Posted: 11/18/05

Resolution reaffirms biblical
sexual values but not boycotts

By Mark Wingfield

AUSTIN–Messengers to the 2005 Baptist General Convention of Texas annual meeting reaffirmed a 1992 statement on sexual values but removed an endorsement of boycotts.

The resolution reaffirming sexual values was one of five presented to messengers at the BGCT annual session.

The resolution notes the Bible “upholds a high sexual ethic of fidelity in marriage and abstinence outside of marriage.”

It declares “behaviors such as homosexuality, adultery, incest and pornographic activity” to be “distortions of this ethic and therefore wrong.”

The resolution calls for all people to “uphold a lifestyle of biblical sexual values” and to oppose “objectionable sexual material in television, movies, music and other media.” It also urges churches to teach biblical sexual values to children and youth while acknowledging God offers forgiveness and restoration for all who sin.

However, a provision in the final paragraph of the 1992 resolution was struck this year.

Mark Newton, pastor of First Baptist Church of San Marcos, asked messengers to remove the words “and sponsor boycotts” from a sentence outlining proper advocacy measures.

The provision in the resolution was exercised by the Southern Baptist Convention to boycott the Walt Disney Co. between 1992 and 2005, garnering international attention.

One messenger asked that the resolution on sexual values be tabled. Roy Kimball of Highland Park Baptist Church in Austin said he realized crafting the wording for such a resolution is a difficult task.

However, he added, “If we are going to start listing sins that are wrong, none of us may qualify for God's love.”

The motion to table the resolution was ruled out of order, and Kimball did not speak for defeat of the resolution.

Four other resolutions were adopted with no debate.

One called on Texas Baptists to become better educated about mental illness and how to help the mentally ill and their families.

It also asked the Texas Legislature to “increase funding for mental health services and to pass legislation” for mental illness treatment to be covered by health insurance.

Another resolution affirmed the Baptist World Alliance and congratulated the international fellowship on its 100th anniversary.

Two final resolutions expressed appreciation to the host city and convention officers.

Posted: 11/18/05

Restructured BGCT designed
to offer one-stop shop for Texas

By Jenny Pope

AUSTIN–The restructured Baptist General Convention of Texas creates a “one-stop shop” for Texas Baptists, leaders said during a BGCT annual meeting seminar.

Sherrill Spies, a consultant who worked with the BGCT on restructuring, told a group of church leaders about the most pressing requests the BGCT discovered in listening to churches–easier access to products and services, development of servant leaders, distribution of staff across the state and the need for more coordinated efforts.

“We listened intently to you, Texas Baptists,” she said. “And we're doing everything we can to stay relevant to God's kingdom work.”

The four new BGCT teams include congregational strategists led by Andre Punch; a missions, evangelism and ministry team led by Wayne Shuffield; a leadership team led by Jan Daehnert; and the service center led by Gus Reyes.

Congregational strategists will consult and develop strategic planning for churches through designated specialists in nine geographic areas.

This approach replaces the former model where BGCT consultants would drive from Dallas several weekends in a row to spend one day helping a church, Punch said.

“The most important thing is that each congregational strategist will be highly trained” to be a good listener and encourager, Punch said. “This will be a totally different type of service that will primarily meet the needs of the local church. We are your servants.”

The missions, evangelism and ministry team combines the former church health and growth, church missions and evangelism and the associational missions groups to provide a more centralized, collaborative area of expertise, Shuffield explained.

“As a former pastor and consultant in the BGCT …, it was very confusing to know where to go for help,” Shuffield said. “Now, anyone can fire an arrow and hit the target, but it's not up to you to know where to aim–that's our job.”

The leadership team will help churches to “no longer assume what leadership is,” Daehnert said, “but to help define leadership for churches. We are here to discover, equip and support leaders for their congregations, families, communities and global missions.”

With more than 5 million one-day leadership seminars in the United States last year, “it's clear that many folks are hungry and desperate to know how leadership works,” he said.

Perhaps the most recognized change in structure falls into the hands of the new service center, where anyone can call a toll-free number and reach a BGCT staff member late into the night for assistance and ordering support materials and supplies, Reyes said.

“A new day is coming where we're a one-stop shop, where you can reach us anytime of the day, in any language you choose, at a time that is most convenient for you,” Reyes said.

Posted: 11/18/05

Reyes urges Texas Baptists
to share power, resources

By Craig Bird

AUSTIN–There's nothing like a good, first-century church fight to teach Texas Baptists how to act in the 21st century when the battle lines also highlight ethnic, cultural and economic differences, and the details are spelled out in the Bible, Albert Reyes insisted at the Baptist General Convention of Texas annual meeting.

