The church's attorney, Richard Bethea of Chattanooga, said he is "absolutely confident the church will be exonerated."

Transcription

1 (BP) BAPTIST PRESS New'S Servce of the Southern Beptlst Conventon NATIONAL OFFICE SBC E~eculve Commlne, 901 Commerce,,75( Nashvlle, Tennessee (615) :' Herb Hollnger, Vce Presden Fa~ (615) ( CompuServe IDJI 70420,1; BUREAUS ATLANTA Jm Newron, Chef, 1350 Sprng sr. N.W., Arlanta. Ga Telephone (404) DALLAS Thoma. J. Brannon. Chef. 333 N. Washngron. Darla., Te~as , Telephona (214) NASHVILLE Lloyd T. Housaholder. Chef. 127 Nnth Ave., N., Nashvlle. Tenn , Telephone (615) RICHMOND Robert L. Stanley. Chef, 3806 Monument Ave_, Rchmond, Va., 23230, T./ephone (804) WASHINGTON Tom Strode, Chef, 400 North Captol St. #594. Washngton. D.C Telephone (202) August 12, 1992 TENNESSEE -- Jaled mnster, other Baptst bodes face lawsuts totallng $10 mllon. KENTUCKY -- Volunteers don't let age stop ther mssons work. HONG KONG -- Communsts changed Molly Yong's Chna, but she changed her world, wth photo. ST. LOUIS -- College admnstrator vsts former students n Kazahstan. ILLINOIS -- Retred Baptst edtor L.H. Moore des n Illnos. Jaled mnster. other Baptst bodes face lawsuts totalng $10 mllon By Art Toalston CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (BP)-~Fve lawsuts seekng a total of $10 mllon n damages have been fled aganst a Baptst mnster, the Southern Baptst Conventon and three other Baptst groups n connecton wth the mnster's convcton for chld molestaton earler ths year. Named n each $2 mllon cvl sut are Donald McCary, mnster of musc and youth at Central Baptst Church of Hxson n Chattanooga for 17 years untl hs arrest; the church tself; the Southern Baptst Conventon; Tennessee Baptst Conventon; and Hamlton County Baptst Assocaton. Attorneys for the church and the SBC voced certanty ther clents would be dsmssed from the suts, fled n Hamlton County Crcut Court by attorneys for fve boys each dentfed as "John Doe." Four of the boys were nvolved n the prosecuton of McCary. McCary was ndcted last November then convcted n Aprl of 13 counts nvolvng aggravated sexual battery, assault, sexual battery, rape and statutory rape of the boys, who were 12 to 15 years of age at the tme. McCary was gven a maxmum 72-year sentence and s n the county jal awatng transfer to a state prson. In targetng the church, the SBC, the Tennessee conventon and local assocaton, the lawsuts allege "vcarous lablty" (legal lablty for McCary's actons), "neglgent retenton and/or supervson" of McCary as an employee and "neglgence." The church's attorney, Rchard Bethea of Chattanooga, sad he s "absolutely confdent the church wll be exonerated.". "-.. "", "The church smply dd not know any more than the parents of McCary's alleged abuse of fve boys from the church, Bethea sad. absolute shock to everyone." the chldren knew" of "Ths came as an The suts allege that Central's pastor, Ron Phllps, faled to nvestgate McCary's actvtes after a member of the congregaton, n 1989, dscussed concerns about McCary's contacts wth the member's son. "That allegaton s patently false," attorney Bethea sad. "At no tme dd anyone ever report to the pastor or any other church offcal any concerns that Mr. McCary may be engagng n the conduct that resulted n hs arrest and prosecuton." Phllps, pastor of the church the past 13 years, s current charman of the board of drectors of the SBC Home Msson Board and presdent of the Tennessee Baptst Conventon. --more--

