Baptist Press Stories for Jun. 12 2012 --------------------------------------- SBC baptisms & churches up in 2011, membership declines http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=38027 African American pastor imparts missions vision http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=38022 Hospice chaplain is there when death looms http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=38024 'Sinner's Prayer' among proposed resolutions http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=38021 Adoption is topic of SBC panel discussion http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=38025 FROM THE STATES: N.C., Ky., Ala. evangelism/missions news http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=38026 FIRST-PERSON: Did Noah's Ark have dinosaurs? http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=38023 --------------------------------------- SBC baptisms & churches up in 2011, membership declines By Russ Rankin Jun. 12 2012 http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=38027 See accompanying chart at end of story. NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP) -- The Southern Baptist Convention in 2011 reported an increase in the number of baptisms and total churches over the previous year, but declined in total membership, according to the Annual Church Profile (ACP) compiled by LifeWay Christian Resources in cooperation with Baptist state conventions. Southern Baptist churches baptized 333,341 in 2011, a 0.70 percent increase from the 331,008 reported in the SBC Annual last year. The number of churches in the SBC in 2011 totaled 45,764 -- a slight 0.08 percent increase over the previous year, even though primary worship attendance declined 0.65 percent in 2011, to 6,155,116. Meanwhile, total membership in 2011, reported at 15,978,112, represents a 0.98 percent drop from 16,136,044 reported the previous year and is the fifth straight year of decline. "An increase in baptisms is something to be celebrated," said Thom S. Rainer, president of LifeWay. "God's Word is being proclaimed and God's Spirit is continuing to move in the hearts of people, drawing them to repentance. This is something that should excite us as Christians who care about the Great Commission." While the SBC increased by 37 churches, Rainer noted this is one of the smallest increases in the last 40 years. Factoring in a decrease of 1.18 percent in the "church-type missions operating" category -- 4,952 reported in 2011 after 5,011 in 2010 -- indicates a decline in the growth of the number of congregations. Rainer added, however, that "Southern Baptists continue to be a giving people, even in challenging economic times," pointing to $1.33 billion in reported total mission expenditures, a $26.2 million increase from 2010. GREAT COMMISSION GIVING The 2011 ACP included a new category called Great Commission Giving, which totaled $695,694,322 (with four state conventions not reporting). The category was added following the approval of a recommendation brought to the SBC annual meeting in Phoenix in 2011 to add to the ACP each church's financial commitment to Southern Baptist mission enterprises. The recommendation also reaffirmed the SBC Cooperative Program (CP) and encouraged churches to increase their CP contributions by 2.5 percent of undesignated receipts by the end of the 2013 calendar year. The Cooperative Program is a voluntary contribution from local churches that supports mission efforts in individual states, throughout the United States and around the world. CP also funds six seminaries, the International Mission Board, the North American Mission Board and other SBC entities (except LifeWay and GuideStone Financial Resources, which are self-funding). Totals for various categories of the ACP were affected by the fact that not all state conventions asked churches for all the information in a way that would allow proper year-to-year comparisons. The impacted categories and their 2011 totals include: -- Other membership additions: 303,881 -- Undesignated receipts: $9,023,216,896 -- Total receipts: $11,805,027,705 -- Total mission expenditures: $1,328,672,872 -- Great Commission Giving: $695,694,322 [IMGONLY=32788@right@600] --30-- Russ Rankin writes for LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention. -- End of story -- African American pastor imparts missions vision By Marie Curtis Jun. 12 2012 http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=38022 BUFFALO, N.Y. (BP) -- Spend some time with Bill Smith and you'll catch his vision for missions. That's what happened to North Buffalo Community Church in New York, a congregation Smith planted in 1994 with his wife Adrian.
Attendance averages around 100, but the church is not limited by size. Smith has instilled an urgency among the members for reaching their community and the world for Christ. They have been on mission trips to Zambia, Suriname, Burkina Faso, India and Brazil. "I am aging gracefully and quickly, so I would like God to use our church to build leaders who have the same passion that God has for missions," Smith said, envisioning a time "that once I'm off the scene, this idea of taking the Gospel to the whole world would just explode from our church." Smith prays that his vision will spread to other African American churches and across racial barriers. Many people he's met overseas assume all missionaries are white. For Smith, that's a call for more people of color to move out of their places of comfort and respond. "Most of the world looks like us," the pastor said. "The people are out there calling for us to be a part of this process of bringing the Good News to them. They've been waiting, God's been waiting and it's time to wait no more." "Every time I've gone to an African nation or a place where there are African people, the people we minister to are shocked to know that there are African descendants who are missionaries," Smith added. "They always ask the question: 'Then where have you been?' "Our hearts get broken because we keep facing this." North Buffalo Community Church, partnering with the International Mission Board, has sent a five-member volunteer team on a weeklong vision trip to Salvador, Brazil. Although they fought intense heat and swatted bugs, they gained insight into the needs of the Quilombola, a people immersed in voodoo who are descendents of runaway slaves. Being African American is an advantage in building relationships with the Quilombola, team member Marian King said, adding, "I think people are comfortable with people who look like