November 3, 1999

Wade outlines church-based
vision for BGCT's future
___By Marv Knox
___Editor
___DALLAS--Texas Baptist churches provide the passion and the power for reaching their state for Christ, the new leader of the Baptist General Convention of Texas declared.
___Charles Wade described his "vision for Texas Baptists in the 21st century" at a dinner meeting of Texas Baptists Committed Oct. 25 at Park Cities Baptist Church in Dallas. Wade, pastor of First Baptist Church in Arlington, recently was elected executive director of the BGCT. He will succeed Bill Pinson, who retires Jan. 31.
___The Texas Baptists Committed meeting is one of several venues where Wade recently has been invited to share his vision for the future. He also recently addressed pastors in the Amarillo area, for example.
___"The only way the Baptist General Convention of Texas will be effective is to help every church and pastor to touch and love and reach the people of this state for Christ--being the presence of Christ in the towns, the communities where they are," Wade said. "The main task the BGCT has is to serve our churches and help them be the best they can be."
___While Texas Baptists "can do lots of things better together than we can apart," Wade stressed, "the churches don't exist to serve the convention; the convention exists to serve the churches."
___That means the convention will ask the churches: "What do you want us to do for you? How can we help you? What has God revealed to you?" he said. Then, the convention will help the churches fulfill their vision, he pledged.
___"As best I know how, I want to help Texas Baptists put their arms around Texas--not through some grand scheme put together by the Baptist Building, but by the vision of the churches."
___Texas Baptists are equipped and mobilized at the church level, he said, noting the convention relates to about 5,000 congregations, including 1,000 Hispanic churches and congregations speaking "every language of Texas."
___"I want to put our arms around Texas and hug this state up close to God," Wade described. "We're going to help churches do what churches want to do. We can make a difference in people's lives all across Texas."
___Wade listed eight "values that will instruct my life" as executive director:
___ "God's written word is the record of the revelation God has given us to guide our efforts."
___ "Jesus is the one who saves us, brings us to God and is the model by which we shape our lives and measure our goals."
___ "The Holy Spirit is actively at work calling us forward, empowering our work, comforting us in the struggle."
___ "The church is the community of faith nurturing us and is the body of Christ through which we put our arms around hurting people and bring them to God."
___ "Love God and love people. We're going to live our lives in the shape of the Cross," reaching up to God and out to a needy, hurting world.
___ "Put people first and strategy second."
___ "The BGCT exists to serve the churches, to help them be the presence of Christ in their communities."
___ "All these values are held together in our hearts as we depend upon God and pray for his guidance and blessing."
___The vision of reaching the state for Christ is compelling enough to draw young Texas Baptists into the effort, to "transcend old wounds" and to diagnose if churches are healthy and lead them toward health, he said.
___And speaking of old wounds, Wade said he accepts the challenge "to help Texas Baptists negotiate denominational minefields."
___Differences of opinion over the rightward shift of the Southern Baptist Convention during the past 20 years have divided the BGCT. Texas Baptists Committed, the group to which Wade spoke, has worked to keep the state convention independent of the SBC. Last year, a group that wanted the state convention to synchronize its positions and efforts with the SBC split off to form a new state convention, Southern Baptists of Texas.
___Wade welcomed participation of all Texas Baptists of goodwill. "We can be better together than if we are apart," he said. "We want to work with anyone who wants to work with us.
___"But if some folks want to fuss and attack and berate us because we won't be bullied by any denominational power, then they'll have to attack us. One thing you learn as a pastor is you can't keep everybody on the same page."
___Although unity is desirable, coerced or blind unity can be "a hindrance to the vision God has given us," he said.
___"It's hard to let anybody go," he added. "But this state, this world is too lost and too much in need to sit and worry about every deal and allow every criticism to deter us from doing what God has directed us to do.
___"I want to clean off a little space where Texas Baptists can get a little traction to reach men and women for Christ. This is what Jesus would be about if he walked up and down the streets of our cities."

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