Pubdate: Sat, 18 Aug 2001 Source: The Herald-Sun (NC) Copyright: 2001 The Herald-Sun Contact: http://www.herald-sun.com Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1428 DURHAM MINISTERS TO LEAD DRUG ABUSE CONFERENCES DURHAM -- The official kickoff for a series of drug abuse conferences to be held at the six seminaries supported by the Southern Baptist Convention will occur at Southeastern Seminary in Wake Forest Sept. 5. Durham's Ted Stone and his ministry associate, Philip Barber, will lead the conferences, which are free and open to the public. "Those who train to serve the Lord need to have a better idea of the magnitude of this problem and how to handle it in their respective areas of service," Stone said. The conference at Southeastern will begin in Appleby Chapel with registration at 2:30 p.m. The afternoon session will deal with understanding what the drug problem is all about. The Rev. Don Brown, pastor of First Baptist Church in Creedmoor, will speak about halfway houses. The evening session will be held in Binkley Chapel and will feature a panel discussion, "Victory Through Prevention." Panel members will include Stone and Barber as well as several faculty members at the seminary. The Rev. Steve Cobb, pastor of Temple Baptist Church of New Bern, will lead a devotion and give a brief testimony before the panel discussion. Stone and his associate have urged faculty and administrators at all the seminaries to add courses of study on the comprehensive treatment of the drug problem and its solution. The conferences are being held in cooperation with the seminaries and the Southern Baptist Convention Drug Abuse Task Force. Stone, who has been involved in a drug abuse ministry for more than 24 years, made the motion that created the task force. A trustee at Southwestern Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, since 1997, Stone is also a member of the Board of Visitors at Southeastern Seminary. He met Barber while speaking at a Mesquite, Texas, church in 1997. Barber, a talented musician, joined Stone in his ministry and assisted Stone during two of his three walks across America to stimulate a deeper involvement in solving the drug problem. The two have written a pair of books, "The Drug Tragedy: Hope for the One Who Cares" and "The Drug Tragedy: Hope for the One Who Hurts." These are the core resources for the conferences. In addition, the two have written the cover article for the September issue of "Home Life," a publication of the SBC, and will co-author four articles on the subjects being discussed as part of the seminary conferences. These will begin with the October issue of "SBC Life." Stone and Barber write a monthly column for Baptist Press. Further information on the conference at Southeastern is available by calling Dean Russ Bush at (919) 556-3101. Call to make arrangements for large groups. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth