August 13, 2001
Freeman Heights sees its
community through missionary eyes
___By Ferrell Foster
___Texas Baptist Communications
___GARLAND--The place might appear to be a boys' paradise, but the boys enjoying it are definitely not from paradise.
___In this room, game tables of all kinds are available, and they're readily used by about 20 boys who come from the tougher side of town.
___Just down the hall, a boy shoots a basketball through a hoop. In yet another room, six boys crank up a boom box and break-dance on the hardwood floors.
___Welcome to Freeman Heights Baptist Church.
___The suburban Dallas congregation has converted an abandoned health club into a "re-creational outreach center," or ROC for short. What once were racquetball courts for club members now are recreational rooms for anyone. And Christ is talked about throughout the place.
___The ROC is but one expression of the church's commitment to using a variety of means to reach out to people who need to know Christ, something the Baptist General Convention of Texas calls "missional church strategies." Freeman Heights receives support for its ministries through the Mary Hill Davis Offering for Texas missions.
___A missional church is one that "does what Acts 1:8 says to do," said E.B. Brooks, in reference to the passage that says "you shall be my witnesses" in your town, your region and the world. Brooks, coordinator of the BGCT's church missions and evangelism section, said a missional church "focuses outside itself."
___That description fits Freeman Heights. It sponsors two missions by itself, two more with other churches and has another group now forming. Almost 30 percent of its budget goes to missions--local, state, national and world. And about 100 church members are involved as missions volunteers.
___"There is a strong sense here that this is something God has called us to do," said Pastor Larry Venable, who has been at the church 18 years. It's a "fun church to pastor" because the people "have a heart to make a difference."
___The ROC is located two miles west of the church's main campus. "God just kind of dropped that on us," Venable explained. The previous owners of the 26,800-square-foot building went bankrupt, and the church made an offer they didn't expect to be accepted. But it was. That was in 1992.
___Garland is a diverse community of more than 200,000 people, Venable said. Subsidized "section eight" government housing surrounds the ROC. Near the main church site, house prices range from $40,000 to $250,000. In those homes live people from a wide range of racial and ethnic groups.
___As for the church, Venable said, "we're a racially diverse congregation." The church added a Hispanic staff member last year when Mike Perez became minister of missions. It's also "very much a working-class church."
___The church members are "really willing to get out and do stuff," the pastor said. "Almost everything we do is volunteer led. ... It makes them feel good to get out and help others."
___The ministries performed by church members are varied, including a crisis pregnancy center (seeing almost 100 clients each month), English as a Second Language classes, health and craft fairs, immunizations for children, sewing classes, a food pantry and youth activities at the ROC.
___This is possible, Venable said, because he and the members trust one another. "When they come to me with an idea for a ministry, I'm more than willing to listen. They've just proven themselves over and over. ... God sends us people who want to do something."
___About 350 people attend Freeman Heights' Sunday morning activities--two Bible study sessions and two worship services. There are some in the community, however, who will not come to a typical church service, Venable said. That's where the ROC comes in.
___"When I started this, I didn't realize how hard it was (for some people) to walk into a church building," he said. In the area around the ROC, many people are on public assistance and do not have their own transportation. Getting to Freeman Heights Baptist Church just two miles away would be difficult.
___"I'm convinced we could have a church on every corner," Venable said. In fact, the church has two separate mission congregations meeting in the ROC--one Spanish-speaking and the other largely Hispanic but speaking English. The church also sponsors a number of community-oriented events to reach unchurched people.
___Everything that is done is intended to create opportunities for talking about Christ, he said. But "it takes a lot of effort to keep the evangelistic in it. It gravitates toward crowd control."
___It also takes money. "I really don't know how we do this on paper," Venable said. "Missions or extending yourself can be somewhat costly. We're using every space we've got. We need to build." But "our church is not willing to sacrifice ministry in order to build," he added.
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