Week of December 5, 2005
The alumni association of Baylor University’s George
W. Truett Theological Seminary announced Nov. 14 they will establish an
endowed scholarship fund to honor former graduate Kyle Lake. Lake,
33-year-old pastor of University Baptist Church in Waco, Texas, was
electrocuted Oct. 30 after he grabbed a microphone while in a baptistry
full of water. More than 800 people witnessed the event, which happened
on the same weekend as Baylor University’s homecoming. His family will
set the guidelines for choosing recipients of the scholarship. Lake
earned a bachelor’s degree from Baylor in 1994 and a master of divinity
degree from Truett in 1997.
The decorated tree that will stand outside the U.S.
Capitol in the coming weeks has officially been designated a “Christmas
Tree” again, after several years with the title “Holiday Tree.” In
recent years, some governments have named the firs, spruces and pines
that have been placed on lawns and under rotundas “holiday trees”
instead of “Christmas trees.” Others, such as the National Christmas
Tree near the White House, stuck with the traditional title. Matthew
Evans, landscape architect of the U.S. Capitol said that the tree is
“intended for people of all faiths to gather round at a time of coming
together and fellowship and celebration.” But this year, Evans told The
Washington Times the name has changed back to the “Capitol Christmas
Tree” designation it had until the late 1990s.
Messengers from the 2.5-million member Baptist
General Convention of Texas elected Michael Bell, the organization’s
first black president at its recent annual meeting. Bell, senior pastor
of Greater St. Stephen First Baptist Church in Fort Worth, succeeds the
convention’s first Hispanic president, Albert Reyes, the top
administrator at The Baptist University of the Americas in San Antonio.
In what may be the first such designation in the
nation, the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority will set aside
areas at Giants Stadium and Continental Airlines Arena for fans who
want to pray, officials said. The decision, which follows the detention
of five Muslim men who were seen kneeling in prayer at a Sept. 19
Giants game, was hailed by stadium officials and Islamic leaders.
Stadium and arena staff are still trying to determine which areas would
be set aside and when they would open. Once the areas are designated,
fans of any faith who want to pray would be directed by stadium staff
to the appropriate areas. Sami Shaban and four other men were
questioned by the FBI and stadium security after they were observed
praying as a group during the Giants-New Orleans Saints game. Former
President George H.W. Bush was attending the football game as part of a
fundraising campaign for Hurricane Katrina victims. The men called the
incident an example of religious profiling, an allegation the FBI and
sports authority denied. Officials said the men were praying in a spot
that, while public, was in an area near a major ventilation duct to the
stadium.
An endeavor to send Target and other major retail
chains a message is being considered a success by Christians who took
offense at the store’s refusal to allow the phrase “Merry Christmas” to
be used in their in-store promotions and retail advertising this year.
The American Family Association launched a boycott against Target Nov.
18, asking Americans to refrain from shopping at the popular discount
store during Thanksgiving – considered the biggest shopping weekend of
the year. Within three days of the launch, nearly 300,000 people had
signed a petition online at www.afa.net, saying they would stand up to
Target and not purchase items at the store, which last year made a
controversial decision not to allow Salvation Army kettles to be placed
outside the front door. Don Wildmon, president of AFA, noted in a
letter on the organization’s Web site that Target’s stock dropped 7
percent in November, and he credited Christians who were offended by
the store’s dismissal of Christmas as having something to do with the
change.
The first Christian television channel with
programming in Arabic debuted in October and has already been credited
with leading several people to Christ, according to a report by The
Washington Times Nov. 26. Alkarma, Arabic for “the vineyard,” is based
in Southern California and was founded by an Egyptian-born businessman
seeking to provide solid biblical teaching and programs for the family.
He invested $200,000 to purchase air time and equipment for the 24-hour
channel, The Times said, and he needs about $40,000 a month to keep it
going. So far total contributions have reached about $10,000 per month.
The station has seen measurable success thus far, as 10 to 15 calls
come in each day from Arabic speakers with Muslim surnames who are
curious about why Alkarma would give away a movie called the “Jesus”
film and other materials. Though other Arabic channels exist in the
United States, this is the first to run explicitly Christian content.
Alkarma currently reaches about a million Arabic speakers in the U.S.,
Canada and Mexico.
The number of abortions in the United States is at
its lowest level since 1976, a new study by an abortion rights research
organization indicates. The Alan Guttmacher Institute reported about
1.29 million women had abortions in 2002, compared to 1.61 million in
1990. Other statistics from the analysis include:
• White women who are non-Hispanic obtained about 40 percent of the
abortions in the United States in 2002, while black women had 32
percent and Hispanic women had 20 percent.
• Six of 10 women undergoing abortions in 2002 already had children.
• About 56 percent of women who had abortions in 2002 were in their
20s, while women between 15 and 19 had 19 percent of the abortions.
• The number of abortion providers in the country fell by 11 percent to 1,800 from 1996 to 2000.