Baptist seminary president removed over controversial remarks about abused women

May 23, 2018

By Bobby Ross Jr., Sarah Pulliam Bailey and Michelle Boorstein| The Washington Post

FORT WORTH — Prominent Southern Baptist leader Paige Patterson has been removed from his job as president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary amid an evangelical #MeToo moment: a massive backlash from women upset over comments he made in the past that are newly perceived as sexist and demeaning.

Seminary leaders were vague as to the reason for the dramatic move, issuing a statement in the wee hours Wednesday morning that didn’t mention Patterson’s controversial comments. Instead, the statement said that the seminary is moving “in the direction of new leadership” due to challenges related to “enrollment, financial, leadership and institutional identity.”

The brief statement said Patterson will be president emeritus, “for the benefit of the future mission of the Seminary.” He will receive compensation and may live on campus as “theologian-in-residence” at a brand new Baptist Heritage Center, the statement said.

After 13 hours of closed-door sessions, the seminary’s trustees appointed D. Jeffrey Bingham, the seminary’s dean of the school of theology, as interim president. Bingham has worked for numerous evangelical institutions, including Criswell College, Dallas Theological Seminary and Wheaton College.

Bobby Ross Jr. reported from Fort Worth. Sarah Pulliam Bailey reported from New York City. Michelle Boorstein reported from Washington.

Read the full story.

This story appears in the Acts of Faith section of The Washington Post. 

 

Best Reporter winner: My portfolio honored by Oklahoma Society of Professional Journalists

May 20, 2018

TULSA, Okla. — I was honored Saturday night to win second place for “Best Reporter” from the Oklahoma Society of Professional Journalists.

The award recognized my 2017 stories on Syrian refugees in Canada, the 50th anniversary of the Detroit race riot, Hurricane Harvey disaster relief, a woman who confessed to murder after her baptism and a prom for special-needs teens and adults.

Jennifer Palmer of Oklahoma Watch earned first place, and Darla Slipke of The Oklahoman came in third.

I also placed in four other categories: election reporting, government reporting, diversity reporting and criminal justice reporting. Winners were announced at the SPJ’s annual banquet.

See a full list of my awards.

Related: Christian Chronicle again wins top national prize, plus four first-place honors for my stories

1,000 wells around the world

May 20, 2018

A Tennessee-based ministry that drills for clean drinking water in Haiti and other nations hits a major milestone.

By Bobby Ross Jr. | The Christian Chronicle

AKDESÉ, Haiti — In this remote mountain village, water gushes from a well drilled by Healing Hands International.

As one woman pumps the handle, another gleefully splashes the clear, flowing liquid on her face.

Little boys and girls giggle as they cup their hands under the spout, taking giant gulps before filling plastic buckets to carry home.

In an area where donkeys ferry supplies and entire families squeeze onto small motorbikes, the $7,500 well’s dedication brings celebration and dancing — and the opportunity for healthier lives.

“The people wanted it so badly,” said Art Woods, president of the Nashville, Tenn.-based humanitarian aid organization, which is associated with Churches of Christ.

It’s a scene repeated hundreds of times in this impoverished Caribbean island nation: Since the Jan. 10, 2010, earthquake that claimed 230,000 lives and left 1.5 million people homeless, Healing Hands has focused on providing access to clean water.

“We truly believe that if you’re going to change the world, it’s going to start with water,” said Sean Judge, director of Walk4Water, fundraisers by Healing Hands that involve dozens of Churches of Christ.

Roughly 1,800 miles from Haiti, Janice Fuller — a 67-year-old grandmother of four — coordinates the annual Walk4Water sponsored by the Brentwood Oaks Church of Christ in Austin, Texas.

About 350 members of the congregation of 600 participate, said Fuller, who helps lead an outreach effort called Hands & Feet.

“It’s probably the biggest thing we do all year,” she said.

Fuller joined more than 20 Christians from the United States who traveled to this nation of nearly 11 million people to witness the completion of Healing Hands’ 1,000th water well — including 350 in Haiti.

“I just think how incredible this is,” Fuller said as trucks carrying the American mission team rumbled up a mountain road, making repeated stops to inspect pumps emblazoned with Healing Hands’ round, blue-and-white logo.

Read the full story online soon.

This story appears in the June 2018 edition of The Christian Chronicle.

Related: In Haiti, a calling — and a baby (reporting from Tintanyen, Haiti)

In Haiti, a calling — and a baby

May 20, 2018

Missionaries from Kentucky embrace opportunity to serve impoverished Haitians and one of their native sons.

By Bobby Ross Jr. | The Christian Chronicle

TITANYEN, Haiti — Ten days after Jason and Jennifer Carroll began Christian missionary work in this Caribbean island nation in 2014, they got an unexpected gift: a newborn boy.

The mother of an infant named Edyson — “Edy” for short — had died during childbirth.

In this poor, developing nation, a can of baby formula can cost more than a day’s wage. The family asked the Carrolls to take Edy. They’re now trying to adopt the boy, who will turn 4 in September, along with his 16-year-old sister, Rogeline, who helps care for her brother.

Since November 2016, Jason Carroll has served as water project coordinator for Healing Hands International, which is associated with Churches of Christ.

Carroll and his wife, Jennifer, manage Healing Hands’ gated complex in this rural community north of the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince. Just a few miles from the leased Titanyen facility, scores of victims of Haiti’s 2010 earthquake are buried in a mass grave.

The Carrolls, both in their 40s, previously owned a family tire business in Murray, Ky. Their son Chantry, 23, works for a nonprofit in Nashville, Tenn. Son Cole, 15, and daughter Callie, 14, are a part of the work in Haiti.

