how to show love to others. much easier than expressing genuine love — need to hear John’s words. We are to consider the needs of others and to because genuine love is not our primary The love espoused in 1 John is presumed give of what we have in the service of others. nature. “Love” has been tainted and distorted to be a response to the false teachings of the This directive should not be limited to only by the imperfections of this world and some- “antichrists” about love. The love of the false those who are in the church. In fact, we often times by misguided teachings in our own teachers was similar to that of Greek under- do well providing for the needs of those in our faith. Without a complete focus on God, standing was focused more on the love of church or in our Sunday school classes, but whose nature is love, it is difficult, if not people for the gods. It also dealt with the idea the example of Jesus is an extravagant gift impossible, to love one another well. of love as a more metaphysical principle. It is given to all. In my work as a counselor dealing with profound, then, for John to state that not only As we observe the need of the world, it couples and families, I am often reminded of does God love us, but also that the very nature may be overwhelming to consider how our the difficulty in loving even those closest to us of God is love. resources could possibly be sufficient, but we because of our fears and hurts. Because we The word that John uses for love here is need to find some way to share what we have have been hurt or because we know our own agape, which is the word for the type of love been given with others because of the magni- vulnerability to being hurt, we respond to oth- that flows from God. This love is also tude of what has been given to us. It is the ers in ways to defend ourselves against hurt. described as “love by choice, love motivated by ability to have our heart broken by the pain When faced with loss of or rejection by some- the will and implemented by action and and need of the world that demonstrates we one, we may respond to the other by trying to conduct” (McDowell, p. 215). have Christ in us. control his or her behavior rather than manag- While romantic love (eros) and brotherly To live in such a way as to have the heart ing our own fears. love (phileo) are not the same, it seems reason- of Christ in us is only possible because God Connection with others always comes able to think that all forms of love should puts that heart in us. John says that if we fol- with a loss; whether it is the person we met contain some elements of agapé. This love is low his commandments and do what pleases for only five minutes in the grocery store or an extension of God’s nature to us and is God, then we will have what we ask. Rather the spouse who has died after 50 years of mar- demonstrated in very tangible ways. It is a than suggesting a formula by which we will riage. Every connection has a loss. Fear of loss, love that seeks the best for us and calls on the receive all that we pray for, this seems to be fear of hurt and fear of rejection keep us from highest part of our beings. suggesting a way in which we can align what being completely open and cause us to Because we have received such extrava- we ask for with God’s desires. John also clari- respond to others from a defended position gant love, we also ought to love one another fies the commandments we are to follow, rather than the vulnerability and openness with the same love. To do this, we need to which are very similar to the words of Jesus that lead to true connection. The imperfec- confess our fears and let God heal our hurts. that John records in his Gospel: we are to tions of this world that feed our insecurities We need to seek to be open with others and to believe in Jesus as the son of God and love one and add to our hurts lead us to a place of fear respond with gratitude and humility. If we another. To truly grasp the depth of these rather than love. cannot love one another — or love one truths and to live them out daily is to demon- Unfortunately, fear is sometimes a part of another well — we must examine our experi- strate the love of God in us and connect us the message of Christianity as presented in ence and relationship with God because love is with those around us. some churches. from God because God is love. Erik Reece, author of An American Barker, Glenn W. Vol. 12. The Expositor’s Bible Gospel: On Family, History, and the Kingdom Barker, Glenn W. Vol. 12. The Expositor’s Commentary. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, of God, was interviewed on May 13, 2009, on Bible Commentary. Grand Rapids: 1981. National Public Radio’s program “Fresh Air” Zondervan, 1981. about his experience growing up with a fundamentalist pastor for a grandfather and how he McDowell, Edward A. Vol.12. The Broadman Aug. 23, 2009 left the church in search of a less punitive Bible Commentary. Nashville: Broadman Embrace love form of Christianity. He described not only Press, 1970. the sermons he heard, but also the way he was 1 John 4:7-21 dealt with at home and the effect of these Aug. 30, 2009 It is easy to talk about “love.” We love the things on him and his father. Sin, guilt and burger we are eating. We “just love that new salvation from hell were all Erik ever heard Live victoriously dress” someone is wearing. We believe we from a church that, as he described it, 1 John 5:1-5, 13-21 should love others, but what exactly does that sounded hateful and judgmental. Though mean? Does it mean we should have warm Reece has come to a new understanding of As John begins to close his message, he sum- feelings for humanity as a whole? That seems God and Christianity that embraces the living marizes several points he has been making and fine until some member of humanity as a of Christian faith through love, he admitted in weaves his thoughts together. The result is an whole decides to ride your bumper down the the end of the interview that he no longer affirmation of the person of Jesus as the son of July 2009 • Baptists Today | 21 F O R M A T I O N S C O M M E N T A R Y

God and the faith of those believers in the when we pray. Though John affirms the confi- In this discussion on sin, John makes a early church. As John expands the ideas of the dence we can have in obtaining the things for statement that all “wrongdoing is sin” (v. 17), power of the faithful believer over the powers which we pray, perhaps it is the confidence but then states that “those born of God do not of the world, he uses some perplexing refer- that God is at work in our lives when we pray sin” (v. 18). As a person who seeks to follow ences. What is a “mortal sin” (vv. 16, 17) and to accomplish his purposes and not a specific the life and teachings of Jesus, I know that I what does it mean that “those born of God do outcome in which we have confidence. The am not perfect. Therefore, I do not understand not sin” (v. 18)? These things seem more com- specific example of prayer that John gives is what it means that those born of God do not plicated than a simple admonishment to “love one of the perplexing statements he makes in sin. We may be able to discern some meaning, one another.” this writing. however, if we look at the context that states In John’s summary he is reiterating the John affirms that if we see a brother or the “evil one” has control over the world. uniqueness of Jesus as God’s son. He also sister in sin, we can pray that God will bring If we also assume that sin is that which affirms that to believe that Jesus is the Christ them life. That God can work in a person’s life alienates us from God, then, what John may is to be born of God. He outlines that when to bring life is part of the good news of Jesus. be saying is that while those born of God may we are born of God, we have certain qualities However, there is a sin identified as “mortal” do wrong from time to time, because of the — we love the children of God, we obey God’s that seems immune to this. act of Jesus, we cannot be separated from God commandments — and our faith gives us vic- “Mortal sin” or literally “sin unto death” and would not return to the evil one in the tory over the world. Faith, in this sense, is not is not identified specifically by John, which world. It is an affirmation of the sustaining act an intellectual exercise, but a setting of our would indicate that the exact identity of the of God’s love. It is also an indictment of those path and priorities in light of Jesus’ identity sin is not important or the identity is reason- who had been a part of the early church and and teaching. ably clear from culture or context. Indeed had left it for another way. The “world” we overcome, then, is that some Christian traditions have gone to great As John nears the end of his writing, he which is contrary to the identity and teaching lengths to compose lists of sins that are con- affirms again what “we know.” He affirms the of Jesus. This is perhaps summarized in John’s sidered mortal and non-mortal (venial). There truth of Jesus as God’s son and the truth of affirmation that those who have this faith can was also a Jewish tradition of dividing sins our ability to know him (not just intellectu- know that they have eternal life. Eternal life into two major categories: (1) deliberate, ally). He also affirms the truth that by would be characterized both as endless (as to which were punishable by death, and (2) inad- believing in Jesus as God’s son we can know time) and “God Breathed” (as to quality), and vertent, which could be atoned for. However, God-breathed eternal life. An idol is some- would stand in contrast to a worldly life that examination of the content and purpose of the thing we worship instead of the “true” God. is finite and characterized by destruction and text may be sufficient to identify the mortal This seems to be why John completes this hopelessness. sin. writing by admonishing the believers to avoid As if to accentuate the unique quality of First John seems to be written in response idols. It is an encouragement to stay grounded life in Christ, John gives some specific exam- to the teachings of a group of people who in the truth of Christ, the power of God and ples of the power of faith in prayer and over probably left the fellowship of the early the love for one another. sin. The “We know” phrase occurs numerous church, a group that John calls “antichrists.” times in verses 13-21 and seems to affirm the The context of John’s statements would indi- Barker, Glenn W. Vol. 12. The Expositor’s faith of the early church. “We know that [God] cate that their “sin unto death” could be their Bible Commentary. Grand Rapids: hears us” (v. 15) when we pray is one such failure to accept Jesus as the Son of God, their Zondervan, 1981. phrase and is qualified with the familiar words failure to put their faith in him and their “if we ask anything according to his will.” inability to love one another. (This would not McDowell, Edward A. Vol.12. The Broadman Similar to “In Jesus’ name,” this is not to be three separate sins, but one sin resulting Bible Commentary. Nashville: Broadman be formulaic as much as it is to be an attitude from failure to put their faith in Jesus.) Press, 1970. BT

