About 650 new students at Dallas Baptist University and 200 student leaders, faculty and staff served in 19 locations throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth area as part of SWAT—Student Welcome and Transition. Community service projects included clean-up, distribution of goods and apartment visitation at Mission Arlington; sorting donated items at the Salvation Army’s disaster relief resource center; painting and decorating a children’s educational outreach center for Voice of Hope; and cleaning facilities and organizing English-as-a-Second-Language classrooms for refugees at Gateway of Grace.
Texas Baptist Men volunteers served a free lunch to 1,000 students at the University of Texas at Dallas early in the fall semester. While students waited in line for fajitas, rice, beans and side dishes, Baptist Student Ministry leaders introduced themselves and engaged the students in conversation. UTD is one of fastest-growing universities in Texas with more than 28,000 students, including 8,000 international students from around the globe. “This is a beautiful mission field,” said Mark Warrington, director of the campus BSM. “College students love free food. We’re building relationships and having conversations. We’re grateful for TBM. We couldn’t do this without them.”
Students at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor celebrated a Welcome Week tradition by participating in Love CTX, working on projects to benefit the Central Texas area. Students gathered in front of Luther Memorial at the center of the UMHB campus to work on one of three projects—make dog toys out of recycled t-shirts, write thank you notes to teachers, or pack meals for area schoolchildren. UMHB donated more than 500 dogs toys to animal shelters in Belton, Temple, Killeen and Harker Heights. Students wrote 100 letters to teachers and staff members, thanking them for their service. They also packed sack lunches and backpacks for the One More Child organization, providing more than 50,000 meals for students in the Belton Independent School District.
Howard Payne University recently named Donnie Auvenshine as vice president for academic affairs and Gary Gramling as dean of the School of Christian Studies. Auvenshine served as the school’s dean from 1994 to 2003 and from 2007 to 2019. He earned his undergraduate degree from HPU and his Master of Divinity and Doctor of Philosophy degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Gramling will continue to serve as director of Christian studies graduate programs and professor of Christian studies, in addition to his new responsibilities as dean. Gramling also earned his undergraduate degree from HPU, as well as his Master of Divinity degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and his doctorate from Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary.
The Center for Christianity in Business at Houston Baptist University will hold its fall 2019 Networking Luncheon and Seminar on Sept. 27. The event, from noon to 2 p.m. in the Morris Cultural Arts Center on the HBU campus, will feature guest speaker Kevin Garland, CEO of Mountaire Farms. Cost for the lunch is $10 for students and $25 for professionals. To register, click here.
Anniversary
125th for First Baptist Church in Riesel. The anniversary celebration will begin with a worship and praise service at 10 a.m. on Sept. 15. Former pastor Kenny Burkhart, now pastor of Temple Baptist Church in Houston, will preach, and several other pastors and worship leaders will attend. Following the worship service, a barbecue lunch will be served in the church’s fellowship hall.
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