Ga. Baptists vote overwhelmingly to sever ties to Mercer Univ.
 |
| The vote Georgia Baptist messengers vote to sever ties with Mercer University, an action requiring a second vote at the 2006 annual meeting. Photo courtesy of the Georgia Baptist Convention |
The vote was based on years of mistrust between the GBC and Mercer and was inflamed by the discovery in October of a student-led gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender organization that had existed since 2002.
The group’s “coming out day” on Oct. 11, sponsored by the Mercer Triangle Symposium, galvanized Georgia Baptists to cast a vote of no confidence in the ongoing relationship.
Homosexual group at Mercer concerns Ga. Baptists
| GBC Executive Director J. Robert White |
The Mercer Triangle Symposium, billing itself as the university’s “GLBT Rights Student Organization,” sponsored a National Coming Out Day on Oct. 11 and publicized the event in The Cluster, the campus newspaper. In addition, it published the names of 29 faculty and staff who supported the organization and its goals.
Among those showing their support were professor of Christianity Margaret Dee Bratcher and assistant professor of Christianity Janell Johnson.
According to the group’s website, the campus’ Gay-Straight Alliance meets at 10 a.m. on the second and fourth Mondays of each month in Willingham 203. The meetings occur in the building which houses the former campus chapel.
Innovative outreach among topics of 5th young leaders dialogue
LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. (BP)--“Revival never started with denominational servants, but with young, dynamic, passionate, convictional leaders,” James T. Draper Jr. said in opening the fifth in a series of dialogues with young leaders in the Southern Baptist Convention.
Court upholds Ga. convention; Shorter actions ‘cannot stand’
ATLANTA (BP)--The Georgia Court of Appeals rendered a decision on March 17 against Shorter College and its attempt to dissolve its relationship with the Georgia Baptist Convention.
Ga. Baptists tap 30-year pastor, reduce budget by 7%
COLUMBUS, Ga. (BP)--Tony Dickerson, pastor of Pinehurst Baptist Church in Columbus, Ga., for more than 30 years, was elected president without opposition during the Georgia Baptist Convention's Nov. 10-11 annual meeting.
FIRST-PERSON: Another battle over the Ten Commandments
ATLANTA (BP)--Some "John Doe" who prudently wishes to remain anonymous, notified the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) that the Ten Commandments are posted in a breezeway outside the courthouse in Barrow County, Ga.
FIRST-PERSON: On political correctness
ATLANTA (BP)--Today's society places a premium on being politically correct. Proper terminology must be used so as not to be offensive to anyone.
FIRST-PERSON: Pastor recounts church’s response to ‘hurting people all around us’
MARIETTA, Ga. (BP)--Eastside Baptist Church is coming out of what we hope to be the worst part of an unbelievable nightmare. One of our staff members, who served as a Tae Kwon Do instructor in our Christian Activity Center, has had multiple charges of child molestation leveled against him.