22 | Baptists Today • July 2009 C L A S S I F I E D S

Ethicists mark 75 years Minister of Students of ‘Confessing Church’ First Baptist Church of Wilmington, N.C., affiliated with CBF and located in downtown ATLANTA (ABP) — A document written Wilmington along the coast, is seeking a three-quarters of a century ago to protest minister of students who would offer leadership to a missions-minded, established and rising nationalism in Nazi Germany’s Let Gather ’Round help your church come growing youth ministry of 80+ students, as Protestant churches provides instruction for together around the Bible! Gather ’Round: well as to an active youth leadership team. Hearing and Sharing God’s Good News is the American Christians navigating through Candidates should exhibit maturity and be a Bible story-based curriculum that connects today’s culture wars, say a Baptist ethicist team player. A seminary degree and youth church and home. Gather ’Round nurtures and Methodist filmmaker. ministry experience are preferred. Send children, youth and parents in becoming Sunday, May 31, marked the 75th résumés to: followers of Jesus — exploring their faith anniversary of publication of a statement and putting it into action. Find sample Ben Wright, Search Committee Chair that came to be known as the Barmen sessions, Bible outlines and more at First Baptist Church Declaration. Drafted by Swiss Reformed www.gatherround.org. 411 Market St. theologian Karl Barth, the six-point decla- Wilmington, NC 28401 Order a free preview pack today! ration challenged the popular “German [email protected] Christian” movement, which at the time was lending theological support to Hitler’s National Socialist (Nazi) party. Many modern Christians assume that theologians who opposed Hitler, like Advertise with Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Martin Niemoller, Full were the norm in Germany’s Protestant Page church. But in reality a majority of Germany’s Christian leaders viewed Hitler Baptists Today as a gift from God and the best hope for restoring national pride dashed in the after- 1/4 Ad Size/Inches Horiz. Vert. Price (bw/clr) H math of World War I. Full Page 7.75 10.75 $1400/$1800 “The story that has been prevalent Back Cover 8.0 8.0 $2200 (clr only since World War II is the common idea that the church was persecuted, that everybody 2/3 Page V 5.12 10.5 $1000/$1325 could see clearly what was going on, but 2/3 1/3 1/2 Page H 7.75 5.12 $775/$1000 they had to no real power to do anything,” V V 1/2 Page V 5.12 7.75 $775/$1000 said Steven Martin, a Methodist minster turned documentary filmmaker. “There 1/3 Page V 2.45 10.5 $500/$650 could be nothing further from the truth.” 1/3 Page Sq 5.12 5.12 $500/$650 Meeting May 29-31, 1934, in Barmen- 1/4 Page H 7.75 2.45 $375/$500 Wuppertal in northern Germany, 139 clergymen from Lutheran, Reformed and 1/6 Page H 5.12 2.45 $250/$325 United churches publicly disagreed with the 1/6 Page V 2.45 5.12 $250/$325 leadership of the German church and its 1/3 1/6 Sq. V willingness to follow the orders of the Print Classified Ads Web Classified Ads Third Reich. It marked the beginning of • line: 75¢ per word what became known as the “Confessing • line: $1.50 per word • 1/3 page: $225 Church,” which declared the Bible, not the 1/2 H • 1/3 page: $450 • 1/6 page: $112.50 state, would be the church’s authority. • 1/6 page: $225 The Barmen Declaration laid the Web Display Ads theological groundwork for Christian • Banner: $150 / week activism on later issues like apartheid, 1/6 • Side box: $75 / week economics and the environment. H “The Barmen Declaration stands the *For more details on ad sizes, design requirements test of time as a ringing affirmation of and frequency discounts, see rate card at Christian integrity in a time and place in 1/2 www.baptiststoday.org/advertise.htm. V which that integrity was under unprece- dented challenge,” said David Gushee, Reservations: [email protected] professor of Christian ethics at Mercer 1-877-752-5658 University. BT

July 2009 • Baptists Today | 23 P E R S P E C T I V E r e a d e r s ’ r e s p o n s e s

The issue is control from ecclesiastical” (Baptists Today, May church functioned as civil officials. This 2009, page 25) warrants respectful consid- assertion cannot be sustained today. EDITOR: I am a subscriber who appreci- eration. Thankfully, the nation and its states are ates the broad spectrum of coverage in the Most of his argument, however, seems governed by laws for the sake of the journal. It is one of the few journals that I all to hinge on the recognition of clergy by the people. read in its entirety. clerk of court and the necessity of the pub- Alternatively, this task does not eclipse I want to respond to a paragraph in lic record. With respect to recognition, I the role or responsibility of the church Aaron Douglas Weaver’s article on James am thankful for an unbiased process for commissioned by God which “must obey Dunn (April 2009, page 13). James Dunn clergy of whatever stripe, a right for which God rather than men,” as Peter reminded is the most respected and knowledgeable Baptists were in the center of the fight. the powers of his generation. Therefore, as church-state scholar among Baptists. With respect to the necessity of record I perform ceremonies, I may indeed have a Mr. Weaver’s article does him justice keeping, let’s remember Lindsey’s own role within and in support of publicly held except for one statement that is misleading point about the original established church laws, but the intent of the law is the free and confusing to an already confused pub- in the colonies. It was this church and its exercise of religion without prejudice, cer- lic regarding church-state relations. He antecedents in England and on the tainly not “the final vestiges of theocracy in writes: Continent, who, for the longest time, the United States.” “Dunn does not equate ‘the separation retained the birth, marriage and death On the other hand, I think that of church and state’ with separation of reli- records, often incompletely, without stan- Lindsey has actually, if accidentally, com- gion from politics … in a pluralistic dardization and certainly with prejudice pelled us (in paragraph seven) to look at democracy, he fully understands that reli- toward those not of its own persuasion. We the role of the church with respect to gion and politics will mix, must mix and keep our own records at our own church, divorce. Not wishing to admit either the should mix. He often declared that ‘mixing but that the state requires these records for fallibility of the church in confirming mar- politics and religion is inevitable but merg- the sake of inclusion, law enforcement, riage and being unwilling to enter into the ing church and state is inexcusable.’” public health, statistics and so on, is not a complexity of sorting out the lesser sides of To the average reader, not versed in problem but a public service. ourselves, the church deftly stepped aside the nuances of church-state rhetoric, that Excepting Lindsey’s rather late and of divorce and the state stepped into the may sound like double-talk. There is a sub- passing reference to blessing as a responsi- void. tle difference, but most strict separationists ble role of the church, I am suspicious that Can the church do better than hand believe “religion and politics” should never Lindsey has not considered the difference over to the state the initial healing touch mix. between a civil and a religious ceremony. A through divorce? It is this question that The issue is one of control. Govern- civil ceremony is nothing but a contract appears the more relevant in our time: ment has its sphere of authority regarding between two persons. A religious ceremony What might be the Christian church’s health and safety, and the churches have is a worship service. potential role in divorce? authority in the area of faith and doctrine. official We celebrate at a wedding an aware- James B. Johnson II, Williamsburg, Va. When Thomas Jefferson was President ness of the work of God in a woman and a (Jim Johnson is pastor of Williamsburg of the United States, he invited John man: having created them, endowing them Baptist Church.) Leland, a Baptist preacher, to conduct wor- with personality and ability, and bringing ship services in Congress. There are them together. God loves them and is pres- Eyes opened by personal countless ways that church and government ent in time and space, acting in love. experience mix today, i.e., church property tax exemp- God’s model for marriage is different tion, government-paid chaplains in the EDITOR: It was 20 years ago when our from a contract. It is the same as that with military and in Congress, etc. But in this dear long-time friend, Jack Smith, called God’s people: covenant love, “for better, for mixing, there is respect for the boundaries and said he wanted to talk with us on worse,” for instance, a requirement far of their respective authority. Friday night. After dinner, he told us he C. Truett Baker, Branson, Mo. beyond contract law. The agreement is not had something very important to discuss (Truett Baker is president emeritus of Arizona just between the couple, but also with with us. Baptist Children’s Services) God. We were to be the fourth and fifth of That means God is not only the wit- his large circle of friends to hear his news. ness, but also the source of strength, He asked us to keep this information God’s model is different wisdom and joy that every couple needs. I confidential for now. EDITOR: Count me among the brand of would not lose weddings as worship before Jack had donated blood at Red Cross, readership that supports guest commentary the one who has loved us most actively and as was his practice every 58 days. He that dares to assault our most dear and ardently. received a letter informing him that they sacred assumptions. Jonathan Lindsey’s Of course, Lindsay remembers that in could not use his blood this time because article “On marriage, time to separate civil colonial days, clergy of the established he had tested positive for the HIV virus.

