Associated Baptist Press - 11/4/2008

Associated Baptist Press
November 4, 2008 · (08-106)

David Wilkinson, Executive Director
Robert Marus, Acting Managing Editor/Washington Bureau Chief
Bob Allen, Senior Writer

In this issue
Baptist leaders from Russia, Georgia seek reconciliation (710 words)
Missouri Baptist Convention again elects 'Save Our Convention' slate (940 words)
Azerbaijani Baptist pastor's trial delayed; attorney cries foul (341 words)
Baptist church in Florida again offends Muslims with message (474 words)
Former Baptist youth minister sentenced for child molesting (411 words)

Baptist leaders from Russia, Georgia seek reconciliation
By Bob Allen (710 words)

KIEV, Ukraine (ABP) -- Baptist leaders from Russia and Georgia met Oct. 30 in Kiev to pursue improved relations between Baptists in the two countries, marred by war earlier this year.

Representatives of the Evangelical Baptist Church of Georgia and Union of Evangelical Christian-Baptists of Russia, gathering in the capital of neighboring Ukraine, issued a joint statement condemning the war. It also called on both sides' governments to seek peaceful resolution of future Russian-Georgian conflicts and asked people of faith to "facilitate the process of forgiveness and reconciliation between our peoples."

In addition, the leaders pledged to continue efforts to build unity between the two nations' Baptist communities despite significant differences.

"We agree to fully recognize each other's churches in their integrity and take bold steps to understand each other and respect each other's experience," the declaration said.

As part of that process, the Baptist leaders pledged to visit each other's countries to "promote friendship and understanding between our peoples" and to engage in theological dialogue between groups "to promote mutual cooperation in the mission of God."

The stated purpose of the meeting was "to sort out our relations between our churches and offer [a] visible symbol of possible reconciliation between our churches, peoples and countries," according to the English version of a Russian Baptist press release.

The participants condemned the war between the two countries as "pointless and brutal" and agreed that issues between Georgia and Russia "should not be solved by military means."

Archbishop Malkhaz Songulashvili and Bishop Merab Gaprindashvili represented the Georgian Baptist union. Representing Russian Baptists were Russian Baptist president Yuri Sipko and Vitaly Vlasenko, the Russian union's head of external church relations. The meeting was facilitated by Gregory Komendant, former president of the European Baptist Federation.

Causes of the August military confrontation -- over control of the breakaway Georgian territories of South Ossetia and Abkhazia -- remain controversial.

Georgia launched a military strike Aug. 7 on Tskhinvali, the South Ossetian capital, aimed at re-asserting control over the territory after 16 years of semi-independence. Russia responded with tanks, ground troops, air strikes and a naval blockade. Russian forces reached deep into undisputed Georgian territory during the conflict.

Georgia says it is being punished for its pro-Western orientation and bid to join NATO. Russia claims to have evidence of ethnic cleansing, and its officials contend Western media unfairly portrayed Russia as the aggressor.

Both Abkhazia and South Ossetia have ethnic Russian majorities, and their citizens are allowed to hold Russian passports. However, international agreements recognize the territories as being part of Georgia.

An Aug. 16 cease-fire agreement halted the violence, but Russia still has not withdrawn forces from all positions they occupied during the conflict.

In August, the Russian Baptist union's Vlasenko acknowledged that friendship between the Baptists of Russia and Georgia had turned cold during the past 15 years. Citing distrust between the neighboring countries that prompted the war, he said Russian Baptists were ready to "extend the hand of friendship to our sisters and brothers in Georgia."

Vlasenko said Nov. 3 that Russian Baptists "are serious and committed in our relationship with Georgian Baptists."

He said the groups have not reached full agreement, but "we are continuing to work on a relationship that goes down deeply." He added, "We are willing to learn more about our differences, and we hope to find unity in our differences."

In addition to political disputes, there are some doctrinal and stylistic differences between the two Baptist groups. Georgian Baptists have adopted many of the trappings of the Georgian Orthodox tradition, including the use of icons and Orthodox-style clergy vestments in worship. That raises eyebrows for many Baptists, especially in Eastern Europe.

