NASHVILLE (BP)—El 5 de diciembre, la RNBH se reunió en Tennessee para finalizar asuntos pertinentes al futuro de la red y la reunión anual de la SBC que se llevará a cabo en New Orleans, 2023. La reunión tomó lugar en la iglesia Forest Hill Baptist Church en Nashville, Tennessee.

El presidente de la RNBH, Dr. Bruno Molina, comenzó la junta con un devocional basado en Daniel 10:14-19, para animar a los miembros de la RNBH a mantener firmes y enfocados para lograr todo lo que son en el Señor. “Con este enfoque, todos podemos aprender unos de los otros para el reino de Dios y para la edificación mutua”, dijo Molina.

Molina repasó el propósito de la RNBH; “La Red Nacional Bautista Hispana existe para conectarnos en misión, contribuir y compartir recursos, y celebrar lo que Dios está haciendo entre nosotros”. También actualizó a los participantes acerca del progreso que ya ha hecho la RNBH y describió todos los grupos incluidos en la red y sus líderes. Cada líder pudo hacer una presentación sobre su ministerio dentro de la red. Según el Dr. Molina, todavía se necesitan tres lideres más, dispuestos a servir en la RNBH.

Jesse Rincones, el director de la Convención Bautista Hispana de Texas, miembro de la RNBH, hizo el reporte financiero, puso al tanto a los miembros de la RNBH acerca del certificado de incorporación y explicó cómo es que legalmente la red es una organización autónoma que se relaciona con la SBC. Rincones introdujo a el representante de Start Church, quien se encargará de los asuntos legales de la RNBH.

Eloy Rodríguez, vice presidente de la RNBH, repasó las calificaciones de membresía y todos estuvieron de acuerdo en que ninguno de los miembros puede usar los fondos de la organización para uso personal o ganancia propia.

Luis López, el Vicepresidente asociado de relaciones hispanas de la SBC, celebró lo que está pasando dentro de la comunidad bautista hispana, como el nombramiento de Fernando Amaro a Director de la Convención Bautista de Arizona. Explicó a la RNBH los beneficios de usar los recursos que existen de la SBC en español, como el documento Navegando por la SBC, el cual se puede encontrar y bajar del sitio web de la SBC; también compartió la importancia de involucrarse en el Crossover en New Orleans 2023.

López dijo, “Mi corazón está lleno de gratitud esta mañana por estar aquí”, y compartió que ya hay resultados preliminares del estudio que hizo LifeWay de las iglesias del 2021. “Nuestras iglesias tuvieron repunte, pero aún tenemos obstáculos que recuperar”, López añadió. Indicó que las iglesias han crecido después de la pandemia y que los aportes por las iglesias hispanas han crecido. Los líderes de la RNBH tomaron un tiempo para orar por Luis López y su ministerio representando a los hispanos en la SBC.

El Dr. Daniel Sánchez, profesor Emérito en el Seminario Teológico Bautista Southwestern, expuso a la RNBH las estadísticas y las realidades Hispanas que están transformando Norteamérica. Según Sánchez, “en el 2050 los hispanos serán casi un tercio de la población”. También explicó la importancia que existe en la comunidad de que las leyes de migración sean modificadas. Retó a los participantes de la RNBH a considerar la siguiente pregunta, “¿Acaso tiene Dios un plan en lo que está aconteciendo con nuestro pueblo? Si vamos a ser mayoría, tenemos que tener un plan para ganar a las personas… necesitamos concentrarnos en todas las generaciones”.

Ariel Irizarry de LifeWay Español, comunicó los talleres que iban a estar disponibles para todos los hispanos en la sesión del Summit de LifeWay y vivificó los recursos y entrenamientos disponibles para las iglesias hispanas que ofrece LifeWay Español.

A la junta pudieron también asistir los siguientes miembros de la RNBH, los cuales están trabajando y sirviendo a los hispanos en una gran variedad de ministerios: el Dr. Bob Sena, director del programa en español de MBTS; Emmanuel Roque, catalizador de iglesia en la Convención Bautista de Florida; Ariel Irizarry, LifeWay/Tennessee; Dra. Clara Molina, RNBH Mujeres/Texas; William Ortega, catalizador de plantación de iglesia/Carolina de Norte;  David Pérez, pastor/Florida y encargado de la oración para RNBH/Florida; Ramon Osorio, NAMB; Sergio Guardia, director de Ministerios Hispanos/Virginia; Josué Castro, plantador de iglesias/Arizona; Chuy Ávila, Líder de SBTC Español/Texas; Miguelina Paz, LifeWay/California; Víctor Pulido, pastor/New Jersey.

COLUMBIA, Md. (BP)—Formerly enslaved African American pastor George Liele planted churches in Jamaica nearly a century before beloved missionaries Annie Armstrong and Lottie Moon spread the gospel abroad.

Two years after the Southern Baptist Convention added a George Liele Church Planting, Evangelism and Missions Sunday to the official SBC calendar, plans are underway to found a leadership institute in the name of the trailblazer who began his international ministry in Jamaica in 1783.

“In Southern Baptist history, we have a lot of role models, but we don’t have a lot of African American role models we have embraced historically that have had international impact,” said Bernard Fuller, a pastor in Lanham, Md. “If we’re going to get the Black church involved, we have to show them examples of individuals who look like them.

“And one of those individuals is George Liele, whom we’ve overlooked many years and haven’t brought to the forefront. George Liele is a great example because he fulfills everything we exist for.”

Fuller, pastor of New Song Church and Ministries, is a planning committee member of the George Liele Leadership Institute that the African American Fellowship of the Baptist Convention of Maryland/Delaware plans to launch in January 2023 with a Martin Luther King prayer and worship service. Classes are scheduled to begin in September. The regional convention is an institute co-sponsor.

“Image is important,” Fuller said. “Not that Lottie Moon or Annie Armstrong were not great missionaries. Our desire is to continue the legacy of his life. It’s something we believe not just African American churches can rally around, but this brings other Black churches, churches of color, (to be) engaged in this, because he went to Jamaica.”

The institute will be designed as an affordable training option for Maryland and Delaware churches of all ethnicities, but will especially focus on equipping African American congregations in the areas of church strengthening, planting and international missions. In addition to pastors, congregational leaders including deacons, trustees, associate ministers and women’s leaders will benefit from institute, Fuller said.

“This is multicultural. Anybody can come,” Fuller said.