24 | Baptists Today • July 2009 I N F O R M A T I O N

Twenty years ago that was a sentence of death. My wife, Carole, and I instinctively i n t h e k n o w reached out our hands to Jack as we grasped each other’s hands for comfort. There was a long silence as we sat in our circle of grief Keeping up with people, places, and events crying. Jack told us he was gay. He had known Roberto Dieppa-Báez is the new executive Ron Hinson is pastor at Whiteville (N.C.) since he was very young. For many years he minister of the American Baptist Churches Baptist Church. Previously he was pastor of had to keep secret who he was born to be. of Puerto Rico. College Avenue Baptist Church in Lenoir, Jack was a well-known scientist with N.C. Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth, many published articles and was often Texas, has called Brent Beasley as pastor. Charles Horton is pastor of the First sought after as a speaker. He was our close Beasley is currently pastor of Second Baptist Baptist Church of Cocoa, Fla. Horton’s pre- friend. We were in a dinner club for many Church in Memphis, Tenn. vious pastorates include First Baptist years, eating a meal together once a month. Church of DeLand, Fla., and College Park We went to church together. Jack and Brian A. Burnette is minister of childhood Baptist Church in Orlando. Carole sang in the choir. Jack was on the education at Grandin Court Baptist Church committee that helped cook and serve in Roanoke, Va. Archie King died May 12 in Murfreesboro, Wednesday night supper for years. He often Tenn., at age 86. He was the first disaster Baptist Women in Ministry announces the led our Sunday school discussions. relief director for the Tennessee Baptist following 2009 Addie Davis Award recipi- What did we learn from our experience Convention and a key leader in starting the ents: Marquette Bugg, a recent graduate of with Jack? We learned that he was the same highly successful disaster relief work of Truett Seminary, received the award for person we had known and loved for years. Southern Baptists. excellence in preaching. Bugg is moving to We just knew something more about Ghana, West Africa, to help begin a basket- him, something very personal and very Nell Magee of Nashville, Tenn., died May ball and soccer ministry. Tammy Jackson 29. Her life was devoted to ministry with intimate. Jack was still Jack. Gill, a student at Central Seminary and pas- college students, especially internationals. Jack opened my eyes and my heart to tor to children and families at Holmeswood After ministry in Mississippi, Texas and gay men and lesbians. Jack was the first Baptist Church in Kansas City, Mo., Illinois, she was a consultant with the for- openly homosexual person that I knew well. received the award for outstanding leader- mer National Student Ministries of the His sexual orientation and practices did not ship in pastoral ministry. Southern Baptist Sunday School Board hinder our friendship. We loved Jack as we (now LifeWay). In retirement she directed had for years. Pamela R. Durso is the new full-time exec- Southern Baptist student ministry in New What is your experience? When was the utive director of Baptist Women in Ministry England as a volunteer. last time you visited with or shared a meal as of July 1. She comes from the Baptist with a lesbian or a gay man who is in a lov- History and Heritage Society where she was Kathy Traficanti is minister of adult ing, committed relationship? Do you know associate executive director. Both organiza- education at Second Baptist Church of homosexual persons as friends? tions are based in Atlanta. Richmond, Va. It does not seem right or fair to exclude an entire group of Christians on the basis of Scott Ford, associate coordinator of mis- Candy Wilson is associate pastor-minister what you have only heard. How do you sions for Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of of music at Tabernacle Baptist Church in think Jesus wants us to respond to people Georgia for the past two years, will become Raleigh, N.C. Previously she served who in various ways are different from us? business coordinator for Passport, Inc., in Jeffersontown (Ky.) Baptist Church as He will help us as we reach out in love August. minister of music. to those whom we do not know. We can handle new experiences and new relationships with his help. Baptist News, Baptist Views William C. Jackson, Homer, Ga. BAPTISTS

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July 2009 • Baptists Today | 25 P E R S P E C T I V E g u e s t c o m m e n t a r y A time for generosity By Ruben Swint

enerosity is emerging in our society concept that we live not only for ourselves, testimonies, and usually produce the same as a practice whose time has come. but also for others. Generous behavior is an budget support results. G Bono of the rock band U2 is the essential component of one’s faith. Martin Marty once said: “Generosity, spokesperson for “ONE, The Campaign to Why generosity? unlike stewardship, has no limits. It’s not Make Poverty History.” Today, North American churches exist in that you’ve got to be generous, but you get to Consider his words: “God, my friends, is a society of abundance. However, the fear of be. It’s not haranguing or threatening. It’s with the poor. And God is with us, if we are scarcity dominates most stewardship talk and liberation!” with them.” action. Mature congregational members have The United Nations Millennium What would it mean for your congrega- lived in faithful stewardship and consider Campaign seeks to end the world’s extreme tion if generosity became a guiding value? tithing to be the norm of Christian giving. poverty by 2015 through the attainment of Isn’t it time for a Gene- Younger congregational members do not eight development goals. Religious bodies rosity Department in warm to the practice of stewardship and worldwide — including Baptists — are your church? tithing as they do to living a generous life. adopting the goals as expressions of their Why not steward- The words steward and stewardship Christian witness and service. ship? Steward and describe a role, a position and a responsibility The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation stewardship have been for Christians. Generosity describes a trait, a focuses on being generous in global develop- important words and behavior, a characteristic. ment, global health and U.S. education. The concepts for congrega- Younger and newer church members foundation’s value was doubled by a $31 tions in the 20th respond more readily to generosity as a giving billion gift from Warren Buffet. century. principle and while they do, older members Periodic financial publications are These biblical words, which prior to the remain faithful to stewardship and tithing. including philanthropy as a regular topic: 20th century were used to talk about respon- Generosity can lead younger members Forbes, Business Week, Financial Times and sible Christian living, became the reason for forward into faithful stewardship and tithing. Kiplinger’s. Websites are coming on line that supporting unified church budgets and Generosity is rising. Generosity’s time has address giving: www.generousgiving.com, expansive worldwide mission endeavors. come. BT www.newtithing.com and www.globalrich- After a century of good use, stewardship list.com. has become more connected to pledging a —Ruben Swint is an Atlanta-based senior Counter to a United States culture that church’s budget. During the annual hunt for strategist with Generis Partners, LLC and a stresses materialism, accumulation and con- a green October, congregations study stew- former president of the Cooperative Baptist sumption, all major religions promote the ardship texts, hear stewardship sermons and Fellowship Foundation.

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26 | Baptists Today • July 2009 I N F O R M A T I O N Hockey as religion? Many Canadians think so

TORONTO (RNS) — May the puck be Ottawa. with you. And also with you. The duo examined one specific ritual Hockey as religion? Many Canadians in Canadian hockey: The retirement of the wouldn’t argue that their hard-core fandom number (29) and the raising of the jersey borders on religious fervor. Even when they of Ken Dryden, a legendary goalkeeper for don’t bring home the holy grail of the the Montreal Canadiens from 1971 to Stanley Cup, storied teams like the 1978 and winner of six Stanley Cups. Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Watching the retirement of Dryden’s Canadiens still attract the faithful. jersey in 2007, Tekel remarked, “We Likening Canada’s national winter thought this looks like a religious experi- sport to a kind of religious faith isn’t as ence, (and) the Bell Centre (in Montreal) obscure as it might sound, even in acade- has become a kind of cathedral.” mia. Thirty years ago, Tom Faulkner, a The argument the academics wanted professor of church and society at the to make is that hockey “has its roots in University of Winnipeg, argued in a widely The latest entry in the field finds that webs of meanings grounded in various reli- published essay that Canadians are drawn a specific ceremony in hockey and other gious traditions and practices. Therefore, to hockey because it offers many of the sports — retiring a player’s number and hockey can be seen as a popular Canadian aspects that make religion attractive: a raising it to a stadium’s rafters — resembles religion, embodying the post-modern shift sense of community, belonging and a religious ritual. to globalization and the ensuing dialogue common purpose. For Rose Tekel, the similarities were among religions.” Last January, the University of just too stark to ignore. The religious stud- The game can be seen “as part of the Montreal inaugurated a 16-week course ies professor at Nova Scotia’s St. Francis wide terrain of religious experiences,” Tekel specifically devoted to examining the link Xavier University says hockey rituals, such told the Toronto Star. “Many people are between hockey and religion. Like religion, as the retirement of a player’s jersey, are moving away from institutionalized reli- hockey binds people together and can rooted in religious traditions and practices. gion and into ‘marginalized religion.’ What “affirm that we are Canadian and we can Tekel, with her husband, Matthew they’re saying is that they want in some be proud to be Canadian,” said Olivier Robillard, recently presented a paper on way to be connected with something Bauer, a theology professor who taught the the subject at the annual Congress of the beyond themselves, but they don’t want ... course. Humanities and Social Sciences held in organized religion.” BT Wikipedia bans Scientology from editing entries