And how the issues were resolved in a productive manner–giving equal place and honor to those who came “late to the table”–is even more instructive, he told messengers in his president's address to the convention.

Referencing the first recorded conflict of the newborn Christian church as recorded in Acts 6:1-7, Reyes drew parallels and lessons from that first-century event to 2005 Texas.

“As the East converges West and the South converges North, they intersect in a place we call Texas,” said Reyes, president of Baptist University of the Americas in San Antonio.

The resulting clashes are “not unlike the early church, which faced multiple barriers that prevented the rapid expansion of the gospel,” he pointed out. Congregations were drawn along social, economic and cultural lines.

“Conflict is normal when cultures converge–that's just what happens. The command to preach the gospel will always involve barriers that need to be overcome. But how we deal with those situations is what is important. Acts tells us that the disciples called the whole congregation together and faced the issue with courage and wisdom.”

The solutions were surprising and highly productive.

“The church set aside seven men to take over the food distribution–and none of them were from the side that had the power,” he said. “The under-represented group was empowered with authority and entrusted with the resources. And what happened? The Bible says, 'The word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.'”

That growth seems directly related to the unorthodox resolution, Reyes said.

“Somehow, this story does not make economic or social sense,” he continued. “How can a system exist where the last are first and equality is seen as central to the organization's mission and future? How can a system exist that gives equal treatment in terms of resources to those who have little to contribute … Why doesn't this system resonate with American economic models of capitalism and free trade?

“The answer is simple. It wasn't an American model; it was a New Testament, Jesus kind of model.”

The solution echoed Jesus' teaching in the parable of the workers, where those who came to work later in the day got the same reward as those who worked all day, Reyes pointed out. “Only in the realm of grace is the equal treatment of all workers possible.”

Reyes challenged Texas Baptists to ask hard questions, like: “Who controls our denominational resources today? Do we have any part of our family that is being overlooked, especially in light of our new missional opportunities? Are we using a Jesus/kingdom approach to the distribution of resources for future maximum kingdom impact, or are we operating from an American model of proportionate distribution based on patterns of the past?”

He also urged BGCT churches to welcome “those who have come late to the table, those who have less” as equal partners in sharing the gospel in Texas.

“The streams of convergence are around the corner and already here,” he said. “We have unparalleled kingdom opportunities before us. We each can be a missionary without a passport or a plane ticket, because the ends of the world have come to us.”

The necessary response to those opportunities calls for “unprecedented coloration among our churches and our institutions and our convention structures,” he added.

Recalling the merger in the 1960s between the Texas Mexican Baptist Convention and the BGCT, he asked: “Who could have imagined that half a century later we would be living in a state where soon every-other resident will be Hispanic, where we worship in 50 languages? We have discovered that we are a culturally diverse family and, even more than that, we like it that way!”

As Texas Baptists face ongoing decisions about issues of control, power and allocation of resources, the determining factor must be what will be the most effective way to share God's love with other Texans, whatever their culture or economic status, he insisted.

“We are meeting in Austin on the very land once called Mexico,” he noted.

“We would not have a capital called Austin if it were not for those who sacrificed–Anglos and Tejanos and African-Americans–who gave their lives so we might have freedom and a place called Texas.

“Freedom and sacrifice: These two form a Texas tradition. We love our freedom, and we are willing to sacrifice our lives for others to enjoy it. Would we do any less for the freedom of those around us who face eternity without Christ? Would we be willing to share and give away what is not really ours to begin with so others might have hope?

“In Christ, the answer is always yes!”

Posted: 11/18/05

“Where Have All the Prophets Gone?”

By Phil Strickland
Executive Director, BGCT Christian Life Commission

(The speech was delivered to the Texas Baptists Committed breakfast at the Baptist General Convention of Texas meeting, Nov. 14, 2005, in his absence by George Mason, Senior Pastor, Wilshire Baptist Church, Dallas, Texas)

Prophets! I thought we got rid of them a long time ago. Actually, I haven’t seen many around lately. Where have all the prophets gone?

You may remember the Pete Seeger song made popular by Peter, Paul and Mary—Where Have All the Flowers Gone. Well, I think we need new words to that tune. On any given Sunday morning in a Baptist church there are plenty of flowers in front of the pulpit, but not a prophet to be found behind it.

Where have all the prophets gone?

Lord knows we need them. Consider:

–One half the world is living on $2 a day. But that’s the other half, right? They are used to that;

–25% of our Texas children living in poverty. But that’s other people’s children, right? Figure that’s the way God thinks of them?