The Georgian Baptist group also has a more hierarchical denominational structure than the Russians, distinguishing it from the highly congregational nature of most Baptist organizations.

Vlasenko is part of a delegation of Russian Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant leaders planning to visit Georgia to meet with political and religious leaders before the end of the year.

"Russian churches have been very involved in helping South Ossetia, but we have done very little in Georgia," he said. "It is my hope that not only words, but that also deeds might result from the on-going church dialogue between Russia and Georgia."

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-- Robert Marus contributed to this story.

Missouri Baptist convention again elects 'Save Our Convention' slate
By Bill Webb (940 words)

ST. LOUIS (ABP) -- Messengers to the Missouri Baptist Convention annual meeting Oct. 27-29 once again elected officers sympathetic to a reform movement within the state convention, while hearing a report about he difficult work of an ad hoc "peace committee" formed to broker a truce between warring conservative factions.

In addition, messengers rejected a bid to end a six-year-old lawsuit against five breakaway Missouri Baptist agencies.

For the second year in a row, MBC supporters elected officers identified with the Save Our Convention (SOC) movement that a year ago pitted itself against another conservative group and won.

A motion from the convention floor sought unsuccessfully to bar first vice president Bruce McCoy and second vice president John Marshall -- both elected on the SOC-endorsed ticket a year ago -- from being nominated for higher office.
It was their membership on the peace committee that threatened the nominations of McCoy, pastor of Canaan Baptist Church, St. Louis, and Marshall, pastor of Second Baptist Church, Springfield.

In April, the MBC Executive Board formed the committee. In the last two years, SOC supporters and the Missouri Baptist Laymen's Association (MBLA) have been at odds over several issues, including the influence of the MBLA and its leader, layman Roger Moran, over the convention's work. Between 1997 and 2001 the MBLA, under Moran's leadership, effectively forced moderates out of the Missouri Baptist Convention.

In what he called "background information" prior to the peace committee's opening-session report, chair Jeff Purvis, pastor of First Baptist Church of Herculaneum-Peveley, told messengers that it was his opinion that nominating committee members to convention office could undermine the peace process.

McCoy, Marshall and Wesley Hammond, pastor of First Baptist Church of Paris, represent SOC on the committee. The Laymen's Association is represented by Purvis, Moran and retired pastor Jay Scribner.

Purvis' remarks set the stage for a motion by messenger Jim Wilson of First Baptist Church of Seneca that "the MBC instruct all members of the peace committee to not allow their names to be put in nomination for the officers of our convention."

An amendment that would have enabled the matter to be considered prior to the convention's presidential election received a simple majority, 494 to 463, but failed to gain the two-thirds vote necessary for passage.

McCoy was elected president 404-387 over Danny Decker, pastor at First Baptist Church of Warsaw, in a runoff. Marshall was elected first vice president 426-219 over Ron Crow of First Baptist Church, Diamond.

Former MBC president Mitch Jackson, also sympathetic with SOC, was elected second vice president 275-239 in a runoff with Jody Shelenhamer of First Baptist Church, Bolivar. Music evangelist Jamie Hitt of First Baptist Church, Winfield, was elected recording secretary 217-190 over Ken Parker, pastor of First Baptist Church in Kearney, also in a runoff.

The peace committee's official report to the convention suggested progress, but acknowledged that the committee had reached an impasse. Committee members said they would invite a Christian arbitration group to mediate their discussions -- even though the committee, when beginning its work, had initially decided against such mediation.

Among the report's other conclusions:

1. That former MBC executive director David Clippard and other MBC leaders pitted Executive Board members and key MBC leaders against each other. The board fired Clippard last year. The committee found that public charges of power-brokering and legalism directed at MBLA leaders were "baseless," Purvis said, prompting the entire committee to apologize to Moran.

2. An MBC Executive Board committee named to investigate Clippard handled its task properly, working within the framework of the MBC structure and within legal parameters.

3. "At all levels in Missouri Baptist life, we did not live by the Matthew 18 principle and did not go to persons directly with which we might have had an issue."

