Posted: 11/14/03

Reyes looks to the future for TBC breakfast

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

LUBBOCK–Baptist University of the Americas is positioning itself to be an integral part of the shifting geographic center of Christianity, President Albert Reyes told Texas Baptists Committed Nov. 11.

Reyes spoke at the annual breakfast meeting held during the Baptist General Convention of Texas annual session. At the BGCT meeting, messengers gave final approval for changing the name of Hispanic Baptist Theological School to Baptist University of the Americas.

Albert Reyes

Experts anticipate the majority of Christians to live in the Southern Hemisphere rather than the Northern Hemisphere in the near future, Reyes said, noting Protestantism is growing faster in Latin America than it expanded in Europe during the Reformation.

About 1.7 million people, including 1.2 million Hispanics, will come to Texas in the next 10 years, according to demographers. By sometime after 2020, more than half the Texas population will be Hispanic.

With the increased population of Hispanics comes greater challenges for Texas Baptists' only school tailored for ministerial training for Hispanics, Reyes said. Among those challenges: Currently, only 20 percent of Hispanics ages 18 to 24 are enrolled in college, compared to 37 percent of Anglos the same age.

Further, only 8 percent of Hispanics nationwide hold an associate of arts degree, 5.6 percent a bachelor of arts degree, 3.8 percent a master of arts degree and 4.5 percent a doctoral degree, Reyes added. “Once Hispanics get to college, they face financial, academic and social hurdles that keep them from finishing their degrees. Most institutions of higher learning are not poised to provide solutions for these issues.”

But helping overcome these educational barriers “is our responsibility,” Reyes insisted.

That's why Baptist University of the Americas makes provisions for those who have not finished high school or cannot speak English, he explained. Ninety percent of the school's students are Hispanic, and pupils come from 15 countries.

English as a second language classes are offered, and the program assists students who want the graduation equivalency diploma. Through the BGCT school, a student can move from a high school-equivalency diploma to a bachelor's degree and be prepared for further studies on the graduate level, even earning a doctorate, he said.

This is essential to train Hispanics who feel called to the ministry but lack adequate education, Reyes said, explaining that God calls people to ministry regardless of education level.

Even so, the demand for trained Hispanic Baptist ministers far outstrips the number of graduates Baptist University of the Americas currently can produce, he reported.

“With only 40 graduates per year, we don't stand a chance of filling the 100 vacant Hispanic pulpits in Texas today. If we could graduate 375 students and send them to El Paso to plant churches, we could reduce the church to population ratio (there) to 1 to 4,000, the current Texas average, from 1 to 21,000. If we could graduate 500 students next May, we would be able to place every single student in a church-planting situation across North America.

“This is why we have set a goal to have 1,000 students enrolled by 2012,” Reyes said. “To dream for less is to dream for a Texas you would not want to imagine.”

Albert Reyes explains the future role of Baptist University of the Americas in an address to several hundred people attending the Texas Baptists Committed breakfast in Lubbock.John Hall/BGCT

Posted: 11/14/03

Woodlawn youth go to school on BGCT annual session

By Ken Camp

Texas Baptist Communications

LUBBOCK–Teenagers' passions run strictly toward pizza and paintball, not Baptist polity and practice, right?

Not necessarily, according to Bryan Hall, youth minister at Woodlawn Baptist Church in Austin.

Eleven high school and college students from the church attended the Baptist General Convention of Texas annual session in Lubbock last week. And they came away from the two-day meeting energized by the idea that their church can have a part in worldwide missions and they individually can have a voice in setting the direction of the state convention.

Clifton McClain (left) and J.T. Mackey attend a BGCT workshop.

“It's not just about advancing Texas Baptists. It's about spreading Christ around the world. It's not just about making Texas better, but about making sure the world knows Jesus. That's not what I expected, but it's what I've experienced here,” said Benjamin Young, a college freshman.

Several years ago, when the BGCT was meeting in Austin, Hall brought to the convention a couple of young people who had committed their lives to vocational Christian ministry. The students ended up eating lunch with then-Executive Director Bill Pinson.