them. "We visited a mother, a mother of seven, who reminded me of my mother who was also a single mother raising seven children. That touched my heart," King said. "There was this little girl [one of the daughters]. She was close to the age I was when I accepted Christ into my life. I was able to share with her, and she accepted Christ." Keith Jefferson, the IMB's African American missional church strategist and coordinator of the Brazil trip, wants to find more churches with a willingness to serve. Jefferson was a Southern Baptist missionary to the Quilombola for 16 years. "There are great advantages for African Americans to be involved in missions," Jefferson said. "You have 53 countries in Africa. You have countries of color, like India. You have many other countries that have color, where African Americans would have an advantage to go in and share the Good News of Jesus Christ. "I feel that we as African Americans are like a type of sleeping giant that is awakening. Although there are many good things that are happening through African American churches with missions, there are so many other things that need to take place. We don't have any more excuses." Smith agreed saying, "Our small church gets to do big things because of the way God has built into us through this thing called missions. "All the challenges, the things that people are afraid of … they quickly drop away once you decide to follow God. One of the things I know that people believe would be a hindrance to doing missions is finances, but it has always been our experience that if we put our minds to doing missions, then God always puts the finances in place for everyone who wants to go." Smith's missions vision includes ministering close to home, with North Buffalo Community Church engaging, for example, in outreach to students from different cultures at the University of Buffalo. "We are currently preparing two young men, one going back to Korea, one going back to Thailand," the pastor said. "We are helping them, mentoring them, getting them ready. I'd like to see God do something huge in Thailand because of what Ed is going to do and something huge in South Korea because of what Paul is going to do." North Buffalo's small congregation gave more than $10,000 in 2011 and 2010 to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions and supports year-round missions giving. They want to be an example for other African American churches to give generously, sacrificially and obediently. "I would like to be a part of seeing God start a movement among our churches whereby we would join other ethnic groups … and we would do the work that God would have us to do, so that we could wrap this thing up," Smith said. "He would have given everybody the opportunity to come to faith in Him and then would call us to His Kingdom. Jesus would come, and God would be pleased." --30-- Marie Curtis is an International Mission Board writer/editor. -- End of story -- Hospice chaplain is there when death looms By Mickey Noah Jun. 12 2012 http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=38024 TIFTON, Ga. (BP) -- Behind the wheel of his red Ford pickup truck, Danny Ray drives a nine-county circuit -- always trailing terminal illness, inevitable death and heartache. Ray's ministry as a hospice chaplain is not one for the faint of heart or the weak of spirit. Ray is one of 3,650 chaplains endorsed by the North American Mission Board. While some 1,500 of them serve in the U.S. military around the world, NAMB has more than 70 kinds of chaplains also serving in prisons, law enforcement, corporations and, in the case of Ray, healthcare. But other than military chaplains on the battlefields who encounter death and horrific injuries on a daily basis, no chaplain looks death in the face more often than a hospice chaplain. Keith Travis, NAMB's team leader for chaplaincy in Alpharetta, Ga., calls Ray one of "our top guys" in the field of hospice chaplaincy. Ray has served as the hospice chaplain for Hospice of Tift Area, a service of Tift Regional Medical Center in Tifton, since 2007. Happy as a local Southern Baptist pastor since 1984, he had no desire to leave his congregation and turned down the regional medical center's offer three times before finally accepting it. Ray has conducted more than 120 funerals in south Georgia since becoming a hospice chaplain. A hospice case can range from just a few weeks to six months or even longer. Under law, official hospice care is for patients whose life expectancy is six months or less. Once a patient is referred to Hospice of Tifton Area, a hospice nurse does an initial spiritual assessment. After this screening, the patient can give approval for Ray to begin visits; choose to use their own clergy or abstain from any spiritual-related contacts at all. The last option, Ray said, is rare. "If they choose to let me come in, I do a more thorough assessment and begin building a relationship with the patient and family," he said. "It's heart-wrenching and sad. It's very challenging when you build a relationship with them and then every time you visit, you see them decline. At first, the decline may be slight, but then it comes quicker. You really have to rely on the strength of the Lord to get you through it." Ray said one thing the hospice team -- whether the chaplain, the nurse, nurse's aide or the social worker -- is taught early on is to "empathize more than sympathize" to prevent getting too close to the patient, which would result in their own depression and grief when the patient dies. But Ray said it's not unusual for the entire hospice team to weep over patients during their daily morning staff meetings. "For me to have the compassion I need to minister to these people, I try to put myself where they are," Ray said. "I've laughed with them, cried with them, loved them and shared with them. Many times I've walked into their homes to minister to them and instead, I leave their homes ministered to." Serving a nine-county area can be daunting in itself, but Ray said he has a rule of thumb to try to visit each hospice patient every other week. "Sometimes I visit weekly, and as they approach death I, of course, try to visit more often." Since death is no respecter of denomination or religion, Ray ministers to faiths and denominations other than Southern Baptists. "I get involved with any patient who will allow me in, whether they're Methodist, Presbyterian, Catholic or Jew," Ray said. "I ministered to a Catholic gentleman who wanted me to come and pray with him, and I did until he died." Ray, a