–Religious liberty is being lost without our seeming to notice. It’s oozing away through our fingers like a fist full of sand until we open it all too late to discover there is not much of it left in our grasp;

–And then there’s the dramatic and continuing shift of the world’s wealth away from the poor and the middle class to the largest corporations and the wealthiest people. But not to worry, we can trust them to do the right thing with all that money, right? After all, the marketplace evens everything out in the end. Isn’t that where we can depend upon the “invisible hand” of God to work? Or was that just Adam Smith’s hand?

–Environmental regulations are disappearing every day. But we are given by God the right to have dominion over all the earth, aren’t we? Well, something like that;

–And what about another tax cut of $70 billion dollars that will be funded by $50 billion dollars of cuts to children? That proposal will probably be passed by the House this week and is supported by the administration. 300,000 people will lose food stamps and another 300,000 will lose access to daycare. The bill cuts Medicaid by $45 billion when we already have 45 million people who have no health insurance. Something tells me that’s not what Jesus meant by “Suffer the little children ….”

Where have all the prophets gone?

Have they all disappeared? Or is it possible that some of them are around but aren’t doing their job? Is it possible that God is still appointing them, but not many of us want the job? I mean, we know what happened to Jonah, and the belly of a whale doesn’t sound like fun, does it?

Walter Brueggemann is one of our best Old Testament scholars. In books like his wonderful work, The Prophetic Imagination (and Finally Comes the Poet), he doesn’t let us relegate prophecy to biblical times. Prophets are not obsolete, although they seem rather rare these days, despite the great need for them in our churches and in our world.

I want to suggest that pretty much all of us are called to have an element of the prophet in us. Yes, I understand that is not the primary role for many of us, but I’m thinking that being overcrowded with prophets is not our problem right now.

I’m suggesting that for pastors, for example, as we call them to the role of pastor/preacher, we might also want to add the word prophet —pastor/ preacher/ prophet. Such pastors will value our values and will fight for them. The title of prophet might even apply to laymen, or, God forbid, to a denomination! These groups, with a little prophetic imagination, could become the cutting edge of the prophetic in our society, rather than the six to eight “prophets” we hear on TV whose prophetic imagination is limited to Armageddon. These genuine prophets would be ready and willing to confront the principalities and powers, whether they be school boards, city councils, the legislature, Congress, or even our own Baptist institutions.

But seldom do I go to churches and hear prophetic, or even strong ethical preaching. And the brave pastors that want me to preach for them often say a word to me before I go. It goes something like this: “Now, Phil, our church is not really in a place where it can deal with anything controversial.” Which tells me that they don’t want to do anything that involves risk. Which tells me that no prophecy is happening there since prophecy always contains an element of risk!

Back to our $70 billion tax cut being currently being considered, funded partially, as I said, with $50 billion being cut from programs that are used for poor children. If the pastor as prophet wanted to point out the injustice of that, how would that go over with some of the members of the church?

Well, I think I can answer that for Phil. They would cry “Politics!” They would suddenly become strict church-state separationists. Of course, what they really are saying is that they don’t want God and government to go together if it’s not their brand of politics. I’ll also tell you that there’s a widespread feeling in many church pews that has to be challenged. People think government is by nature always bad and needs constraining. They think government is lousy at caring for the poor and that that’s really the church’s business. But I can tell you that I have never once seen a line of those folks forming at my door begging for ways to give the church more money to care for the poor or eager to start new ministries that would do it better than the government.

So what is happening to prophetic voices? What is the juggler that trumps the pastoral voice? Is it lack of courage? Or ambition? Courage and ambition seldom hang out together. Or is it just the desire not to rock any boats?

When John F. Kennedy was in Berlin in 1963 for the birth of the German Peace Corps, he cited a passage from Dante’s Inferno in his speech. “The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who in a period of moral crisis maintained their neutrality.” It was actually a liberal paraphrase. What Dante actually singled out were “those disembodied wretches who were loth when living, to be either blamed or praised.” He said that Heaven cast them out for fear of losing its beauty; and Hell didn’t want them either, lest the wicked should glory over them. (Canto 3.)

Prophecy requires the capacity to grieve about injustice, to quit pretending that things are all right, to imagine that things could be different, and courageously to say so to the people, risking the consequences. It requires confronting the principalities and powers.

For compassion to move to action requires an alliance of love, power, and justice. As Paul Tillich said: “In both interpersonal and political relationships, love, power and justice are inseparable. Without love, power becomes tyrannical and justice is only a name for the rule of strong. Without power, love is reduced to sentimentality and justice to an impotent ideal. Without justice, love is a perverse dance of domination and submission.”

Always, the prophet must be imaginative. One does not prophesy about what is but about what ought to be. Which usually makes prophecy sound absurd to the common ear.