That experience was so encouraging for the young ministers, Hall started bringing one or two young people to the convention each year.

“The three who went last year developed such a passion for the convention, they started talking it up and encouraging others to come this year,” Hall said.

Those three brought home a copy of the humorous theme interpretation video, “We Don't Dance.” They used it as the centerpiece of a Wednesday evening youth-led worship service focusing on Baptist polity and practice.

“We had such a good time and learned so much, we opened it up for others to come,” said Josh Smith, a high school junior. “I didn't know all the resources for missions that are available. It's just huge what our churches can do when they all come together.”

Nine of the 11 Woodlawn students at the BGCT were Jason Baker, J.T. Mackey, Ben Young, Ryan Wood, Chase McClain, Ashley Miller, Tammy Smith, Amanda Vasquez and Josh Smith.

The teenagers enthusiastically embraced the idea of learning more about how Baptists make decisions corporately, and they were eager to attend workshops on Baptist heritage, history and doctrine.

“One of the coolest things about it was finding out that the convention exists to serve the churches, not the other way around. And with the church autonomy thing, we can make our own decisions under God,” said J.T. Mackey, a high school senior.

Two-thirds of the young people attending the BGCT from Woodlawn were not brought up in a Baptist church, but they came to faith within the last few years.

“If we are going to be future leaders, we need to be able to tell others what we believe and why we believe it,” Smith said.

The students also enjoyed visiting the exhibit hall–particularly the booths from the Baptist universities, which some of the teens hope to attend–and attending the workshops on various BGCT-related ministries.

“It really opened my eyes to the passion the people have for their different ministries,” said Tammy Smith, a high school senior.

The Austin teens–who received an excused absence from school to attend the BGCT–expressed enthusiasm about the future of Texas Baptist missions and ministry. And they were touched by the reaction of other messengers to their presence at the convention.

“We were walking by the registration booth,” Young said. “I noticed some of the people were kind of watching us as we went by. Then I heard one older lady who was working turn to the person next to her and say, 'That's our future.'”

Posted: 11/14/03

WorldconneX introduces itself; Parks also named

By Craig Bird

Texas Baptist Communications

LUBBOCK–WorldconneX, the Baptist General Convention of Texas' new missions network, stands “between a dream and a prayer,” according to network leader Bill Tinsley. And he hopes it always stays there.

“We are attempting to do something new in missions as Baptists, to take what never changes–God's vision for his world–and connect it to circumstances that are always changing,” he said during a workshop at the BGCT annual session in Lubbock.

Tinsley also announced the appointment of Stan Parks, a Cooperative Baptist Fellowship worker in Southeast Asia, as the second WorldconneX staff member. Parks, the youngest son of Keith and Helen Jean Parks, will be associate director and international coordinator.

Missions network leader Bill Tinsley speaks to BGCT messengers about the role of WorldconneX as a conduit between local churches and missions opportunities.(Eric Guel/BGCT Photo)

Keith Parks is former president of both the Southern Baptist Convention's International Mission Board and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship's global missions office.

Tinsley said Stan Parks brings experience and insights from international missions work that will complement his own experience in local, national and short-term partnership missions.

In a formatting change this year, the convention's plenary sessions did not feature reports from agencies and institutions. Instead, more detailed information was presented in more than 60 breakout options.

One of those served as an opportunity to introduce the concept behind the new missions network.

“We do not intend to duplicate traditional missions-sending agencies or to compete with anyone,” Tinsley explained. “Whatever shapes that may take, WorldconneX's task will be to remain true to the dreams and visions God sends and to prayers for his leadership. It will always be a learning process, finding answers as we move toward where God is calling us.

“We don't have a roadmap about how to help churches and individuals carry out their own mission calls, but we are not without clues,” he added. “There are mission networks all around us already that we are just beginning to recognize.”

Texas Baptist churches are filled with people involved in international and global businesses, he pointed out. “Our Baptist universities have international student bodies, Buckner Baptist Benevolences is partnering with orphanages in 25 foreign countries, partnership missions is working with hundreds of congregations to make short-term mission trips a reality. We can start by helping everybody know what other Baptists are doing so we can take advantage of natural partnerships.”

