Superman is not your pastor. Even if he was, he’d still disappoint you.

For one, kryptonite; he’s not invincible. For another, he can’t attend to your distress call when he’s attending to someone else’s. Even Superman can’t be everywhere and all powerful all the time.

The same goes for Superwoman.

Why, then, do we expect pastors to be superheroes?

From growing up around pastors, to marrying a pastor’s daughter, to being a pastor myself, to relating to hundreds of pastors in my present role, I’ve spent a lot of time around pastors. Every one of them was and is a human being. Not one of them was or is a superhero.

Even so, most of them carry or feel enormous pressure in the pastorate. Much of that pressure comes from superhuman expectations.

Superhuman expectations are a killer—literally. They can lead to depression, anxiety, high blood pressure, heart attacks or strokes. They can wear pastors down, making them vulnerable to poor decision making and even moral failures. They can drive a pastor out of ministry and a pastor’s family out of the church.

It’s long past time we adjust our expectations of pastors.

Superhuman expectations

I’ve experienced firsthand the expectation pastors somehow are superhuman. Pastors are expected to be physically, mentally, emotionally, financially and spiritually strong and healthy—all at the same time and all the time.

How do I know these things are expected? Because I’ve experienced firsthand the shock, disappointment or discomfort when a layperson saw some of a pastor’s limits.

Pastors are expected to have everything figured out, to know all the answers, always to make the right decisions, always to lead toward growth, never to need help.

How do I know these things are expected? Because I’ve experienced firsthand church members’ anxiety and diminished trust when the pastor didn’t have all the answers. I’ve heard many times pastors blamed when a church didn’t grow. I know what happens when a pastor doesn’t see eye-to-eye with the rest of the congregation, or vice versa.

I don’t know where or when this problem started. But I do know pastors and laypeople share the responsibility for it. Together, we have created a cultural expectation that the pastor is always strong, always healthy, always closer to God, always somehow “better.”

We’ve justified our expectations of pastors with the admonition those “who teach will be judged more strictly” (James 3:1), ignoring the next words: “We all stumble in many things” (James 3:2, emphasis mine).

Holding pastors to superhuman expectations often doesn’t end well—for the pastor, the pastor’s family, the church and sometimes the wider community.

Part of what makes expectations superhuman is we don’t support pastors sufficiently enough to reach that high bar. It’s long past time we adopt realistic expectations of pastors and provide the necessary support to meet those expectations.

Matching support to expectations

Yes, we should maintain high expectations for pastors. Pastors are spiritual leaders, after all. We also should hold pastors to high moral standards. And we must recognize, for pastors to reach those high standards and expectations, sufficient support is required.

If we are going to have high expectations for pastors, then we should provide pastors equally high support. Some of that support must come structurally from the church, some personally from church members and some from pastors themselves.

Pastors can support themselves by not believing the lie they are supposed to be superheroes. Sometimes, that lie whispers inside a pastor’s own head. Sometimes, it’s a parental expectation that’s hard to outgrow. Sometimes, it’s voiced by the church a pastor serves. Wherever it comes from, it’s a lie.

Pastors must listen to the truth they know—they are human beings like everyone else. Churches must acknowledge that truth about pastors, too.

As humans, pastors experience stresses and pressures associated with their own lives as well as the lives of those in their churches. We need to resource pastors with the time and space to face these stresses and pressures.

For example, when a pastor is grieving the death or decline of the pastor’s own family member, support looks like providing time away, covering the cost of counseling, and church members maintaining unity and putting out fires for a while instead of expecting the pastor to extinguish them all.

Support also looks like pastors giving themselves permission to take time away to breathe and decompress.

Shared burden

Churches can provide the needed support by making sure pastors are adequately compensated. A church without the financial means to provide a full-time salary with health and retirement benefits should adjust its expectations for a pastor’s availability and consider a bivocational arrangement—understanding there are unique pressures that come with that option.

Pastors should receive a sabbatical—an extended time away on a periodic basis for rest, recuperation and preparation for further ministry. A church that thinks it can’t afford to give or allow a pastor to take a sabbatical needs to think seriously about whether it cares about its pastor and whether it cares about its own vitality.

Churches also need to insist pastors engage in regular maintenance through life-giving pastoral peer groups, regular—as in weekly—downtime, ongoing counseling that allows pastors to debrief and decompress with an uninvolved third party, and continuing education. And churches need to resource pastors to engage in this regular maintenance.

These are just some of the ways we can combine our resources to support pastors to meet realistic expectations for their ministries.

Ministry is challenging on the best days. It can be grueling and even devouring on days that aren’t even the worst. Ministry takes a special person to be a pastor under these circumstances. Not a superhero. A person called by God to be a pastor.

God hasn’t called Superman or Superwoman, yet. God has called and continues to call regular people like you and me. And regular people need all the support they can get.

Eric Black is the executive director, publisher and editor of the Baptist Standard. He can be reached at [email protected]. The views expressed are those of the author.

First Baptist Church of Amarillo is privileged to join 11 other Texas churches in Baylor University’s Soundings Project to explore within each congregation a new ministry model.

In First Baptist Amarillo, that model is something not tried previously, with a view to strengthening the body of First Amarillo, perhaps meeting a human need in a new way while sharing the gospel.

A nationwide survey shows 60 percent of Americans are disengaged from their work. Eighty-five percent experience stress because of their work. The false dichotomy is: “Church is what we do on Sunday. Work is what we do Monday through Friday.”

For First Amarillo, the Soundings Project has become Bridges, the broad mission of which is to deepen and enrich the lives of Christians by equipping them to discern and live out their callings, with a focus on learning and living out the bridge between worship on Sunday and work on Monday.

Building Bridges

Bridges has been four years in development with a team led by First Amarillo Minister of Education Robby Barrett. The team includes other staff members and lay members devoted to developing curriculum to help participants discern and live out their callings in the workplace.

Initially, the focus was on younger adults as affinity group members in groups of four to six, who joined with an affinity group leader—an older adult. Over a period of seven weeks, they became acquainted with one another and journeyed through a Redeemer City-To-City six-week Bible study titled The Calling of Faith & Work.

Affinity group members have included schoolteachers and medical professionals, a hairdresser, investment advisor, banker, IT professional, insurance agent and human resources director. Some affinity group leaders are retired. Others continue in their work, all with 20 years or more in the workplace.

Affinity group leaders prepared by completing six weeks of training, working through the Bible study chapter-by-chapter and discussing ways of engaging affinity group members in meaningful conversation about integrating worship on Sunday with work on Monday.

