March 4, 2002
BGCT approves next-to-last step to become endorsing agency for chaplains
___ Continued from page 3
___most prison chaplains in Texas and many hospital chaplains.
___The proposal approved by the BGCT Executive Board calls for endorsing female and male chaplains for all roles to which they are called, whether ordained or not.
___The BGCT Chaplaincy Endorsement Board will take Texas chaplains as its primary focus, but will not limit its endorsements to Texans, Hatfield said in response to a board member's question.
___Details about the process by which the BGCT will appoint chaplains are still being worked out, according to Bobby Smith, director of the BGCT's chaplaincy relations office. However, it is likely candidates for endorsement will be allowed to express their doctrinal convictions in their own words during an interview process rather than being asked to sign a faith statement written by someone else, he said in an interview.
___Chaplains and pastoral counselors currently endorsed by other Baptist bodies will be allowed to transfer their endorsement to the BGCT in an abbreviated process, he added. To be "grandfathered" in, endorsed chaplains and counselors will be asked to submit a letter of intent and provide evidence of their current endorsement.
___The new endorsement board will be selected by the State Missions Commission and will have nine members. Five will be chaplains or counselors representing health care, corrections, the military, business/ industry and pastoral counseling. Three will be drawn from the State Missions Commission, and one will be a staff member from the BGCT's institutional ministries section.
___The BGCT's office of chaplaincy relations was created last year upon recommendation of a Chaplain Study Group appointed by BGCT Executive Director Charles Wade. That study group included nine chaplains and pastoral counselors.
___The study group reported nearly 400 Texas Baptist chaplains are endorsed by the SBC, and many are uncomfortable with the new restrictions placed on their endorsements by NAMB.
___Background material received by the Executive Board from the study group recommended the BGCT continue in "a spirit of Christian cooperation and personal respect" with chaplains endorsed by other Baptist bodies.
___Editor's note: Chaplains and pastoral counselors seeking information on BGCT endorsement may contact Bobby Smith by writing to BGCT Chaplaincy Relations Office, 333 N. Washington, Dallas 75246-1798 or calling (214) 828-5381 or sending e-mail to brsmith@bgct.org.
___Board member Charles Walton of Conroe, a pastor and volunteer police chaplain, urges the BGCT not to forget volunteer chaplains.
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