“The goal of the institute is to equip disciples to make disciples. It’s an equipping institute in every area,” he continued. “Our passion is discipleship, and we believe that a great commitment to the Great Commander who gave us the Great Commandments and the Great Commission will result in great results.”

Charles Grant, associate vice president for African American relations for the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee, expressed “joyful anticipation” in advance of the institute.

“The African American Fellowship’s emphasis on connecting George Liele’s life and legacy to leadership training is a win for both African American churches and for Southern Baptists in Maryland/Delaware,” Grant said.

“With focus and intentionality, leaders will be developed and educated about George Liele. The prayerful results will be healthy church growth, an increased pool of potential church planters and international missionaries from African American churches.”

The African American Fellowship and the Baptist Convention of Maryland/Delaware appointed a planning committee for the institute in the summer of 2022. It will not be an accredited Bible college, but that option might be explored in coming years, Fuller said.

Joining Fuller on the George Liele Leadership Institute Committee are African American Fellowship Vice President Victor Kirk, pastor of Sharon Bible Fellowship Church, Lanham; and Mark Roy, senior pastor of Good Shepherd Ministries, Capitol Heights, Md.

The committee also includes several members of the African American Fellowship’s board: Vernon Lattimore, senior pastor of First Baptist Church of Mount Rainier, Md.; Michael Mattar, senior pastor of Hope Fellowship Church in Ashburn, Va.; Byron Day, senior pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church, Laurel, Md.; Nathaniel Thomas, senior pastor of Forestville New Redeemer Baptist Church, Forestville, Md.; and Monroe Weeks, Hope Fellowship worship leader.

A survey of Baptist Convention of Maryland/Delaware pastors found the need for a financially affordable training center for lay ministers that emphasizes the teaching of core theology and Bible literacy, Fuller said. Surveyors also encountered young bivocational pastors who had not been able to receive formal training in ministry.

The logistics of the institute still are being planned, with the goal of a hybrid online and in-person format also utilizing webinars from Southern Baptist educators. The fee will be nominal, Fuller said.

In addition to the January Martin Luther King prayer and worship service, activities preceding the September launch of classes include a February George Liele Missionary Breakfast, an African American Fellowship Awareness Conference and a planning retreat.

TARRANT, Ala. (BP)—Senior Pastor Amos Crews of Pillar of Hope Church took a drive through Tarrant, Ala., the deteriorating community that is the church’s newfound home.

“This community, quite frankly, looks like a war zone—abandoned properties, burned out houses. And our wheelhouse of ministry has been the hopeless, the helpless, those folks (some) would cross the street to get away from,” Crews said.

“That was who Jesus reached out to throughout his ministry, was the least of these. Those are the people when they receive Christ, run the hardest for Christ. And they deserve to know the goodness of God and a second chance in life, and that’s what we do.”

Aging congregation to close its doors

Crews was drawn to the neighborhood because Robinwood Baptist Church is closing its doors Dec. 18. Robinwood had dwindled to about seven active members, all retired and some with challenging medical issues.

Robinwood is deeding its building to Birmingham Metro Baptist Association, which will sell it to Pillar of Hope at a deep discount and establish a fund for the building’s repair and upkeep.

“Tarrant is one of the most impoverished communities in Jefferson County, Ala. It’s in bad shape,” Crews said. “While many would run from this community and its people, God has given us a great vision to love, reach and serve the least of these.”

John Roland, a Samford University advancement officer serving as Robinwood’s interim pastor, said the church realized it no longer could meet the community’s needs.

“We’re going to cease to exist,” Roland said of Robinwood. “We’ve decided the need is so big in that community, we just can’t reach it. The church is surrounded by 60 vacant properties … made up of drug dealers. [The neighborhood has] a really high rate of registered sex offenders—I know it’s over 30—that surround the church.

“These senior adults have given their blood, sweat and tears. The only thing that would prevent them from continuing is just their health.”

Community struggles with pollution

Adding to the community’s woes is a decades-long battle over environmental pollution from the iron and steel industry that gave Birmingham the name of “Magic City” in the 1800s. Many of the plants that manufacture coke, or hard coal, a main component in the manufacture of steel and iron, have closed.

However, the ABC Coke plant owned by the Drummond Company remains active in Tarrant. The pollution has driven many away from the town of 6,000; those who remain suffer a 32 percent poverty rate, according to City-Data.com.

Most recently in 2019, an agreement including a $775,000 settlement and emissions monitoring was reached to address cancer-causing benzene pollution from ABC Coke, but environmental activists have called it inadequate.

‘From one church to another’

Josh Cook, church revitalization specialist at Birmingham Metro Baptist Association, has worked with the churches to smooth the transition. He said the need for revitalization is becoming more common, especially after the slowdowns suffered during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“What we’re seeing, at least here in Birmingham, is that there are a lot of churches in communities that, the communities have transitioned, and the churches are struggling to reach the people in the community,” Cook said. “And they see it as almost a failure to stop existing as they are as a church, even though they’re not being really effective.

“What we’re trying to do is get them to see it’s not a failure to hand off your church to somebody else. That it is just the natural process of the body of Christ as Christ works from one church to another. We talked to Robinwood, and they finally came to the place where they would rather see a vibrant church there, than to continue on until the last person turned out the lights.”

Not an easy road

Pillar of Hope’s road to Tarrant was encumbered. The church is a merger of two congregations, Christ First Community Church and Destiny Covenant Church, that were worshiping at the Birmingham Metro Baptist Association building after losing their places of worship. Each congregation numbered about 30 active members, Crews said.

“We had been in a building for about 10 years, had paid over $250,000 in mortgage, and things went sideways. We secured an attorney and just walked away from the property,” Crews said of Christ First Community Church, where he was pastor.

Destiny Covenant Church, led by Pastor Cedric Brown, had been meeting at another local church that pulled out of discussions to transfer its building to Destiny.

“Both congregations were dying. We were not drawing in young people. We were doing a great work in the community, just not drawing young people,” Crews said. “The thought was, ‘How do you go out of the soul-saving business?’”

Crews first saw Tarrant as off-putting.

“When I went out and looked at the community, and I have to be honest, the first thought was no way,” he said. “There’s nothing here. There are no children, there are no families. Property values are in the gutter.

“And then God began to show me this vision of what we could do, and I looked at it as an opportunity to show that the church still can be the center of the community. God just gave me a vision that this could be done, that his children, no matter their circumstances, deserve his love.

