The original issue can be found at: http://www.baptistpress.com/issue-04/20/2016 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. -------------------------------------------------------------------- TRUSTEES: SBTS trustees approve $48M budget, elect faculty by S. Craig Sanders Date: April 20, 2016 - Wednesday LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP) -- Trustees of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary unanimously approved all recommendations in the board's April 18 meeting, which included the election of two faculty members, the budget for the 2016-17 academic year, and a $14-million renovation plan for Fuller Hall. In what Southern Seminary is calling a "historic measure," trustees approved the recommendation of its Financial Board for the 2016-17 budget of $48 million, an increase of 9.9 percent over the previous year. The board also approved a $14-million renovation of the seminary's Fuller Hall, which is the third phase of the 10-year Master Plan that began in 2012 to address deferred maintenance. The project will be completed by Michael Winstanley Architects & Planners and Messer Construction, who completed the renovation of the Mullins Complex in 2014. The renovated Fuller Hall will serve the seminary's need to house the school's growing enrollment. Elected to the faculty, effective Aug. 1, were C. Berry Driver, professor of church history, and Michael S. Wilder, J. M. Frost Associate Professor of Leadership and Discipleship. Driver has taught since 2014 at Southern when he was appointed librarian of the James P. Boyce Centennial Library. Prior to coming to Southern, Driver served for nearly 20 years as dean of libraries and professor of systematic theology at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He earned a doctor of philosophy at Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary, a master of science in library science from the University of Kentucky, a master of divinity from Southwestern, and a bachelor's from the University of Alabama. Wilder, who is also senior pastor of First Southern Baptist Church, Floyds Knobs, Ind., has taught at Southern since 2006 and serves as associate vice president for doctoral studies. He earned his Ph.D. in Christian education from Southern in 2004, his M.Div. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, and his bachelor's from Clayton State College. The trustees designated Daniel M. Gurtner as Ernest and Mildred Hogan Professor of New Testament Interpretation, effective when he joins the faculty July 1. Since 2005, Gurtner has taught at Bethel Seminary as professor of New Testament. He received his Ph.D. from St. Andrews University in Scotland. Trustees also elected two faculty members to endowed chairs: Randy L. Stinson, senior vice president for academic administration and provost, as Basil Manly Jr. Professor of Leadership and Family Ministry, effective Aug. 1, and Gregory A. Wills, dean of the School of Theology, as David T. Porter Professor of Church History, effective immediately. Addressing the trustees, Mohler drew attention to record enrollment numbers, specifically citing the 1,200 students enrolled in Boyce College as "a sign of God's favor" that the seminary's undergraduate school would grow so quickly in less than 20 years of existence. "In the course of the last 12 months, there have been over 5,000 students enrolled in the totality of Southern Seminary," Mohler said. "That's just never happened before. That's an amazing number. I don't think we ought to let that pass without imagining what that represents: Every one of those a precious life; every one of those an incredible potential for ministry." Mohler also encouraged the trustees to attend the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in St. Louis. "It's a convention not to miss," Mohler said, and he invited trustees to the seminary's SBC alumni and friends luncheon, June 15 at noon in Ballroom 221 of America's Center. The board also: -- elected without opposition the 2016-17 slate of officers: John Thweatt, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Pell City, Ala., as chairman; Matt Schmucker, executive director of Together for the Gospel and a pastor at Anacostia River Church in Washington, D.C., as first vice chairman; John Montgomery, dean of spiritual life at California Baptist University, as second vice chairman; and Clint Pressley, senior pastor of Hickory Grove Baptist Church in Charlotte, N.C., as secretary. -- recognized six outgoing trustees whose terms of service end in 2016: Brian Autry, from Richmond, Va.; E. Todd Fisher, from Shawnee, Okla.; Philip Gunn, from Clinton, Miss.; Perrin Powell, from Spartanburg, S.C.; Paul Taylor, from Orange, Texas; and Phillip West, from Valdosta, Ga. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Study: Healthy babies can still be born after abnormal tests by Julie Borg/WORLD News Service Date: April 20, 2016 - Wednesday CAMBRIDGE, England (BP) -- New research suggests women who terminate their pregnancies because of an abnormal prenatal test may be aborting perfectly healthy babies. Doctors frequently offer birth defect tests to pregnant women whose babies are at increased risk of abnormalities. One of the tests that can be performed earliest in pregnancy, chorionic villus sampling (CVS) analyzes cells from the placenta between 11 and 14 weeks of gestation. Physicians often believe the presence of abnormal cells indicates the baby will most likely be born with birth defects like Down syndrome. Some moms choose to abort their babies when the test results are abnormal. Researchers at the University of Cambridge, who published their results in the journal Nature Communications, found even when half the cells of an early-stage mouse embryo were abnormal, the embryo was still able to fully repair itself because the abnormal cells self-destructed and healthy cells replaced them. In many cases, the process completely repaired a defective embryo, leaving it with all healthy cells even though some of the placental cells were still abnormal. Even in cases where 75 percent of an early-stage embryo's cells were abnormal, the ratio of normal cells increased as the embryo developed. "The embryo has an amazing ability to correct itself," the senior author of the study, Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz, said in a statement. Zernicka-Goetz's own experience as a 44-year-old expectant mom inspired her to conduct the research. A CVS test found that as many as a quarter of Zernicka-Goetz's placental cells were abnormal. When she spoke to geneticists about the test results, she found very little information existed about the implications of abnormal cells or the fate of the baby. Despite limited information about the meaning of test results, some experts lead women to believe the presence of abnormal cells means their baby will be born with birth defects. The website for Britain's National Health Service tells readers CVS gives "a definitive result in around 99 percent of cases.... If your test is positive, your baby has one of the disorders it was tested for." And according to WebMD, "CVS is considered to be 98 percent accurate in the diagnosis of chromosomal defects." When CVS shows abnormal cells, some health experts encourage women who are considering abortion to make a decision right away rather than wait until 15 to 20 weeks of gestation, when the more accurate amniocentesis test can be done. "If a woman chooses to terminate the pregnancy after receiving abnormal test results, the pregnancy termination will be safer than if she waits for amniocentesis results," the Cleveland Clinic states on its website. Zernicka-Goetz continued her pregnancy and gave birth to a healthy baby boy. But some mothers make a different choice, "based on a test whose results we don't fully understand," she said. The increased frequency of abnormal cells in the embryos of older women and mothers who have had in vitro fertilization make researching the ability of the embryo to repair itself imperative. Cells with abnormal chromosomes have been observed in as many as 80 to 90 percent of human early-stage embryos following in vitro fertilization, said Thierry Voet, another senior author of the study. More research is needed to determine if the results of the study hold true. -------------------------------------------------------------------- FIRST-PERSON: Like 100 weddings by Jeff Iorg Date: April 20, 2016 - Wednesday MILL VALLEY, Calif. (BP) -- Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary will soon complete one of the most significant relocations of any seminary in American history. We are moving our primary campus 400 miles to the Southern California city of Ontario. We are also building a new Bay Area campus in Fremont, Calif. We are doing all this while remaining fully operational. About 2,000 students are in class this semester somewhere in the Golden Gate system, which also includes campuses in Denver, Phoenix and the Pacific Northwest. The employees and students who have worked together to make all this happen are the heroes in the story. Our employees -- faculty and staff -- have worked tirelessly. They are doing two jobs simultaneously -- moving a seminary and running a seminary. Our students also are showing amazing focus, continuing their studies while making moving plans and preparing to relocate early this summer. Our community has done all this with minimal disruption and even less division. Our unity is profound. We have demonstrated commitment to our mission of shaping leaders while, at the same time, laying the foundation for long-term future success. Throughout this process, we have talked openly about the stress and grief we are feeling. We are now less than 45 days from the official move and these feelings are intensifying. We are unified around our mission, but the process is tough. It's like we are having 100 weddings at the same time. Weddings