Posted: 11/11/05

On the Move

Kent Battenfield to Eastside Church in Ranger as pastor.

Matt Butler to Littleville Church in Hamilton as pastor.

Eddie Castaneda to Immanuel Church in Abilene as pastor, where he had been associate pastor.

Charles Chamberlain to Union Center Church in Rising Star as pastor.

Kyle Clayton to First Church in Farwell as youth minister.

Brandon Cook to First Church in Throckmorton as youth minister.

Michael Cosgrove to Red River Valley Association as director of missions.

Rick Davis to First Church in Brownwood as pastor.

Jose DeLeon to Primera Iglesia in Dripping Springs as pastor.

Jerry Eckhart has resigned as pastor of Union Center Church in Rising Star and is interim pastor of Shelton Avenue Church in Breckenridge.

Glyndle Feagin to First Church in Matador as interim pastor.

Dan Gilmore to Second Church in La Grange as interim music minister.

Dallas Goff to Rolling Acres Church in Bangs as pastor.

Scott Herrington to First Church in Olton as music minister.

Debbie Koberlein to First Church in Buda as youth director.

Matt Koen to First Church in Mart as minister of music.

Tommy Pophin has resigned as pastor of Eastridge Church in Mineral Wells.

Andy Rodgers to First Church in Eastland as youth minister.

Barry Schahn to First Church in Gorman as interim pastor.

Lindsay Stephens to First Church in Smithville as youth minister.

Raul Tirado to Primera Iglesia Emanuel in Evant as pastor.

Jose Torres to Iglesia Parkview in Marshall as pastor from Iglesia Nueva Vida in Marshall.

Dan Turner to Central Church in Pampa as interim minister of music.

Craig Van Ryswyck has resigned as minister of youth at First Church in Canyon Lake.

Haril Walpole to Marcelina Church in Floresville as pastor.

G.J. Walton has resigned as minister of students at First Church in Paris.

Posted: 11/11/05

Piper Institute names Brooks executive director

The Piper Institute for Church Planting has named E.B. Brooks, who retired recently after 26 years with the Baptist General Convention of Texas, as the organization's executive director.

Brooks, who led the BGCT church missions and evangelism efforts, has served on the Piper Institute for Church Planting board since its beginning.

“I know of no one in Baptist life who is more qualified to lead the Piper Institute,” board Chairman Bill Nichols said. “Dr. Brooks is one of the nation's leading church-planting strategists, and the Piper Institute is assisting as churches are being started in record numbers throughout Latin America. What a great match.”

The institute, named for Christian philanthropists Paul and Katy Piper, focuses on planting churches in Latin America.

Veteran Texas Baptist church planter Otto Arango, president of the Union of Latin American Baptists, will continue to serve as president of the institute.

Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Global Missions recently signed a two-year partnership agreement with the Piper Foundation and the Union of Latin American Baptists to start churches in Central and South America.

“I am truly challenged by this task. It affords unique opportunities,” Brooks said. “The current ministries are only a beginning, a foundation, for what can be done. I look forward to seeing the work enlarged to include spiritual formation and leader training for the new churches. There is so much to do in Christian ministry to the nations. There is an open door to being involved in many helpful ways.”

“Many Baptist and other evangelical ministries are at work in Latin America. I look forward to networking and partnering with as many as are interested in doing so. And beyond Latin America is a world waiting for compassionate involvement by the people of God.”

BGCT Executive Director Charles Wade praised the institute's choice of Brooks as its executive director.

“He is passionate about getting the gospel to the lost world, and he knows that new churches are the key to penetrating a dark world with the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ,” Wade said.

“He helped us establish a unique partnership with Mexico Baptists, and this work will grow even stronger because of the new opportunity for partnership.”

Paul Powell, dean of Baylor University's Truett Theological Seminary said, “E.B. Brooks is an excellent choice, because no person in our convention is more knowledgeable of our work, more loved and respected by our pastors and churches than he.”

Posted: 11/11/05

Girls of Grace promotes teen modesty, chastity

By Greg Garrison

Religion News Service

BIRIMINGHAM, Ala. (RNS)–Teenage girls–and their mothers–tend to get excited about Point of Grace, a fixture on America's Christian music scene for 15 years.

The four female singers hope to translate that excitement over their music into lessons about chastity and modesty. Across the country, they lead two-day Girls of Grace conferences. They blend concerts with a workshop for teen girls that tackles issues such as premarital sex and being fashionable without showing too much skin.

