The original issue can be found at: http://www.baptistpress.com/issue-04/25/2003 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. -------------------------------------------------------------------- IMB leaders weighing options with projected budget shortfall by Mark Kelly Date: April 25, 2003 - Friday RICHMOND, Va. (BP)--International Mission Board leaders are outlining options to help avoid deficit spending if the 2002 Lottie Moon Christmas Offering does not reach its $125 million goal when the books close May 31. Projections indicate the offering will set a new record -- for the 10th consecutive year -- but the offering and other sources of income are expected to fall millions short of funding the entity's challenging $290.1 million budget for 2003. IMB President Jerry Rankin praised God that Southern Baptists continue to give to missions at record levels, but he challenged churches to move from generous support to sacrificial giving for their Great Commission cause. "This budget challenge is not due to diminished giving on the part of Southern Baptists," Rankin said. "Missions is who we are, and churches are giving at record levels to the Cooperative Program and the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering, in spite of the soft economy. "The challenge is that we allowed our missionary force to grow at a faster rate than giving was increasing. Incremental increases in giving cannot keep up with the amazing growth of the missionary force." GOING OUTSTRIPS GIVING Two years of 1,000-plus missionary appointments and lower resignation rates forced the IMB to overspend budgeted amounts for missionary support in 2002. In addition, investments did not generate their usual income for the board's budget because of the downturn in the stock market. The board budgeted for a net personnel increase of 200 in 2002 but actually posted 319. The 2003 budget allows only for a net increase of 150, when the number actually could be much higher. "We trust God to provide the resources to support the people He is calling to overseas missions," Rankin said. "But until more churches begin to give with the same passion these new missionaries have for a lost world, budget realities require us to keep spending within the limits of income." While the final offering total will not be known until May 31, projections in mid-April indicated a 1 percent increase in receipts over last year's offering. That would fall about $10 million short of the $125 million planned into the 2003 budget. While most churches collect their 2002 Lottie Moon offerings in December, the International Mission Board continues to receive donations for that offering through May. Cancellation of some events, restrictions in staff travel and delaying production of some materials are among the initial steps IMB leaders are suggesting to help offset whatever shortfall may occur. Trustees and staff will discuss options to deal with the situation during a May 6-8 meeting in Boston. FEWER NEW MISSIONARIES? Unless giving increases dramatically, the board also may have to take steps to restrict the flow of new missionaries to the field, Rankin said. "Southern Baptists gave us the assignment of sending their missionaries, and new workers are obeying God's call in record numbers," Rankin said. "We will make whatever sacrifices and cutbacks are necessary to fulfill our mission." God's passion for His lost children is what compels missionaries to go, Rankin said. When Southern Baptist churches -- like their missionaries -- are overwhelmed with God's love for the lost, they will give with the same passion. "How sad it would be -- with the unprecedented opportunities and accelerating harvest -- for us to have to tell God-called missionaries that the money just isn't there to send them," he said. "How tragic it would be if we have to decide which people groups will not hear about salvation in Jesus Christ because we have not provided the resources to send the missionaries God has called." --30-- -- The Lottie Moon Christmas Offering: http://resources.imb.org/index.cfm/fa/prod/ProdID/256.htm. -- More about the International Mission Board: http://www.imb.org/core/aboutus.asp. -- The International Mission Board (http://www.imb.org) is a Southern Baptist Convention entity supported by the Cooperative Program (http://www.cpmissions.net) and the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering (http://ime.imb.org). -------------------------------------------------------------------- Iraqi Shiites' religious fervor could hamper post-Saddam government by Erin Curry Date: April 25, 2003 - Friday KARBALA, Iraq (BP)--Hundreds of thousands of Shiite Muslims descended upon one of Iraq's sacred cities April 22 in a demonstration of that country's new freedom of religion. Under Saddam Hussein's rule, the Shiite majority was not allowed to make the traditional pilgrimage to Karbala to pay homage to one of their most venerated religious figures. But after coalition forces moved in and toppled Hussein's regime, the Shiites quickly organized and showed they will be a dominant factor in the shaping of a new Iraqi government. The pilgrimage marked the end of a 40-day mourning period for the prophet Muhammad's martyred grandson, Hussein, who was killed nearly 1,400 years ago at the Battle of Karbala. As recounted in a New York Times article April 23, Muslims were divided after Muhammad's death in 632 about who should succeed him. The group which would become known as Shiites believed the leader should be a descendant of Muhammad, and they chose the prophet's cousin and son-in-law, Ali. Those who would be called Sunnis believed the leader should be someone with the strongest leadership qualities. When Ali was assassinated, Shiite leadership was passed to his sons, Hasan and Hussein, but in 680 a new Sunni leader demanded Hussein's allegiance. Hussein refused and left Medina on a journey to Kufa, where there was a large Shiite