Posted: 1/28/08

Everett hopes to unify BGCT
around ‘mission passion’

By Ken Camp

Managing Editor

Missions, Christian education and advocacy are three primary “kingdom tasks” the nominee for executive director of the Baptist General Convention of Texas believes can unite Texas Baptists.

Randel Everett, pastor of First Baptist Church in Newport News, Va., hopes to unify the BGCT around “not just a mission statement, but a mission passion.”

Randel Everett

Everett, 58, will be nominated for executive director at the Feb. 25-26 meeting of the BGCT Executive Board in Dallas. Charles Wade, who served eight years as executive director, retired Jan. 31. Jan Daehnert is serving as interim executive director.

If elected executive director, Everett will lead an organization still feeling the lingering effects of a financial scandal that involved church-starting funds in the Rio Grande Valley, and he will direct a staff that has experienced layoffs in recent months.

In a phone interview, Everett acknowledged he would be returning to Texas at “a challenging time,” but he also characterized it as “a time of great opportunity” for Texas Baptists. The increasing ethnic diversity of Texas and the need to engage young leaders age 35 and younger in denominational life rank among key challenges he noted.

“I would like to help the BGCT discern, ‘Where is our unique kingdom assignment?” he said.

Everett highlighted three tasks he believes could bring Texas Baptists together:

• Missions. “Texas Baptists should make sure every person in Texas has the opportunity to respond to the good news of Christ within his or her own language and context,” he said.

• Christian education. From religious education in local congregations to high education in universities and seminaries, Texas Baptists should “make sure we are providing the resources to ensure that people grow in Christ’s likeness,” he said.

• Advocacy. Texas Baptists should become advocates for the separation of church and state to ensure religious liberty for all people, and they should be advocates for the poor, he said. “There is no reason any child in Texas should go to bed hungry.”

Although he has served outside of Texas the last 15 years, Everett said he believes the experience has given him “a broader perspective of what is going on in Baptist life.”

Everett is the kind of leader Texas Baptists need, according to Ken Hugghins, chairman of the executive director search committee.

“As the committee listened to Texas Baptists and talked with excellent leaders and candidates across our state, a description of the kind of leader Texas needs emerged. Randel Everett matches that description and more,” said Hugghins, pastor of Elkins Lake Baptist Church in Huntsville.

“He will communicate across the spectrum of Texas Baptists, the generations of Texas Baptists, the many affinity groups of Texas Baptists and focus the kingdom commitment of Texas Baptist churches, institutions and convention servants.”

Everett served nine years as president of the John Leland Center for Theological Studies in Arlington, Va. While he was at the helm, the center received accreditation from the Association of Theological Schools.

His last three years at the Leland Center overlapped the beginning of his four-year pastorate in Newport News.

Everett served five years at Columbia Baptist Church in Falls Church, Va., a 3,000-member congregation in suburban Washington, D.C.

He served from 1992 to 1996 at First Baptist Church in Pensacola, Fla., after a pastorate at University Baptist Church in Fort Worth.

Other pastorates were First Baptist Church in Benton, Ark.; Inglewood Baptist Church in Grand Prairie; and First Baptist Church in Gonzales. He also was assistant minister of missions at First Baptist Church in Dallas.

Everett was chairman of the Baptist World Alliance’s education and evangelism commission from 2000 to 2005 and has held other positions with the BWA.

He served on the BGCT Executive Board from 1978 to 1979. Other denominational leadership posts included president of the Arkansas Baptist State Convention Executive Board, moderator of Peninsula Baptist Association, trustee of Florida Baptist College, and a member of the national ministry partners study committee and the budget committee for the Baptist General Association of Virginia.

Everett has been a guest chaplain for the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives, and he has been a teacher at the Pentagon Bible study.

Everett earned his doctorate and master’s degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and his bachelor’s degree from Ouachita Baptist University. He also holds an honorary doctorate from the University of Richmond.

He and his wife, the former Sheila King, have been married 35 years. They have two children—Jeremy, 32, who works as a community ministries director with Baptist Child & Family Services in San Antonio; and Rachel Froom, 28, of Ramrod Key, Fla. They have two grandsons.

Everett was born in Arkansas, but his family moved to Fort Worth when he was in the third grade so his father could attend seminary. His father, Kenneth, went on to serve as a Baptist pastor and director of missions.

Two of his three brothers—Tim of Central Baptist Church in Spring Hill, La., and Neil of First Baptist Church of Calhoun, La.—also became pastors. His other brother, Tommy, is a pharmacist in Hope, Ark., and their sister, Janie Schroeder, lives in McKinney.

With additional reporting by John Hall of BGCT Communications

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Baptist churches, in Texas, the BGCT, the nation and around the world.

Storylist for week of 2/04/08

TAKE ME TO: Top Story |  Texas |  Opinion |  Baptists |  Faith & Culture |  Book Reviews |  Classifieds  |  Departments  |  Bible Study





• The security of the believer: Protecting churches from attack


• Youth speaker wants to point students to real catalyst for change

• Providential communication failure led student to DBU and faith in Christ

• Evangelism requires commitment–even if it means holding church under a tree

• On the Move

• Around the State

Security of Believers: Is your congregation safe from attack?
• The security of the believer: Protecting churches from attack

• Church security demands all hands on deck–but maybe not with arms

• What should worshippers do if their church is attacked?