The conferences feature tips on cosmetics, fashion and shopping. The group brings along other music leaders, including Rebecca St. James, and speakers, including a cosmetics expert.

“We've always wanted to do something for teenage girls,” said Heather Payne, who co-founded Point of Grace 15 years ago with childhood friends Denise Jones and Terry Jones, and another singer, Shelley Breen, whom they met at Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, Ark.

The foursome began singing at churches in the early 1990s, and then won the grand prize at a competition for Christian groups in Estes Park, Colo.

They signed with Word Records in 1992 and were named new artist of the year by the Gospel Music Association in the 1994 Dove Awards.

Leigh Cappellinno, wife of their long-time guitar player, joined the group in 2003 after Terry Jones retired in 2002 to stay home with her three children.

“We want girls to show they are a Christian in the way they act and the way they dress,” Payne said. “There's so much pulling at them from the world. They think they need to have so much money, clothes and possessions. We have a lot of teenagers who suffer from depression because they realize they don't have all that.”

The format features a lot of music interspersed with heart-to-heart talks and beauty tips.

“We do a concert, and we talk to girls about things in their own lives that we deal with,” Payne said. “We try to be vulnerable and talk about things we struggle with.”

They show how Christian girls can look pretty without appearing slutty.

“We show how jeans can look cute without being low-slung,” Payne said. “You have to be picky.

“We want to teach kids to dress in a classy but not trashy way. We have a fashion show with a makeover. It's such a fun time.”

Girls can go wrong by following the crowd on fashion choices such as prom dresses, Payne said.

“We've chosen prom dresses to show them how they can look good but not bare their entire body,” she said. “There's no reason to show your belly.”

Point of Grace also promotes chastity.

“I used to give my testimony that I was a virgin, and I was going to save myself for my husband,” Payne said. “It worked for me, and it would work for everybody. It's God's way.”

As for boyfriends: “It's hard to get it through to a girl that it's not the most important thing,” Payne said.

“I was 29 before I got married. There was never the right guy. I wondered if I would ever find him. When I put all that worry into my relationship with the Lord, my attitude and perspective changed. You will have relationships; some of them will last, some will not. The main thing you should look for in a boy is if he loves God with his whole heart. Our bodies are a temple, and we're not supposed to have sex before we get married.”

The singers also talk about body image.

“All of us struggle with our self-image,” Payne said. “Sometimes I don't like to look in the mirror. I have told myself that I hated myself. I have a 3-year-old girl. I would be devastated if I ever heard her say that about herself. God created us to be his image-bearers.”

Payne hopes mothers will bring their daughters and their daughters' friends to their conferences.

“We like the ratio to be more girls than moms,” Payne said. And no boys are allowed, she said. “Strictly girls.”

Greg Garrison writes for The Birmingham News in Birmingham, Ala.

Posted: 11/11/05

Most ministers dissatisfied
with their prayer lives

PHOENIX (BP)–Few Protestant ministers are satisfied with their personal prayer lives, a study by Ellison Research of Phoenix revealed.

The study conducted for LifeWay Christian Resources, publishing house of the Southern Baptist Convention, surveyed a nationally representative sample of 860 Protestant church pastors. The study reveals just 16 percent are very satisfied with their personal prayer lives. Forty-seven percent are somewhat satisfied, 30 percent somewhat dissatisfied and 7 percent very dissatisfied.

There was a substantial difference by age group. Just 9 percent of pastors under age 45 are very satisfied, compared to 13 percent among ministers age 45 to 59 and 30 percent among pastors 60 or older. The youngest pastors actually are more likely to be very dissatisfied with their own prayer lives than to be very satisfied.

Few differences by denomination or theology were noted.

Pastors also were asked how long they spend in prayer each day, and what they pray for. Time per day averaged 30 to 39 minutes. Although younger ministers are much less satisfied with their prayer lives, they spend about as much time in prayer per day as do older ministers.

How do ministers spend their prayer time? For the average minister, it looks like this: 32 percent in petition/requests, 20 percent in quiet time or listening to God, 18 percent in thanksgiving, 17 percent in praise and 14 percent in confession.

If these percentages are applied to the average amount of time ministers spend in prayer, the typical pastor spends 12 minutes per day with prayer requests, eight minutes in quiet time, seven minutes giving thanks, seven minutes in praise and five minutes confessing sin. Again, this does not differ substantially by the pastor's age or denomination.