2 Page 2 "Central Baptst Church took mmedate steps to deal wth ths stuaton when they were made aware of Mr. McCary's conduct at the tme of hs arrest," Bethea added. "They cooperated fully wth law enforcement authortes and were, n fact, prased by law enforcement authortes for ther atttude of cooperaton and assstance n Mr. McCary's prosecuton." James Guenther, SBC general counsel, predcted the SBC wll be dsmssed from the suts as wll the Tennessee conventon and local Baptst assocaton. The suts contend McCary was "employed and/or under the drecton and control of" the church and the other Baptst bodes. "We've probably had a dozen of these cases where a plantff has undertaken to show that the SBC controls a mnster," sad Guenther, who has handled SBC legal affars snce "Plantffs have never been able to show that we do" control any mnster. Guenther explaned the SBC does not ordan, certfy or defrock mnsters or select, supervse or dscplne them for local churches. Added Bethea, "The Southern Baptst Conventon, the Tennessee Baptst Conventon and the Hamlton County Baptst Assocaton, as any Baptst knows, have no legal authorty over the ndependent and autonomous churches that choose to partcpate n those assocatons." McCary has a twn brother, Ron, who also s n prson for chld sex abuse and an older brother, Rchard, on parole for smlar charges, accordng to newspaper accounts. ~30-- Volunteers don't let age stop ther mssons work By Paulne Stegall MAYFIELD, Ky. (BP)~-Age hasn't ted Anne Parrsh Markham and Roberta Brdges Chumley to rockng chars. "The Lord has been so good to me. I feel I must serve hm as long as I can," sad Markham, 86, of Mayfeld, Ky., who recently returned from Ro de Janero, Brazl. She and Chumley, 72, of Greenvlle, Ky., spent two months catalogng books n the Brazlan Baptst semnary's lbrary there. They have teamed up before: Markham, a retred college Englsh teacher, catalogs books; Chumley, one of Markham's former students and a retred jeweler, prepares work cards. Both seasoned travelers, they were undaunted by ther austere quarters n Brazl. Ther small room contaned two hard beds, two chars and a table, Markham sad. But after some 30 mssonares honored the par wth a shower of household tems, they spruced up ther short-term home. Markham and Chumley got to know many of the semnary students durng ther tme n Ro. Restng on ther porch, they often would be joned by young people. Some spoke only Portuguese and were anxous to mprove ther Englsh. -,.~ That was a famlar pattern for Markham, a veteran volunteer. Snce she retred at age 72, she has cataloged three lbrares n Guatemala, three n Kenya and others n Jamaca and Australa. In her many trps, Markham never has experenced llness or njury. taken good care of me," she clamed. "The Lord has She's been nvted to go to Bolva and catalog a lbrary on computer. "1 may go," she sad, "but 1 don't do computers. 1 may have to go to Murray State and take a course."

3 Communsts changed M lly Vong's Chna but she changed her world Page 3 By Lyda Murphy HONG KONG (BP)--The communsts called her an enemy of the people and consdered her an ant-revolutonst. She had no securty and couldn't trust the government. But Molly Vong had peace because her strength and support dd not come from communsm. For Wong, who receved the dstngushed alumna award from Southwestern Baptst Theologcal Semnary ths summer, the words sent to her by a mssonary frend became her message of encouragement through years of persecuton: "Greater s he that s n you than he that s n the world." "Along the way n my Chrstan experence I had learned that Scrptures and hymns are God's rod and staff. Every tme I faced trbulatons or I needed them most, they were there. I was comforted, enlghtened and strengthened," she sad. Although Wong completed her college educaton, t dd not help her career wth communst offcals. Because she was a Chrstan and educated she was a favorte target durng group ndoctrnaton sessons where she was belttled and scorned. "Day after day they scolded, blamed and shouted. They wanted me to answer ther questons agan and agan. What they wanted was ther knd of answer even f t went aganst my fath and conscence," Wong sad. "I was n msery and felt I had reached the bottom. I could not endure any more and there was no place I could go and no one who could help me. "At nght, when I got home, I prayed n agony. In my room I secretly read my Bble and sang hymns whch had specal messages," Vong sad. "I could never forget God's presence durng those precous hours." Growng up n a mddle-class Chnese famly n Shangha, Wong was the youngest of four chldren. Her parents ded when Wong was 6 and the chldren became orphans. As a teen, Wong went to the North Gate Church (Frst Baptst Church of Shangha) where she came under the nfluence of Baptst mssonares. Accordng to Wong, t was mssonary Elzabeth Hale's selfless and devoted lfe that had the greatest mpact on her. "I accepted Jesus as my personal Savor and mmedately my lfe was changed," Wong sad. "There was no more fear of death, devls and darkness. I was sure that Jesus had saved me." Wong's confdence n God upheld her through the dffcult days of communst takeover and oppresson as a young adult. At one pont she became so ll from a kdney nfecton she nearly ded. But Wong depended on God to overcome her sckness and other obstacles to reach her desre of servng God n a free land... "The bggest problems were poltcal," sad Wong, who was a government statstcan. "They consdered some of the nformaton to be secret. They would not let me leave." But Wong's prayers and perseverance pad off and she managed to escape Chna for Hong Kong, where she began work for Hong Kong. In 1969, Wong graduated from Southwestern and returned to her work wth the Hong Kong publshng house. Her book, "They Changed My Chna," was publshed n 1970 by Broadman Press and tells her story of fleeng from the communst takeover. --more--

