Rev. Frank S. Page, left, stands with President George Bush and Page's wife Dayle in October 2006. Page was elected president of the Southern Baptist Convention, the nation's largest evangelical denomination.
Posted on 05/22/2007 7:38:57 AM PDT by NYer
If the Rev. Jerry Falwell personified the Christian right in the past, then the Rev. Frank S. Page may represent its future.
From his Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, Va., where his funeral will be held Tuesday, Falwell gave evangelicals a strong political voice. But it was often the voice of a sure and angry prophet, as when he blamed the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, in part on "the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians," or described warnings about global warming as "Satan's attempt" to turn the church's attention from evangelism to environmentalism.
Page, 54, was chosen last year as president of the 16 million-member Southern Baptist Convention, Falwell's denomination and the country's largest evangelical one, in an election that he saw as a mandate for change.
"I would not use the word 'moderate,' because in our milieu that often means liberal. But it's a shift toward a more centrist, kinder, less harsh style of leadership," Page said. "In the past, Baptists were very well known for what we're against. . . . Instead of the caricature of an angry, narrow-minded, Bible-beating preacher, we wanted someone who could speak to normal people."
With members of an older generation of evangelical leaders, including the Rev. Billy Graham, the Rev. Pat Robertson, psychologist James C. Dobson and the Rev. D. James Kennedy, ailing or nearing retirement, Page is one of many pastors and political activists tugging conservative Christians in various directions.
Others include the Rev. Rick Warren and the Rev. William Hybels, megachurch pastors who are championing the fight against AIDS in Africa. David Barton, head of a Texas-based group called WallBuilders, stumps the nation decrying the "myth" that the Constitution requires separation of church and state.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
New generation of evangelicals
Polls suggest that evangelicals under 30 are just as staunchly opposed to abortion, and almost as concerned about "moral standards" in general, as their elders. But a February Pew survey found that younger evangelicals are more likely than their parents to worry about environmental issues; 59 percent of those under 30 said the United States was "losing ground" on pollution, compared with 37 percent of those over 30.Acceptance of homosexuality is also greater among young evangelicals. One in three under 30 favors same-sex marriage, compared with one in 10 of their elders.
Redeem the Vote, a group formed in 2004 to register young evangelicals to vote, is campaigning with black churches in Alabama for capping the interest charges on short-term "payday" loans, which can hit 400 percent a year. The group's founder, physician Randy Brinson, said he finds that young evangelicals are intensely interested in practical ways to help their communities and are little swayed by issues such as same-sex marriage.
"These kids have gone to school with people who happen to be gay, and they don't see them as a direct threat. They may think that lifestyle is wrong, but they don't see it as something that really affects their daily lives," Brinson said. "The groups that focus only on a narrow agenda, especially gay marriage and abortion, are going to decline."
Catholic Ping
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Either there is a problem with this poll's methodology, or there is a problem with evangelicalism, or both.
Someone is engaging in wishful thinking. It is not that it is a threat, it is that it is just wrong. Two men do not make a marriage.
When you hear how the younger generations support same-sex marriage (how is it Constitutional for the government to use a church word?)you can actually hear the anticipation that the Left has for the death of the Greatest Generation.
The problem is that it is being seen through MSNBC’s “rose-colored” glasses of how they wish it would be.
“In the past, Baptists were very well known for what we’re against. . . . Instead of the caricature of an angry, narrow-minded, Bible-beating preacher, we wanted someone who could speak to normal people.”
It sounds like Rev. Page is making a huge mistake. He is allowing the opposition to define what a Baptist preacher is. Tell me that statement above doesn’t sound like he is seeking approval from the world. Maybe it is just that he has a different way of spreading the Gospel than Mr. Falwell, but it doesn’t sound good. John the Baptist was pretty narrow-minded when it came to Herod’s living arrangements.
OMG!! Evangelists and Baptists going the way of Episcopalians!! sad.
Government should not be in the business of regulating adult sexual relationships, homo, hetero or otherwise. It doesn’t bother me if some Hellbound fags want to shack up under whatever sort of contract they desire. But there should be no government endorsement of such a relationship, nor should there be a legal re-defining of the word “marriage” to encompass such a thing.
Rev. Page sounds like a huge mistake on the part of the Convention. He follows people like Dr. Stanley, but he is a mistake - everybody is entitled to one mistake, so long as we don’t roll in it. Is there any way to unseat him NOW?
Rev. Stanley often mentions in his sermons abouat “Being narrow-minded”. And he says that, yes, we are narrow-minded, just as Jesus was and just as the Bible is. There is no compromise, and God never asked for Page’s opinion nor that of any teenager who believes homosexuals are harmless. It’s in the Book.
Falwell was preaching for correction sake but many took it as condemnation. Jesus said you will be despised in this world for My Name sake and Falwell was despised by many - but not by His Judge!
But it is a threat, because by attacking the institution of marriage it attacks that most basic and natural institution of any society: the family. The very survival of any society depends upon the integrity of the family institution, which itself depends upon the integrity and sanctity of the marital institution. If you destroy a society's understanding of marriage, that society will very shortly collapse from within.
-A8
Page is a sell-out-your-friends-so-that-you-can-act-superior-to-them kind of guy. He blindly accepts false characterizations so that he can say “I’m not like that.” Well la-de-da. Who is? Name names Mr. Accuser.
Probably both. Sigh!
Some aspiring leaders of the evangelical movement are pushing good works and pop issues like environmentalism to become noticed and popular.
They are forgetting the roots of evangelicalism. Those roots were to accept a belief on God and to have a personal relationship with the Lord by obeying His commandments and reading His Word, the Bible. Evangelicals believe you can find Christ and his Mercy on a one to one basis, without the intervention or guidance of a church hierarchy. There is no overall Evangelical Bishop and each person, church or congregation has equal access to God’s love.
He should be extremely careful not to tug anyone to the left, as others have attempted.
Never mind - He’s home!
“He will continue to receive rehabilitation therapy at home and it is expected we will see more recovery.”
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