Finally, pastors were asked what they had prayed for in the seven days preceding the survey. Most had a long list of topics. At least nine out of 10 had prayed for the needs of individual congregation members, the congregation's spiritual health, spiritual growth for their church and wisdom in leading their church.

Some of the things ministers were least likely to have prayed for included the financial health and numerical growth of the church, their own financial needs, persecuted Christians in other countries, individual Christian leaders and their denomination.

Throughout the study, Southern Baptist ministers were very similar to the average on most measures. One of the biggest differences was that just 24 percent of Southern Baptist ministers had prayed for their denomination in the last week, compared to an average of 39 percent for other denominational churches, including 49 percent among Methodists, 61 percent among Presbyterians and 67 percent among Lutherans. In general, mainline pastors are much more likely to pray for their denomination than are evangelical ministers (57 percent to 34 percent).

What defines pastors who are satisfied with their prayer lives versus those who aren't? According to the Ellison study, the factors include:

The amount of time spent in prayer. Pastors who are very satisfied spend an average of 56 minutes a day in prayer; those who are somewhat satisfied average 43 minutes; those who are somewhat dissatisfied average 29 minutes; and those who are very dissatisfied average 21 minutes.

How they divide their prayer time. Ministers who are very satisfied spend considerably less time than average making requests and considerably more time in quiet time or listening to God; other areas–confession, praise, thanksgiving–are about the same.

What they pray for. The more satisfied ministers are with their prayer lives, the more likely they are to spend time praying for "big issues" beyond their own lives and churches–overseas missions, persecuted Christians in other countries, local outreach and evangelism efforts, other local churches and pastors, global events, the country as a whole, individual Christian leaders, individual government leaders, and their denomination. Yet they are no less likely to pray for personal and church needs such as church growth or personal finances.

Posted: 11/11/05

Marriage amendment decisively approved

By Ken Camp

Managing Editor

Texas voters overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman.

By a two-to-one margin, voters approved Proposition 2, which bolstered the state's ban on same-sex marriage by writing it into the constitution and prohibited Texas from “creating or recognizing any legal status identical or similar to marriage.”

Proponents maintained the constitutional amendment was needed to prevent homosexual couples who marry in another state and move to Texas from challenging the existing law.

Opponents insisted the language was too broad and could be used to invalidate agreements between gay partners regarding medical treatment and other personal matters.

“Although the amendment was not required to protect the historic definition of marriage, obviously Texas voters wanted to send a strong signal that they do not want anyone tampering with the makeup of marriage,” said Baptist General Convention of Texas Executive Director Charles Wade.

“Baptist people believe the Bible, and they want to do two things at the same time–love everyone, including those with whom they disagree, and defend the meaning of marriage as portrayed in the New Testament.”

The vote accomplished little, said Kathy Miller, president of the Texas Freedom Network, a civil liberties group that opposed the constitutional amendment.

“This election really doesn't change much. Gay and lesbian Texans couldn't marry before Tuesday, they still can't marry, and not a single Texas family is better off,” she said. “The governor spent a lot of time and energy working to pass what was really an unnecessary and divisive amendment. It would be a good thing if he and our legislators finally focused as much on the issues working families care about, like strong public schools and health care for poor kids.”

But conservative activist Kelly Shackelford insisted the election results sent an important message from Texas to lawmakers both in Austin and Washington, D.C.

“Texans from every race and background spoke loudly that they want marriage to be between one man and one woman. They believe that children deserve mom and dad, and they don't want that tinkered with,” he said.

Shackelford, president of the Free Market Foundation and chief counsel for the Liberty Legal Institute, helped Rep. Warren Chisum, R-Pampa, draft the amendment.

“This is a loud message from Texas to Congress, following the 13 states from last year. As a politician, you stand against marriage amendments to your own peril,” Shackelford said. “A common saying around here is 'Don't mess with Texas.' Well, Texans have spoken and said, “Don't mess with marriage.”

Posted: 11/11/05

Eight nations cited for
religious liberty violations

By Robert Marus

ABP Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON (ABP)–The State Department's annual report on the state of religious freedom around the globe stars the usual villains but also contains some new bright spots.

The State Department re-designated eight nations as “Countries of Particular Concern” under the terms of the 1998 International Religious Freedom Act–Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Vietnam.

