News

Camp Pinnacle
New adventures, experiences for Pinnacle campers
By Joe Westbury, Managing Editor
Published August 17, 2006

Pre-teen girls don’t need much encouragement to speak their minds. At Camp Pinnacle this summer, they were challenged to harness that talkative nature into telling others about God’s love.

Georgia youth joining church planting movement
By Scott Barkley, Staff Writer
Published August 17, 2006

“Is Jesus relevant? Always. But you have to make the connection.”

Morgan Medford – challenged by the difficult
By J. Gerald Harris, Editor
Published August 17, 2006

Morgan Medford is Georgia born and bred, but left the Bible Belt for North Dakota, where the summers are hot, the winters are frigid and Baptists are few and far between.

At 28, former member of Briarlake in Decatur has a 4,300-member flock
By Greg Garrison, c. 2006 Religion News Service
Published August 17, 2006

The new senior pastor of the 4,300-member Church at Brook Hills here recently turned 28, so maybe the jokes about him being so young will stop.

With beginning of the year, schools struggle to decide religious holidays
Published August 17, 2006

Gone are the days when Christmas was the only religion-based holiday school districts had to plan around.

Lebanese Christians serve Muslim refugees; Southern Baptists assist with relief funds
By Erich Bridges
Published August 17, 2006

The frightened, protective Muslim mother finally agreed to let Christian medical workers take her sick 2-year-old daughter to the hospital.

Warren Baptist Church touching lives in Scotland
By J. Gerald Harris, Editor
Published August 17, 2006

Thoughts of Scotland immediately bring to mind idyllic scenes like Loch Lomond, castles, kilts, bagpipes, golf, and Scottish folklore. To the people of Warren Baptist Church in Augusta, thoughts of Scotland bring to mind mission opportunities.

Nearly 3,000 attend North Metro First Baptist's first service in new building
By J. Gerald Harris, Editor
Published August 17, 2006

North Metro First Baptist Church moved into their new $8.5 million worship center on Sunday, August 6 with 2,998 people in attendance. There was a brief ribbon cutting ceremony at the church’s front door. After the ribbon cutting and prayer of dedication, North Metro’s pastor, Frank Cox, announced to the gathered throng, “Welcome home!”

Bomb blasts fail to shake Georgia collegian's call to missions
By Dea Davidson
Published August 17, 2006

“What do you want to do when you graduate?”

South Carolina schools now can 'critically analyze' evolution
Published August 17, 2006

Starting this fall, biology teachers in South Carolina will be instructed to “summarize ways that scientists use data from a variety of sources to investigate and critically analyze aspects of evolutionary theory,” after the state’s education leaders unanimously voted to amend curriculum standards.

Suburban churches among leaders in baptisms, GBC study says
Published August 17, 2006

According to the 2005 ACP supplemental survey conducted by Research Services of the Georgia Baptist Convention, most baptisms in GBC churches occurred in suburban areas.

Eskimo children enjoy "Arctic Edge" adventure
By Polly House
Published August 17, 2006

You can’t drive to Kiana – there’s no road. The only ways in and out of this small Alaskan community in the Arctic Circle are by small charter plane, boat, four-wheeler, or snowmobile. But for this one time, in the summer of 2006, more than a million people will visit. Vacation Bible School has put Kiana on the map.

Georgia NewsBriefs

SBC President Frank Page, Governor Perdue to appear at Missions and Ministry Center
Published August 17, 2006

Frank Page, president of the Southern Baptist Convention, will be available to speak with area pastors at the Georgia Baptist Missions and Ministry Center Aug. 24. The event will take place from 2-4 p.m. in the chapel.

Georgia Baptist Convention minutes listing
Published August 17, 2006

Lists of ordained ministers who are not serving in the pastorate at the present time and full-time evangelists in fellowship with a church in cooperation with the Georgia Baptist Convention will be published in the 2006 Georgia Baptist Convention Minutes.

Shorter set to inaugurate Newman as president at Aug. 29 ceremony
Published August 17, 2006

Harold E. Newman will be installed as the 18th president of Shorter College Aug. 29 with a 2 p.m. inaugural ceremony to be held in the Winthrop-King Centre on campus.

Final action on Mercer to be presented at annual convention meeting in November
Published August 17, 2006

The discontinuance of the relationship between the Georgia Baptist Convention and Mercer University was approved by the Convention at its 2005 annual meeting and was subsequently approved by the Board of Trustees of Mercer University and by the Executive Committee of the Georgia Baptist Convention.