Let me give you an example. A pastor mentioned to me that he did not like the beginning of our CLC flyer, that it could cause controversy in his church. Here are the words, aptly authored by Joe Haag, so I’ll brag about his work:

“To follow Christ means that we allow his life to gain leverage against our lives. Against our lust for power, he endures the cross. Against our pride and arrogance, he washes the disciples’ feet. Against our upward mobility, he preaches good news to the poor. Against our self absorption, he has compassion on the multitudes. Against our tight circles of family and friends, he reaches out to strangers. Against our safe noninvolvement, he confronts the powers. Against our violence and hatred, he demands that we love our enemies. Against our self righteousness, he welcomes sinners. Against our bigotry, he tells us about a Good Samaritan. Against our frenzy, he invites us to trust God. Against all the lies which enslave us, he tells the truth which sets us free. How can we be transformed into the image of Christ? One answer is that as we surrender our lives to God’s purposes, God changes us.”

That pastor did not like the words “our pride and arrogance” or “against our self absorption.” He said, “I’m not going to say either one of those about America.” Which means, what, that he accepts the Lordship of America? Who will be left to speak a word for the Lordship of Christ?

I was amazed yesterday to meet one of our church’s first time messengers in hallway outside the meeting. She was running to and fro trying to find a way to resolve her anger. She is Iranian by birth and has been in this country only seven years. She is a Christian convert from Islam and is now in seminary. She asked me breathlessly, “Did you see it? Did you see that flag processional? Can you believe they brought the American flag in ahead of the Christian flag and all the other flags of nations after that? And the American flag was higher than the Christian flag. That is idolatry!” She is right, and I am embarrassed that it took someone so new to the faith and to our country and to us Baptists to even notice. She didn’t know whether she needed to bring a resolution or a motion, but since a motion calls for action, I hope we move that that never happen again in a Baptist meeting.

We need more laypeople like that. Mercy, is there any possibility that this prophecy notion might even apply to them? What’s happened to those laity with a prophetic word? What is trumping the laity’s ability to discern the differences in the present culture and the Kingdom of God? Could it be that we are so consumed by consumerism that we have little power to believe or to act. Do we live in this cultural imagination rather than a Kingdom imagination?

Consumerism, the thing that tells us to go shopping to solve all our problems, must be addressed in our churches. The barnacles of consumerism grow on us day after day until our hope of hearing Jesus’ words, “Blessed are the poor, for theirs is the kingdom of God,” is slim indeed.

Now here I need to start with confession time. The boat is used and the motorcycle is several years old, but I do not lack for toys. This applies to all of us.

And we need to remember that for many of our Baptist brothers and sisters, consumerism is not the issue. It’s survival. Like the fellow we met outside the Dixie House where we had just had dinner with our friends Bob and Judy Coleman. He was asking in his wheelchair how to find the nearest homeless shelter. People like these are often invisible to us. We have to intentionally put ourselves in places where we can see them. Prophets have that kind of vision. They see things and people we otherwise do not see, and they tell us about them.

We desperately need a “theology of enough.” We are stewards, not owners, of what we have, at least in Christian teaching. So do we have any walls around what we will spend on ourselves? Do we have any sense of enough for ourselves? That’s where the prophets will emerge.

Ah, but what about one more—denominations. Should they take risk and speak prophetically or declare that the only real role of the denomination is meeting the need of the churches who are a member of the BGCT? To me the answer is easy. Meeting the will of churches, vital as it is, comes in behind one other: listening for and meeting the will of God.

What trumps the prophetic role in denominations is fear of financial loss, and the lack of understanding what crosses they are willing to die on, if any. What is so compelling that a denomination will stand there and ignore the consequences? Do we know the answer to that question? The question must be asked of laypeople and pastors and churches.

A half century ago in this very city some of the brightest lights of Baptists shone in church pulpits. One of the brightest was Blake Smith, pastor of the University Baptist Church. One Sunday morning he stood tall in that pulpit and declared that it was past time that the University of Texas open its doors to all Texas citizens. The time for integration had come. What’s more, he said to his all-white church, the time had come for University Baptist Church to open its doors to all for whom Christ died.

Well, right after the benediction the predictable took place. An emergency deacons meeting was called for that afternoon. For hours those men grumbled on about what the preacher had said that morning, about whether he had the right to say those things, about the autonomy of the local church to decide who would and who would not be its members, about whether Blake Smith ought to be their pastor at all. After all long while, the moderator looked to the back of the room where an old respected judge was sitting quietly. The man said, “Judge, we haven’t heard from you on this matter. What do you think?” The judge rose to his feet and said solemnly, “Well, boys, you know I don’t like what our pastor said this morning any more than any of the rest of you. But I think Jesus liked it a lot.” Motion to adjourn.

