Around the State: Carlisle to lead Texas Baptist Missions Foundation

Jerry Carlisle has been named president of the Texas Baptist Missions Foundation.

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Jerry Carlisle has been named president of the Texas Baptist Missions Foundation. He succeeds founding president Bill Arnold, who is retiring. Carlisle has served as vice president of the foundation since April 2015. As president, he will oversee all fundraising efforts for the foundation and work in conjunction with the Texas Baptist Missions Foundation Council to develop strategic initiatives to support Texas Baptist missions and ministries. Carlisle serves as the finance committee chair for the board of Baylor Scott & White Medical Center of Plano and as a member of the Baptist World Alliance Human Resource Committee, having just completed a five-year term as BWA vice president representing North America. He also is a past president and vice president of the BGCT. He currently is interim pastor of First Baptist Church in Saginaw and an adjunct professor at Dallas Baptist University. From 2002 to 2015, he was senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Plano. Previous ministry experience includes positions at churches in Temple, Coppell, Irving and Houston. Carlisle earned a bachelor’s degree from Southwest Baptist College in Bolivar, Mo.; and Master of Divinity and Doctor of Ministry degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Carlisle and his wife Dedi have been married 39 years and have three adult children and six grandchildren. They are members of First Baptist Church in Garland.

In May, the Baptist General Convention of Texas Executive Board approved a voluntary retirement package for eligible staff in response to a drop in Cooperative Program giving during the COVID-19 lockdown and decreased income from investments and other resources. Seventeen of the 31 employees who were offered voluntary retirement accepted. Convention officials reported the financial impact as “budget neutral for the remainder of 2020.”

Buckner Children and Family Services received a $50,000 grant from OneStar Foundation in support of its work serving children and families during the coronavirus pandemic. The grant is part of a larger $920,000 sum deployed from the Texas COVID Relief Fund to 16 organizations working to support the most vulnerable and underserved across the state in the areas of health, education and community development. Throughout the pandemic, Buckner has continued its domestic programs and services for children and families in Dallas, Houston, Longview, Lufkin, Beaumont, Lubbock, Midland, Amarillo and the Rio Grande Valley. Buckner adopted new methods to help clients, including virtual classes and activities, telehealth visits, virtual adoptions and food distributions. “The generous grant from OneStar Foundation will make an important impact in the lives of many families and children, as we continue to support them through foster care and adoption and family preservation programs,” said Albert Reyes, president and CEO of Buckner International.

Kevin Domingue, a graduate of Howard Payne University, recently was awarded the Air Education and Training Command Commander’s Trophy, Leadership Award, Distinguished Graduate and the Flying Training Award. (Photo courtesy of HPU)

Kevin Domingue of Lake Dallas, a 2015 graduate of Howard Payne University, recently was awarded the Air Education and Training Command Commander’s Trophy, Leadership Award, Distinguished Graduate and the Flying Training Award at the conclusion of one year in undergraduate pilot training at Vance Air Force Base in Oklahoma. “It was cool to see the way God put people into my life to guide and help me along the way,” Domingue said. While at HPU, Domingue played wide receiver on the Yellow Jackets football team from 2011 to 2014 and was president of HPU’s Fellowship of Christian Athletes chapter. He also volunteered as a student leader with the Coggin Avenue Baptist Church youth group.

Irene Sisk of Bonham gave $100,000 recently to East Texas Baptist University. A $75,000 gift is designated for the new on-campus Health Services Clinic, and $25,000 is designated for an endowed student scholarship to support students preparing for a career in the medical field. ETBU’s health clinic will be named the Sisk Health Services Clinic in honor of the donor and in memory of her late husband, Dr. Walter Sisk, a physician. The clinic, opening for the fall 2020 semester, will be operated by ETBU under the leadership of an on-staff nurse practitioner. Under the supervision of a medical doctor, the clinic will offer health services that address minor illnesses and minor injuries, and it will provide screenings, vaccinations, immunizations and basic pharmaceutical prescriptions.  “I am continually inspired by the benevolence of the generous individuals who partner with East Texas Baptist University as we pursue the mission God has called us to fulfill,” ETBU President J. Blair Blackburn said. “As the university makes strides to provide a safe and healthy environment for our campus community, we are grateful to have the resources needed to operate the Sisk Health Services Clinic. This new clinic will provide convenient, accessible and affordable health care right here on our university campus for our students, faculty, staff and contract partners in dining and custodial services.”

When Houston Baptist University begins the in-person portion of its hybrid instruction for the fall semester, the university will utilize cutting-edge air and surface disinfecting technology in facilities central to student services, dining and education. Continuous Infectious Microbial Reduction technology creates a non-aqueous hydrogen peroxide gas, emitted at only 1/50th of the safe exposure level as determined by OSHA. Studies by universities and the U.S. government show CIMR to be effective against airborne and surface contaminations including influenza and other biological threats. CIMR will be installed in the HVAC systems of many of the university’s dining and common spaces including the MD Anderson Student Center, the Baugh dining and kitchen facilities, the Library Looper Learning Commons and Cullen Science Building, including laboratories. Additionally, almost every classroom has been equipped with plug-in CIMR devices, ensuring extra protection. HBU is seeking to create “both the most hostile environment for infection and the most friendly and safe environment possible for students and employees,” said John Holmes, HBU associate vice president for facilities and campus operations. “We believe our efforts will make HBU one of the safest and healthiest university campuses and employers in the region.”

Stark College and Seminary has scheduled a virtual commencement at 7 p.m. on Aug. 7 for 63 graduates from its Corpus Christi, McAllen, San Antonio and Victoria campuses whose ceremony was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The prerecorded event will stream on Facebook and YouTube. Along with a diploma, the school sent each graduate a mortarboard, tassel, personal note from President Tony Celelli and a confetti cannon.


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