(RNS) —Wikipedia, the user-edited “neutral” information, Scientology entries downplayed the decision, calling it “a rou- Internet encyclopedia, has banned the have been slanted to fit particular views and tine internal action by Wikipedia to clean Church of Scientology from editing entries partisans on both sides have “resorted to up its editing process.” about the controversial religion. battlefield editing tactics,” according to the “More importantly is the fact that Internet addresses known to be “owned arbitrators. Wikipedia finally banned those who were or operated by the Church of Scientology “Many Scientology articles fail to engaged in unobjective and biased editing and its associates, broadly interpreted, are to reflect a neutral point of view and instead for the purposes of antagonism as opposed be blocked,” according to the decision. are either disparaging or complimentary,” to providing accurate information,” she said. While the ban applies to all Wikipedia the committee said. A handful of Jay Walsh, a spokesman for the entries, exceptions could be made for non- Scientology critics were also banned from Wikimedia Foundation, said it is the first Scientology related topics, according to editing Wikipedia. time a church has been banned from editing Wikipedia. Wikipedia traced some of the edits to the site. The 10 voting members of the all- Made by Wikipedia’s arbitration com- “editors openly editing from Church of volunteer arbitration committee reached mittee, the decision comes amid an ongoing Scientology equipment and apparently their decision after a six-month “intensive battle between admirers and critics of coordinating their activities,” the arbitrators process,” he said. Scientology over more than 400 articles on said. The Web-based encyclopedia has “The work the arbitration committee the topic. It was the fourth time in four policed similar efforts by corporations, does is not easy or simple,” Walsh said. years the Wikipedia committee was asked to government offices and colleges. “This has been an issue that’s been simmer- arbitrate a Scientology-related dispute. Karin Pouw, a spokeswoman for the ing for many years and we wanted to deal While Wikipedia aims to be a site for Church of Scientology International, with it in a meaningful way.” BT

July 2009 • Baptists Today | 27 P E R S P E C T I V E t h e l i g h t e r s i d e Shaved by grace By Brett Younger

hristians cannot avoid difficult ethi- When Ezra got upset he wrote, “When I of meeting, and shall take the hair from the cal issues such as materialism, heard this, I tore my garment and my mantle, consecrated head and put it on the fire under C militarism and mustaches. That last and pulled hair from my head and beard, and the sacrifice” (Num. 6:18). Churches that one has been on my mind and face lately. sat appalled” (Ezra 9:3). I have never been have run out of ways to welcome visitors I stopped shaving and a week later when distressed enough to pull out my own beard, may want to consider a shave and a haircut Carol noticed she surprised me, “It looks but I imagine it would feel appalling. followed by a barbecue. good.” The Ammonite Surely some denomination has split over Another visually impaired friend King Hanun sent this — beard-wearers versus clean-shavers. commented, “It gives you an edge.” Israelite envoys home Old German Baptist Brethren do not wear I can use an edge, so I put my razor after he “shaved off half mustaches because they believe it would away. the beard of each and cut make them vain, but many grow chest-length I wanted my beard to be reminiscent of off their garments in the beards (which are understandably not a some famous historical figure — Abraham middle at their hips.” source of pride). Lincoln, Sigmund Freud or Albus Dumble- King David was embar- I thought about partial options. I could dore. Unfortunately, my beard makes me look rassed for the men and go with a mustache without a beard (Hitler, like Al Gore, Shaggy of Scooby-Doo fame or, told them, “Remain at Jericho until your Einstein, Ned Flanders from The Simpsons), a when my fuzz is at its absolute best, Yosemite beards have grown” (2 Sam. 10:4-5). goatee (Shakespeare, Wolfman Jack, Satan) or Sam. Presumably they also found garments that a soulpatch (Howie Mandel), but Ned is the I know it took time for Ernest covered their hips. only one I look much like. And it was still Hemingway, Vincent Van Gogh and Walker One prophet wrote that God’s heart scratchy. Texas Ranger to grow the kind of respectable moans, “For every head is shaved and every I know my mother would not like my beard to which I aspire. Yet I also know that beard cut off” (Jer. 38:7). Would God moan new fur, but I kept thinking about great Fidel Castro, Jerry Garcia and Colonel if I shaved? beards — Robert E. Lee, Che Guevara, Tim Sanders had beards for years and I don’t want Shaving is positive on a few occasions. McGraw, Jack Sparrow, Santa, Uncle Sam, to look like them. For instance, “The Nazirites shall shave the Poseidon and Count von Count (from Sesame What I quickly discovered was that for consecrated head at the entrance of the tent Street). something barely visible, my Some might think I had enough justifi- whiskers itch a lot. It feels like cation for shearing my facial hair, but I kept a tiny medieval hair shirt on looking until I found a doctrinal my face, even though it only trump card. I was delighted to looks like I woke up late. read the story in which Jacob I had almost decided to says to his mother Rebekah, shave when I began to think “Look, my brother Esau is a about the religious implications. hairy man, but I am a man of Jesus is always pictured with a smooth skin” (Gen. 27:11). beard. “What would Jesus do?” This text clearly teaches that is not a question I wanted to God cares for both the hairy ask. and the smooth. It was time The biblical witness is pre- to admit I am no Esau. dominantly anti-shaving. The I spent two weeks most famous trim in scripture, growing my two-day beard. Samson’s, was not pro-Barbasol Then I shaved with a clear (Judges 16). conscience. BT The Israelites were told not to shave before a funeral: “You —Brett Younger is must not lacerate yourselves or associate professor of shave your forelocks for the dead” preaching at Mercer University’s (Deut. 14:1). Illustration by Scott Brooks McAfee School of Theology. 28 | Baptists Today • July 2009 REBLOG — Selections from recent blogs at BaptistsToday.org P E R S P E C T I V E

‘Help my unbelief’

By Tony W. Cartledge appears, is to provide a forum for parents posted May 18, 2009 who are self-professed atheists, free- www.tonycartledge.com thinkers, humanists or spiritual-but-not- religious folk. f you’re just not into church, what do They share ideas about how best to Iyou do on Sunday morning? answer their children’s questions about Sleeping in is very popular, and so are God or other religious beliefs in a way early morning shopping trips. If you want that respects other beliefs without neces- to see a really big crowd at 11:00 on a sarily reinforcing them. They want the Sunday morning, go to a Target or Wal- children to think for themselves. Mart store. The meetings go beyond batting A small but apparently growing around childhood questions, though. It’s number of folks are choosing a different not easy being an atheist when you live in option: they’re gathering for mutual the Bible belt. ance are powerful motivators. support with others of like non-faith. Members (there were 71 on the e- For many regular church-goers, I’m An intriguing article by Yonat Shimron mail list at last count) like being part of a convinced, the worship of God is really documents one of the newest groups, group where they feel accepted, where secondary to the social side of church life. which meets in North Carolina’s Triangle they can talk freely about what they do or I can’t help but recall the man who (Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill) area. The don’t believe, and where religion is not a pleaded with Jesus, “Lord, I believe, help group is called “Parenting Beyond Belief,” prerequisite for respect. my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24). I’ve often a moniker based on a book of the same In reading the article, it seems evi- prayed the same prayer in confessing a name, by Atlanta-based Dale MacGowan dent that members of Parenting Beyond desire for stronger belief. — who says he knows of at least 32 simi- Belief gather for many of the same rea- But this new Sunday-morning move- lar chapters around the nation. sons that bring other people to church: ment gives “Help my unbelief” a whole The point of the gatherings, it fellowship, friendship and social accept- new meaning. BT

Gotta have a friend in Jesus

By John Pierce campus, I might add. posted June 2, 2009 As a young teen when the song first www.bteditor.blogspot.com hit the radio, I was pleased that the popular rock song affirmed my faith: “Gotta t took only two or three notes of Have a Friend in Jesus.” (We ignored the INorman Greenbaum’s 1969 hit “Spirit in doctrinal weakness of another line claim- the Sky” to appear on the car radio ing: “Never been a sinner; I never before my teenage daughter had reached sinned.”) the volume dial and turned it up high. A Wikipedia article says that A special satisfaction comes to me Greenbaum, a Jew, wrote the hit song in when she enjoys the same music I about 15 minutes after hearing country embraced when it originally hit the crooner Porter Wagoner do a gospel num- charts. My “current” music is her golden ber on TV — and wondering if he could oldies. come up with one. So it’s not like he “Spirit in the Sky” has such a great read a few volumes of Barth, Tillich or sound that Rolling Stone magazine named Bultmann first. it one of the 500 greatest songs of all However, I have learned not to time. It is one of those tunes that keeps expect every aspect of the culture to showing up everywhere from baseball affirm my narrow perspectives on life games to the movie screen. and God. For example, in Anaheim, Calif., the There are times for theological Angels’ play it while introducing their debate. And there are times to just rock lineup. And my daughters associate the out a little while driving down the road song with the wonderful Denzel — especially if the joy of a 40-year-old Washington movie, Remember the Titans song is being shared with someone you — filmed on the beautiful Berry College love. BT

