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Vol. 2, # 46, June 25, 2004
The Baptist World Alliance issued the following
statement to refute "slander" of "Baptists of the
world and the Baptist World Alliance in particular at the annual
meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention."
[The BWA website is www.bwanet.org
Other BWA contact information added at the end]
******
Statement from the Baptist World Alliance
"When reviled, we bless; when persecuted,
we endure; when slandered, we try to conciliate..." (I Corinthians
4:12-13)
NOTE: Because of enquiries from around the world
due to misrepresentations and misunderstandings printed in the
press, it is necessary that the BWA issue the following statement
clarifying our stand on critical issues of faith and practice.
-- Denton Lotz, BWA General Secretary
On Tuesday, June 15th in Indianapolis, Indiana,
Baptists of the world, and the Baptist World Alliance in particular
were slandered by statements made to messengers at the annual
meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) which resulted
in the withdrawal of the SBC from membership in the BWA. Webster's
New Collegiate Dictionary defines slander as: "the utterance
of false charges or misrepresentations which defame and damage
another's reputation."
 The
good name of the Baptist World Alliance, and Baptists generally,
has been maligned. But more than that, the evangelistic potential
of Baptist churches worldwide has been severely harmed. Most of
all, the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ has been tarnished and
the body of Christ brought into schism. How can we reclaim the
good name of Baptist? That is the challenge for millions of committed
and dedicated believers in the Southern part of the USA, in North
America, and worldwide!
The Washington Post on June 16th wrote an article
that began, "The Southern Baptist Convention voted to pull
out of the Baptist World Alliance, accusing the worldwide organization
of a drift toward liberalism that included growing tolerance of
homosexuality, support for women in the clergy and 'anti-American'
pronouncements." This statement summarizes, unfortunately,
the false accusations that have been sent around the world and
have appeared in newspapers all over the USA and the world.
The Apostle Paul endured slander and yet said
that we must try to reconcile. This is indeed what the BWA attempted
to do on April 20th when we met with SBC leaders. We had agreed
that we would not make false or accusatory statements against
one another. Therefore, the blast from Indianapolis was like a
bombshell in a crowded building. Millions of Baptists have been
spiritually hurt, their witness maimed and our good name besmirched.
The tragedy of misrepresentation and slander
is that there is no way to inform the secular or religious public
or media of the truth. The secular and religious press tends to
accept statements made by religious leaders and print them as
the final truth. We have seen for example that accusations are
made and then printed in newspapers without any commentary or
checking out of the facts, or opportunity to correct erroneous
statements.
BWA president Billy Kim, pastor of Central Baptist
Church in Suwon, Korea, one of the largest Baptist churches in
the world, has had to respond to letters from all over the world
and has made a crystal clear statement: "The Baptist World
Alliance does not sanction or promote homosexuality!" How
sad that the BWA has been defamed and our strongly Biblical and
evangelical stance has been irreparably hurt by innuendos, false
accusations, and guilt by association. Scripture reminds us to
make a defense of the hope that is within us. (I Peter 3:15) Therefore,
we affirm the following so that the word might go forth very clearly
where we in the BWA stand:
1. The BWA is not a liberal organization! It
strongly affirms the fundamental doctrines of the Christian faith
as proclaimed in Holy Scripture which we accept as the authoritative
Word of God! The BWA Executive Committee, meeting in March, 2004,
made the following clear statement on March 10th: "We wish
to affirm again for all to know our adherence to the historic
doctrines of our faith....and our joyful affirmation of faith
in the mediation of Jesus Christ as solely and entirely sufficient
for salvation, 'for there is salvation in no one else.'"
(Acts 4:12)
2. The BWA does not promote women as pastors
of churches nor does it argue against that practice. Since we
affirm the autonomy of Baptist bodies, it is the prerogative of
local churches and their member bodies to make decisions on ordination.
3. The BWA is not anti-American. The fact that
Archbishop Tutu, the chair of the South African Truth and Reconciliation
Commission, addressed the BWA General Council in Durban, South
Africa was a testimony to Baptist concern worldwide against racism
and the tragedy of apartheid. It is absurd to consider his invitation
by South African Baptists as anti-American!
We are citizens of the Kingdom of God and loyal
citizens of our own nations. As Baptists who believe in the authority
of the Word of God we believe that all of us must be open to the
prophetic voice from God as it applies to our nations and to the
world! We believe that Baptists should be good and patriotic citizens
of their countries, but patriotism must always be limited to and
judged by the Bible's call for ultimate loyalty to Christ who
is above all!
4. The BWA does not support homosexuality as
an acceptable life-style, believing it to be incompatible with
the teachings of Scripture! It affirms without reservation that
marriage is a holy state and only between a man and a woman forever.