Each group decided where and when to meet. Generally, meetings were kept to one hour weekly. Affinity group members were expected to prepare on their own time for the meeting each week to enhance the substance of discussion.

First Amarillo offered Bridges in 2022 and 2023, with plans for a fall-2024 offering.

In preparation for the 2024 session, the First Amarillo Bridges team is exploring the use of smart phone text and tablets as well as television cable channels to spread the word about the Bridges opportunity. One affinity group member has asked about the possibility of bringing the Bridges curriculum into the workplace as an on-site study.

Bridges curriculum

Questions posed by the Bridges curriculum include:

• In what ways are you discouraged, discontent or disengaged at work?
• Do you feel like an exile at work? If so, what makes you feel this way?
• How does the gospel address and redeem your attitude and circumstances?
• When you see brokenness or a hopeless situation at work, how do you typically respond?
• How do we glorify God with our work, and what impact does that glory bring to our lives and work environments?
• What particular decisions do you need to make in the coming week that require increasing wisdom and the guiding discernment of the Spirit?
• How does the possibility that your work today could last into all eternity change your perspective on the value of your work?

Additional course curricula include Tim Keller’s Every Good Endeavor and Greg Laurie’s Tell Someone, as well as the NIV Faith & Work Bible.

The Faith & Work Bible is referenced continually in The Calling of Faith & Work and incorporates on-point, personal testimonies and real-life modern-day stories appended to the Scripture to help the reader think about ways Scripture can be applied in the reader’s own workplace.

Greg Laurie’s Tell Someone lays out in practical format how each follower of Jesus can share the good news, including the venue of the workplace.

Responses to Bridges

Post-course surveys among the 50-plus affinity group members in the 2022 and 2023 classes have shown a high degree of satisfaction and utility for the Bridges experience. Those numbers are understood best in the light of testimonies from affinity group members.

“I admire this course of study, and I value the time that I invested. First, the course materials are extremely high quality. It is clear that this course was developed by professionals who really know how to design and deliver organizational training,” one affinity group member wrote.

“Second, the focus of the course was on a subject that I had never considered before. Did you ever notice that in Genesis 1, God was performing work?

“Finally, and most importantly for me, in the course I met some of my church brothers and sisters that I had never met before. … I was grateful for the opportunity to participate in this course, and I highly recommend this course to anybody who loves working and who wants to know more about the biblical topic of work,” the group member continued.

Another participant explained: “The Bridges Bible study helped me develop a biblical perspective on the work I do. In addition, the Bridges Bible study helped me see my coworkers in a different light, as we are all created in the image of God.”

The Bridges team has learned interest in this subject crosses generational lines and is not limited to an older generation mentoring a younger generation.

One affinity group member during the first session became an affinity group leader in the second session. Some affinity group members in the second session were nearing 60 years of age, having had many years already in the workplace, but wanting the fresh experience of understanding what the Bible says about living out their calling as Christians in the workplace.

In an exit survey following the first offering of Bridges, two-thirds said they are very likely or somewhat likely to participate again in Bridges.

The Bridges team sees a bright future for this experience to help participants find contentment and satisfaction in the workplace, to see their coworkers as God sees them and to watch for opportunities to share Christ among work colleagues.

Bill Brian is an attorney in Amarillo and a member of First Baptist Church in Amarillo. First Baptist Amarillo participated in Baylor University’s Soundings Project. Soundings is part of Lilly Endowment Inc.’s Called to Lives of Meaning and Purpose Initiative. The views expressed in this opinion article are those of the author.

This is Part I in a series written by Ellis Orozco regarding Christian civic engagement.

This is a national election year that promises to be unlike any other in modern presidential history. A little more than 155 million people voted in the 2020 presidential election. That was an historical high. This year’s presidential election promises to beat that number.

More Americans engaging in the political life of our country is a good thing.

However, the increased engagement also has brought a growing polarization that threatens to tear the fabric of our national political life. It seems to have created a much more toxic political discourse.

We live in an anger-filled, 24-hours-a-day, 365-days-a-year election cycle that for many has become nothing more than background noise. For others it has created a paralyzing anxiety, fostering the temptation to walk away from it all.

The question for many Christians is: How do we engage in the brawl without becoming brawlers? How do we participate in the national conversation without descending into lunacy? How do we vote from a biblical, Christ-centered worldview?

Jesus and politics

Jesus was in the Jerusalem temple one day when he was confronted by a group of elite politicians, each with their own agenda (Matthew 22:15-22). They were attempting to destroy Jesus, politically. They wanted to chip away at the hold Jesus had over the general population—the 80 percent of the people who had been abused and silenced for decades.

To that end, they asked Jesus a trick question. Should we pay taxes to Caesar? If he answered “yes,” he would lose credibility with his followers. If he answered “no,” they could charge him with treason. Jesus’ response is interesting.

He showed them a coin and asked, “Whose image is on this coin?”

They answered, “Caesar’s, of course.”

Jesus threw the coin back at them and said, “Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God” (Matthew 22:21).

Modern interpreters have over-spiritualized Jesus’ question. On the day he asked it, the question actually was quite enigmatic and may have initiated a heated debate that would cause modern-day political discourse to blush.

What belongs to God? The answer, in Jesus’ day, depended on your political perspective.

The Sadducees would have said the Temple and the sacrificial system belongs to God.

The Pharisees would have been divided, some saying it was the throne of David that belongs to God, and others saying it was the Mosaic Law.

The Zealots would have screamed with one voice it was the Promised Land that belongs to God.

A few Essenes, had they happened to wander into Jerusalem that day, might have said it was the community of true Israelites that belongs to God.

Jesus’ answer was designed brilliantly to elicit such a debate. In the end, his central thesis most likely was missed in the brawl that almost surely ensued.

Jesus’ thesis: It’s all of the above. Everything belongs to God. Including the passionate debate.

A biblical foundation for voting

Let’s begin with this basic truism: Politics is not the most important thing in life.

Can you take a deep breath and just live in that for a moment? We have survived some pretty ugly political circumstances in the past, and we will survive these days as well.

This nation, as we know it, one day will cease to exist. All nations come and go, and if you think ours is any different … you’re wrong.

Jesus, however, is eternal, and our relationship with him is the most important thing in life.

Most Christians seem to understand this truism and, therefore, are tempted to wash their hands of the nasty, political climate and walk away from it all. That would be a big mistake for two reasons.