The New Baptist Covenant meeting in Atlanta, Ga.:
• Love leaves no room for ‘us and them,' Dallas pastor says

• Sexual exploitation alive in America; churches can end it

• New Baptist Covenant: Unity. Harmony. Now, what comes next?

• Covenant participants close gathering with determination but few specifics

• Biblical witness commands God's people to ‘welcome the stranger'

• Program enables watershed experience for seminary students

• Time in God's presence primary requirement for spiritual discipline

• Medical professionals urge congregational health advocacy

• Panelists urge New Covenant Baptists to fight institutional racism

• Separation of church & state can be complex, but it's worth the effort, speakers insist

• Prophetic preaching breaks down barriers, builds up God's kingdom

• Relationships needed to break poverty cycle

• Baptists wrestle with ways to find common ground with other faiths

• Public servants & preachers challenge Baptists to welcome ‘the stranger'

• Panelists offer practical suggestions for peacemaking

• Need for church response grows as HIV/AIDS pandemic continues to spread

• Baptists challenged to advocate for reform of a broken criminal justice system

• Pastors: World waits for authentic messengers

• Any church can participate in disaster relief, Baptists are told

• Sexual exploitation alive in America; churches can end it

• Rogers challenges churches to engage in justice issues

• Mainstream Baptists hear Shurden, honor Lolley

• College students unite to serve Atlanta following Baptist celebration

• Gregory admonishes Baptists to show concrete concern for ‘the stranger'

• Silence, shame and stigma—the unholy trinity of AIDS

• Baptists called to combat ignorance about religious liberty

• North American Baptist plan to work together on disaster relief

• Baptists urged to reach out to victims of sexual exploitation

• Gore Urges New Covenant Baptists to Take Up Mantle of Creation Care

• Churches can provide significant response to health care needs

• Seminary president suggests practices to nurture ‘capacity for the sacred'

• Panelists, participants explore interfaith relationships

• Workshop challenges New Covenant Baptists to seek peace

• Prophetic preachers take varied approaches

• Ethnically diverse churches look like God's kingdom, speakers insist

• Christians called to ‘welcome the stranger'

• Global ills take center stage at Baptist convocation

• Novelist Grisham calls fellow Baptists to respect diversity

• Give students a cause worthy of their devotion, panelists urge

• ‘Incarnation' is key for Baptists engaging policy, speakers stress

• Individual, church response crucial to alleviating poverty

• Christians called to tear down walls, not build them, South Texas pastor says

• Campolo asks Baptists, “Which Jesus should we preach?”

• Baptist unity takes center stage as New Covenant meeting opens

• Unity the focus of New Baptist Covenant gathering, organizers insist

• Atlanta meeting may prompt real change, some Baptists insist


• VeggieTales creator's self-image: More Mr. Rogers than van Gogh

• For Casting Crowns, performing and recording music is just a side job

• Islam not source of Middle Eastern conflicts, former CIA official insists

• Holy Land church leaders appeal for Gaza

• Some worry Habitat dispute might stall Katrina recovery

• Faith Digest


• New book examines life and contributions of ‘Daddy King'


• Classified Ads

• On the Move

• Around the State

• Texas Baptist Forum


• EDITORIAL: The BGCT's opportunity for success

• DOWN HOME: Talk about your gridiron miracle

• 2nd Opinion: Political truth: Rhetoric or conduct?

• RIGHT or WRONG? Win or reconcile?

• TOGETHER: Thanks to God; prayer for blessing

• Texas Baptist Forum



• BaptistWay Bible Series for February 3: Disciple=servant

• Explore the Bible Series for February 3: Do you care about others?

• Bible Studies for Life Series for February 3: The motive

• Bible Studies for Life Series for February 10: The message

• Explore the Bible Series for February 10: Do you obey in faith?


Previously Posted
• Blogger Burleson resigns from International Mission Board

• Evangelism requires commitment–even if it means holding church under a tree

• Teenager at South Texas Children's Home dies

• Everett hopes to unify BGCT around ‘mission passion'

• Buckner explores needs in Mexico

• Friends of Jesus share good news with their parents

• On 35th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, both sides celebrate decline of abortion

• Christian voters broadening political agenda, evangelical panelists say

• CERI launches child-sponsorship program in Sri Lanka

• Everett to be nominated as BGCT executive director

• Obama again refutes Muslim rumors; Jewish leaders denounce e-mails

• Huckabee's role in SBC conflict presaged political balancing act

• Satanists arrested on suspicion of arson in Ala. church burnings

• Attempt at dialogue with Muslims sparks criticism of NAE

• Ministries continue in Kenya as violence subsides somewhat, but tension remains


• See articles from the previous 1/21/08 issue here.

Posted: 2/15/08

BCFS given lead role in emergency
care for medical special needs

By Haley Smith

Baptist Child & Family Services

The Texas Governor’s Division of Emergency Management has given Baptist Child & Family Services the lead role in care for medical special needs disaster evacuees.

The San Antonio-based agency will provide medical special needs shelter training sessions for cities and counties statewide in the next year.

Medical special needs shelters temporarily house people who do not fit in the massive general population shelters because they need basic medical attention, a caregiver, medical support or monitoring, or they possess extensive equipment needs. They may also be individuals with an acute illness or who are considered mentally fragile.