Beyond that, WorldconneX can be a bridge between Baptists and other Christians and other mission organizations around the world, he said.

“The church is the source and the goal of missions,” Parks added. “We've gotten away from that, but WorldconneX's aim is to restore the local church to the center of the mission-sending activity, to introduce Texas Baptists to Christians in other places as equal partners.

“To be faithful to Acts 1:8, we have to do missions everywhere. That verse doesn't say we are to be God's witnesses first in Jerusalem, then in Judea and then in Samaria. It doesn't say to be God's witnesses in Jerusalem or in Judea or in Samaria. It says we are to do that in Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria and in the remotest part of the earth at the same time.”

Questions from the crowd of about 150 ranged from the philosophical to the political, from the specific to the general. Among them:

Q: “What would you do with a single woman I know who would like to work with her hands but putting her with a bunch of retired men is like oil and water?”

A: “First we'd try to find out more specifics about her call, if it is to a specific people group or place. Then we'd connect her with opportunities that matched.”

Q: “How would you screen people? Surely you wouldn't just help anybody who wanted to be a missionary go someplace.”

A: “We would expect the sponsoring church or group of churches to do the screening, but we would provide some guidelines and methods of making sure a person was healthy to go where they want.”

Q: “What will be your relationship with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and the SBC International Mission Board?”

A: “We have been in contact with CBF, the IMB and the SBC North American Mission Board, asking to meet with their leadership to talk about how we can best cooperate. If a Texas Baptist church asks us for help in doing missions with one of the established missions-sending agencies, then we see our task as helping them do that.”

Q: “Do you see WorldconneX ever becoming a sending agency?”

A: “That would be a major step backward. There is a continuing need for missions-sending agencies, and the existing ones are doing a good job. Becoming a sending agency would go against our vision.”

Q: “Our church has voted to support one of the IMB missionaries fired for refusing to sign the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message, but we don't know anything about liability insurance and work visas and things like that. Can you help?”

A: “Yes.”

Posted: 11/14/03

Around the State

Joe Walton has been certified as an intentional interim pastor. He also is director of missions for Double Mountain Area.

Anniversaries

Barry Rock, 10th as minister of music at First Church in Arlington Nov. 10.

First Church in Georgetown was one of 15 churches comprising a 52-member team that ministered in Acuña, Mexico. Ministries include medical and dental and optical clinics, Vacation Bible School activities for teens and children. More than 300 individuals were seen in the clinics, and the Vacation Bible Schools averaged more than 200 present each day. Above, dental hygienist Pam Woodruff of Georgetown works on a patient at the clinic held at Templo Bautista El Calvario in Acuña.

Randy Mitchell, 20th as associate pastor and minister of recreation at Westbury Church in Houston Nov. 16.

Retiring

R.B. Cooper will be honored with a celebration of his retirement from ministry with a reception at First Church in San Antonio Nov. 23 at 7 p.m. The reception will be preceded by a sermon by Jimmy Allen at 6 p.m. Cooper has been minister of church and community ministries at the church 34 years.

Events

Betty Criswell, widow of W.A. Criswell, will be honored for 70 years of teaching the Bible by the 300 members of her class Nov. 23. A reception will be held in Coleman Hall of First Church in Dallas at 3 p.m., and will feature special guests, refreshments and entertainment. Her husband, the long-time pastor of the church, died in 2002. Mac Brunson is pastor.

South Oaks Church in Arlington will hold a groundbreaking ceremony at 11:30 a.m. Nov. 23. Dan Curry is pastor.

Recording artist Sandi Patty will take part in First Church in Conroe's “A Christmas Evening 2003.” Tickets are $10. Performances will be at 8 p.m. Dec. 5 and at 4 and 7 p.m. Dec. 6 and 7. For more information, call (936) 756-6601. Rusty Walton is pastor.

