For the week of October 30, 2003
Correction
In last weeks Baptist Message, it was reported that Fred Lowery of Bossier
City would preach at the 2003 Louisiana Baptist Pastors Conference. Actually,
Fred Luter of New Orleans is scheduled to preach at the conference. The conference
is set for Nov. 10 at East Bayou Baptist Church in Lafayette, beginning at 8:30
a.m. Also, in last weeks Baptist Message, two errors appeared in the listing
of nominees to convention committees and boards. Ken Norris was incorrectly
listed as pastor at Brookwood Baptist Church in Shreveport. He actually is pastor
at Benson Baptist Church in Mansfield. Charles Hutzler was incorrectly listed
as pastor at Jefferson Baptist Church in Baton Rouge. He actually is pastor
at Hebron Baptist Church in Dry Prong.
Also, the Oct. 16 story entitled “Reason to smile – LBC church reaches
out in love” should have included in the byline “from material submitted
by Joyce Richards Case.” Photos were courtesy of Tammi Woerner.
LC Wildcat Day
Louisiana College has scheduled its annual Wildcat Day for November 8 on the
Pineville campus. Wildcat Day is designed to give high school students an overview
of college life at Louisiana College. It offers participants the opportunity
to meet current college students and faculty, and it gives parents the opportunity
to gather useful financial aid information. The event is set from 1 p.m. until
5 p.m. across campus. Scheduled events include an academic fair highlighting
the offerings of the college, forums on Louisiana College and an organizational
fair highlights campus organizations. For information, call (318) 487-7259
or (800) 487-1906. Students may also register by visiting www.lacollege.edu/campusvisit.
Presidential comment
President George Bush ended several days of silence recently by offering brief
comments about a high-ranking Pentagon official whose comments on Islam have
angered many. (See article on Page Nine) Army Lt. Gen. William Boykin became
a subject of controversy after news stories revealed he had made a series of
comments casting Americas struggle against terrorism as a Muslim-versus-Christian
holy war. Boykin later apologized for his comments, but some still have called
for his dismissal. The White House largely declined comment. However, Bush was
asked by reporters about Boykins comments during his recent trip to Asia.
The president said the subject had come up during his meeting with Muslim leaders.
“I said, he (Boykin) didnt reflect my opinion,” Bush said. “Look,
it just doesnt reflect what the government thinks.” Meanwhile, Bush
is facing some international pressure on the issue. At the same time the Boykin
story was breaking, Bush personally rebuked Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir
Mohamad for public anti-Semitic comments he made. Islamic Media outlets have
criticized Bush for what they perceive as his inconsistency.
Prison chapels
The effort to build chapels at all Louisiana prisons continues. Several chapels
have been built or are in progress. In addition, leaders of the effort recently
announced plans for a fundraiser to help advance the work. The Louisiana Prison
Chapel foundation event is set for Nov. 19 at the Governors Mansion in
Baton Rouge. Scheduled guests include retired former heavyweight boxing champion
George Foreman, retired NFL football player Jim Brown and musical guest Aaron
Neville. The event will feature a cocktail buffet and a silent auction of artwork
from Louisiana prisoners. Tickets for the black-tie event are $125 each, or
tables can be purchased for $1,000 each. For information about the event, call
Robin Maine at (225) 931-3664 or e-mail lpcf@chapels.org. For details on
the chapel effort, visit www.chapel.org.
Dismissal of complaint
A complaint filed with the Texas State Commission on Judicial Conduct has been
dismissed involving a judge who appeared in advertisements for Southwestern
Baptist Theological Seminary. Tarrant County Judge Brent Keis is a lay ministries
student at the seminary. He appeared in his judicial robe in an April 2002 advertisement
for the school in The Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Keis was informed by the judicial
conduct commission in February that he had made a mistake by appearing robed
in the advertisement. After the ads re-appeared in May without Keis knowledge,
the judge was summoned to appear before the commission Oct. 8. However, that
complaint was dismissed, and the seminary has agreed not to run the ads again.
Hurricane relief
Southern Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers have concluded the bulk of their
response to Hurricane Isabel, with more than 933,000 meals prepared and 1,500
cleanup jobs completed. Individual states in the affected areas still are coordinating
the work of chainsaw teams in an effort that could last to the end of the year
in some areas. The overall effort has involved 24 states and volunteers who
have given more than 11,500 days of their time. The response was the largest
in the 37-year history of Southern Baptist Disaster Relief in terms of the number
of units responding, with 162 units and teams activated. Needs still remain
– and Southern Baptist North American Mission Board officials say they will
continue to recruit volunteers. Contributions to offset direct costs of the
response may be sent to state conventions, associations or churches responding
to the effort or to the mission board at www.namb.net/disaster relief or 200
North Point Parkway, Alpharetta, GA 30022. For updates on disaster relief efforts,
visit www.namb.net/dr.
Partial-birth abortion
The U.S. Senate has approved a ban on partial-birth abortion, sending such
a prohibition to a president who supports the measure. Senators voted 64-34
for the Partial-birth Abortion Ban Act, which would ban a late-term procedure
in which a baby is almost completely delivered, then aborted. The measure has
passed Congress on two previous occasions, only to be vetoed each time by then-President
Bill Clinton. However, President George Bush has vowed to sign the measure –
and may have done so by the time the Baptist Message is received in homes. Whenever
he does, it will mark the first restriction against a particular method of abortion
since the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized the procedure in 1973. As expected,
pro-life supporters have cheered the development. Pro-choice advocates have
vowed to fight the new restriction in court. Thus, it is likely the U.S. Supreme
Court will determine the fate of the law.
Prayer dispute
The American Civil Liberties Union has challenged a “pray-in” before
a recent football game at Loranger High School. Before the game, persons encircled
the football field for prayer. An ACLU lawsuit on behalf of an unidentified
Loranger resident and his two sons – who are students at Loranger High
School – says event crossed the constitutional line on church and state.
The suit alleges the school board in question endorses prayers and religion
in various ways, including the recent “pray-in.” As expected, local
Loranger residents and religious leaders disagree, with some beginning to sport
shirts that proclaim, “Yes, Ill pray.” The ACLU lawsuit also
alleges that threats have been made to some of the minors involved in the lawsuit
and that school officials have not made it clear that such behavior is not acceptable.
Counter views
Former Southern Baptist Convention President Charles Stanley has spoken out
against the denominations stance that wives should submit to their husbands
and that women cannot be pastors. Stanley is pastor at the First Baptist Church
of Atlanta and was elected convention president in 1984-85, at the peak of the
battle between moderates and conservatives. However, in his recent comments
in a Texas newspaper article, Stanley took a stance directly counter to that
of the current conservative leadership. Both issues Stanley criticized were
additions to the Baptist Faith and Message statement. The section on women being
submissive to their husbands is based on a misreading of Ephesians, and the
topic should not have been dealt with in a general statement, Stanley said.
“If a woman is going to be submissive, shes not going to be submissive
because of the Southern Baptist Convention,” he told the paper. “Its
just ridiculous.” A proper reading of the New Testament book of Ephesians
leans more toward mutual submission to one another, Stanley said. Stanley also
disputed the prohibition on women serving as pastors based on his own experience.
“I was saved by a woman preaching,” he said. “I was saved at
12 years of age, and Im still saved.” The 2000 Baptist Faith and
Message ignores the fact that in some places around the world, men are not taking
responsibility for leading churches while women are, Stanley said. “People
are being saved. Lives are being changed. Big churches are growing. Are we going
to tell these women, You cant do that?”