white-haired, 56-year-old chaplain with a heavy south-Georgia accent, ministers to old and young alike. Some of his patients have enjoyed long lives into their 80s and 90s. Yet others are children who won't live to see the first grade. Those cases are Ray's toughest -- so tough it takes all of the chaplain's faith just to get through it. "I once had a 5-year-old girl whose body uncontrollably produced tumors throughout her whole body," Ray said. "It really took a toll on me. After she died, I found myself driving out into a field, sitting on the tailgate of my truck and asking God, 'What are You doing? I don't understand.' "The Holy Spirit then spoke to my heart and said, 'You see her todays but I see her tomorrows. I've taken care of her.'" Ray said hospice chaplaincy has taught him a thing or two about family members and churches. For the survivors, there's grief, guilt, unspeakable loneliness and even anger. Ray said even after his patient dies, he works closely with a bereavement counselor to continue to offer the family spiritual support and help them cope during the grieving process -- as long as 13 months after their loss. "One thing I've learned is no matter how death may come and no matter how people can work themselves into feeling like they're ready to see their loved ones go, they never are," Ray said. "It still hits them hard." --30-- Mickey Noah writes for the North American Mission Board. -- End of story -- 'Sinner's Prayer' among proposed resolutions By Erin Roach Jun. 12 2012 http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=38021 UPDATED 6/14/12, 9:30 a.m. See section on proposed resolution about Mormonism. NEW ORLEANS (BP) -- The Sinner's Prayer, same-sex marriage and civil rights, and "racist statements" in Mormon documents are among the topics being discussed in various media about resolutions that pastors state they submitted for the Southern Baptist Convention's Resolution Committee to consider in preparation for the June 19-20 annual meeting in New Orleans. Five proposals have been publicized and posted through three media outlets -- The Christian Index provided coverage for Eric Hankins' "A Sinner's Prayer" on May 31; the Florida Baptist Witness carried a news story April 30 on Chris Roberts' "Resolution on a Spirit of Cooperation in Missions and Evangelism Despite Theological Differences" and a blog site, SBC Voices ([URL=http://www.sbcvoices.com]www.sbcvoices.com[/URL]), posted three proposed resolutions by Dwight McKissic, one of which was co-authored by Eric Redmond. Roger S. Oldham, vice president for convention communications and relations with the SBC Executive Committee, differentiated resolutions that will be proposed by the Resolutions Committee at the annual meeting from those released to the public by their respective writers. "No resolution submitted to the Resolutions Committee has 'standing' with the convention until it is first considered and then introduced by the committee to the messengers at the SBC annual meeting's Wednesday morning session. There is no certainty that any proposal, even those being discussed in the media prior to the annual meeting, will be brought forward by the committee." According to SBC Bylaw 20, the Committee on Resolutions "shall prepare and submit to each annual meeting of the Convention only such resolutions the Committee recommends for adoption." It also states, "Only resolutions recommended by the Committee may be considered by the Convention, except the Convention may, by a 2/3 vote, consider any other resolution properly submitted to the Committee." A proposal titled "On the 'Sinner's Prayer'" by Eric Hankins, pastor of First Baptist Church in Oxford, Miss., was publicized by The Christian Index in Georgia. Hankins notes there is "no one uniform wording found in Scripture or in the churches for a 'Sinner's Prayer,' the prayer of repentance and faith," yet it is "biblically appropriate to help a sinner in calling on the Lord for salvation." A sinner's prayer, Hankins states, "is not an incantation that results in salvation merely by its recitation and should never be manipulatively employed or utilized apart from a clear articulation of the Gospel." Hankins would have the convention go on record affirming the use of a sinner's prayer as a "biblically sound and spiritually significant component of the evangelistic task of the church." In an article posted May 31, Gerald Harris, editor of The Index, quoted David Platt, pastor of The Church at Brook Hills in Birmingham, Ala., as saying at a recent conference, "Many people in our churches are simply missing the life of Christ, and a lot of it has to do with what we have sold them as the Gospel. [For example], 'Pray this prayer, accept Jesus into your heart, invite Christ into your life.' Should it not concern us that there is no such superstitious prayer in the New Testament?" Platt, in comments to Baptist Press, said, "Any cautions I have expressed about what many have called the 'Sinner's Prayer' … are deeply motivated by a concern for authentic conversion and regenerate church membership -- convictions that are central tenets of Baptist theology. ... Do I believe it is 'wrong' for someone to pray a 'prayer of salvation'? Certainly not. Calling out to God in prayer with repentant faith is fundamental to being saved (Romans 10:9-10)." God desires "all people's salvation (2 Peter 3:9)," Platt told BP. But he is concerned about a relatively large number of people in churches who "thought they were saved because they prayed a certain prayer, but they lacked a biblical understanding of salvation and were in reality not saved." "This ... leads me to urge us, as we go to all people among all nations with the good news of God's love, to be both evangelistically zealous and biblically clear at the same time (Matthew 28:18-20)," Platt said. Other potential resolutions circulating in Baptist papers and other media include: -- A "Resolution on a Spirit of Cooperation in Missions and Evangelism Despite Theological Differences" by Chris Roberts, pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church in Panama City, Fla. Noting that the nation and world "continue in a state of moral and spiritual crisis," Roberts celebrates Southern Baptists' cooperation in the work of missions. If Roberts' submitted resolution is brought forward to messengers in its current form, it would affirm "the right and responsibility of individuals to read and seek to understand their Bibles" and affirms that the convention "cannot dictate what churches must teach and believe." The proposal