The designation is reserved for the world's most egregious violators of religious liberty. The terms of the law require administration officials to take measures–such as imposing sanctions–on such nations to encourage them to mend their ways. The department recommended the same eight nations for that status last year.

The list includes totalitarian regimes–such as Iran and North Korea–with which the United States has little diplomatic leverage. But it also includes several U.S. allies in the war on terrorism or strong economic partners, such as China and Saudi Arabia. Both Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom John Hanford noted Saudi Arabia, China and Vietnam have made progress over the past year in improving conditions for religious freedom. However, significant problems remain in even those three nations. The report chastised several other nations, including longtime allies, for insufficient respect for full religious freedom. Among those was France, which has exploded with violence among young citizens of Arab and African descent who feel discriminated against in French society. Many are Muslims, while France's government is aggressively secularist.

The report also omitted some issues that have been cited by international religious-freedom observers. For instance, department officials again declined to name Pakistan a country of particular concern, despite repeated recommendations to do so from the nonpartisan U.S. Commis-sion on International Religious Freedom.

The report also did not mention the status of religious freedom in Afghanistan.

The full report is available on the State Department's website at www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf.

Posted: 11/11/05

Religious Right suffers setbacks at polls

By Robert Marus

ABP Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON (ABP)–With a handful of exceptions, candidates and causes backed by religious conservatives went down to defeat in unusually prominent off-year elections Nov. 8.

Other than Texas voters' passage of a state constitutional amendment banning marriage and similar legal arrangements for gays, progressive candidates and causes prevailed over conservative ones on ballots in Virginia, New Jersey, Kansas, Maine and California.

In Virginia, a Catholic Democrat who talked regularly about his faith on the campaign trail defeated a conservative Republican Baptist who had attacked the Democrat for his personal belief that the death penalty is wrong.

According to exit polls of voters, the tactic apparently backfired for the Virginia's former Attorney General Jerry Kilgore (R). He lost to Lt. Gov. Tim Kaine 52 percent to 46 percent. Kaine had said that, while his Catholic beliefs led him to personally oppose both the death penalty and abortion, he would separate that belief from his duty to enforce the legality of both.

In New Jersey, U.S. Sen. John Corzine (D), who is a member of a congregation dually aligned with the American Baptist Churches USA and the United Church of Christ, handily defeated his Republican opponent, fellow multimillionaire Douglas Forrester.

Maine voters solidly defeated an attempt to repeal the state's new gay-rights law, which its legislature passed earlier this year. According to the Portland Press-Herald, with 88 percent of precincts reporting, voters embraced the law by a 55-45 percent margin. It bars discrimination in employment and public accommodations on the basis of sexual orientation. The law makes Maine the last New England state to include sexual orientation as one of the protected categories in its anti-discrimination laws.

Gay-rights groups pointed to the Maine results as a counterbalance to Texas, which overwhelmingly approved an amendment to the state's charter that bans same-sex marriage or other marriage-like legal arrangements for gays.

California voters, meanwhile, rejected all of the eight ballot initiatives placed before them–including an attempt to require minor girls to notify their parents before obtaining an abortion. With all precincts reporting Nov. 9, Proposition 73 lost 53-47 percent, according to the California secretary of state's website.

In Dover, Pa., voters ejected all eight members of the school board, who had stoked national fires of controversy last year by voting to require the district's biology teachers to mention a controversial theory about the origins of life. The theory, called “intelligent design,” posits that Darwinian evolution cannot by itself explain some complexities of life on earth, which point to the guiding hand of some intelligent force.

The eight Republican board members who supported the policy were roundly defeated by a slate of Democrats. Some of them said that they do not oppose intelligent design but do oppose teaching it in a science class. Their view reflects that of most mainstream scientific and educational organizations, who say that intelligent design is a matter of faith that cannot be scientifically tested, and thus it does not belong in a public-school science class.

Despite the day's outcomes, one observer of the national political scene cautioned against seeing a nationwide anti-conservative trend.

“I think it's very hard to take a sort of a national lesson from elections that are widely scattered; we recognize that many elections are influenced by local considerations,” said Jack Fleer, professor emeritus of political science at Wake Forest University.