The Heights Church in Richardson will present its Christmas production at 7 p.m. Dec. 6 and at 3 p.m and 6:30 p.m. Dec. 7. The two-hour program will feature a 130-voice choir and full orchestra. Tickets are $5 and can be purchased at www.theheights.org or by calling (972) 231-6047, ext. 292. Free childcare for children under three is available with reservations. Gary Singleton is pastor.

Licensed

Phil Baker, Floyd Joseph, Karen Martin, Shelly Morrison, Brace Potthoff and Chris Ward to the ministry at Westbury Church in Houston Oct. 26.

William McMullen to the ministry at Miori Lane Church in Victoria Nov. 16.

Deaths

Wanda Allen, 73, Nov. 13 in Big Canoe, Ga. Her husband, Jimmy, is a former president of the Southern Baptist Convention and former head of the Southern Baptist Radio & Television Commission. A graduate of Howard Payne Unversity, she taught in Dallas and San Antonio public schools for 23 years. A significant chapter of her life sprung from the death of two grandsons, Bryan and Matt, who died of HIV/AIDS following contaminated blood transfusions. Bryan's House, the first pediatric agency for children with AIDS in the nation, was named for her grandson, the first baby of record to die of HIV/AIDS in Dallas. She is survived by her husband of 54 years, sons, Michael, Skip and Kenneth; and sister, Wilma Durtschi.

Posted: 11/14/03

African American Fellowship hears plea
for ebony and ivory in harmony

By Craig Bird

Texas Baptist Communications

LUBBOCK–If shouting offends you, don't sit too close to Jerry Dailey when it's time to worship. And if you think African-American churches and the Baptist General Convention of Texas aren't a match made for heaven, then stay out of earshot.

Because Dailey, pastor of Greater Macedonia Baptist Church in San Antonio, preaches about a God worthy of enthusiastic praise and advocates a mutually beneficial relationship between black Baptists and the BGCT.

The choir from First Progressive Baptist Church in Lubbock sings during the African American Fellowship rally held in conjunction with the BGCT annual session in Lubbock. (Craig Bird/BGCT Photo)

“You don't get the best music from a keyboard by playing only the white keys or just the black keys,” he said. “The sound that most pleases God is when you play them all together to his glory.”

And on boisterous worship, he said: “We can't be quiet because God has given us so much to shout about.”

Dailey spoke to the African American Fellowship of Texas Nov. 9, the day before the BGCT annual session in Lubbock.

He urged the crowd of 250 to be “visible in your presence” at the annual session, “because what we have to offer they need.”

Dailey preached from Mark 8:22-25, which tells of Jesus healing a blind man who at first could see only “men who looked like trees walking.” Atypically, he noted, Jesus wasn't successful on the first attempt, and he asked a strange question: “Do you see anything?”

“Jesus didn't ask that question for his benefit, but because the man needed to answer. And it's a question we all need to answer as well,” Dailey said. Voicing a wariness for people “who go to bed at night dressed in their pajamas of wickedness but get up the next morning robed in righteousness,” he warned that such “microwave Christians” too easily become judgmental, “not of their sins but of the sins they see in others.”

Rather, the Christian walk is a process, “and there is no graduation ceremony this side of heaven,” he said. “The bottom line on earth is, 'I once was, but I'm not all the way where God wants me to be yet. But I'm headed the right direction.'”

And as a result, “the Jesus in me sees the Jesus in you because God touches me one more time and one more time and one more time,” he said.

Another danger is of choosing to remain “in between” where things are not clearly seen as either trees or people, Dailey said. “It is better not to see anything than to see things that aren't reality. But you know the type–not really bad but not really good either; not really outside the church but not really involved; not really for the BGCT but not really against it. Jesus said something about that. He had something against a church that wasn't really hot but wasn't really cold either.”

African-American Baptists must let Jesus touch them again and again and again so they can see clearly and know best how to be God's people, he urged.

Working in partnership with the BGCT is a part of that, he added. “God can do some great things if we all work together.”

BGCT Executive Director Charles Wade, invited to make a few remarks at the end of the two-and-one-half-hour service, celebrated the fact that African-American churches' contributions to the BGCT Cooperative Program “continue to lead the convention in percentage increase each year.”

