The original issue can be found at: http://www.baptistpress.com/issue-03/17/1999 DISCLAIMER: Baptist Press should be credited for any reprinted stories that originate with BP. Suggested credit line: Reprinted from Baptist Press (www.baptistpress.com), news service of the Southern Baptist Convention. Please note that Baptist Press periodically carries stories from other sources by permission. Individuals interested in reprinting non-BP stories should contact the entity where the story originated to seek reprint permission. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Same-sex marriage certain to remain key issue confronting U.S. culture by Karen L. Willoughby Date: March 17, 1999 - Wednesday HONOLULU (BP)--Same-sex marriage is an issue that isn't going away.
"The push for gay marriages is all about public acceptance of what God calls an abomination," said California Christian-issues lobbyist Art Croney, director of the Committee on Moral Concerns. "They don't need marriage. They crave public acceptance. They want society to tell them they're OK."
A 1990s judicial process liberalized by the "make love not war" excesses of the 1960s is helping the homosexual agenda, said Barrett Duke, a Southern Baptist Convention Ethics & Religious Liberty spokesman.
“Unfortunately, there is considerable judicial activism today,” Duke said, explaining: "Many of these justices developed their thoughts about these issues in the 1960s, when they were exposed to many liberal ideas in what were their formative years. This has caused our justices to broadly interpret current law in order to influence new legislation. The person who gets to determine the interpretation gets to determine what's in and what's out."
Same-sex marriage first flared as an issue in 1970 in California, when the Los Angeles county clerk -- after receiving numerous inquiries from homosexual couples wanting marriage licenses -- requested that the state legislature tighten the law.
From there it spread to court cases: Minnesota (1971), Wisconsin ('72), Kentucky (73), Washington state ('74), Ohio ('74), Arizona ('75), when the state legislature passed an emergency bill defining marriage as possible only between one man and one woman, Maryland ('75), Washington D.C. ('75) and, in 1977, California again, where one year later legislation was passed that added "between one man and one woman" to the state's definition of marriage.
Silence for 13 years, except for a 1986 announcement by the American Civil Liberties Union that it would seek to eliminate barriers to same-sex marriage and a 1989 proclamation by the Bar Association of San Francisco calling for the legalization of homosexual marriages.
Legal scrambling for same-sex marriage that touched Illinois, California and Washington, D.C., in the early 1990s gained focus in 1993 in Hawaii, when three same-sex couples thwarted in their desire to marry cried "discrimination." Alaska became the second hotbed. The argument used by gay activists there: right to privacy.
The issue of same-sex marriage finally appeared on Hawaii and Alaska ballots last November. Nearly 70 percent of the voters in both states affirmed constitutional initiatives limiting marriage to one man and one woman, but that doesn't settle the matter.
The Hawaii Supreme Court still can issue a ruling on a case that has worked its way through the state courts. The ACLU in Hawaii referred to a December ruling by an Oregon appellate court in a brief it filed in January accepting same-sex marriage in Hawaii as a non-legal union, but with all other spousal benefits heterosexual couples enjoy. The ruling in Oregon, now before the state’s supreme court, would require state and local governments in Oregon to grant such benefits to same-sex couples.
"The decision in Oregon was very discouraging for this very reason," said Bill Duncan, associate director of the Marriage Law Project in Washington. "It gives another tool to those who would like to see marriage benefits for same-sex couples."
In Alaska, it's all over for now but a minor procedural element, Duncan said. "There's no way they can get around the [state constitutional] amendment that was passed," he said, referring to the vote affirming marriage between one man and one woman.
"The only way they can is to say the amendment is not constitutional,” Duncan said, “and that would have to go to federal court, and they're not very receptive yet to finding a right to same-sex marriage in the constitution."
Vermont is the third major hotbed, with homosexual activists arguing personal choice. The same-sex marriage issue there is still being reviewed by the state supreme court.
