Day of prayer for Baptists set for Sept. 26
___By Ferrell Foster
___Texas Baptist Communications
___DALLAS--Leaders of the Baptist General Convention of Texas are being asked to set aside Wednesday, Sept. 26, as a "Day of Prayer with Fasting." Other Texas Baptists and leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention are encouraged to join them.
___BGCT Executive Director Charles Wade mailed a prayer guide to about 1,400 Texas Baptist leaders, including Executive Board members and staff, directors of missions, those serving on commissions and committees of the convention, trustees of the institutions and Baptist Student Ministry directors.
___Additional prayer guides have been requested by those recipients to share with their churches and groups.
___As of Wednesday, Sept. 12, 139 BGCT leaders had returned cards committing to the prayer effort, which includes five days of meditation prior to Sept. 26.
___Another mailing was sent to more than 35,000 leaders of Texas Baptist churches encouraging their participation in the day of prayer.
___The action arose out of a motion made by James Heffington, pastor of West Oaks Baptist Church in Bryan, at the BGCT annual session last year in Corpus Christi. Heffington's motion asked that BGCT and SBC leaders meet to pray for healing in denominational relations.
___The motion was referred to the BGCT Administrative Committee and Executive Board, which took the approach of calling a day of prayer because of the cost and logistical difficulties in trying to arrange a meeting of BGCT and SBC leaders, said Ted Elmore, director of the BGCT's office of prayer and spiritual development.
___The call for prayer arose out of ongoing disagreements between the BGCT and the SBC. With or without conflict, it's good for Baptists to call themselves together and look to God, Elmore said. "This can be a time when God brings us to a focus on the mission" God has given BGCT and Texas Baptists. "This may be a day when the Lord Jesus washes our feet," as in John 13:8.
___Wade added: "The Day of Prayer with Fasting will lead Texas Baptists to a time of deep recommitment on our part to touching Texas and the world with the gospel of Christ. We continue to seek an opening for God to work in miraculous ways to heal our denomination.
___"The reason we chose to do this in this way is we felt it offered the best way for us to pray in a serious and meaningful way, not distracted by others' expectations or preoccupied with appearance or caught up in debate, but praying and fasting in a very personal encounter with the living God."
___The prayer guide may be downloaded from www.texasprayercenter.com.
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