WFU dean receives Baptist Award. Bill J. Leonard, dean and professor of church history at the divinity school of Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C., has received the 2007 W. O. Carver Distinguished Service Award from the Baptist History and Heritage Society. “Throughout his career, he has served as a role model by writing, teaching and communicating Baptist history with integrity, insight and excellence,” said Charles Deweese, the society's executive director.
Prayer debate heats up. The city council of High Point, N.C., voted 9-1 July 16 to permit only nonsectarian prayers to open its meetings, according to the Greensboro News-Record. The vote came despite protests from about 200 citizens in the meeting room who advocated specifically Christian prayers. “No, in the name of Jesus Christ,” said councilman Michael Pugh, casting the only vote against the resolution. Pugh offered his own resolution, calling for prayer to be rotated among council members with no restrictions—“only the dictates of their hearts.” His resolution, though it drew standing ovations from supporters in the audience, died for lack of support. “This is a serious issue,” said John Allard, a High Point minister who organized the protest. “We're going to remember in 2008.”
Church-health expert to head Duke initiative. A Baptist expert in encouraging congregational health is moving from a company he founded to a new initiative at Duke University Divinity School. David Odom, who founded the Center for Congregational Health, will become executive director of a program tentatively called “Leadership Education @ Duke Divinity.” The initiative is part of a plan to develop leaders in Christian institutions. According to a written statement from Marinn Bengel, chair of the Center for Congregational Health's board, Odom's new position will involve work with large-scale entities like seminaries, foundations and denominations. His efforts at Duke will “complement” his previous work at the center, Bengel wrote. Gregory Jones, dean of Duke Divinity, said he is “delighted” to have Odom join the school's staff. “Through his work with the Center for Congregational Health, Dave has developed great insight into issues of church leadership, and we look forward to sharing that knowledge through a variety of new programs we are developing,” Jones said, through the school's communications director. Although Odom will leave the Winston-Salem, N.C.-based center at the end of August, Bengel's statement said, he will continue to assist the staff and directors there over the following months in order to ensure a smooth transition. Leslie Robinson Jr. will succeed Odom as the Center's interim director and president. (ABP)