July 10, 2000
Hispanic Baptists adopt vision, elect Estrada
___By Ken Camp & Dan Martin
___Texas Baptist Communications
___HOUSTON--The Hispanic Baptist Convention of Texas adopted Vision 2005, a five-year strategic plan, at its annual meeting this summer.
___Convention messengers also elected a new president, Antonio Estrada of South Main Baptist Church of Houston, by a two-vote margin over Otto Arrango of Iglesia Bautista Getsemani in McAllen. Emilio Rod-riguez of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Duncanville also was nominated.
HISPANIC BAPTIST CONVENTION OFFICERS are Second Vice President Joel Ramirez Jr., President Antonio Estrada, First Vice President Baldemar Borrego and Secretary Alex Camacho.
___Baldemar Borrego of Iglesia Bautista Nueva Esperanza in Wichita Falls was re-elected first vice president by acclamation.
___The convention elected Joel Ramirez Jr. of Primera Iglesia Bautista in Wharton as second vice president. Also nominated was Lolly Gage of Primera Iglesia Bautista in San Antonio.
___Alex Camacho, from First Mexican Baptist Church of McKinney, was elected secretary by acclamation.
___Messengers approved statements of mission, vision and values. They also identified critical issues and priorities for the next five years as part of the Vision 2005 strategic plan.
___Lorenzo Pena, director of missions for El Paso Baptist Association and first vice president of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, was facilitator for the team that developed the Vision 2005 plan.
___The convention adopted as its top priorities "identifying and developing transformational leaders; identifying and networking resources to serve all churches; and identifying and networking organizational systems and accountability processes that will lead to customized services for all churches."
___"To serve all churches, we must first recognize that God has a unique vision for each church and that we must be committed to helping each church fulfill its vision. To do that, we must lead the way in helping our denominational organizations that serve the church change how they measure church transformation," the strategic plan states.
___"They must shift from measuring transformation based upon institutional and organizational factors to measuring transformations one church at a time. We must help each church deal with real hurts and hopes of its members and families in a unique and relevant manner. This focus on church customization builds enduring solutions rather than quick fixes.
___"Our world is too diverse for uniformity in our programming and methodology. If we are to be effective and relevant in a changing world, we must make a really big deal out of serving one church at a time."
___Messengers agreed the Hispanic Baptist Convention of Texas exists "to serve its churches and members to fulfill their unique God-inspired vision."
___The vision of the convention is "to become a united family of diverse, spiritually healthy churches networking and developing resources, leaders and organizational systems to impact Texas and the world with the presence of Christ."
___Core values of the convention include advocacy for churches and affirming the role of companerismos, regional Hispanic fellowships.
___"We must place ourselves in position to plead in favor of our Hispanic Baptist churches and their leaders. They must all, large and small congregations, be equally represented in order to become an integral part of the goals and strategies set forth," the strategic plan states.
___"Companerismo is the fellowship of believers culturally united to reach American-born Hispanic residents and recent immigrants with the gospel of Christ. Companerismo provides the influence of the cultural context in worship and praise. Our culture rather than our place of residence is a crucial reference point of self-identification for a rapidly growing Hispanic population."
___Other core values identified by the Vision 2005 team are Baptist distinctives, Christ-likeness, cooperation in missions giving, development of healthy churches, diversity, prayer and sharing the gospel.
___The strategic planning team identified eight critical issues for the convention:
___Be an advocate for Hispanic churches.
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___As a step toward the goal of developing leaders, the first three recipients of the Hispanic Baptist Scholarship Fund were announced.
___Pablo Fajardo of Iglesia Bautista Internacional in El Paso, Laura Leyva of Canaan Baptist Church in San Angelo and Dianne Rincon of Broadway Baptist Temple in Houston each will receive $1,000 per semester for four years.
___In his presidential message, Rudy Camacho of Mision Genesis in Fort Worth pointed to the need for continuing to share the message of Jesus with all people in Texas.
___Last year in Wichita Falls, Camacho challenged the Hispanic convention to start 1,000 congregations in 10 years.
___"We have a tremendous population before us, and they need the gospel," Camacho said.
___In recognition of Camacho's contributions, messengers overwhelmingly voted to name the scholarship fund in honor of Camacho and his wife, Michaela (Mickey).
___Speaking to the annual ministers' conference prior to the Hispanic Convention, BGCT Executive Director Charles Wade challenged the pastors to remember their responsibility as shepherds of God's sheep.
___"It's God's church. It's God's flock. Remember whose the people are, and treat them accordingly," he said.
___Wade urged the ministers to adopt a servant leadership style characterized by vision, integrity and passion and undergirded by a strong support system.
___"We are not called to lead by orders, demands, intimidation or threats. We are called to lead by example. People who are not confident they can lead try to drive people," he said.
___Wade also addressed the church-starting dinner and spoke briefly to the annual meeting.
___Messengers also were told the Hispanic convention's newsletter will be printed by the Baptist Standard. A resolution was adopted requesting that the newspaper print more Hispanic news and actively seek Hispanic writers.
___Editor Marv Knox said the staff is actively seeking more Hispanic news as well as competent Hispanic journalists who can contribute to the publication.
___Texas' 1,000 Hispanic churches also were challenged to contribute an additional $50 per year to provide for a Hispanic consultant with Texas Baptist Men.
___Abe Enrriquez, pastor of Primera Iglesia Bautista in Robstown, used part of his convention sermon to report on a resolution adopted last year by the Varones Bautistas of Texas (Baptist Men) asking for the Hispanic consultant.
___When Texas Baptist Men Executive Director Jim Furgerson reported that funds are not budgeted for the position, the advisory committee adopted a recommendation calling for "every Hispanic church, mission or department ... allocate $50 a year to be designated" to create the new staff position.
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