While shuttling American mission team members to various sites, the couple — who will celebrate their 25th anniversary this month — discussed their Haiti experience with The Christian Chronicle.

Read the full story online soon.

This story appears in the June 2018 edition of The Christian Chronicle.

Related: 1,000 wells around the world (reporting from Akdesé, Haiti)

From Vietnam to Kenya, two boys’ lives touched by God

May 17, 2018

How an 11-year-old came to donate ‘the biggest gift’ ever received by a California church.

By Bobby Ross Jr. | The Christian Chronicle

MALIBU, Calif. — A little boy from Vietnam.

A little boy from Kenya.

This is the story of how one of those boys — all grown up — paid forward his blessings from God.

The recipient of that boy’s extreme gratitude? The other boy.

At age 11 in 1975, Hung V. Le escaped Vietnam on a military transport plane, but he was forced to leave his family behind. Just a few weeks later, Saigon fell to the communists.

For the next several years, Le lived with foster parents in the Seattle area. When he finished high school, a guidance counselor urged him to consider Pepperdine University. That’s how he ended up at the Southern California university, which is associated with Churches of Christ, in the fall of 1983.

At Pepperdine, Le — who had grown up in a devout Roman Catholic household and contemplated becoming a priest — studied the Bible and felt he truly understood it for the first time. The campus minister, Tom Reynolds, baptized Le, and he met his future wife, Corinne, a fellow student, through the University Church of Christ.

“God just gave me so much more than I could ever imagine,” said Le, who earned a degree in business administration and worked on Wall Street for a few years before returning to serve on Pepperdine’s staff in 1990. “I expected a school, and I found a family.”

Not only did Pepperdine nurture Le’s faith, but the university community also rallied to reunite him with his family.

Read the full column online soon.

This column appears in the June 2018 edition of The Christian Chronicle.

‘Jesus loves me and my guns’: Faith and firearms touted at the NRA’s prayer breakfast

May 12, 2018

By Bobby Ross Jr. | For The Washington Post

DALLAS — Midway through his 15-minute testimony at the National Rifle Association’s annual prayer breakfast Sunday, retired major league first baseman Adam LaRoche took off his sweater.

Underneath, LaRoche — who hit 255 home runs in a 12-year career — sported a black T-shirt with a message that drew cheers from the firearms-friendly crowd of about 1,300.

“Jesus loves me and my guns,” it said.

“Don’t get me wrong: Jesus is all about love, grace, mercy,” said LaRoche, 38, an evangelical best known for walking away from a reported $13 million contact with the Chicago White Sox in 2016 after the team asked him to bring his son into the clubhouse less often.

But that doesn’t mean Jesus “was a pacifist and always carried a white lamb around and tiptoed through life avoiding controversy,” he added. He pointed to Scriptures such as Matthew 10:34, where Jesus said, “I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.”

The event came two days after President Trump made international headlines with a splashy, campaign-style speech Friday at the NRA’s 147th annual meeting. More than 80,000 attendees assembled from Thursday through Sunday.

The smaller Sunday-morning gathering — a $40-a-plate affair advertised as “a time of inspiration and encouragement” — took place mostly out of the media spotlight.

Despite the prayer breakfast’s lower profile, the Christian crowd that filled a ballroom at the Omni Hotel in downtown Dallas represented “such a nucleus of the NRA,” said Donna Hyde, a 68-year-old grandmother and matriarch of three generations of lifetime NRA members. She wore buttons with messages such as “I’m the NRA, I Voted.”

“It’s about God, country and the protection of our freedoms,” said Hyde, of Mabank, Tex., about 55 miles southeast of Dallas. “We don’t think we can be good Americans without this core value of Christian faith in Christ that gives us our freedoms of everything, and that’s what the NRA is.”

Read the full story.

This story appears in the Acts of Faith section of The Washington Post. Among other major papers picking up the story: the Salt Lake Tribune and The Virginian-Pilot.

Related: Texas hero risked life to save others

He’s a major-league pitcher — and a plumber — whose faith helps keep him focused

May 11, 2018

Detroit Tigers ace Michael Fulmer works as a plumber in the offseason and serves as a mentor for adults with developmental disabilities.

By Bobby Ross Jr. | For Religion News Service

ARLINGTON, Texas — It’s not hard to stay humble when you’re unclogging a toilet.

Or when you’re throwing gopher balls to Miracle League ballplayers swinging for the fences.

At least that’s how Detroit Tigers ace Michael Fulmer, who works part-time as a plumber in the offseason and serves as a mentor to adults with developmental disabilities, describes his approach to living out his Christian faith.

“It’s a way for me to stay levelheaded,” said the 25-year-old right-hander of his part-time gig with Cyrus Wright Plumbing in his home state of Oklahoma.

Fulmer has emerged as one of baseball’s top young pitchers, winning the American League Rookie of the Year award in 2016 and earning a spot on the AL All-Star team in 2017. He has a 3.46 ERA in 58 career starts, and his fastball regularly touches 97 mph.

If you’re not a baseball aficionado, simply consider this: Now in his third season, Fuller will earn $575,000 this year.

In a Religion News Service interview during the Tigers’ three-game series with the Texas Rangers earlier this week, Fulmer said his goal — win or lose — is “to preach the Lord’s name.”

As Fulmer stepped to the mound at Globe Life Park for his start Monday (May 7), he couldn’t help but notice a special group of fans in the right-field corner.

Wings, a Christian nonprofit, offers vocational, social and residential programs for adults with developmental disabilities. The organization, based in Edmond, Okla., chartered a bus for 43 members and parents to make the 450-mile round trip to see Fulmer — one of the ministry’s biggest supporters — pitch.

Read the full story.

Religion News Service is a national wire service with more than 100 secular and religious media subscribers, including USA Today, the Washington Post and NPR.