November 17, 1999
Landes' daughter recalls his ministry
___By Russ Dilday
___Buckner News Service
___EL PASO--About an hour before James Landes died, he turned to his daughter with a request: "Ruth, take a picture of mother and me and Jesus."
___"I didn't have a camera, so I just said, 'Click,'" Ruth Landes Pitts told members of the Texas Baptist Historical Society Nov. 8. "He said, 'Did you get it?' I did. It will be forever etched in my memory. He already was in heaven, and (now) she's gone there, too."
___Pitts spoke to the gathering at First Baptist Church of El Paso on the day after her mother died. Irene Landes died Nov. 7 in Waco.
___That unexpected occurrence shaped the emotion of Pitts' address to the historical society, an address intended to offer personal recollections of her father, James Landes, who was executive director of the Baptist General Convention of Texas 1974-82. He died in 1998.
Irene
Landes dies
WACO—Irene Landes, wife of former Baptist General Convention of Texas executive director James Landes, died Nov. 6 in Waco.
A memorial service for Mrs. Landes, 88, was held Nov. 11 in Waco, with burial at Restland in Richardson.
Mrs. Landes is survived by one daughter, Irene Landes Pitts, two grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
___Her comments spanned her father's ministry as a pastor of Baptist churches in Texas and Alabama, as president of Hardin-Simmons University and as executive director of the BGCT. Among her recollections were her father's ministry to church members affected by World War II, visiting families with Landes during his pastorate at First Baptist Church in Wichita Falls, his wisdom in helping her decide whether to attend a dance and his love for Christian education.
___"Dad was a good teacher, a good administrator and an excellent pastor, but his real strength was his people skills," Pitts said.
___Also during the annual meeting, the historical society elected officers. They are Royce Measures, pastor of Golden Acres Baptist Church in Pasadena, president; Carol Holcomb, a professor at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor in Belton, vice president; and Texas Baptist Historical Collection Director Alan Lefever of Dallas, secretary-treasurer.
___In his Texas Baptist Historical Collection report, Lefever announced that the papers of Texas Baptists Committed will be housed in the Texas Collection within a year. He highlighted the importance of the papers, describing Texas Baptists Committed as an "important voice" in Texas Baptist politics. He also announced plans are being made to move the collection into a larger space to accommodate its increased holdings.
___The Texas Collection, founded in 1933, was housed at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth until 1998, when it was moved to the BGCT offices in Dallas. Among its holdings are historical collections from more than 2,000 churches.
___The society presented its annual Church History Writing Award to four authors for their writing efforts about three churches and a university:
___Christina Keen of Oak Grove Church in Grapeland, for "History of Oak Grove Baptist Church, 1884-1998."
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___In other business, members approved an expanded budget of $14,633, a more than $8,000 increase over the 1998 budget. Lefever noted the new budget reflects a return to the printing of Texas Baptist History, the journal of the Texas Baptist Historical Society, after a three-year hiatus.
___The society will next meet March 3 with the Texas State Historical Association in Austin for the program, "It was a Black and White Issue: Texas Baptists and Civil Rights."
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