“I’ve learned when God says do something you do it, because if he gives you a vision, he’s going to give you provision. We have a saying that it doesn’t take a megachurch to do a mega-work for the Lord.”

Plans to revitalize the community

Pillar of Hope plans to move into the Robinwood property Feb. 1 and is making plans to revitalize the community. The new church has launched a nonprofit community development corporation to bridge the financial issues the church will face in buying abandoned properties to build affordable housing and transitional homes for homeless mothers with children.

“We’ve been supported tremendously by [Birmingham Metro Baptist Association] in this effort,” Crews said of Pillar of Hope’s transition to Tarrant.

The transition comes as the Kids to Love Foundation, a ministry to children in foster care, is buying about 60 abandoned properties in Tarrant to build homes for girls aging out of foster care. In turn, Pillar of Hope plans to buy additional abandoned properties to build homes for boys aging out of foster care.

“The pipeline from classroom to prison is real,” Crews said. Pillar of Hope has plans to teach budgeting and life skills to those in need. He has plans to build a community farm, much more than a garden, to address food insecurity in the community he describes as a food desert. Crews hopes the revitalization will attract young families to the community.

While Pillar of Hope is the merger of two predominantly African American churches, and Robinwood was a predominantly white congregation, Crews has in mind an ethnically diverse congregation.

“If you bring in people who are looking for a hand up, and not just a handout, you can turn that community around,” Crews said.

“We want to give families an opportunity to know God and to see what the kingdom of heaven really looks like. Even though we’re considered an African American congregation, my vision is to build a church that looks like and functions like the kingdom of God.”

WASHINGTON (RNS)—Former Southern Baptist Convention President Johnny Hunt—who was accused of sexual abuse—plans a return to ministry after completing a restoration process overseen by four pastors, according to a video released last week.

Hunt, a longtime megachurch pastor in Georgia, was named earlier this year in the Guidepost Solutions report on sexual abuse in the SBC, which alleged that Hunt had sexually assaulted another pastor’s wife in 2010. Guidepost, a third-party investigation firm, found the claims credible.

“We believe the greatest days of ministry for Johnny Hunt are the days ahead,” said Steven Kyle, pastor of Hiland Park Baptist Church in Panama City, Fla., in the video.

Kyle—along with pastors Mark Hoover of NewSpring Church in Wichita, Kan.; Benny Tate of Rock Springs Church in Milner, Ga.; and Mike Whitson of First Baptist Church in Indian Trail, N.C.—said they had worked with Hunt and his wife on an “intentional and an intense season of transparency, reflection and restoration” in recent months.

In that process, Kyle said he and other pastors had observed Hunt’s “genuine brokenness and humility before God” and deemed him fit for ministry in the future.

The allegations against Hunt caught his many admirers by surprise. At the time of the Guidepost report, Hunt was a popular speaker and a vice president at the SBC North American Mission Board and was beloved by many SBC leaders.

“I’m heartbroken and grieving,” Daniel Akin, president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C., told Religion News Service in May, after news of the allegations against Hunt was made public.

Four pastors ‘do not speak for the SBC’

Hunt denied the allegations at first, then claimed the incident, which was said to have taken place at a vacation condo, was a consensual encounter.

“I confess that I sinned,” Hunt said in a letter in May to First Baptist Church in Woodstock, Ga., where he was the pastor for three decades. “I crossed a line.”

Neither Hunt nor Kyle responded to a request for comment.

As part of a series of actions meant to deal with sexual abuse, Southern Baptists passed a resolution in 2021 saying any pastors guilty of abuse should be banned from the ministry.

Current SBC President Bart Barber, pastor of First Baptist Church in Farmersville, served on that resolutions committee.

“I would permanently ‘defrock’ Johnny Hunt if I had the authority to do so. In a fellowship of autonomous churches, I do not have the authority to do so,” Barber wrote in a Nov. 30 blog.

“Yet it must be said that neither do these four pastors have the authority to declare Johnny Hunt to be restored. They do not speak for the Southern Baptist Convention. Indeed, it is not clear that they even speak for their own churches,”

Barber wrote it would be best to regard the statement from the pastors as “the individual opinions of four of Johnny Hunt’s loyal friends.”

“The idea that a council of pastors, assembled with the consent of the abusive pastor, possesses some authority to declare a pastor fit for resumed ministry is a conceit that is altogether absent from Baptist polity and from the witness of the New Testament. Indeed, it is repugnant to all that those sources extol and represent.”

In the recent video, the pastors paid tribute to Hunt, saying he had done more to help pastors than anyone they knew. Serving on his spiritual care team, they said, was a way of repaying Hunt for all he had done in the past, noting that for years Hunt had run a program that restored more than 400 fallen pastors to ministry.

Tate cited the well-known New Testament parable of the good Samaritan, in which a man traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho is beset by robbers and left injured by the side of the road. In the parable, religious leaders pass the man by, but a good Samaritan rescues him.

“When I heard about this situation with Johnny Hunt, what rolled in my mind is, I want to be a good Samaritan,” he said. “I sure don’t want to run away from him. I want to run to him. I want to help him.”

No mention of assault victim

The video made no mention of the victim of Hunt’s assault or any efforts he had made to make amends for his actions. The pastors did mention Hunt had gone through a similar process of counseling in 2010 after the alleged assault occurred, which involved “confession to those involved.”

Barber took exception to the use of the Good Samaritan parable as a reason to restore Hunt to ministry.

“The wounded person on the side of the road is the abuse survivor, not Johnny Hunt, and she received no mention at all by this panel—she was passed by, in a way, by this quintet,” Barber wrote. “I do not know her, but I don’t want to be guilty of leaving her on the side of the road. I am praying for her, I have heard her, and I believe her.”

After serving as SBC president from 2008 to 2010, Hunt took a leave of absence due to health concerns. The alleged assault and his initial counseling process are said to have happened during that leave but no details were made public.

First Baptist Church in Woodstock, where Hunt is no longer a member, had no involvement in the restoration process, current pastor Jeremy Morton told RNS.

In the past, First Baptist had hosted an annual men’s conference led by Hunt, but the church will not host that conference in 2023.

Hunt, who now attends Hiland Baptist, was recently featured on the church’s “Unchangeable Truth” podcast, where Hunt, Kyle and another pastor talked about the lessons Hunt had learned.

