
The original issue can be found at: http://www.baptistpress.com/issue-10/17/2005

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Approval of Iraq constitution by citizens appears certain after smooth referendum
by Erin Curry
Date: October 17, 2005 - Monday

BAGHDAD, Iraq (BP)--Early reports indicate a majority of Iraqis approved the proposed constitution Oct. 15, formalizing the nation as a parliamentary democracy during what President Bush has called “a momentous time in the history of the Middle East.”

While the millions of paper ballots are being counted, it appears that Iraq’s Shiites and Kurds, who together represent about 80 percent of the country’s population, voted yes in the referendum while the Sunnis, representing 20 percent of Iraq’s people, did not accomplish their goal of defeating the constitution, according to The Washington Post.

In order to be defeated, the document, drafted by a constitutional committee this summer, required rejection by two-thirds of voters in at least three of Iraq’s 18 provinces. Results are expected to be announced Oct. 18.

Bush, speaking to reporters on the south grounds of the White House Oct. 16, said he was proud of Iraqis simply for engaging in the political process of casting votes.

“On behalf of the American people, I'd like to congratulate the people of Iraq for the successful completion of a vote on their draft constitution,” the president said. “By all indications, the turnout was greater than the turnout from the last January election, which is good news. By all indications, the Sunnis participated in greater numbers in this election than last time. And that's good news. After all, the purpose of a democracy is to make sure everybody participates in the process.”

The president also expressed gratefulness that the level of violence associated with the referendum was considerably less than the level surrounding the elections last January, which he said is a tribute to Iraqi forces who trained hard for the occasion and to the coalition forces who continue to guard the advance of freedom in the Middle East.

“This is a very positive day for the Iraqis and, as well, for world peace,” Bush said. “Democracies are peaceful countries. The vote today in Iraq stands in stark contrast to the attitudes and philosophy and strategy of al Qaeda and its terrorist friends and killers.

“We believe, and the Iraqis believe, the best way forward is through the democratic process. Al Qaeda wants to use their violent ways to stop the march of democracy because democracy is the exact opposite of what they believe is right.”

During an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press” Oct. 16, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said perhaps as many as a million more Iraqis participated in the referendum than the January elections, which means that “the base of politics has expanded in Iraq.”

“I think we have to wait to see what the results of the referendum will be, but the fact of the matter is that they had a democratic process,” she said. “They were told that they had a chance to vote yes or no, and they went to the polls in large numbers.”

Rice said whether the constitution is approved or rejected does not diminish the fact that democracy has been served because citizens made their opinions known and they will hold additional elections in December “one way or another.”

If the constitution is passed, Iraqis will return to the polls Dec. 15 to choose a full-term parliament. If the constitution fails, the parliament elected on that date will be temporary and will be assigned the task of drafting a new constitution.

“By casting their ballots, the Iraqi people deal a severe blow to the terrorists and send a clear message to the world: Iraqis will decide the future of their country through peaceful elections, not violent insurgency,” Bush said in his weekly radio address Oct. 15. “And by their courageous example, they're charting a new course for the entire Middle East.” He added that “with each step the Iraqi people take, al Qaeda’s vision for the region becomes more remote.”

The constitution declares that all Iraqis are equal before the law without regard to gender, ethnicity or religion. It declares Islam the official religion of Iraq and says no law may be passed which contradicts the principles of the religion or the principles of democracy. It also guarantees “full religious rights for all individuals and the freedom of creed and religious practices.”

Many Sunni Arabs opposed the constitution because of its provision of a federal state in which provinces have significant powers rather than a strong central government akin to Saddam Hussein’s reign. Sunnis fear provinces dominated by Shiites or Kurds could sway the nation in the wrong direction. High Sunni turnout for the referendum stood in measurable contrast to their tactic of boycotting the January elections.

“The important thing is that this referendum was a turning point, where people moved toward using the political process,” Mahmoud Othman, an independent Kurdish member of parliament who helped draft the constitution, told The Post. Sunnis, he said, “will participate in the next elections because they see that through the political process they can gain a lot, which we hope will turn them away from the insurgency and isolate the terrorists.”

On Meet the Press, Rice answered a question about a poll indicating 51 percent of Americans believe removing Hussein from power was not worth it.

“The fact of the matter is that when we were attacked on Sept. 11 we had a choice to make: We could decide that the proximate cause was al Qaeda and the people who flew those planes into buildings and therefore we would go after al Qaeda and perhaps after the Taliban, and then our work would be done and we would try to defend ourselves,” she said.

“Or we could take a bolder approach, which was to say that we had to go after the root causes of the kind of terrorism that was produced there, and that meant a different kind of Middle East. And there is no one who could have imagined a different kind of Middle East with Saddam Hussein still in power.”

Bush also emphasized the need to press on through long and costly hardships in order to alter the course of history in the Middle East so that generations of people everywhere can live in freedom.

“In Iraq, we have brought down a murderous regime. We have stood by the Iraqi people through two elections, and we will stand by them until they have established a free nation that can govern itself, sustain itself and defend itself,” he said. “When we do, Iraq will be an ally in the war on terror and a partner for peace and moderation in the Muslim world. And because America stood firm in this important fight, our children and grandchildren will be safer and more secure.”
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Poll: Half of conservative Christians favor embryonic research
by Tom Strode
Date: October 17, 2005 - Monday

WASHINGTON (BP)--Two-thirds of Americans, including half of conservative Christians, approve of stem cell research that destroys human embryos, according to a recent survey.

The poll, sponsored by the Genetics and Public Policy Center, also revealed an American public that is concerned about protecting human embryos but even more supportive of research that results in their destruction.

“The survey underscores the fact that those who are selling embryo-destructive stem cell research have done their job,” said C. Ben Mitchell, a leading evangelical bioethicist and a consultant for the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission.

The survey results, released Oct. 13, came as debate continues over the federal government’s role in stem cell research. There are efforts in Congress to liberalize President Bush’s policy, which bars federal funds for destructive embryonic stem cell research. The House of Representative approved such a measure earlier this year. The Senate appears to have a majority in favor of that bill but has yet to vote on it.

The new research showed 22 percent of those surveyed said they “strongly approve” of embryonic stem cell research (ESCR), while 45 percent said they “approve” of such experimentation. Fifteen percent of Americans strongly disapproved, while 17 percent disapproved.

Every subgroup –- whether classified by sex, age, education, political party, religion or race -– favored approval of ESCR over disapproval, according to the survey.