Two reasons for political engagement

1. Political decisions impact people.

The decisions we make as a country impact the lives of people all over the Earth.

We have a mandate from Jesus to stand on the side of the weak and oppressed—to fight for the rights of the vulnerable and the voiceless; to advocate for the responsible and ethical stewardship of our collective resources; to fight against corruption, hatred, violence and racism wherever we find it.

Political action is a vital way we stay true to that mandate.

2. Jesus is Lord over all things.

The central confession of the Christian church is this: Jesus Christ is Lord.

There is evidence that when confronted with the political mandate to confess, “Caesar is Lord,” some first-century Christians chose death over capitulation.

Before his ascension into heaven, Jesus said to his disciples: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matthew 28:18).

Christians believe Jesus has power over all things and ultimately is in control. The Bible teaches us God cares deeply about his creation—all of it. And he calls us to care for it as well (Genesis 2:15).

One of the most effective ways for us to be good stewards of the Earth God gave us is to be involved in the political process.

If the Christ ethic demands we remain involved in the political process, how then should we vote? Is there a biblical-theological framework that can guide us as we prepare to vote in 2024?

That question will be the subject of my next article.

Ellis Orozco served as a pastor 30 years. He is the founder and CEO of Karooso Ministries and the public theologian in residence at Stark College & Seminary, where this article first appeared. Republished by permission.

There’s so much in this world we do not rejoice over. So much of the news, including in the Baptist Standard, is not “rejoicing with those who rejoice,” but is “mourning with those who mourn.” There is much trouble in the world, and Christians and the church are not immune or exempt from it. There is much to mourn.

While there is a time to “mourn with those who mourn,” there also is a time to “rejoice with those who rejoice.” For at least as long as it takes you to read this editorial, this will be a time to rejoice.

‘You are what you celebrate.’

“You are what you celebrate.”

If this is true—and I believe it is—then we need to know what we’re celebrating and why we’re celebrating it. We also need to make sure we’re celebrating the right things.

For followers of Jesus, the right things include when people give their lives to Jesus, when people are baptized, and when our churches are healthy and ministering to others.

What do you celebrate? What does your church celebrate?

Stories of rejoicing

Over the last few weeks, we’ve gathered stories celebrating what God is doing in and through churches throughout Texas. I wish I could say that was on purpose.

One set of stories are opinion articles published in our Voices column. The other set of stories are news features published in our Texas column.

The opinion articles are from churches participating in Baylor University’s Soundings Project, which is part of Lilly Endowment Inc.’s Called to Lives of Meaning and Purpose Initiative.

The news articles feature churches participating in Pave, a church revitalization effort of Texas Baptists’ Center for Church Health.

We haven’t published all the stories yet. So be sure to watch for them during the next couple of weeks.

Large

Bear Creek Baptist Church in Katy isn’t a story in either category—Soundings Project or Pave. Nevertheless, theirs is a story we can celebrate. Bear Creek reported “60 baptisms since the beginning of 2024,” more than half of which were of adults.

When I shared this story on my Facebook profile April 2, Ariel Martinez—lead pastor of Del Sol Church in El Paso—commented: “We too had our 60th baptism YTD over the weekend, and we’ve got 5 more lined up for this coming Sunday!”

Math isn’t my strongest subject, but I’m pretty sure that’s more than one baptism per week.

And small

It’s not just large churches in large cities experiencing spiritual and numerical growth. We also rejoice with small churches—some urban and some rural.

For example, St. Luke Baptist Church in San Antonio had a couple dozen people attending in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The church’s future looked bleak. Then, they experienced 20 weeks of baptisms after Pastor Joe Barber led them to change part of the church’s worship service. You’ll have to read Calli Keener’s article for the whole story.

I know what a shot in the arm baptisms are for a small church. When I was the pastor of First Baptist Church in Covington, we moved into our new facility and called a new youth pastor at roughly the same time. During that first year, the youth pastor and I baptized more than 40 people.

Reasons to rejoice

These stories share reasons to rejoice—such as an increase in baptisms and what can happen when churches connect to larger efforts. And there are more reasons to celebrate than that.

Change

Most of the churches featured in these stories had to change at least one thing. For example, Pave encourages churches to make baptisms central to their worship services. That usually means changing the order of the service. I did that once—changed the order of service. Ask me how that went.

But the change is more than when baptisms happen during the service. The change includes what leads up to and what follows each baptism. Again, you’ll have to read the stories.

In addition to celebrating baptisms, we should celebrate these churches’ courage to change.

Collaboration

For most of the churches in these stories, their revitalization or growth was catalyzed from outside the church. Some received a peer community and outside funding—such as the Lilly Endowment grant funds in the case of churches participating in Baylor University’s Soundings Project. Others—such as those who participate in Pave—receive training, resourcing and collaborative community.

In addition to revitalized congregations, we should celebrate the community and collaboration fostering new vibrancy and vitality in our churches.

Community

Most of the churches re-engaged their communities in one or more ways.

First Baptist Church in Rosebud, working together with their local ministerial alliance in fall 2023, provided a free Thanksgiving meal in the city park for anyone in the community. The alliance also is working together to provide school supplies for elementary students in the local school district. These efforts are a big deal in a small community.

In addition to celebrating how God changes lives when the church serves the community, we should celebrate when God’s people serve together in community.

‘Rejoice with those who rejoice’

To celebrate something is to reward it. It is to give our time, energy and attention to it. We are rewarding a lot of lesser things by giving them a lot of our best time, energy and attention, leaving us emptier and worse off for it.

With a shift in perspective and by joining with our brothers and sisters in Christ, we can give our best to what will enliven us and our churches. How the times need us to be enlivened again.

Celebrating doesn’t mean we ignore the struggles or sweep the problems under the rug. No, we still must face those things; we still must mourn with those who mourn.

Celebration is another kind of response to the troubles of this world. It is defiance of this world, in a way. It is to side with hope and the fact trouble will not always have its way.

The church—the body of Christ—is alive and well. His Spirit is living and moving and is at work in us and in this world. Let us rejoice with those who rejoice.

Eric Black is the executive director, publisher and editor of the Baptist Standard. He can be reached at [email protected]. The views expressed are those of the author.

Rosebud is a small town east of Temple and southeast of Waco. Consequently, ours is a small church.

It’s easy to think not much happens in small towns and small churches. Sometimes, that’s true. But big things are happening here through revitalization.

We recognized our church was flat—like a Dr Pepper that lost its fizz. Our church needed revitalization from the inside before we could proceed in any other area.