There is not one BWA member body that affirms,
promotes or approves of gay marriage! On the contrary, at the
BWA meeting July, 1994 in Uppsala, Sweden, the BWA General Council
passed the following resolution confirming that the BWA "proclaims
the biblical definition of the family, a permanent, monogamous,
heterosexual union, as the original divine plan for family life
which must continue to serve as the foundation and ideal for an
ordered and effective society."
Baptists worldwide look forward to a glorious
BWA centenary celebration in England next year with the sure confidence
that Christ will complete the work He began in us! We invite Baptists
worldwide to come to Birmingham, England July 27-31, 2005 and
celebrate with us. By God's grace the Baptist World Alliance represents
the most widespread movement of Baptist believers all over the
world. We are a democratic movement respecting the autonomy of
national bodies and local churches, representing the rich and
poor, the educated and uneducated, those in the North and South,
the East and West. Indeed, we belong together because we belong
to Christ!
We do believe that God is the judge and he will
justify. We have been encouraged by hundreds of telephone calls,
e-mails, letters and statements of support. A young Southern Baptist
seminarian wrote: "For whatever reason, God has allowed these
events to take place. I know that He is sovereign over our times
and is using these current circumstances for His glory that more
will come to know Him. He is my comfort and my hope. I know that
He will continue to bless the BWA."
As we have stated before, the Baptist World Alliance
hopes for and will work for reconciliation with our Southern Baptist
brothers and sisters and prays for their return to the historic
and international Baptist
world family. To God be the glory!
Contact information: Baptist World Alliance,
405 N. Washington Street, Falls Church VA 22046, USA. Email: bwa@bwanet.org;
BWA website: www.bwanet.org
; Centennial Baptist World Congress website: www.bwacongress2005.org.uk
Phone: 703-790-8980; Fax: 703-893-5160.
PH: One would think that Christians could be liberal
in thought and actions, support and include homosexual Christians
who did not "choose" to be homosexual, encourage and ordain
women in the ministry and that Christians could also be conservative
in thought and actions. In his own time Jesus was liberal in many
of his words and actions and he was conservative with many of his
hard sayings. At least the BWA seems less judgmental and more inclusive
and the SBC seems more judgmental and exclusive.
PH received the following prayer request from Laurie
Ursiny in the church office.
"Please include Pam Hughes, church secretary
and River Road Church member, on the PHA prayer list. Pam was
on her way home for lunch Friday afternoon, just a couple of blocks
from her home, when a guy ran a stop sign and hit her on  the
driver's side passenger door. Pam is o.k. She was taken to the
hospital, but luckily no broken bones. She is very sore in her
back and neck. It was a blessing she did not see the guy coming,
if she had she may have tried to stop and he would have hit her
in the driver's side door. Please keep her and her husband Jim
in your prayers."
Laurie Ursiny
Secretary
We all know of Alana Woolley's unfortunate reaction
to chemotherapy. Reports indicate that Alana has improved since
the three day coma. Keep Alana on your prayer list and if you would
like to send a card, her address is: 1003 Roxbury Rd, Richmond,
VA 23226-3037.
Franklin Fowler is recovering from an infection.
Franklin admits that he is not as perky as he was at seventeen.
Franklin wrote to Charlotte and Bill:
"Thanks for your note. I have been fighting
a tracheal bronchitis with some pneumonia. I don't seem to bounce
back as quickly as I did at 17. I am doing better, day by day.
I appreciate your thoughts and prays. I doubt that we will get
to River Road Sunday.
Love to all," Franklin
Teacher Bob Has a prayer request for a law school
associate. His request reads:
"Can we please add this 31-year-old daughter
of a long-time Secretary at the law school to our prayer list?
She has been diagnosed with a rare form of pancreatic cancer,
acinar cell carcinoma, with a poor prognosis. I will forward an
E-mail from her mother and I have talked with her. The daughter
was a classmate and good friend of Kristin Almond in school."
Bob
From: Glenice Coombs
Sent: Wednesday, June 09, 2004 10:58 PM
To: rshepher@richmond.edu
Subject: Thanks thanks thanks
Thanks so much to each of you for your love,
support, prayers and dinners for our family over the past few
weeks. It has been a huge support to us daily. Sheri is improving
slowly and is even taking short walks a block at the time. We
are scheduled to go to Sloan-Kettering on June 24th and then
to either Mass. General or Johns Hopkins in search of a doctor
that can offer some encouraging news about this very rare cancer.
It is acinar cell carcinoma and only a few doctors have ever
seen it. We hope that the oncology conference in New Orleans
may have something to say about it and some new treatment or
trials for it. Thanks again for all you have done and please
continue to keep us in your prayers.