Texas Baptists of tomorrow “will look much different” from Texas Baptists of today as African-American, Hispanic and other ethnic groups continue to contribute and influence the BGCT, Wade added. “If we are going to be the people of God, then we've got to start looking like the people of God, and I thank you for helping us do that.”

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.

Posted: 11/14/03

PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS:
Bragging rights

By Marv Knox

Editor

LUBBOCK–Bob Campbell sounded like the stereotypical long, tall Texas pastor when he delivered his Baptist General Convention of Texas president's address Nov. 10.

He bragged on his church.

“I am here tonight to tell you that my church–Westbury Baptist Church in Houston–is doing greater things than Jesus did during his earthly life,” Campbell proclaimed.

BGCT President Bob Campbell illustrates the impact of cooperative giving through the Baptist General Convention of Texas by telling all the things his Houston church does through the BGCT. (Nan Dickson/BGCT Photo)

Such a claim “sounds almost blasphemous,” he admitted. “How could anyone ever do more than God?”

Yet that's exactly what Jesus intended for churches to do, he stressed, citing a litany of Westbury's accomplishments in the past year.

Those feats included providing $100,000 to start churches in Amarillo, praying for all the 1,800 employees at Baptist St. Anthony's Hospital in Amarillo, buying medicine in Guatemala, sending medical personnel to Bulgaria, placing shoes on Latvian orphans' feet, writing legislation for foster care in 27 nations and holding hands of 150,000 medical patients in Dallas-Fort Worth.

“You might be saying to yourself about now: 'I have heard preachers tend to exaggerate, but this is ridiculous. How could one church do all that?'” Campbell conceded.

“Well, … Westbury Baptist Church in Houston takes seriously the fact that Jesus said: 'Anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these.'”

Campbell's church accomplishes Jesus' challenge by working with 5,717 other BGCT churches to support the convention's Cooperative Program budget, he said.

Last year, for example, those churches contributed $25 million to 23 BGCT benevolence and education ministries that operate across Texas and around the globe and have combined budgets of $4.3 billion.

In Texas alone, those schools and benevolence agencies minister in more than 100 locations, Campbell said, noting they directly served 2.5 million Texans, not counting their family members.

“That is one out of every 10 Texans,” Campbell reported. “This does not include what was done in partnership ministries and in these institutions reaching out to work for Christ around the world.

“These are Baptists … doing what Jesus did–BGCT Baptist work. And Christ wanted it to happen. He wanted us to do more than he ever did while he was confined to his earthly body.”

For a large part of his address, Campbell illustrated how churches that support the BGCT Cooperative Program fulfill Jesus' audacious desire through the convention's institutions. He named every one, including hospital systems, child-care agencies, facilities that care for the elderly, an academy, universities, seminaries and other ministry-training institutions.

Texas Baptist churches, like Westbury, have a hand in all these ministries because they contribute to the BGCT Cooperative Program, he reiterated.

Because church members believe in and want to support these ministries, Westbury contributes to the BGCT Adopted Budget, which channels 79 percent of receipts to state convention causes, Campbell said.

In addition, the church allows individual church members to decide where they want the additional 21 percent–the “worldwide” portion–of their missions contribution to go, he added. According to BGCT practice, that portion can be allocated to the Southern Baptist Convention, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, the state convention or selected other causes.

“The members–not the pastor, not the finance committee, not the deacon body, not even the church itself–decide where he or she wants that 21 percent to go. Under the Holy Spirit, they can decide that,” he noted. “I challenge you to practice priesthood of the believer. Let your people decide; stop deciding for them. Trust God and trust your people.”

Some churches have not chosen to participate in the convention's Adopted Budget and consequently allocate less than 79 percent of their Cooperative Program gifts to the BGCT, Campbell said.

“That is hurting every ministry I have spoken about,” he lamented.

Campbell challenged those churches to compare how they allocate Cooperative Program gifts between state and worldwide causes to how they divide their church budget between local and Cooperative Program causes.