Marla Rushing, Baptist Child & Family Services director of corporate training, counsels a new arrival from New Orleans as the first wave of Hurricane Katrina evacuees arrived in San Antonio. Rushing will be heavily involved in the agency's new work with the state training communities how to establish and staff medical special need shelters. (Photo by Craig Bird/BCFS)

Baptist Child & Family Services already has responsibility for manning and managing medical special needs shelters anytime there is a mass evacuation to San Antonio—an automatic event when a major hurricane hits the Texas coast. When Hurricane Dean threatened last Fall, the agency and its partner churches prepared to care for up to 5,000 people.

“One of the greatest weaknesses exposed by the largest disaster to ever strike American soil was the lack of planning and preparedness to care for the very people who are most vulnerable,” said BCFS president Kevin Dinnin, reflecting back on Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita. “Yet most organizations have been afraid to care for medical special needs evacuees and turned them away, either out of fear or lack of knowledge. BCFS was chosen to take on this task due to our past experience in caring for people considered society’s most vulnerable.

“We learned from our experience that there was a great need for comprehensive medical special needs policies, procedures and training , considering no one can predict a catastrophe whether a natural disaster or man made threat,” said Marla Rushing, director of corporate training at Baptist Child & Family Services.

“The principal objective for the medical special needs training will be to educate jurisdictions and health care professionals on staffing, equipment needs, and procedures to run such a medical special needs shelter. It is critical for Texas to develop and increase medical special needs shelter capacity We must never again be as ill-prepared as we were for Hurricanes Katrina and Rita,” Dinnin added.

The new contract with the Governor’s Division of Emergency Management calls for Baptist Child & Family Services to provide training about the comprehensive requirements to operate a medical special needs shelter, including the unique dietary requirements of people with special needs, the identification and selection of personnel and staffing requirements and typical chronic and health issues that must be addressed during shelter operations.

“The overarching goal of the medical special needs shelter training is to make sure that cities and jurisdictions are equipped with proper expectations of the unique needs of persons with special needs,” said Rushing. “We want the training to promote awareness of the needs of the vulnerable within our society and to motivate preparedness.”

Baptist Child & Family Services plans to expand medical special needs shelter preparedness across the country. The agency recently committed to help Nevada with shelter preparedness, and Rushing speak at the Nevada State Emergency Management conference in April.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Baptist churches, in Texas, the BGCT, the nation and around the world.

Posted: 2/15/08

Around the State

• “Awake 2008: A Call to Spiritual Awakening” is being sponsored by Tryon-Evergreen Baptist Association. The March 29 rally at the Lone Star Convention & Expo Center in Conroe will feature T.W. Hunt. The event will begin at 6 p.m. Call (936) 856-2001 for more information.

• The Conference of Texas Baptist Evangelists has named its officers for the year. Elected were Paul Cherry, president; Todd Keller, vice president; Gary Newman, secretary/treasurer; Sam Craig, music director; and Ricky Davis, assistant music director.

• Former Baylor University First Lady Mary McCall has been presented the Founders Medallion for 2008. The medallion is reserved for people whose service and contributions have been unusually significant to the life and future of the university. McCall served the school as a student, professor’s wife, parent, president’s wife and alumna. She has been a member of numerous Baylor organizations and in 1982 was awarded the W.R. White Meritorious Service Award. For many years, she was a Sunday school teacher and trustee at First Church in Waco. She now is a member of Park Cities Church in Dallas.

Mary Russell McCall was presented the 2008 Founders Medallion by Dennis Prescott, vice president for development, and Baylor President John M. Lilley.

• Gabriel Cortes has been named director of church and alumni relations at Baptist University for the Americas. He and his wife, Maria, have two children, Esteban and Andres.

• Trudy Mohre has been named director of admissions at Howard Payne University.

• Howard Payne University awarded James Guenther, general counsel for the Southern Baptist Convention for more than 30 years, an honorary doctor of humanities degree at winter commencement ceremonies.

• The Houston Baptist University mock trial team competed in the Loras College National Invitational Tournament, the oldest and largest tournament in the United States. The team recorded two wins and six losses, and sophomore Laurianne Balkum received a best attorney award, scoring 19 of 20 possible points.

Anniversaries

• Greg Traylor, fifth, as pastor of First Church in Beeville, Jan. 5.

• Herb Pedersen, 15th, as pastor of Longbranch Community Church in Midlothian, Feb. 1.

• Tim Rowell, fifth as pastor of Flatonia Church in Flatonia, Feb. 3.

• Jake Vaughn, 10th, as pastor of East Delta Church in Lake Creek, Feb. 8.

• Joe Traweek, 10th, as minister of music and education at West Sherman Church in Sherman, Feb. 8.

• Jeremy Marr, fifth, as minister of youth at Calvary Church in Denison, Feb. 15.

• David Rogers, 10th, as associate pastor of corporate worship and global missions strategist at The Heights Church in Richardson, Feb. 15.

• David Warren, 10th, as executive director of missions for Bowie Association, March 1.

• Ven a El Church in San Antonio, 50th, March 9. Robert Garcia Jr. is pastor.

• New Home Church in New Home, 100th, March 30. Lunch will follow in the school cafeteria. Gene Hawkins is interim pastor.