presence. On his way, he was attacked by Sunni forces at Karbala. He was decapitated, and his body was buried in Karbala but his head was sent to the Sunni leader in Damascus. This April, as Shiites made the pilgrimage to Karbala, many were seen cutting themselves with swords, beating themselves with chains or inflicting pain in other ways. While all of that looks quite strange to the American eye, a longtime Baptist worker in the Middle East told Baptist Press it's not that much different from some of the radical Catholics in places like the Philippines who hang themselves on crosses and torture themselves at Easter in response to Christ's death. "This grieving and mourning for a historical action is part of the religious world," said the worker, who cannot be identified for security reasons. "It's not a part of the relationship with God and the spiritual world." Most reports indicate that Shiites account for 60 percent of Iraq's population, which would give them heavy sway in a democratic setting. Many, especially Americans whose impression of Shiite rule harkens back to Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini and the hostage crisis of the late 1970s, fear Iraq will meet a fate similar to Iran. What will happen when the Shiites are part of a democratic government in Iraq or if they somehow form a theocracy? The Baptist worker said Shiism focuses on the leader and his authority to interpret Islam. The basic tenet of belief is that there is a hidden world leader of Islam who is going to step forward at some time, and it may be that the leader is already in power. When recognized, that leader will have the same authority as Hussein, the Muslim leader of centuries ago. A leader in Shiite Islam has much more freedom to transcend the traditions that have preceded him, the worker said, and because Shiites in Iran believed Khomeini could have been that ultimate leader, they followed him wholeheartedly. "Whoever would emerge as the leader of Arab Shiites in Iraq would have tremendous interpretive powers regarding how the Iraqi Shiite community should implement Islamic community," the worker said. "They would normally do that as we see in Iran as councils of religious leaders.... But this is all pure speculation." The worker also noted that Islam, whatever its expression, has difficulty with governing a pluralistic society. In Iraq's case, that would include the Sunnis who make up 37 percent of the population. "They have rules for governing non-believers [Christians and Jews] in the Koran and Haddith, but there is no standard for governing Muslims who disagree with the interpretation of Islam," the worker said. "The problem when you have a Sunni government with a Shiite representation in that country is that they're always trying to carry the Shiites to documentary authority and the long tradition of Sunni." Sunni is translated "accepted way," and the metaphor in Arabic is there is a path from one oasis to the next, and all are expected to stay on that path because it's the safe way. Those who stray will be lost in the desert. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld noted at a Pentagon briefing April 21 that an Iranian model of government in Iraq would not be consistent with the democratic and pluralistic principles the United States believes should be adopted by an emerging Iraqi government. "I think there are an awful lot of people in Iran who feel that that small group of clerics that determine what takes place in that country is not their idea of how they want to live their lives," Rumsfeld said. A representative democracy that is secular in base is important for Iraq, the Baptist worker said, because "we have brothers and sisters in Christ who are there worshiping in orthodox and evangelical churches." He said the small Christian minority will seek to be the presence of Christ and seek to work and live under the authority of the new Iraqi government. Most Shiites, meanwhile, cannot readily comprehend how the Jesus of Christianity is different from the Jesus of Islam, the worker noted. Generally speaking, Shiites follow a strong leader while Sunnis are devoted to the Koran. Most likely, very few Iraqi Shiites have even read the Koran themselves, but rather are accustomed to following the local religious leadership. --30-- -------------------------------------------------------------------- Christians, pro-family groups must stand behind Santorum, conservative leaders say by Michael Foust Date: April 25, 2003 - Friday NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--Sen. Rick Santorum was correct in his recent comments and must be defended if future pro-family politicians are to have the courage to speak up, James Dobson and Ken Connor said on Focus on the Family's radio program April 25. Their comments came the same day the White House defended Santorum, the Republican from Pennsylvania who is No. 3 in the GOP's senatorial leadership chain. "The president has confidence in the senator and believes he's doing a good job as senator," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said. "The president believes the senator is an inclusive man." Santorum, a Catholic who is one of Washington's most staunch pro-lifers, gave an interview to the Associated Press in early April that has resulted in much criticism. The AP did not release the story until April 21. In the interview, Santorum gave his views on a Supreme Court case in which several homosexuals are attempting to overturn the state of Texas' sodomy laws. The case was heard in March; a decision is expected before the court adjourns this summer. "If the Supreme Court says that you have the right to consensual sex within your home, then you have the right to bigamy, you have the right to polygamy, you have the right to incest, you have the right to adultery," he said. "You have the right to anything." Santorum added that such behavior "destroys the basic unit of our society because it