“You feel it is wrong for Texas Baptists to keep 79 percent of their mission offering for use in Texas and in its worldwide ministries,” he said. “Does your church send 21 percent (of its budget) to worldwide ministries and missions through the Cooperative Program? Why not?

“Do you think you need more than 79 percent of your budget offerings to do ministry in and around your local church? Does that seem like good Christian practice to you?

“Then it is not wrong for Texas Baptists to spend 79 percent here in Texas and in its worldwide ministries.”

During the past two years, since the BGCT Adopted Budget established the 79/21 division between state and worldwide causes, the Southern Baptist Convention has “criticized and complained” about the decision, Campbell said.

However, those complaints ignore several important factors, he said.

First, 10.5 million Texans “have no religious affiliation at all,” he said, noting, “That is 45 percent of Texans who need Christ.”

Second, the SBC “remained totally silent” when other state conventions reduced their gifts to the SBC, “but they openly criticized the BGCT for trying to retain enough money to reach the 10.5 million unchurched Texans.”

Third, the BGCT already doesn't have enough money to start churches. For example, when Westbury tried to start its fifth mission congregation, it was told the BGCT doesn't have enough money to help with the church start, he said. Meanwhile, Union Baptist Association has told Westbury it needs to start three Hispanic congregations.

“Tell your church about all you have seen here these days,” Campbell told about 3,000 participants in the BGCT meeting. “Plead with them to help increase the giving so that we can continue this work that reaches all over Texas and beyond our borders to other states and countries around the world.

“Ask your people to give 79 percent of their Cooperative Program dollars to the BGCT. God will thank you for it. You can be sure that by doing so, your church will be advancing the kingdom of God.”

Posted: 11/14/03

BGCT child-care agencies describe state's needs

By Miranda Bradley

Texas Baptist Children's Home & Family Services

LUBBOCK–When a beautiful little girl shows up at South Texas Children's Home with 6-inch cigarette burns all over her body, it causes Christi Haag to shudder a little, despite the fact she has been around the ministry 28 years.

“At one point, you think you've seen and heard it all, then you discover another way someone has abused a child. You think I'd get used to it, but I cry all the time,” said Haag, sponsor director at the children's home.

But these stories are all too common among the institutional ministries serving troubled children and families across Texas. Whether in San Antonio or in the Panhandle, each ministry continues to strive to meet the growing needs of a needy population, speakers said during a breakout session at the Baptist General Convention of Texas annual session.

In 2001, reports from the United States Health and Human Services Department showed 45,000 children were abused and neglected, and 60 percent of those were under the age of 7. And of the 1 million children reported to be victims of maltreatment in the United States, 80 percent were abused by one or both parents.

“The needs of troubled families and children are tremendous,” said Jerry Haag, president of South Texas Children's Home.

That fact was echoed by Don Cramer, vice president at Texas Baptist Children's Home & Family Services.

“No matter what a parent has allowed to happen to a child, that parent is the most important person in that child's life,” he said. “They will go back to missing meals and receiving abuse just to be with that parent.”

So Texas Baptist Children's Home in Round Rock decided in the 1970s to mend the child through the family. The BGCT ministry offers counseling and parenting classes for the entire family unit to bridge the gap and deter future neglectful or abusive behavior.

“Sometimes we will have the mom and stepdad working right alongside the dad and stepmom during the family weekends, all for the good of the child,” Cramer said.

Other full-service children's homes, like Baptist Child & Family Services in San Antonio, are moving in other directions as well, speakers said.

Prevention has become the cure, according to Nanci Gibbons, executive vice president of Baptist Child & Family Services. Instead of waiting to be asked for help, the institution's mobile medical unit takes help to the Lubbock community.

“This mobile unit has everything you can possibly need for prenatal care,” she said. “We could even deliver a baby in this thing if we had to.”

The unit is equipped with sonogram technology, exam table and a staff who have the necessary expertise to guide low-income mothers to healthy deliveries.

Whether the care is given over days or years, the impact can be lifelong, no matter where the help is received, she said.

Posted: 11/14/03

CLC speaker: Take faith to school

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

LUBBOCK–Contrary to popular opinion, religious activity remains legal in public schools, a public policy expert told Texas Baptists.