In the video, Hunt mentioned his work in restoring pastors who had made “terrible mistakes” and thanked Kyle and the other pastors for being kind to his family.

“We are all broken people,” he said. “We all need Jesus.”

Hunt also said he would remain accountable to Kyle and other pastors in the future but did not specifically address the alleged assault or make any apologies. Hunt did say that there were “many things I would have done differently.”

“I can’t change the past,” he said. “If I could, believe me, I would. But I can only learn from it and move into the future better for it, thanks to the hope of the gospel.”

EDITOR’S NOTE: This article was originally posted on Wednesday morning, Nov. 30.  It was edited online later that afternoon to include statements from SBC President Bart Barber.

MOBILE, Ala. (RNS)—A former seminary professor and missionary who admitted sexual misconduct has sued a group of Southern Baptist Convention leaders and entities, claiming they conspired with an abuse survivor to ruin his reputation.

In a complaint filed Nov. 21 in the Circuit Court of Mobile, Ala,, David Sills, a former professor of missions and cultural anthropology at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, admits he lost his job in 2018 due to what he called “morally inappropriate consensual intimate” conduct with a student.

Sills claims the situation was consensual and alleges that SBC leaders, including Southern Seminary President Al Mohler, turned his confession against him, labeling him as an abuser.

They did so, according to the complaint, as a public relations stunt, aimed at improving the SBC’s reputation during a national sexual abuse scandal. That public relations effort, according to the suit, included an investigation by Guidepost Solutions into SBC leaders’ handling of alleged abuse cases, which was made public earlier this year.

“David Sills was repentant and obedient to the rules of the SBC,” the complaint alleges. “Defendants saw him as an easy target; a bona fide scapegoat.”

The complaint names Southern Seminary and Mohler, as well as the SBC’s Executive Committee, SBC President Bart Barber and his predecessor Ed Litton as defendants, along with several other leaders. Also named as a defendant is Lifeway Christian Resources, publishing arm of the SBC, and Guidepost Solutions.

It also names Jennifer Lyell, a former seminarian and vice president for Lifeway, who repeatedly alleged Sills was abusive, an allegation Mohler has also made on social media and in an interview for a documentary about the denomination’s response to its sexual abuse crisis.

Guidepost “perpetuated a false narrative in a report, in exchange for payment and in concert with defendants,” all of which ruined Sill’s reputation and labeled him as an abuser, according to the complaint.

Guidepost declined to comment, as did Lyell. The SBC Executive Committee and several other SBC leaders did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

“Lifeway was made aware of the lawsuit last week. Our legal team is in the process of reviewing the complaint and we do not have any further comment at this time,” said Carol Pipes, director of corporate communications.

Mohler also released a statement defending its handling of allegations against Sills.

“The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary has followed best practices in this matter and has nothing to hide,” he said. “We will make this truth clear in any forum necessary and we will do so vigorously.”

Sills’ lawsuit reinterprets a widespread understanding that, rather than bolster the SBC’s credibility in preventing sexual abuse, the denomination’s treatment of Lyell has been a public relations disaster. The case has long been used by critics to show the SBC’s tendency to mishandle such allegations.

Abuse allegations first raised in 2018

Lyell first came forward with allegations of abuse against Sills in 2018, reporting them to her then-supervisor Geiger and to Mohler and other seminary leaders. Mohler told Carolyn McCulley, the director and writer of the documentary “Out of Darkness,” that Lyell from the start had alleged Sills had been sexually abusive.

This past summer, Mohler issued a statement, saying that the abuse allegations had been investigated and confirmed. “Statements made by Sills in the course of our confrontation clearly confirmed the allegations of abuse,” he wrote in a statement posted on Twitter.

Sills resigned in 2018 after being confronted with the allegations, but the reason for his resignation was not initially made public. Sills, considered an expert at training pastors in the developing world, also lost his job as president of a missionary group called Reaching and Teaching, and was disciplined by his Louisville, Ky., church.

When he was hired by a different mission group, Lyell informed Baptist Press he had been abusive and offered to write a first-person account of the abuse. Instead, Baptist Press wrote its own article about her experience.

At the last minute, the story was changed to say Lyell had had an “inappropriate relationship” with Sills. Though Lyell asked that the article be changed, Baptist Press officials and leaders at the SBC Executive Committee initially refused. Lyell eventually resigned from Lifeway, citing backlash from the article and harassment.

Baptist Press eventually retracted the article. The SBC Executive Committee apologized repeatedly to Lyell and reached a settlement with her.

The subsequent criticism from abuse advocates eventually led to calls for an independent investigation into how SBC leaders had treated abuse survivors. Leaders at the SBC Executive Committee tried to head off the investigation and, when they could not do that, tried to derail it.

Those attempts failed. The resulting Guidepost investigation and report found that SBC leaders had mistreated abuse survivors for years and downplayed abuse in the nation’s largest Protestant denomination.

“In service of this goal, survivors and others who reported abuse were ignored, disbelieved, or met with the constant refrain that the SBC could take no action due to its polity regarding church autonomy—even if it meant that convicted molesters continued in ministry with no notice or warning to their current church or congregation,” investigators wrote.

Attorneys for Sills claim Guidepost never contacted their client, who is mentioned repeatedly in the Guidepost report. They also claim that allegations by Lyell, Mohler and others were part of a campaign to “falsely attack the honesty and the character of David Sills and Mary Sills, casting them as violent criminals.”

The complaint also alleges that Lyell wrote to Religion News Service, asking to review an article being written about the SBC abuse crisis, saying she “intended to advance her false narrative by taking a hand in the actual writing of an article by RNS.”

However, attorneys misidentified an email from Lyell, which was sent to a pair of ministers, not to RNS. Mississippi lawyer Don Barrett, one of the attorneys representing David Sills and his wife, Mary Sills, said that part of the complaint was in error.

Sills declined to speak to RNS.

Barrett declined to discuss the specifics of the lawsuit. However, he said that false allegations of abuse are harmful to efforts to protect women.

“The truth will come out in this litigation,” he said.

JUNEAU, Alaska (BP) – Los miembros de la Iglesia Rescate, la única iglesia hispana bautista del sur en Alaska, han visto grandes frutos espirituales en los últimos dos años y desean seguir creciendo en su ministerio plantando más iglesias hispanas en todo el estado.