Only those classified as “fundamentalist/evangelical” failed to achieve at least 55 percent approval for embryonic research. Fifty percent of fundamentalists/evangelicals supported ESCR, with 9 percent strongly approving and 41 percent approving. Forty-eight percent disapproved, with 25 percent of those strongly disapproving. Fundamentalists/evangelicals provided the highest percentage of respondents who strongly disapproved among the subgroups.

In a series of statements posing the protection of embryos against the pursuit of research, the following results were found:

-- Forty-one percent agreed the use “of embryos for research is dehumanizing and turns embryos into commodities,” while 56 percent disagreed.

-- Forty-eight percent said it “is really important to protect human embryos, even if it will delay the development of new medicines,” and 50 percent disagreed.

-- Fifty-three percent agreed it “would be terrible if embryos were destroyed because of policies that promote” ESCR, while 44 percent disagreed.

-- Fifty-six percent said it “is really important” to find cures for diseases such as diabetes “as quickly as possible, even if it means destroying embryos to do so,” while 41 percent disagreed.

-- Sixty-seven percent said it “would be terrible if cures were delayed because of policies that make embryonic stem cell research difficult,” and 30 percent disagreed.

“These kinds of data show that the public find both embryonic stem cell research and delaying cures problematic,” said Mitchell, associate professor of bioethics at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in suburban Chicago, Ill. “Sadly, we can't have it both ways. These responses reveal public confusion more than anything else. The poll shows that Americans favor stem cell research, but they are very conflicted when it comes to experiments that destroy human embryos.”

David Prentice, senior fellow for life sciences at Family Research Council, told Baptist Press after a news conference announcing the poll results he thinks “what we’re looking at is again this dichotomy -- the American public has ethical concerns, but also they want cures. We tend to be a very pragmatic public, especially when we’re only given certain limited options to choose from.”

The questionnaire should have included non-embryonic stem cell research as an option to respond to, Prentice said. So far, embryonic stem cells have produced no treatments for human beings, while non-embryonic stem cells have provided therapies for at least 65 ailments, according to Do No Harm, a coalition promoting ethics in research. These include spinal cord injuries, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, multiple sclerosis and sickle cell anemia. Taking stem cells from non-embryonic sources -– such as bone marrow and umbilical cord blood -– does not harm the donor.

In a section asking about the moral status of an embryo, 28 percent gave a week-old embryo in a Petri dish “maximum” moral status, meaning it is always morally wrong to destroy the embryo. Yet, 36 percent of this group approved of ESCR. An embryo normally is no more than a week old when stem cells are extracted, causing its death.

In a question on government policy, 16 percent favored a ban on research with embryonic stem cells, 22 percent supported the current government policy restricting funds for ESCR, 19 percent backed federal funds for research on embryos created with private funds and 40 percent favored federal funding of all ESCR. Bush’s rule allows funding for research only on embryonic stem cell lines already in existence prior to his August 2001 announcement barring funds for all other stem cell experimentation on embryos.

Michael Manganiello, cofounder of the Christopher Reeve Foundation, said the fact 81 percent of respondents had heard of embryonic stem cell research was one of the most important numbers in the survey.

Six years ago, “very few people understood what embryonic stem cell research was and the promise that it held,” he said at the Oct. 13 news conference. “In many ways time has given pro-embryonic stem cell research supporters the ability to educate the American public about this complex scientific and political issue.”

Prentice told BP, “You know, I could be disappointed by &#91;the results&#93;, but I’m not so much. It’s a challenge, because I really believe this is an educational issue. Most people don’t understand the difference between an embryonic and adult stem cell, and how they’re obtained, and their actual successes even in patients. And what I’ve found is when I’ve talked to people and explained those differences and the real results, the usual question is, ‘Why is anybody interested in embryonic stem cells?’”

A problem for ESCR opponents is “trying to get the word out to &#91;Christians&#93; to make sure they really do hear this, because most people get most of their information from the popular press. And we need to make a really concerted effort, whether it’s individually, in churches, grassroots or whatever, to inform people about the ethical adult stem cells and the problems with embryonic.”

ESCR foes also “should make it clear that the morality of embryo-destructive research is not determined by polls,” Mitchell told BP. “Ethical questions are answered on the basis of principles and virtues, not public opinion.”

Mitchell and Prentice both pointed out different polls on stem cells produce different results. A May survey commissioned by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops found 52 percent of Americans oppose federal funding of ESCR, while 36 percent favored it.

In a survey earlier this year, the Genetics and Public Policy Center reported 76 percent opposed human embryo cloning for research.

The Genetics and Public Policy Center describes itself as an independent clearinghouse for information on genetic technology and policy. Its advisers include pro-life and pro-choice experts. Mitchell is on one of its advisory committees.

The new survey had more than 2,200 respondents with a margin of error of 2.5 percent. The poll results may be accessed at the center’s website, www.dnapolicy.org.
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New Orleans-area pastor sees revival amid the devastation
by Ken Walker
Date: October 17, 2005 - Monday

LULING, La. (BP)--Amidst the heartbreak and destruction left by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, a New Orleans-area pastor also sees revival.

Todd Hallman, pastor of First Baptist Church of Luling, said his people have been revitalized by distributing 20 tractor-trailer loads of supplies and establishing three distribution centers in the New Orleans area.

“There’s excitement in the church,” said Luling, senior pastor since June 2003. “The church has been transformed into a hospital where people’s needs are met. It has changed our mode of missions.

“In this community the word ‘Baptist’ is not a bad word; before the storm it was. We don’t smoke, drink or dance; we’ve been known for what we don’t do. No longer are we Baptists who don’t care about the community.”

First Baptist’s outreach originated with Hallman and his wife, Tabatha, who, before Katrina’s onslaught, took shelter at his parents’ home in North Carolina.

The Hallmans spent several days on the phone arranging a shipment of emergency supplies.

Working through the Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia and Rick Warren’s Purpose Driven network, the couple secured a 53-foot-long tractor-trailer of supplies from Highlands Fellowship in Abingdon, Va.

When Hallman arrived at the church on Labor Day morning, the shipment was already there. It included food, water, boots, gloves, canned goods, hygiene products and other supplies.

First Baptist started distribution at 1 p.m., lining up storm victims’ cars single-file so volunteers could load material in their trunks. By 4 o’clock the truck was empty, Hallman said.

The pastor also visited the American Red Cross office in the St. Charles Parish courthouse expecting to let the agency know First Baptist had volunteers willing to help.

Instead, Hallman discovered the agency hadn’t been able to secure many supplies itself. Providing blankets to the Red Cross ultimately led to meetings with local government leaders, with Hallman telling them, “If you get trucks &#91;with supplies&#93;, send them to us.”

