Baylor & Standard honor four with ministry awards_111703

Posted: 11/14/03

Rudy and Micaela Camacho, Ron Durham and Chris Seay received this year's Texas Baptist Ministry Awards.

Baylor & Standard honor four with ministry awards

LUBBOCK–Ron Durham, Rudy and Micaela Camacho, and Chris Seay received the second annual Texas Baptist Ministry Awards from Baylor University and the Baptist Standard Nov. 10.

They accepted the awards during George W. Truett Theological Seminary's alumni and friends dinner, held in conjunction with the Baptist General Convention of Texas annual session in Lubbock.

Durham received the W. Winfred Moore Award for lifetime ministry achievement.

His long-term tenure at Columbus Avenue Baptist Church in Waco embodies vision, patience, endurance, commitment and the value of a lifelong investment in one church. He also has influenced the lives of thousands of Baylor University students through three decades of ministry.

Durham joined Columbus Avenue in February 1973, when he became college minister and associate pastor. In December 1980, the church called him as its pastor, and he has guided the congregation for almost 24 years.

Since he became pastor, about 1,300 Christians have been baptized at Columbus Avenue, which has experienced spiritual and physical growth.

It has constructed the Children's Building, renovated the Educational Building, completed the Fellowship Hall and educational space for college students, renovated the Sanctuary and purchased and renovated a building formerly owned by the YMCA, which functions as the Family Life Center and Mission Outreach Center.

In addition, Columbus Avenue also sponsors two mission congregations–Amistad, which primarily ministers to Hispanics, and Living Witness Missionary Baptist Church, which serves African-Americans.

Durham is a Waco native and graduate of Baylor University and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Prior to serving Columbus Avenue, he was pastor of Willow Grove Baptist Church near Moody, First Baptist Church in Eddy and Taylor's Valley Baptist Church in Temple, and a Baptist Student Union campus minister.

Durham and his wife, V. Beth, have two children, John and his wife, Jennifer, and their children, Hannah and Caleb; and Rhonda and her husband, Brett Bunce, and their children, Brandon and Reagan.

The Moore Award recognizes a Texas Baptist minister in any area of specialization for a lifetime of achievement in ministry. Each recipient will compile a cumulative record of service that exemplifies commitment, stability and effectiveness.

The award is named for Moore, longtime pastor of First Baptist Church in Amarillo, who exemplifies lifetime achievement in ministry because of his presence, perseverance, preaching and practice of the Christian faith.

The Camachos accepted the Marie Mathis Award for lay ministry.

They are widely known throughout Texas because they have poured themselves into Texas Baptist causes and advanced the kingdom of God throughout the state.

As a lay preacher, he has filled pulpits across Texas, and they have spent their lives encouraging growth and development of Hispanic Baptist churches.

He is past first vice president of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, secretary of the Howard Payne University board of trustees and a member of the BGCT Executive Committee and the Truett Seminary advisory council.

She is third vice president of the Hispanic Baptist Convencion of Texas, coordinator of the Convencion implementation team and a trustee of Hispanic Baptist Theological School.

He has been president of Convencion and a member of the BGCT executive director search committee, Howard Payne University presidential search committee, BGCT Effectiveness & Efficiency Funding Committee and 10 other BGCT and Tarrant Baptist Association committees and boards.

Howard Payne University has awarded her the doctor of humanities degree and honored him with the HPU Medal of Service and the Dr. Jose Rivas Distinguished Service Award. Convencion has named its scholarship program for them.

He is a retired investigator with the U.S. Postal Service, and she is a retired principal with the Fort Worth Independent School District. They both attended Howard Payne, and she is a graduate of Howard Payne and Texas Woman's University. She also attended Texas Christian University, where she taught.

They are members of Iglesia Bautista Genesis in Fort Worth. They have three sons, Rudy, Ron and Robert, and a granddaughter, Espi.

The Mathis Award recognizes a Texas Baptist layperson or laypersons for recent singular or lifetime ministry achievement. Candidates' achievements combine and exemplify imagination, leadership and effectiveness.

Mathis, a staff member at First Baptist Church in Dallas and for more than a quarter-century director of Baylor's Baptist Student Union, was the first woman elected to a Southern Baptist Convention office. She also was president of Texas and SBC Woman's Missionary Union and the Women's Department of the Baptist World Alliance.

Seay took home the George W. Truett Award for ministerial excellence.

As a minister, Seay defies stereotypes. He doesn't sound like a preacher and doesn't look like a pastor. Yet Seay has developed a reputatian as one of the most effective church planters focused on reaching emerging cultures.

A church member, Aminah Al-Attas, described him: “If you're looking for preachy, you're not looking for Chris. If you're looking for black-and-white answers to gray mysteries, don't ask Chris. If you're looking for a suit and tie and Christian buzzwords, … look somewhere else. If you want to keep your faith neat and tidy and compartmentalized to Sunday morning, you better run. …

“Chris challenges us to think of how being a Christian oozes even into areas of our life that seem unconnected–like how we shop for our groceries. He lets the person of Jesus explode the box we've tried too often to put God in. It's messy. It's challenging. It's more orthodox than you'd first think. And it's real.”

Seay is founding pastor of University Baptist Church in Waco and Ecclesia in Houston, where he now ministers.

He has written four books, including critiques of “The Sopranos,” “The Matrix” and the Enron scandal. He's a graduate of Baylor University and studied at Truett Theological Seminary.

He regularly appears on radio and television as a Christian voice who speaks in contrast to contemporary cultural warriors.

Seay and his wife, Lisa, are the parents of Hannah, Trinity and Solomon.

The Truett Award recognizes a Texas Baptist minister for singular ministry achievement in the recent past. Achievements meriting consideration combine and exemplify imagination, leadership and effectiveness.

Truett was the legendary pastor of First Baptist Church of Dallas for the first half of the 20th century–an outstanding preacher, denominational statesman and champion of the faith.