Baptist News Summary

Fox resigns from Kansas church with goal of engaging culture
Published August 17, 2006

Kansas pastor Terry Fox resigned from his church Aug. 6, saying he wants to spend more time traveling the country encouraging pastors and Christians to engage the culture on such issues as “gay marriage,” evolution and abortion.

Church's elders cancel vote on membership without baptism
Published August 17, 2006

Elders of Henderson Hills Baptist Church decided against proceeding with a church-wide vote July 30 on a proposal to remove baptism as a requirement for church membership. The proposed change had stirred interest in Southern Baptist circles across the nation in recent weeks.

Weakened by Hurricane Katrina, seminary steeple to be replaced
Published August 17, 2006

A beacon of hope following Hurricane Katrina, the New Orleans Seminary steeple is down, but only for a season.

New online GuideStone resource to help churches set salaries
Published August 17, 2006

GuideStone Financial Resources has released a new online resource, “Planning Financial Support,” for use by church personnel and finance committees in planning staff members’ compensation packages.

New Southwestern website seeks to aid local churches
Published August 17, 2006

Southwestern Seminary’s Center for Theological Research has launched a new website, BaptistTheology.org, to aid local church leaders with current and classic resources promoting the study of theology from a Baptist perspective.

W.A. Criswell’s widow, Betty, dies at 93
Published August 17, 2006

Bessie “Betty” Marie Criswell, widow of legendary preacher and former Southern Baptist Convention President W.A. Criswell, died Aug. 2 at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas at the age of 93.

Names in the News
Published August 17, 2006

Religious NewsBriefs

Pakistan moving to revise Islamic laws
Published August 17, 2006

When Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf amended a law July 7 extending bail to 1,300 women in jail awaiting trial, it may have signaled his willingness to revise laws traditionally held to be God-given and taboo to dispute.

British government may allow students to opt out of mandatory religious worship
Published August 17, 2006

The British government, seeking to defuse a potential student revolt, has announced that it intends to give high school-age students the right to opt out of collective worship in the nation’s schools if they so wish.

Various religious and human rights groups push humanitarian plan for North Korea
Published August 17, 2006

A broad coalition of religious and human rights groups urged Congress and the Bush administration July 20 to pursue a humanitarian approach toward North Korea.

Malaysian fatwa says no Botox for Muslims
Published August 17, 2006

A council of Muslim clerics in Malaysia has issued an order banning the use of the popular Botox injections for wrinkles, citing the use of pig-derived materials in the treatment, The New Straits Times reported.

People and Places

Anniversaries
Published August 17, 2006

Obituaries
Published August 17, 2006

Homecomings
Published August 17, 2006

Ordinations
Published August 17, 2006

Revivals
Published August 17, 2006

Special Honors
Published August 17, 2006

Ministerial Moves
Published August 17, 2006

Cooperative Program Stories

Discipleship and Family Ministries: sending those willing to go
By Sherri Brown, Communications, GBC
Published August 17, 2006

It took more than an hour to rig up the projector on a wobbly wooden table. It took another 30 minutes to string a blue plastic tarp across the dusty road and attach it to a banana tree on one side and the side of a wooden shack on the other side.

Bible Study

Maximizing God-given opportunities
By Steve Kimmel, Pastor, First Baptist Smyrna
Published August 17, 2006

Acts 19:1-5, 8-10, 23-28
Related Sunday School Lesson, Family Bible Series, Aug. 27

Who me? A leader?
By Steve Kimmel, Pastor, First Baptist Smyrna
Published August 17, 2006

Joshua 1:1-15
Related Sunday School Lesson, Family Bible Series, Sept. 3

Columns

ESPN, since when did poker become a sport?
By J. Gerald Harris, Editor
Published August 17, 2006

James Butler “Wild Bill” Hickok was playing poker at Nuttal & Mann’s Saloon No. 10 in Deadwood, Dakota Territory on August 2, 1876. It was then and there that Jack McCall shot “Wild Bill” in the back of the head with a double-action .45 caliber revolver.

Dixie Chicks, go home
By Russell D. Moore
Published August 17, 2006

The title of this commentary has nothing to do with Natalie Maines’ views on foreign policy.

The Open Door
By J. Robert White, Executive Director, GBC
Published August 17, 2006

As I write this article, it is the end of a glorious day of worship at our church, North Metro First Baptist where Frank Cox is pastor. First of all, as I have the privilege and joy of preaching in Georgia Baptist churches across our state, I have only rare opportunities to be with my family at our home church. So anytime I can be at home it is a special occasion.

Changes in family structure jeopardize child's moral code
By James Dobson
Published August 17, 2006