Suzii Paynter, director of citizenship and public policy for the Baptist General Convention of Texas Christian Life Commission, assured a standing-room-only breakout session audience that their children can exercise their faith at school. Paynter spoke during the BGCT annual session in Lubbock Nov. 10.

In its last session, the Texas Legislature mandated one minute of silence during each school day. Although not expressly stated in the law, the time may be used for children to reflect or pray.

While the moment of silence is now required, training teachers how to handle that time remains optional, according to their professional code. The lack of training on how to handle potential religious issues has led teachers to be hesitant and fearful to require the silence, Paynter said.

Paynter, a former schoolteacher, believes there is an urgent need for teacher training, however.

Legislators may realize that when legal action results from the lack of training, she predicted. “The first time someone files a lawsuit in the their district, they will think, 'Maybe we should mandate the training.'”

To combat fear, Texas Baptists should be educated about their rights and their children's rights in schools, Paynter asserted, suggesting informed opinions could curtail many of the outrageous comments made by people on opposing sides of the school prayer debate.

Public schools are legally termed a “limited forum,” meaning school administrators and officials can make rules restricting community access to the school. However, the rules must apply to the entire community and cannot single out religious institutions for exclusion.

Students may read religious books, say prayers and pray with other students at school, according to a CLC handout. They can discuss and write on religious topics. Students may share their faith with other students, distribute religious literature and be released from school for religious education. They may study religion, sing sacred music, meet in religious clubs and wear religious symbols.

When Christian parents or students believe their rights to free expression have been unjustly limited, talk first with school administrators, Paynter suggested. If no resolution can be found, the Christian Life Commission might be able to help each side understand the legal rulings that speak to the issue, she added.

In the past, CLC staff members have helped school officials understand recent laws regarding religion in schools, Paynter said. This does not mean the disputed action will be allowed, but all parties will become more knowledgeable about the topic.

For more information, visit www.bgct.org/clc or contact Paynter at paynter@bgct.org or (512) 473-2288.

Students may read religious books, say prayers and pray with other students at school.

Posted: 11/14/03

Churches advised to make proper
preparation for financial security

By Charles Richardson

Hardin-Simmons University

LUBBOCK–Churches must be wise as foxes and harmless as doves as they deal with money issues, two workshop leaders told Texas Baptists.

Charles Pruett, president of the Baptist Church Loan Corp., and Terry Austin, director of stewardship for the Baptist General Convention of Texas, offered financial suggestions at a workshop held during the BGCT annual session in Lubbock.

The Baptist Church Loan Corp., founded in 1952 to provide a ministry to Texas Baptist churches through a program of church loans, is a not-for-profit corporation and self-supporting partner of the BGCT.

“Without exception,” Pruett suggested, all churches should:

Establish an operating reserve of at least three months of undesignated income.

Create a church budget.

Maintain insurance on church-owned property and liability insurance. “People will sue churches,” he said.

Incorporate. Without incorporation, every member of a congregation is legally liable, Pruett warned.

Austin provided an overview of the United We Build capital fund-raising campaigns.

One advantage of using a consultant-led capital campaign, he said, is to “keep the pastor from becoming a fund raiser.”

Through such a capital campaign, regular budget giving is elevated, new leadership is discovered and a strong spiritual emphasis is delivered, he said.

Posted: 11/14/03

New workshop format draws crowds at BGCT

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

LUBBOCK–Messengers and guests flocked to 60 special-interest sessions during the first day of the Baptist General Convention of Texas annual session Nov. 10.

An average of about 1,200 Texas Baptists packed standing-room-only meetings in Spanish and English that focused on a variety of ministry-related topics each session.

BGCT messengers listen intently during a breakout session offered during the annual session.Eric Guel/BGCT

As part of a major overhaul of the annual session schedule, hallways in the Lubbock Civic Center clamored with people talking about the sessions and thanking BGCT staff for providing helpful information. People often spoke of using the information in their churches, said Don Robinson, BGCT director of convention and meeting planning.

