Friends, family honor Wade at dinner

Posted: 2/29/08

Friends, family honor Wade at dinner

By Ken Camp

Managing Editor

DALLAS—Hailed as a man of integrity, a loving pastor and devoted husband and father, friends gathered to honor Charles Wade at a retirement dinner held prior to the Baptist General Convention of Texas Executive Board meeting.

Wade retired Jan. 31 after eight years as BGCT executive director. Throughout the evening, speakers gently gibed Wade for his tendency to speak beyond allotted limits, praised him for his commitment to making the BGCT more reflective of Texas ethnically and racially, and lovingly recalled instances that illustrated his pastoral care for people.

Wade led with the courage of his convictions and with a gracious and welcoming spirit, said BGCT Executive Board Chairman John Petty of Kerrville.

“My generation of Texas Baptists has never known a time when we have not benefited from your leadership,” Petty said. “You have shepherded us.”

Phil Miller, leader in the Bible study and discipleship area, said the BGCT Executive Board staff always will fondly remember Wade’s “heart for people and ready smile.”

Leaders from several BGCT-related universities, childcare agencies and hospitals presented commemorative gifts to Wade and his family.

Dennis Linam, vice president for external affairs at Dallas Baptist University, announced the creation of an endowed scholarship in honor of Charles and Rosemary Wade. Linam also noted Wade will serve as an adjunct part-time professor at the school, teaching a course in the global leadership master’s degree program.

Baylor Health Care System President Joel Allison noted his board made a contribution to the medical system’s chaplaincy program in Wade’s honor.

Gus Reyes, leader of the congregational relations team on the BGCT Executive Board staff, thanked Wade for his leadership on behalf of the affinity groups that relate to the BGCT—African-Americans, Hispanics, cowboy churches, intercultural ministry and bivocational or small-church ministers.

Praising him as a “make-it-happen man,” Reyes noted that diversity within the Baptist Building staff and on BGCT governing boards and committees serves as Wade’s legacy.

Jimmy Allen, retired denominational executive and past president of both the BGCT and the Southern Baptist Convention, described Wade as “a friend and companion on the journey.”

He recalled how Wade visited him when Allen was pastor of First Baptist Church in San Antonio to learn how his congregation was making an impact in the community. In time, he said, Wade took those ideas and built on them as pastor of First Baptist Church in Arlington.

He praised Wade as a Christian who has a vital relationship with God, a pastor who “reached out to all kinds of folks” and “a man of integrity” who led with courage—particularly in the area of race relations.

“Reaching across racial and ethnic lines is just a natural part of Charles Wade’s Christian walk,” Allen said.

Bill Bruster, retired networking coordinator for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, told how he and Wade served as Royal Ambassadors under Bob Banks’ direction, roomed together at Oklahoma Baptist University and carpooled together during their seminary studies.

Bruster told humorous stories about their college days and Wade’s courtship of Rosemary, and offered thanks for their formative friendship.

“He recommended me to the first church I served,” Bruster said. “He helped shape me.”

Mark Wade described how he benefited from his parents’ example, particularly the love and respect they consistently demonstrated for each other through the years. He expressed gratitude for the Christian life his father not only taught him to follow, but also modeled for him.

“He is a man of character. You never have to doubt his word,” he said. “He is a man of integrity. He’s the same man in private as he is in public. …Words don’t mean a lot unless they are lived out in actions.”

Tillie Burgin, director of Mission Arlington, remembered Wade enlisting her to join the staff at First Baptist Church in Arlington.

“You allowed me to come on as minister of missions when I didn’t know what that was, and you didn’t either,” she said, directing comments to Wade.

But she recalled a shabbily dressed young man who came to church at her invitation on Sunday night after she had helped him during her first day on the job. That night, he walked the aisle at the church and committed his life to Christ.

“God affirmed something here,” she remembered Wade saying that evening. In time, Mission Arlington grew to become a multi-faceted ministry of apartment-based Bible studies and wide-ranging social programs for the poor.