condones behavior that's antithetical to strong healthy families. ... Every society in the history of man has upheld the institution of marriage as a bond between a man and a woman." He said he has "no problem with homosexuality" but does "have a problem with homosexual acts." Most media reports have said that Santorum was comparing homosexuality to bigamy, polygamy and incest. Connor, president of the Family Research Council, said that Santorum's logic was correct and that it's the same argument legal scholars have made. "All Sen. Santorum was doing was extending the logic of the argument that the claimants in the [Supreme Court case] have made," Connor said. "... They say the state doesn't have a rational basis for making homosexual behavior illegal as a means of helping to protect the institution of marriage. "All the senator did was show that ideas have consequences. He said, 'Here's where the logic takes us.' The reality of it is that these people don't want folks to understand where the logic takes us. They want to proceed in a stealth and incremental manner in order to wind up ultimately radically redefining marriage." If the Supreme Court rules that the government cannot write laws prohibiting certain acts between consenting adults in private, "then the effect of that will be to legitimize such conduct as bigamy, polygamy, incest, adultery, you name it," Connor added. Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, noted Santorum's strong stance against abortion, and as an example replayed a 1999 Senate floor debate on partial-birth abortion between Santorum and Sen. Barbara Boxer, D.-Calif. "He is perhaps the most articulate critic of cloning and partial-birth abortion.... [He] has a big target on him," Dobson said. "They would love to bring him down." Connor added that Santorum has "been a champion of the family -- not just in the area of preserving marriage and promoting healthy families ... . He has been a defender of life from the very beginning." If conservatives don't stand up for Santorum, Connor said, the results could be devastating for the pro-family cause. "We in the pro-family movement absolutely must stand with those who stand for our views and our values," Connor said. "If we don't, we're going to find that there won't be anybody willing to take that stand." Dobson added, "We need to let him know that we are standing with him and praying for him." The Associated Press story also noted Santorum's pro-life stance, saying that Santorum tells people he has seven children, including "the one in heaven." Their fourth child, Gabriel, died hours after delivery. Santorum and his wife took Gabriel's body home to let their other children see and hold him before he was buried, Santorum's wife wrote in the book "Letters to Gabriel," according to the AP. Among Santorum's colleagues, the reaction has been mixed. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee defended Santorum. "Rick is a consistent voice for inclusion and compassion in the Republican Party and in the Senate, and to suggest otherwise is just politics," Frist said in a statement, according to The Washington Post. Santorum's Pennsylvania colleague, Sen. Arlen Specter, also came to Santorum's defense. "I have known Rick Santorum for the better part of two decades, and I can say with certainty he is not a bigot," Specter said, according to The Post. But two Republican senators on the liberal wing of the party -- Olympia Snowe of Maine and Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island -- chided Santorum. "Discrimination and bigotry have no place in our society, and I believe Sen. Santorum's unfortunate remarks undermine Republican principles of inclusion and opportunity," Snowe said in a release, according to CNN.com. Chafee agreed. "I thought his choice of comparisons was unfortunate and the premise that the right of privacy does not exist -- just plain wrong," Chafee said in a statement on CNN.com. "Sen. Santorum's views are not held by this Republican and many others in our party." A third Republican senator, Gordon Smith of Oregon, said Santorum's comments were "hurtful" to homosexuals, The Oregonian reported. Several Democrats have also been openly critical. Democratic presidential contender and Vermont Gov. Howard Dean issued a statement April 23 calling on Santorum to step down from his leadership post. As governor of Vermont, Dean signed a bill allowing state-recognized homosexual same-sex unions, making Vermont the first and only state to do so. "Gay-bashing is not a legitimate public policy discussion; it is immoral. Rick Santorum's failure to recognize that attacking people because of who they are is morally wrong [and] makes him unfit for a leadership position in the United States Senate," he said. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, chaired by New Jersey Sen. Jon Corzine, also called for Santorum to step down from his post. The DSCC called the remarks "divisive, hurtful and reckless." Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle said he hopes Santorum "clarifies that he was not equating homosexuality with bigamy or incest. Those sentiments are out of step with our country's respect for tolerance, and I hope Sen. Santorum would repudiate them," according to the Orange County Register. But Catholic theologian Chester Gillis of Georgetown University told The Washington Post that Santorum's comments reflected Catholic belief. "Catholic theology does not condone homosexual activity. However, it does not condemn homosexual persons," Gillis told The Post, adding that the Catholic church teaches that homosexuals should live in chastity. --30-- -------------------------------------------------------------------- Ricky Skaggs shares music & faith at Univ. of Mobile's 1st 'Starlight' by Kathy Dean Date: April 25, 2003 - Friday MOBILE, Ala. (BP)--With eight Grammy Awards to his credit, Ricky Skaggs can perform anywhere he wants. "You can't be the