Retiring

• Lee Walker, after more than 30 years with San Jacinto Association, the last 18 of those as director of missions. He also served several churches in music, education and administration capacities. Churches he served include First Church in Commerce, Magnolia Park Church in Houston, Wooster Church in Baytown, First Church in Galena Park, First Church in Spring Branch and First Church in Bellaire. He has been in ministry 58 years.

Deaths

• Jan Sanders, 74, Jan. 11 in Westminster, Colo. She and her husband, Raymond, served a number of churches including First Church in Fort Hancock and First Church in Van Horn. They were involved in River Ministry and started 16 churches along the Rio Grande. Her husband also served as director of missions for Big Bend Association 23 years. She is survived by her husband of 55 years; daughters Brenda Sanders and Kathy Beach; sons, Kenneth and Larry; and seven grandchildren.

• Ted Holland, 81, Jan. 16 in Victoria. Among the churches he served as pastor were First Church in Arcadia and Baptist Temple in Edna. He served many churches in Guadalupe Association as interim pastor. He was preceded in death by his wife, Eleanor. He is survived by his daughters, Rebecca Graham and Catherine Hayman; sisters, Marie Whitney and Nina Mae Rasberry; brother, Jackson; five grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.

• Ed Savage, 82, Jan. 26 in Port Neches. He served churches throughout Texas, and the last 22 years of his ministry, he was director of church services for Golden Triangle Association. He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Joyce; daughter, Laura Savage-Rains; and two step-grandchildren.

• Cathy Conner, 73, Jan. 28 in Marfa. She and her husband, Lloyd, served Texas churches 52 years—he as pastor and she as Sunday school teacher and nursery worker. They served at First Church in Clint, First Church in Marfa, Lindell Avenue Church in San Angelo and First Church in Albany. They returned to First Church in Marfa in 1993, where her husband still serves. She is survived by her husband; daughters, Karen Mills and Eileen Conner; sister, Margaret Wallace; and two grandchildren.

• E.C. Chron, 80, Jan. 30 in Carrollton. He was a minister and evangelist more than 50 years. He is survived by his wife of 61 years, Melba Jo; son, Clint; daughters, Josa Perry, Deanna Sauerzopf and Tami Jones; brothers, Virgil, Bob and Allen; sister, Minnie Nell Orm; seven grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

Events

• Airway Church in Houston will hold its annual chili cook-off and gospel concert Feb. 23. The meal will be at 5:30 p.m., and the concert will begin at 7 p.m. For more information, call (713) 991-7677. Ed Parker is pastor.

• The India Children’s Choir will present a musical at Parkdale Church in Corpus Christi Feb. 27 at 6:30 p.m., and at Waldron Road Church in Corpus Christi Feb. 28 at 6:30 p.m. For more information about this free event, call (361) 937-3772.

• “World Vision Experience: AIDS,” a nationally touring interactive exhibit, will be open to the public at The Heights Church in Richardson from 9 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Feb. 29 and March 1, and from noon to 8:30 p.m. March 2. Visitors to the 2,340-square-foot exhibit will walk through a replica of an African village while listening on headsets to a story of a child whose life has been affected by AIDS. For more information, call (972) 238-7243.

• First Church in Plano hold a parenting seminar March 28-29. Sessions will feature how children learn and how to persuade children to do the things they need to do. Author and lecturer Cynthia Tobias will be the speaker. The cost is $20 per adult until March 15 and $25 after that date. The cost includes childcare for children through fifth grade and lunch on Saturday. For more information, call (972) 424-8551.

• Bob Pinder marked 61 years in ministry Feb. 5. He was a pastor in Florida, Southern Baptist missionary in Argentina, and instructor in marriage and family therapy at Texas Tech University 23 years.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Baptist churches, in Texas, the BGCT, the nation and around the world.

Posted: 2/15/08

Book Reviews

Before You Plan Your Wedding … Plan Your Marriage by Greg and Erin Smalley (Howard Books)

Little girls dream of wearing flowing white dresses and lovely sheer veils. Brides and grooms, along with their families, spend hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars making the fairy tale ceremony and reception come true. But all too often, they forget that marriage for a lifetime is more important than wedding for a day.

Before You Plan Your Wedding … Plan Your Marriage offers guidance for building a lasting Christlike union. In chapters ranging from “Will You Forgive Me?” to “If Only We Had Known,” psychologists Erin and Greg Smalley share principles for making marriage work. “Couple exercises/homework” conclude each chapter, as the authors suggest activities such as focusing on each other (and not the wedding) 20 minutes a day.

What are you reading that other Texas Baptists would find helpful? Send suggestions and reviews to books@baptiststandard.com.

The Smalleys manage to tackle tough issues and differences in male-female communication and expectations with humor and personal stories. They share that early in their dating, Gary called Erin for a defining-the-relationship talk. Over dinner, he indicated he felt pressured. Erin left the restaurant assuming they had broken up—a suspicion confirmed when he didn’t call for some time. So she started dating another guy, much to Greg’s surprise when he returned from a long trip he forgot to mention to Erin.

Before You Plan Your Wedding … Plan Your Marriage would be a great engagement gift and should be required reading for anyone planning a wedding and a marriage.

