Friday, March 05, 1999

• ERLC to drop annual conference & seek better way to address issues

  by Dwayne Hastings, posted Friday, March 05, 1999 (25 years ago)

  AUSTIN, Texas (BP)--Only hours after the conclusion of the agency's annual conference, trustees of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission decided March 4 to make this year's conference the last such event for the ERLC.

  During their semiannual meeting in Austin, Texas, trustees voted to discontinue the traditional practice of holding the seminar that for 33 years attracted well-known speakers in the area of ethics, morality and public policy, focusing on some a... Read More

• British official cites prayers, dignity characteristic of persecuted blvrs

  by Tom Strode, posted Friday, March 05, 1999 (25 years ago)

  AUSTIN, Texas (BP)--The primary request of Christians who are suffering and dying for their faith in various parts of the world is that the church remember them in prayer, a well-known advocate for persecuted believers said at the annual conference of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission.

  Baroness Caroline Cox, deputy speaker of the British House of Lords, told of the evidence of atrocities committed against Christians she has observed in trips to the Sudan, Burma and Na... Read More

• Men, boys, America at stake in battle against pornography, mother of 4 says

  by Dwayne Hastings, posted Friday, March 05, 1999 (25 years ago)

  AUSTIN, Texas (BP)--Carolyn McKenzie was a surgical intensive care nurse in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War. Yet her exposure to the trauma of combat barely prepared the Memphis resident for her ministry to those trapped in the sex industry in the west Tennessee city.

  Sexually oriented businesses that dot the landscape of most communities are the visible manifestation of America's fascination with pornography, McKenzie, founder and executive director of Citizens for Community Values, tol... Read More

• Corporate prayer needed to reach nation’s inner cities, Galvan says

  by King Sanders, posted Friday, March 05, 1999 (25 years ago)

  AUSTIN, Texas (BP)--Corporate prayer is one of the most important keys to reaching the inner city for Christ, said David Galvan at the annual conference of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission.

  "We have not seen America's cities experience a mighty sovereign-led move of God because prayer has not been a priority," Galvan said March 3 at Great Hills Baptist Church in Austin, Texas. Galvan, second vice president of the SBC from 1997-98, has been the pastor of ... Read More

• Hemphill: Sanctity of life extends from conception to evangelism

  by King Sanders, posted Friday, March 05, 1999 (25 years ago)

  AUSTIN, Texas (BP)--Christians have an ethical mandate from Scripture to move beyond simply the "right to truth" to a more comprehensive issue of "right to life," the president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary said March 2 at the annual conference of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission.

  "We must provide the radical community relationships that provide refuge for the disenfranchised," said Ken Hemphill of the Fort Worth, Texas, seminary, "We must... Read More

• Power of Christ prevails in battle against voodoo

  by Barbara Singerman, posted Friday, March 05, 1999 (25 years ago)

  AKPOME, Benin (BP)--A man in khaki shorts leads the safari as it slowly winds through steamy, overgrown jungle paths. The porters, carrying heavy equipment on their heads, sludge through the muck and twisted vines.

  This scene from old Tarzan movies recently came to life for missionary Jeff Singerman while traveling to a remote village in Benin, West Africa. Singerman, from Dayton, Ohio, trudged along narrow, heavily wooded paths while a team of Christian African men followed him, carrying on ... Read More

• SBC photographer Jim Veneman to join Union Univ. staff June 1

  by , posted Friday, March 05, 1999 (25 years ago)

  JACKSON, Tenn. (BP)--Jim Veneman, photo editor at Lifeway Christian Resources (formerly the Baptist Sunday School Board) since 1986, will become director of visual communications at Union University, Jackson, Tenn., effective June 1.

  In his new role at Union, Veneman will coordinate photography and graphic design activities at the 2,500-student university as part of the university relations team. He will also teach photography and photojournalism courses.

  Veneman is well known among Southe... Read More

• Shoppers' romance blooms at the Baptist Book Store

  by Sharon Harper, posted Friday, March 05, 1999 (25 years ago)

  CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (BP)--Lamar Overby didn't fall in love at Baptist Book Store in Chattanooga, Tenn., but his devotion to his bride-to-be certainly blossomed there.

  Citing frequent enjoyable visits to the store, Overby, 28, chose Baptist Book Store as the memorable location for his recent proposal to an astonished Heather Ely, 25.

  Manager Tim Burton said the store was packed on Saturday, Jan. 23, when Overby and Ely walked in.

  "We were afraid we were going to give the surprise away bec... Read More