Reyes looks to the future for TBC breakfast_111703

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