August 21, 2000
TOGETHER:
Committee members contribute to welfare of BGCT
___Most people I know hate committee meetings. But that is what I have been doing all week long.
___It has been difficult, but it has been fun too. It is an extraordinary thing to watch Texas Baptists at work.
___In our convention, we have committees for everything! Standing committees are those that are always in place, and members are rotated by the convention. Some committees are appointed by the officers of the convention in response to a convention motion. We havefour of those study committees at work now. Some committees are formed at the request of staff to help them study issues and decide a plan of action.
CHARLES WADE
Executive Director
BGCT Executive Board
___I asked a committee to help me develop a plan for the restructuring of our Executive Board staff. We are about ready to take our recommendations to the Executive Board. We have enlisted a new Strategy Planning Committee, made up of about 65 Texas Baptists, to help us dream the dream God has for our work together in the great mission field God has given us in Texas and the world.
___We have 615 men and women from across our state serving on the boards of our universities, hospitals, childcare ministries and aging-care facilities. We have another 557 men and women serving on convention committees, including 235 on the Executive Board. Every major ministry of our convention has a board or commission working with staff to keep us on track and responsive to God and to the needs of the churches.
___Including the special committees at work this year, we have over 1,250 committee assignments being filled by our Texas Baptist people.
___I have said to them as they come to meet and do their work: "Thank you for what you do on behalf of all our Baptist people. God has blessed us with resources--spiritual, human and financial--to make a difference for him in this state. You are blessed to have this privilege. Pray that God will use us to do his will in all we do."
___Across the years, countless Baptist people have given of their time and resources to help Texas churches reach out to this state and around the world with the good news of our Savior. And there are also countless men and women who are involved through their prayers and their support in the amazing ministries of our Texas Baptist people.
___Through the years, I have appreciated the work of committees in church life. When I have grown weary or impatient with the process, I have asked myself, "What are the other options?" Well, the most obvious is that the pastor makes all the decisions. Or it might be a group of elected leaders make all the decisions. Or it could be that the most influential family, or the church members who have been there since the beginning of time make the decisions.
___Committee work is sometimes messy, sometimes frustrating, sometimes cumbersome, but can more often than not be the most effective way to bring the strengths and spiritual passion of our people to the task at hand.
___Please take time now to breathe a prayer for all those who are working on these committees and your own church committees, that they will be used as instruments of his purpose and to bring glory to our God.
___We are loved.
___
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