affirms the autonomy of local congregations to hold "confessions of faith which may address matters not contained in, yet consistent with, the Baptist Faith and Message." Roberts told the Florida Baptist Witness the goal of the proposed resolution is to "reduce some of the tension that currently exists" in the SBC, and he acknowledged that Calvinism is the "primary issue behind" the resolution. "The resolution would help accomplish this goal by providing a public declaration that Southern Baptists will cooperate with other Southern Baptists even if we do not see eye-to-eye on all matters of theology," Roberts said. The Witness described Roberts as a Calvinist who pastors a predominantly non-Calvinist church. The church affirmed the statement submitted as a resolution. "It is my hope and prayer that the Southern Baptist Convention continues to leave Calvinism as a matter of conscience, where fully cooperating Southern Baptists are free to be Calvinists or non-Calvinists," Roberts told the Witness. -- A "Resolution on Same-Sex Marriage and Civil Rights," jointly written by Dwight McKissic, pastor of Cornerstone Baptist Church in Arlington, Texas, and Eric Redmond, pastor of Reformation Alive Baptist Church in Temple Hills, Md., was posted at the SBC Voices blog site. The authors acknowledge that marriage "is an institution established by God rather than simply a human social construction" and that "homosexual behavior is sinful, including what this current age calls 'same-sex civil unions' and 'same-sex marriage.'" They also note that "support of same-sex civil unions has been portrayed as a Civil Rights issue akin to the overturning of slavery and security of equal treatment under the law of African Americans." The resolution, if brought to the messengers in its current form, would have Southern Baptists "reject the notion that race, as a by-product of birth given by the Creator's design, and gender-orientation, as a behavioral choice made by individual persons, are to be compared as equal social issues, or that acceptance of the equality of races necessitates the equality of sexual preferences." -- In a second proposal posted on the site by McKissic, "Resolution on Racist Statements in Mormon Source Documents," McKissic says the Mormon Church has "denied and denounced racism" but has "yet to denounce the racist teachings" contained in books they hold as authoritative. McKissic specifically mentioned The Book of Mormon and Pearl of Great Price. Baptist Press asked Tal Davis, a former interfaith witness consultant with the North American Mission Board and now executive vice president of MarketFaith Ministries (http://www.marketfaith.org) of Tallahassee, Fla., for comment. "It is certainly true that the extra-biblical scriptures of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) contain divine curses as indicated by dark skin," Davis stated. "It is also clear that evangelicals reject the historicity and authority of those extra-biblical sources. That being said, in LDS ecclesiology any revelation(s) received by the church's living prophet (president) supersedes anything in their scriptures. In 1978 then-LDS President Spencer Kimball supposedly was told by God that the curses were no longer in effect and that 'all worthy male members of the Church may be ordained to the priesthood without regard for race or color.' I fear the proposed resolution will be perceived as casting undeserved aspersions on LDS members and hinder Baptists reaching Mormons with the true Gospel." (EDITOR’S NOTE, 6/14/12: Since the publication of this article, McKissic has voiced disagreement with Davis’ characterization of Kimball’s revelation. McKissic, in a statement to Baptist Press, said Kimball never disavowed the curses when he opened the Mormon priesthood to men of all races. McKissic relayed a link to Kimball’s pronouncement, http://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/od/2?lang=eng, and to a Mormon writer’s assessment of the lingering effect of the curses, http://askmormongirl.wordpress.com/2011/11/07/what-do-mormons-believe-about-african-americans/. Davis believes, however, his statement is correct, noting to Baptist Press, “In my opinion the LDS [Mormon church], since 1978, considers the case closed and rejects racism.” Davis was a guest on Ed Stetzer’s weekly webcast “The Exchange” in late May. The program, titled “Engaging Mormonism,” can be accessed at http://www.edstetzer.com/the-exchange.html. Stetzer is president of the LifeWay Research division of LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention.) -- In a third proposal from McKissic, "Resolution on the Recognition of Black Minister, George Liele, as America's First Missionary," he challenges the familiar accounts of Adoniram and Ann Judson being the first American missionaries. Liele, an African American, left the United States to start a church in Jamaica 30 years before the Judsons left for Burma. Liele, according to McKissic, "became the first Black Baptist in America" and "became the first Protestant missionary to go out from America to establish a foreign mission." Resolutions Committee members, in their organizational meeting in early May, agreed not to discuss the subject or substance of any submitted resolution until they had opportunity to review it together and determine whether to present it to the SBC annual meeting in its submitted or an amended form. The committee does not release advance copies or comment on the proposals until it brings its report to the messengers. Bylaw 20 stipulates that proposed resolutions must be submitted no later than 15 days prior to the SBC annual meeting, and any submitted resolution must be accompanied by a letter from a church qualified to send a messenger to the SBC annual meeting "certifying that the person submitting the resolution is a member in good standing." The titles of all properly submitted proposed resolutions, including the name and city of the person submitting it and the disposition of each submission will be printed in the Convention Bulletin. SBC President Bryant Wright named Jimmy Scroggins, pastor of First Baptist Church in West Palm Beach, Fla., as chairman of the 10-member Resolutions Committee, which will deliberate in the days immediately prior to the June 19-20 annual meeting. --30-- Erin Roach is assistant editor of Baptist Press. Get Baptist Press headlines and breaking news on Twitter (@BaptistPress), Facebook (Facebook.com/BaptistPress) and in your email (baptistpress.com/SubscribeBP.asp). -- End of story -- Adoption is topic of SBC panel