"There's no time limit for the court to make a decision," Duncan said. "Each of the members of the supreme court this spring has to be up for reconfirmation, to keep their seat. We're wondering if they're going to wait until they're reconfirmed to make their decision."
There are three likely possibilities in Vermont, Duncan said. Worst case scenario: the state supreme court will determine the law should allow same-sex couples to marry. Best case: the court will determine the constitution does not provide for same-sex marriages. Most likely: the court will determine a trial is needed.
"That's what happened in Hawaii," Duncan said. "That might give the state time to pass an amendment protecting marriage."
The ERLC's Duke, as well as Duncan and constitutional law specialist Jordan Lorence, all see the possibility if not probability that same-sex marriage could become a legal reality in the United States within two generations.
"I think we're seeing the first fruits of a broader interpretation of acceptable sexual relationships," Duke said. "As long as college and university students are subjected to the kinds of messages they're receiving today in the average college and university, the current debate will continue.
"I think homosexual marriage could be legally accepted within this generation, but unless something significant happens and our country is restored to its moral roots, it will certainly happen in the next generation," Duke continued. "The Bible clearly indicates homosexuality is sinful behavior. For God to wink at the homosexual behavior in this country would make what he did to Sodom and Gomorrah an unjust act."
Said Duncan, "I'm not sure how long we can hold this off. I think unless we work harder to strengthen the traditional definition of marriage and unless we are able to exemplify the value of marriage between a man and a woman, it will be hard to resist attacks on traditional marriage."
Lorence concurred, saying, "I am hoping that these legal challenges to marriage will help people in America wake up and examine our own lives, and say, ‘If we don't clean up our act, how can we say no to same-sex marriage?' But we must, or we will undermine society.
"I think [legalization of same-sex marriage] is a definite disaster that will inevitably take place unless people go back to the biblical model and understand its implications," Lorence continued. "The Scriptures say in Proverbs not to move the ancient boundary markers your ancestors have set. If you do not funnel the sexual energies of people into one man/one woman marriage, you bring chaos into society."
"These groups are very aggressive,” Duncan said, “and having come close to winning in Hawaii they're not likely to give up.
"There are very few pro-family groups who can spend all their time working on this issue, but that's not the case in pro-same-sex marriage activists,” Duncan said. “They spend all day every day at it."
Same-sex marriage will be “the top battle for religious freedom we will face in 1999 and possibly 2000," wrote Alan Sears, president of the Alliance Defense Fund, in a mid-December fax update.
"This is the future of our nation, our culture and ultimately the ability to live and share our faith in Jesus Christ. If our fellow believers do not think this will affect them, their families, their churches and their businesses, their head is in the sand,” Sears wrote.
"While it is important to consider some of the possible Y2K [potential computer malfunction] implications we may have in 2000,” he continued, “let us not lose focus on the biggest threat to our way of life. While I do not yell 'the sky is falling,' the ramifications of many Y2K issues will be minor compared with the havoc same-sex marriage and the ‘new family’ will wreak on our nation and world. Just for one example, think what happens when the state grants a license to these alternative forms of marriage and the public schools then, as they must, teach that all forms of sexual union are equally valid, and it becomes criminal, as it will, to 'discriminate' in preference of God's plan for marriage."
"I sympathize with people who are caught in homosexual lifestyles," the ERLC’s Duke reflected. "It's necessary for us to communicate to homosexual persons that we do not hate them but that in fact we love them. We love them enough to tell them they're wrong. It's not my desire to destroy their lives, but to help them adopt a lifestyle that is healthier both for them and for society."
-------------------------------------------------------------------- Defense of Marriage Act awaits action in 21 states by Karen L. Willoughby Date: March 17, 1999 - Wednesday WASHINGTON (BP)--You may live in one of 21 states yet to protect marriage as the union of one man and one woman.
"If you're in a state that hasn't passed the Defense of Marriage Act, contact your legislators and find out why they haven't passed it,” said Bill Duncan, associate director of the Marriage Law Project in Washington D.C.