Remember in your prayers Pam Hughes, Franklin Fowler,
Sheri, Sandra and Carl Sizemore, Alana Woolley, Donald Deer, Rick
and Linda Mears, Mary and Julian Pentecost, Kay and Bob Culpepper,
John and Margaret Oliver, Dot and Cecil Sherman, the Church staff,
the Pastor's Search Committee, the Executive Committee, our military
and civilians in harm's way, and those only known to you. Sandra
Sizemore is one of the Sunday School teachers highlighted in the
Compass section of this week's Spire.
Well, I must admit this is surely a trip down memory
lane. I recall so many of these but IM sure there or those of you
on my email list too young to remember ~~~~
A little house with three bedrooms and one car
on the street,
A mower that you had to push to make the grass look neat.
In the kitchen on the wall we only had one phone,
And no need for recording things, someone was always home.
We only had a living room where we would congregate,
Unless it was at mealtime in the kitchen where we ate.
We had no need for family rooms or extra rooms
to dine,
When meeting as a family those two rooms would work out fine.
We only had one TV set, and channels maybe two,
But always there was one of them with something worth the view.
For snacks we had potato chips that tasted like
a chip,
And if you wanted flavor there was Lipton's onion dip.
Store-bought snacks were rare because my mother
liked to cook,
And nothing can compare to snacks in Betty Crocker's book.
The snacks were even healthy with all the best
ingredients,
No labels with a hundred things that make not a bit of sense.
Weekends were for family trips or staying home
to play,
We all did things together -- even go to church to pray.
When we did our weekend trips depending on the
weather,
No one stayed at home because we liked to be together.
Sometimes we would separate to do things on our
own,
But we knew where the others were without our own cell phone.
Then there were the movies with your favorite
movie star,
And nothing can compare to watching movies in your car.
Then there were the picnics at the peak of summer
season,
Pack a lunch and find some trees and never need a reason.
Get a baseball game together with all the friends
you know,
Have real action playing ball -- and no game video.
Remember when the doctor used to be the family
friend,
And didn't need insurance or a lawyer to defend?
The way that he took care of you or what he had
to do,
Because he took an oath and strived to do the best for you.
Remember going to the store and shopping casually,
And when you went to pay for it you used your own money?
Nothing that you had to swipe or punch in some
amount,
Remember when the cashier person had to really count?
Remember when we breathed the air; it smelled
so fresh and clean,
And chemicals were not used on the grass to keep it green.
The milkman and the bread man used to go from
door to door,
And it was just a few cents more than going to the store.
There was a time when mailed letters came right
up to your door,
Without a lot of junk mail ads sent out by every store.
The mailman knew each house by name and knew
where it was sent;
There were not loads of mail addressed to "present occupant."
There was a time when just one glance was all
that it would take,
And you would know the kind of car, the model and the make.
They didn't look like turtles trying to squeeze
out every mile;
They were streamlined with white walls & fins, and really
had some style.
One time the music that you played whenever you
would jive,
Was from a vinyl, big-holed record called a forty-five.
The record player had a post to keep them all
in line,
And then the records would drop down and play one at a time.
Oh sure, we had our problems then, just like
we do today,
And always we were striving, trying for a better way.
And every year that passed us by brought new
and greater things,
We now can even program phones with music or with rings.
Oh, the simple life we lived still seems like
so much fun,
How can you explain a game, just kick the can and run?
And why would boys put baseball cards between
bicycle spokes,
And for a nickel red machines had little bottled Cokes?
This life seemed so much easier and slower in
some ways,
I love the new technology but I sure miss those days.
So time moves on and so do we, and nothing stays
the same,
But I sure love to reminisce and walk down memory lane.
PH: Now how many of you twenty-nine year olds can
remember all of these? This E-mail that Don forwarded to PH had
been forwarded many times but originated from "Granny."
The biographical information in the Spire
regarding Mary Mann indicated that she was a former competitive
swimmer and still enjoys swimming. PH was pleased to learn this
bit of life history. Brenda and PH have two competitive swimmers
in our family. Son Dave  swam
at Indiana University for four years and has been coaching swimming
for almost two decades. He is currently the swim coach at Shepson
Bill's alma mater, Randolph - Macon. Also daughter Elizabeth swam
at Mary Baldwin for four years and has been a swim coach at the
Avalon Recreation Association for six summers. RRCB may need to
build an indoor pool and start a CBF church swimming league. The
pool could also be used by the new pastor for massive tidal wave
baptisms after successful revivals.