Hallman registered the church as a distribution center on the Purpose Driven network’s website. Before long, between two and four semis a day began showing up, the pastor said.

Numerous Baptist churches and organizations have sent supplies and volunteers, including mission teams from Texas, North Carolina and Canada, Hallman said.

A month after the first distribution effort, Hallman said the church had given away 20 tractor-trailer loads of supplies and about $5,000 in financial aid. The latter has been handled via a partnership with Catholic Charities.

In addition, First Baptist organized distribution centers at three sister churches: First Baptist Church of Belle Chase, Mt. Calvary Baptist Church in Marerro and Barataria (La.) Baptist Church. Hallman said those sites have distributed another eight truckloads of supplies.

The Luling congregation also has been able to help people by cutting through bureaucratic red tape. Among the examples Hallman cited:

-- A woman from another parish who came to the church, asking to use the phone. First Baptist church provided her funds after learning she had been denied federal aid for filling out a form incorrectly.

-- A man who lost his home found a job in Atlanta but had no money to move. The church helped him purchase a small trailer to live in until the federal government can reimburse him.

-- Another man asked for help getting to Birmingham, Ala. Although the Red Cross helped him find a job and temporary housing, they refused to provide travel expenses. First Baptist gave him $100.

While two people have accepted Jesus as Savior and numerous individuals have rededicated their lives to Him during recent weeks, Hallman also is excited at how First Baptist members have responded to the needs.

About half of the 250 who attend have worked in the distribution center and many have helped in other ways, such as elderly people who have manned telephones, the pastor said.

Nor did the helping hands stop with Hurricane Katrina. After Hurricane Rita smashed the southwestern Louisiana coast, the Luling church sent half a dozen pickup-pulled trailers to a community center near Lafayette.

After initially handing out food and supplies, the church has shifted to filling special needs, such as requests for refrigerators, tents, lanterns, shovels, gloves, work boots, and roof and wall repairs.

Despite the enthusiasm generated by this outpouring of support, Hallman said he expects the long-term recovery to continue for 12 to 18 months and cost up to $200,000.

Despite the challenge, Hallman believes there will be a spiritual revival not just because of what his church has done but because of what is going on throughout the New Orleans area. 

The storm is going to refine what it means to be a church, Hallman said.

“The church is the people and there are many places where the structures collapse in silence,” Hallman said. “Nobody is home, the doors are locked and God seems absent. These are the types of situations that we are trying to help people sort through. God is most assuredly in control; He is present.”

And while some have preached that the storm was God’s judgment and His way of cleaning up New Orleans, Hallman doesn’t agree.

“The purpose of this storm is recognized individually,” the pastor said. “This isn’t God’s judgment as much as God’s opportunity to do some great things. The church could never get discussions going with Catholics, and now those barriers are broken down.”

Katrina also has inspired the formation of a new ministry at First Baptist. After learning that area shopping malls aren’t likely to reopen until next March, the church started a toy closet so that children will have Christmas presents this year.

It also has converted its Casters for Christ fishing ministry into a rebuilding team, since not many people are interested in fishing right now, Hallman said.

Despite the series of developments since early September, the pastor said he doesn’t deserve acclaim. 

“The whole vision of what has gone on here is not my baby,” Hallman said. “It’s my wife’s. She’s a social worker. I give her the credit.” 
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New academic building at SEBTS to be named for Pattersons
by Jason Hall
Date: October 17, 2005 - Monday

WAKE FOREST, N.C. (BP)--Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary trustees approved plans Oct. 11 for a new faculty office building to anchor the future “western quad” of Southeastern’s campus. The building will be named Paige and Dorothy Patterson Hall in honor of the contribution made to Southeastern by former President Paige Patterson and his wife, Dorothy.

“The Paige and Dorothy Patterson Hall will be a centerpiece of the academic programs of Southeastern Seminary,” Southeastern Seminary President Daniel Akin said. “The name Paige Patterson stands for excellence in theological education, and this building will house and train a new generation of scholars and ministers who will lead the church in the 21st century in defending the faith once for all delivered to the saints.”

According to the trustees’ wishes, Southeastern will hire architectural firm Design Development to design a 20,000-square-foot, $3 million building to house faculty offices, doctoral seminar rooms and a number of new classrooms.

Details on when construction will be started are still to be worked out, but the building is the first priority on Southeastern’s plan to expand its campus in light of a burgeoning student body and faculty.

When the Pattersons left Southeastern two years ago, trustees decided to honor their legacy by naming a proposed campus center after them. At the time, the campus center topped the list of the school’s building needs.

Since then, though, the pressure of student and faculty growth –- Southeastern will see record enrollment once again in 2005-06 -– caused administrators to rethink their plans, and they decided an academic building was Southeastern’s most pressing need.

“Southeastern has exhausted all available faculty offices in our current campus buildings and will need additional offices for the future growth of our faculty,” said Ryan Hutchinson, Southeastern’s vice president for administration.

What’s more, this tribute to the Pattersons is a fitting one because they left such a strong mark on Southeastern’s academic standing. During Patterson’s decade-long tenure at the school, the number of faculty members tripled, and Southeastern went from being a school on academic probation to one of the world’s foremost centers of evangelical scholarship. Also, Patterson started Southeastern’s Ph.D. program, which will be located in the new building.

“There is no more fitting tribute to the Pattersons than this academic building,” said Mark Harris, pastor of First Baptist Church in Charlotte, N.C. and chairman of Southeastern’s trustees.

Akin added, “Southeastern is delighted to honor Paige and Dorothy Patterson for the incredible leadership they brought to Southeastern for more than a decade. This school bears their stamp and this building will carry on their legacy.”

Hutchinson pointed out that a new campus center, which also will be developed on the new “western quad” of campus, is still in the school’s plan and is now slated to be built after Patterson Hall is completed.

In other action, trustees voted to kick off the second phase of Southeastern’s fundraising campaign, “Scholarship on Fire!” In Phase I, $17 million was raised to go toward building projects -– including Patterson Hall -– student scholarships, mission trips and endowment.

Anthony Allen, vice president for institutional advancement, said he knows that the second phase of Scholarship on Fire! will be just as successful, if not more so.

“Surpassing our Phase I goal was a monumental accomplishment for Southeastern,” Allen said. “As we prepare for Phase II of our campaign, we want to build upon the enthusiasm and support that was shown by our many friends and supporters in our initial phase. The vision that God has put before us will require significant capital. Scholarship on Fire! is designed to help meet the pressing needs of our growing seminary and college.”

