Short Spots

Corts Says Split in N.C. is Only Way for Peace: A separate, new state convention in NC is likely the only hope for peace says prominent conservative pastor Mark Corts. “I think, ultimately, the only way for peace is for another [state] convention to be formed. I think it’s a far greater likelihood that it would be started by moderates rather than conservatives. ... In some ways, if they are going to be unhappy and dissatisfied with the Baptist State Convention, they should go ahead and form their own denomination. [Biblical Recorder, 13 May 2000, p.1]

Presbyterian Court Backs Homosexual “Holy Unions”: The top court of the Presbyterian Church (USA) upheld homosexual candidates for ordination and same-sex “holy unions”, opening the way for a stormy policy battle at the denomination’s General Assembly in June. [Washington Times, 25 May 2000]

Music, Film, & TV Reviews On-Line: Focus on the Family offers a complete archive of music, film & TV reviews at www.family.org/pluggedin. Check it out and know what you and your kids are viewing or hearing.

Growth at Southeastern: Total enrollment at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary for the 1999-2000 academic year was 2,088 with the fall 1999 figure setting a new record of 1,840 ... 15.7% above the fall ‘98 total of 1,590. 393 of the students were enrolled in the college, the rest in the seminary. When Paige Patterson became president of SE in 1990 the student body was less than 600. Patterson has now set a new goal: 3,000 students by 2007. Students come from 42 states, and 5% are international students. 23% are females, 77% males. Median age is 33, and two-thirds are married.

Worldviews Clash on ABC: A segment of ABC television's news program "20/20" demonstrates the continuing clash between worldviews in American culture, noted a Southern Baptist missionary interviewed for the program which aired across the country Friday evening, 12 May. "It's evident our society does not want to hear that the Bible says there is only one way to God," said Jim Sibley, an interfaith evangelism missionary for the North American Mission Board. "The Jewish rabbi on the program said, 'It is our view that there are many paths to God.' And another person said, referring to our evangelical beliefs, 'That kind of religious exclusivity just doesn't belong in today's society anymore.'" NAMB President Robert E. Reccord, who was interviewed with Sibley, said May 15, "The [ABC] story, I believe, demonstrates the noose that is tightening around the neck of religious freedom in America. In a country founded on religious freedom principles, in which Jewish people have had the greatest freedom of anywhere in the world, it's ironic the response would be so negative." Reccord and Sibley were interviewed for three hours in March for the program which included less than 90 seconds of their interview. [BP]

CBS rejects Christian Internet site from advertising on 'Jesus' miniseries: CBS rejected commercials by the Christian Internet site iBelieve.com during the May 14 and 17 segments of its highly touted "Jesus"

miniseries -- as well as iBelieve ads for any episode of "Touched by an Angel." CBS spokesperson Dana McClintock said the commercials were rejected because they were not "consistent with the expectations of a diverse audience" and would "commercialize" the mini-series. iBelieve.com's proposed commercial offered viewers a free Christian music CD if they registered at the company's website. iBelieve was prepared to pay $450,000 to run two ads during the miniseries, said Jeff Fite, president of the Christian company.

CBS told iBelieve.com executives they would allow the company to purchase advertising as long as it was not during Christian programming. Fite said that argument doesn't make sense, especially when athletic companies are allowed to advertise during sporting events. [BP]

MS governor, Baptist layman, signs homosexual adoption ban: Gov. Ronnie Musgrove signed legislation May 3 to ban homosexual couples from adopting children in the state of Mississippi. Musgrove, a Democrat, gave his approval of the law after it passed a vote in the state's legislature. The governor is a member of the First Baptist Church Batesville, MS. Supporters said the legislation was spurred in part by Vermont's new law giving homosexual couples nearly all of the benefits of marriage. Mississippi became the third state, after Florida and Utah, to legally ban homosexuals from adopting children. However, legislators in Connecticut are poised to approve a bill that would allow homosexuals and other unmarried people to adopt their partners' children. Connecticut's governor has said he would sign the bill into law. Last year, New Hampshire legislators repealed its ban on homosexual adoption. To date, 16 states are considering bills that would allow homosexuals to adopt each other's children: Alaska, Arizona, California, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington. [BP]

SBC Cooperative Program continues increases: Cooperative Program gifts for May increased 3.83 percent above that month a year ago, according to Morris H. Chapman, president and chief executive officer of the Southern Baptist Convention's Executive Committee. For the first eight months of the fiscal year, receipts totaled $118,479,606 compared to $112,779,048, an increase of 5.05 percent or $5,700,558. May CP gifts totaled $14,309,091 compared to May 1999 of $13,780,657, an increase of $528,433 or 3.83 percent. In designated gifts, the year to date totaled $126,743,712 compared to the same period a year ago of $124,315,889, an increase of $2,427,823 or 1.95 percent. [BP]