Mario Morales, pastor de la Iglesia Rescate, dijo a Baptist Press que, a pesar de que la iglesia tuvo que empezar de nuevo después de la pandemia del COVID-19, la congregación ha crecido a 25 miembros y ha bautizado a siete personas en el último año.

Más allá de su familia, Morales dijo que la mayoría de los miembros de Rescate han venido de un alcance muy peculiar – su trabajo en Home Depot.

Morales es el único hispanohablante que trabaja en la tienda, por lo que cualquier cliente hispano que necesite ayuda es enviado a él. Muchos de los miembros de la iglesia han llegado a través de estas conversaciones y conexiones.

Su trabajo en Home Depot no es sólo una vía para financiar su ministerio, es una parte de su ministerio, dijo Morales a BP.

“En septiembre de 2020, el Señor me bendijo para poder empezar a trabajar en Home Depot, y eso se convirtió en la mejor estrategia de evangelización”, dijo.

“La gente puede darse cuenta que soy un pastor mientras tenemos conversaciones. Ese es mi enfoque evangelístico. Si mañana me quitaran mi trabajo en Home Depot, seguiría yendo a Home Depot cada semana a comprar un clavo o algo para poder interactuar con la gente y hablarles de Dios.”

El viaje de transición a Juneau de Morales y su familia comenzó cuando él era pastor de una iglesia en Wichita Falls, Texas. Morales ha sido pastor durante casi 30 años.

Un día, un amigo pastor le mostró un artículo sobre la necesidad de pastores en Alaska, y comenzó a investigar la demografía del estado, y a aprender por qué la necesidad era tan grande.

“Una de las cosas que me llamó la atención fue lo difícil que es encontrar pastores que estén dispuestos a dar un paso adelante en este ministerio cuando hay varios obstáculos, sobre todo financieros”, dijo Morales.

“Descubrí que la población hispana era un campo misionero. Ver la necesidad me hizo empezar a orar para que Dios me confirmara que tenía que ir”.

Según los datos del censo de Estados Unidos, algo más del 7 por ciento de la población de Alaska es hispana, un porcentaje mayor que el de estados del sur como Kentucky y Tennessee.

Después de un período de oración y contemplación, Morales y su esposa Migdalia se pusieron en contacto con la Junta de Misiones Norteamericanas para iniciar una iglesia en el estado de Alaska.

La JMN se puso en contacto con la Red de Recursos Bautistas de Alaska, y Morales completó unos meses de capacitación. Después de ésta, se trasladó a Alaska a finales de 2018 y lanzó Rescate en 2019.

Morales pronto descubrió que la escena social es muy diferente en Alaska que en Texas. Hay menos cosas que hacer. La mayoría de la gente vive allí para centrarse en su trabajo.

Esto hizo que Morales se replanteara su estrategia ministerial y comenzara a hacer conexiones en tiendas que sabía que la gente frecuentaba. Esto eventualmente lo llevó a su trabajo en Home Depot, que comenzó en 2020.

Rescate se reúne en el edificio de otra iglesia bautista del sur, Glacier Valley, que se asocia con ellos y proporciona el almuerzo a la congregación cada semana.

La JMN sigue apoyando financieramente a la iglesia mientras ésta experimenta un crecimiento espiritual.

Aunque está muy agradecido por los bautismos y el crecimiento de la membresía, Morales dijo que su visión final es que Rescate ya no sea la única iglesia hispana en el estado.

La iglesia desea discipular a las personas y capacitarlas para plantar otras iglesias que puedan alcanzar a la creciente población hispana. Morales incluso dijo que quiere encontrar y equipar eventualmente al próximo líder de Rescate, para que él pueda alejarse del puesto de pastor y centrarse en la multiplicación de otras iglesias.

“Mi deseo es plantar iglesias”, dijo. “Esperamos expandirnos a otras ciudades como Anchorage, Fairbanks, Petersburg y otras ciudades donde hay un buen número de hispanos”.

“La pasión por ver que las almas son llevadas a Cristo es lo que me anima y me hace seguir adelante. Alimento la visión a través de la oración y la intimidad con Dios, eso me mantiene enfocado en lo que Dios me ha dicho que haga.”

Luis López, director ejecutivo de relaciones hispanas y movilización del Comité Ejecutivo de la CBS, conoció a Morales mientras asistía a la reunión anual de la Red de Recursos Bautistas de Alaska hace unas semanas.

López dijo que Morales le dio las gracias por venir y le dijo que se sentía menos solo como hispano porque él estaba allí. Sin embargo, López dijo que fue él quien se sintió inspirado al escuchar sobre el gran trabajo que Dios está haciendo a través de Morales y Rescate.

“Es alentador ver que una nueva iglesia no sólo piensa en alcanzar a la gente de su propia comunidad, sino que es capaz de alcanzar a la gente con el propósito de capacitarla y enviarla a otros lugares del estado”, dijo López. “Creo que es refrescante ver su pasión por multiplicarse y ser muy intencionales”.

Morales insta a otros hispanos a considerar unirse al ministerio de Rescate en Alaska, y a las iglesias anglosajonas a compartir su pasión por los perdidos en el estado.

“Le diría a la gente que tiene que venir a Alaska porque es un campo misionero donde hay tierra fértil, especialmente en el contexto hispano”, dijo Morales. “Oraría para que la iglesia anglo abra los ojos ante la necesidad y capte la visión de la creciente población hispana en Alaska”.

Publicado el 18 de Noviembre, 2022 en https://www.baptistpress.com/resource-library/espanol/la-unica-iglesia-hispana-de-alaska-ve-frutos-espirituales-en-tierra-fertil/

ALPHARETTA, Ga. (BP)—About five years ago, Lynnette Ezell and a friend walked into a north Georgia Department of Family Services office bearing diapers.

“I made an appointment and said, ‘How can we help?’” Ezell said, recalling the moment she sat down across the desk from a social worker.

“I decided before I went in there that whatever she said, we were going to do,” Ezell said. “She leaned forward, and she said: ‘You know that God and Jesus and all that that you all talk about at your church? The only time our children hear the name of God is when someone’s swearing at them.’”

That forthright statement from an overworked social worker went right along with the lessons Ezell had learned in her journey as an adoptive mother—many times physical needs must come before spiritual ones.

“We couldn’t just go in slinging churchy words,” Ezell said. People first need care and dignity.

‘Had to learn along the way’

When Ezell and her husband Kevin—then a pastor and now president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s North American Mission Board—first adopted, they could have been better prepared.