Kathy Robinson Hillman, former president

Woman’s Missionary Union of Texas

and Holly Hillman (soon-to-be Smith), Waco

The Scandal of Evangelical Politics by Ronald J. Sider (Baker Books)

Two good reasons propel evangelical Christians into political action: They know political decisions make a difference in people’s lives, and they believe Jesus is Lord. But too often, author Ron Sider insists, evangelical political engagement has lacked both a wise methodology and a solid biblical foundation.

As a proposed remedy to this scandalous failure, he offers a framework for evangelical political activity. That framework begins with an understanding of overarching biblical principles, and it also involves historical perspective and societal analysis. Rather than looking to biblical prooftexts for a detailed political blueprint, Sider challenges evangelicals to develop a political philosophy shaped by the broad themes in the biblical story of creation, fall, salvation and restoration. He deals forthrightly with questions about what kind of laws the state has the right and responsibility to pass and the degree to which evangelicals should try to use the powers of the state to shape a better society.

Ultimately, Sider counsels politically engaged evangelicals to act with humility and integrity—good advice that cuts across all political and religious lines.

Ken Camp, managing editor

Baptist Standard, Dallas

Just Add Water by Joe Loughlin (Infinity Publishing)

We Baptists seem to see church as serious and sometimes dull. Joe Loughlin has been willing to risk opening windows into his ministry to reveal the funny side of church.

God will be smiling as you journey with this pastor through some of his baptisms, weddings, Lord’s Suppers, personal times with members, and even funerals as he exposes the humor he has experienced. Loughlin is able to take the ordinary events involving ordinary church members and unfold the funny side of being a part of the family of God.

You will enjoy this funny side from Just Add Water. Take time to smile as you read. Remember, laughter is a gift from God, and he wants us to enjoy it.

Leo Smith, executive director

Texas Baptist Men, Dallas

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Baptist churches, in Texas, the BGCT, the nation and around the world.

Posted: 2/15/08

Baptist Briefs

Fewer forced terminations in SBC churches last year. Forced terminations in the Southern Baptist Convention were down during 2006. The Southern Baptist Church-Minister Relations Association found 680 full-time and bivocational pastors were forced out of their positions in 2006, plus 265 staff members. While the total of 945 is 27 percent lower than the 1,302 reported for 2005, Barney Self, a former pastoral counselor with LifeWay Christian Resources who conducted the survey, pointed out the report lacked input from four state conventions. The omissions mean the actual number of terminations may have been closer to 1,100, he noted. According to the survey, control issues were the top reason for staff dismissals—the same reason that has topped the surveys since they were initiated in 1996.

SBC conducts online survey about youth. Teenagers, their parents, student ministry volunteers and youth ministers in Southern Baptist churches are eligible to participate in an online survey through April 13. Church registration for the survey, at www.sbcstudents.com/annualsurvey, runs through the end of March. After the survey closes, each participating church will be able to download a full report April 15. It will show the responses of their congregation separated into groups without identifying specific individuals who took the survey. All individual input will remain confidential. Free online manuals will be made available to churches to guide them in conducting workshops that bring key parents, youth and leaders to the table to set a new direction based on the information gathered from the survey. State conventions will be able to post statistics from their states on their websites, while SBC entities will have access to national figures to help determine effective directions for student ministry within the convention. Participating churches, meanwhile, will be able to compare their results with statewide and nationwide results.

Third nominee enters SBC president’s race. Frank Cox, pastor of North Metro First Baptist Church in Lawrenceville, Ga., will be nominated for president of the Southern Baptist Convention during the June 10-11 annual meeting in Indianapolis, Alabama evangelist Junior Hill announced. Cox is the third nominee to be announced, joining Al Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., and Bill Wagner, a former Southern Baptist missionary and seminary professor and current president of Olivet University International in San Francisco. Cox is a former president of the Georgia Baptist Convention and former SBC first vice president. He also served on the SBC Executive Committee nine years and is a member of the convention’s funding study committee. Cox has been North Metro’s pastor more than 27 years. Beginning in 2002, North Metro has been in the top 100 of all SBC churches in total dollars contributed through the Cooperative Program, ranking 44th out of 44,223 congregations in 2006.

Baptists plan world youth conference. The Baptist World Alliance has scheduled its next global youth conference for July 20 to Aug. 3 in Leipzig, Germany. Events at the 2008 conference will include morning worship services, concerts and evening sessions with keynote speakers. Opportunities to participate in mission projects throughout Europe prior to and following the conference also will be available, organizers said. Early registration ends March 31.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Baptist churches, in Texas, the BGCT, the nation and around the world.

Posted: 2/15/08

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Baptist churches, in Texas, the BGCT, the nation and around the world.

Posted: 2/15/08

Shared meals at church take on
a different flavor to meet changing needs

By David Briggs

Religion News Service

AKRON, Ohio (RNS)—Andrew Hamilton still can taste the homemade apple, cherry and peach pies that capped off the covered-dish church meals of his youth in Lakeville, Mass.

In those days, children played on their own for hours while adults spent Sunday afternoons in conversation. The church seemed like one big family, said Hamilton, 44, pastor of Akron’s Springfield Church of the Brethren.

Markesha Kimmie, 10, arranges Kool-Aid for a supper at Broadway United Methodist Church in Cleveland. Many churches have revamped the traditional church supper to meet the changing needs of busy families. (RNS photo by Lynn Ischay/The Plain Dealer of Cleveland)

Every Thursday night, Hamilton’s church opens its weekly supper to the community, and about a third of those who attend aren’t even church members. It’s all part “of an authentic witness sharing the basic necessities of life with people in the community,” he said.