“Every person makes a difference in this important issue," he said.
The federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Clinton in September 1996. It defines marriage as the "legal union of one man and one woman as husband and wife" and also stipulates that no state can be required to recognize same-sex marriages from other states.
But the catch is that DOMA only protects states that have passed laws taking the same stance. To date, 29 states have passed such laws, beginning with Hawaii in 1994 and Utah in 1995.
Fifteen states passed the law in 1996: Alaska, Arizona, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas Michigan, Missouri (later struck down because of a procedural error), North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota and Tennessee.
Nine states followed in 1997: Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota and Virginia.
And in 1998: Alabama, Iowa, Kentucky and Washington.
California is putting DOMA on its March 2000 ballot. Doing so entailed the enlistment of about 25,000 volunteers who gathered more than 679,000 signatures on petitions in five months.
"In some states one or two people have made a difference," Duncan said. "California usually is a state where things don't happen quickly, but look at what concerned people were able to accomplish in a few months' time."
-------------------------------------------------------------------- John Grisham’s latest novel includes plot twist toward God by Art Toalston Date: March 17, 1999 - Wednesday NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--Best-selling author John Grisham has produced his best novel in years, at least in the judgment of USA Today book reviewer Deirdre Donahue.
“The Testament,” released in February and his 10th novel, includes Grisham’s “trademark legal wrangling, zippy plot and engaging minor characters,” Donahue writes, “but there’s a fresh energy and a new element.
“God.
“‘The Testament’ is unabashedly spiritual without being doctrinaire,” Donahue writes. “The major question he explores: What is needed for a man to live a good and happy life? While characters in previous thrillers have found joy in their offshore bank accounts, faith in God, not legal loopholes, is Grisham’s new answer.”
Perhaps not so new, at least for Grisham personally.
Grisham is a 44-year-old Baptist layman who has taught Sunday school to young couples as well as 4-year-olds. From a theological perspective, he described himself to USA Today as a “moderate Southern Baptist” -- a “minority” within the convention. From his perspective, he said, “There’s no such thing as a liberal Southern Baptist.”
But Grisham, the father of two teens, also has developed a heart for missions, having traveled to Brazil as a volunteer several times in trips coordinated through the Southern Baptist International Mission Board.
“I started going out in 1993 with a church group from my home church in Oxford, Miss.,” he told USA Today. “We went down there for the purpose of constructing a church in this little town sort of in the outback and it was such a rewarding experience that I’ve done it several times since.”
And despite his wealth -- from 110 million books in print, with six of his novels having been made into movies -- Grisham evidences a sense of stewardship.
He and his wife, Renee, “measure the success of the year on how much we give away,” Grisham told USA Today. They have set up a foundation to oversee their giving -- “the bulk of it goes to church and related activities” -- to which “the kids have said, ‘Look, don’t give it all away.’”
Grisham now wishes “I’d joined the Peace Corps ... for a couple years out of college.” He added, “As my years go by I think I’ll spend more and more time doing ... mission work, probably in Brazil.”
Grisham’s missions experiences surface in The Testament.
Brazil is the setting into which his lead character, Nate O’Reilly, is thrust. An attorney battered by life in the fast lane, O’Reilly is hired to search for missionary Rachel Lane, who has been left the bulk of a billionaire’s fortune. The billionaire has committed suicide and, as a shocker to his six spoiled children and three ex-wives, he left his wealth to Lane, an illegitimate daughter none of his greedy clan knew about.
As Grisham explained to USA Today, “Nate tried power and women and booze and drugs and the fast life and all the good things that money can buy. He’s crashed and burned four times in 10 years and it’s obvious he can’t save himself. I wanted to take a guy like that and sort of follow him on a kind of spiritual journey, his quest for a spiritual cure. ... I was challenged by the goal of seeing if I could make such a spiritual journey work in a popular novel, in commercial fiction.”