salt if you don't go to places where they need salt," Skaggs said of why his venues have included casinos, clubs and bars. "You've got to get the salt out of the shaker," the recording artist told a crowd of more than 3,300 gathered on the campus of the University of Mobile April 22. Skaggs, along with Christian recording artist Alicia and former UM student Jason Guy of CBS' "Big Brother 3" reality show, headlined the university's first "StarLight at the University of Mobile." The high-energy, fast-paced outdoor music festival featured performances by UM students of choral music, jazz, piano, guitar, wind ensemble and opera. The family oriented event drew people from Alabama, Florida and Mississippi to the 800-acre campus. Roger Breland, a member of the Gospel Music Hall of Fame and the new special assistant to the president at UM, organized the concert as a way to raise the region's awareness of the Baptist university, its mission and its many talented students. That mission -- changing lives to change the world through graduates who live out their Christian faith in their work, family, community and church -- drew high praise from Skaggs. "I really like what y'all are doing down here," Skaggs said. "I don't mean that lightly. ... I believe God's hand is on this place." Skaggs, a member of First Baptist Church in Hendersonville, Tenn., shared both his music and his message of God's faithfulness during an evening which showcased the university's music program and ended as UM President Mark Foley led the audience in a prayer for the nation. UM students joined Skaggs onstage and led the crowd in "God Bless America" as fireworks lit the sky. Defining himself as "a recording artist that's a Christian" rather than a "Christian recording artist," Skaggs related how his stand as a Christian sometimes hurt his career. He described his desire to focus on gospel music -- a desire that was delayed for many years because the record labels he was signed with didn't believe the album would be a success. That belief proved false when Skaggs formed his own recording company, Skaggs Family Records, and released "Soldier of the Cross." The album was named Best Southern, Country or Bluegrass Gospel Album of the Year in 2000. Skaggs has had 12 No. 1 singles, 14 country albums, five bluegrass albums and a gospel album and was named as one of the 100 most important artists of the last 50 years by Billboard magazine. "Our bluegrass sound draws unbelievers, but when they get to our show, they hear the Gospel -- whether it's the words in the song or the words I say between songs, somehow they will be confronted with the Gospel," Skaggs writes on his website at www.skaggsfamilyrecords.com. About 2,000 undergraduate and graduate students are enrolled at the Baptist-affiliated University of Mobile. --30-- (BP) photo posted in the BP Photo Library at http://www.bpnews.net. Photo title: BLUEGRASS & BAPTISTS. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Colo. staffer elected head of Hawaii Pacific convention by Staff Date: April 25, 2003 - Friday HONOLULU (BP)--A man who has more than 20 years of Christian service in the Aloha State is coming back to head the Hawaii Pacific Baptist Convention. Veryl F. Henderson, 60, was unanimously elected executive director-treasurer of the state convention April 19 by the convention's executive board. He succeeds O.W. Efurd, who officially retired March 31. Henderson, who will begin his new duties in mid-June, currently serves as director of the church planting division for the Colorado Baptist General Convention. Henderson is no stranger to Hawaii. He served as pastoral missionary at Lahaina Baptist Church, Kihei Baptist Mission and West Maui Resort Missions from 1969-78; as state director of resort missions with the Hawaii Baptist Convention from 1979-83; and as state director of missions with the HBC from 1983-95. "Whatever it takes" is his motto, he said. "Everybody ought to know who Jesus is," Henderson said. "Everybody ought to be worshiping the Most High God. We are preparing ourselves to be instruments in the hands of a loving God who wants everyone ... to worship Him. Our goal is a spiritual awakening that will transform businesses, recreation sites, education and the social order." At the Hawaii executive board meeting, Henderson pledged to meet with every pastor in Hawaii during the summer months in order to reacquaint himself with what has been happening in the churches since he left Hawaii. He also told the board he believes leadership training is essential. "It is a key to helping new believers develop as Christians," he said, adding that he would like to see the education and equipping of lay leaders with ministry skills be a priority. Referring to his experience in Colorado in leadership training, Henderson said, "Many ethnic leaders in Colorado received a certificate for the first time in their lives this past year after completing a basic skills training event for church leadership. Forty-seven percent of the pastors serving in Colorado are bivocational, so providing educational opportunities is a key factor in building leadership skills. We need to expand the traditional methods of pastoral education. We need to find and resource new ways to reach and teach those who are led by God to preach the Gospel." Prayer also will be a priority, he said. "Resources may not be available at the time we think they are needed, but through prayer, God can accomplish great things," he said. "Prayer is the only way God's plan is going to work." Henderson said he hopes to implement a daily prayer time with the HPBC staff and bring a prayer focus into every facet of Hawaii Pacific Baptist life. While at Lahaina Baptist Church in the 1970s, he hosted worship services at four hotels. As a resort missionary in Honolulu, he began Bible studies in coffee shops, office buildings, apartment buildings and other places where he could meet people. In Honolulu he also