July 2009 • Baptists Today | 29

P E R S P E C T I V E g u e s t c o m m e n t a r y When water flows freely By Bill Ross

rowing up in the mountains of North Carolina, there were two G water fountains in downtown Waynesville that continuously flowed. My younger brother thought that was the greatest thing in the world: pure, clean, free water — available at all times. For 884 million people in the world, their water is unfit to drink. Lack of clean water is the greatest cause of disease, as well as the major cause of death in the world today. The answer for most of us is bottled water. When we travel to a developing country our mantra is simply, “Don’t drink the water.” We buy bottled water and wonder why everyone does not do the same. The idea of not having pure, clean water available at all ing to build wells in Zambia, Kenya and As difficult as that is to swallow, the times is a foreign concept. other parts of Africa. Each of these partners reality is each of us can actually do something “Going to the Hard Places” with the with people in villages who have accepted the about the water issues in the world. Our giv- Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (CBF) has reality that “if” water is available, it is more ing to CBF causes and field personnel enables opened my eyes to the dilemma of impure than likely not fit to drink. our collective dollars to become stronger in water, and how CBF field personnel embody But through partnerships and working presenting the gospel to the world. the solution. alongside of village leaders, these field per- While our personnel are on the field Three years ago, John and Casey were sonnel now offer hope in a God who brings establishing relationships, working with the students at Mercer University enjoying the living water. indigenous people and leaders, we are able to luxury of drinking pure water. Today they are This past Christmas, First Baptist be a witness quenching the thirst for God working in Southeast Asia with village leaders Church of Marietta, Ga., gave visitors and around the world. Our hope as a church is to to provide clean water for people living members alike the opportunity to make continue to partner with CBF personnel as beside a river where water is available but far financial contributions with the initial goal of they seek to provide clean water to people in from pure. building six wells in Africa. The response was Southeast Asia and Africa. They work alongside people who marvel overwhelming, and we were able to fund 10 One day my younger brother and I may at the clean filtered water, how the filters wells. travel to Zambia, Kenya, India or Southeast work, the notion that someone cares enough It is interesting to note that, overall, our Asia. When that day comes, I pray that we to make a difference, as well as the fact that congregation had the largest Christmas mis- have the opportunity to visit a village where Americans are willing to provide physical sions offering in recent history. People will water continuously flows pure, clean and labor to build the filtration systems. respond to needs and embodied solutions. fresh. And I am positive he could once again John and Casey, along with Ron and I am consistently haunted by the phrase exclaim, “That is the greatest thing in the Melin, who have been on the field for many the field personnel use when they report of world!” years, are working to make the villages new wells being built: “Water is Life!” Every person needs and deserves pure healthier today and in the years ahead. Their Some sources say that the water prob- water. The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship willingness to provide clean water affords lems around the world could be alleviated enables this need to become a reality. BT them the opportunity to share the good news with a gift of 10 billion dollars. For most of of a God who loves the world. us, that is an astronomical figure. When we —Bill Ross is pastor of the First Baptist “Going to the Hard Places” allowed me break it down, however, the solution is Church of Marietta, Ga. Photo provided by to meet CBF field personnel such as Fran and within our reach. Americans spend about Lonnie and Fran Turner, Cooperative Baptist Lonnie and Sam and Melody, who are work- 430 billion dollars a year at Christmas. Fellowship field personnel serving in Zambia. July 2009 • Baptists Today | 31 F E A T U R E A bigger connection to Baptist life

or the past three years, Kelly Belcher Winston-Salem, N.C., attending Knollwood our economy right now, I can’t think of a bet- has been a member of the Board of Baptist Church with Dr. Jack Noffsinger as ter way for a Baptist dollar to maintain and F Directors of Baptists Today and is her pastor. grow its value than to be invested in the currently serving as vice chair. She has appre- While completing her studies at ongoing work of this publication. ciated the opportunities her experience on the Meredith College, she felt the “call toward “Baptists Today printed this month what board has given her to deepen and expand ministry” and earned her M.Div. degree at Baptists are doing for the sake of God’s king- her knowledge of Baptist life. Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in dom on earth. Next month, next year, next “I’ve become exposed to and aware of Wake Forest. She served decade, what Baptists Today prints will American Baptists, General Baptists, National in churches in Raleigh become our history. It is being written now Baptists — even Baptist Yankees,” said and Charlotte, N.C., and for generations of future Baptists. That is a Belcher who lives in Spartanburg, S.C. then, more recently, at great legacy to leave.” “Without Baptists Today, how would I have Fernwood Baptist Belcher says the ability of Baptists Today known they were there?” Church in Spartanburg, to be “an autonomous eye in the sky over Having the opportunity to learn more S.C. Baptists” is what separates it from state about all Baptists around the world is one of She has provided Baptist newspapers, which “must also serve as the reasons she has always valued Baptists leadership at many levels, public relations outlets.” Kelly Belcher Today, having been a reader for more than including the Coordinat- “It’s like the nightly PBS hour-long in- two decades. ing Council of the Cooperative Baptist depth coverage and analysis, as opposed to “In denominational life it’s mostly the Fellowship. While living in North Carolina, local TV news,” she explained. “We can trust clergy and church leaders who go to the she was a member of the state CBF council its accuracy; nobody tells Baptists Today what meetings, serve on boards, and have an idea and moderator of N.C. Baptist Women in to print. of the big picture of what’s going on,” said Ministry. “This press freedom ought to be consid- Belcher. “Many laypeople aren’t as connected In 2006, she served as moderator of the ered as valuable to and characteristic of personally to things outside their own South Carolina Cooperative Baptist Baptists as soul competency or separation of churches and are dependent on those leaders Fellowship. church and state. Press freedom informs and to keep them aware of their vital connection Her extensive involvement in Baptist life enables both.” to the larger picture. has helped this wife, mother and minister to Belcher appreciates the opportunity her “Baptists Today is an excellent way to get recognize the lasting influence of Baptists role on the Baptists Today Board of Directors church laypeople connected to the big pic- Today. has given her to help ensure the long-term ture. You don’t have to wait for your pastor to “Newspapers everywhere are struggling,” vitality of the publication. She and her fellow tell you everything.” she said. “The same economic concerns that board members approved the three-year capi- Being Baptist has always been an are causing newspapers to struggle also cause tal campaign titled “The Voice to Sustain integral part of her life. She grew up in Baptists Today to need more solid funding. In Baptists Tomorrow” to further solidify its base of support. “What would tickle me would be for the Be a voice to sustain Baptists tomorrow. folks who have brought us through the last few decades of Baptist life to leave their I am / We are pleased to make a gift commitment to Baptists Today of $ ______per year for three years. legacy in print for future Baptists by ensuring TOTAL GIVING LEVEL ______that Baptists Today is endowed,” said Belcher. Name “We have no alumni to leave legacy gifts I Heritage Partners ($50,000 or above) ______except alumni who are self-chosen veteran I Founders Circle (25,000-$49,999) ______readers and veteran Baptists. Address “I want my great-grandchildren to be I Freedom Circle ($10,000-$24,999) ______able to read Baptists Today for their current I Visionary Circle ($5,000-$9,999) City news and for the historical perspective it will

I Editor’s Circle ($1,000-$4,999) ______give them, long into the future. Isn’t that an State/Zip exciting idea?” BT I Circle of Friends ($500-$999) (______)______Phone I Patrons ($100-$499) If you would like information on making a gift ______to Baptists Today, contact Keithen M. Tucker, I Contributors (up to $99) Email Development and Marketing Director for Please fill out this form and return it to Baptists Today, Baptists Today, at (478) 330-5613 or P.O. Box 6318, Macon, GA 31208-6318 [email protected].

32 | Baptists Today • July 2009 STORY AND PHOTO BY JOHN PIERCE F E A T U R E Wayne Oates’ legacy of caring continues

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The late pastoral care giant Wayne Oates was known for identifying and tackling those rather The Wayne E. Oates Institute is a 501(c)3 organization sticky issues of health and human founded in 1993 under the behavior that many church leaders direction of James Hyde. chose to ignore. He had a passion for Offices have been housed at Deer Park Baptist Church and helping ministers, health care profes- then Highland Baptist Church sionals and others to broaden their — both in Louisville, Ky. A major event, the Annual Forum perspectives and to address the holistic and Oates Award Dinner, is set needs of those they encountered. for October 8 in Louisville. For information on the Institute’s e knew the cutting edge issues …,” offerings — including a new “ said Vickie Hollon, executive direc- Congregational Care Specialist H tor of the Wayne E. Oates certificate program for dea- Institute, “and he would write about them.” cons, Sunday school teachers Yes, there are 57 books worth of insights and other church leaders — that pulled together biblical theology and visit www.oates.org. modern methods of psychology — including his autobiography, The Struggle to be Free: My Story and Your Story, revised and republished by the Institute last year. Oates, who died in 1999 at the age of Executive director Vickie Hollon leads the Wayne E. Oates 82, taught at the Southern Baptist Theologi- Institute in providing resources to cal Seminary and the University of Louisville professionals and laity who are School of Medicine where he carved out an carrying out ministries that meet the spiritual, physical and emo- influential career in the field of psychology of tional needs of others. religion. A legion of pastoral counselors, chaplains, church ministers and others have expressed their indebtedness to Oates for “We Baptists value continuing education “biblical counseling” model. providing them with the tools for effective about as little as anybody,” said Hollon, Many of those who had been trained by ministry to the spiritual, physical and noting that most professions have strict Oates expressed deep disappointment but not emotional needs of those under their care. requirements for sharpening and updating great surprise. So in 1993, the Oates Institute was cre- skills. “It felt incredulous … that they would ated to honor the beloved professor and to The Institute’s web site (www.oates.org) disown that heritage,” said Hollon, who continue his unique and valued work of provides information on individual and group described the seminary’s rationale as a false caring for the whole person. memberships and is the gateway to the many dichotomy implying that the collaboration of “My heart is in helping the church in resources for caregivers including journal arti- biblical theology and psychological method- ministry and caring for each other,” said cles, seminars and workshops, global networking ologies was somehow “unbiblical.” Hollon, who recently moved from Louisville and the Online Learning Center. Hollon said rather than dwell on dis- to San Antonio, Texas, where her husband While equipping professionals in the appointment over the seminary’s direction, Leslie is pastor of Trinity Baptist Church. care-giving field, Hollon said the Institute the Oates Institute is moving ahead with “the The Oates Institute, she said, uses a variety also provides resources for those who provide flexibility to keep addressing cutting edge of educational methods to meet that goal. care out of personal relationships: “It may be issues” in the same way her mentor did for The Institute is described as “a learning the lay caregiver for a mother with Alzheimer’s.” decades. community” that provides practical resources In 2005 Southern Seminary, now under “We’re going to do what we can to fill to professional and lay caregivers. Those fundamentalist control, cut out the Oates- that vacuum,” said Hollon, who has guided resources include online courses, published shaped approach to teaching pastoral care the Institute since 1996 with the help of books and articles, forums and traditional — that integrated Christian theology and colleagues and a board of directors. BT in-person conferences. behavioral science — and replaced it with a