Dale Hanson Bourke, publisher of Religion News Service, writes that Grisham is “a man of faith who has steadily introduced struggles between good and evil, materialism and spirituality into his recent novels.”
“In ‘The Testament’ (Doubleday), Grisham has finally tipped the balance toward a story that is more about faith than law, more a study of grace than legalism,” Bourke writes. “He has managed to do this in a way that still produces a ‘good read’ while offering an unabashed introduction to the Christian faith.”
Wayne Hager, pastor of Calvary Baptist Church, Mt. Airy, N.C., reviewing the book in the “Faithful Reader” column carried by Kentucky Baptist newsjournal, Western Recorder, noted Grisham “took a turn in his last novel, ‘The Street Lawyer,’ that signaled his willingness to explore issues of character, faith and being that flow straight from his Christian faith.”
In The Testament, Hager wrote Grisham “is to be praised for his willingness to openly have a lead character, in a piece of non-Christian fiction, share the gospel and then the main character accept it,” though “no confessional statement” is included in the conversion. The character’s attempts, however, “to make amends with his children realistically portrays both that redemption is possible and that there are consequences of sin, even after confession.”
Describing Grisham’s portrayal of the human condition as superb in The Testament, Hager added, “As entertainment this book is worth the read. As a testament to God’s saving grace, it is worth passing on to others.”
While CNN’s Larry King described The Testament as containing “the best first 50 pages for pure storytelling impact that I have ever read in a book of fiction” and USA Today reviewer Donahue said Grisham’s “hordes of fans won’t be disappointed,” the novel has sparked strong reactions -- pro and con -- among readers.
Reader reviews on the Internet bookstore sites of Barnes and Noble and amazon.com, for example, ranged from “can’t wait until his next one” to “Yawn” and “Boring.”
Among the various comments:
-- “Grisham again hits a home run,” writes a reader on Barnes and Noble’s website. “The research that goes into his books is extensive and he proves once again that he is a master storyteller. ... I read it in two sittings. Could not put it down.”
-- “This is the last John Grisham novel I will ever buy,” a California reader declares on the Barnes and Noble website. The reader speculates that “Grisham chose Brazil as the setting for his book so that he could write off on his income taxes the vacations he’s taken there.” He complains that Grisham has become “a Bible-thumpin’ preaching trying to save my ... and your ... poor, blackened soul.”
-- A South Dakota reader on the Barnes and Noble website expresses appreciation that Grisham “put Christians (people who believe in God) in a positive role not as a wacko role.”
-- The Testament “seems the most thoughtful and sincere of Grisham’s books that I have read,” a reader in Poland writes on amazon.com. “In the second half of the book some very deep-seated beliefs seem to emerge, taking on an almost mystical quality towards the end.”
-- “This book has something for everyone: a tragic death, love, spirituality, greed and travel,” a Michigan reader writes on amazon.com. “Similar to ‘Out of Africa’ but only in Brazil with a recovering lawyer on a desperate search for a hiding missionary woman who has no interest in what many today can’t live without: money and power.”
-- “The characters are poorly developed and flat,” complains a Texas reader on amazon.com. “They are either evil and greedy, or drunks. Even the protagonist only changes his ways when he is led to do so, either by his therapist or this faultless ‘angel’ in the jungle.”
-- Grisham, in writing about Brazil, “does well in detailing Brazil and a culture very few know about,” writes a Minnesota reader on amazon.com, while a Chicago reader complains it is “long, tedious to read and holds little interest.”
-- Of the ending, a California reader on amazon.com writes, “No machinations, illogical twists or character destructions. It isn’t complicated, it isn’t perfectly happy or sad, just satisfying -- much more realistic.”
-- A community college student on the Barnes and Noble website enthuses, “I never use to read until I cracked open a Grisham novel a few years ago. This is his best yet!”