discussion By Adam Miller Jun. 12 2012 http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=38025 NEW ORLEANS (BP) -- The North American Mission Board's LoveLoud initiative and Together for Adoption will host a four-person breakfast panel discussion at the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting addressing Southern Baptist involvement in adoption and orphan care. The panel discussion will take place Wednesday, June 20, at 7 a.m. CDT. [IMGONLY=32275@right@200]Moderated by Matt Capps, associate pastor at Calvary Baptist Church in Winston-Salem, N.C., panelists will include Russell Moore, senior vice president for academic administration at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and preaching pastor at Highview Baptist Church in Louisville, Ky.; Johnny Carr, director of church partnerships for Bethany Christian Services; Tony Merida, lead pastor of Imago Dei Church, Raleigh, N.C., and associate professor of preaching at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C.; and David Platt, lead pastor of the Church at Brook Hills in Birmingham, Ala. Panelists will address the theological foundation and biblical practice of adoption and orphan care, and discuss how the Southern Baptist Convention can shape the Christian church worldwide. "Adoption is a broad movement in Christianity, but something happens when you gather as a tribe and talk about how to do this together," Capps said. NAMB's LoveLoud ministry seeks to assist and equip Southern Baptists in ministry evangelism initiatives, including adoption and orphan care. Together for Adoption seeks to strengthen churches' theological and practical understanding of adoption as a biblical model of God's love and as a biblical mandate for the church. "We may not be able to eradicate the problem," Capps said. "But the convention has an army of churches who can really have a major influence." --30-- Adam Miller is a writer for the North American Mission Board. -- End of story -- FROM THE STATES: N.C., Ky., Ala. evangelism/missions news By Staff Jun. 12 2012 http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=38026 EDITOR'S NOTE: From the States, published each Tuesday by Baptist Press, relays news and feature stories from state Baptist papers and other publications on initiatives by Baptist churches, associations and state conventions in evangelism, church planting and Great Commission outreach, including partnership missions. Reports about churches, associations and state conventions responding to the International Mission Board's call to embrace the world's 3,800 unengaged, unreached people groups also are included in From the States, along with reports about church, associational and state convention initiatives in conjunction with the North American Mission Board's call to Southern Baptist churches to broaden their efforts in starting new churches and satellite campuses. The items appear in Baptist Press as originally published. *FROM THE STATES will not appear in Baptist Press June 19. It will resume June 26. Today's From the States features items from: Biblical Recorder (North Carolina) Western Recorder (Kentucky) The Alabama Baptist N.C. churches, associations ready to partner long-term in Toronto By Melissa Lilley TORONTO (Biblical Recorder) -- One year after launching a partnership in Toronto, North Carolina Baptists are responding to the need to come alongside church planters and engage in long-term partnerships. Yet, with a population less than 2.5 percent evangelical and only 40 Southern Baptist churches serving 5.5 million people, a lot more help is needed. Through its Office of Great Commission Partnerships, the Baptist State Convention of N.C. (BSC) partnership with the Canadian National Baptist Convention (CNBC) is focused specifically on the Greater Toronto Area. The partnership encourages N.C. Baptist churches to plant a church in Toronto or to join groups of N.C. churches in partnering with a specific Toronto church plant. Dan Collison, director of Toronto Church Planting and southern Ontario lead church planting catalyst for CNBC and the North American Mission Board, has learned that building relationships and serving the community are the best ways to create opportunities to share the gospel. "Canada has always been secular. No one gives a second thought to what the church may say about a particular topic or issue," he said. "This forces us to begin understanding, on a much deeper level, how to be people of faith and how we communicate the gospel. You develop a stronger, practical understanding of how the church represents the gospel to the community." Effective partners Toronto church planters need partner churches in order to serve their community and reach people for Jesus Christ. However, Collison urged potential partners to remember that church planting in Canada can be very different than in the United States. "In Canada, it usually takes 8-10 years for a church plant to become fairly self-sustaining," he said. "The American statistic is 3-5 years, at most." This reality makes long-term partnerships all the more critical. If churches pull out too soon, after a couple of years, they leave the planter just as he really begins to hit his stride. Collison said an effective mission team moves a church plant forward three to six months down the road. "An effective mission team is a team that comes back," he said. "When mission teams come to a location only once, they drain more energy out of the field than they contribute." The second year a team comes they help push momentum forward, by the third year things are falling into place, and after that "it's friends helping more than a project being accomplished," Collison said. Churches are encouraged to help the church plant until it has planted a church of its own. Effective mission teams are also teams that serve with the right "posture." "They come and fit themselves into the strategy of the church planter," Collison said. Hometown ministry Jason McGibbon is a Toronto church planter ready to partner with North Carolina churches. McGibbon grew up in Hamilton, near the western end of the Niagara Peninsula and Lake Ontario, and for the past year has been working with The Hamilton Fellowship's church plant. About a quarter of the 550,000 people in Hamilton live below the poverty line. Hamilton includes many refugees and Muslim residents. Although once a "blue collar" town centered on steel mills, Hamilton now has a growing arts community and many young families and new residents. Before serving as church planters in Hamilton, the