July 2009 • Baptists Today | 33 I N F O R M A T I O N BY AMY GREEN, Religion News Service The Gospel according to Twitter

ORLANDO, Fla. — Do you tweet during as a way to create an online gathering place church? Isn’t it rude? and promote upcoming events. Now some are David Loveless doesn’t think so. Loveless is taking it further, encouraging tweeting and lead pastor of Discovery Church, a nondenomi- texting during services as a way to create dia- national congregation that draws some 4,000 logue and strengthen a sense of community. on Sundays to three locations in Orlando. Michael Campbell, the 30-year-old pastor The congregation has always thrived on of the 230-member Montrose Seventh-day the cutting edge, becoming among the first to Adventist Church in Montrose, Colo., poses embrace contemporary music and remove its questions during his sermons and asks wor- steeple from its building. shippers to text their responses, which are Now the congregation is tweeting — displayed on a screen. Like Loveless, Campbell using 21st-century technology to discuss the then discusses the responses. gospel in 140-character cell-phone text updates In other congregations, Twitter has sent via Twitter. The technology emerged nat- emerged quietly and organically, with parish- urally here, as something parishioners brought ioners tweeting their reflections during services with them to Sundays from the rest of their in the same way they tweet their thoughts or week. activities throughout the week. The dialogue Loveless recognized it as a new way to also allows real-time discussion and gives those communicate, and he began posing questions who couldn’t make it a chance to monitor during his sermons and asking parishioners to services from afar. “tweet” back by texting their responses. Those “I’m a younger pastor,” Campbell said. responses were then woven into his sermons, “You’re just building that sense of community, creating an instantaneous dialogue between and people are interested in that because now pulpit and pew. they are part of the sermon.” “In John 1, when Jesus was referred to as But isn’t it distracting? Doesn’t it detract ‘the Word that became flesh,’ God knew from the contemplative and meditative nature exactly what was the most relevant form of of spirituality? Carlisle points out that parish- communication for the first century,” Loveless ioners long have been taking notes during said. “It made people feel like, ‘My gosh, he services, and that never has been distracting to talks my language.’ That would be people’s others. responses these days, in going, ‘My gosh, my “I don’t think the etiquette has been pastor tweets.’” established yet,” he said. “Literally, within a It is the newest technology arriving in con- year’s time, this thing has been happening at a temporary church services. In fact, it’s so new, handful of congregations.” and growing so fast, that there’s no data to say At Mars Hill Church in Seattle, leaders just how many churches have embraced it. never decided to add Twitter to services. It just No longer is the cell phone such a pariah happened, said Ian Sanderson, a church — only ringing cell phones are. Instead, spokesman. church leaders are inviting worshippers to The nondenominational congregation tweet and text their way through services as a draws some 8,000 worshippers at nine loca- way to share their prayers and reflections with tions, including a new one in Albuquerque, neighbors in the pews, or their family, friends N.M. Seattle is a tech-savvy place, and the aver- and “followers” on Twitter. age member at Mars Hill is in his or her 20s. “It’s a hot-bed issue right now, and people Tweeting and texting encourages dialogue are on two sides of the fence about it,” said across the congregation’s multiple locations, and Matt Carlisle, a Nashville, Tenn.-based tech- it helps church staff keep up with what parish- nology and new media consultant for ioners are thinking and feeling, Sanderson said. faith-based groups and nonprofits. “I would say probably 80 or 90 percent of “As Christians, we are to witness, we are the church staff is on Twitter,” he said. “If the to make disciples for Jesus Christ. And if we old rules aren’t helping anyone in their walk can embrace new technology to do that, I don’t and their relationship with Jesus, if you can see any reason why we shouldn’t embrace pull out your iPhone and Twitter something Twitter, why we shouldn’t embrace Facebook.” about the sermon and that helps your whole Many church leaders embraced new group of friends, we’re not going to frown on media such as Twitter and Facebook long ago that at all.” BT 34 | Baptists Today • July 2009 P E R S P E C T I V E t h e m e d i a s h e l f Review by Tony W. Cartledge Working Bible magic with Accordance

erious Bible study requires serious I can type “trees planted by water” in the work. Yet consulting multiple trans- search window, add the “fuzzy” command to S lations and essential reference tools can my search, and before lifting my fingers, a be time-consuming and downright tedious. window displays two texts with the high- The informed use of quality Bible soft- lighted words: Psalm 1:3 has “trees planted by ware, however, can leave students gasping as if streams of water,” while Jeremiah 17:8 speaks their keyboards had been granted magical of “a tree planted by water” (NRSV). powers. That may lead me to wonder if there are Among the several powerful programs other similarities between Psalm 1 and available, none is more impressive than Jeremiah 17. By composing a second search Accordance Bible Software (accordance and using a new “infer” command, I can find bible.com). Accordance was designed for other common phrases. A “search back” com- Macintosh computers, and the new Version 8 dictionaries — conveniently turned to the mand then helps me to compare them. is completely native to the Mac’s OS X proper page. For students or teachers preparing written operating system. Other available resources include 2-D or documents, Accordance offers full copy and But PC users can also use it (minus a few 3-D maps (complete with full GPS informa- paste functions, including Unicode texts and bells and whistles) by installing a Mac emula- tion), a PhotoGuide that includes descriptions the ability to render Hebrew and Greek char- tor available at no cost. and photos of biblical sites, and a timeline that acters, or to automatically transliterate them What’s so special about Accordance? First, offers both “conservative” and “critical” according to scholarly standards. the program’s designers understand that every- chronologies. The program also offers a tool to diagram thing should revolve around helping users to Even students with no background in bib- sentences, and even a “speech” button that read, search, translate and understand the lical languages can dig deeply. English texts calls up an audio pronunciation of any word, Bible — preferably through an elegant and such as the King James Version and the New or a reading of the text. intuitive layout. Accordance rates an “A” on American Standard 1995 edition are tagged Accordance designers have sought to every count. with the familiar Strong’s numbering system. make the program intuitive and user-friendly, The program opens to a clean workspace This allows the user to glide the cursor over so most functions can be accessed in a variety in which the user can easily open parallel any word, and the corresponding Hebrew, of ways, from clicking on an icon in a resource panes containing as many Bible translations as Aramaic or Greek term will appear in a box palette or library, to using drop-down menus, the screen can hold (vertically or horizontally), below. Triple clicking on the word will call up to right-clicking for a variety of options, to and display study notes keyed to specific trans- a concordance-type list of differing ways the using hot-key combinations. lations. A single search box atop the interface word is translated. Tutorials and video demos are available, can call up the entire Bible, find individual Accordance’s complex but quick search but few are really needed. verses or portions of text, or search for individ- functions have a short learning curve, and the Accordance is available in either a ual words (or combinations of words) in all capabilities far exceed the needs of all but the “Library” or “Scholars” collection, depending available languages. most demanding student. One can do a simple on whether one wants to include biblical lan- The magic starts when one floats the cur- search for the word “forgive,” for example — guages. Each collection is offered in a variety sor over the text. Place it over any term in a but also find every verse in which “forgive” of packages, with costs based on the number Hebrew or Greek text and “Presto!” — an appears within five words of “sin.” One can of resources. information box appears that displays the root, search for a Greek or Hebrew root, but also for Basic packages begin at $99 and $149, a transliteration, a complete parsing of the any inflected form, gender or number of the with the “Premier” versions ranging upward to form used and the most common translations. root. $299 and $349. Commentaries and other Instead of spending hours with a lexicon With its newest version, Accordance adds resources are available at additional cost. trying to puzzle out the inflected form of a functions that are as useful as they are impres- With its nimble navigation functions, weak or hollow verb, users can find it faster sive. A “fuzzy” command allows one to search speedy search capabilities and impressive than Houdini could snap on his handcuffs. for a phrase, even if it’s not exact. collection of tightly integrated resources, Once the term is identified, a quick click on For example, I may remember a phrase Accordance is more than a Bible study the appropriate icon of a handy resource about the righteous being like a tree planted resource — it’s like a genie on a hard drive, palette can open any one of several lexicons or near water, but not recall the specific wording. with no limit on wishes. BT July 2009 • Baptists Today | 35

