Briefly noted

Christian Century, Nov 17, 1999

* The Baptist General Convention of Texas has rejected the revised statement of faith adopted by the Southern Baptist Convention in 1998 because of its call for wives to "submit ... graciously" to their husbands. A delegate to the Texas convention from Memorial Drive Baptist Church in Houston made the motion to continue to embrace the previous statement of faith, which contains no such language concerning wives. Bob Newell, pastor of the Houston church, asked the delegates to "affirm, in its entirety, the Baptist Faith and Message Statement, as adopted in 1963, as a unifying statement of our common faith and practice." A proposed amendment that would have affirmed the 1998 version was rejected overwhelmingly, just as Newell's motion passed November 10 by a large margin.

* More than 100 people protested outside a prominent Southern Baptist church in Houston November 7, criticizing the Protestant denomination's efforts to get members to pray for the salvation of Hindus. "We want all people to understand that religious intolerance is rearing its head in this country," said Amit Misra, a Houston lawyer who led the coalition of local Hindu groups that planned the protest outside Second Baptist Church. "Some people aren't aware of the type of hate that is being preached by mainstream churches." The Southern Baptist Convention's International Mission Board timed the distribution of the booklet with the Hindu festival of Divali, which was celebrated by many Hindus November 7. The booklet says Hindus do not understand personal responsibility or sin and "worship gods which are not God." The guide requests that Baptists "pray that the darkness and the power of Satan will be broken."

* Chinese police have admitted to arresting 111 Falun Gong members on charges of disturbing the social order, stealing state secrets and conducting illegal business activities. A government spokesman November 8 also admitted that two members of the embattled spiritual movement have died in police custody, although he insisted that neither died because of police actions. Despite the admission, it is still unknown how many Falun Gong members have been detained. Chinese law allows suspects to be held for weeks, and only those charged are considered arrested. Falun Gong members say as many as 3,000 may have been taken into custody during the recent round of daily protests in Beijing.

* A Protestant leader who was reported killed in recent violence in East Timor is still alive, according to a report from the World Council of Churches. Joseph Pattiasina, general secretary of the Communion of Churches in Indonesia, said he spoke by telephone with Francisco de Vasconcelos on October 8. The council's international relations team said de Vasconcelos, general secretary of the Christian Church of East Timor, is still in a dangerous situation. "Rev. de Vasconcelos and others who escaped killings continue, nonetheless, to work in the midst of a situation in parts of East Timor which continues to remain tense with fear and apprehension of possible outbreaks of violence," the team stated in an update on Indonesia. "Their personal circumstances remain precarious."