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Seventh-day Adventist Appointed to the Mississippi Supreme Court

ustice James E. Graves Jr., religious liberty secretary for the New Heights Adventist Church in Jackson, Mississippi, was recently appointed to the Mississippi Supreme Court, reports Audrey Stovall-Hayes, South Central Conference correspondent. He began his work on November 1.

Graves was sworn in by Supreme Court Justice Ed Pittman, who closely observed him over the past 10 years. Graves was elected as Circuit Court Judge in a special election in September 1991, and reelected without opposition in 1994 and 1998. According to Pittman, Graves was an effective manager and an innovator with courtroom technology. Convinced Graves will bring that same innovation to the Supreme Court, Pittman said, "He is bright, energetic and he is going to shake this group up."

Graves (pictured at right) received his undergraduate degree in sociology from Millsaps College and worked at the Mississippi Department of Public Welfare for nearly two years. He received his law degree from Syracuse University. He also holds a Master of Public Administration degree from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse.

Graves worked as staff attorney at Central Mississippi Legal Services and as an assistant attorney general. He was appointed head of the Human Services Division of the attorney general's office, where he served as chief legal counsel to the Mississippi Department of Human Services.

Just prior to his appointment as Circuit Court Judge, he directed the Division of Child Support Enforcement of the Mississippi Department of Human Services, and he engaged in private practice for more than three years.

Graves has taught trial advocacy at Harvard Law School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and has also served as adjunct professor at Jackson State University, where he taught both media law and civil rights law.

Numerous organizations have honored Graves for his ability as a judge and for his commitment to the principle of "equal justice for all."

Said Graves, "I am very mindful that this institution is greater than any individual and is greater than the sum of its parts, and I am bound and determined to serve with honor and dignity and integrity, so help me God."

Austalian Schools Ban Harry Potter
Seventh-day Adventist education grabbed the media spotlight recently when church officials decided to ban Harry Potter books in the in the continent's 60 schools. International media outlets like the BBC and Reuters ran stories on the action.

John Hammond, education director for the Australian Union Conference, told reporters, "We have a library policy that excludes books about the occult or which could encourage children into the occult. We have not banned anyone from buying one at home, that's fine; but they do not meet our school criteria."

According to Reuters, the movie opened in Australia in 476 theaters. In North America the movie opened on more than 6,000 screens. In less than three weeks the movie grossed more than $220 million.

The Adventist Review is carrying a feature on the Harry Potter phenomenon on its website at archives.adventistreview.org/2001-1547/story5.html

ADRA/Nepal Office Ransacked
The Adventist Development and Relief Agency International's (ADRA) Rasuwa District Clinic in Nepal was broken into November 30, reports Norma Sahlin, media relations manager for ADRA International.

Civil unrest in the country is seen as the cause of the vandalism. The vandals stole office equipment and cut communication lines. Though ADRA security guards were present at the clinic when the attack took place, none were harmed or threatened.

ADRA Nepal had earlier increased security measures at its project sites as a precaution due to instability in the region. Evening clinic activities have been suspended temporarily, but the clinic will continue to operate regularly throughout the day.

Other projects are not affected and continue to run as normal. However, additional precautionary steps are being taken to ensure the ongoing safety and security of ADRA's staff and operations in Nepal.

Present in more than 120 nations, ADRA provides individual and community development and disaster relief without regard to political or religious association, age, or ethnicity.

GC Official Lauds UN Anti-Terrorism Resolution
The Seventh-day Adventist Church's United Nations (UN) liaison director, Jonathan Gallagher, says he sincerely appreciates the world body's anti-terrorism resolution.

"The unity of the international community in taking action to �prevent and suppress' terrorist acts is surely appreciated by all," Gallagher said. "Such terrorist threats are of deep concern to all nations, and the fact that this resolution is necessary is a tragic commentary on our time. The Adventist Church has consistently stood for values of compassion, toleration, and the need for unity in the family of humanity because it follows the principles of non-violence as taught by Jesus Christ.

"We join with all people of good faith in expressing our horror at such acts of extreme violence, especially those carried out on the innocent and defenseless, and will continue to do our part to build up the quality of life, rather than tear it down."

North Carolina Adventist Memorialized
With Her Own Street
Municipal leaders in High Point, North Carolina, are paying posthumous tribute to Rosetta Cora Baldwin by naming a street after the life-long Adventist educator.

According to the Greensboro News Record newspaper, the town's planning and zoning commission voted to rename Olga Avenue as R.C. Baldwin Avenue, effective July 2002.

Baldwin, who died last year at age 98, "helped her father build the Seventh-day Adventist Church on Olga Avenue in 1920, along with a school."

Baldwin is best known for establishing the Rosetta C. Baldwin Education Center "where she taught until she was 94."

GC President to Hold Global Teleconference
On January 3, General Conference president Jan Paulsen hold a teleconference with 5,000 administrators, pastors, church elders, and lay members around the world.

During the conference call, Paulsen will share ideas and encouragement about the year ahead, and use the opportunity to convey a special message.

In explaining the purpose of the call, Reger Smith, an associate General Conference communication director, said, "One of the goals is to create a word-of-mouth excitement and interest that often goes beyond what we can effect through usual channels. It will also give us a unique opportunity to test the well-known "Adventist grapevine." We'll see how quickly word spreads from these few thousand leaders to the millions in our church family around the world."

After the teleconference, an audio record of the call will be available on the internet at www.adventist.org.

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