started a bimonthly Christian sunset cruise ministry that took passengers out to sea for two hours for a nighttime view of the Waikiki coastline. The cruise was popular with local people and tourists as an alternative to the secular Waikiki tourist attractions. As HBC state director of missions under executive directors Dan Kong and O.W. Efurd, Henderson was instrumental in hosting supervision workshops as a tool for training leaders. He emphasized starting ethnic congregations and providing learning opportunities specifically geared to people in their languages and cultures. When Hurricane Iniki hit the island of Kauai in 1992, Henderson implemented emergency disaster relief training and coordinated volunteers so Southern Baptists of Hawaii could assist with the cleanup and food preparations in cooperation with the American Red Cross. Since leaving Hawaii in 1995 to work with for Colorado Baptists, he has given leadership in starting new ministries and new churches in Colorado. Beginning in 2003, under Henderson's leadership the Colorado convention's church planting division launched a major undertaking of mapping the state geographically, identifying people who are not worshiping in any church and seeking to determine what it would take to get them into a worship service. Congregations were asked to adopt a people group and saturate the area with prayer and abundant Gospel seed-sowing. Henderson and his wife, Cheryl, have two adult children and four grandchildren. Henderson holds a bachelor of arts degree in religion from Wayland Baptist College in Plainview, Texas; a master of divinity degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas; and a doctor of ministries degree from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky. He is a certified presenter on basic training and mentoring and facilitator on the "Next Level Leadership Network" with the Southern Baptist North American Mission Board. He has served as adjunct professor at Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary's Rocky Mountain campus in Denver, teaching a course on an "Introduction to Missions." --30-- Based on reporting by Faith McFatridge. (BP) photo posted in the BP Photo Library at http://www.bpnews.net. Photo title: HENDERSON BACK TO HAWAII. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Even small churches can impact youth via school adoption, NAMB leader says by James Dotson Date: April 25, 2003 - Friday ALPHARETTA, Ga. (BP)--Small rural churches can impact students in their communities with the Gospel by "adopting" a nearby school -- even if they do not have an organized youth ministry. An "Adopt A School" plan -- detailed at www.everyschool.com -- has existed for several years, but alerting smaller churches in rural areas to the outreach has been a challenge, said Len Taylor, who oversees student evangelism efforts at the Southern Baptist North American Mission Board. "Public school campuses are a mission field," Taylor said, "and we want individuals, churches, grandmothers or whatever to adopt the school and start a process to get the Gospel on that campus. "The problem is that the large schools are not just in the largest cities. They're in rural America. And the small churches in rural America who don't have youth leaders haven't heard the message," he said, because much of the focus of Adopt A School communications has been through church staff members who work with youth. Adopting a school is the first step in a process that can lead to other evangelism strategies, including student-led Christian clubs on campus and the commissioning of students as "campus missionaries." But adopting a school can begin with something as small as a commitment to begin praying for students in a school, or finding ways of getting involved in schools. The www.everyschool.com website also suggests an approach called "First Things First," in which three Christians meet three times a week to pray for each other and three non-Christian friends each. "The result? Three Christian students are praying for nine friends who need Christ," according to the website. The website itself plays an important role. Through online communications, relationships begin to develop for attempting larger joint efforts such as a campus club, Taylor said. A student, a concerned adult or an entire church can undertake school adoption. The website offers specific steps for adopters in each category. Taylor told of one pastor in Texas who decided his church needed to adopt a school. He attended a basketball game as an initial show of interest and wound up talking with a teacher in the next seat about how his church could help the school. "A year and a half later that church is doing a Teacher Appreciation Day," Taylor said. "... Now that church has a huge impact on the school." He noted that the Adopt A School effort also helps build relationships with likeminded evangelical Christians of other denominations. "What God's doing is incredible," Taylor said. "If a Southern Baptist church will start a school campus ministry, and the students on campus start participating, that draws in ... other evangelical churches. Then the adults in those congregations also get involved." For more information, visit the www.everyschool.com website or contact NAMB's student evangelism office at (770) 410-6344. --30-- -------------------------------------------------------------------- Shorter proceeds with break from Ga. convention after court ruling by Staff Date: April 25, 2003 - Friday ROME, Ga. (BP)--Shorter College wasted no time after an April 23 court ruling in breaking its ties with the Georgia Baptist Convention. The ruling, in DeKalb County Superior Court, had affirmed that the convention has the right to elect Shorter's trustees and, in seemingly contradictory fashion, that the college could proceed with transferring its assets, estimated at nearly $50 million, to a newly Shorter College Foundation. The foundation