Fleer noted the two gubernatorial contests featured very different kinds of Democrats and Republi-cans. In Virginia, Democrat Kaine is widely viewed as a moderate, like his Democratic predecessor, Mark Warner. Meanwhile, Kilgore is a conservative Republican strongly supported by the Religious Right.

But in New Jersey, Corzine is more toward the liberal end of the spectrum, and Forrester is a moderate.

Fleer also pointed to the use of faith in the Virginia election and said Kaine's open and regular discussion of his religious faith on the campaign trail pointed to a lesson Democrats learned from the 2004 national elections.

“In Virginia, you had a very strong use of 'moral values' as a kind of Democratic candidate appeal, which might suggest that this is a sort of area where Republicans have gotten a lot of mileage,” he said.

“I think this whole issue of … 'moral values' continues to be a very prominent part of the political landscape. And insofar as it continues to be a prominent part of the political landscape, I think you have to give some credit to Republicans for injecting it into the debate.”

Posted: 11/11/05

Sex ed ruling reviled

WASHINGTON (ABP)–Conservative groups expressed outrage at a ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals involving parents' rights and sex education.

The court dismissed a lawsuit by six parents who had sued the Palmdale, Calif., school district, near Los Angeles. The parents sued the district for submitting their elementary-aged children to a survey that included some questions about sex.

Judge Stephen Reinhardt, writing the ruling for a unanimous three-judge panel, upheld a lower federal court's determination that “there is no fundamental right of parents to be the exclusive provider of information regarding sexual matters to their children” and that “parents have no due process or privacy right to override the determinations of public schools as to the information to which their children will be exposed while enrolled as students.”

The Washington-based Family Research Council called the ruling “one more horrible example of what happens to parents' rights when liberal judicial activists are unchecked.”

Posted: 11/11/05

South Texas School president elected

Trustees of the South Texas School of Christian Studies–formerly the Baptist Learning Center–in Corpus Christi elected Tony Celelli (right) as the institution's new president. Celelli follows Linn Self (left), who has been president since 1996. Self announced his retirement plans in April. He will serve the school until the end of December. Celelli's official tenure with the school begins Nov. 15. Celelli has served as minister of spiritual formation at Second Baptist Church in Corpus Christi since 1998. He also has led an inner-city ministry called “The Station” since 1999, served as a trustee of the school five years, and taught as an adjunct for Howard Payne University in the South Texas program four years. Celelli is a graduate of Hardin-Simmons University and Logsdon Seminary, and he currently is pursuing a doctorate in leadership studies at Dallas Baptist University.

Posted: 11/11/05

San Antonio church seeks
to transform its community

By Ken Camp

Managing Editor

SAN ANTONIO–South San Filadelfia Baptist Church members understand the importance of meeting human needs in the low-income area surrounding their congregation, but they want to do more. They want to transform their community and impact its future.

"We believe the biblical model is to feed people physical and spiritual food," said Pastor Victor Rodriquez. "Through the personal touch and personal contact with them, we're seeing lives changed. We want to transform the community from within."

The church–created from the merger of the historically Anglo South San Antonio Baptist Church and the Hispanic Iglesia Bautista Filadelfia–sponsors a food pantry involving 20 workers who give 3,000 volunteer hours a year.

Annie and Cecil Suarez (left) work with Esperanza and Eusebio Reyna on the evangelism team at South San Filadelfia Baptist Church's food pantry.

Each Monday, volunteers sack about 60 bags of groceries. Many are delivered to elderly shut-ins. The rest are distributed to families that come asking for help.

In August, for instance, the ministry served 220 families and 657 individuals. In September, when the pantry closed one week for a funeral, volunteers still served 153 families and more than 500 individuals.

Texas Baptists provide ongoing support for the ministry through their gifts to the Texas Baptist Offering for World Hunger.

South San Filadelfia wants to do more than just give away food. The community ministry also serves as a learning laboratory for students from Baptist University of the Americas.

Enrique Cruz, who grew up in Puerto Rico, and Martha Tobias, a native of Mexico, earn credit for a community ministries class by working at the pantry and being mentored by its director, Lois Angel. Tobias wants to learn how to serve more effectively alongside her husband, a church planter and pastor. Cruz hopes to gain skills he can use in international missions.

“BUA is an integral part of our ministry here,” Rodriguez said. “The students here at our church are learning the basics of ministry by being around people.”

Angel, 78, teaches the students by example.

“My mother al-ways told me your daily walk speaks louder than all the words you utter,” she said.