4 Page 4 Wong retred n 1990 after 30 years as edtor and edtormn-chef of Hong Kong. But the 72 Myear-01d wrter hasn't stopped. She currently s edtng a new translaton of the Chnese Bble. As she consders gong through another communst takeover n 1997 when Hong Kong reverts to Chna, Wong does what she dd before _M trust God. "I hope God wll make a revval among the churches and Chrstans wll be stronger and not compromse as before." MM30-- (BP) photo maled to state Baptst newspapers by Southwestern Semnary. College admnstrator vsts former students n Kazakhstan By Trenns Henderson ST. LOUIS (BP)--George Hutchngs, actng dean of development at College n St. Lous, wll go any dstance -- even halfway around the contact wth college alumn. Mssour Baptst world.m to stay n Hutchngs and Davd Love, a junor at Mssour Baptst College, recently returned from Alma-Ata, Kazakhstan, n the former Sovet Unon, where they vsted wth two former Mssour Baptst students. Kalamkas Zhanysbaeva and Zhanar Abdldna spent the 1990M9l academc year studyng at Mssour Baptst College. They orgnally traveled to the Unted States to partcpate n a one-semester student exchange program sponsored by Cooperatve Servces Internatonal, Southern Baptsts' nternatonal ad organzaton. But after a few weeks, the two young lades asked to stay a second semester. The Sovet government agreed for them to reman n St. Lous an addtonal semester f the college would provde the needed expenses. Hutchngs and other college offcals rased $8,000 to cover the expenses and provde the two students addtonal tme at the college. Hutchngs worked closely wth the students whle they were at Mssour Baptst College and the three of them developed a lastng frendshp. When the two young women returned home, they told ther famles of Hutchngs' kndness and ther famles, n turn, nvted hm to vst Alma-Ata. Love, a member of Manchester (Mo.) Baptst Church, volunteered to accompany Hutchngs on hs trp. A composer and panst, Love was able to play the pano for varous audences n AlmaMAta. The two Mssourans vsted the Kazakh Parlament and the Natonal Academy of Scence and Hutchngs spoke at a Baptst church n Alma-Ata. Descrbng the culture as "totally, totally dfferent," Love noted, "I learned a whole lot about the people and how frendly they are." Hutchngs sad the trp provded an excellent opportunty to "follow up on ther sprtual lves." The two students, both Muslms, had ganed a postve perspectve of Chrstanty durng ther tme n the U.S. Durng a banquet n A1ma MAta, Hutchngs sad Zhanysbaeva, a government nterpreter, told her frends and famly t has been "born n her heart to beleve 100 percent n the Almghty God." Although she "doesn't have all her theology straght yet," Hutchngs sad he plans to send her some Chrstan materal "to help her on her plgrmage." Abdldna, who now works on the Kazakh stock exchange, also expressed an nterest n Chrstanty by the end of the weekmlong vst, Hutchngs reported. He sad her partng request was: ~Pray for me. I need sprtual help.~ M-more MM - (

5 Page 5 Reflectng on hs trp, Hutchngs noted, "I have learned that other cultures such as Muslms and athests are not necessarly hostle to us. Smple kndness can open the doors to the hearts of athests." --30-~ Retred Baptst edtor L.H. Moore des n Illnos SALEM, Ill. (BP)--L.H. Moore, edtor emertus of the Oho Baptst Messenger and former edtor of the Illnos Baptst, ded at hs home here Aug. 10. Moore, 82, had suffered the past few months from an noperable bran tumor. ths year, he and hs wfe, Neoma, moved from Columbus, Oho, to Salem, Ill. Earler From 1967 untl hs retrement n 1976, the natve Illnosan was edtor of the Oho Baptst Messenger. From 1957 untl 1967 he was edtor of the Illnos Baptst. For four years before that, he was evangelsm drector for Illnos Baptst State Assocaton. Ordaned to the mnstry n 1926, Moore served for 25 years as pastor of churches n Tennessee and Illnos. After retrement, Moore was nterm pastor of several churches n the greater Columbus, Oho, area. Moore was a past presdent of Illnos Baptst State Assocaton and the Southern Assocaton. A graduate of Unon Unversty n Jackson, Tenn., he s the author of three books: "Southern Baptsts n Illnos," "From Forest Trals to Urban Jungles" and a hstory of Oho Baptsts. He co-authored a book of sermons, "Jesus Is Callng." Ill. Funeral servces wll be at 10:30 a.m. Aug. 14 at Frst Baptst Church n Vandala, Besdes hs wfe, survvors nclude four sons, Thomas of Phoenx, Arz.; Lamre R. of Fayettevlle, Ark.; Paul of Salem; and John D. of Lewstown, Mont.; a brother, Stanley W. Moore of Vandala; 24 grandchldren; 24 great-grandchldren; and one great~great-grandchld. Memorals may be made to the Baptst Chldren's Home at Carm, Ill., or to the L.R. and Neoma G. Moore Memoral Fund of Southern Baptst Theologcal Semnary n Lousvlle, Ky EDITORS' NOTE: Mrs. Moore's address s 317 E. Jennngs, Salem IL