-------------------------------------------------------------------- Oprah's discovery propels Bret Lott into limelight with pro-life fiction by F.W. Baeu Date: March 17, 1999 - Wednesday MT. PLEASANT, S.C. (BP)--Novelist Bret Lott picked up the ringing phone. It was television megastar Oprah Winfrey. Herself. She was calling to tell him she loved his novel, “Jewel,” so much that she had selected it for the February 1999 Oprah's Book Club.
In today's literary marketplace, getting picked by Oprah is the big break every writer dreams of. It means going from the midlists to the majors. It means instant best seller.
But just a few hours earlier, Lott had learned that one of his students had died -- a 51-year-old single man who lived at home to care for his invalid mother. "They found him slumped over at his desk," Lott recounted, "where he had been reading one of my novels." Then came the Oprah call.
"It was clearly God's timing," said Lott. "He was telling me that one day I, too, was going to die and stand before him and give an account. That no amount of worldly success, no record of best-selling novels was going to save me. Only faith in Jesus Christ, who died on the cross and rose again to save us from our sins."
Strange talk from a best-selling author these days. And, within today's literary world, a strange history: Bret Lott came to Christ at a Josh McDowell rally back in 1976. He and his family are Southern Baptists, members of East Cooper Baptist Church in Mt. Pleasant, S.C., where he has taught an adult Bible class for five years. He and his wife, Melanie, send their boys Zebulun and Jacob to a Christian school. The Lotts live a pretty ordinary, everyday life of activity in home, community and church. Today, that's weird.
Lott does have some conventional writer's stuff on his resume: English major at Cal State, graduating in 1981. Studied creative writing under the late James Baldwin at the University of Massachusetts. Master of fine arts in 1984.
But here was Lott's unconventional pursuit: "At U.Mass I was trying to figure out what a story really was, and how best Christ might be revealed through the gift from God I had received. Everything under the umbrella of 'Christian fiction' was either oatmeal -- 'Dare I steal Aunt Minnie's pie from the window sill?' -- or allegorical fantasy, or chaste bodice rippers. I don't mean to be glib. But I was and am convinced there is an intelligent, artful, heartfelt way of seeing the world, and seeing it really, that I wanted to find."
Lott's sense of writing as a Christian vocation crystallized with C.S. Lewis' call for Christians not to do Christian books, but books about everything with Christian values built in. In the early '80s, he read John Gardner's “On Moral Fiction,” which argues that writing should be redemptive, even if it does not have an explicitly religious theme.
Lott also had some growing up to do. At first he was infatuated with the idea of “being a writer,” doing vain things like signing his stories "R. Bretley Lott." Then he discovered the writer Raymond Carver, who "was a big influence, and kind enough to look at my own work personally before he died. He showed me -- and all of us young writers -- how to produce fiction that was character-centered, not author-centered. You have to get into the mind of another person and write from their point of view. You can't dictate to characters how to act or think."
From the mid-'80s through the '90s, Lott -- signing his work just plain Bret Lott -- paid his dues, publishing stories in literary magazines, writing six novels and becoming a creative writing professor at the College of Charleston. The way was not entirely smooth. Once he was dropped by a publisher who said, "The problem with you is that you're white, male, and you don't make good copy for People magazine."
One of Lott's friends, Wally Lamb, had written novels that twice had been featured on Oprah. He recommended Jewel to the Oprah producers. The novel is based on the life of Lott's grandmother who, in 1940s Mississippi, raised a Down’s syndrome daughter. Oprah read the book and loved it. With its selection, Jewel hit the New York Times best-seller list.
His church laid hands on Lott and prayed for him in the Sunday night prayer meeting before he left for Chicago to appear on Oprah. The minister, referring to the expected increase in book sales, drew a laugh when he said, "Now, you tithe, don't you?"
When Oprah announces her book club selection at the beginning of the month, she invites readers to write in about how the book affected them. Then she selects four respondents, flies them in and sits down to dinner on the set of the show with them and the author to discuss the book.