will elect its own trustees, thus ending the college's official ties to the Georgia convention. The superior court judge, Daniel M. Coursey Jr., had stated in an earlier hearing that the likely next stop in the dispute is the Georgia Supreme Court. The college, founded in 1873 and affiliated with the Georgia convention since 1959, has 2,100 students at its Rome, Ga., campus. Shorter's president, Ed Schrader, reiterated to the Rome News-Tribune his contention that the college's break with the Georgia convention was necessary for maintaining the college's accreditation with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. A March 2002 Southern Association of Colleges and Schools report had asserted that "undue pressure is being placed on the Board of Trustees by an outside agency, namely the Georgia Baptist Convention" and recommended a change in the trustee election process. Shorter's accreditation was renewed late last year. Schrader told the Rome News-Tribune April 23 that "we were reaccredited based on the reorganization of [the] college." He told the newspaper the following day, "This puts us in complete compliance with SACS." The Georgia convention, in an April 24 statement after Shorter's break from the convention, stated, "The decision by Shorter to dissolve the college within mere hours of the court's ruling -- while the case is still pending -- is truly alarming and risky for Shorter. "It's hard to believe that a relationship that began with the founding of the school and that has blossomed over the last 45 years could be wiped out in a matter of hours," the GBC said. The "rash actions taken by a small group at Shorter most certainly place the college, its students and its financial viability at risk. "The case continues and we believe other actions taken by Shorter will also be declared void," the convention said. Schrader told the Rome News-Tribune, meanwhile, "Our college has had a longstanding relationship with the GBC, and we are proud of the heritage of that relationship. It is our hope that we will maintain the relationship, even in light of the court's ruling, and work together to find common ground and move forward in a spirit of cooperation." The Georgia convention, in a news release last December, had recounted that in 1959 -- "at the college's request" -- the convention "assumed ownership of the school to help it avoid financial ruin. Since taking ownership, the GBC has invested nearly $26 million in Shorter, and the school has thrived, having recently been ranked by US News & World Report as one of the South's top 20 comprehensive liberal arts colleges." Still in court is the issue of $9 million in funding from Georgia Baptists frozen by action of the convention. A college lawsuit to obtain the $9 million prompted a countersuit by the convention that was been joined by several Shorter trustees. The Georgia convention, in its news release last December, said the countersuit sought to prevent "a scheme and conspiracy by Shorter's president and members of its board of trustees to illegally convert, take over and steal Shorter from the GBC." --30-- -------------------------------------------------------------------- Hi-tech program gets the word out for cutting-edge curriculum changes by Staff Date: April 25, 2003 - Friday NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--The times are changing and so are Sunday School classes. Gone are the days when a teacher sat with her class of first-graders, telling a Bible story by using felt pictures of Moses and the burning bush. Sitting at a table coloring pictures and making Bible characters out of Popsicle sticks doesn't happen that often either. It's not that there is anything wrong with such methods. Technology standards have changed significantly in recent years -- and so have the expectations of children and adults alike. LifeWay's church resources division hopes to attract new customers to an already loyal base by introducing its new fall curriculum on CD-ROM. In June and July, copies of this interactive experience will be available free of charge at all 115 LifeWay Christian Stores throughout the country. A supporting publication also will be available at no cost and will feature actual samples of curriculum for adult, youth, collegiate, children and preschool lines. The disk will include special features on every new and available Sunday School track, covering all age groups and programs, including the new MasterWork and Life Connections for adults and G-Force, the new children's Bible study and worship experience that includes DVD and multimedia enhancements for large group worship time. In addition to the CD-ROMs, touch-screen sensitive interactive displays will be tested in six different store locations. Customers will have the opportunity to learn more about curriculum changes and offerings at the touch of a fingertip. Stores that will host the pilot program through June and July are those in Hurst, Texas; Greensboro, N.C.; Jackson, Miss.; Chattanooga, Tenn.; and Dublin, Ohio. "We've never promoted the curriculum in the stores before," said Lynne Weaver, a customer interaction strategist for LifeWay's church resources division, "and there are a lot of people out there who aren't using the curriculum as it is now, and may not know about the new changes. "We've got a new story to tell, and we want to make sure everyone hears it." --30-- -------------------------------------------------------------------- New Sunday School materials built on what's been learned by Polly House Date: April 25, 2003 - Friday NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--LifeWay's new adult Sunday School curriculum lines are answers to churches' requests. "In our one-to-one communication with churches, we've been able to learn more about our customers, and learn it faster, than ever before," said Gene Mims, vice president of the LifeWay's church resources division. When the church resources division