Trustees also approved the seminary’s institutional plan for 2005-09, a five-year plan which lists priorities the seminary has set forth to increase growth academically, financially and physically. Organized by Waylan Owens, Southeastern’s vice president for planning and communication, the plan looks at things like completing the current campus master plan, increasing enrollment to 3,500 by 2010, expanding the seminary’s endowment and increasing awareness of the seminary throughout the world.

The previous plan went from 2001-04.

“We plan with eyes of faith,” Owens said, “knowing that the Lord’s plans are what He will bless. Planning is an integral part of Southeastern’s life because our Lord planned for our creation, our salvation and our glorification.”

Trustees elected Brent Aucoin as associate professor of history for Southeastern College at Wake Forest, Chip McDaniel as professor of Old Testament and Hebrew in the seminary and Alan O’Dell as professor of education for Southeastern College at Wake Forest and director of secondary education.

On Monday night, Oct. 10, the trustees and Southeastern’s board of visitors honored Bart Neal and his wife, Edith, on his retirement from 12 years as vice president for institutional advancement.

Neal was presented with a resolution recognizing his accomplishments at Southeastern. Speakers included Akin, Allen, Dorothy and Paige Patterson -- who are lifelong friends of the Neals -- and Chuck Simmons, the Neals’ son-in-law.

Bart Neal will work for the institutional advancement office from his retirement home near Orlando, Fla. He will focus on visiting prospective donors and speaking about Southeastern’s planned giving program.
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Southeastern dedicates Prince Facilities Management Building
by Jason Hall & Jerry Higgins
Date: October 17, 2005 - Monday

WAKE FOREST, N.C. (BP)--The John and Kay Prince Facilities Management Building was dedicated Oct. 11 on the campus of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C.

The 17,000-square-foot, $1 million building has been named in honor of seminary supporters John and Kay Prince of Raleigh, N.C. It will house the facilities management and housing offices, as well as shop space for facilities management. The building also doubles the amount of space provided for the Sunshine Seniors Food Ministry, which offers free food to qualifying students and their families. Last year more than $700,000 in food was distributed to Southeastern families.

"This school could not do what it does, or be what it is, without the love and support of people like John and Kay Prince,” Southeastern President Daniel Akin said at the dedication service. “They make it possible for our students to go to the hard places and do the hard work. This building dedication is the very least that we can do as a way of saying thank you.”

The Princes were unable to attend the dedication because Kay Prince is undergoing cancer treatments in Houston. Members of their family -– son Jack and his wife, Jami, daughter Mary Mack and John’s “second mother,” Myra Prince -- attended in their stead.

“Our prayers go out to Kay as she continues her treatments in Houston,” Akin said, “and a big thank you goes out to both John and Kay for their support in what God is doing here at Southeastern."

Eddie Keith, president of Steel Dynamics of Raleigh, a company John Prince once was a principal of, said the naming of the building in the Princes’ honor was fitting since it houses offices that provide services and support to Southeastern’s operations. Keith said that is how he thinks of the Princes, as servants.

“I think it is a wonderful tribute to two wonderful people,” he said.

Ryan Hutchinson, Southeastern’s vice president for administration, said the Prince Facilities Management Building will meet a variety of important needs for the seminary, noting, “The building will have an incredible impact on our ability to support the educational enterprise of the school.... This building will give us expanded facilities offices, more conveniently located housing offices for the students and a space for the Sunshine Senior Food Ministry that will be able to minister greatly to the students and their families.”

Previously, the housing and facilities management offices had been located a couple of blocks from the school in downtown Wake Forest. The Sunshine Seniors had been operating out of a duplex near the campus.

The Princes have been supporters of Southeastern Seminary since 1997 and received the Distinguished Service Award presented by Akin in an April 12 chapel service as well as honorary alumni designations. John Prince currently serves on Southeastern’s board of visitors, and the Princes have partnered with the seminary over the years through their prayers, sacrificial support and personal involvement.

Through his Steel Dynamics firm, Prince has been involved with Southeastern’s operations including overseeing renovations to Stephens-Mackie Hall and the building of the Jacumin-Simpson Missions Building.

During these projects and at other times, Prince saw firsthand what Southeastern Seminary was all about as he interacted with members of the Southeastern family on campus as well as being a member of Bayleaf Baptist Church in Raleigh.

“John saw what we were trying to do -– more than just build buildings –- he saw the students we were investing in and training, and he got to know personally the type of students that were coming to Southeastern,” Anthony Allen, vice president for institutional advancement, said. “I think that probably had a great deal to do with his interest in helping us over the years.”

Hutchinson added that people like the Princes who support Southeastern are making an eternal investment.

"We thank the Lord for John and Kay Prince,” he said. “The Princes are precious servants of God whose love and dedication to this institution will have an incredible impact on the Kingdom of God and Southeastern Seminary for many decades to come."
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GGBTS trustees authorize fundraising, elect new dean
by Jeff Jones
Date: October 17, 2005 - Monday

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (BP)--Meeting in Scottsdale, Ariz., to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Arizona Regional Campus, Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary trustees authorized a new, five-year fundraising campaign and elected Michael Martin as vice president of academic affairs and academic dean.

The fundraising campaign, part of a five-year plan President Jeff Iorg outlined to trustees last spring, is divided into two simultaneous phases. The enhancement phase will raise $5.5 million in contributions to enhance academic operations, enlarge the faculty and improve the library. In the second phase, the seminary will raise $7.5 million to endow academic programs, primarily through named faculty chairs.

Speaking to trustees before the vote to approve the campaign, Iorg said, “This is a watershed moment for Golden Gate Seminary. The decision in the next few minutes, and the implications, are crucial to our future.

“This giving campaign is not about building an institution. It is about giving our best, and being the best school possible, so students can be trained to give their best around the world for Jesus Christ,” Iorg said.

The campaign will begin March 2006, pending approval in February by the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention.

Trustees also voted to approve the appointment of Michael Martin as the vice president of academic affairs and academic dean. Martin has been dean of Oklahoma Baptist University’s Joe L. Ingram School of Christian Service since 2003 and was a professor of New Testament at Golden Gate from 1984-2003.

“As I look back at this sequence, I know that my years at Oklahoma Baptist University have made me a better administrator. I am excited about coming back to the diverse and challenging ministry that is present at Golden Gate. I love the seminary and look forward to ministry with the faculty.”

Martin and his wife, Beth, have two sons, Philip and Garrett.