McGibbons attended The Sanctuary Church in Oakville, which is about 30 minutes north of Hamilton. When The Sanctuary decided to plant a church in Milton, the McGibbons went to Milton to help with the plant. And when that congregation knew God was leading them to plant a church, McGibbon knew God was calling him to be the church planter. "We heard God clearly say, 'Who are you waiting for? If you're going to be a church that plants churches, what are you waiting for?'" About 12-16 people meet in McGibbon's home every Tuesday. He is praying for more house fellowships to be established and for the church to love its community and engage it with the gospel. McGibbon knows church planting requires sacrifice. "Our sending church could have used a children's minister five years ago. They gave up paychecks to keep church planting going," he said. Now is the time Just as McGibbon answered God's call to go, so are churches from Rowan Association. Director of Missions Ken Clark went to Toronto last year and again this year to learn how to help involve his association in Toronto church planting. "Our plan as an association is to become a global impact network. We want to get to the point where we will have teams come up at least quarterly, so we have a constant presence there," Clark said. "If I can help tie smaller churches with larger churches, they can make an impact as well. The excitement will then spread." Through the Office of Great Commission Partnerships, global impact networks are being established across N.C. A local church or association that serves as a global impact network serves as a missional center, helping connect other local churches and associations with partnering churches. Three churches in Rowan are already committed to partnering in Toronto with Scott Rourk and Rendezvous Church. Rourk is on his third church plant in Toronto, all in very different and diverse settings. The Rendezvous church plant in midtown, in the Forest Hill neighborhood, is an area with affluent, working professionals who are mostly unchurched. The Rendezvous plant in the Parkdale neighborhood, however, will reach mostly immigrants of various religious backgrounds. "Our goal as a church plant is not just to plant a church, but to reach a city. Our hope is to plant 10 Rendezvous churches within the next 10-15 years in Toronto. In order for us to do that we need church planters for each and every one of those church plants," Rourk said. Clark is praying for partnerships to also lead to revitalization among North Carolina churches. "I have a lot of churches that think they are missional because they give to the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering, and the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering, and support the Cooperative Program, and have a missions speaker. But they are not living missionally," he said. "I'm hoping they will see the difference between talking about missions and giving to missions, and committing themselves physically to doing missions," Clark said. "And I hope that will make a difference in their own personal lives with Christ. "We've got to get beyond waiting on someone else to do it. If God has impressed on you to do it, there's no reason to sit back." To learn more about opportunities in Toronto, visit www.ncbaptist.org/toronto, necpcoalition.com or contact Michael Sowers: (800) 395-5102 ext. 5654, msowers@ncbaptist.org. --30-- Melissa Lilley is the research/communications coordinator for the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina. ********** Church plants focus on military, Fort Campbell By Kristie Randolph OAK GROVE, Ky. (Western Recorder) -- At first glance, rural Oak Grove with its estimated 9,000 residents would not be a likely spot to start 10 new churches. Actually, it couldn't be better. Todd Gray, pastor of First Baptist Church of Oak Grove, believes the Kentucky town is ideal for one important reason—it is home to Fort Campbell. With more than 30,000 soldiers, it is one of the United States Army's largest installations. Gray is partnering with the Kentucky Baptist Convention and Christian County Baptist Association to start 10 new churches to reach the transient and largely unchurched soldiers of Fort Campbell, and their families, with the hope of the gospel. "Ten churches trying to reach soldiers would make a big impact. There is a real need," Gray said. "We know we're supposed to do this and the Lord just has to lead." Gray did not feel specifically called to military ministry when he became pastor of First Baptist, but he quickly understood the great spiritual need. For the past 10 years he has led the church to maintain a strong military ministry. "First Baptist is very evangelistic. We reach a lot of people, and most of them are military," he said. With an average Sunday attendance of 375, at least half of those attending are on active duty, and many others are retired from the military. Yet Gray knew the church could not accomplish the work alone and began pursuing partnerships among more local congregations eager to reach the Fort Campbell community. Gray sought feedback and found affirmation from ministry partners locally and at the state level. Last December, Gray led the way in establishing the Oak Grove Church Planting Fellowship, an independent organization that is working to identify and support church planters called to the task. Under the leadership of Larry Baker, the KBC's missions growth team leader, the convention is supporting the church planting fellowship through a formal covenant agreement that extends through 2020. According to Baker, the KBC is providing some financial resources for the effort and is prepared to assist in the selection and training of the new planters. "The military is a significant people group in Kentucky, and they have a very unique culture that needs to be understood," Baker said. "New churches and church planters that understand this culture are much more likely to penetrate the spiritual darkness among the military. "This type of ministry can be a strategic avenue for trained disciples to be missionaries throughout the world," he added. Southern Baptist Chaplain Jared Vineyard agreed that more churches are needed to reach the Fort Campbell community. "It is a wide-open mission field. The harvest is here, but the workers are few," Vineyard said. "There are just not enough churches here. Even if all 10 churches start and do well, that still wouldn't be enough." Vineyard described the spiritual climate at Fort Campbell as "a pretty dark environment, but pretty fertile