First Baptist Church in Rosebud was invited to participate in the Baylor University’s Soundings Project. We were honored and wanted to be good stewards of the money, yet we seemed overwhelmed and struggled for quite a while to determine how best to apply the grant.

We felt it should go toward spreading the gospel to further God’s kingdom. With the guidance of the Soundings Project leadership, we were able to state our goal.

Revitalizing within

Our Soundings Project goal was divided into two phases. The first phase was to revitalize our own congregation. We wanted and needed to be a healthy church, so we could address the ultimate goal of reaching out to our community with the love of Jesus Christ to further God’s kingdom.

We began with an “in-house” three-day revival. The Soundings grant allowed us to bring in an outside speaker for a Friday through Sunday event. The topic was “Recharge, Revitalize and Re-unite.” Every congregation member received a special invitation to attend. We served food, provided child care, and minimized kitchen prep and clean-up so all could hear the speaker.

The second phase involved many varied events. For example, members volunteered to place advertisement-type signs in their yards stating, “Jesus Loves You.” The church hosted several singing groups for the community, which were well attended by several church denominations. The community was invited to attend an Easter lunch provided by our church.

Revitalizing without

Our interim pastor has been instrumental in revitalizing the ministerial alliance in our community. In keeping with our Soundings goal of community outreach, our church was instrumental in the alliance organizing a free Thanksgiving meal in 2023 for anyone in our community.

Members of area churches donated the food and worked together to serve all who attended. To emphasize the meal was a ministerial-alliance sponsored event, the event was held at a city-owned property rather than at a specific church.

The ministerial alliance established a goal of providing school supplies for the 2024-2025 school year for elementary students who live in our district. This is a community-wide project well on its way to reaching its goal solely through donations. No Soundings grant money was used for the event or for the school supplies.

One of the simplest, yet powerful, events was a prayer walk that took place over several Saturday mornings. Congregation members walked the streets of Rosebud to pray over every house, church and business in the city.

We did not knock on doors; however, if people were outside, we told them who we are and asked them, “How can we pray for you?”

Advertisement-type signs stating, “How can we pray for you?” were an offshoot of the prayer walk. The signs include our church’s name and phone number. Congregation members have placed the signs in their front yards, and the signs are placed outside in front of the church as well.

Other revitalization efforts

The Soundings grant enabled us to purchase Thom Rainer’s book Autopsy of a Deceased Church:12 Ways to Keep Yours Alive. We read and discussed the book over several weeks on Sunday night during fall 2023.

Our men invited friends, family and neighbors to attend a men’s retreat in Waco in October. About half of the attendees were from our congregation, and half were from the community.

In early 2024, the Soundings grant purchased T-shirts with our church’s name for every student and adult volunteer for our Wednesday after-school program for pre-K through 6th grade. The majority are minority students and are not from our church. Students typically wear the shirt to school on Wednesdays.

First Baptist Rosebud is in the active planning stages of a church and community revival set for April 26–28. The theme of the revival is “Will You Take the Dare?—Dare to Obey, Dare to Speak Up Boldly, and Dare to Stand Strong.”

We are incorporating music in a variety of styles, some from area churches. One of the groups will be singing in Spanish and English. Soundings is providing food each night, breakfast Sunday morning, and providing for the speaker.

We are in the early planning stages of a fall 2024 women’s retreat. The goal is to reach out to community members to hear about Jesus and to spread the gospel to further God’s kingdom.

The whole church blessed

Since the Soundings Grant has been implemented, seven individuals—three adults and four young people—have made professions of faith followed by baptism. There have been six adults who have joined the church either by statement or by letter. These individuals are remaining faithful members actively serving the Lord in the church.

In addition to these, there has been a non-English-speaking individual who has made a profession of faith and is wanting to be baptized. She has been attending faithfully.

Most members of the congregation have participated in events, and most have contributed in some way to make the events possible. Consequently, most members of our congregation are aware of the Soundings grant and the blessings we have received because of it.

The Lord has blessed First Baptist Rosebud. There is fizz back in the church.

First Baptist Church in Rosebud participated in Baylor University’s Soundings Project. Soundings is part of Lilly Endowment Inc.’s Called to Lives of Meaning and Purpose Initiative. The views expressed in this opinion article are those of the authors.

Parenting is difficult. Some parenting situations are very difficult and require outside help.

When a parent goes to counseling with a child, some powerful words from the counselor can stick with them.

We had more than one counselor over a period of 25 years, but these words stuck with us. We hope if parenting is your present calling, they might help you, too.

Advice we found helpful

Even though your child is rebelling now, the odds are great he will turn out to be a lot like you. Actually, the odds are he will be just like you.

Your anxiety is raising your child’s anxiety level. Work on your own stress, anger and depression.

Your child shows you her negative feelings or hyperactivity because you are her safe place.

Most children on medication are medicated to behave at school. Medication may be worn off when the child gets home after school. Be prepared, and help your child understand this change.

The educational system is designed for “average” students in the middle of the ability continuum. It is likely one-third to two-thirds of our children do not fit in that range and will have special needs or learning disabilities addressed in school.

If your child has special needs, get all the help for him you can. Learn to advocate for your child. Educational attorneys can advise, as can the special-ed administrators in your school district. The law is powerful, and it is your ally here.

Some problems are meant for you to fix. Other problems are meant for doctors, agencies and even the government and courts to fix. Know what problem is yours.

Understand and graciously accept you may have to let others take over. Be grateful you have help. You did not fail.

When what you are doing isn’t working, try something else. Surprise your child with an unexpected reaction. You at least will have their attention.

Children and teens may not listen to what you say, but they are aware of what you do. Action is powerful.

More advice we found helpful

Remember, you as a parent always have power. If you have the family money and car, you can control a lot more than you realize. Hold onto your power, no matter how your child acts out.

Do not be afraid to walk away from a scene or abusive language. Do not be afraid to leave church and take your child with you.

Do not parent to please others. Other people have different children.

Safety must come first. Do whatever you have to do to keep everyone in the family safe.

Call the police if you must. They have seen family conflict before and are trained to handle your child, at least temporarily, and give you sound advice. Some officers bring teddy bears for young children in family crisis.

Always be honest with counselors and helpers. If you did or said something you regret, admit it. We are human, and parenting can be extremely stressful, with ongoing and escalating pressure. Perfection does not exist.

Give your child opportunity in counseling to learn calming skills and anger management strategies. Learning to deep breathe, count to 10 before reacting, visualizing a happy place, utilizing affirmative self-talk, all empower children and parents.