4. Because of the lack of trust, "a multi-layered and multi-leveled series of events, meetings, letters, e-mails, resolutions, etc." was set in motion, perpetuating division.

In other actions, messengers rejected a motion to drop the lawsuit and approved four resolutions.

Two messengers -- Steven Mosely of Maplewood Baptist Church in St. Louis and Robert Hutchinson of Faith Baptist Church in Harrisonville -- brought motions calling for dismissal of lawsuits against the Baptist Home retirement-home system, Missouri Baptist Foundation, Missouri Baptist University, Windermere Baptist Conference Center and Word & Way. The Baptist Home changed its articles of incorporation in 2000 to elect its own trustees. The other four agencies followed suit in 2001.

The motion failed overwhelmingly on a show-of-ballots vote, but not before a round of spirited discussion. "I've tried to bring an end to what I believe is an unbiblical course," Mosely said.

"It's time that we think about the importance of Scripture for this issue," he added, noting that countless dollars have been spent in costs of litigation.

Purvis responded that the convention had tried to resolve the issue short of litigation but the entities refused. Citing guidelines in Matthew 18 to take a grievance directly to a fellow believer, Purvis said, "The Bible also says, when that does not take place, treat them as unbelievers."

Hutchinson acknowledged that the motion had little chance of passage.

"Messengers, we have a choice. Brother Randy Comer [chair of the convention's legal task force] made the appeal, go back to your church and pray for the lawsuit and ask your church to support the lawsuit. This is the noble and heroic work of God we are called to support?

The approved resolutions encouraged Christian citizenship, environmental stewardship and the work of the peace committee, as well as a resolution expressing appreciation to those who made the annual meeting possible.

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Azerbaijani Baptist pastor's trial delayed; attorney cries foul
By Bob Allen (341 words)

(ABP) -- The long-awaited trial of an Azerbaijani Baptist pastor arrested in June has had another delay.

Hamid Shabanov, 52, was supposed to stand trial Oct. 31 on what supporters say are bogus weapons charges. But his family and lawyer told the Norway-based Christian news service Forum 18 Nov. 3 that the trial date was pushed back until Nov. 5. The delay, they said, was the result of prosecutors refusing to hand over documents to the defense until Oct. 31.

Shabanov's attorney, Mirman Aliev, accused prosecutors of intentionally dragging their feet to delay the trial. He said it would take him 10 hours by public transportation to make the trip from Baku, the Azerbaijani capital, to the northern city of Zakatala for the Nov. 5 trial date.

Police arrested Shabanov June 20 in a raid of his home in the remote northern village of Aliabad, near Azerbaijan's border with Georgia. He has been held in jail ever since. He is accused of illegal possession of a firearm, a crime punishable by up to three years. His supporters say he did not own a gun and accuse authorities of planting the weapon to frame him.

The arrest is part of what religious-freedom observers have alleged is a systematic government attempt to intimidate religious minorities like Protestant Christians, Sunni Muslims and Jehovah's Witnesses. Another Baptist pastor, Zauer Balaev, was set free in March after being imprisoned on what supporters claimed were trumped-up assault charges.

Authorities set Balaev free after a worldwide campaign for his release that included leaders of the Baptist World Alliance and former President Jimmy Carter.

Shabanov's town, Aliabad, has about 10,000 residents and is near Zakatala. It is made up almost entirely made up of members of the Ingilo minority, ethnic Georgians who were converted to Islam from Orthodox Christianity several centuries ago.

While Azerbaijan's constitution provides that persons of all faiths may choose and practice their religion without restriction, the latest United States State Department report on international religious freedom found "sporadic violations of religious freedom by some officials."

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Baptist church in Florida again offends Muslims with message
By Bob Allen (474 words)

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (ABP) -- A Baptist church in Florida is once again creating tension with its Muslim neighbors over a marquee message.

A sign posted outside First Conservative Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Fla., reads, "God loves you, Allah hates."

A local television station interviewed a Muslim woman who said she took offense. "What have I done?" asked the woman, who is not identified. "What have I done to deserve that kind of hatred in my neighborhood?"