ground as well." While deployed with his battalion to Afghanistan from August 2010 to August 2011, Vineyard saw 28 soldiers come to Christ. "A lot of times with deployments, you see guys start to question, 'What is the meaning of life?' For the most part, there is a fog in their minds on what life is about," he said, noting the high numbers of soldiers struggling with depression and thoughts of suicide. Just as military chaplains are uniquely positioned to minister in these situations, Vineyard said he believes local churches play an equally critical role. "A church has the unique capacity to help because they are putting love in action," he said. "I try to partner with local churches as much as I can. Churches off-post are going to touch people that we might not touch on-post. It's an inside-outside partnership." One important way local churches can impact the military is by supporting families of soldiers, especially during deployments. "Obviously Christ is their main anchor, but that local church can be such an anchor for soldiers who are gone," he said. David Coram, pastor of Living Waters Fellowship in Oak Grove, knows what it's like to be on both sides of military ministry. A retired Army chaplain, Coram felt led to plant the Kentucky Baptist church in order to reach those stationed at Fort Campbell. "I would drive through the community and weep because I saw such a need," he said. Like Gray, Coram pursued local and state partnerships as his vision was forming. In addition to participating in the KBC's Basic Training Journey for Church Planting, Coram was able to apply for funding grants through the KBC. Since it first launched in 2004, Coram estimated that Living Waters Fellowship has "directly reached somewhere around 1,000 people, and indirectly reached more than 8,000 others." Last year alone, Coram had the privilege of baptizing more than 20 people. "For a church running 70 people, that's pretty significant," he said. "Everything we do is related to evangelism or discipleship. We don't see ourselves as ever being a megachurch. "The challenge we have here is that our community is a very transient community," Coram added. "We know we have a limited amount of time to get people into the church, get them involved and prepare them to be a witness when they are gone." --30— This article first appeared in the Western Recorder (www.westernrecorder.org), newsjournal of the Kentucky Baptist Convention. ********** Alabama Baptists minister to race fans in Talladega By Brian Harris TALLADEGA, Ala. (The Alabama Baptist) -- Twice a year a pilgrimage begins for many throughout the Southeast. People pack up their belongings and relocate to Talladega Superspeedway in east central Alabama. Approximately 108,500 fans of drivers like Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon and Carl Edwards live in tents, recreational vehicles or commute in over the three-day event making the area the fifth largest in the state. They proudly wear attire that proclaims their allegiance to their driver of choice and yell loudly their disdain or approval for the other drivers. To say they are passionate is an understatement. As fans drive into Talladega they can't help but see Frank Nelson and a large group of volunteers from North Highlands Baptist Church, Hueytown, manning the tents set up along the entrance to the speedway. They hand out free coffee, water and a race schedule with information printed on the back about what it means to be a Christian. Dawn Welliver, a race fan from Orlando, Fla., stopped by the area asking for information about the next day's race and landed in a 10-minute conversation sharing about herself, her life and her walk with Christ. Welliver thanked the volunteers for their work as she headed on to her destination. It was quite possible Welliver happened upon more volunteers from Alabama Baptist churches because several were present around the speedway grounds as part of Alabama Raceway Ministries (ARM) — just like North Highlands Baptist. ARM was formed in 1982 by Frank and Betty Stark, raceway ministries pioneers from Missouri, in order to reach out to fans that gather at Talladega. The ministry has grown to eight ministry locations around the speedway grounds. All sites are sponsored by Alabama Baptist associations and churches. Each site has a unique purpose and vision as to how they minister to the race fans, but all work to serve as the hands and feet of Christ as they do so. Each site also has a volunteer-led worship service for race fans on Sunday morning at 9 a.m. The sites are Commuter Site, sponsored by North Highlands Baptist; Champions Corner, sponsored by churches from Southeast Alabama; Family Campground, sponsored by Columbia Baptist Association and churches; Infield, sponsored by Morgan and Russell Baptist associations and churches; West Park C, sponsored by St. Clair Association and churches; North Park, sponsored by Birmingham and Calhoun Baptist associations and churches; C & C Campground, sponsored by Coosa River Baptist Association and churches; Dove Ridge Campground, sponsored by First Baptist Church, Montgomery. At Champions Corner Campground, Allen Singley, youth pastor at Grandview Baptist Church, Dothan, shared how Alabama Baptists have hosted a site at the unique alcohol-free campground since its opening in 2007. "When it opened, the track actually called Alabama Raceway Ministries director Mike Jackson and asked about a group serving as campground host," he said. "We've been here since the first race this ... campground opened." The ARM volunteers help race fans find where to park their RVs and provide meals. "Any of the campers that want to eat with us do," he said. "A lot of the things we do from parking campers to feeding them is about building relationships. "Race fans are like good Baptists. They find what they like. They like to sit in the same spot. They like to camp in the same campground. So some of them we talk to throughout the year," Singley said. "They send us email and Facebook messages with different things that we can pray about for them." And over the years of this ministry, many people have come to the saving knowledge of Christ. Jackson remembered one incident that made it all real for him. "A few years back I met Jerry in the North Park Campground. It was one of those weeks where it rained constantly and attendance was light at our Sunday morning worship service," Jackson said. "To tell the truth, I was ready to go home. We went into our closing prayer and I bowed my head. When I raised my head standing right in front