Two of the women flown in for the Feb. 26 show had, like the novel's heroine, given birth to a Down’s syndrome child. One, like Jewel, saw her child, in Lott's terms, "as a blessing that only seemed to be a burden." The other woman, in a wrenching and tearful confession, told about not being able to deal with her child's handicap and how she had just placed the baby for adoption when she read Jewel. (Oprah followed up with a segment on the child's new home. It turns out the baby was adopted by a single mother who already had one Down’s syndrome child.)
All who spoke agreed that the novel helped them cope with difficult life decisions. No one advocated abortion or infanticide. They chose life, and Bret Lott's writing had helped them. Life imitated art.
After three hours of taping, less than half an hour got on the air. A small part of the discussion was the use of the "N word" in the novel. Oprah defended its use as authentic to the character and period, pointing out that later Jewel realizes that blacks are real people and quits using the term. Over the dinner, Lott learned that three of the four dinner guests on the program with him were fellow believers. Most of the overtly Christian talk didn't survive the editing. But for once Oprah had a clear pro-life message.
And what's the Oprah difference for the Lott family? Best-seller status means the Lotts are finally going to let go of that 1972 VW Bug with 302,000 miles on it and buy a new car.
Lott's first three novels (“The Man Who Owned Vermont,” 1987; “A Stranger's House,” 1988; and “A Dream of Old Leaves,” 1989), which were out of print, have been reissued in new editions, and his fifth novel (“Reed's Beach,” 1993) has been reprinted. “The Hunt Club” (1998) is still selling. That literary mystery had done well, and Lott is scheduled to write a sequel to capitalize on its success. Now with best-seller status, Lott can write the book that is in his heart, a retelling of the Book of Ruth, set in contemporary America.
A few weeks ago Jewel was out of print, then became a best seller. It peaked at No. 4 on The New York Times list. When it dropped to No. 6, Lott felt the letdown. Soon Oprah will go on to the next book club selection and another author will get on the roller coaster.
"I'm a bit perplexed about all this,” Lott said, “but I am thankful. I need to stay centered on Christ and on this blessing and my job, writing the next book."

Reprinted by permission from WORLD magazine, March 13, 1999.

-------------------------------------------------------------------- BWA congress to give added focus to pastors, children, Baptist concerns by Wendy Ryan Date: March 17, 1999 - Wednesday WASHINGTON (BP)--New features for pastors and children, along fellowship breakfasts and luncheons addressing topics of particular interest to Baptists, have been added to the 18th Baptist World Congress, Jan. 5-9, 2000, in the Melbourne (Australia) Exhibition Center.
Leon Norsworthy, chair of the Australian Baptists local arrangements committee, briefed the BWA executive committee on congress planning during the committee’s March 8-11 meeting in Washington. The theme of the congress will be "Jesus Christ Forever. Yes!"
A three-part series for pastors, with messages by international church leaders, will feature Billy Kim of Korea and Michael Quicke of England on "Preparing the Preacher" Jan. 6; Fred Deegbe of Ghana and Bruce Milne of Canada on "Preparing the Sermon" Jan. 7; and Frederick Haynes of Dallas on "Preparing the Congregation" Jan. 8. Additionally, Paul Negrut of Romania, and Fausto Aguiar de Vasconcelos Brazil have been invited to participate in the series.
Each session for the pastors will have a brief worship time, followed by a Bible study, a practical examination of the subject and open discussion.
"We want pastors who come to the congress to leave with practical help and inspiration," said Randall Everett, pastor of Columbia Baptist Church, Falls Church, Va., and coordinator of the congress’ pastors’ stream.
The idea for the children's program was added by Australian Baptists, with Norsworthy reporting a number of children's ministry leaders among Baptists have been recruited for the program.
Another first for the congress will be a series of fellowship meals around themes of interest to Baptists around the world.