But she also instructs through im-promptu lectures a-round the break-room table.

“Never, ever turn somebody away without giving them something,” she told workers one recent morning. “We fully serve seven ZIP codes, but we don't ever turn anybody away empty-handed, no matter where they're from. Kind-ness to other people is what makes all the difference.”

Pastor Victor Rodriguez (right) persuaded Lois Angel to direct the church's food pantry.

Angel is the first to admit she initially refused Rodriguez's invitation to revive the dormant food pantry ministry.

“I told him 'no,' but the Lord prevailed,” she said.

Angel tried to sidestep the matter by placing conditions on her willingness to serve. She told Rodriguez she would not direct the food pantry unless the church provided adequate equipment and space, a secure area, dependable volunteers to staff the pantry, interpreters so the Spanish-speaking clientele could be served and a mission team to follow up with every recipient.

“I'm not going to be part of it if we're just a grocery store. But this can be a real ministry if it's done right,” she said.

To her surprise, Rodriguez met every demand she made. He particularly was pleased to meet one requirement Angel set–that the church pray for the food pantry and dedicate it to God.

“It was important for the church to say, 'Lord, it's all yours,'” she said. “There are two reasons this pantry runs smoothly. One is that we dedicated it all to the Lord before anything was even on the premises. The other is that we have good paperwork.”

When Angel assumed responsibility for the food pantry, she developed a record-keeping system that not only helped the pantry maintain accountability, but also provided the church a valuable database of information about unchurched people in the community.

“It's a treasure,” Rodriquez said. Two home Bible studies that leaders hope to develop into mission congregations already have be started through contacts made through the food pantry. The church also used contact information gleaned through the food pantry to promote a Vacation Bible School that drew 600 children and youth and a T-ball league involving about 500 children and their parents.

“It has opened a lot of doors for us,” he said. “For instance, we're getting ready to start a bus ministry soon, and we'll tap into the information we've gathered.”

In 16 months, the ministry has resulted in more than100 professions of faith in Christ, and about 95 percent of those people have been baptized into South San Filadelfia Baptist Church.

Eusebio “Zeb” Reyna and his wife, Esperanza, work with interpreter Annie Suarez and her husband, Cecil, on the pantry's evangelism team.

The Reynas often share their testimony with people who have lost hope. Reyna, a Vietnam veteran, tells how his struggles with drug dependency destroyed his marriage. But after he came to faith in Christ, he eventually led his ex-wife also to become a Christian, and they remarried.

Now Reyna is an ordained minister, and all of the couple's children–including a son who had been in a notorious motorcycle gang–are serving God. “We serve a God of the second chance,” he said. “If I don't witness, if I don't share my testimony, I've wasted the experience.”

The food pantry reflects the vision of South San Filadelfia–reaching into the community not just to meet needs, but also to change lives, the church's pastor emphasized.

“We're impacting our community,” Rodriguez said. “Our passion is ministry out there in the community–outside these four walls of the church.”

Posted: 11/11/05

Texas Tidbits

UMHB alum killed after homecoming. Bill and Becky Zerbe were killed in a car accident on their way back to Albuquerque, N.M., following homecoming activities at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor. She graduated from UMHB in 1975. The accident occurred about 4:40 p.m. Nov. 5 outside Mexia. Both died at the scene, and her parents–William and Norma Bueie of Mexia–who were in the back seat were taken to Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center, where they were listed in critical condition. "We are deeply saddened by the news of this accident," said UMHB President Jerry Bawcom. "Our hearts and prayers go out to the Zerbe family and friends."

SBTC elects Swofford president. Messengers to the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention annual meeting approved a $19.3 million budget for 2006 and elected as president Steve Swofford, pastor of First Baptist Church in Rockwall. The meeting in Amarillo drew 910 registered messengers and guests. Messengers approved resolutions affirming traditional marriage, the sanctity of human life and the teaching of intelligent design in public schools. The Southern Baptists of Texas Convention broke away from the Baptist General Convention of Texas in 1998.

Baylor awarded energy research grant. The United States Department of Energy awarded Baylor University's physics department a three-year, $360,000 grant for a project dedicated to research in high-energy physics.