“I’ve had to learn along the way,” she said. “I think our adoption agency at that time handed me one book that was super old. I read it, but it didn’t really hit home to me. I wasn’t prepared at all.”

She now rattles off the latest statistics and research in child development like an expert.

“I started educating myself, started digging,” she said. “And nose-in-the-carpet praying. I’d pray beside my children’s bed at night. ‘Lord we’re struggling here.’ The Lord was so kind to teach us early that no matter the behavior—look beyond it. The behavior is just a symptom of what’s going on in a child’s life. Allow no behavior to sabotage a relationship.”

The Ezells had three biological children and then adopted three children internationally—children Lynette calls “special gifts” that “God grafted into our lives.” The children were different ages upon their adoptions, but even babies can have internalized trauma.

“Trauma can happen in utero,” Ezell said. “The brain doesn’t develop properly if there’s substance abuse or abuse. … That little infant in the womb is waiting to put a face to that voice they’ve been hearing the whole time. That’s a disruption in a relationship. That’s how God wired us—to attach to our birthing parent, and when that doesn’t happen, it is traumatic.”

Developmentally, children who have endured trauma may be years behind their chronological age. And pushing them to learn and behave the way they “should” for their age is “setting them up to fail,” Ezell said.

Recognize impact of trauma on children

Churches should keep this in mind when placing children who’ve suffered trauma in Sunday school classes or other age-specific activities, she noted. Many children haven’t had an early attachment to a safe caregiver to help the brain heal.

“The brain heals,” she said. “The brain can rewire. It does that through healthy relationships.”

And no matter the starting place, the goal is reachable, she said. It may just take longer to get there. For adoptive families, the key is consistency and longevity.

“You have to realize that adoption is missional, but it’s also very hands-on. It takes the attention of the entire family,” Ezell said, adding that those considering adoption should keep the right perspective.

“I want the church to realize: We are not getting a child for our family. We are giving our family for a child. We’re saying: ‘No matter what it looks like, no matter what you go through, … it may take you 20 years, but we’re here. And we’re not going anywhere. … [God has] moved the world to make us a family.’”

The Ezells’ journey with adoption opened up a new world for Lynette. She now speaks on the topic regularly and even hosts a podcast about it—“The Adopting and Fostering Home.” She also regularly trains foster families via Zoom. And she is helping NAMB with its Family Advocacy Ministry—a “step-by-step ministry strategy that helps churches serve and advocate for vulnerable children and families as well as those called to foster and adopt.”

Ministry to child services personnel

But her ministry goes well beyond a microphone or a computer screen. Since that first visit to her local child services office five years ago, she’s become a regular there. And she usually has a box of diapers with her. She’s on a first-name basis with the social workers, and they often call her when there’s a specific need.

Helping families stay together and out of “the system” is her primary focus these days.

She recently helped with the purchase of a bed for a foster family so they could take three kids instead of two, so siblings could stay together.

She told of one man who bought new tires for a single mom with seven kids so she could keep going to work to support them, thus keeping them together and out of the system.

“I’m waiting on a call back from a mom right now, trying to keep them out of the shelter and her daughter out of foster care and helping the family stay together,” she said. “And that’s what I’d really like to see the church do more of here in the U.S., because the need is becoming dire.”

So what can churches do? How can they get involved?

“You go to your local [child services] office,” Ezell said. “They do not have time to talk with you. That’s OK. You are going to respond with kindness at every turn. Take them a box of donuts and your phone number on the top of the box and say, ‘I’m happy to help.’

“… It’s taken me about five years to make strong relationships. They now trust me and know that I’m going to stay within their guidelines.”

Meet physical needs

In Ezell’s area, churches help with the many physical needs foster children and families have. Recently, the 60 or so members of the church plant the Ezells attend helped purchase $50 Chick-fil-A gift cards for 200 foster families that had had no outside help or support in two years.

Local churches also supply materials for a ministry called Restoring Dignity, which fills duffel bags with one week’s worth of new clothes, underwear, socks and toiletries as well as an age-appropriate Bible. The bags are gender- and age-specific and ready to give to a child entering the foster system. Often, children are placed in foster care with only the clothes they’re wearing.

“They can live out of that bag for a week,” she said. “All brand-new things, no ‘junk for Jesus.’”

Meeting these practical needs is something any church can do, Ezell said. And so is educating people about ministering to children who have endured trauma.

“You have a couple who volunteers, and they’re keeping 4-year-olds on a Sunday,” she said, by way of example. “They don’t know a lot about foster care and adoption. They do the traditional forms of parenting.

“They’ve got 16 4-year-olds that morning. They’ve got one in the corner that’s low verbal. Rocking in the corner in the fetal position, weeping. Maybe the child can just say one thing over and over. There’s some trauma in that child’s life.”

Forcing the child to rejoin the group and behave like the other children is going to backfire, she said.

“We need to learn to love and to realize that we are the adult in the room that God’s put with that child for that one hour to be the hands and face of Jesus and bring his love and compassion to that child.”

Anyone who works with children would benefit from some trauma-informed training, Ezell said.

Reading articles or even watching TED Talks about TBRI (trust-based relational intervention) or ACEs (adverse childhood experiences) scores are helpful ways to learn how to minister to a troubled child.

Ezell uses a story from John chapter 21—one of Jesus’ last visits with his disciples—as an example.

“Peter’s denied Christ,” she said, recounting the story. “They’ve been through horrific trauma. They kind of think it’s over. They’re in deep brokenness. What do they do? They go fishing.”

After fishing all night, they’ve caught nothing. When John recognizes Jesus on the shore, Peter jumps out of the boat and runs toward him.

“When [Peter] gets up there, he’s denied Christ three times. He feels like the relationship’s over and it’s broken,” she said. “But when he gets to shore, all [Jesus is] doing is cooking fish. He’s having a meal with them. He’s connecting with them before he instructs them again. He’s doing it through a warm meal. He’s connecting with them before correcting them. [He’s] meeting their physical needs.”

Ezell has used that example in her own journey as an adoptive mother and now as an advocate for troubled children throughout her community.

“Most of it we’re not equal to carry,” she said. “But the Lord does equip us to keep showing up, to keep loving. To keep connecting with the heart of a child so children can move forward in their healing. It takes years of showing up.”