Most of us can learn to achieve internal self-control, which will help us all through life. Staying in peace with others, and out of trouble, is a definite life skill.

When in doubt, get help—especially if depression and/or risky behaviors are taking place. It always is better to err on the side of caution than to ignore a problem.

Lastly, when a child is in treatment, the whole family is in treatment. All members need to be open to change that will improve family life, agreeing on a beneficial plan and committing to our part of family healing.

When you need more than advice

When advice that “should work” doesn’t work, you may be dealing with psychiatric, emotional or brain chemistry/brain development problems, not just usual childhood or teen rebellion.

Doctors may not always agree on the diagnosis or medication for a pediatric or teen patient. Some trial and error with medications is usual, along with talk therapy and feedback about symptoms. Form an alliance with your medical team and work together on solutions.

Because we parent with biblical principles, we know the importance of marriage, parenting, harmony and love in the home, obedience and leadership, consequences of poor decisions, faith and salvation always will be true and irreplaceable.

The best advice we can give is to pray and never give up. Remain faithful to the parenting call. It can take decades to see the fruitful results of God’s work in the life of your child. We may not see it until heaven.

Family life is meant to be a blessing, not constant pain. Don’t settle for ongoing pain. Act now to seek help and learn strategies that will bring us greater harmony.

Ruth Cook is a cancer survivor and crime victim. Joe Cook is a counseling professor at Liberty University. He holds a Doctor of Ministry from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and a Ph.D. from Regent University. The views expressed in this opinion article are those of the authors.

As a pastor, I always looked forward to Vacation Bible School. It was a great opportunity to interact with the children and adults in our church, reach families in our community and share the gospel. It was one of my favorite weeks of the year.

That being said, there are some good reasons not to do Vacation Bible School. Here are just a few.

1. Don’t do Vacation Bible School unless you are ready to welcome children and families from your community.

Vacation Bible School is a great week for the children and families in your church, but it is also a great opportunity to invite children from the community to come get to know you better and learn God’s word in the process. If that is not something your church is ready to do, you should consider whether you really want to do it.

2. Don’t do Vacation Bible School if you are just going to engage people who already are working in your children’s ministry.

People who work with children every week in Sunday school or other children’s programs sometimes get burned out. VBS is a great time to involve other people in your church family who may not work with children on a regular basis but may be a great resource for that week and beyond.

3. Don’t do Vacation Bible School if you don’t have anything to offer the children after the week is over.

The week of VBS should be a good introduction to other ministries the church offers children and not just a standalone exception to an otherwise inactive children’s ministry. It is an ideal time to invite children back for Sunday school, children’s worship or other activities.

4. Don’t do Vacation Bible School if you don’t plan to share the gospel with the children and their families.

As great as it is to have lots of children participating in VBS, it is a lost opportunity if we don’t make an intentional effort to share the gospel in an age-appropriate way for children to hear and respond to. As a pastor, I knew every year I would have the chance to talk with children about their understanding of the gospel and see some of them baptized as a result.

5. Don’t do Vacation Bible School if you aren’t going to make it fun.

VBS is a great time of active worship, recreation and interactive learning that should be fun for the adults and the children. Where else do children get to play games and see adults in such an informal setting doing things they don’t normally do in church and wearing something other than church clothes? It should be fun for everyone.

6. Don’t do Vacation Bible School if it is just about the decorations and fun theme songs instead of teaching God’s word.

We cannot lose sight of the goal of teaching children the truth of God’s word through this week. It can be easy to get caught up in all the décor and theme and forget why we are there. This is where good teacher and worker training makes a huge difference.

7. Don’t do Vacation Bible School if that is the week the pastor or staff plan to go on vacation.

I always was surprised to hear pastors and other staff members joke they were planning to be gone on vacation during the week of Vacation Bible School. I was shocked even more to find out they really meant it.

VBS is a team effort. It is important that the pastor and staff are visible during the week so children can see people they see up front on Sundays working as part of the team.

8. Don’t do Vacation Bible School if you aren’t going to train and screen the workers to prevent sexual abuse.

As wonderful as it is to have involved new people working with children during the week of Vacation Bible School, it also presents a dangerous opportunity for those who want to abuse or harm children.

It is imperative that everyone who works in VBS go through the same background checks, screening and training in how to prevent sexual abuse as those who may work in children’s ministry throughout the year. In addition, the church should have clear policies and guidelines for workers that will protect children and minimize risk.

9. Don’t do Vacation Bible School if you aren’t going to follow up afterwards with the children and families who attend.

After VBS is over, every family who had a child attend should receive a thank-you letter, an invitation to upcoming children’s activities, and/or a phone call or contact from someone in the church. The more personal this follow-up is, the better.

10. Don’t do Vacation Bible School if you aren’t going to bathe it in prayer.

Our church has a prayer team that prays for the teachers, workers, children and families through the week of Vacation Bible School. It is yet another opportunity for people to be involved who may not be able to participate in any other way. Prayer is an essential part of the spiritual outcomes we hope to see through Vacation Bible School.

I hope your church will do Vacation Bible School in whatever way is best for your church and community. Whether that is in the morning, at night, with another outreach effort like sports or music, or even through the summer on a weeknight, it is worth all the effort it takes.

Vacation Bible School is a lot of work and requires a lot of resources both in terms of people and finances, but that is not one of the reasons not to do it. All of that pales in comparison with reaching children with the gospel.

David Johnson is executive director of Arizona Mission Network of Southern Baptists. The views expressed in this opinion article are those of the author.

Cuando la Iglesia Bear Creek en Katy lanzó oficialmente su ministerio en español en 2018, la iglesia no anticipó el nivel de crecimiento que vería en los próximos años.

Hoy, el ministerio está casi lleno en “La Corte”, el lugar donde se lleva a cabo el servicio en español los domingos a las 11 a.m.

“Sé la luz de Cristo donde estés y sé intencional al compartir el evangelio”, dijo Iván García, pastor principal del ministerio en español.

La historia del Pastor García

García nació y creció en Santa Clara, Cuba, en una familia que no creía en Dios.

Durante la Revolución Cubana, hubo tensión entre las iglesias y el gobierno. Los misioneros se vieron obligados a regresar a sus países de origen. Los estudiantes del seminario bautista fueron obligados a trabajar sin paga en unidades militares.

El gobierno cerró algunas iglesias. Muchos pastores y líderes laicos emigraron a otros países.

