October 27, 1999

El Paso messengers will consider
budget & 2 studies, honor Pinson
___Messengers to the 114th annual session of the Baptist General Convention of Texas will meet at the El Paso Civic Center Nov. 8-9 to consider a $51 million budget, elect officers and honor the retiring executive director.
___"Putting God's Word to Work" is the theme of the two-day annual business meeting of the Texas Baptist state convention.
___Russell Dilday, distinguished professor of homiletics at Truett Theological Seminary in Waco, will preside at the convention. Dilday is completing his second one-year term as BGCT president.
___Messengers will elect officers to succeed three incumbents--President Dilday; First Vice President Jaclanel McFarland, a Houston attorney; and Second Vice President Ed Hogan, pastor of Jersey Village Baptist Church in Houston.
___As of last week, only one individual had been announced as a nominee for each post, although other nominations could be made. Those expected to be nominated are Clyde Glazener, pastor of Gambrell Street Baptist Church in Fort Worth and current chairman of the BGCT Executive Board, who will be nominated as president; Lorenzo Pena, director of missions for El Paso Baptist Association, who will be nominated as first vice president; and Bill Ballou, minister to senior adults at First Baptist Church of Abilene, who will be nominated as second vice president.
___Other scheduled business items include:
___ A request to create a committee to study the basis of association formation. This request originated with the BGCT's State Missions Commission and was affirmed by the Executive Board.
___Its purpose would be to determine how the BGCT should relate to new non-geographic associations that are being formed. One such association, to be constituted Oct. 30, will serve Hispanic Baptists in North Central Texas. Another, to be constituted next spring, will serve moderate Baptist churches in Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana.
___Both present a new paradigm in associational life, since associations traditionally have been organized around geographic borders such as county lines.
___ A request to establish a committee to study BGCT relationship to churches aligned with another state convention. This request also originated with the State Missions Commission and was affirmed by the Executive Board.
___At issue is the formation last year of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention, a new state convention comprised of conservative churches displeased with the BGCT and its perceived lack of loyalty to the Southern Baptist Convention.
___The committee would make recommendations on how the BGCT should relate to churches that attempt to be dually aligned with the BGCT and SBTC.
___ A request to approve a revised charter for Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center in Waco. This action would change the way in which the institution relates to the BGCT through elected trustees.
___The request follows a recent trend among health care facilities related to state Baptist conventions to seek broader representation on their governing boards in order to gain a more competitive edge. The Hillcrest proposal was considered and approved by the Executive Board this fall but must be affirmed by the full convention.
___ Adoption of a 2000 budget. The budget proposed by the Executive Board totals $51.15 million, an increase of more than $1.4 million (2.8 percent) over the current year. Of that total, $46.75 million would come from churches through the Cooperative Program unified giving plan, an increase of 2 percent over 1999.
___Of the total budget, $14.9 million would be devoted to priorities of sharing the gospel with everyone in the state, strengthening congregations and starting new churches. More than $21.8 million would be earmarked for equipping God's people for service and developing Christian families, including support for Christian higher education. About $6.2 million would be devoted to ministry to human needs, such as hospital chaplaincy programs, child care and elder care institutions. Approximately $8 million would be dedicated to missions and ministry support, including the Ministers Counseling Service.
___The biggest budget debate among Texas Baptists in recent years has been around questions of how the state helps fund national ministries, with some wanting to reduce funding of SBC causes. Currently, churches contributing through the BGCT are given multiple choices on how their contributions for worldwide missions are to be shared.
___Critics of the SBC's conservative swing in the last 20 years contend the current funding pattern creates a virtual default option that benefits SBC agencies and institutions.
___On a separate but related track, leaders of some BGCT institutions have increasingly called for the state convention to direct more of its funding toward urgent needs at home. Ken Hall, president of Buckner Baptist Benevolences, made a strong appeal toward this case during a speech at the Texas Baptists Committed annual convocation this summer. He cited the need for funding of issues such as adoption and crisis pregnancy assistance.
___No proposals on changes in BGCT funding of national or state causes are scheduled to be brought by committees this year, although any messenger is free to offer suggestions from the floor.
___Also during this year's state convention, Texas Baptists will salute Bill Pinson, who retires as BGCT executive director Jan. 31. He was named executive director-elect of the BGCT Executive Board in May 1982 and assumed the post of executive director in January 1983.
___Charles Wade, immediate past president of the BGCT and pastor of First Baptist Church in Arlington, was elected as Pinson's successor Sept. 28 by the Executive Board. Wade will serve as executive director-elect during a transitional period of orientation beginning Nov. 15.
___David Keith, a bivocational pastor from Carlton Baptist Church in Hamilton Baptist Association, will deliver the annual convention sermon.
___The last time Texas Baptists met in El Paso was 1986. That convention drew 2,368 messengers. No projections have been given on registration at this year's convention.
___This year's messengers will be the first elected under a constitutional amendment that links the number of messengers to church giving. The constitutional change on messenger qualifications received final approval last year.
___Under the revised constitution, each church is entitled to two messengers, regardless of size or giving record. The church qualifies for two additional messengers for its first $250 given during the fiscal year to the BGCT budget. Then the church is entitled to one messenger for each additional 100 members and each additional $1,000 given to the Texas budget, up to 25 messengers.
___By Ken Camp of Texas Baptist Communications and Managing Editor Mark Wingfield

Other meetings
___ Texas Baptist Men Convention. Testimonies about disaster relief in Turkey, refugee relief in Kosovo and a prayer walk in China will highlight the 1999 Texas Baptist Men Convention Nov. 9 at the Abraham Chavez Theater in the El Paso Civic Center.
___"Anyway, Anytime, Anywhere" is the theme of the convention and the title of a book that will be released at the convention, a 30-year history of Texas Baptist Men written by Ken Camp and Orville Scott.
___The convention begins at 1:30 p.m.
___ Woman's Missionary Union of Texas annual meeting. "Beyond Borders" is the theme of the Woman's Missionary Union of Texas 1999 annual meeting Nov. 9 at First Baptist Church of El Paso.
___Keynote speaker for the annual meeting is Bill Pinson, who will retire Jan. 31 as executive director of the Baptist General Convention of Texas. Barbara Joiner from Columbiana, Ala., will provide the theme interpretation.
___Other featured speakers include Kirk Bullington from the Baptist Spanish Publishing House and Eleanor Poe from the Baptist Clinic in El Paso.
___The WMU meeting begins at 1:30 p.m.

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