NASHVILLE, III. (BP)—When Sandy Wisdom-Martin, national Woman’s Missionary Union executive director-treasurer, watched her brother Doug’s baptism last year, it represented a story of God’s faithfulness and Southern Baptist cooperation.

After her mother shared the good news about the upcoming baptism, Wisdom-Martin rearranged her travel schedule to be there. It took place at Lake Sallateeska near her family’s childhood home in rural southern Illinois.

Wisdom-Martin, former executive director-treasurer of Texas WMU, said her family attended a small Southern Baptist church growing up. Her brother Doug had walked the aisle there as a child, but by his own admission, never made a true profession of faith in Christ.

But during the COVID-19 pandemic, Doug and his wife began attending a campus of Lighthouse Community Church in Nashville, Ill. There he professed faith in Christ and sought baptism.

Wisdom-Martin said it was an “overwhelming” experience seeing her brother’s baptism take place at the same lake where she attended camp and surrendered to a call to ministry.

“It’s such a special place in my life, as it’s where I heard God’s call on my life and I responded,” Wisdom-Martin said.

“Just the place itself is special, but nothing could have prepared me for my mother calling to say my brother was getting baptized. It was so incredible. It was a story six decades in the making.

Not in isolation

“The story of my brother doesn’t happen in isolation; it happens because of the community of Southern Baptists. I’ve always been a strong advocate of what we do as Southern Baptists, but that day it was even more personal because it was my brother. I was amazed at the connections, but also the timespan of everything that had to happen for decades for that moment in time to happen.”

Doug’s salvation is laced with Southern Baptist connections, which begin with Danny Donato, former pastor of Lighthouse Community Church.

Donato was attending a small college in Lexington, Ky., in the late 1990s but it closed and he transferred to Boyce College in Louisville.

While there he started attending Highview Baptist Church. At that time, the youth pastor was Jimmy Scroggins, and the senior pastor was Kevin Ezell, now president of the SBC North American Mission Board.

He interned with Scroggins. Scroggins currently serves as lead pastor of Family Church, a network of neighborhood churches in South Florida.

This gave Donato the opportunity to grow not only under Scroggins, but under Ezell as well.

“I had an opportunity, while under Jimmy’s leadership, to get to know Kevin and just watch him,” Donato said.

“He was the first younger pastor that I got to sit under. I got to see Highview launch their second campus, and to see what went into that before church planting was really a ‘cool’ thing to do.

“I was ordained by Kevin and the deacons, and I really learned how to be bold and courageous in leadership from him. He’s had that mindset all throughout his ministry from his time as a pastor to now with NAMB. It’s been a unique experience to be that close to guys who have been so impactful for the Kingdom and been such visionary leaders.”

Years later, as the pastor of Lighthouse Community Church, Donato continued this philosophy of church planting.

‘God was gripping Doug’s heart’

Lighthouse receives some financial support from NAMB, and a few years ago, the congregation started its second campus in Okawville, Ill.

That is where Doug Wisdom and his wife, Becky, met Donato. They were invited to visit the church by folks who already were attending.

When the couple went through the new members’ class, Donato said he talked with them about the gospel and what it meant to be saved.

“You could tell God was gripping Doug’s heart, and it was very evident that God was doing something,” Donato said.

It wasn’t until Doug’s baptism sometime later at Lake Sallateeska that Donato made the connection about Doug’s relation to Sandy of the WMU.

He was amazed at the connection and how the story progressed over time.

“It’s the beautiful mosaic of the kingdom,” Donato said. “God is constantly working and doing things that will bring Him glory.”

Wisdom-Martin said it is amazing that her support of NAMB was actually going to the church where her brother would come to faith and be baptized.

“For as long as I can remember I have supported the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering,” Wisdom-Martin said. “Everything that I’ve given over the last 50 years has been worth it, and I would give it all over again, because it helped lead to my brother’s faith.

“I want that for all of us and our friends and family members. I think that’s the power of what we do together.”

NASHVILLE (BP)—A commitment to affirm Baptist polity and the 2000 Baptist Faith and Message remains central during a discussion over women serving as pastors, Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee Chairman Jared Wellman of Arlington and SBC President Bart Barber of Farmersville said.

“Both of us have the responsibility to protect the messengers’ rights, answer the messengers’ questions and implement the messengers’ instructions,” reads the statement issued Nov. 2.

A public document written by Mike Law, pastor of Arlington Baptist Church in Arlington, Va., has received more than 800 signatures in support of Law’s motion to amend the SBC Constitution.

Law originally made the motion at the 2022 SBC annual meeting to amend Article III, Section 1 to add an exclusion for any church that affirms women as pastors. The Committee on Order of Business referred the motion to the Executive Committee. The Executive Committee is expected to take up the referral at its February 2023 meeting.

“As offered and referred to you at this past June’s annual meeting, the enumerated 6th item would read: ‘6. Does not affirm, appoint, or employ a woman as a pastor of any kind,’” the letter states.

The document addressed to the SBC Executive Committee is titled “Re: A Call to Keep Our Unity.” In addition to pointing to the Baptist Faith and Message 2000, it also cites the 1984 Resolution On Ordination And The Role Of Women In Ministry messengers to the SBC annual meeting in Kansas City passed with 58 percent in favor.

The statement by Wellman and Barber reads:

“As President of the SBC and Chair of the SBCEC, both of us have the responsibility to protect the messengers’ rights, answer the messengers’ questions, and implement the messengers’ instructions. With regard to current conversations within the SBC regarding women serving as pastors, together we say:

“We affirm our polity. Although we did not reach a moment in Anaheim where the messengers were able to vote on these questions, as far as it lies within our authority to do so, we are committed to letting these questions come before the messengers at our 2023 Annual Meeting in New Orleans. We plan to protect the messengers’ rights to discuss and decide these questions. This is how we resolve conflict and answer questions; we trust this process to give us the clarity we need.

“We affirm our statement of faith. We believe that the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture. These words represent our own individual doctrinal convictions. More importantly, these words represent the sentiments of the messenger body in their past decisions. As we discharge our own duties, we will do so in ways that implement these past decisions that the messengers have given to us.”

Law’s document references Ephesians 4:3 and Psalms 133:1 in terms of the importance of unity. 1 Timothy 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9; Acts 20 and 1 Peter 5 are cited as to the office of elder and overseer.