“Almost everyone I visited with enjoyed them,” Robinson said. “The information was useful.”

Most of the breakout sessions were filled to capacity. Some had to be closed due to lack of additional seating.

The new schedule offered breakouts three times on the first day of the convention and once again on the second day.

Total messenger registration was 2,582, with 503 guests, bringing total attendance to 3,085.

Posted: 11/14/03

Historians brush up on Texas Baptist Men

By Charles Richardson

Hardin-Simmons University

LUBBOCK–The Texas Baptist Historical Society presented two church history writing awards and elected officers during its Nov. 10 meeting at Southcrest Baptist Church in Lubbock.

Pam Benson of First Baptist Church of Sabinal received an award for a church history of a congregation with 500 or fewer members for her book, “To God be the Glory: 100 Years, FBC Sabinal.”

J.A. Reynolds of First Baptist Church of Belton received the award for congregations of 1,000 or more for his book, “The Sesquicentennial History of First Baptist Church.”

J.A. Reynolds and Pam Benson

Officers named by acclamation were Carol Holcomb of Belton, president; Van Christian of Comanche, vice president; and Alan Lefever of Dallas, secretary-treasurer.

Society members heard Ken Camp, news director for the Baptist General Convention of Texas and co-author of a 30-year history of Texas Baptist Men, provide historical highlights of Texas Baptist disaster relief since the mid-1960s.

“Texas Baptists' disaster relief mobile unit has become a familiar and comforting sight over the past three decades,” Camp said. “Volunteers staffing the massive 18-wheel tractor-trailer rig have set up its self-contained field kitchen on hurricane-lashed Gulf shorelines and at the perimeter of neighborhoods devastated by tornadoes.”

After Hurricane Beulah's devastation in the lower Rio Grande Valley in 1967, Bob Dixon, state director of the Texas Baptist Royal Ambassadors at the time, was dispatched to South Texas as part of “an overarching BGCT response,” to help people whose lives has been disrupted by disaster, Camp reported. The disaster relief ministry grew from there, and Dixon went on to become executive director of Texas Baptist Men.

By the 1990s, Texas Baptist disaster relief had become worldwide in scope, reaching beyond the Americas to include ministry in the Middle East, several African nations, Eastern Europe and even North Korea, Camp explained.

In February 1992, Texas Baptists directed their attention toward Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, he said. “Texas Baptists personally delivered 170,000 pounds of food and sent a medical team to help inoculate a half-million Russian children.”

In more recent days, Texas Baptists have offered emergency relief for famine victims in North Korea, worked with refugees from Kosovo living in Albania and ministered to survivors of tornadoes in the Oklahoma City area, an earthquake in Turkey and wildfires in Mexico.

They offered relief after Tropical Storm Allison hit Houston in June 2001, when tornadoes hit South Central Texas in the spring of 2002, and when floods damaged 13 Texas counties and fires swept Arizona in the summer of 2002.

Currently, the statewide disaster relief fleet has grown to 37 vehicles “with more to come,” Camp said. These include regional units owned by churches and associations, as well as those owned by Texas Baptist Men.

“For more than 40 years, the BGCT has ministered to hurting people in times of disaster, and for more than 35 years, TBM volunteers have been the front-line troops leading in that response. For now, it appears that partnership seems as secure as anything can be in the current political climate.”

He noted that for three years, Texas Baptist Men has “continued to wrestle with the issue” of how to maintain its relationship with the BGCT while recognizing that many of its volunteers came from churches now aligned with the breakaway Southern Baptists of Texas Convention. Last February, the Texas Baptist Men board affirmed its “unique affiliation and partnership” with the BGCT but also pledged to “officially work” with the SBTC.

“Time will tell how this relationship will work. Long-term, I have my doubts. But for the immediate future, it appears to secure the role of Texas Baptist Men as the first responders in times of natural disaster,” Camp said.

“For now, TBM volunteers represent both BGCT-related and SBTC-related churches to hurting people who know little about the source of the ministry they offer. They understand only that these dedicated men are seeking to follow the example of Jesus by meeting needs where they find them and pointing people to God.”