Baylor law students clear high bar. Baylor Law School students posted the highest passing percentage in the latest Texas Bar Exam. Baylor law students achieved a 93.51 percent pass rate for the bar exam taken in July 2005, topping the pass rates of students from the eight other law schools in the state. Of the 77 Baylor law students who took the two-day examination, 72 passed. The overall state pass rate was 83.14 percent, with a total of 1,519 successful candidates among the 1,827 students who took the exam.

BUA names Oklahoman to board. Baptist University of the Americas trustees selected Bob Stephenson of Norman, Okla., as a non-Texas representative on the board. Stephenson, a petroleum geologist, is a member of the boards of Associated Baptist Press and Mainstream Oklahoma Baptists. He also has been on the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Coordinating Council. He and his wife, Norma, are members at Northhaven Baptist Church in Norman. They have two grown children and seven grandchildren. Michael Morgan, vice president for external affairs at Samford University in Birmingham, Ala., was the first non-Texas resident on the BUA trustee board.

FOX News reporter addresses Howard Payne. Jim Angle, senior Washington correspondent for FOX News, will address the media's role in a free society after 9/11 at a Democracy-in-Action Lecture presented by Howard Payne University's Othal Brand Chair of Free Enterprise and Public Policy, Nov. 28 at the Brownwood Coliseum. Lunch begins at 11:30 a.m., followed by the presentation from 12:15 to 1:30 p.m. Cost is $20 per person. Proceeds will benefit Howard Payne's Douglas MacArthur Academy of Freedom. Reservations are requested by Nov. 18. Call Howard Payne at (800) 950-8465 or (325) 649-8006.

UMHB Chamber Winds schedules inaugural concert. The inaugural concert of the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor Chamber Winds will be at 7:30 p.m., Nov. 15 on the UMHB campus. Stephen Crawford, associate professor of music and director of bands, will conduct the ensemble. The concert is free and open to the public.

Posted: 11/11/05

TOGETHER:
Constitution, bylaws reflect hard work

Occasionally, someone asks, “What is it about Texas Baptists that makes you so eager to tackle big challenges?” Texas Baptists believe they can do anything God wants them to do. They love their churches, and they love being part of a cooperative effort that allows them to make a difference in Texas and touch the world.

This week, we gather in Austin for our annual meeting. I wish all who read this could be present for the fellowship, inspiration and information. As President Albert Reyes leads us, remember to pray for him, and don't forget to thank God for raising Albert up to be such a remarkable leader. The Baptist University of the Americas, where he serves as president, has seen amazing achievements since he arrived. He has given himself to building the strongest multicultural ministry training center anywhere in the Americas. He has focused us on the changing needs of Texas and how our Hispanic brothers and sisters constitute one of our greatest resources to advance the gospel throughout the world.

Executive Director BGCT Executive Board

Michael Bell and Stacy Connor are serving as BGCT vice presidents, and these two pastors have brought wonderful dedication and experience to their roles. They have helped make the governance process work effectively, even though we were building a new airplane while we were flying it.

One of the most important things we will do in the annual meeting is vote on the proposed constitution and bylaws. These documents reflect the hard work of many people. Hundreds have had input as we met before, during and after they were drafted. Please allow me to name a few:

Dale Jones of Park Cities Baptist Church in Dallas was one of the driving forces to get us ready to consider rewriting the constitution and reducing the Executive Board's size to ensure accountability and enhance effectiveness. He died much too soon for us and did not get to see the final drafts, but his fingerprints are all over the documents.

Wesley Shotwell, pastor of Ash Creek Baptist Church in Azle, was vice chair of the Executive Board and chaired the committee that drafted the constitution and bylaws. He has been an extraordinary listener and leader, and he will make the presentations to the convention on behalf of the board.

Bob Banks helped us sort out all the issues regarding constitutional language and achieve our purposes of becoming more accountable to and more effective in responding to the needs of our churches and convention. In my growing-up years in Oklahoma, Bob was that state's Royal Ambassador director. His faith, his passion for serving God and his desire to introduce boys and young men to the needs of the whole world were contagious.

John Ogletree and Jim Nelson–two lawyers–led the Executive Board this past year as it went through the most significant changes in its history. They have been knowledgeable and steady throughout the entire process. John is pastor of First Metropolitan Baptist Church in Houston, and Jim is a member of Hyde Park Baptist in Austin.

As we come to vote on these matters, I pray for us all that there will be a clear sense of where God is leading us to go. And that we will step forward and go there.

We are loved.

Charles Wade is executive director of the Baptist General Convention of Texas.