are stressful -- although in a good way. There's intense build-up, a lot of tension along the way, frayed nerves putting people on edge, all culminating in a big celebration. Every family at Golden Gate is living through this right now. Just imagine 100 families in your church all having major weddings in the same week! That's what it feels like. Pray for us. Pray for families who are still looking for housing to find it soon. Pray for students who are relocating to find jobs, houses and churches. Pray for new employees -- about 50 of them -- to learn their jobs and establish new working relationships quickly. Pray for our executive leaders to have patience and wisdom as we make hundreds of rapid-fire decisions in these final weeks prior to the move. Thanks for standing with us! The big move is coming and the entire Golden Gate family will soon celebrate a most remarkable achievement. -------------------------------------------------------------------- CROSSOVER: St. Louis Baptists ready for volunteers by Jim Burton Date: April 20, 2016 - Wednesday ST. LOUIS (BP) -- The iconic Gateway Arch represents the pathway to the west for most travelers and locals. For Jim Breeden, St. Louis Metro Baptist Association's (SLMBA) executive director, it's also the gateway to a mission field in need of hope. That's why he welcomes the estimated 3,500 Southern Baptist volunteers who will converge on the metropolitan area June 11 for Crossover St. Louis. The scores of travelers who constantly cruise the I-70 corridor through Missouri's largest city likely never see what Breeden sees. From the Arch to Lambert International Airport, they will pass neighborhoods unreached with the Gospel -- much like major cities in foreign lands. "We have 12 unreached areas of St. Louis that don't have a Southern Baptist church within a three-to-five-mile radius," Breeden said. "Visitors driving on the I-70 corridor will pass some of the darkest and most dangerous areas of our city." During Crossover, volunteer teams will visit five of those areas to plant and water the Gospel. Some of those volunteers may become part of the 25 church planters and church planting partners that SLMBA hopes to recruit long-term via the evangelism outreach, Breeden said. One Southern Baptist church exists for every 7,872 St. Louis residents. St. Louis is a North American Mission Board (NAMB) Send City. Mission projects along the I-70 corridor are among an estimated 75 initiatives in SLMBA seeking volunteers for music concerts, block parties, city beautification and projects designed to enhance SLMBA's growing partnership with local school districts. Most of these projects will happen around existing SLMBA churches, with each having received a grant from NAMB and the association. "From the beginning, we have asked our churches to dream and do more than they could ask or think from God on their own," said Tom Firasek, SLMBA's ministry and partnership coordinator. "We have churches getting on board that have done very little ministry outside their church walls. "Our churches have received a new passion to reach their neighborhoods for Christ," said Firasek, who is also serving as the local Crossover coordinator. "Our vision is to enhance and enlarge what is already in place," Breeden said. "We focus (daily) on starting, strengthening and sending churches on mission. That's the focus of Crossover this year." Four more area associations in the 2.73 million St. Louis metro area are also planning Crossover events: Jefferson, Franklin and Two Rivers associations in Missouri, plus Metro East in Illinois. Joel Southerland is NAMB's executive director for evangelism and their point person for Crossover. He welcomes the group of SBC seminaries that sponsors a weeklong practicum for an estimated 150 students from each of Southern Baptists' six seminaries. The students will spend half a day in class and the rest of the day engaged in evangelism, both door-to-door and event evangelism, to support local churches. "Many churches are doing evangelism projects for the first time in that pastor's tenure," Southerland said. "So we're hoping the training that goes into big evangelism projects trains the church pastor for future evangelism endeavors." "We want Crossover to have a lasting impact on the church plants and the churches long after we're gone," Southerland said. Send Relief compassion projects bring a new complementary dimension to Crossover this year by inaugurating NAMB's new mobile medical and dental clinics. They will serve in the Ferguson area, which gained worldwide attention following riots fueled by racial tensions in 2014. Southern Baptists have recently replanted a church there. Other Send Relief compassion projects will include hunger and poverty relief with local churches and a construction project called Home Fire Campaign, which will check and install fire alarms, according to David Melber, NAMB's Send Relief vice president. Firasek described details