BY DANIEL BURKE, Religion News Service I N F O R M A T I O N Priest’s conversion strains ecumenical ties In the nearly 500 years since the afforded me or the Catholic community the But there’s been plenty of traffic toward same courtesy and respect.” Rome too, said Monsignor William Stetson Church of England split with the Even Episcopalians say Favalora has a of the Office of Pastoral Provision, which was Roman Catholic Church, a fair point. Bishop Christopher Epting, the created by the late Pope John Paul II in 1980 number of converts have crossed Episcopal Church’s point man for interfaith to prepare former Episcopal priests for min- affairs, said: “There’s no written rule, but it’s istry in the Catholic Church. Four or five from one church to the other. certainly been the informal understanding former Episcopal priests — including, between all our ecumenical partners that it’s recently, several bishops — convert to the till, the path is fraught with stum- not something one seeks headlines about. It Catholic Church each year, he said. bling blocks, as Alberto Cutie — the doesn’t help us ecumenically.” However, his office “has always advised most recent, and high-profile convert S There’s a delicate diplomacy to conver- not giving publicity to these events,” Stetson — discovered on May 29 when he left sions, with long-established protocols to said. For example, when the former Episcopal Catholicism to join the Episcopal Church. ensure that interfaith bridges that take Bishop of Southwest Florida, John Lipscomb, Known as “Father Oprah” for his popu- decades to build are not burned in a single announced his conversion to Catholicism two larity and media savvy, a photographer caught afternoon. Epting said the Episcopal Church’s years ago, “there was no display,” Stetson Cutie embracing his girlfriend on a Florida ecumenical office, which is usually consulted said. “This case in Florida (with Cutie) where beach earlier this month. The 40-year-old on all conversions, was not informed about you have it within a couple of weeks, and in a celebrity cleric later admitted to struggling the ceremony ahead of time. public ceremony ... that’s not cool.” with the Catholic priesthood’s mandatory “I wish we had been consulted,” Epting But none of those converts were celebri- celibacy and was suspended from ministry. said. “We will be pursuing this.” ties. In a sense, Frade’s hands were tied by his Just weeks later, Cutie announced that Frade said, “The only thing we can say is new convert’s fame, said Jim Naughton, he hopes “to continue priestly ministry and that we pray for ecumenical relations ... I am director of communications for the Episcopal service in my new spiritual home” the sorry they are sorry, and we love them,” Diocese of Washington. Episcopal Church, which allows priests to according to the Miami Herald. “When (someone) joins the Episcopal marry. He had been considering conversion Cutie is hardly the first Catholic to leave Church, it would be silly to chase them for two years, according to the Episcopal the fold for love. In fact, the Church of away,” he said. “And in such unusual circum- Diocese of Southeast Florida. England, which later spawned the Episcopal stances it’s very difficult to be critical of With a star of Cutie’s magnitude — Church in the U.S., was essentially created by Bishop Frade because he has both a very millions tuned in to his television and radio a spousal issue. King Henry VIII wanted to vibrant and gifted priest, but also an atmos- shows for relationship advice — media divorce his wife, Pope Clement VII wouldn’t phere of controversy. Unless you’re from that attention of his conversion was, perhaps, let him, so Henry started the Church of community, I think it’s very hard to pass any inevitable. Reporters from English and England and appointed himself its head. judgment.” BT Spanish-language media crowded into Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Miami to witness the half-hour ceremony and subsequent press conference. Miami’s Catholic Archbishop, John Favalora, Cutie’s former boss, was not pleased. He blasted the new convert and his Episcopal counterpart, Bishop Leo Frade of Southeast Florida, for breaking the unwritten rules of conversion: Advise the other bishop about your plans and don’t show up the other faith by making a public display. “Bishop Frade has never spoken to me about his position on this delicate matter or what actions he was contemplating,” Favalora said in a statement. “This is a truly serious setback for ecumenical relations and cooperation between us.” Moreover, Favalora said his archdiocese “has never made a public display when, for doctrinal reasons, Episcopal priests have Episcopal Bishop Leo Frade and his wife, Diana, right, welcome former Catholic priest Alberto joined the Catholic Church and sought ordi- Cutie, second from left, and his fiancée, Ruhama Buni Canellis, into the Episcopal Church. Cutie nation ... I regret that Bishop Frade has not left the Catholic Church when he could no longer abide by the vow of celibacy.

July 2009 • Baptists Today | 37 F E A T U R E BY TONY W. CARTLEDGE, Contributing Editor Lebanon 10 serve as emissaries for peace

At left: Rohel (man at left) is sheik of the Abou Jabbal tribe of the Bedouin numbering about 2,000. He is one of the few Bedouin Christians. Photo by Ruth Bass. Above: The first building at the White Wings Retreat center is under- way. Photo by Tana Hartsell.

hen 10 women affiliated with taking school supplies and medicines to the Muslims, Druze, and other groups live with Woman’s Missionary Union of “Home of Hope” orphanage — and being so religious freedom and have traditionally W North Carolina (WMU-NC) vol- touched that they pooled their own funds for a sought peaceful co-existence and cooperation. unteered for an April 10-21 mission trip to spontaneous offering of more than $1,400 to With elections on the horizon and the danger Lebanon, they expected to be praying often, buy shoes and a summer outfit for each child. of extremism ever-present, Boulos wanted the preparing food baskets for the poor, assisting The women didn’t raise an eyebrow over women to bring a message of encouragement with an evangelistic event, and making visits the task of packing 1,000 lunchboxes for and peace to a variety of dignitaries. to an orphanage and Bedouin tribe. young adult Palestinians who were bused in The visits were possible because Boulos They arrived to find their host had more from a refugee camp to attend an evangelistic and his wife Maha have a broad network of in mind: the team also became a de facto del- “celebration” — even though they had to friends, including a well-connected official egation for peace, meeting with a string of begin by slicing the bread by hand to make who supports their ministry, wants the best influential government and religious leaders. 2,000 sandwiches, half bologna and half for his country, and lives out his faith through That took some of the women out of cheese. promoting peaceful cooperation among their comfort zone. They were right at home They happily toured and prayed over the Lebanon’s various religious and ethnic groups. working beside Lebanese women to purchase 12-acre White Wings Conference and Retreat On Easter Monday, after spending the materials and stock 150 gift bags with rice, Center, now under construction. Cooperative morning assembling food bags, the women lentils, garbanzo beans, sugar, soybean oil, Baptist Fellowship missionary Chaouki were ushered through a gauntlet of armed spaghetti, cheese, milk, laundry detergent and Boulos (pronounced “sha-we”) envisions the guards to visit with Abbas Zaki, the canned meat. center as a mountaintop haven for thousands Palestinian ambassador to Lebanon. Zaki told They were on familiar territory when of Lebanese Christians who can’t otherwise them of how he had recently escaped an worshiping in an Arabic-speaking church on afford a place for spiritual refreshment and assassination attempt, and described himself Easter Sunday and when praying with practical training. as a man of peace. Muslim women who have accepted Christ The team’s added function as an According to a journal kept by WMU- and wanted prayer for their husbands. entourage for peaceful cooperation, however, NC president Dee Thomas, Boulos explained They were confident when visiting a caught some of the women by surprise. the purpose of the visit by saying “We want women’s hospital, delivering care packages to Lebanon is a strategic country in the the Palestinians to know that Christians love Beduoin women in the Bekaa Valley, and Middle East, a rare place where Christians, them and want peace.”

