Contains JANUARY Nurturing Faith Lessons NC leader shares valuable lessons learned from Canadian Baptists 8 DECEMBER 2012 baptiststoday.org ‘DO YOU KNOW LULA?’ Church’s mission offering gets ™ BIBLE STUDIES a name and a boost | p 4 for adults and youth 17 JANUARY lessons inside December 2012 Vol. 30, No. 12 baptiststoday.org John D. Pierce Executive Editor Good Question [email protected] Why do Baptists practice Benjamin L. McDade Executive Vice President congregational government? 15 [email protected] Julie Steele Chief Operations Officer [email protected] Cover photo Jackie B. Riley Managing Editor Jamie Womack, M.D., points to a historical display [email protected] honoring Lula Whilden, a missionary to China SUICIDE: whose name is giving new energy to missions at Tony W. Cartledge the First Baptist Church of Greenville, S.C. Contributing Editor Misunderstandings [email protected] and realities Story on page 4 Bruce T. Gourley 34 Online Editor [email protected] IN THE NEWS FEATURES David Cassady New journalism collaborative at Church Resources Editor Foot traffic threatens Sistine Chapel 10 [email protected] Mercer designed to educate students, enhance community 40 Terri Byrd Grand Canyon University says ‘no thanks’ Contributing Writer to free campus 11 Generosity assures seniors in rural Vickie Frayne Alabama of a good holiday meal Art Director Anti-Semitic incidents decline in U.S. 11 41 Jannie Lister Customer Service Manager Muslims, Hindus more likely to refrain PERSPECTIVES [email protected] from premarital sex 12 Heaven is not behind us 7 Kimberly L. Hovis Marketing Associate John Pierce [email protected] Knights of Columbus fund anti-gay marriage efforts 12 Walker Knight, Publisher Emeritus Looking north to find direction 8 Larry Hovis Jack U. Harwell, Editor Emeritus Monks in Louisiana win latest round BOARD OF DIRECTORS in bid to sell caskets 13 Choose right leadership stance Walter B. Shurden, Macon, Ga. (chairman) at right time 38 Robert Cates, Rome, Ga. (vice chair) Adventists struggle over women’s ordination 14 Christopher R. Gambill Nannette Avery, Signal Mountain, Tenn. Kelly L. Belcher, Spartanburg, S.C. Donald L. Brewer, Gainesville, Ga. Mormon missionary applications soar Remembering Henry Langford 39 Huey Bridgman, The Villages, Fla. as age limit lowered 14 John Pierce Mary Jane Cardwell, Waycross, Ga. Jack Causey, Statesville, N.C. Anthony D. Clevenger, Pensacola, Fla. Some Christians seeking common ground across Kenny Crump, Ruston, La. political/theological spectrum 42 James M. Dunn, Winston-Salem, N.C. Quotation Remarks 6 Jack Glasgow, Zebulon, N.C. Frank Granger, Athens, Ga. Online security of the believer 43 Editorial 7 Ben Gross, Chattanooga, Tenn. Leslie D. Hill, Lexington, Ky. Classifieds 28 Cynthia Holmes, St. Louis, Mo. Fisher Humphreys, Birmingham, Ala. In the Know 28 Michael M. Massar, Baton Rouge, La. William T. Neal, Stone Mountain, Ga. Roger Paynter, Austin, Texas E. Glenn Hinson Lighter Side 29 Kathy B. Richardson, Rome, Ga. Lee Royal, Greensboro, N.C. autobiography Baptists and the Civil War 30 Charles Schaible, Macon, Ga. Macon Sheppard, Folly Beach, S.C. helps readers learn Reblog 31 Charlotte Cook Smith, Winston-Salem, N.C. Leo Thorne, Valley Forge, Pa. to discern the grace Cathy Turner, Clemson, S.C. David Turner, Richmond, Va. of God at work 33 An autonomous, national Tom Waller, Alpharetta, Ga. news journal since 1983 Vickie Willis, Murfreesboro, TN Cynthia Wise, Birmingham, Ala. 2 | Feature READERS SERVICES Mission Statement Baptists Today serves churches by providing a reliable source of unrestricted news coverage, thoughtful analysis, helpful resources and inspiring features focusing on issues of importance to Baptist Christians. Advertising in combination Individual and Gift Subscriptions Baptists Today Group or Bulk Subscriptions pd. by single check or credit card Bulk sent to single address Single Issues Baptists Today Tax-deductible Gifts Baptists Today [email protected] organization. Letters to the Editor Writing Submissions ™ Contact Information Baptists Today Baptists TodayBaptists Today Baptists TodayAll rights reserved. Information | 3 !"#$% &'( )*#"#! +% ,#*' )-.$/. TASK FORCE — A group of women in Greenville’s First Baptist Church is raising mission awareness and funds in the name of pioneering missionary to China, Lula Whilden. Left to right are missions coordinator Laura Stout, Louise Stanford, Jamie Womack, Carrie Cruce, Peggy Good, Eleanor Bean, Jeanette Cothran and Evelyn Scaringi. ‘Do you know Lula?’ Church’s mission offering gets a name and a boost GREENVILLE, S.C. — Like many congregations with historic ties to the Southern Baptist Convention, First Baptist Church of Greenville, S.C., long rallied support for overseas missions in the name of Lottie Moon. It was as much a part of this season as decking out the sanctuary in green and filling the church calendar with Christmas events for all ages. ut after the SBC took a hard turn toward “Our mission emphasis had kind of fundamentalism a couple of decades ago lost its oomph,” said church member Jamie Band imposed a narrow theological creed Womack, a psychiatrist and mission advocate. on its missionaries, the Greenville congregation “…We were trying to increase participation in — like many others — embraced new partners the global missions offering at any level.” for carrying out the task of missions. Enter Lula Whilden. Primarily, the church works in partnership with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, CBF BIG QUESTION of South Carolina and the Alliance of Baptists. During the new fall emphasis, those who enter BACK TO GREENVILLE — After serving for However, the mission giving in recent years the doors of Greenville’s First Baptist Church more than 40 years among the most abused lacked the same focus and energy it once had people of Canton, China, Lula Whilden returned will hear one question repeated: “DO YOU to South Carolina where she died and was buried when named for the pioneer, single female KNOW LULA?” in Greenville’s Springwood Cemetery. missionary to China, Lottie Moon. Children shout it in a promotional video. 4 | Feature Materials are printed and various events are noted that this assignment occurred a full year planned both to raise the question and to before Lottie Moon’s appointment. answer it. Louise Stanford, a member of the church’s LULA AND LOTTIE task force driving the offering, has done sig- Speculation about why Lottie has received so nificant research into the life and ministry of much more attention than Lula included the Lula Frances Whilden — who is buried among possibility that Moon’s family was better con- family in Springwood Cemetery in downtown nected. But Catherine Allen of Birmingham, Greenville. Various items related to longtime missionary Ala., who has done extensive research on early Young Lula joined the Greenville church Lula Whilden have been collected, including on April 4, 1868, when coming from Camden, Baptist mission work in China and wrote artwork she brought from China to relatives in a biography of Lottie Moon, suggested that S.C., to attend what is now Furman University. South Carolina. She stayed until 1872 when she left for it was more likely due to circumstances surrounding Lula’s assignment. missionary service in Canton, China. Whilden World Missions Offering emphasis At that time, only men had formal sta- She had been to China as a small child allows for educating and energizing members tus as appointed missionaries when married of a missionary family — that returned to the about the various local to worldwide ministries couples went overseas, she said. Lula wrangled U.S. for several years after her mother died. supported by the congregation. permission to go along as a “companion” of But as a teenager in South Carolina, she Much of the support goes to those cur- committed herself to missions. rently working with oppressed, suffering her married sister, Jumelle Whilden Williams, In China, Lula ministered among the people — the same kind of ministry that Lula and brother-in-law who had been appointed to “boat women,” who were forced to spend their carried out among the outcast population in China. entire lives on small vessels, and homeless chil- China. Therefore, the appointment of Lottie dren, especially young blind girls. “We did so much with Lottie Moon,” said Moon the following year would make her, “These girls were either blind from birth longtime church member Peggy Good, express- technically, the first woman to be granted such or blinded to enter prostitution — or to ing hope that an awareness of and appreciation status — although Lula was already deeply stitch,” said task force member Eleanor Bean for Lula Whilden will bring similar commit- immersed in China. of the abused girls whose intricate weavings ments to support current efforts to share the Lula’s innovation in getting to China to were sold for the benefit of others. Gospel and bring hope to exploited persons do mission work helped crack the door for Lula served more than 40 years in China. around the world. the female missionaries who followed, said Returning to the States after suffering a Catherine. “Actually, Lula deserves more spotlight.” vicious attack, she died in Baptist Hospital in ANOTHER HEROINE Columbia, S.C., on Sept. 26, 1916, and was She added: “Lula Whilden was a noble “In no way are we out to displace Lottie brought to Greenville for burial. soul, very durable. Like Lottie Moon, she got Moon,” said Jamie Womack of the longtime out there and stuck with the task.” Baptist mission heroine who gave her life in GOOD GIVING service to the Chinese people. MISSION AHEAD Such a remarkable example of sacrifice and ser- However, the Greenville congregation is vice should not go unnoticed according to this “intrigued” by another mission heroine, she Now, nearly a century and a half after leav- committed group of current churchwomen. So said. And Lula Whilden — who left Greenville ing Greenville, S.C., for Canton, China, Lula they are eager for everyone within and many for China 140 years ago — was one of their Whilden is getting much unsought, yet well- from without the congregation to know about very own.