Still, those leisurely feasts of food and fellowship are few and far between. Today’s church meal is different. It often features a simpler menu—sandwiches and soup or fast food—and has a more complex purpose.

Churches still offer meals to promote the joy of community, but they also hold them to evangelize, serve the needy and encourage people to attend programs.

“The church supper has extended beyond Sunday,” said Psyche Williams-Forson, assistant professor of American studies at the University of Maryland. “Many churches are finding more creative uses for the church supper.”

Ask religious leaders about the church meals of their youth, and they smile and gaze off into the distance. People who grew up in the 1960s or earlier remember a simpler lifestyle before 24/7 superstores, travel soccer tournaments and wall-size televisions with hundreds of cable channels.

Reserving the Lord's Day

At that time, many Christians not only reserved what they considered the Lord’s Day for church, they also stayed after the morning service to share a community meal. In many Baptist and Pentecostal churches, people would stay all day. The noon meal was a bridge between morning and afternoon or evening services.

Then came the rise of Sunday shopping and the movement of women into the workforce in large numbers. Few people were willing to devote entire Sundays to church.

Now in many churches, clergy say, some congregants don’t let the door hit them on the way out to children’s activities, movies, shopping trips or televised sports.

“We allow other things to crowd in. Breaking bread together was a form of fellowship,” said Rodney Maiden of Providence Baptist Church in Cleveland. “I do think something is missing” without the opportunity for table fellowship.

Some congregations have made adjustments to make it easier for members to attend church meals.

A couple of years ago, Westlake United Methodist Church started providing the main dish at its quarterly potluck suppers. That allows young parents to bring an appetizer or dessert, or even come empty-handed.

Since the change, attendance has almost doubled, from 50 to 100 people, with more young families, said Judy Wismar Claycomb, the church’s pastor.

Broadway United Methodist Church in Cleveland offers weekly church suppers after religious-education programs on Wednesday nights. The menu can be as simple as hot dogs and chips.

Last year, the church began a quarterly family dinner after Sunday services. On those days, worship attendance often increases from around 35 people to more than 50.

Like the church suppers of days past, the meals provide time for conversation and a way to get to know one another, Yvonne Conner said.

“This is what people really respond to,” she said. “And we have good food.”

Open to the community

What separates many church suppers today from meals offered in past generations is that they are open to the community. In Cleveland, St. Luke’s Episcopal Church invites members and neighbors to its family night every Wednesday.

David Bargetzi, rector of St. Luke’s, sees this combination church supper-neighborhood outreach program as an expression of Christian community that dates to ancient times.

About one-third or more of the 100 to 120 weekly diners are among the 60 to 80 people who worship on Sundays. The homeless, working poor and other neighborhood folks also come for meals, such as roast pork.

Bargetzi stands at the door greeting people by name, while “prayer waitresses” walk around asking people for prayer requests.

A 63-year-old man on Social Security who lives up the street and worships at St. Luke’s said he enjoys leaving the house and seeing people he knows at the suppers.

“Everybody’s real friendly,” said Lee, who declined to give his last name. “Some churches you go to, they treat you like you’re a piece of dirt. Here, they treat everybody the same.”

David Briggs writes for The Plain Dealer in Cleveland.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Baptist churches, in Texas, the BGCT, the nation and around the world.

Posted: 2/15/08

2nd Opinion:
Touch others: Healing & helping

By Jerry Hopkins

Educators learn a great deal about people—their views, virtues, vices and other things. The aim of most teachers and educational administrators is to help people. A central theme for educators is to be helpful, constructive and positive.

This also is one of the important themes of Jesus’ life. In the historical book known as Acts, author/historian Luke describes this: “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit, and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him” (Acts 10:38). Doing good and healing should characterize anyone’s life who works with people.

The central theme of our lives should be to serve others like Jesus did—offering healing, loving, helpful touches. Jesus went about doing good, lifting and loving, rather than hurting and hindering; blessing and building, rather than blighting and condemning. We need to do an audit of our lives, our attitudes and actions. Are we doing good, helping and healing?

Some people are not concerned by the damage they cause. They can hurt people with acts and words without taking a second thought or having conscience pains. They seem cut off from conscience or sane humanity. We need to learn how to manage in a world that doesn’t seem to care about others—whether they survive or not, succeed or not. Jesus demonstrated three traits in his relationship to other human beings that should be reflected in our relationships too.

First, Jesus listened to people and paid attention to their difficulties. He didn’t dismiss them or discourage them, except in regard to evil and wickedness. Jesus didn’t encourage wrong in anyone’s life, because he knew the damage and deadliness of evil.

Second, Jesus loved people enough to heal them. He didn’t heal everyone, but he did demonstrate care. We need to have the same compassion and concern for others and bring healing—healing to physical bodies, healing to relationships, healing to groups.

Third, Jesus helped people, and he commands those who follow him to do the same.

It takes time to touch people’s lives in a healing and helpful way. It takes time to get to know people and then to walk with them and talk with them.

Few people are willing to invest that most precious commodity—time.