38 | Baptists Today • July 2009 F E A T U R E

He described the team as praying women was well received. Such occasions inevitably who represented thousands of churches in called for hot tea or thick Turkish coffee and their country who were praying for peace. chocolates as a prelude to the formal conver- WMU-NC executive director Ruby sations. Fulbright spoke for the women, describing As a result, even those members who the WMU as “a Christian organization of didn’t care for the daily breakfast of boiled women who want all people to know Christ eggs, vinegary pintos, cheese and raw vegeta- and love him” and citing Isaiah’s reference to bles had no reason to go hungry. Given the the messiah as a prince of peace. season, traditional Lebanese Easter cookies Acknowledging the difficult choices fac- were also frequent fare. ing the ambassador and his people, she said: For the self-styled “Lebanon 10,” the “We want you to know that we will pray for experience will be lasting. you.” “One of the things that kept running Zaki later arranged transportation for col- through my mind,” Fulbright said, was “How lege-aged youth in a Palestinian refugee camp can my heart be so full and so broken at the to attend a Christian celebration service. same time?” The following evening found the women Fulbright cited working among “the least again surrounded by guards as they were ush- of these” in the orphanage and Bedouin camp Children at the orphange enjoy their new ered to the office of Marwan Hamade, a as especially moving, along with the unex- shoes. longtime member of the Lebanese parliament pected opportunity to speak words of witness and the country’s minister of telecommunica- in places of power. tions. Hamade had survived an assassination Hartsell said many activities were a attempt two years ago when a bomb exploded stretch for team members, but they remained beneath his car, killing his bodyguard and grounded in prayer. “We did such a variety of severely injuring him. They talked about the things and had such a variety of experiences, importance of freedom, held hands in a circle but the Lord revealed to us, seemingly one at and prayed together. a time, that the common thread running Two days later the team had a morning through it all was prayer.” audience with Cardinal Nasrallah Sfeir, leader Because of their experiences half a world of the Maronite Church in Lebanon. The away, she said, “We know how to pray more Maronites follow a liturgy more common to specifically and effectively — and now our Eastern Catholics, but relate directly to the prayers have faces.” BT Roman Catholic Church. At 900,000 strong, they are the largest Christian group in Lebanon, which has a population of about four million. Although the majority of Lebanon’s population is Muslim, the constitution calls for the president to be a Maronite Christian. The team was met by TV cameras and formal greetings: Fulbright and team leader Tana Hartsell were invited to sit near the cardinal, more speeches were made, and Fulbright again had an opportunity to speak of peace and offer promises of prayer. Later that day, the visit was reported on Lebanese television. Such visits continued throughout the trip, as the women met and prayed with the chief of police who heads security for downtown Beirut, a chief judge who has presided over major assassination cases, and former president Amin Gemayel, who remains a busy and powerful figure in Lebanese life. At each stop, security was tight and CBF missionary Chaouki Boulos, a native Lebanese, talks about his vision for the White Wings guards were ever-present. In every case, the Conference and Retreat Center, which CBF, N.C. Baptist Men and others are helping to build. team’s assurance of prayer and desire for peace Photo by Tana Hartsell.

July 2009 • Baptists Today | 39 What do these churches have in common? Through group subscriptions to Baptists Today, they keep up with the latest issues facing Baptists.

Ardmore Baptist Church, Winston-Salem, N.C. First Baptist Church, Macon, Ga. National Heights Baptist Church, Fayetteville, Ga. Boiling Springs Baptist Church, Boiling Springs, N.C. First Baptist Church, Madison, Ga. New Heights Baptist Church, Macon, Ga. Boulevard Baptist Church, Anderson, S.C. First Baptist Church, Madison, N.C. Northminster Baptist Church, Jackson, Miss. Broadmoor Baptist Church, Baton Rouge, La. First Baptist Church, Marion, N.C. North Stuart Baptist Church, Stuart, Fla. Broadway Baptist Church, Louisville, Ky. First Baptist Church, Mocksville, N.C. Northwest Baptist Church, Ardmore, Okla. Brunswick Islands Baptist Church, Supply, N.C. First Baptist Church, Morganton, N.C. Oakmont Baptist Church, Greenville, N.C. Chadbourn Baptist Church, Chadbourn, N.C. First Baptist Church, Morrow, Ga. College Avenue Baptist Church, Lenoir, N.C. First Baptist Church, Mount Airy, N.C. Peachtree Baptist Church, Atlanta, Ga. College Park Baptist Church, Orlando, Fla. First Baptist Church, Mount Olive, N.C. Piney River Baptist Church, Lowesville, Va. Covenant Baptist Church, Gastonia, N.C. First Baptist Church, Murfreesboro, Tenn. Pintlala Baptist Church, Hope Hull, Ala. Cullowhee Baptist Church, Cullowhee, N.C. First Baptist Church, New Bern, N.C. Providence Baptist Church, Charlotte, N.C. Druid Hills Baptist Church, Atlanta, Ga. First Baptist Church, Orangeburg, S.C. Providence Baptist Church, Cookeville, Tenn. Dunwoody Baptist Church, Atlanta, Ga. First Baptist Church, Pensacola, Fla. Providence Baptist Church, Hendersonville, N.C. Edenton Baptist Church, Edenton, N.C. First Baptist Church, Rome, Ga. Pullen Memorial Baptist Church, Raleigh, N.C. Emerywood Baptist Church, High Point, N.C. First Baptist Church, Rutherfordton, N.C. Reynoldson Baptist Church, Gates, N.C. Faith Baptist Church, Georgetown, Ky. First Baptist Church, Savannah, Ga. Rolling Hills Baptist Church, Fayetteville, Ark. Fernwood Baptist Church, Spartanburg, S.C. First Baptist Church, Sanford, N.C. Rolesville Baptist Church, Rolesville, N.C. First Baptist Church, Ahoskie, N.C. First Baptist Church, Spruce Pine, N.C. Second Baptist Church, Liberty, Mo. First Baptist Church, Aiken, S.C. First Baptist Church, Tifton, Ga. First Baptist Church, Anderson, S.C. First Baptist Church, Wilmington, N.C. Second Baptist Church, Memphis, Tenn. First Baptist Church, Asheville, N.C. First Baptist Church, Wilson, N.C. Second Baptist Church, Richmond, Va. First Baptist Church, Cape Girardeau, Mo. First Baptist Church, Winston-Salem, N.C. Second-Ponce de Leon Baptist Church, Atlanta, Ga. First Baptist Church, Carolina Beach, N.C. Forest Hills Baptist Church, Raleigh, N.C. Shades Crest Baptist Church, Birmingham, Ala. First Baptist Church, Clemson, S.C. Franklin Baptist Church, Franklin, Va. Smoke Rise Baptist Church, Stone Mountain, Ga. First Baptist Church, Columbus, Ga. Grace Fellowship Baptist Church, Meridian, Miss. Snyder Memorial Baptist Church, Fayetteville, N.C. First Baptist Church, Commerce, Ga. Grandin Court Baptist Church, Roanoke, Va. South Main Baptist Church, Houston, Texas First Baptist Church, Conway, S.C. Greystone Baptist Church, Raleigh, N.C. St. Andrews Baptist Church, Columbia, S.C. First Baptist Church, Dalton, Ga. Haddock Baptist Church, Haddock, Ga. St. Matthews Baptist Church, Louisville, Ky. First Baptist Church, Decatur, Ga. Hendricks Avenue Baptist Church, Jacksonville, Fla. Tabernacle Baptist Church, Carrollton, Ga. First Baptist Church, Forest City, N.C. Highland Hills Baptist Church, Macon, Ga. First Baptist Church, Fort Myers, Fla. Highland Park Baptist Church, Austin, Texas Tabernacle Baptist Church, Raleigh, N.C. First Baptist Church, Frankfort, Ky. Holmeswood Baptist Church, Kansas City, Mo. The Lakeland Fellowship, Lakeland, Fla. First Baptist Church, Gainesville, Fla. HomeStar Fellowship, Raleigh, N.C. The Memorial Baptist Church, Greenville, N.C. First Baptist Church, Gainesville, Ga. Johns Creek Baptist Church, Alpharetta, Ga. The Oaks Baptist Church, Lyons, Ga. First Baptist Church, Gastonia, N.C. Kathwood Baptist Church, Columbia, S.C. Trinity Baptist Church, Cordova, Tenn. First Baptist Church, Greenville, S.C. Knollwood Baptist Church, Winston-Salem, N.C. University Baptist Church, Baton Rouge, La. First Baptist Church, Greenwood, S.C. Lakeside Baptist Church, Rocky Mount, N.C. Vineville Baptist Church, Macon, Ga. First Baptist Church, Hawkinsville, Ga. Lakeview Baptist Church, Camden, S.C. Watts Street Baptist Church, Durham, N.C. First Baptist Church, High Point, N.C. Lamberth Memorial Baptist Church, Roxboro, N.C. Wieuca Road Baptist Church, Atlanta, Ga. First Baptist Church, Huntsville, Ala. Lexington Avenue Baptist Church, Danville, Ky. Wingate Baptist Church, Wingate, N.C. First Baptist Church, Kannapolis, N.C. Loray Baptist Church, Gastonia, N.C. First Baptist Church, Lavonia, Ga. Lystra Baptist Church, Chapel Hill, N.C. Winter Park Baptist Church, Wilmington, N.C. First Baptist Church, Lexington, N.C. Madison Baptist Church, Madison, Ga. Woodmont Baptist Church, Nashville, Tenn. First Baptist Church, Lincolnton, N.C. Mars Hill Baptist Church, Mars Hill, N.C. Yates Baptist Church, Durham, N.C. First Baptist Church, London, Ky. Mount Carmel Baptist Church, Chapel Hill, N.C. Youngsville Baptist Church, Youngsville, N.C. First Baptist Church, Lumberton, N.C. Mount Zion Baptist Church, Macon, Ga. Zebulon Baptist Church, Zebulon, N.C. Your church can be better informed, too FOR AS LITTLE AS $450 A YEAR (minimum 25 subscriptions at $18 each). Just send a list of names and addresses, along with a check, to: Baptists Today, P.O. Box 6318, Macon, GA 31208-6318. (For more information, call toll-free 1-877-752-5658.)