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- Family mission trip a ‘last chance’ gift for graduating college student
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NAPLES (FBW)-Whether he was encouraging hurricane victims or networking with younger pastors, seeking to "cultivate citizen involvement about the great moral issues" or putting an emphasis on expository preaching, holding high the obligation of Christian evangelism or promoting growth in Cooperative Program giving, Hayes Wicker said he has attempted to "relate to all in our state in a loving, Christ-like manner" as president of Florida Baptist State Convention.
KHIAM, Lebanon (BP)-Bright sunlight filters through the refrigerator-sized hole in the roof of Yacoub's* modest single-story house. Near the end of a hard day's work, he looks to the tattered remains of his living room sofa to rest his lean 70-year-old frame; as he sits, a cloud of thick gray dust erupts into the air.
LAKELAND (FBW)-In the Oct. 24 meeting of the Florida Baptist Children's Homes trustees, President Jimmy McAdams announced his intention to retire no later than May 1, 2007. The agency trustees formed a committee to seek the 60-year-old administrator's successor, whom McAdams hopes to personally prepare for the position.
TRENTON, N.J. (BP)-A long-awaited "gay marriage" ruling by the New Jersey Supreme Court left neither side happy Oct. 25, but it may have given a boost to supporters of proposed constitutional marriage amendments nationwide.
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During his tenure as executive director-treasurer of the Florida Baptist Convention from 1967-1979, Dr. Harold Bennett developed a list of ten personal assets for effective church leaders. I recently came across the list in one of his articles and felt it as relevant today as then.
Sixteen years ago, the leadership of my local church brought forward a proposal to withdraw from the Southern Baptist Convention. This action would require an amendment to our church's bylaws, which in turn required a church vote. I strongly believed we should not leave the SBC, and respectfully pleaded with individual members to vote against the proposal. A majority of our membership voted in favor of leaving; however, the bylaws required a three-fourths vote, and the amendment failed. Our church continued growing and became one of the leading SBC churches in our state. The bylaws established the fundamental principles for our church governance. The requirement of an extraordinary vote for amending the bylaws was needed to protect these fundamental principles. I believe the high standard for changing the bylaws protected, and will continue to protect, our church from great harm.
There are only a couple of quick facts that Southern Baptists need to know to understand that requiring a supermajority of 60 percent to amend our state constitution is a bad idea:
Many political pundits see this year's mid-term elections as a defining moment. How will the next Congress deal with contentious issues like stem-cell research, judges, immigration reform, Iraq? But it's a pivotal election for another reason as well. What will our leaders in Washington do about the erosion of religious liberty in this country?
JACKSONVILLE (FBC)-Traveling to urban areas in two continents, the Florida Baptist Singing Men and Women led evangelistic worship in a diversity of settings, including a famed opera house, a retirement home and a Chinese church where only 30 worshippers gathered, during a 12-day mission trip to Sydney, Australia, and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
FORT MYERS (FBC)-Gavel-to-gavel coverage of the 2006 Florida Baptist Pastors Conference and 2006 Florida Baptist State Convention meeting, Nov. 12-14 at McGregor Baptist Church in Fort Myers, will be presented live on the web at www.flbaptist.org.
TALLAHASSEE (FBW)-The Florida Supreme Court dismissed Oct. 26 a challenge to the state's sales tax exemption for religious publications, including non-profit newspapers like Florida Baptist Witness, Bibles and other religious items.