Jill Manton, an Australian lecturer on spirituality, will speak on "Prayer and Spiritual Formation" at a Jan. 6 breakfast, while Douglas Waruta, a theologian from Nairobi, Kenya, will address "The Church and Human Rights" at a luncheon the same day.
Haynes, pastor of Friendship-West Baptist Church in Dallas, will speak on "Prayer and Social Change" at a Jan. 7 breakfast, while de Vascosncelos, pastor of the First Baptist Church, Rio de Janiero, has been asked to preach on "Evangelism and Baptist Identity" during the luncheon.
Anne Graham Lotz of North Carolina, the keynote speaker at the congress’ Jan. 9 evening celebration, will speak on "Prayer and Listening to God," at a Jan. 8 breakfast, while the person elected as BWA president-elect will speak on "Mission Tomorrow" at the luncheon.
John Fearn-Wannan, congress musical director from Australia, reported there will be 153 musical opportunities during the Congress and he encouraged Baptist leaders to bring as many choirs and musicians as possible
"All styles and cultures will be represented," Fearn-Wannan said, noting a 25-piece orchestra will play both traditional and contemporary music and a 40-member choral group from Australia will lead the singing, along with a six-member international praise and worship team. Choirs from Korea, India, Germany and North America already have been registered, he said.
Pastors and musicians also will be able to preach and minister in Baptist churches in Melbourne and surrounding towns before or after the congress.
Among other plans for the congress: Bible studies with leaders from each continent; an outdoor ethnic festival and evangelistic event; opportunities for mission; and reports of God at work around the world.
Tony Cupit, himself an Australian and BWA director of evangelism and study and research, urged Baptists to come to encourage and stimulate Baptists in his country.
"Since 1905 at the first BWA Congress in London, England, Australian Baptists have supported BWA congresses," Cupit said. "Given the fact that there are only 65,000 Baptists in a country of 17 million, the congress has the potential for enormous impact in Australia. We, as Australian Baptists, need you to come."
Douglas Inglis, BWA congress director, introduced the registration forms now available from the BWA and the BWA Internet website. He emphasized again the starting date of the Congress as Jan. 5, which allows those concerned about Y2K to move past the first day for their travel to Australia.
-------------------------------------------------------------------- Baptist business officers honor Alabama’s Milton Curtis by Date: March 17, 1999 - Wednesday DALLAS (BP)--Milton Curtis, recently retired business manager for Alabama Baptist Children’s Home and Family Ministries, has received the 1999 Taylor Daniel Award of Merit from the Southern Baptist Business Officers Conference.
Curtis was presented the award March 15 during the organization’s annual meeting sponsored by the Annuity Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. His response was, “SBBOC has given more to me than I could ever give back to it.”
Curtis Sharp, executive officer of the Annuity Board for denominational and public relations, one of the presenters of the award, reiterated the description used by the Alabama legislature in a resolution honoring Curtis as “a man of great substance and effectiveness.”
After a brief stint in the U.S. Navy, Curtis served 34 years at the Alabama Baptist Children’s Home and Family Ministries. A desire to make a difference in the lives of children was the motivating factor for Curtis as he chose his profession. Even though he oversaw budgets and accounting work, he loved the close contact with the children.
Curtis was in charge of the work program at the children’s home and helped the children with their finances. Each child had a savings account and was required to save half of his or her summer earnings. Curtis also was a Christian counselor to the children and families and helped develop a crisis pregnancy hot line and a maternity group home. During his tenure, Curtis was instrumental in expansion of facilities for children across Alabama.
Curtis and his wife, Matt, will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary in 2000. They are members of First Baptist Church, Alexander City, Ala. They have one married son, Clay; a daughter-in-law, Gina; and two granddaughters, Samantha and Megan.