Where have all the prophets gone?

Posted: 11/18/05

Volunteer uses spiritual gifts in prison

By Laura Johnson

AUSTIN–John Luck, a volunteer staff member at First Baptist Church of Sunnyvale, wandered longer than Moses and the Israelites in the wilderness before entering the Promised Land.

“I waited 56 years wandering in the darkness,” said Luck, who served time in and out of the Texas prison system between 1969 and 2001. “Moses only wandered 40 years. I am the recipient of miracles in the church.”

At a seminar held in conjunction with the Baptist General Convention of Texas annual meeting, Luck told how he experienced a “life-changing experience with the Lord Jesus Christ” and currently leads his church's ministry to more than 35 detainees in the Dawson State Jail each week.

“Prison ministry was perfect for me,” Luck said of his opportunity at Sunnyvale to use his experience and spiritual gifts in an outreach effort. He was one of two presenters who joined facilitator Jim Packwood, minister of missions at Sunnyvale, to share how the 102-year-old church has seen tremendous growth in recent years in missions and evangelism.

In 1991, Packwood said, 300 people attended the church. Now, more than 3,000 worship. The church had one local ministry four years ago. Now it sponsors 21 ministries and eight overseas locations that help start churches

“The word of God needs to be sounded forth like a trumpet through the gifts he has given us,” Packwood said.

Pointing to 1 Thessalonians 3:1, he said his goal at the church is to not allow the gospel to “walk or trot” but to “spread quickly beyond the boundaries of the United States.”

The key is equipping church members with knowledge of their spiritual gifts, Packwood said.

First Baptist Church in Sunnyvale asks all new members to participate in an eight-week training seminar during the Sunday School hour called DNA, which stands for “Discover, Navigate and Apply.”

According to the church's DNA brochure, the class “helps in determining one's God-given gifts and how to actively use them in conjunction with other members of the body of Christ for his honor and glory.”

Luck noted most churches tend to “plug” people into areas where the church needs them. However, what really may be needed is to find the person's spiritual gifts and allow the church member to minister accordingly.

Jose Delbosque is an example of this approach at Sunnyvale. He leads services at Iglesia Bautista Sunnyvale.

Last month, the congregation baptized more than 35 individuals.

“Every culture has a different way to be reached,” Delbosque ob-served.

Relational evangelism is very important in his ministry, he said. Some-times as simple as one person sitting down with someone else for a visit over coffee and pan dulce, a sweet bread popular in Hispanic culture.

Delbosque explained how he sees entire families coming to church and following Christ because of one church member who shared Christ with one member of a family.

Posted: 11/18/05

Baptist Briefs

Arkansas Baptists oppose gambling. Messengers to the Arkansas Baptist State Convention passed seven resolutions, including ones opposing casino and lottery gambling, the sale of beer on college campuses, and homosexual activism. Messengers also called for their leaders to increase their support for the Cooperative Program unified budget, and they took the first step in granting agency status to the Baptist Assembly at Siloam Springs, Ark. The convention adopted a no-growth budget of $19.7 million that includes $8.3 million–42 percent–for Southern Baptist Convention causes.

IMB needs child care volunteers. The Southern Baptist International Mission Board needs 40 volunteers to provide child care for missionary families in Western Europe while adult personnel attend regional meetings in Germany, April 12-18. For more information, contact Janey Barton at jbarton@wero.org.

Rotary helps CBF relief efforts in Louisiana. The Rotary Foundation has awarded a $50,000 grant to aid the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of Louisiana's hurricane relief efforts in Lacombe, a small Creole community about 25 miles north of New Orleans.Earmarked to restore at least five houses in Lacombe, the grant was requested by Rotary Club 99 in Little Rock, Ark. Through a partnership with CBF of Arkansas, Rotary Club 99 learned about CBF of Louisiana's efforts in Lacombe and have been providing supplies, funds and volunteer labor. Rotary Club 99, the eighth-largest Rotary club in the world, first provided a much-needed cargo trailer, which representatives delivered to Lacombe last month. The trailer, along with three new chainsaws donated by Second Baptist Church in Little Rock, Ark., have helped CBF of Louisiana's rebuilding efforts.