Durante la década de 1990, hubo un gran renacimiento en las iglesias. En 1992, García, de 13 años, visitó la Primera Iglesia Bautista en su ciudad natal. Anteriormente había asistido a la iglesia católica en secreto. Un joven de 14 años, ahora adulto y sirviendo como pastor, compartió el evangelio con García, quien se convirtió al cristianismo.

A los 17 años expresó interés en el llamado de Dios a ser pastor. Recibió ayuda de su pastor y mentores.

Después de completar su servicio militar obligatorio, sirvió en la iglesia como misionero. Esto le dio la oportunidad de predicar y visitar la congregación. Después de un año, asistió al seminario Bautista en La Habana, Cuba, para recibir educación teológica. Allí conoció a su esposa, Yanexy, quien también era egresada de ese seminario. Los dos han estado casados 23 años y tienen tres hijos: Lauren, Leidi y Jacob.

García sirvió como pastor en Cuba durante 15 años y finalmente llegó a los Estados Unidos en 2013. Sirvió en Fort Worth siete años y finalmente llegó a Houston en 2021 para servir en Bear Creek. Su primer domingo fue el 27 de junio de 2021 y la asistencia promedio en ese momento fue de 123.

Bear Creek en Español

Bear Creek lanzó oficialmente su ministerio en español el Domingo de Pascua de 2018, después de celebrar servicios mensuales a partir del septiembre anterior.

Hoy en día, la asistencia promedio es de alrededor de 340 personas cada domingo. Cada semana, visitan invitados por primera vez. En 2023, 566 invitados por primera vez asistieron al ministerio en español.

En los primeros 11 domingos de 2024, 106 invitados primerizos visitaron la iglesia y bautizaron a 11 nuevos creyentes. ¿Qué ha contribuido a este crecimiento?

“La fidelidad de la gente aquí en Bear Creek” es clave, dijo García. “Se mantuvieron fieles durante la pandemia y creo que Dios honró esa fidelidad. También vivimos en la oración y vivimos en lo que Dios puede hacer de manera sobrenatural”.

La iglesia está entusiasmada con el crecimiento que ha visto en el ministerio en español. El problema es la capacidad del espacio actual. Durante los últimos seis años, el ministerio ha estado funcionando como una iglesia portátil.

Cada semana, los miembros se reúnen en el gimnasio, instalando sillas y equipos para convertir el espacio deportivo en un espacio de adoración. Varios domingos, más de 350 personas se reunieron para adorar en un gimnasio que sólo tiene capacidad para 350 personas.

Planes de crecimiento

Para permitir que el ministerio siga creciendo, la iglesia busca ampliar el área de la Corte en 3000 pies cuadrados, lo que aumentaría la capacidad a entre 650 y 700 personas. La remodelación también incluiría un área de escenario permanente, reduciendo la cantidad de trabajo cada domingo para montar y desmontar para el servicio.

“Nuestro objetivo no es simplemente llenar esta sala con gente, sino salir de estos muros y compartir a Cristo con otros donde estén”, dijo García. “Con el tiempo, queremos suministrar múltiples servicios de adoración en español, no solo uno”.

Bear Creek en Español es una congregación diversa, con fieles de 20 países hispanos de todo el mundo, además de personas de Ucrania, China y Brasil.

García cree que la iglesia está plantada en un área geográfica estratégica. Personas de todo el mundo vienen a Houston.

“Nuestra misión es alcanzar a todos para Cristo, sin importar el idioma que hablen. Esta es la visión que siempre comparto con la congregación”, dijo García. “Dios está haciendo algo único aquí en Houston. Tenemos una gran oportunidad de llegar a personas de todo el mundo”.

(RNS)—I grew up in a conservative, evangelical Christian household and attended private evangelical schools where we pledged allegiance to the Christian flag alongside the American flag every morning. We would belt out “God Bless America” with gusto.

My teachers, classmates and I were attached to a somewhat mythological story of America’s Christian heritage. We were the type of sentimental Christian nationalists Donald Trump is targeting with his recent turn as a Bible salesman.

But the primary way we applied our ideals came when we voted like any of our neighbors. We didn’t menace American democracy. But today, at the other end of the Christian nationalism spectrum, is a more perilous style of Christian politics, presented by hard-line, programmatic Christians who aim to dominate society.

Situating Christian nationalism

If you’re unacquainted, Christian nationalism refers to how some—not all—American Christians blend their religious devotion with nationalistic ardor, aiming to refashion America as a Christian nation.

Some conservative Christians have begun pushing back on this phrase, claiming “Christian nationalist” is a slur, representing a progressive effort to make the idea of Christians involved in politics sound scary.

As a scholar who’s studied American Christianity for years, I can state confidently the term is not an insult. Rather, it’s descriptive: When people blur any religious identity with their partisan political identities, we call that “religious nationalism.”

It’s an extremely common phenomenon, occurring in numerous modern nations, from India to Turkey to Brazil. “Christian nationalism” is just the Christian variety.

Yes, some commentators do paint with too broad a brush in how they categorize or describe Christian nationalism. As with me and my schoolmates, some forms of Christian nationalism pose no imminent threat to American democracy.

The new breed

But there is a new breed of chauvinistic, theologically bull-headed Christian nationalists who might better be called “Christian supremacists.”

These hard-liners believe Christianity deserves a privileged space in American society—that Christians, being better than other human beings, should be entitled to a superior form of citizenship. They claim Christians even are destined by God to rule over society.

What is hazy nostalgia to the “God Bless America” crowd is an organized theological and political program for the Christian supremacists. They are deadly serious.

There are at least two major strands of Christian supremacy operating in the United States today: the highbrow Calvinists and the populist charismatics. Both groups are Protestant, and both have theological roots in an obscure group of Reformed (Calvinist) American theologians called the “Christian Reconstructionists,” who emerged in the 1960s and 1970s.

The Reconstructionists draw inspiration from 16th-century theologian John Calvin’s Geneva, a theocratic city-state where unrepentant heretics could be executed by a government that enforced orthodoxy.

Though certainly not representative of all Calvinists, today’s Reconstructionists have embraced a vision of what they call “dominion theology.” They interpret certain Bible passages to mean Christians must “take dominion” over every society and remake it into the kingdom of God. Today, they hold conferences with titles such as “Blueprints for Christendom 2.0” and talk about how they will help Jesus the “warrior-king” to “dominion-ize” this world.