The trustees also took the next steps to approve the reinstatement of the Ph.D. program at the seminary. A committee from the Association of Theological Schools reviewed the program proposal earlier this month and will make recommendations to the ATS commissioners in January. Following final faculty approval of the program, the ATS commissioners will consider the seminary’s petition in January 2006. Dwight Honeycutt, interim vice president of academic affairs, told the trustees, “We hope for final approval early next year which will enable us to enroll students in the program for fall 2006.”

The seminary’s Arizona campus hosted a dinner on Oct. 11 for the trustees, faculty, staff and friends of the seminary. Several individuals, churches and a local foundation were recognized for their financial support of students at the Arizona campus. The Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Bill and Barbara Jewett from Yuma, Ariz., in recognition of their gift of $250,000 to establish the Jewett Faith and Grace Scholarship Endowment, which provides financial assistance to students at the Arizona campus.

Steve Bass, the executive director of the Arizona Southern Baptist Convention, told the audience, “We are proud to partner with the seminary as we reach out to the state of Arizona with the saving message of Jesus Christ. The leadership training the seminary provides for our churches in Arizona allows us to fulfill our mission of reaching Arizona for Christ.”

Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary is a Cooperative Program ministry of the Southern Baptist Convention and operates five campuses in Northern California, Southern California, Pacific Northwest, Arizona and Colorado.
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Evangelist plans motion to restore N.C. to original CP giving plan
by Norm Miller
Date: October 17, 2005 - Monday

CARY, N.C. (BP)--For the second time in as many years, Ted Stone will offer a motion at the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina's annual meeting to abolish the convention’s multiple-giving plan and return to the historic, single option, Cooperative Program giving plan.

Stone, a trustee at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, and a board of visitors member at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C., said he wants the North Carolina Convention to return to one giving plan. The annual meeting will be held Nov. 14-16 in Winston-Salem.

“My agenda is to strengthen the partnership between our state convention and our national convention,” Stone, who is known among Southern Baptists for his 20-plus year evangelistic campaign to raise awareness of the dangers of drugs, told Baptist Press. “We love the Cooperative Program and want to support it vigorously.”

Since 1991, North Carolina Baptists have endorsed four optional giving plans from which churches can choose. The plans were created from dissatisfaction among some state leaders about the conservative direction of the Southern Baptist Convention.

Stone’s motion proposes a 65/35 percentage split, with the smaller percentage going to the Southern Baptist Convention. His proposal will earmark funds for the Fruitland Baptist Bible Institute not less than the total amount allotted to the smallest Baptist college in North Carolina. 

Last year, a similar motion by Stone failed on a show of ballots. Stone believes the motion has a better chance to pass this year. He cited a prominent moderate pastor in the state who, upon learning of Stone’s intended motion last year, confessed that moderates in the state didn’t have the votes to defeat the motion.

“He said the only way to defeat my motion was to convince some conservatives to get on board with them. We would have won last year if conservatives had stuck together," Stone, a member of Grace Baptist Church in Durham, N.C., said.

“This year is an election year, and conservatives in the state have their best opportunity yet to return to the giving plan that is most effective for the causes of missions and ministry here at home and through our national convention as well."

Hoping to alleviate what he calls “intimidation by those in power,” Stone will request secret balloting for his motion this year.

“In the name of harmony, we have encouraged division and thwarted our impact of doing missions together,” he said. “As much as we love our Christian brothers and sisters who have negative attitudes toward the Southern Baptist Convention, the ‘let’s pretend’ game being played by some with the budget is doing more to harm the Lord’s work than it is to heal the breach,” he said.

Presently the Southern Baptist Convention receives 32 percent in Plan A (the original CP plan) and Plan D. The SBC receives only 10 percent under Plan B and nothing under Plan C, which instead allots 10 percent to the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, a group that broke away from the SBC because of disagreement with the election of conservative leaders. Plans A, B and C give 68 percent to the state convention budget, while Plan D trims the state allotment in favor of special ministries and Fruitland Baptist Bible Institute.

Despite the 32 percent allotment to the SBC from Plans A and D, last year the SBC received only 30 percent from the total dollars given through all four giving options in North Carolina.

“I’m grieved because there are some theological conservatives in positions of influence and power in our state who see fit to continue this faulty theory that it’s best for us to do the work of the Lord by getting along with everybody of every persuasion,” Stone said.

“Some of these men wear conservative hats, but they have joined with more moderate leaders in the state &#91;to keep the four giving options in place&#93;,” Stone said. “... The CBF competes with our national denomination. Funding the CBF makes a mockery of the Cooperative Program,” he said.

Stone said another “carrot dangled” by the board of directors is in their proposed budget. Currently, he said, all giving to each plan may be considered as Cooperative Program giving. But the new budget disallows funds given to the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship to be counted as Cooperative Program giving, thus potentially reducing the number of messengers a CBF-supporting church can send to the state’s annual meeting. Stone said the proposed budget doesn't go far enough. 

Under the proposed budget Plans B and C still will contribute to the Baptist World Alliance and the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, entities with which the SBC has severed all ties. Plans B and C also will support Associated Baptist Press and the Baptist Center for Ethics -- both of which are CBF ministry partners -- and the scholarship funds at Campbell University Divinity School in Buies Creek, N.C., and the Baptist Theological Seminary of Richmond in Richmond, Va. Both are considered CBF friendly.

“It’s time for North Carolina Baptists to recognize we’re not all on the same page,” Stone said.

“It’s time to discard the so-called ‘North Carolina way’ terminology, used as a descriptive term by those who are constant critics of our denomination to justify optional giving plans,” Stone said.

“The Cooperative Program is the best way for the Southern Baptist Convention and the state conventions to partner in missions. The optional giving plans have distorted the original purpose of the designers of this God-ordained program,” Stone said.

“It’s time for us to do missions together the historic, Southern Baptist way.”
--30--


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3 natural disasters prompt Baptist aid in Central America
by Jesse Lyautey
Date: October 17, 2005 - Monday

RICHMOND, Va. (BP)--Three natural disasters -– a hurricane, volcanic eruption and earthquake -- delivered blows within a matter of days to the people of Guatemala, El Salvador and surrounding areas in Central America.

More than 700 people died, including 600 in Guatemala, as a result of landslides brought on by heavy rains from Hurricane Stan. The hurricane made landfall Oct. 4 and caused flooding in both countries. Six hundred people may still missing in Guatemala. Several Mayan communities have been destroyed.

