October 27, 1999
Hispanic association to constitute
___By Mark Wingfield
___Managing Editor
___GAINESVILLE--A new association of Hispanic Baptist churches in north central Texas has scheduled a "declaration service" for Oct. 30 to mark its official formation.
___Asociacion Bautista Hispana Norte Centro de Texas will be unique in Texas Baptist life because its membership will be defined by ethnicity more than by geography. Currently, all associations affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas are comprised of churches in the same locality, often within the same county or set of adjoining counties.
___The new Hispanic association will cover a large section of North Central Texas and will overlap the traditional boundaries of several existing associations.
___This is one of two new expressions of associational life currently under development among Texas Baptists. The other is formation of the Baptist Association of the Southwest, which is to unite a collection of churches in Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana.
___Although the model for the new Hispanic association may appear outside the boundaries of what Texas Baptists traditionally have called an association, it should not be considered a threatening development, said Moises Perales, pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Bridgeport and an organizer of the association.
___"There is not anything that would say we could not do this, but I know some say this will disrupt our associations," Perales said. "But there is nothing that will be difficult about it. This is something the people are enthusiastically looking forward to in order to win more people to Christ."
___By joining the new association, the Hispanic churches will not leave the geographic associations they have been aligned with, Perales said. "Nothing will change other than that we will have a director of missions who will be working with these congregations. It will just enhance the work. It will not duplicate."
___Hispanic leaders hope the BGCT will help fund the director of missions position by appointing a missionary to serve in that role.
___The BGCT Executive Board, meanwhile, will ask messengers to next month's annual session in El Paso to create a special committee to study the convention's relationship with non-geographic associations.
___The declaration service will be held at 7 p.m. Oct. 30 at Primera Iglesia Bautista, 1911 N. Luther Lane, in Gainesville.
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