Virginia Baptists reduce budget slightly. Virginia Baptists approved a reduced budget for 2006 during the 182nd annual meeting of the Baptist General Association of Virginia. The $14.4 million budget for 2006 is $300,000 lower than the current budget, which Treasurer Eddie Stratton said may fall short by as much as $500,000. Budget Committee Chair Darrell Foster attributed the shortfall and reduced budget to Virginia Baptists' $2.3 million in contributions to relief for victims of the South Asia tsunami and the Gulf Coast hurricanes. Also at the annual meeting, Pastor Bert Browning of Huguenot Road Baptist Church in Richmond was elected president.

Posted: 11/18/05

Posted: 11/18/05

2nd Opinion:
Things I learned as a BGCT officer

By Stacy Conner

It has been an honor to be the second vice president of the Baptist General Convention of Texas. The year has been challenging–full of early mornings, eye-opening experiences and blessings.

The BGCT is doing very good work. This has been evident in the convention's responses in this year of natural disasters. From the tsunami in southern Asia to the hurricanes on the Gulf Coast, the churches, Texas Baptist Men and staff of the BGCT have answered the call with resources and the love of Christ. These efforts went above and beyond the extraordinary tasks of ministry that are accomplished everyday. On a daily basis, Texas Baptists care for children, minister at hospital bedsides, educate students for numerous professions, prepare ministers, start churches and take on countless other tasks. All these are carried out in the name of Christ.

However, I have seen a few trends that concern me.

The BGCT's greatest threat is not a rival convention, the accusations of mistreatment by a seminary president or misinformation spread against the convention. Most informed Baptists can see through those things.

The greatest threat to the BGCT is apathy. If a church sends its mission gifts to the BGCT but does not involve itself in the life of the convention, apathy will follow. Dissatisfaction grows out of ignorance. We need to continue the statewide campaign of educating and informing Baptists of the good work of the BGCT. Installation of regional consultants, regional dinners with BGCT staff, creative communication, promotional DVDs, etc., are great steps toward helping churches know how their resources are being utilized by the BGCT. A major part of that effort is the goal of placing the Baptist Standard as an educational tool in the life of every church. If your church contributes to the BGCT, you owe it to yourself and your church to find out what is going on and involve yourself in the ministries of our convention.

Churches should be wary of the temptation to go it alone. Some mistakenly believe that efforts by single churches are more productive than unified efforts. I will not deny the blessings of a mission trip for the life of a church. We have experienced those same blessings at First Baptist Church in Muleshoe. We have sent two groups to help with hurricane relief, and our youth are looking forward to Kid's Heart in the Rio Grande Valley next summer. However, the temptation for church leadership is to earmark funds formerly sent for BGCT ministries to local mission trips. These local trips last only a few days. The work of the BGCT goes on day-in and day-out all over Texas. Funding for local mission trips should come from offerings above and beyond those given to the Cooperative Program.

Also, the suggestion floating around that the convention should help or enable churches to send their own missionaries sends the alarm bells flashing. Remember, we have always said, “We can do more together than we can do apart.”

Some days, in the BGCT, celebrating our diversity sounds more like special-interest squabbling. As an outside observer, I have come to see that serving as executive director of the BGCT is an impossible job. Charles Wade has days when it seems everyone is tugging at him. I witnessed these tensions at the Baptist World Alliance and numerous other regional events. I have seen him, when speaking impromptu, list a dozen ministries and fail to mention just one, only to be accused of not caring about the one. The executive director feels the tension between traditional Baptists, who want decisions made one way, and newcomers, who have different visions. He works with those who believe we all ought “to just get along” and those who see a “fundamentalist” or a “liberal” under every bush. He stands between those who feel entitled to make decisions on behalf of the convention and those who feel they have no power. He navigates the impossible with grace. But if we are not careful, we become cozy in our niche and forget that Christ is the Savior of all people. As the followers of Christ, our goal should be ministry for the greater good, not just what is good for me and mine. Let us celebrate our diversity in Christ by working well together.

The Baptist General Convention of Texas is a great convention of 5,700 churches. Let us work to keep ourselves involved, educated, committed and serving the world and one another in the love of Christ.

Thanks again for the blessing of serving as a vice president of the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

Stacy Conner is pastor of First Baptist Church in Muleshoe and recently served as the BGCT's second vice president.

Posted: 11/18/05

Court declines to hear 'In God We Trust' case

By Robert Marus

ABP Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON (ABP)–The Supreme Court has declined an attempt to have the words “In God We Trust” removed from the front of a North Carolina county government building.

The justices declined, without comment, to hear a case about the Davidson County Government Center in Lexington, N.C. Two local attorneys who regularly do business at the building had sued the county, saying the inscription of the national motto was a violation of the First Amendment ban on government establishment of religion.