“Many bridges have been destroyed and many villages have disappeared under landslides,” said International Mission Board missionary Carter Davis, an administrator in Middle America. “I anticipate that we will be requesting assistance from United States volunteers in the near- to mid-future, but, at this point, access to the affected areas is almost impossible, if not impossible.”

The IMB has shipped 2,000 blankets to missionaries in Guatemala for distribution and is working to send water purification systems into the devastated areas.

All relief funds given through the IMB go to help those suffering; none are used for administrative costs. Mission board personnel were able to be on location at the time of the disaster, ready to help, through Southern Baptists’ gifts to the Cooperative Program and the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering.

In El Salvador, landslides since Oct. 1 have caused more than 60 deaths and displaced more than 60,000 people. Before the hurricane, El Salvador’s Volcano Ilamatepec, sometimes called the Volcano Santa Ana, erupted Oct. 2. Located north of the capital city San Salvador, it filled the air with ash and smoke. Landslides killed two farmers immediately, and more than 30,000 people were evacuated from around the volcano.

At 7,812 feet above sea level, Volcano Ilamatepec is El Salvador’s highest point and has lain dormant since 1904.

Days of heavy rains from Hurricane Stan, which slammed the area on Oct. 4, made the mountainous coffee fields loose and muddy, causing landslides in El Salvador.

The morning of Oct. 7, a magnitude 6.2 undersea earthquake hit 35 miles southeast of San Salvador, according to the National Earthquake Information Center. 

Philip and Peggy Johnson, International Mission Board missionaries in El Salvador, saw the country’s many relief groups pull together to save lives and start rebuilding after the rain stopped Oct. 8.

“We’ve been amazed at how this country has pulled together during this crisis,” said Philip Johnson, the board’s coordinator for missions work in El Salvador. “The eruption of the Ilamatepec volcano, the torrential rains of Hurricane Stan and a 6.2 earthquake on Friday morning could have knocked any country off its feet. But El Salvador responded quickly to the disaster.”

Mobilizing Southern Baptist relief work in El Salvador, IMB missionaries have delivered hundreds of pounds of rice, beans, corn flour, sugar, coffee, salt and oil, Johnson reported. They also have given out toothpaste, toothbrushes, toilet paper, soap and mattresses. 

In addition to meeting the people’s immediate needs, missionaries distributed the Gospel of Luke to those living in temporary government-run shelters. 

“As IMB missionaries, we thank God for the resources that have been made available to us through relief funds,” Johnson said. “Hot meals were provided at shelters in Izalco, San Isidro and Jiquilisco, many of them cooked in humble, ill-equipped church kitchens on stoves with only two burners.”

One cook told Johnson, “This could have happened to any of us; we have no choice but to help.”

Johnson said many displaced people will be able to return to their homes, but those whose homes were destroyed by landslides will have no place to go.

“Southern Baptists can help by continuing to give through the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering, the World Hunger Fund and the Cooperative Program,” Johnson said. “More than anything, people’s prayers make a difference.”

The Johnsons ask Southern Baptists to pray for spiritual revival from the disasters in El Salvador and Guatemala. 

-- Pray that God will give the missionaries a clear vision of how and where to work in the coming weeks and months. Assessing the areas of greatest need will be a priority. Finding places where believers can plant new churches will be essential.

-- Pray that God will give those pastors and lay leaders who have been involved in disaster relief a strong desire to see their efforts turn into fruit for God’s Kingdom. Pray that they will catch a vision for feeding spiritually hungry and thirsty people and for starting new churches.

--Pray for people who have lost loved ones, homes and crops. Many of them have lost all hope. What they have worked a lifetime to get (often an adobe house, a TV and a refrigerator) has been washed away in the rains. Many fear that the volcano will erupt again or that the rains will return. Pray that the Holy Spirit will awaken in them a desire to seek the Prince of peace, the Savior of the world, the God of hope.
--30--
Donations for relief work in Middle America may be made by calling 1-800-999-3113 or online at http://imb.org/worldhunger/ by clicking on “Give Now” through the General Relief Fund. Give to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering through your local Southern Baptist church or go to http://ime.imb.org.


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Supreme Court clears way for Mo. prisoner abortion
by Staff
Date: October 17, 2005 - Monday

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (BP)--The U.S. Supreme Court Oct. 17 refused to get involved in a Missouri abortion case, clearing the way for a prison inmate there to obtain an abortion at least partly at state expense.

The Supreme Court's order came without comment on the merits of the case and without any recorded dissent, so it is not known how new Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts voted. Six of the court's nine members are on record as supporting the 1973 Roe v. Wade case legalizing abortion. One of those six, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, is retiring.

The high court takes only 100-150 of the 7,000-plus cases it is asked to hear each year.

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear two abortion cases this term -- one concerning a parental notification law out of New Hampshire, the other concerning abortion protesters -- so Roberts' views on abortion restrictions will be known within a year.

The Missouri case involves an unidentified female prisoner who is approximately 17 weeks pregnant and has sought an abortion. But prison officials have refused to assist her, citing state law that prohibits state money from funding abortions.

Attorneys for the woman sued, and U.S. District Judge Dean Whipple Oct. 13 ruled that the state must assist her in acquiring the abortion. Upon appeal the Eighth Circuit refused to stop the abortion, but late Oct. 14 Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas -- who oversees emergency appeals from the 8th Circuit -- temporarily blocked the abortion, allowing the entire high court to have its say.

The Supreme Court's order Oct. 17 was only two sentences and said simply, "The application for stay presented to Justice Thomas and by him referred to the court is denied. The temporary stay entered October 14, 2005, is vacated."

The woman has said she would pay for the abortion but not for the transportation and the security guards needed to take her, the Associated Press reported. The transportation and guards are estimated to cost $350, AP said.

"I am extremely disappointed in the Supreme Court’s decision," Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt, a Republican, said in a statement. "The decision is highly offensive to traditional Missouri values and is contrary to state law, which prohibits taxpayer dollars from being spent to facilitate abortions."

The woman said she discovered she was pregnant after being arrested in July, AP reported.

"Missouri law explicitly prohibits taxpayer-funded abortion services," said Kerry Messer, a lobbyist with the Missouri Baptist Convention's Christian Life Commission. "Gov. Blunt and &#91;Missouri Department of Corrections&#93; Director &#91;Larry&#93; Crawford have determined that transportation and security costs, provided by the department of corrections, associated with otherwise privately funded abortions for prison inmates still constitute a violation of our statutory ban on public funding for elective abortions."
--30--
Based on reporting by Michael Foust of Baptist Press and Allen Palmeri of The Pathway, newsjournal of the Missouri Baptist Convention.