made various organizational changes almost two years ago, one of the goals was to create a means for LifeWay to get feedback from churches. By learning what the churches say they needed, LifeWay is able to produce products and resources to address those needs. Two new adult Sunday School choices are coming out of this initiative. "MasterWork: Essential Messages from God's Servants" is produced specifically for the developing and maturing believer who desires to go deeper into God's Word. Well-known authors, such as Billy Graham and Charles Swindoll, are among the curriculum's writers. MasterWork will use a variety of translations, based on the author's work. It will be dated, with new releases each quarter. The other new adult Sunday School choice is "Life Connections: Bible Study that Builds Community." This new line is relationship-oriented and specifically designed for small groups. Its goal is to more easily assimilate new members and seekers into Sunday School. Life Connections will be available in the New International Version translation. This line will be undated, with a choice of eight books initially available. "One of the good things about the new fall quarter's curriculum is that it's adding on what we did in 2000," Mims said. "It's exciting that we are building our Sunday School materials based on knowledge we've gained from our customers." When LifeWay introduced Sunday School for a New Century in the fall of 2000, the new line of curriculum was met with good response. But, as people had time to use the curriculum and become familiar with it, LifeWay began asking what the customers thought -- what they liked, what they didn't like and what they would like to see added or done differently. Feedback from churches told LifeWay that the Family Bible Study and Explore the Bible curriculum lines were meeting needs. People liked them and didn't want changes made to those lines. Additional responses told LifeWay that some churches had classes that wanted another curriculum line with more depth written by master teachers. LifeWay took these ideas from churches and went to work on producing the new curriculum lines. The four distinct curriculum lines for fall 2003 are the result. "This two-year turnaround is unprecedented," Mims said. "This time span for introducing new materials is a capability LifeWay hasn't had before." Early reviews of the fall line have been favorable. "What we are seeing are people who are as excited about the changes to Sunday School materials as people were a few years ago in the changes to the Vacation Bible School materials," Mims said. Customer feedback on the resources comes from in-person visits to churches, phone calls, e-mails, letters and meetings. LifeWay also hears from customers who call the phone centers, who visit the LifeWay Christian Stores and who attend events at LifeWay's Glorieta, N.M., and Ridgecrest, N.C., conference centers and other events. State conventions also pass on suggestions they receive. With today's communication being almost instantaneous, customers' voices are heard immediately. "We may not make every change we hear about," Mims said, "but we pass along every suggestion we get to the people who produce our curriculum and these suggestions are looked at. No one is ignored." --30-- -------------------------------------------------------------------- Spiritual journey includes both passion & orthodoxy, Christian psychologist says by David Roach Date: April 25, 2003 - Friday LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP)--The Christian spiritual journey must extend beyond mere doctrinal orthodoxy to passionate faith, said psychologist and author Larry Crabb. The evangelical church has done a good job of developing biblical convictions, but it has failed to demonstrate how those convictions relate to the deepest longings of the human soul, said Crabb, who lectured at the Gheens Center Family Conference at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., March 19. Often, Crabb said, Christians are ill-equipped to think about such issues as their inner worlds and their own spiritual formation. The church's success in making disciples ultimately will depend on its ability to relate truths about sin, brokenness and mercy to deeply personal human longings. "I believe that the core problem in the human soul is ultimately spiritual, and the ultimate problem is sin for which we're culpable. And I believe in an ultimate truth that we neglect to our peril," said Crabb, who is the author of such books as "Shattered Dreams," and "The Silence of Adam." "But we haven't done, in my judgment, a very good job of speaking from those convictions with a discernment that allows us to move into the deeper realities of the soul." To understand the depth of the spiritual journey, Crabb cited three central concepts believers must bear in mind. First, we are passionate people. "Obedience must not be reduced to mere behavioral conformity," he said, "but obedience must become an expression of our deepest passions." God's commandments are not limitations on freedom, but rather opportunities for obedience, Crabb said, noting that the opportunity to obey God should ignite a passion within followers of Christ. "Maybe you need to understand the spiritual journey as a journey of passion, a journey of desire because we're created in the image of a community of three very passionate persons." Second, we are culpably misdirected in our passion. Understanding the Christian life merely in terms of behavioral conformity is closely related to a shallow understanding of sin, Crabb said. "We also, in my judgment, haven't thought deeply enough about sin," he said. "We've made the great mistake that sin has a whole lot more to do with a violation of external standards than something that happens in your deep interior world. "Most of us think of the way we sin as going 27 mph in a 20 mph speed zone. We don't have an understanding of sin that