of me was Jerry. "Despite my attitude and the rain, it was still all about God, not me," he said. "I was able to lead Jerry in the sinner's prayer right there." As the NASCAR sprint cup drivers spend the latter part of Saturday morning qualifying for the race on Sunday, there's a buzz in the infield ministry center. Children and parents are gathered around tables with small pieces of wood, painting them and dressing them up for that evening's "Timothy Cup" races that will take place following the afternoon race. Zach Kendrick, a volunteer with ARM ministry partner Timothy Cup Ministries, said, "We have different things like crafts and a wooden block car that is already ready to go. (In the evening) we are going to have a pine wood derby race. It's an opportunity to bring kids in to our site from inside the infield and have the opportunity to share the gospel." With the recent Talladega race where Brad Keselowski brought home his sixth career cup victory, Kendrick is attending his 22nd Timothy Cup race in a row. "When I first started coming, I didn't know Christ," Kendrick said. "After I gave my life up to Christ as a teenager, I can tell a difference in myself personally. ... I'm not just here for a race. I'm here to share the gospel. "People come in, maybe with a beer in their hand, or whatever. But we don't care," he said. "We want to share the gospel and meet people where they are at, just love on them." Over at West Park C, Bud Jackson, a member of Bethel Baptist Church, Odenville, talked about his motivation to minister to race fans. "We are in a dying and lost world, and I don't want people to spend eternity without Christ." Many ARM volunteers said they believe if Christ was here walking on earth today, this is where He would be — at the racetrack among the fans. --30-- This article first appeared in The Alabama Baptist (www.thealabamabaptist.org), newsjournal of the Alabama Baptist Convention. -- End of story -- FIRST-PERSON: Did Noah's Ark have dinosaurs? By Mark Coppenger Jun. 12 2012 http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=38023 NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP) -- Were there dinosaurs on Noah's Ark? Maybe so. If they were alive on the earth in Noah's day, then they were included in God's directive that Noah bring two of every kind of land animal and bird into the ark (Genesis 6:18-21). But wouldn't that have been impossible, given the dinosaurs' size and temperament? How could massive herbivores like an apatosaurus and savage carnivores like a Tyrannosaurus rex fit onto the boat and behave themselves? Well, first of all, the ark was huge – more than a football field long and approximately 45 yards tall and 75 yards wide. Second, Noah only had to load general kinds of animals, not every species. So, for instance, he didn't have to board a pair of zebras, a pair of Clydesdales, a pair of Lipizzaners, a pair of Thoroughbreds, etc. One set from the horse family would do just fine, and breeds could emerge down the line. Similarly a few dozen dinosaur types, if that many, could cover things. Third, the dinosaurs didn't need to be adults; babies or juveniles could fill the bill. Fourth, if Noah (with God's help) could keep the lions from eating the sheep, the snakes from biting the frogs and the elephants from trampling the mice, then he could keep the dinosaurs under control. So what's the problem? Well, many Christians agree with the majority of scientists that the earth is extremely old (perhaps 4.5 billion years), and that dinosaurs appeared and were long gone by the time man arrived on the scene as God's special creation, Adam and Eve. (This "old-earth creationist" view is presented at reasons.org and answersincreation.org.) "Young-earth creationists" (see icr.org and answersingenesis.org) maintain that dinosaurs were part of God's creation-week work, along with Adam, and that these creatures and man co-existed on earth. Following the various genealogies given in the Bible, from Adam on down, they calculate the age of the earth to be somewhere under 10,000 years. Where you stand on this dispute depends in part upon your view of the behavior of the universe back through the centuries. If you take a "uniformitarian" view, you argue that the patterns we see now (such as radioactive decay or sedimentary rock formation) are reliably constant, and so we can extrapolate from our current experience back through the millennia to make claims about the fossil record, often postulating some form of God-directed evolution. Those who embrace "catastrophism" beg to differ, saying that Noah's flood is a perfect example of how God has engineered great upheavals in the order of things, an event reflected in Psalm 104:5-9. They also say that death and decay -- including the destruction of dinosaurs -- didn't occur until after man sinned (Genesis 3), and that, besides, there may well be references to dinosaurs in the Bible (though the word, "dinosaur" didn't appear until the 19th century). They claim, for instance, that the "behemoth" in Job 40 can't be a hippo or elephant since they don't have tails "like a cedar." And they wonder whether the King James Version's reference to dragons (dinosaurs?) in Deuteronomy 32:33 and Micah 1:8 might be closer to reality that the modern versions, which translate the Hebrew word, "tanniym/tanniyn" as "serpents" and "jackals." Whichever way they go on this, all believers should agree that God is Lord of the universe and that He can form, alter and dispose of it exactly as He pleases. Furthermore, the Bible is God's Word, and whatever position one chooses, it must be consistent with Scripture or be discarded. Not surprisingly, I'm a "young earther," and I don't think it's a trivial matter. However, some fellow evangelicals I highly respect aren't there ... yet. In the meantime, we work together to fulfill the Great Commission, delivered by our Lord in Matthew 28:19-20, and rejoice in the great sweep of Scripture, centered on Christ. --30-- This column first appeared at the blog of Bible Mesh, online at biblemesh.com/blog. Mark Coppenger is director of the Nashville extension center and professor of Christian apologetics at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky. Get Baptist Press headlines and breaking news on Twitter (@BaptistPress), Facebook (Facebook.com/BaptistPress) and in your email (baptistpress.com/SubscribeBP.asp). -- End of story -- Copyright (c) 2013 Southern Baptist Convention, Baptist Press 901 Commerce Street Nashville, TN 37203 Tel: 615.244.2355 Fax: 615.782.8736 email: bpress@sbc.net