of some of the Crossover ministries/projects: -- On the Illinois side of the Mississippi River, The Calling Church will carry out a major community cleanup project. This project will take place with the cooperation and support of the local government in Granite City, Ill. There will be people assigned in groups whose specific responsibility will be to share the Gospel with the people they meet. -- In South St. Louis City, the Church at Bevo will host a block party in one of the most ethnically diverse areas of the city. One of their outside partners will include people from a Burmese-speaking church who have a passion for seeing a Burmese congregation started here. -- Michael Byrd, pastor of Faith Community Bible Church in Baden, will host a block party in North St. Louis City. This area has not had a Baptist witness for many years and has one of the higher crime areas of our city. Churches traveling to St. Louis can download a distance partner form at http://www.crossoverstlouis.com, or contact Firasek at 214-225-1948 or tfirasek@stlbaptist.org. Southern Baptists began Crossover evangelism events before the annual pastors' conference and Southern Baptist Convention's meeting in 1989 in Las Vegas. A few years later, leaders branded the initiative as Crossover. -------------------------------------------------------------------- FLOYD: Pastors' Conference legacy continues by Ronnie Floyd Date: April 20, 2016 - Wednesday Ronnie Floyd is president of the Southern Baptist Convention and senior pastor of Cross Church in northwest Arkansas. ST. LOUIS (BP) -- The annual Pastors' Conference of the Southern Baptist Convention has a long-living legacy. During the days of the Conservative Resurgence, it helped set the agenda and atmosphere of the subsequent annual meeting of Southern Baptists. 3 distinctives of the Pastors' Conference While the agenda may change annually, these distinctive principles set the tone. 1. Preaching rules the conference. The Pastors' Conference highlights some of America's finest biblical preachers and calls fellow pastors and laypersons to action. 2. Worship sets the atmosphere. The Pastors' Conference is distinctive due to powerful, uplifting worship. It can be a tremendous outlet for pastors and their wives. 3. Encouragement is the heart. At its best, the Pastors' Conference gives heart-warming, life-changing encouragement to pastors. In fact, it has been used of God to save the ministry of many pastors. 2016 -- Pastors' Conference legacy continues Pastor John Meador of First Baptist Church in Euless, Texas, is the president of the 2016 Pastors' Conference. He has gathered a powerful group of preachers who will not just preach the Word but encourage you to follow Jesus fully and do ministry passionately. The theme, "Live This," is based upon 2 Timothy 4:5-6. The goal is to challenge and equip pastors to mobilize and train their people to take the Gospel into their community more effectively. John believes, as I do, God wants to use the local church pastor to lead the way in reaching his community for Jesus. Please go to sbcpc.net to learn more about this year's Pastors' Conference, including speakers and session details. It begins Sunday evening, June 12, and concludes Monday evening, June 13. A final testimony Some of the most dynamic moments in my life and ministry in the Southern Baptist Convention occurred during the Pastors' Conference. I remember the 1979 Pastors' Conference in Houston, Texas, when I heard W.A. Criswell, Adrian Rogers and James Robison. It was my first convention and I had never been in such an environment. Stan Coffey, one of the Pastors' Conference presidents and a friend who is now in heaven, asked me to preach at a Pastors' Conference for the first time in 1988 in San Antonio. That evening, we were all sitting on the edge of our chairs and I will never forget W.A Criswell's message, "The Curse of Liberalism." He introduced his message with these words: "We have a full program tonight, so we begin. May I speak on The Curse of Liberalism? Because of the opprobrious epithet 'liberal,' today they call themselves 'moderates.' A skunk by any other name still stinks!" The crowd exploded! The next day, Jerry Vines was elected president of the Southern Baptist Convention. I have missed only two Pastors' Conferences since 1979, have been humbled to speak many times at this conference and was privileged to serve as its president in 1997 in Dallas. It has a special place in my life and ministry. Come to our 2016 SBC Pastors' Conference. You will be glad you did. John Meador, thank you for leading us as president. We are praying for you and the conference. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Transgender student wins restroom case appeal by David Roach Date: April 20, 2016 - Wednesday RICHMOND, Va. (BP) -- A federal appellate court has "for the first time ever" held that a public high school may not provide separate restrooms and locker rooms for students on the basis of biological sex alone, according to dissenting judge's opinion. The fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., threw out a lower court's dismissal of a lawsuit by a transgender student claiming the Gloucester County, Va., school board discriminated against her by not allowing her to use the boys' restroom after she announced a supposed transition to being male. Title IX of the federal Education Amendments Act of 1972, the ruling stated, requires that schools receiving government funds prohibit gender-identity discrimination. Rodney Autry, a Gloucester County pastor who joined an amicus brief supporting the school board, told Baptist Press the ruling could prove to be a "landmark decision." "This is a complete removal of time-honored precedent," said Autry, pastor of Union Baptist Church in Hayes, Va. "... This is a rather sweeping kind of change in a short period of time," he said, noting "just how short a period of time it's been since this snowball began." Russell Moore, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, classified the ruling as fruit of the sexual revolution. "Separating men and women in restrooms isn't discrimination," Moore told BP in written comments. "It's common sense policy that protects the vulnerable. Treating transgender students with respect doesn't require sexualizing school locker rooms and restrooms. The sexual revolution presents a false choice between sexual nihilism and discrimination, a dichotomy we have to reject for everyone's sake." The student who filed the lawsuit -- identified in court documents only as G.G. -- underwent hormone therapy, legally changed her name to a male name and asked to be treated as a male before her sophomore year of high school in 2014. She was allowed to use the boys' restroom for "about seven weeks" before parents of other students complained, according to the ruling. The school board eventually adopted a policy limiting restrooms and locker rooms to "the corresponding biological genders." Students "with gender identity issues," the policy stated, "shall be provided an alternative appropriate private facility." But the student claimed using a private unisex restroom made her feel "even more stigmatized." That led to her avoiding restroom usage altogether at school and as a result, according to the ruling, developing multiple urinary tract infections. G.G. made arrangements to fulfill physical education requirements "through a home-bound program" to avoid using locker rooms, the ruling states. Two judges on a three-judge panel -- both nominated by President Obama -- ruled a lower court erred by not interpreting Title IX's ban of sex discrimination as including gender identity discrimination. Although gender identity is not mentioned explicitly in Title IX, the judges said Supreme Court precedent requires that the Department of Education be allowed to interpret its own regulations where ambiguity exists. The department stated in a 2015 opinion letter, "When a school elects to separate or treat students differently on the basis of sex ... a school generally must treat transgender students consistent with their gender identity." The letter went on to "encourage schools to offer the use of gender-neutral, individual-user facilities to any student who does not want to use shared sex-segregated facilities." The Fourth Circuit also ruled the district court erred in its decision to bar the student from using boys' restrooms while the case was pending. Both matters were remanded to the lower court for reconsideration according to the "correct standard." In the footnote, the ruling noted "the limitations of a nonmalleable, binary conception of sex." In a blistering dissent, Judge Paul Niemeyer, a George H.W. Bush appointee, called the majority's ruling "unprecedented," "unworkable" and "illogical." "This holding completely tramples on all universally accepted protections of privacy and safety that are based on the anatomical differences between the sexes," Niemeyer wrote. "And, unwittingly, it also tramples on the very concerns expressed by G.G., who said that he should not be forced to go to the girls' restrooms because of the 'severe psychological distress' it would inflict on him and because female students had 'reacted negatively' to his presence in the girls' restrooms. "Surely biological males who identify as females would encounter similar reactions in the girls' restroom, just as students physically exposed to students of the opposite biological sex would be likely to experience psychological distress. As a result, schools would no longer be able to protect physiological privacy ... between students of the opposite biological sex," Niemeyer wrote. Autry, the Gloucester County pastor, cited "moral" and "practical" reasons for opposing the majority ruling. Morally, the ruling "open[s] the door to far more issues of a sexual nature in our public schools than we can even anticipate at this point in time," Autry