EDITOR’S NOTE: BP Ledger carries items for reader information each week from various Southern Baptist-related entities, and news releases of interest from other sources. The items are published as received.
Today’s BP Ledger contains items from:
World News Service
Baptist College of Florida
Campbellsville University
Christians Win and Lose at European Human Rights Court
By Whitney Williams
STRASBOURG, France (World News Service) — Religious freedom is a right, but not without limits, Europe’s top human rights court said Jan. 15 in two religious liberty rulings.
In the first case, the court ruled British Airways (BA) discriminated against a Christian employee by making her remove her crucifix. But in the second case, the court stood behind a U.K. charity that fired a marriage counselor who refused to provide sex therapy to same-sex couples.
In judgments applauded by civil liberties groups but condemned by advocates for religious freedom, the European Court of Human Rights said freedom of religion is “an essential part of the identity of believers and one of the foundations of pluralistic, democratic societies.”
But religious freedom has limits, the court said: “However, where an individual’s religious observance impinges on the rights of others, some restrictions can be made.”
The court’s judges, by a five-to-two margin, backed a claim by BA check-in clerk Nadia Eweida, who sparked a national debate in Britain over religion when supervisors sent her home in November 2006 for refusing to remove the small silver cross from around her neck. The company has rules banning employees from wearing visible religious symbols.
BA eventually changed its policy, and Eweida went back to work. But she continued to pursue a claim of religious discrimination, seeking damages and compensation for lost income.
British courts backed BA, but Eweida went to the European Court of Human Rights. The Strasbourg, France-based court ruled Jan. 15 that the airline’s policy “amounted to an interference with her right to manifest her religion.” Eweida’s cross was discreet and could not have detracted from her professional appearance, the court said.
“I was jumping for joy and saying ‘Thank you, Jesus,'” Eweida, 60, said when the court announced the verdict. “It’s a vindication that Christians have a right to express their faith on par with other colleagues at work visibly and not be ashamed of their faith.”
But vindication did not come for all.
After deciding Eweida’s case, the judges struck down claims by Lillian Ladele, a local authority registrar who said her Christian faith stopped her from overseeing same-sex civil partnerships, and marriage counselor Gary McFarlane, who refused to offer sex therapy to same-sex couples.
The court’s rulings are binding on the 47 member states of the Council of Europe, the continent’s human rights watchdog. The losing claimants can appeal to the court’s Grand Chamber, a higher panel of five judges.
In both cases, the court said employers were entitled to strike a balance between claimants’ rights to live out their religious beliefs and the rights of others not to suffer discrimination.
But according to religious groups, the rulings make it clear sexual orientation trumps religion when it comes to rights. Europeans now live within a hierarchy of rights, said Dave Landrum, director of advocacy for the Evangelical Alliance.
“If we want to create a society that is diverse and can live with its deepest differences, there needs to be a fuller protection for religious beliefs, convictions and actions,” he said.
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BCF Students Travel “Miles” and Reach “Milestones”
GRACEVILLE, Fla. (Baptist College of Florida) — “Miles and Milestones,” that’s how The Baptist College of Florida (BCF) Missions Professor Rich Elligson described this year’s January Church Planting Practicum. Every year, BCF in partnership with the Florida Baptist Convention, sends a group of students to assist a church planter in their work somewhere in the state. This year’s project took the class to Santa Rosa Beach where new church planter William Whaley is beginning a work called New Day Church.
“The term ‘miles’ refers to the ground we covered,” Elligson explained. Each day the group of 11 students walked more than seven miles, distributing nearly 3,000 promotional packets and inviting area residents to attend the new church. “It wasn’t exactly glamorous work,” remarked senior Ministry Studies major Adam Siskey, “But it was necessary work. There are miles and miles of dirt roads and hundreds of homes tucked back in the woods all along the main highway. Homes that go unnoticed mean families who may be unchurched.” And the unchurched is what drew the attention of Florida Baptists to the area, as well as church planter William Whaley. “The majority of Walton County’s population resides south of Highway 20,” Whaley explained. “Yet there are few churches in this part of the state, and very few Baptist churches.” The burden to see the southern part of the county come to Christ is what led to the inception of New Day Church, whose vision is “to see lives transformed by the Gospel.”
While “miles” refers to ground covered, “milestones” refers to the progress that was made. After spending the week knocking on doors, handing out materials, and inviting families to New Day Church, Saturday was dedicated to building relationships at the New Day “Family Fun Day” event at a local park. There, BCF students were joined by the church’s core group members as well as volunteers from First Baptist Church DeFuniak Springs. The results were spectacular, as more than 400 people arrived to enjoy the free bounce houses, balloons, games, food, and a petting zoo, all provided in an effort to meet people, share the love of Jesus, and encourage the unchurched to visit the new work.
And visit they did. Sunday morning’s preview service filled 90 seats at the elementary school where New Day meets, with more than 40 first time visitors, most of whom had been encountered during the week’s festivities of visiting, inviting, and events.
By the end of the week, numerous milestones had been passed. New Day Church shared their first Lord’s Supper together, saw their first soul come to Christ, baptized their first new member, and filled the chairs at their first promoted preview service.
“Seeing the results is what makes it all worthwhile,” mused senior Missions major Brittany Blowers. “We walked for miles, were chased by dogs, got sunburned along the way, and my feet hurt. But look at the results! All in all, it was a great week.”
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Campbellsville BCM students go on East Asia mission trip
By Rebekah Southwood, student news writer
CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. (Campbellsville University) — Five Baptist Campus Ministry students from Campbellsville University spent their Christmas and New Year in East Asia presenting the celebration of the true Christmas story to the people in the small city in which they visited.
Senior Rebekah Carl of Houston, Texas; sophomore Devan Bishop of Columbia, Ky.; graduate student Trevor McWhorter of Campbellsville, Ky.; sophomore Andrew Neal of Harrodsburg, Ky.; and junior Sarah Scott of Louisville, Ky. were the mission team.
Carl, the team leader, was on her second mission outreach to East Asia and she aspires to return in the summer of 2013.
Carl, speaking at the university’s Oasis, Baptist Campus Ministry’s weekly student-led worship service Jan. 14, said the mission team’s knowledge was transformed by the farther understanding of the true Christmas story.
She said, “This story can be shared here in the United States or overseas and its importance remains.” Sharing the Christmas story was their avenue to sharing the gospel with the numerous loss of East Asia. They helped create prominence to an otherwise inconsequential holiday.
Neal revealed his broken heart for the vast “lostness” of the people. He said they bow down and serve idols relentlessly and the majority are clueless of who the one true God is.
He said, “They are hardened to the gospel, but God softened their hearts and now they are persistent about sharing their faith. God is at work and we want to encourage you to share your faith.”
He suggested that students start by building relationships, serving and sharing their lives with others to amplify the kingdom of God.
Conveying how God transformed her life Scott said, “God opened my heart so wide, telling me, ‘Sarah, these are my people and they are beautiful!'”
While on the trip she thought continuously, “What am I doing in America to tell people about Jesus?” The missionaries there are tenaciously sharing their faith, she said, undaunted by the persecution they could suffer.
They encountered various obstacles including living in a 30 to 40-degree apartment, inability to speak the language, financial expense and food discrepancy between nations.
The students said they were victors; they overcame the obstacles and had unbelievable life changing experiences. They encouraged all to participate in sometime in their life.
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