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LIFE DIGEST: Wisconsin gov. vetoes conscience clause bill; foe of China’s coercive abortion policy beaten; RU 486 death suit filed
by Tom Strode
Date: October 17, 2005 - Monday

WASHINGTON (BP)--It doesn’t pay to be a healthcare provider in Wisconsin and have a pro-life conscience.

Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle has vetoed for the second year a bill that would have helped protect doctors and other medical professions from being forced to participate in such procedures as abortion, embryo-destructive research and assisted suicide.

The legislation “would allow a doctor to put his or her political beliefs ahead of the patient’s medical best interests,” Doyle, a Democrat, said when he vetoed the bill Oct. 14. “&#91;T&#93;his legislation ought to be called the ‘unconscionable clause’” instead of the conscience clause, he said.

Healthcare providers think the legislation is “very necessary,” Wisconsin Right to Life legislative director Susan Armacost told the Associated Press, according to LifeNews.com. “The whole atmosphere is not very amenable to people who don’t want to kill their patients.”

Supporters do not have the votes needed to override Doyle’s veto, Armacost told The Capital Times, a Madison, Wis., newspaper.

ACTIVIST BEATEN –- A blind activist who has campaigned against coercive population control policies in China was beaten recently, as were three lawyers seeking to assist in his case.

Chen Guangcheng, who is blind, was left on the main street of his home town with various injuries after the Oct. 4 beating by local officials, Radio Free Asia reported. Chen, 34, had filed a class-action lawsuit against authorities in the eastern Chinese city of Linyi for forcing women to have abortions and sterilizations.

The lawyers -– Xu Zhiyong, Li Subin and Li Fangping –- had come to Linyi to help mediate between local officials and Chen, who effectively has been under house arrest, according to the report. Unidentified men attacked the lawyers while they were in the city, Radio Free Asia reported.

Officials in many parts of China have practiced a forced population control program for about 25 years in an attempt to curb the birth rate in the world’s most populous country. A law codifying the policy throughout China went into effect in 2002.

The policy limits couples in urban areas to one child and those in rural areas to two, if the first is a girl. Other exceptions have been made in some provinces, and the enforcement of the policy has varied among provinces. The program has been marked by coercive sterilization and abortion, but infanticide, especially of females, also has been reported.

The Beijing government announced Sept. 19 it had fired some officials in Linyi for abusing the population control policy, The Washington Post reported. The government, however, did not specify what crimes were committed.

RU 486 SUIT -– A lawsuit has been filed against a California Planned Parenthood affiliate in the death of a young woman after use of the abortion drug RU 486.

The husband and daughter of Hoa Thuy Tran have sued Planned Parenthood of Orange and San Bernardino counties, as well as Danco Laboratories and the Population Council, as a result of her December 2003 death, the Los Angeles Times reported, according to LifeNews.com. Danco Laboratories markets RU 486 in the United States, and the Population Council holds the patent to the drug.

Tran, a 21-year-old college student, died after going through the two-step regimen. Her husband is Charlie Nguyen; her daughter, Destiny Nguyen, is 5, according to the report.

At least four California women have died after taking RU 486. In July, Danco announced two California women had died, one in 2004 and the other in 2005, after using the regimen to abort their unborn children. Danco had previously reported two other California users of RU 486 died in 2003 and a Canadian woman died after its use in 2001. Other reports have cited additional deaths by RU 486 users -- three in Europe, one in the Philippines and another in the United States.

Legislation has been introduced that would remove RU 486 from the market while a review is conducted of the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the drug. The bill is known as Holly’s Law in memory of Holly Patterson, 18, who died of a systemic infection in 2003 after obtaining RU 486 from a Planned Parenthood clinic in Hayward, Calif.

RU 486, or mifepristone, is used as the first part of a process normally occurring in the first seven weeks of pregnancy. That initial action causes the lining of the uterus to release the embryonic child. A second drug, known as misoprostol, is taken two days after mifepristone and causes the uterus to contract, expelling the baby.
--30--


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FIRST-PERSON: Homosexuality, child sexual abuse & foster care
by Alan Sears
Date: October 17, 2005 - Monday

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (BP)--For loving parents, the need to protect one’s children from harm -- whether it be from extreme weather, poor nutrition or even "stranger danger" -- registers first on the concern scale. Recent efforts to "normalize" homosexual behavior, however, have left many children exposed to the elements.

Take, for instance, children most at risk -- ones who find themselves in foster care. They all too often face an additional risk stemming from the sexual behavior of those responsible for protecting them in states that allow the placement of children with same-sex couples.

This does not bode well for the already vulnerable, frightened and confused children now circulating through the nation’s foster care system. The results of an Illinois study released in March revealed that 34 percent of child sexual abuse cases by foster parents in the state were committed against children that were the same sex as their molesters.

Think that’s enough to merit trepidation on the part of Illinois’ Department of Children and Family Services, which handles the placement of children in its foster care system? It’s not. When pressed, an agency official noted DCFS classifies potential foster and adoptive parents only on their marital status and that “there is no law that says a gay or lesbian person cannot adopt” in Illinois.

Robert Knight, director of the Culture and Family Institute with Concerned Women for America, clarifies that because men who engage in homosexual behavior comprise a small portion of the general population, their rates of molestation against boys are significantly higher than that of men who claim to be heterosexual: “Since one-third to one-half of all child molestations are committed by men against boys, and homosexual men comprise less than 2 percent of the population, this means that the ratio of child molesters among homosexuals is far, far higher than among the rest of the population.”

Knight is not the only one coming to such conclusions. In 2002, a study by Timothy J. Dailey and the Family Research Council also corroborated such a link:

"Studies indicate that, contrary to the inaccurate but widely accepted claims of sex researcher Alfred Kinsey, homosexuals comprise between one to three percent of the population. Homosexuals are overrepresented in child sex offenses: Individuals from the one to three percent of the population that is sexually attracted to the same sex are committing up to one-third of the sex crimes against children."

Still, those whose goal it is to proclaim homosexual behavior as both loving and normal continue to deny a link between it and child sex no matter what the evidence. Nonetheless, even as America and the world slowly acquiesce to the spell of so-called “tolerance,” this tie is becoming more and more apparent. Sadly, among some, it is also becoming more accepted.