The Taylor Daniel Award of Merit was endowed by the Daniel family in 1989 to provide annual recognition for an outstanding practitioner in the field and discipline of Baptist business, and to honor the memory of the late L. Taylor Daniel, who was an executive officer for the Annuity Board almost 20 years. Daniel was instrumental in the founding and development of the Southern Baptist Business Officers Conference that meets annually at the Annuity Board for a variety of workshops and plenary sessions.
-------------------------------------------------------------------- He was a pastor, preached the Bible, spent time with his wife & family by Terry Mattingly Date: March 17, 1999 - Wednesday HOUSTON (BP)--Anyone who grew up in a parsonage knows that "PK" stands for "preacher's kid."
Early on, I rebelled against that label. But I wasn't rejecting my father, my family or the faith. When people called me a "preacher's kid," I told them that my father wasn't a preacher -- he was a pastor. There's a difference.
My father passed away March 5 at the age of 82 and I thought this would be a good time to say, once again, what I said to him and to others many times -- I have always been proud of his work, which included the pastorates of several Texas Baptist churches and seven years as an associational director of missions in Wichita Falls. Of course, it had been some time since Bert Mattingly’s post-retirement work as a hospital chaplain in Houston. That didn't matter. In Texas Baptist lingo, he was always "Brother Bert."
My father preached, but that wasn't what defined him. The joy, and burden, of the job is that there's more to it than that.
The job seems to be getting tougher. Ask Jim Dahlman, a veteran editor at Focus on the Family who has specialized in issues linked to the ministry. During one research project he read many letters from clergy and their families, some of which left him weeping. Some pastors weren't burning out -- they were crashing in flames.
"I read one letter after another from pastors or their wives talking about this overwhelming sense of loneliness and isolation," he said. "Over and over, they'd write things like, 'We're totally alone. We can't talk to anyone about what's going on in our lives or the pressure we're under. We're out here twisting in the wind.'”
The big pressure is for pastors to be ready and available to handle each and every crisis, no matter how minor. With family and friends far away these days, who do people call? Oprah? The all-night therapist?
Dahlman said people also expect pastors to be "lifestyle role models" with perfect homes and perfect spiritual lives. But it's a problem if the pastor spends too much time at family events or on prayer retreats. Church members expect well-researched, practical and, preferably, entertaining sermons. But it's a problem if the pastor spends too much time studying and writing.
The clock is always ticking.
I'm convinced the main reason stress levels are so high is that so many people -- in pews and pulpits -- have forgotten that pastors are defined by who they are and what they stand for, not what skills they possess and what tasks they perform. Pastors can't be shepherds if people expect them to be superheroes.
Why was I proud to be a pastor's kid? This may sound simplistic, but I believe churches need to hear it -- again.
-- My father was a pastor -- not a preacher, CEO, entertainer, clinical counselor, self-help guru or crisis-management consultant.
-- He preached the Bible, not his feelings and experiences. Today, many urge pastors to make their lives open books -- often forcing a faked extroversion that has little to do with reality. This has more to do with life in an era of mass-media confessions than solid teaching or evangelism.
-- My parents were united -- for 58 years -- by their love and commitment to ministry. Today, many churches place so much pressure on clergy schedules and on their spirits that the very foundations of their personal lives are weakened. This has led to clergy divorce rates that are as shameful as in society as a whole.
-- My father wasn't a workaholic. It wasn't until college that I talked with other PKs and discovered how unusual it was that I spent many, many hours with my father. I'm convinced this was linked to a more balanced, realistic approach to ministry.
-- He kept on loving God, his work and his people. I have never known a pastor who didn't wrestle with fits of melancholy. Good pastors are realists who face the reality of pain and sin. And then many heap criticism on them, micromanage their lives and expect miracles.
Truth is, I rarely saw my father move mountains. But I did see him preach, teach, pray and embrace sinners. I was proud that he was a pastor. I still am.

Mattingly (www.tmatt.net) teaches at Milligan College in Tennessee. He writes this weekly column for the Scripps Howard News Service. It is used in Baptist Press by permission.