Martha Gaddis dies in Nashville: Martha T. Gaddis, 67, longtime administrative assistant with the SBC Executive Committee, died May 17 in Baptist Hospital, Nashville. She began an extended medical leave from the Executive Committee in 1992 and retired in 1997. "Martha Tanner Gaddis was a remarkable person," said Harold Bennett, Executive Committee president and treasurer from 1979-92. "She will be missed by many, many persons, not only by her family and close friends, but by the many other friends she had across the convention." Gaddis, a native of Waycross, GA, joined the Executive Committee staff in 1968 as professional secretary to Porter W. Routh, then-executive secretary of the SBC office. Following Routh's retirement, she became Bennett's administrative assistant. [BP]

Ky Baptist Children’s Home Sued: On 17 April the ACLU and Americans United for Separation of Church and State filed a lawsuit against the Commonwealth of Kentucky and Kentucky Baptist Homes for Children, which is publicly funded, because they fired a lesbian employee. Kentucky Baptist Homes for Children is the largest private childcare provider of youth social services in Kentucky, and it is the oldest Southern Baptist ministry in America. It was established in 1869 and began accepting public funds in the late 1970's. The lawsuit alleges that Kentucky is violating the U.S. Constitution's Establishment clause by financing a religious organization that discriminates on the basis of religion and uses public funding to fund a particular brand of Christianity. [Editorial comment: This makes two points: First, the growing anti-Christian activism in the U.S. and, second, why religious organizations should NEVER accept government money. TCP]

Tufts Univ. Bans Christian Oganization: The Christian student organization on campus, Tufts Christian Fellowship (TCF), has been de-recognized by the Tufts Community Union Judiciary (TCUJ) as a result of a ruling given on April 13^th. The ruling came because a former lesbian member, Julie Catalano, wanted to be promoted to the group's senior leadership position but was denied. TCF's senior policy-setting leadership felt that her sexual practices were against its religiously based standards and they decided not to extend a leadership invitation to her. Ms. Catalano believed that homosexual practice was a biblically acceptable practice for leaders and she wanted the option to pursue a homosexual relationship as a leader. The campus organization felt that by allowing Julie to take on a leadership position, their personal religious beliefs would be violated. Julie filed a formal complaint of discrimination against TCF with the Tufts Community Union Judiciary. Consequently, TCF was stripped of all student funding, prohibited from notifying members publicly of any meeting, and banned from meeting on campus. This type of ruling threatens the freedom of all campus religious groups. [BP]

FBC, Richmond, Pledges $230,000 to IMB: Richmond's historic First Baptist Church has given the largest donation to date toward the International Mission Board's $23 million expansion of its Missionary Learning Center in Rockville, VA. The $230,000 gift -- the first from a congregation -- represents 1 percent of total cost of the project, which will enable the missions agency to train the burgeoning number of Southern Baptists coming forward to volunteer for overseas service. The International Mission Board broke ground on the expansion May 18, following a seventh straight year of record missionary appointments to Southern Baptists' overseas team. Studies show the number of IMB missionaries could climb above 7,000 over the next five years and might top 17,000 by 2005. The construction project will add living quarters, expand the dining facilities, and build a larger educational complex. Missionaries participate in a five-week program at the Missionary Learning Center that helps them prepare personally and professionally for the challenges of living in and sharing the good news of God's love in a different culture. As of May 21, the IMB had 4,902 missionaries focusing on 154 countries. [BP]

www.sbc.net, Try It; You’ll Like It: More than 2 million hits have been generated on the Southern Baptist Convention's newly designed website since its May 10 debut and the SBC home page has been called up more than 60,000 times. One of the most popular items on the website is the church search function. The

church search allows people to locate SBC churches closest to their homes. The popular feature offers users the ability to search for a church by city, zip code, state, or the partial name of a church. The function will also provide actual driving times and maps. The new feature also includes links to SBC churches that already have websites. Chapman emphasized that the church information pages are not intended to take

the place of existing church websites. "We want to provide a web presence for every Southern Baptist church," he said. "It doesn't matter if they have five members or 500. All they have to do is supply us with a church profile." [BP]

Wake Forest dean defends admitting gays: Bill Leonard, dean of the Wake Forest University Divinity School, defended the school's controversial decision to admit a homosexual, saying a seminary needs to be open to all and a safe place to work out difficult issues. The divinity school, which opened last fall, was drawn into the controversy when it became known that one of its new students is a lesbian. But Leonard said he supports the university's policy of not discriminating on the basis of race, creed, sexual orientation, or other factors. "I'll die on this floor of non-discriminatory admissions," Leonard pledged to a group of moderate Baptists in Atlanta April 25. The university in Winston-Salem, N.C., is involved in a controversy with the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina over homosexuality. Last fall, the university said it would leave up to a local church that meets in the campus chapel to decide whether to hold a same-sex union ceremony. North Carolina Baptists responded by authorizing leaders to initiate steps to sever its fraternal relationship with the university. One of the women requesting the church blessing is a member of the Wake

Forest divinity school's inaugural class. The divinity school opened last fall.  [ABP]