County commissioners voted to add the inscription to the building's facade in 2002. According to court papers, it was paid for by donations from individuals and local churches, and those who spoke in favor of it at the meeting where it was considered cited religious reasons for supporting it as well as the secular rationale that it is the national motto. It is written in 18-inch-high letters–larger than the name of the building–the plaintiffs maintained.

In 2004, a federal district court said the inscription's opponents had not proven that the inscription was created with an insufficiently secular purpose or that it unconstitutionally endorsed or caused entanglement with religion. A unanimous three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld their decision earlier this year.

“In this situation, the reasonable observer must be deemed aware of the patriotic uses, both historical and present, of the phrase 'In God We Trust,'” said Judge Robert King.

He noted the phrase has appeared on American coins since the mid-1800s, and was made the official national motto by Congress in 1956. It also is inscribed above the speaker's rostrum in the House of Representatives and above the main door to the Senate floor, King pointed out.

“We are obliged to assess the (county) board's use of the national motto on the façade of the Government Center in its full context–as a statement with religious content, and as one with legitimate secular associations born of its consistent use on coins and currency, and as the national motto,” King wrote.

The court was divided over displays of the Ten Command-ments on government property in two rulings earlier this year.

In one, the court found a monument to the commandments on the Texas Capitol grounds in Austin acceptable but ruled the opposite way on much newer displays in two Kentucky courthouses.

Nonetheless, the justices did not record any dissent in turning away the North Carolina case. It is Lambeth v. Board of Commis-sioners of Davidson County, No. 05-203.

Posted: 11/18/05

DOWN HOME:
Do you give thanks for music's aroma?

Maybe we'll enjoy fall weather at Thanksgiving, after all.

For awhile there, I had my doubts. Don't know about you, but I got sick of hearing the weatherpeople say: “Tomorrow's high just might break a record. Temperatures will be about 15 degrees above normal for this time of year.”

Don't get me wrong: I enjoy warm weather. When it's warm outside, you don't have to worry about the dog or the plants. You don't freeze when you start the car in the morning. You don't have to think so much about what to wear. Getting out of bed is easier. You can enjoy going for a walk or sitting in the backyard.

But all good things must come to an end. By November, the air's supposed to be chilly, and most people in Texas are supposed to feel comfortable wearing sweaters. And more importantly, bugs are supposed to start dying, grass is supposed to stop growing and the air conditioner is supposed to be turned to “off.”

Thanks to our extra-long warm spell this year, I'm particularly thankful for the change of seasons as Thanksgiving approaches. Seasons remind us of the passage of time, but also of timing and pace, and the value of change, even when it's from one good thing to another. By the time I change out my seasonal clothes again, I'll be tired of long sleeves, corduroys, sweatshirts and wool coats. But for now, they're prominent on my list of Thanksgiving blessings. Here are some others, in no particular order:

Music. Almost any kind–OK, not rap or polkas, but everything else–infuses energy and joy and creativity into the world.

Sweet potato chips from Blue Mesa.

Friends. Friends are the family you choose. The other day, I started naming as many friends as I could remember who touched my life at its intersections, and I ran out of time long before I ran out of names. They all blessed me immeasurably.

Family. Fortunately, they're friends, too. My wife is my best friend. Our family is about to grow when Lindsay, our oldest daughter, marries Aaron in–oh, man, I can't believe it's this close–less than a month.

Lost. This TV show is like a weekly vacation; a terrific distraction.

Medicine. I can't imagine how many friends and family no longer would be with us if medical care weren't so excellent.

Books. So many great books, so little time … .

Romans 8. I love the whole Bible, but this is the passage I come back to the most.

The iPod I got for Father's Day. (See “music.”)

Aroma. The way Joanna, my wife, smells when she comes into the kitchen in the morning. The way our girls, Lindsay and Molly, smell when they come home from school. How chicken smells when it's frying, reminding me of my youth.

Air conditioning and heat. Hey, we live in Texas, where the weather's perfect about three days a year. But it's fine inside.

There, I feel thankful already. Now, it's your turn. Tell God what you're thankful for.

–Marv Knox

Posted: 11/18/05

EDITORIAL:
Texas & the 21st-century Pentecost

Pentecost echoed through the ages and reverberated across Austin during the Baptist General Convention of Texas' annual meeting Nov. 14-15.

At Pentecost, God's Spirit settled on a small band of new Christians, filling them with power and boldness, as well as the ability to present the gospel so that people of many races and languages could understand it and commit themselves to Jesus. At Pentecost, God transformed the fledgling church into a mighty force that changed the world.