Several years ago, I lived in England, studied at Regent’s Park College at Oxford and served a church as minister. A poem in a newsletter for Trinity Baptist-Congregational Church of Huntingdon, England, spoke to me about this very subject of touching people. It states:

My life shall touch a dozen lives

Before this day is done;

Leave countless marks for good or ill

Ere sets the evening sun,

So this the wish I always wish,

The prayer I always pray;

“Lord, may my life help other lives

It touches by the way.”

Jerry Hopkins is professor of history at East Texas Baptist University and pastor of Clever Creek Baptist Church in Center.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Baptist churches, in Texas, the BGCT, the nation and around the world.

Posted: 2/15/08

DOWN HOME:
A part of my heart now beats in Europe

The last I saw of Molly was just a tiny glimpse of her luscious blonde hair.

Even after we finished our hugs and kisses and waves goodbye, Joanna and I stood like statues outside airport security. We waited until we could see our youngest daughter no more.

Somewhere between “We’ll miss you,” and “I’ll be praying for you every day,” and “You’ll have a great time; I’m so jealous,” and “We’ll be in touch through IM and Skype,” and “Always travel in groups, and don’t stay anyplace where you don’t feel safe,” Jo and I realized saying goodbye to our kid was harder than we reckoned.

Of course, sending Molly abroad for a semester isn’t like shipping a child off to war or waving farewell to a daughter or son bound for missions in the Congo. But this was hard enough. This is our child, and she was about to be so far gone.

Truth be told, Jo and I have gotten comfortable in our “empty nest.” I never believed we would. The greatest, most amazing thing I’ve ever done is be a daddy. So, I agonized a full year before Lindsay, our oldest, left for college. I just couldn’t imagine life without girls under our roof—meeting me at the end of the day, laughing around the dinnertable, doing homework and watching TV. Making our place a home.

But Lindsay left for college, and then Molly followed. After that, Lindsay and Aaron moved to Florida. Each time, we adjusted.

Jo and I discovered we love each other even more than we did when babies started enlivening our home. Not only that, we’re still best friends, and we can have fun that doesn’t involve going someplace with a gaggle of girls.

Still, seeing one of them off to Europe for a semester was just plain hard. I think the Atlantic Ocean made the difference. Something about flying hours and hours across water makes the separation seem more, well, overwhelming.

But thank God for the Internet. Between IMing (instant messaging), looking at pictures Molly posts on Facebook and visiting through Skype (beats me how it works, but we talk through our computers), we’ve adjusted again.

Well, we still have to account for a seven-hour time difference. But what’s a little lost sleep when your kid’s far, far away?

Like the other times we’ve adjusted to separation, I’ve been coping by thinking about what a difference this trip is making in my daughter’s life. I’ve got 30 years on her, but her world is growing far beyond mine. If we couldn’t let her get up and go, we would diminish her possibilities.

Besides, if God didn’t intend for kids to see the world, God wouldn’t have invented suitcases and passports and jet airplanes.

And if God didn’t intend for parents to let them go, God wouldn’t have invented photos of those kids in exotic places and instant messaging. And prayer, lots of prayer.

–Marv Knox

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Baptist churches, in Texas, the BGCT, the nation and around the world.

Posted: 2/15/08

EDITORIAL:
Candles alight for new Baptist unity

Would you rather light a candle or curse the darkness?

At least 10,000 candles glowed in Atlanta, pushing back the cursed darkness of racism that enshrouded Baptists in this hemisphere for more than 160 years.

Those “candles” actually were people—Baptists who defied nay-sayers and doom-forecasters to attend the New Baptist Covenant convocation. They brightened the bleak midwinter. They cast light toward a new spring, a time for thawing frozen feelings; a time for planting seeds of reconciliation, collaboration and infinite hope; a time for leaning into awkward trust, unproven optimism and untested love.

Nay-sayers did their best to dampen those candlewicks so they’d never light. Doom-forecasters projected darkness for Atlanta, predicting polarization. They said the whole thing was cooked up by Jimmy Carter to promote a liberal Democratic agenda. They said the politicians would pollute the well of naive goodwill with partisanship. They said white attendance would be appalling and set racial reconciliation back five generations. They said Southern Baptist Convention-haters would leverage the platform to bash the SBC. They said Bill Clinton would campaign for his wife. In sum, they declared disaster.

They were wrong.

Yes, high-profile Democrats out-numbered high-profile Republicans, in part because Republicans declined to show. Sternly warned by Carter and caught up in the reconciliation spirit, the politicians behaved. The SBC is a non-issue for most of the participants, so it remained primarily in the background. Baptists of many races attended. And Clinton, whose only allusion to his wife was his role as an “unpaid campaign worker,” advocated understanding for and reconciliation with people of other perspectives.

Pilgrims to Atlanta testified this was the best Baptist meeting they ever attended. What could go wrong with preaching that gripped hearts, music that sent souls soaring, laughter and fellowship that warmed spirits, and breakout sessions that challenged and stimulated minds? One participant explained the positive nature of the convocation by noting a negative: “We never voted on anything. So, we never debated or argued. We just focused on fellowship, on healing our relationships and on serving others the way Jesus taught us.”

The Atlanta meeting was “political” in that participants focused on great public issues—poverty, racism, hunger, AIDS, illiteracy, justice, education, crime. But rather than fight over what or how much government should do, they focused on what Christians must do to serve “the least of these” in society. By those standards, Jesus was the most potent political power of all time.

