News Articles by J. Gerald Harris/The Christian Index

ATLANTA, Ga. (BP) – When Mary Gellerstedt first joined the staff of First Baptist Church, World War II was raging. Since then, she’s been a living example of what it means to press forward with steadfastness in Christ.

CLEVELAND, Ga. – Emir Caner, president of Truett McConnell University, has announced that the university has received a gift of $3 million, the second largest gift in the school’s 76-year history and the first gift of its kind for the purpose of endowing a faculty chair. The gift will be used to endow in perpetuity the Dr. Charles F. Stanley Chair of Theology and to fund the Global Impact Center in Miller Hall, the building which serves as the centerpiece of the TMU campus.

ATLANTA (BP) — Georgia’s Supreme Court has unanimously ruled that a law banning advertising for assisted-suicide services is unconstitutional. The law that was struck down Feb. 6 was enacted in 1994 in reaction to Dr. Jack Kevorkian’s assisted suicides of the 1990s. The statute that the Georgia Supreme Court deemed unconstitutional reads: “Any person who […]

DULUTH, Ga. (BP) -- Even while Georgia's unemployment rate remains one of the highest in the nation, the Georgia Baptist Convention remains committed to forwarding its Cooperative Program gifts to the SBC Executive Committee in Nashville as quickly as it has traditionally done.

ATHENS, Ga. (BP) -- "When I began to think about the logical conclusion of atheism," Richard Suplita, a psychology lecturer at the University of Georgia, reflected, "I asked myself, 'Is it really all about nothing?' and realized that I could not accept that conclusion." The question led to Suplita abandoning his atheistic worldview and embracing the Christian faith. Suplita was born in Fairmont, W.Va. Known as "the Friendly City," Fairmont is the seat of Marion County, just about 20 miles south of the Pennsylvania state line. [QUOTE@left@150="I spent time ingesting the writings of some of the most renowned atheists of the day."]He grew up in the Church of Christ, where his father was a deacon. The Suplitas were in church three times each week. During those early years Rich Suplita made a commitment to Christ. The UGA lecturer admitted, "I made a commitment on the basis of my understanding of Christ at that time. I thought it was like a contract with God and I had to maintain my part of the contract. It was rather legalistic and it was my responsibility to maintain my salvation and if I failed to do so, then God could end the contract whenever He chose. I knew nothing about a covenant relationship with Christ." At age 22, Suplita enrolled in the University of West Virginia and earned two degrees -- one in psychology and one in communication studies. During those years he also met Carla Price, a medical student at the university, and eventually proposed marriage. Richard and Carla moved to Savannah, Ga., where Carla was able to complete her internship and residency requirements in order to become a practicing physician. The Suplitas then moved to Winder, Ga., where Carla began her medical practice in the fall of 2000 and Richard enrolled at the University of Georgia to pursue a Ph.D. in psychology and philosophy. On the way to his doctorate, he earned a master's degree and actually began teaching during his last year of graduate school. He is now a full-time lecturer in the school of psychology.