In Austin, God's Spirit settled on Texas Baptists as they embraced decades of good intentions and well-spoken words, filling them with power and eagerness to transform their convention into a gathering of Christians who look and sound like Texas. They took steps to ensure the gospel is tangible and compelling for people whose skin tones reflect the palette of the earth and whose tongues speak a symphony of languages. In Austin, the BGCT charted a course of inclusiveness and empowerment for the 21st century.

Albert Reyes, the BGCT's first Hispanic president, presided, and Texas Baptists elected their first African-American president, Michael Bell. They also approved a new constitution and bylaws, which mandate that at least 30 percent of the BGCT Executive Board be non-Anglo. And John Nguyen, the first Vietnamese to deliver a convention sermon, closed the gathering by challenging Texas Baptists to encourage and partner with each other and to overcome differences so people across the state and around the world will accept Jesus Christ as their Savior.

Reyes, Bell and Nguyen are Texas Baptist pioneers–the first of their racial/ethnic groups to walk where they have walked. Like previous pioneers, they have blazed trails for others to follow, and follow they will. Their descendants will include other Hispanics, African-Americans and Asian-Americans. (One hopes and prays the descendants will include women and laity as well.) Reyes, Bell and Nguyen are more than mere symbols. They are tangible expressions of Texas Baptists' beliefs that the ground is level at the foot of the cross, all people are made in God's image and all Christians are equal. Their leadership eclipses Texas Baptists' belief in these principles; it demonstrates they are true.

Reyes' presiding, Bell's election and Nguyen's sermon were complemented by the hugely important ratification of the convention's new constitution and bylaws. By stipulating that at least 30 percent of the Executive Board's membership must be non-Anglo, they lift racial and ethnic inclusion far beyond tokenism. When African-Americans, Asian-Americans and Hispanics constitute a third or more of the BGCT's most powerful and influential body, their voices will be amplified, and the lenses of their perspectives will focus the convention's vision on all the issues–spiritual, physical and emotional–that impact our convention, our state, the world and God's kingdom.

Don't think this will be easy. When well-meaning people implement inclusion, they tend to think about what the group photo will look like–how they will feel to see people of many races and ethnic groups on the same board or committee. What they need to imagine is what the meetings will sound like–how they will feel when they hear ideas and proposals they never would have conceived on their own. The Executive Board is likely to talk about race and ethnicity far more than ever before. More importantly, as the board discusses issues that have no apparent connection to race or ethnicity, those discussions will be shaped by the perspectives of faithful and committed Christians who have lived their lives in particular skins.

So, although the non-Anglos may be newest to the Executive Board table, they're the ones least likely to be surprised by what is said there. They know issues of power, justice and economy from a framework that Anglos–still Texas' privileged class–can hardly comprehend. But Texas is changing; people groups are flowing. And if Texas Baptists are going to be a convention that ministers to all of Texas and leads all people to faith in Christ in the coming decades, then we must understand their issues. We must respond to their needs and articulate the gospel in ways each one of them understands.

Texas Baptists will look on our Austin Pentecost as a blessing. By choosing leaders from the spectrum of our people and inviting them to sit in the seats of decision-making and power, we will accept the challenge of reaching our state (and beyond) with the gospel.

Yogi Berra, the great shade-tree philosopher, once said: “The future ain't what it used to be.” Thanks be to God.

Marv Knox is editor of the Baptist Standard.

Posted: 11/18/05

Health Foundation names Elston president

Baptist Health Foundation of San Antonio trustees have named named Frank Elston as the foundation's first president and chief executive officer.

Baptist Health Foundation, created from the proceeds of the sale of Baptist Health System to Vanguard Health Systems of Nashville, Tenn., was established to fund not-for-profit healthcare services and healthcare scholarships in the greater San Antonio area.

Elston returned to San Antonio this spring after retiring from Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, where he was head of its foundation from 1997 to 2005.

A fund-raising professional for 35 years, Elston also was vice president of university relations at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio from 1989 to 1997.

“This is such a tremendous opportunity to make a lasting difference in the health and spiritual well-being of people in our area. We intend to be a leader for change and growth in Bexar County and the seven contiguous counties,” Elston said.

“Our trustees are committed to improving the health of our community by fostering and funding clinical, educational, spiritual and scientific initiatives while honoring God and our Baptist heritage.”

During its first months–in conjunction with the former Baptist Health Services Foundation–the new entity granted more than $3.1 million to local not-for-profit agencies as part of its first funding cycle.

Baptist Health Foundation gave $126,000 to the Baptist General Convention of Texas, San Antonio Baptist Association and Baptist Health System chaplains to assist victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Baptist Health Foundation trustees also awarded more than $350,000 in scholarships to students enrolled in the Baptist Health System School of Health Professions.

The foundation will provide grants annually to help meet the health care ministry needs in its service area.