She said she was driving by the church with her children when the sign caught her attention. "The thing that bothers me so much is that this is in my neighborhood, where I live with my children," she said. "To know that people that feel this way are in my neighborhood is scary."

It isn't the first time the independent Baptist church has grabbed attention with its marquee, which is updated regularly to confront passersby with messages about doctrinal, social or world-religion issues.

"We find it an integral part of communicating the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ," Pastor Gene Youngblood says on a website, Truthsthatfree.com.

In 2005 the church made news by posting a sign that read "Islam is evil and believes in murder, Surah 9-29" contrasted with, "Jesus teaches peace, Matt. 5-9."

In 2003 local Muslims were upset when the church sign read "Jesus forbade murder Matthew 26-52 Muhammad approved murder Surah 8-65."

Youngblood says on his website that he loves Muslims and would like to see many of them accept Christ, but the sign's purpose is to warn people of "false teachers" and "untruth from theologically unsound doctrine."

Since displaying the sign, he said, the church has received threats and vandalism but added, "We stand firmly on our First Amendment right: The freedom of speech is fundamental to American liberty."

Fawad Mansoori, president of the Jacksonville chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said Muslims also cherish the idea of free speech, but signs like this misrepresent facts and demonize fellow Americans.

"At times like these we as Americans must come together to solve our common problems -- from a faltering economy to a dying planet," Mansoori said. "Religious institutions should take extra measures to bring people together by emphasizing the fact that what we have in common is far more important and meaningful than what divides us."

Mansoori said all three Abrahamic faiths believe in one true deity, and that "God" and "Allah" refer to the same being. "The 'Elohim' of the [Hebrew] Bible is linguistically the same as 'Allah,'" he said. "In fact Arabic-speaking Christians refer to God as 'Allah.'"

Barbara Denman of the Florida Baptist Convention said First Conservative Baptist Church isn't affiliated with the state group or the Southern Baptist Convention.

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Former Baptist youth minister sentenced for child molesting
By Bob Allen (411 words)

LEXINGTON, Ky. (ABP) -- A former Southern Baptist youth minister in Kentucky was sentenced Oct. 31 to 10 years in prison after confessing to sexually exploiting a 14-year-old girl he met while posing as a 17-year-old youth evangelist on the social-networking website MySpace.

Timothy Scott Richerson, 40, of Greensburg, Ky., admitted in July that he met the girl online and then followed up with computer and telephone messages during the summer of 2007. That September he drove about 50 miles from his home in Greensburg, Ky., to the victim's home in Madison County, where he sexually exploited her.

The girl's mother became suspicious after several visits by Richerson. She found sexually explicit text messages on her daughter's phone and called police. The Kentucky State Police arrested Richerson in Greensburg Oct. 12, 2007, and a federal court indicted him in March, as part of Project Safe Childhood, a Justice Department initiative aimed at protecting children from online predators.

"A lot of credit goes to the victim's mother in this case," said prosecutor Hydee Hawkins. "She did what we wish every parent would do -- that's being nosy with your children and their activities. We can't emphasize enough how important that is."

According to the Richmond Register, Richerson is a former youth minister at Freedom Baptist Church in Campbellsville, Ky.

Richerson, who eventually revealed his true age, had sexual contact with the girl short of intercourse, according to CBS affiliate WKYT. However, he had planned to take her virginity on her 15th birthday.

Richerson's MySpace page, which he last accessed Oct. 11, 2007, is titled "Youth for Christ Ministries." It identifies him as a 17-year-old male "in a relationship."
The page's "about me" profile reads: "Here to serve God by providing a Christian view of the youth, as we face many of life's obstacles!"

It continues: "You can talk to us anytime. We are here to help you with your struggles and help lead you to God. Don't hesitate to send a message or comment. In John 3:17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. So why should I condemn you. I am here so that you will have a place to turn for help. ILY."

Richerson, who is married with a teenage daughter, listed 216 "friends" on his profile, mostly teenage girls around the Campbellsville area.

His "who I'd like to meet" entry lists, "God, Jesus, and you."

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