Calvinist and charismatic

These theological intellectuals of the Christian far right are radicalizing more run-of-the-mill Christian nationalists. Reconstructionist luminaries today include people like Stephen Wolfe, a scholar with a Ph.D. in political theory who argues full-throatedly in his book The Case for Christian Nationalism that “Non-Christians … are not entitled to political equality.”

Like good Calvinists, the Reconstructionists are intellectual and systematic, imagining detailed programs by which Christians can re-Christianize America and, ultimately, the world. They hope their heady ideas will help trigger such a global crusade, while recognizing their high-octane Calvinist theology will never be everyone’s cup of tea.

So, beginning in the 1980s, the Reconstructionist theologians intentionally spread their ideas into other Christian communities and networks, sometimes with the more rigid Calvinist casing shaved off. They especially cross-pollinated with a rapidly growing segment of American Christianity that gets little media coverage: nondenominational charismatic Christians.

Charismatic Christians are those trying to restore the more supernatural dimensions of early Christianity—speaking in tongues, performing miracles and believing in modern prophecies. This is the world of next-gen televangelism, ecstatic megachurches and itinerant prophets. Nondenominational charismatics are the energetic, tech-savvy, insurgent populists of American Christianity.

Seven Mountain Mandate

Many of these nondenominational charismatics eagerly embraced the Reconstructionists’ dominion ideas, if not their formal Calvinism, giving rise to the populist charismatic style of Christian supremacy.

At the front of this pack is a pastor, sometimes referred to as prophet, named Lance Wallnau, who has taken some of these dominion theology ideas and rebranded them as a prophecy called the Seven Mountain Mandate.

Wallnau’s vision of Christian supremacy entails dividing society up into seven “mountains” or arenas of influence—religion, family, government, education, media, entertainment and commerce—and urging Christians to conquer the top of every mountain in their community or nation so Christian influence will trickle down into society.

These Seven Mountains programs are fueling many local conservative Christian groups to take over city councils or school boards, making the dominion program tactical and marketable.

Wallnau also is a leader in a nondenominational movement called the New Apostolic Reformation, which has helped spread this Seven Mountains prophecy everywhere within evangelical circles.

Not coincidentally, Wallnau also was one of the first Christian leaders to endorse Donald Trump in the 2016 campaign cycle. Wallnau is the author of some of the prophecies and theology that now customarily present Christian support for Trump, not merely in terms of achieving conservative Christian goals or choosing the lesser of two evils, but as a positive good, ordained by God to be president again.

Wallnau used prophetic propaganda to galvanize and mobilize charismatic Christians to endorse Trump’s election lies. In this sense, he was one of the principal theological architects of the Jan. 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol, and he even was there at the Capitol that day to speak at one of the instigating rallies.

Caution and call

This all goes beyond a baseless slur. I recommend to those Christians of the kind I grew up with that you might get over the sting of being labeled, perhaps unfairly, as a Christian nationalist.

Christianity is slowly losing its privileged place in American society, and I understand that feels strange, but you should be far more concerned about the real-life religious extremism burbling up in your midst, causing many to cross the line from “God Bless America” Christian nationalists to ardent Christian supremacists.

Some of the most beautiful and treasured parts of American democracy—the equality of all citizens, the separation of church and state, and freedom to believe in and practice any (or no) religion—are the targets of the Christian supremacists, who seek not comity but domination, not peace but a sword. They are plotting the end of America as we know it. Openly.

Matthew D. Taylor is a senior scholar at the Institute for Islamic, Christian, and Jewish Studies in Baltimore and is the author of the forthcoming book The Violent Take It by Force: The Christian Movement That Is Threatening Our Democracy. The views expressed in this opinion article are those of the author.

The first and greatest commandment is to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. The second command is like it—to love our neighbor as we love ourselves.

It’s not just the Bible saying it. It’s Jesus saying it.

When it comes to transgender, many point to another Scripture—Genesis 1:27: “Male and female God created them.”

The longer passage reads: “God said, ‘Let us make mankind in our image, according to our likeness.’ … So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them” and told them to be fruitful and multiply, to fill, subdue and rule over all living things (Genesis 1:26-28 NASB).

For many, the discussion ends here. Or it’s where many want the discussion to end.

But the world is a more complicated place than that. It’s a place where some people, for whatever reason, do not situate themselves neatly in one of two categories—male and female. It’s a place Christians are expected to engage through love. And not just any love—God’s love.

A framework for love

Alan Noble, associate professor of English at Oklahoma Baptist University and widely published writer on Christianity and culture, provides a helpful framework for this engagement.

During a March 19 keynote address at East Texas Baptist University, Noble called for the cultivation of four virtues: humility, desiring the good of others, prudence and fortitude.

The following is from an audio recording of Noble’s keynote furnished to me by ETBU.

Humility

“All wisdom involves humility,” Noble said.

“Humility means not assuming that you are an expert on every topic. … Humility means knowing what you don’t know, and accepting that you don’t know, and that others probably know a lot more than you do,” Noble continued.

“Humility means honestly and openly listening to and considering different points of view” without prior assumptions about another person’s perspective, he said. Importantly, “openness to ideas does not require you to accept ideas,” Noble noted.

Desiring the good of others

Loving our neighbor begins with humility. Loving our neighbor means desiring our neighbor’s good, Noble said.

“Desiring the good of the other does not mean that you desire whatever the other person wants,” he said, but does involve wanting the other person to know the truth.

Rather than actually desiring the good of others, however, we often desire that those with whom we disagree be shamed and punished, Noble cautioned.

He also warned that desiring the good of others “will be costly. It will take more work and will demand more of your time.”

Desiring the good of the other means we communicate with others in a way that invites them to see the truth, rather than coercing them into our view of the truth, Noble said.

Prudence and fortitude

We do not always need to speak or be the one who speaks. It is prudence, not cowardice, to know when not to speak, Noble explained.

Fortitude, or courage, means being “willing to lose social standing to speak for the truth.” Prudence should guide fortitude, so our courage does not become reckless, Noble warned.

A Christian response

These four virtues are relevant to how Christians interact with the issue of transgender, a topic brought to the fore last week by a presidential proclamation. We must not let the proclamation divert us from our duty to love our neighbors—including our transgender neighbors. What that love may look like is a source of much debate.

As Christians try to fulfill their obligation to love, we must not overlook two simple facts: Transgender people are created in the image of God no less than anyone else, and therefore are worthy of compassion no less than anyone else.

Whatever one’s position is on transgender, these two things are non-negotiable: Transgender people are created in the image of God, and Jesus commanded us to love our neighbor as we love ourselves.