said. Practically, "there were obviously workable solutions to this dilemma short of going nuclear," he said, citing his experience as chancellor of a Christian school connected with a church he pastored. "There was an easily discovered and employed pragmatic solution to the problem if the parties wanted an easily discovered and employed pragmatic solution to the problem," Autry said. "It's very painfully obvious that a solution was not what was sought. A systematic change was sought." Autry noted the need for compassionate ministry to individuals struggling with gender identity even as Christians contend for decency and safety in the public arena. "My personal experience is I have yet to meet someone struggling with any gender identity issue who does not have some story of brokenness," he said. The case, G.G. v. Gloucester County School Board, will be scheduled for further consideration before a district court. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Ecuador post-quake response being assessed by Lily Jameson Date: April 20, 2016 - Wednesday QUITO, Ecuador (BP) -- As the death toll climbs in Ecuador after the 7.8-magnitude earthquake April 16, Baptist Global Response is assessing damage and determining the most strategic response. According to CNN on April 20, the death toll was approaching 500, with 4,000-plus injured. David and Jo Brown, area directors in the Americas for the BGR humanitarian organization, landed in Quito, Ecuador, earlier this week and began working with local Ecuadorean Baptist partners who had begun evaluating and responding to the situation. Three BGR response teams currently are examining damage, and with support from the Browns, they are determining how to best meet survivors’ physical needs. "Our goal is identify a number of critical areas that need assistance," David Brown said. Patrick Melancon, BGR managing director of disaster response and training, said the teams initially will focus on food, shelter and health concerns. Then they will try to fill in gaps left by other agencies and organizations that are distributing aid. "A good evidence-based assessment will provide a solid basis for planning both the short-term and longer-term response,” Melancon said. “Likewise, the assessment prevents duplications of efforts by multiple organizations and meets the actual needs of the affected population.” BGR, he said, can’t rush its assessment phase and dive into a response effort based on conjecture instead of evidence. “The speed of a response is no indication of the effectiveness of an organization,” he explained. After completing the assessments, Melancon and the Browns will determine if BGR should mobilize volunteer teams from the United States. For now, the Browns have approval to spend up to $50,000 in BGR funds for emergency needs. BGR also has posted a link on its website that allows direct giving to the Ecuador earthquake relief effort. BGR partners in Ecuador also ask people to pray for survivors who are suffering the loss of loved ones and homes, and for those assessing damage. They ask God to give them wisdom and endurance during the weeks ahead. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Trump's N.Y. win still leaves GOP nod uncertain by Tom Strode Date: April 20, 2016 - Wednesday WASHINGTON (BP) -- The Democratic and Republican frontrunners strengthened their leads Tuesday (April 19) in the races for their parties' presidential nominations, but Donald Trump's dominant win in New York provided no assurance he will be able to avoid an open convention. Trump, the billionaire/celebrity, won 60 percent of the vote in his home state's primary, gaining 89 of New York's GOP delegates. Ohio Gov. John Kasich, the runner-up, secured three delegates. Hillary Clinton -- the former first lady, secretary of State and United States senator from New York -- captured 139 of the state's Democratic delegates with 58 percent of the vote. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont gained 106 delegates. Trump leads Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas by more than 300 delegates but faces a challenge in reaching the number required to win the nomination before the Republican convention. Clinton, meanwhile, holds an advantage of more than 700 delegates when superdelegates are counted. The continuing leads for Trump and Clinton keep alive the question of what evangelical Christians should do in the general election. The "real possibility" of a Trump-Clinton race in the general election means many evangelical Christians will "face a situation in which they cannot throw their support behind either candidate," Southern Baptist cultural commentator Bruce Ashford told Baptist Press. Meanwhile, evidence exists in the primaries that some committed evangelicals are supporting Trump. Ed Stetzer, executive director of LifeWay Research, recently pointed to twin realities regarding evangelicals and Trump. "The more you go to church as an evangelical, the