Volunteers tackle Fay’s damage
Florida Baptist disaster relief volunteers from throughout Central Florida descended into Barefoot Bay Aug. 21, site of a tornado spawned by Tropical Storm Fay Aug. 19. Rain was still falling and debris from 50 damaged mobile homes and tree limbs lay strewn across the Brevard County community, which was one of the areas where Fay dumped up to 30 inches of rain in a 24-hour period. Terry Ryan, a coordinator for the Florida Baptist Convention’s disaster relief operation, reported that 29 certified volunteers from four Baptist associations – Brevard, Treasure Coast, Lake and Orange Blossom – assisted at nine of the damaged mobile homes. The volunteers worked in the wind and rain to place tarps on roofs, remove aluminum debris, and cut up and remove trees and limbs felled by Fay’s strong winds.
Longtime prof C.W. Brister dies
C.W. Brister Jr., 82, a pastoral ministry professor at Southwestern Baptist Seminary from 1957 until his retirement in 2001, died Aug. 9 after a battle with Lou Gehrig’s disease. He was named distinguished professor emeritus of pastoral ministry at Southwestern. According to one faculty colleague, Brister may have taught pastoral care to more ministers than anyone, given his 45-year tenure at Southwestern, which is among the country’s larger seminaries. Among those writing tributes for his memorial service was Dick Lincoln, pastor of Shandon Baptist Church, Columbia, and a former student of Brister’s. Lincoln recounted, “When I arrived on Seminary Hill, I had been a Christian 11 months. One of the few classes available to me that summer session was Pastoral Care by C.W. Brister. Little did I know there was divine providence in the limited class schedule. He became a mentor and friend to me and my family that began in 1971 and ended only at his death. I do not believe I would have remained a Baptist minister nor understood people in the setting of the church as I do were it not for him. His friendship, prayers, love and affirmation have touched me deeply.”
Baptists aid first responders at DNC
Southern Baptist volunteers donned aprons in Denver as they prepared meals for city, state and national personnel providing protection and aid to those attending the Democratic National Convention. Just as the convention was an enormous undertaking for the city – 4,440 delegates, 15,000 members of the media, 21,000 volunteers and numerous dignitaries from dozens of countries – the Southern Baptist first responder ministry, called “Love Denver,” took considerable effort as well. Each day volunteers prepared and served 9,600 meals, distributing the meals to 11 different sites throughout the downtown area. More than 600 volunteers served eight-hour shifts, staffing feeding stations 24 hours a day. More than $250,000 worth of food and drink – paid for by law enforcement agencies -was prepared and delivered. Local Southern Baptist churches and the Mile High Baptist Association partnered to make the effort a reality, saving law enforcement thousands of dollars that would have been spent on catering staff. For the churches, meanwhile, it was an opportunity to minister and meet needs in Jesus’ name.
Is embryonic stem cell research obsolete?
Scientists continue to deal blows to the campaign for embryonic stem cell research, some by shifting their allegiance to a more ethical form of experimentation and some by discovering new means of creating stem cells that do not harm donors. Prominent scientists previously committed to embryonic stem cell research apparently have shifted their attention away from that method to the reprogramming of stem cells. Reprogramming involves the conversion of normal human cells into stem cells that are, in effect, embryonic in nature. Meanwhile, Japanese researchers announced Aug. 22 they had created stem cells with the properties of embryonic ones from the wisdom teeth of a 10-year-old girl. The developments seem to provide further evidence that advances in such therapies can be accomplished without the unethical step of extracting stem cells from a five- or six-day-old embryo, an action that results in its destruction. Reprogramming is supported by pro-lifers and does not raise the same ethical questions. Harvard Stem Cell Institute’s George Daley, a former president of the International Society for Stem Cell Research, is promoting reprogrammed stem cells, the online newsletter BioEdge reported Aug. 14. Reprogrammed stem cells are also known as induced pluripotent stem cells (IPSCs).