wfn.org | AMERICAN BAPTIST NEWS FOR MARCH 14, 1997

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American Baptist News Service_____________________
Office of Communication / American Baptist Churches USA
P.O. Box 851, Valley Forge, PA 19482-0851
Phone: (610)768-2077 / Fax: (610)768-2320 
Richard W. Schramm, Director (E-mail:
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UPDATE: MARCH 14, 1997
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o  Dr. Manfred T. Brauch, president of Eastern Baptist
Theological Seminary in Wynnewood, Pa., has
announced his resignation, effective June 30, 1997.  A
New Testament scholar, Brauch had been a faculty
member at the school prior to his election as president
in 1989.  He has cited as the motivation for his
resignation a desire "to return to scholarship and
teaching and to be again directly involved in the
preparation of
students for the Christian ministry."  Under Brauch's
leadership the seminary has increased its financial
stability
and added such new academic programs as a doctoral
program in church renewal and an extension center in
West Virginia.  In addition enrollment stands at an
all-time high, major campus renovations are set to begin,
and
the school's Forward in Faithfulness capital campaign has
surpassed the halfway point of its $6.3 million goal.
Stanley Nodder Jr., chair of the Seminary's Board of
Directors, said the school would "sorely miss his capable
and faithful leadership" but was "glad that he will
remain a crucial part of the Seminary's life."  A search
committee has been formed to begin the process of finding
the school's next president.  Dr. R. Scott Rodin, vice
president for Advancement at Eastern and director of the
Forward in Faithfulness campaign, has been named
acting president as of July 1.  Founded in 1925, Eastern
Baptist Theological Seminary is one of nine theological
schools related to American Baptist Churches USA through
Educational Ministries.

o  Dr. Betsy Morgan, professor of English, and Laura
Jackson, visiting instructor in communications, at
American Baptist-related Eastern College, St. Davids,
Pa., recently won an Emmy for their documentary
"Beyond Beijing: Women and Economic Justice."  The
60-minute public affairs program includes profiles of
micro-enterprise lending affecting women in Mexico and
southwest Bangladesh.   The Emmy was given by the
Mid-Atlantic Region for excellence in Public Affairs
Television. 

o  Dr. Mac Charles Jones, a leader in the National
Council of Churches of Christ's response to the arson
attacks
on churches in the U.S. South, died suddenly March 6 of
an embolism.  He was 47.  An ordained minister of the
National Baptist Convention of America, Inc. and pastor
of St. Stephen Baptist Church in Kansas City, Mo., 
Jones also served on the World Council of Churches
Central Committee and as associate for Racial Justice
with
the NCCC.  He had begun new duties as NCCC deputy general
secretary for National Ministries only three days
before his death.  

97U314
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