Associated Baptist Press - 9/2/2008

Associated Baptist Press
September 2, 2008 · (08-83)

Greg Warner, Executive Editor
Robert Marus, News Editor/Washington Bureau Chief

In this issue
Baptists active in wake of Hurricane Gustav
Believers minister to delegates, law enforcement during DNC
Fuller Seminary professor David Scholer dies at 70
Opinion: A true "Bold Mission Thrust'

Baptists active in wake of Hurricane Gustav
By ABP staff

NEW ORLEANS (ABP) -- Although Hurricane Gustav apparently was much less of a disaster than 2005's Hurricane Katrina, Baptists have mobilized throughout the Gulf Coast region to provide a wide array of disaster-aid services.

From churches hosting evacuees to chainsaw teams and feeding units, disaster-relief teams from Baptist conventions in nearby states were stationed across the area Sept. 2.

Gustav made landfall Sept. 1 between Grand Isle and Houma, La., about 75 miles south of New Orleans, as a Category 2 storm. Both its strength at landfall -- much weaker than the Category 4 Katrina -- and its location helped prevent a repeat of the Katrina disaster, which killed thousands and inundated the Crescent City.

Meteorologists' fears that a much stronger Gustav could have made a far more direct and devastating hit on New Orleans prompted officials to order a massive evacuation of the city and region over the Labor Day weekend.

Now, Baptist disaster-relief workers are preparing both to aid evacuees and to conduct clean-up and reconstruction work.

A Tennessee Baptist feeding unit was dispatched Sept. 1 to Central Hills Royal Ambassador Camp in West, Miss., to await the storm's landfall and further instructions. The unit is comprised of a dozen trucks and trailers, including a wash unit, kitchen support, dry boxes, refrigerated trailers, generators, a security trailer and a skid loader.

Another feeding unit from Shiloh Baptist Association in Adamsville, Tenn., has been set up at Willow Point Baptist Church in Shreveport, La., and is providing meals for a FEMA shelter there. Additional disaster-relief units in Tennessee and other nearby states were on alert, awaiting further instructions.

"It's a hurry-up-and-wait situation," said David Acres, Tennessee Baptist Convention disaster-relief coordinator.

Mickey Caison, disaster-relief director for the Southern Baptist Convention's North American Mission Board, cautioned state disaster-relief directors during a Sept. 1 conference call "that we are not out of the woods yet."

While Hurricane Gustav had weakened into a tropical depression by midday Sept. 2, heavy rains resulting from its remnants could still cause tornadoes and extensive flooding throughout the south-central portion of the United States.

"We are prepared to help in any way that we can," Acres said.

Disaster-aid workers from Texas Baptist Men, meanwhile, were also preparing Sept. 2 for relief work in the region.

The group's Disaster Relief Mobile unit -- an 18-wheel tractor-trailer rig with the greatest capacity for emergency food service -- was located at First Baptist Church in Bryan, Texas, as of Sept. 1.

"It's like we're waiting on the shoe to fall," said Gary Smith, Texas Baptist Men's volunteer disaster-relief coordinator. "We ramped up. We expected a lot of need, but to this point it has not happened -- though a significant rain event still could take place."

In San Antonio, Baptist Child and Family Services was sheltering about 290 evacuees with special needs as of Sept. 1, and that number was expected to rise. The group can shelter as many as 5,000 people with special needs across the state if needed.

Other shelters operated by Baptist Child and Family Services, a Texas Baptist benevolent agency, were located in San Antonio and Tyler, Texas.

"BCFS was given the role of caring for medical special needs evacuees in Texas because of our experience in caring for society's most vulnerable," said Haley Smith, a spokesperson for the organization. "We view this as just another opportunity to impact the world for Christ. We are so thankful for our partner churches who serve as shelters and make it possible for us to take on this role."

The situation was similar in Tennessee, with churches as far away from the disaster zone as Knoxville and Johnson City preparing to operate as evacuee shelters. Bill Shiell, pastor of First Baptist Church in Knoxville, reported Sept. 2 that 93 evacuees had spent the night in his church's facilities the evening before.

In the Nashville area, a feeding unit operated by several churches had set up shop at First Baptist Church of Goodlettsville, preparing more than 1,600 meals daily for evacuees.

The Tennessee and Texas teams are part of a larger effort under the auspices of Southern Baptist Disaster Relief. More than 100 Southern Baptist feeding units have been put on alert to mobilize along the Gulf Coast states in response to Gustav as well as three more tropical systems that will threaten the United States in the near future: tropical storms Hanna, Ike and Josephine.

The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, meanwhile, is gearing up for post-storm reconstruction and recovery work.