goes so deep to realize we've been going 200 mph in a school zone. We even killed a bunch of little children in the process and that God in His justice and righteousness has every right to punish us eternally and that every minute depends entirely on His sovereign mercy." At times it may be difficult to adequately understand the extent of God's pardon, but a proper concept of sin will lead believers to serve the Lord passionately in thanks for His forgiveness, Crabb said. Thirdly, we are isolated people. Another cause of failure in the spiritual journey, Crabb said, is trying to live it alone. But as beings created in the image of the Trinity, believers fundamentally have a need for community, he said. "If the church experience means no more to you than sitting in a congregation facing forward, hearing your pastor, singing the hymns and leaving, you're an individualist. You're not part of community," he said. "And if you're not part of community in the way that God intends for us to be a part of community, you're denying ultimate reality that God is a Trinitarian community himself and we bear the image of a community. I wonder if we've thought deeply enough about the spiritual journey in terms of walking together." In the final analysis, Crabb observed, contemplating our passion, our sin and our isolation will drive Christians to realize that the spiritual journey is about attachment to God, not our comfort. Life may involve suffering, but that suffering kindles our passions and drives us to God, he said. "Suffering is a privilege," he said. "And I don't see how we're going to be released in our passions to know God and be delivered from our self-centeredness and be delivered into deep community without very deep and meaningful suffering -- suffering that takes away all of our sources of joy so all we have left is God. "I'm committed to building -- as best I can -- a clearly evangelical basis for spiritual direction and to probe the mystery of the human soul, to understand our capacity for the passion and enjoyment of God, to understand sin as our treasonous pursuit of joy from some other source than God, and to understand what Trinitarian-like community really is so we can join each other on the journey." --30-- -------------------------------------------------------------------- FIRST-PERSON: Up for grabs by Kelly Boggs Date: April 25, 2003 - Friday McMINNVILLE, Ore. (BP)--"If the Supreme Court says that you have a right to consensual sex within your home, then you have the right to bigamy, you have the right to polygamy, you have the right to incest, you have the right to adultery. You have the right to anything," Sen. Rick Santorum told an AP reporter the other day. The Republican from Pennsylvania was reflecting the worrisome logic fueling a current Supreme Court case concerning the constitutionality of Texas' sodomy laws that declare homosexual practices illegal. Homosexual-rights groups and the liberals who love them have denounced Santorum for his remarks and called for his resignation as chairman of the Republican Senate Caucus. When I first became aware of the senator's comment, I gave him a standing ovation. "Finally," I thought, "an elected official with the courage to voice a moral conviction." Santorum had the guts to state what few politicians and even some preachers are afraid to proclaim -- homosexual acts are aberrant. I also experienced a significant case of deja vu. It was not too long ago that I found myself defending and explaining a comment very similar to Santorum's. I was involved in a statewide effort to curtail the promotion of homosexuality in Oregon's public schools. I believe it is wholly inappropriate for the government to introduce 5-year-olds to a practice that revolves around deviant sexual behavior. My participation in this political push caused me to be involved in several debates on the subject. In one particular forum a colleague happened to equate homosexual practices with incest. After the debate, five irate individuals upset over the comparison surrounded me. One lady screamed, "How dare you compare incest with homosexuality?" I responded, "You mean how dare we compare incest with homosexuality, bisexuality, and transgender lifestyles, because your group supports all of the above, right?" The lady responded, "Yes, of course." "Let me ask you a question," I said. "Why are you so upset with the comparison?" "Because it is wrong," she asserted. "Why is it wrong?" "Because of an adult taking advantage of a child," she replied. "The definition of incest has nothing to do with age," I countered. "Incest by definition is two members of the same family engaging in sex. If two consenting adults of the same family want to engage in sex, why does that bother you?" She paused before answering. "It is wrong." "Why?" I pressed. She glared at me. "It is just wrong." "Oh, I see. You are willing to make a moral judgment on someone's behavior simply because you deem it to be wrong or distasteful," I said. "I agree that incest is wrong. It is wrong for the same reason that homosexuality, bisexuality and transgender pursuits are wrong because it violates God's natural and moral laws." At this point the lady tried to change the subject. However, I would not allow her to do so. I asserted, "If we do not have a sexual standard rooted in absolute truth, then we have no standard at all, and everything sexual is fair game, including bestiality." With that the conversation ended because the lady and her cohorts walked away. Rick Santorum is absolutely right. The Judeo-Christian principles upon which our country was founded draws a line concerning appropriate sexual relationships. Once the ideal of heterosexual monogamy is cast aside -- for whatever reason -- then all relationship combinations are up for grabs. I concur completely with Sen. Santorum; all relationships are not created equal. --30-- Boggs is pastor of Valley Baptist Church, McMinnville, Ore.