If we think a transgender person is anything less than our neighbor, then we are deeming that transgender person as less than or other than human. I am certain that attempt to qualify our love will not stand up to scrutiny when we stand before our Maker.

How to love

Christ’s followers are expected to interact with our transgender neighbors through love. And not just any love—God’s love.

We can love our transgender neighbors well by moving beyond typical caricatures of transgender people to learn more about the complexity of transgender.

We can love our transgender neighbors well by listening to their stories. Their stories are just as important as ours, illuminating how we came to be who, what and where we are now.

We also can love our transgender neighbors well by remembering they are whole persons, not simply gender identities. We can offer dignity, honor and respect when we take the time to discover their interests, gifts and talents—some of which we may share—or by following Jesus’ example and eating a meal together.

We can read books like Talking to Kids about Gender Identity: A Roadmap for Christian Compassion, Civility, and Conviction by Mark Yarhouse and Embodied: Transgender Identities, the Church and What the Bible Has to Say by Preston Sprinkle.

Neither book is perfect, but they are a helpful start toward understanding transgender by providing language and research alongside a biblical and Christian perspective.

While learning can be helpful, knowledge is not sufficient for fulfilling our obligation to love our neighbor. There must be more, and Noble’s framework helps here.

Remembering what Jesus did

Our love for our transgender neighbors must be built on humility. Humility does not make our transgender neighbors the object of shame, contempt or hostility, but recognizes each of us contains brokenness in need of Christ’s redemption and restoration.

Rather than heaping shame on a transgender person, we must remember what we as Christians just commemorated and celebrated.

We spent the last week remembering Christ bore our shame to the point of death, even death on a cross, and that he told us that to follow him means denying ourselves and taking up our own cross.

The week of commemoration culminated in our celebration of Christ’s rising from the dead to defeat sin and shame, and that he invites us, calls us to share in his everlasting life. What invitation are we issuing to our transgender neighbors?

The challenge

If we were to ask transgender people that question, I am certain they would say “invitation” is the wrong word. They would say we condemn without inviting. They would say we have generated more fear than Christlike love.

Our transgender neighbors should not be afraid to be in our presence. They should not be afraid we will revile them, berate them or otherwise harm them, even as we hold to our convictions about gender. This is possible—even if not easy—if we humbly, compassionately and prudently communicate our convictions—in word and deed.

Our foundational and guiding conviction is love. And not just any love—God’s love.

As Noble pointed out, loving our neighbor does not mean anything goes. It does mean when we interact with a transgender person, we will treat that person as a human being, not a cause. Our words and our actions will convey dignity, honor and respect that should be accorded any human being.

Some will accuse me of arguing for affirmation of transgender and all that goes with it. No, I’m asking us to do something much harder than that.

I’m asking us to hold our biblical convictions about gender while extending as much compassion, dignity, honor and respect toward transgender people as we expect to be extended toward us.

Why? Because the first and greatest commandment is to love the Lord our God with all our heart and soul and mind and strength. The second command is like it—to love our neighbor as we love ourselves.

This love cost our Lord his life.

Eric Black is the executive director, publisher and editor of the Baptist Standard. He can be reached at [email protected]. The views expressed are those of the author.

On March 17, two churches gathered to worship alongside each other for the first time.

On its own, this may not seem that significant—until you know the history.

Historically, Calvary Baptist Church is a mostly white church in Port Arthur. Greater Faith International Ministries is a mostly African American and new church plant.

I am the pastor of Calvary Baptist and have been here a little more than five years. Since Day One, I have been seeking ways to unite our community under the banner of Christ. It has been harder than I imagined. I found out Port Arthur has gone through some very tough times that have left a lot of hurt in its wake.

I met Overseer and Pastor Kevin Domingo of Greater Faith International Ministries a few years back, and we developed a close friendship. The idea of bringing our churches together for worship began to grow as we learned about each other and developed a trust as brothers in Christ. It is an amazing relationship.

What follows is our discussion about our shared worship event.

Historical background and significance

Historically, this was a first to my (Overseer Domingo’s) knowledge and on the scale it was done to have happened in our area. Those familiar with the history of our area informed me we were about to make history in that area for the first time.

A predominantly Caucasian Baptist church and a predominantly African American nondenominational church worshipped together under the same roof in this region of Texas for the first time.

It was something sought after by others but had not been done prior to our meeting and planning and had not come to fruition. We believe this is what heaven will look like, which made it easy for us not to just toss around the idea, but to bring it to pass.

It was an opportunity to go against the grain of culture and present to the world the reality, not only can we coexist and bring different worship and culture under the same roof and worship the same God, but we can cause it to be infectious in our society in this day and time to bring glory and honor to our heavenly Father.

Because of the mutual love and respect we—Overseer Domingo and Pastor Blake—share, our congregations were ready for such an event and didn’t have any concerns going into the service.

What it was like

While different, the clash of styles of worship was met with open arms. Although unfamiliar in some cases, they were still welcomed by both congregations.

Everyone was engaged and into the service. It was great, a true testament to both leaders who envisioned something bigger than themselves.

It was more of a blessing than we both could have imagined. It put to rest all our prohibitions and showed us—through fellowship, worship and love for one another—that when God’s plan is at the forefront of our priorities, it is nothing we cannot accomplish together.

It was a life-changing experience. I (Overseer Domingo) and Greater Faith International Ministries cannot wait until the next time we can come together as one body in Christ.

Gratitude

I (Blake) thank Overseer Domingo for the honor of allowing us to worship with his church. It truly was an honor because they easily could have said, ‘No,’ and we would have understood. His community has been hurt in the past, and for people to look beyond the hurt and worship with us truly was a God-movement.

Most white churches in Port Arthur have struggled with racism. We could ignore it and expect those affected to move on, but that is not as easy as it sounds. We needed to acknowledge the hurt of the past and be aware of the pain many in our community still deal with every day.

The only concern I (Blake) had was if everyone in our congregations would embrace this service as we—their pastors—had. And they did. We saw the evidence of God moving in the room as we worshipped together. That is a testament to our friendship and our mutual desire to see Christ high and lifted up in our city.

Like Overseer Domingo, I cannot wait until we do this again. My heart already has been yearning for this kind of worship again. I was shaken to my soul by the presence of God in this place. I cannot thank my friend Kevin enough for sharing this time with me.

Blake Alling is lead pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in the Port Acres area of Port Arthur. Kevin Domingo is overseer and pastor of Greater Faith International Ministries in Port Arthur. The views expressed in this opinion article are those of the authors.