In a 1999 interview with the editor of a North American Man-Boy Love Association publication, Camille Paglia, an advocate of homosexual behavior, went so far as to frame child sex as a positive element directly related to the rise of modern culture:

"Contemporary gays who try to distance themselves from this issue of boy-love are in effect committing cultural suicide. They’re cutting themselves from all the highest achievements of gay men..... Because I am a woman, and therefore I cannot be charged with man-boy love, I felt I had a moral obligation -- and I don’t recognize morality in most areas of life -- a moral obligation to speak out against this kind of persecution in puritan Protestant culture, this persecution of a sensibility that as far as I can see has been intertwined with the highest achievements of art and intellect since the period of classical Athens."

Statements like these illustrate the path down which the most radical purveyors of the homosexual agenda hope to tread in the years to come: Sex with boys by men is not only normal, but admirable.

Our culture has been fed the lie that nearly any sexual practice is acceptable so long as it is conducted in "privacy" under one's own roof. It is up to the Christian world to remind them that each step related to "acceptance" is another step into danger, heartbreak and misery.

In truth, the move to "normalize" homosexual behavior will not, and is not, stopping at simply being allowed to commit "private" sexual acts. It will not stop until many more children who have no choice about who they live with are indoctrinated, abused and damaged physically and psychologically.

Of course, no one with any credibility would ever claim that every practitioner of homosexual behavior is a pedophile. And the behavior of heterosexual pedophiles is no less reprehensible than that of homosexual ones. But the cry of radical homosexual activists to deny the obvious facts that are seen in studies such as the one in Illinois is suspect at the very least. No one protects a child well when one's head is in the sand.
--30--
Alan Sears, a former federal prosecutor, was executive director of the Attorney General’s Commission on Pornography under President Reagan. Alan E. Sears now is the president and CEO of the Alliance Defense Fund, a legal alliance defending religious liberty through strategy, training, funding and litigation, online at www.alliancedefensefund.org. 


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FIRST-PERSON: Turning attendees into a part of the family
by Rick Warren
Date: October 17, 2005 - Monday

LAKE FOREST, Calif. (BP)--"Now you are no longer strangers to God and foreigners to heaven, but you are members of God's very own family ... and you belong in God's household with every other Christian" (Ephesians 2:19).

Today, a lot of Christians are what I call "floating believers." It is an expression of America’s rampant individualism. Anywhere else in the world, being a believer is synonymous with being connected to a local body of believers. You rarely find a lone ranger Christian in other countries. 

Many American Christians, however, hop from one church to another without any identity, accountability or commitment. They have not been taught that the Christian life involves more than just believing -– it also includes belonging. We grow in Christ by being in relationship to other Christians.

C.S. Lewis once wrote an essay on church membership, reminding us that the word "membership” is of Christian origin, but it has been taken over by the world and emptied of all its original meaning.

Today, most people associate the term "membership" with paying dues, meaningless rituals, silly rules and handshakes, and having your name on some dusty roll.

Paul, however, had a very different image of membership. To Paul, being a "member" of the church did not refer to some cold induction into an institution but rather it meant becoming a vital organ of a living body (Romans 12:4-5, 1 Corinthians 6:15, 1 Corinthians 12:12-27). We need to reclaim this image!

THE MEANING OF MEMBERSHIP

Joining a church used to be an act of conformity in our society. You joined a church because everybody else did. Now the rules have changed and conformity is no longer a motivating factor. In fact, George Gallup has found that the vast majority of Americans believe it is possible to be a "good Christian" without joining (or even attending) a local church.

Membership is now an act of commitment. The way you motivate people to join today is to show them value-for-value what benefits are in return for their commitment.

At Saddleback, we’ve found that when people understand the meaning and value of membership, they get excited about it.

There are numerous benefits to membership:

1. It identifies me as a genuine believer (Ephesians 2:19, Romans 12:5).

2. It provides a spiritual family to support and encourage me in my walk with Christ (Galatians 6:1-2, Hebrews 10:24-25).

3. It gives me a place to discover and use my gifts in ministry (1 Corinthians 12:4-27).

4. It places me under the spiritual protection of godly leaders (Hebrews 13:17, Acts 20:28-29).

5. It gives me the accountability I need to grow (Ephesians 5:21).

Nothing helps this picture come into focus like personalizing the purposes of the church. This is especially important when convincing attendees in your crowd to join your congregation.

You need to emphasize the fact that the church provides them with benefits they cannot find anywhere else in the world:

-- Worship helps me focus on God. It prepares me spiritually and emotionally for the week ahead.

-- Fellowship helps me face life’s problems by providing the support and encouragement of other Christians.

-- Discipleship helps me fortify my faith by learning the truth of God’s Word and applying biblical principles to my lifestyle.

-- Ministry helps me find and develop my talents and use them in serving others.

-- Evangelism helps me fulfill my mission of reaching my friends and family for Christ.

YOUR CHURCH IS A FAMILY

There are many analogies for a Christian disconnected from a church: A football player without a team; a soldier without a platoon; a tuba player without an orchestra; and a sheep without a flock.

But the most understandable (and biblical) picture is that of a child without a family.

1 Timothy 3:15 refers to the church as “... the family of God. That family is the church of the living God, the support and foundation of the truth.”

God does not want his children growing up in isolation from each other, so he created a spiritual family on earth for us. Paul reminds us in Ephesians 2:19,  “... you are members of God's very own family ... and you belong in God's household with every other Christian."

A Christian without a church family is an orphan.

I believe it is important today to position the church as a family, rather than as an institution. Since the 1960s, Americans have become increasingly anti-institutional. They use the phrase "organized religion" with contempt.

On the other hand, people are longing for a sense of family and community.

Today, there are a number of factors that have fragmented the nuclear family in our culture: The high divorce rate, delayed marriages, the emphasis on individuality, alternative lifestyles, women working outside the home and the high rate of mobility.

In our mobile society, people have few roots. People are no longer surrounded by the extended family of aunts and uncles, grandparents and brothers and sisters that provided a safety net for previous generations.

THE LONGING TO BELONG

Today, we have a record number of single adults in America. Vance Packard called America “a nation of strangers.” As a result, we’re experiencing an epidemic of loneliness in society. One Gallup poll reported that four in 10 Americans admit to frequent feelings of “intense loneliness.” Americans are, in fact, the loneliest people in the world.

Everywhere you look there are signs that people have a deep hunger for fellowship, community and a sense of family. Independent-minded baby boomers are suddenly longing to be connected as they enter middle age.

This longing for belonging provides the church with a timely opportunity. Positioning the church as an extended family -– and as “a place where you are cared for” -– will strike a sensitive chord in many lonely hearts.
--30--
Rick Warren is pastor of Saddleback Valley Community Church in Lake Forest, Calif., and author of "The Purpose-Driven Life."