The Atlanta crowd headed home with a common question on each mind: Now what? President Carter has called a mid-March meeting to attempt an answer.

As wonderful as Atlanta was for the participants, it was like the Mount of Transfiguration—a vision of the possible, but not a place to build a temple. Maybe these Baptists will reconvene by the thousands again, but that should be the lowest priority.

The best mechanism for implementing the spirit of Atlanta is through the North American Baptist Fellowship, which already encompasses the 30 groups represented at the convocation, including Canadian and Mexican Baptists and the broadest range of U.S. Baptist conventions.

But the truest answer to “Now what?” will be revealed in villages and cities across the continent. We will know the New Baptist Covenant abides when it unites Baptists across all colors in their own communities. We will know it lasts when Baptists of all tongues become voices for love and harmony and service. We will know it is real when we don’t need a special occasion to sing and pray and worship and serve together. As one Baptist family.

Marv Knox is editor of the Baptist Standard.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Baptist churches, in Texas, the BGCT, the nation and around the world.

Posted: 2/15/08

Board to honor Wade, vote on
Everett for Executive Director

By Ken Camp

Managing Editor

DALLAS—The Baptist General Convention of Texas Executive Board will honor a recently retired executive director Feb. 25 and vote on a nominee for his replacement the next morning.

Executive director nominee Randel Everett and his wife, Sheila, will be available to meet directors of the board individually throughout the day Feb. 25. At a retirement dinner that evening, directors will recognize Charles Wade for his eight years of service as executive director. Wade retired Jan. 31.

Sheila and Randel Everett

The next morning, the executive director search committee will present Everett to the full board with their recommendation he be considered for the post. Everett is scheduled to address the board, share his Christian testimony and respond to questions.

In other business, the Executive Board is expected to:

• Receive both internal and external audit reports.

• Act on several recommendations from its administration support committee.

• Consider proposals from its institutional relations committee.

The agenda for the Feb. 26 board meeting will not be finalized until after committees meet Feb. 25.

In a mailing to the Executive Board, Search Committee Chairman Ken Hugghins outlined key reasons his committee recommended Everett for executive director.

“Dr. Everett is visionary, creative, and entrepreneurial,” Hugghins wrote. “He is also collaborative in his leadership style. With the help of BGCT staff, the Executive Board, and our varied churches, he will explore new approaches and affirm successful initiatives in ministry among the churches. He is open to, and appreciated by, younger pastors and leaders. He is comfortable and conversant with new technologies and approaches to organization and methodology. He is culturally aware.”

Varied experience

Hugghins also pointed to Everett’s varied experience in ministry.

“He served on the staff of one of the original megachurches; he has pastored a variety of churches in Texas, Arkansas, Florida and Virginia; he has served in denominational leadership in state conventions, institutions and global organizations; he has initiated and led to accreditation a theological school,” he wrote. “He can relate across the board to the various sizes of churches and our institutional leadership. The different churches in which he has served have sought him for his visionary leadership.”

Everett “thrives on diversity,” Hugghins added. Everett “has experience with varieties of cultures and affinity groups through the language missions of the churches he has pastored, through the initiation of a theological school in multi-cultural Washington, D.C., and through his international work with the Baptist World Alliance,” he said.

Everett possesses “the conservative theological and spiritual convictions that resonate with Texas Baptists,” Hugghins noted.

At the same time, Everett’s convictions “are rooted in the Baptist principles that allow us to work together while respecting each other’s varied opinions on other issues,” Hugghins wrote. “His table is wide, but it rests on solid theological convictions. He recognizes that such wideness and freedom must work in both directions along the breadth of Texas Baptists.”

Other endorsements

The board also received endorsements from other search committee members, as well as selected individuals both inside and outside Texas.

Michael Bell, a past president of the BGCT and search committee member, said Everett possesses “energy, enthusiasm, breadth of experience and promise critical to helping Texas Baptists transition to the next level of cooperative partnerships.”

Statements of endorsement also came from members of churches where he served, ranging from author Chuck Colson to retired seminary professors Leon McBeth and Roy Fish.

Colson described Everett as “a man not only of spiritual depth but of great character.”

Fish characterized him as “superlative in his Christian walk and as a minister of the gospel.” McBeth fondly recalled his sermons as “solid, biblical—and fairly short.”

Previous service

Everett, 58, is pastor of First Baptist Church in Newport News, Va.

He served as founding president of the John Leland Center for Theological Studies in Arlington, Va. Under his leadership, the center received accreditation from the Association of Theological Schools. The last half of his tenure at the Leland Center overlapped the beginning of his four-year pastorate in Newport News.

Everett served five years at Columbia Baptist Church in Falls Church, Va., a 3,000-member congregation in suburban Washington, D.C.

Other pastorates were First Baptist Church in Pensacola, Fla.; University Baptist Church in Fort Worth; First Baptist Church in Benton, Ark.; Inglewood Baptist Church in Grand Prairie; and First Baptist Church in Gonzales.

Everett earned his doctorate and master’s degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and his bachelor’s degree from Ouachita Baptist University.

He and his wife, the former Sheila King, have been married 35 years. They have two children—Jeremy, 32, who works as a community ministries director with Baptist Child & Family Services in San Antonio; and Rachel Froom, 28, of Ramrod Key, Fla. They have two grandsons.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Baptist churches, in Texas, the BGCT, the nation and around the world.