A statement posted Sept. 2 on CBF's website said, "Remember that the Fellowship aids in rebuilding efforts following disasters; it is not a first-response or search-and-rescue organization. After the storm, CBF Disaster Response Coordinator Charles Ray and other CBF personnel will assess the needs, determine how the Fellowship can best respond, and communicate those needs to Fellowship Baptists. Response teams will only be sent to the disaster zone when it is deemed safe by state officials."

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-- John Hall of the Baptist General Convention of Texas and Lonnie Wilkey of the Tennessee Baptist and Reflector contributed to this story.


Believers minister to delegates, law enforcement during DNC
By Vicki Brown

DENVER (ABP) -- Baptists were among the many Christian groups who ministered to the delegates, journalists and others who flocked to the Democratic National Convention in Denver Aug. 24-29.

And while the impact of the political event will culminate Nov. 4 with the election of a new president, individuals believe at least one new ministry will continue to have a positive impact on the souls of Denver.

Two Denver-area Southern Baptist congregations, Riverside Baptist Church and Bear Valley Community Church, worked with Denver's Mile High Baptist Association ministering to local, state and federal law-enforcement agents during the event.

And a broad, interdenominational coalition of more than 60 churches -- representing Baptist, Anglican, Nazarene, non-denominational and other congregations -- ministered together through a group calling itself 1ChurchMetroDenver.

Ministry began weeks before politicians took the stage when Denver hosted "We Bow Down," a national prayer conference sponsored by the Southern Baptist Convention and its North American Mission Board. Organizers included specific prayer times for the DNC and included a prayer walk around DNC venues.

Other Christian volunteers held another prayer walk the week following the Aug. 7-9 prayer conference.

The Baptist groups also offered evangelism training for the hundreds of volunteers who served during the event. Because Southern Baptists in Denver planned to work directly with law enforcement in many of their efforts, they coordinated closely with city and state officials in the planning stages.

Because they were working with government entities, they had to keep religious efforts low-key. "We had to stay below the radar," Bob Ryan, the association's director, said. "And we had to make sure everyone was trained."

All volunteers learned about disaster-relief and security efforts in preparation for any potential mishap associated with the convention. Each also was trained to give a two-minute testimony and to use the "Evange-Cube," a seven-panel item that uses pictures to explain the Christian plan of salvation.

Beginning the Saturday before the DNC's official start, Southern Baptists began serving meals and snacks to public-safety officials, including firefighters and Secret Service agents.

On Aug. 23, organizers set up 10 full-service ministry sites and 10 drop-off and pick-up sites for food, water and snacks.

Slightly fewer than 600 volunteers served more than 55,000 meals between Aug. 23 and the end of the convention. All officers of every law enforcement agency assisting with the convention received a hot meal and a cold meal during each of their 12-hour shifts. Volunteers also made snacks, water and Gatorade available.

Organizers estimate four semi-trailer loads of food and three semi-trailer loads of water and Gatorade were used.

"It was an amazing mobilization," Ryan said.

An evangelistic team of 40 volunteers walked through the crowds throughout the event. Organizers had no word by press time for this story Sept. 2 on the number of encounters or decisions made as a result of their efforts.

Organizers hoped and prayed that long-term ministries would develop from the outreach effort. One formed as a result of intelligence law-enforcement agencies gathered while preparing for DNC security.

Open Door Ministries, an urban church, used police information suggesting that several thousand prostitutes would surface in the Mile-High City during the DNC to begin a ministry to those who want a way out of sex businesses.

"We hope this ministry now will be sustainable," Ryan said. "But the association is a resource. We don't do anything unless it is requested by our churches."

Ryan believes the ministry can continue because a local church saw and responded to a need.

1ChurchMetroDenver offered prayer and worship in a park close to the Pepsi Center, where most of the convention's plenary sessions were held. With Micah 6:8 as their theme, volunteers distributed water and sunscreen and provided directions to DNC participants. They also picked up trash and recyclables from around the DNC venues.

"We wanted to be a presence, explained Jude Del Hierro, a 1ChurchMetroDenver organizer. "It was our heart ... that we would reflect the heart of the Father and be in a posture of servanthood."

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Fuller Seminary professor David Scholer dies at 70
By ABP staff

PASADENA, Calif. (ABP) -- David Scholer, noted American Baptist scholar and professor of New Testament at Fuller Theological Seminary, died Aug. 22 after a long struggle with cancer. He was 70.

Scholer was a specialist in several areas of New Testament studies, including Gnosticism and second-century Christianity, but was perhaps best known for his contributions to studies on women in ministry. He taught at the California-based evangelical seminary for 14 years where his course, "Women, the Bible and the Church," was considered a popular elective.

Despite a diagnosis of colo-rectal cancer in 2002, he taught and mentored students until he retired this summer.