less likely you are to vote for Donald Trump," Stetzer wrote in an April 15 blog post for Christianity Today. Yet, he said, "the most frequently chosen candidate of church-going evangelicals was Donald Trump." Ashford, provost and professor of theology and culture at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, said in written comments for BP, "Now is the time for evangelicals to begin repositioning ourselves as something other than the religious special interest arm of the Republican Party. Evangelicals who are registered Republicans and who have voted Republican in every election are still, first and foremost, Christians. "Our allegiance to Christ and the Gospel transcends our allegiance to the Republican Party," he said. "If and when the GOP's platform or politicians are at odds with our Christian convictions, we will leverage our Christianity to criticize the party's nominee and aspects of the party's platform." While some evangelical leaders have spoken against Trump's candidacy, a few have thrown their support behind him. Jerry Falwell Jr., Liberty University's president, has endorsed Trump, and Robert Jeffress, senior pastor of the First Baptist Church in Dallas, has spoken favorably of the candidate in appearances at his rallies but has not officially endorsed him. Though many evangelicals and conservatives have pledged not to vote in the general election for either Trump or Clinton, the evangelical voting pattern in the GOP primaries is somewhat complex, Stetzer pointed out. "Trump's support declines with church attendance, but he is still the highest among church attendees...," he wrote. Trevin Wax, managing editor of The Gospel Project at LifeWay Christian Resources, commented on these realities in an April 19 blog post. Many self-identified evangelicals who have voted for Trump "are cultural Christians who don't attend church and who resonate with simplistic slogans like 'God and country' and 'put America first,'" he wrote at The Gospel Coalition website. "Yes, many of Trump's 'evangelical voters' go to prosperity-gospel churches that do not line up with historic evangelical beliefs and identity. But here's the uncomfortable reality: some of Trump's evangelical voters are church-going and do believe in evangelical doctrines." Evangelicals, Wax said, "must consider the reasons why many churchgoing evangelicals are also supporting Trump. If we fall back on the statistics and polls that minimize this reality, we will fail to ask hard questions about the state of our own congregations, about the political priorities among the people we know and love, about ongoing questions related to loving our neighbors (including immigrants), opposing racial injustice, and sustaining religious liberty for all." The resistance to Trump -- including the use of the hashtag #NeverTrump on Twitter -- has produced no-vote promises from evangelicals based on his apparent inconsistent and even harsh policy positions on such issues as abortion, religious liberty and immigration; his uncivil, insult-laden rhetoric; and a lifestyle marked by adultery. Questions also have been raised about some of his business enterprises. In the Republican race, Trump has 844 pledged delegates, while Cruz -- who finished third in New York -- has 543 and Kasich 147. The nominee needs 1,237 delegates. Trump can reach that goal before the July 18-21 convention, but a strong showing by Cruz in the primary season's next seven weeks could block the billionaire from clinching the nomination. That might result in a contested convention in Cleveland. The next round of primaries -- April 26 in Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island -- favors Trump, but Cruz is expected to perform much better in many of the states that follow. Despite Trump's win in New York "it is still more likely that the convention will be contested," Ashford told BP. "In the likely case that he does not win enough bound delegates, we will see a fracas break out, the likes of which we haven't seen since the 1976 race between Reagan and Ford, as the candidates jostle with each other to woo delegates for the second ballot," he said. Gerald Ford, the incumbent president, turned back the challenge of Ronald Reagan at that year's GOP convention. On the Democratic side, Clinton holds what appears to be an insurmountable lead because of her overwhelming advantage among superdelegates. She leads Sanders in pledged delegates, 1,446 to 1,200. Yet, Clinton has 502 superdelegates, who are unpledged party leaders, while her opponent has only 38. Her total of 1,948 leaves her only 435 short of the 2,383 delegates needed for the Democratic nomination. Clinton's victory in New York "reveals just how difficult it would be for Sanders to secure the nomination," Ashford said. With 99 percent of the New York primary votes recorded at 1:30 p.m. EDT, Trump had won 60 percent, Kasich 25 percent and Cruz 15 percent. Clinton's total was 58 percent, Sanders' 42 percent.