PLEASE CHANGE YOUR CLASS ROLLS
Effective July 1st, the zip codes for the following
class members currently in zip 23233 will change:
Kay and Bob Culpepper to 1900 Lauderdale Drive,
#HCC-107, Richmond, VA 23238-3980
Dorcas and Franklin Fowler to 1900 Lauderdale
Drive, #E-315, Richmond, VA 23238-3978
Judy and Dick Morris to 11413 Homestead Lane,
Richmond, VA 23238-4617
Margaret and John Oliver to 1900 Lauderdale Drive,
#A-211, Richmond, VA 23238-3965
Mary and Julian Pentecost to 1900 Lauderdale
Drive, #B-311, Richmond, VA 23238-3969
Nancy and George Werner to 1601 Lauderdale Drive,
Richmond, VA 23238-5008
Two weeks from this Sunday the Catacombs Lectures
Begin.
Jim Slatton will present the initial lectures followed
by Rob James, Isam Ballenger, Jonathan Stubbs and PH and Brenda.
PH thought that Teacher Bob had completed the study of John, but
this week's Spire
reads: "The class concludes its study of the Gospel of John
this Sunday with an overview of this important book" Maybe
it really will happen this Sunday.
 Jim
Slatton on July 11 and 18
Rob James on July 25
Isam Ballenger
Jonathan Stubbs
Brenda and PH
Speaking of the Spire,
did you notice the variety of lesson topics available this Sunday
in Sunday School? The Twentysomethings Class will discuss Scientology.
The Discussion Class will discuss "Embracing the Mystery of
Depression." The Friendship Class will discuss the book The
Five People You Meet in Heaven. The Explorers Class will discuss
a recent article from Weavings pertaining to vengeance. Gee whiz,
the SSBSC seems like the only Bible Believing Evangelistic Conservative
Class in the church. In addition the Spire informs us that our class
and the Discussion Class will provide the church coffee goodies
on August 15. Will this be teamwork from the right and the left
or the included and the left behind?
 Anne
James, who looks slightly older than her students, will be twenty-nine
on Sunday. George and Carolyn Thomas will celebrate thirty-five
years of marriage on Monday. They must have met on the cradle roll.
Last week PH challenged readers to identify the
bearded man in the photo that was attached to last week's PHA. Doris
Curtis provided the only correct winner. She identified the man
as "Mr. Davis." PH asked for a first name and she first
guessed "William,"  but
then correctly named "Henry Davis." This name is correct.
Henry G. Davis developed railroads to the coal mines of West Virginia
in the nineteenth century. He became a two term U. S. senator from
West Virginia and was the Democratic candidate for Vice President
of the USA in 1904. He was eighty-four years old at the time of
his nomination making him the oldest candidate to ever run for president
or vice president in our country's history. He lived to be ninety-six.
He was a cofounder of Davis and Elkins College in Elkins, West Virginia.
The town of Davis, West Virginia is named for him. The RRCB Summer
Mission Team recently went to Davis to do some constructive demolition
work.
What follows is a wonderful, thoughtful and insightful
note from Interim Pastor Cecil Sherman.
To the Shepherd - Simpson Bible Study Crew
Dear Friends:
Your note was wonderful. Thank you for taking
the time to notice. I may have done some good for River Road.
For sure River Road has done much for me. You have been much of
my sanity in a hard time.
I suspect my time is drawing to a close. In a
few weeks the church will be gearing up to receive a new pastor.
This has been the point of it all since first I began the interim
assignment. It is bittersweet work. You come to love and enjoy
the people; then it is over.
But God is good. When I needed you, you were
there. When you needed someone to fill in for a time, I was there.
Because of interim work I had not come to know my church very
well. That has been corrected in these months, and now I know
what a fine church I joined in the first place.
Your teacher has become a friend. We break bread
together most weeks. He and I have a good bit in common. You are
fortunate in your teacher; I am fortunate in my friendship.
Most sincerely,
Cecil E. Sherman
Those who went to Beth Wilson's Rapphannock River
home last Sunday enjoyed good weather, good food and drink and a
good time. A photo is attached displaying the view of the river
from Beth's home. If you look closely you may see Pastor Crockett
baptizing in the river. Pastor Crockett is disappointed that he
has not been called to be the new pastor of RRCB. After intense
questioning of Shepson Doris Curtis at the Riva, PH learned that
our new pastor is a middle aged white male of Baptist heritage.
Could he be Paige Patterson?
PH
June
18, 2004
June
4, 2004
May
14, 2004
May
7, 2004
April
30, 2004
April
23, 2004
April
16, 2004
April
9, 2004
April
2, 2004
March
26, 2004
March
19, 2004
March
12, 2004
March
5, 2004
February
27, 2004
February
20, 2004
February
13, 2004
February
6, 2004
January
30, 2004
January
23, 2004
January 16, 2004
January
9, 2004
January
2, 2004
2003
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