"David was a very strong supporter of our American Baptist ministry at Fuller. For several years he has been fighting cancer with a remarkable testimony; never did he allow it to slow him down or diminish the work that God had called him to do," noted David Brown, executive director of the American Baptist Theological Center at Fuller.

"He was deeply loved, deeply respected and will be deeply missed at his home church in Pasadena, at Fuller, in our American Baptist family and in the wider community of faith."

Scholer was ordained into Christian ministry by the American Baptist Churches USA Nov. 27, 1966. He served the denomination in several capacities, including as a member of the ABC-USA General Board from 1989-1992. He was a member of First Baptist Church of Pasadena.

Scholer had published several books on subjects ranging from discipleship to biblical models of women in ministry. He also contributed more than 200 articles and book reviews and a number of edited volumes and publications.

Prior to joining Fuller, Scholer served as professor of New Testament at North Park Theological Seminary, Northern Baptist Theological Seminary and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. He held both bachelor's and master's degrees from Wheaton College, a bachelor of divinity degree from Gordon Divinity School and his doctor of theology degree from Harvard Divinity School.

Scholer is survived by his wife, Jeannette; two children, Abigail Scholer Strazzabosco and Emily Scholer Hernandez; and three grandchildren.

Funeral services were held at First Baptist Church of Pasadena Aug. 30.

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Opinion: A true 'Bold Mission Thrust'
By Beth Newman

(ABP) -- Years ago (more than I like to remember), I did Southern Baptist home-missions work in Paducah, Ky. At the beginning of my sojourn there, I received a small hand mirror, which came in a glossy case embossed with the Baptist motto of the moment -- "BOLD MISSION THRUST." An arrow that bore those words pointed toward the world into which we, as home missionaries, were expected to go and make a difference.

Maybe I did. I do know that the two other interns worked hard that summer among the children of the inner city. But the summer flew by, and soon we'd returned to our regular lives. I remember being too busy to wonder, and soon way led on to way.

But were the lives of those children quantifiably different?

I've been wondering because I've recently been reading some work by Kyle Potter, who observes that today's average American suburbanite needs to feel that his or her work is accomplishing something great, that his or her efforts are making a difference. If this is not the case, Potter writes, these persons become restless -- ready to move on to new ground and new enterprises.

In fact, we see this demand for immediate results in practically every aspect of our lives -- sports, business, entertainment and even various ministries. If it's going to happen, it had better happen now. There are too many other options available to tarry long.

But there are, of course, serious repercussions. I am no economist, but I wonder how much of the current financial crisis is the result of the abandonment of delayed gratification. Why settle for a small "starter house," for instance, when easy credit makes a McMansion immediately available?

It seems paradoxical, but -- while we demand immediate gratification -- we also know in our bones that we cheat ourselves out of something vital by demanding the quick fix. For example, a recent meeting in our community on support for "local food" attracted a standing-room-only crowd. Of course, "local" food has to be waited for. You can't eat it before it's ready and you can't have the same thing year-round. But the time and effort involved does make a difference.

Christian formation is a laborious process involving a lot of hard work and a lot of time. So much of the assumptions and strategies of church starts today don't begin with this idea in place. For example, it is commonplace wisdom that the best way to increase the membership of a denomination is to plant new churches. And I've seen a good bit of statistical evidence to support this.

To the extent that the new-church starts mean going where people are, they are certainly admirable. The danger is that they represent the continual restarting (as opposed to the renewal) of community. Untethered to the past, the new congregation is able to create itself. The temptation is to pursue significance in numbers and in religious experience, rather than obedience and faithfulness over the long haul.

Such faithfulness involves the ability to wait and trust, and even to be willing to suffer. Such virtues cannot be developed in an instant. We may feel that we do not have time -- and perhaps we do not -- but God does have time. God has given us all the time we need to live lives of faithfulness in the places where we are. This is because our time is not simply ours, but the way that God makes us part of what He is doing in the world. Instead of having to look for the quick fix or the better worship experience (e.g., the golden calf) we are freed to trust that God is present and at work where we already are.

Of course, this might be difficult to see. Only after many, many years did the Israelites come to see more fully God's providential calling to them as a people -- and, even then, younger generations easily forgot. One of the many gifts, in fact, that the elderly can give the church is the gift of memory and perspective. They are capable of taking the longer view, of seeing that everything doesn't have to happen right now.

Theologian Ephraim Radner states that one of the most evangelical things that Christians today can do is to remain in the particular churches and communities where they are, even in the midst of brokenness, weakness and unfaithfulness. This is because dwelling in life's contradictions and the brokenness witnesses to the Cross of Christ. Such cruciform witness makes the Body of Christ more visible for the world. This is the kind of BOLD mission that we need today.

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-- Beth Newman is professor of theology and ethics at Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond. bnewman@btsr.edu