“Ushering women into the pastoral office in Southern Baptist churches unsettles our Convention’s unity,” he wrote. “We, therefore, urge [the Executive Committee] to act on Biblical and Missional grounds already well-established and agreed upon by Southern Baptists in order to keep our unity.”

LAKE FOREST, Calif. (BP)—Lead Pastor Andy Wood anticipates the number of women clergy will grow at Saddleback Church, something likely to heighten the discussion over the congregation’s relationship to the Southern Baptist Convention.

On Oct. 9, Wood’s wife, Stacie, preached a message at the church titled “The Courage to Slow Down” where she was listed as “teaching pastor” on the screen.

In Andy Wood’s bio on the church website’s leadership page, he and his wife are both referred to as “pastors.”

Teaching pastor, not overseer

In comments to Baptist Press, Wood offered clarification on his and his wife’s titles.

“Stacie and I are grateful to be called to serve at Saddleback Church,” he said. “We are not co-pastors but rather have unique roles on staff. I’m serving as the lead pastor and one of our Saddleback overseers, while Stacie is serving as one of our teaching pastors.”

Differences with other Southern Baptists on the role of a pastor doesn’t have to lead to a break in fellowship, he added.

“We believe pastoring and teaching are functions and spiritual gifts to be exercised in the church by both men and women,” Wood said. “The function of teaching and pastoring is not necessarily synonymous nor exclusive from the office of overseer.

“While many SBC churches share the same view, we are committed to stay in fellowship and unified with other SBC churches even when we disagree. Saddleback Church has a strong commitment to the authority and inerrancy of the Bible. We believe this approach is biblical and in alignment with the teachings of the New Testament as well.”

“The church should be a place where both men and women can exercise [their] spiritual gifts,” Wood recently told the Associated Press: “My wife has the spiritual gift of teaching, and she is really good. People often tell me she’s better than me when it comes to preaching, and I’m really glad to hear that.”

In announcing his retirement earlier this year, Saddleback’s founding pastor Rick Warren announced Andy and Stacie Wood would take his place at the helm.

SBC/Saddleback relationship a hot topic

Saddleback’s ties to Southern Baptists showed significant strain when a May 2021 Saddleback ordination service included three women.

That brought a motion at the 2021 SBC annual meeting in Nashville for the SBC to break fellowship with Saddleback.

At the June meeting in Anaheim, the Credentials Committee presented a recommendation for a study committee to look into ways churches assign the term “pastor” to various ministry roles.

The resulting discussion among messengers and a failed amendment to change the focus of the study committee to what makes a church in “friendly cooperation” according to the 2000 Baptist Faith and Message preceded Warren addressing the crowd.

In his speech, Warren referred to “the gift of the pastorate as opposed to the office of the pastorate” while asking if “we [are] going to treat each other as allies or adversaries.”

When Warren finished, the Credentials Committee announced it would withdraw the recommendation and not call for Saddleback to be disfellowshipped “until clarity is provided regarding the use of the title ‘pastor’ for staff positions with different responsibility and authority than that of the lead pastor.”

FORT WORTH (BP)—Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary confirmed Oct. 27 it has initiated layoffs a week after announcing steps to rectify a financial environment that could “quickly escalate to a crisis.”

“As part of the previously announced intention to implement organizational restructuring, including budget reductions, at the direction of the board of trustees, the interim administration has informed certain staff their employment has been ended,” a statement read. “These have been extremely difficult decisions as we seek to address our current challenges.”

When asked if information on the number of affected staff could be released, a seminary spokesman responded, “Not at this time.” Baptist Press was unable to confirm whether more layoffs are forthcoming.

“We recognize the disruption that this causes for these staff members and their families,” the statement continued. “There is certainly no joy in having to make these decisions at this time. Appropriate severance is being offered to affected employees.”

Interim President David S. Dockery presented the “organization restructuring” to trustees on the second day of their Oct. 17-18 gathering on Seminary Hill. It was the group’s first gathering since the resignation of former president Adam W. Greenway.

“The [Southwestern Seminary] community is praying not only for the Lord’s provision and favor but for genuine renewal to come to the Southwestern campus,” Dockery told trustees on Oct. 18.

What restructuring includes

The restructuring includes a reduction of the operational and personnel budget by at least 10 percent, representing approximately $3.6 million. Those cuts will come primarily from the area of institutional support, beginning with programming over personnel, Dockery said.

A years-long evaluation of the seminary’s 200-acre “campus footprint and its optimal use” has led to placing the B.H. Carroll Park Apartments on the market. Other parcels surrounding the main campus may follow suit, Dockery said.

Trustees spent Oct. 17 in closed session reviewing seminary financials and, said Chairman Danny Roberts, “had access to any and all information they requested.”

“As a result, we are requesting the auditors to do some additional work to carefully examine all expenditures, especially those which raised concerns,” he said in the group’s open session Oct. 18.

O.S. Hawkins, serving as senior advisor and ambassador-at-large since retiring as Guidestone president, commended trustees as “the most engaged group of men and women I have ever seen.”

Seeking clarity on new financial guardrails

On Oct. 24, Baptist Press sent a list of follow-up questions to Southwestern Seminary that requested clarity on the new financial guardrails and “multi-faceted matters” mentioned by Dockery that led to the current financial position as well as if details from the audits would be provided.

The seminary responded: “Southwestern Seminary trustees continue to work with the interim administration in executing the actions taken by the board during its meeting. As it is appropriate to share new developments, we will provide that information.

“We were delighted to host the largest recent fall Preview Day in some years on Oct. 21, welcoming more than 300 prospective students and their families, and culminating with more than 650 participants in our fall festival.

“Our Admissions team is aggressively recruiting students to study with our first-class faculty of scholar-ministers who not only teach their subjects with excellence, but help our students live their calling as Gospel ministers during their studies. Our campus community has been infused with multiple prayer gatherings as students, faculty, and staff humbly seek God’s blessings under the theme verse of Psalm 90:17.”

ALPHARETTA, Ga. — En una reunión nacional de más de 275 miembros del personal de campo en la sede de la Junta de Misiones Norteamericanas (NAMB, por sus siglas en inglés) el jueves (6 de octubre), el presidente de Send Network, Vance Pitman, presentó una lista de nuevos líderes, un sitio web en español y los nuevos valores que guían la red de plantación de iglesias más grande de Norteamérica.

“Como familia de iglesias que plantan iglesias en todas partes para todas personas, queremos ser claros acerca de los valores que impulsan nuestras decisiones”, dijo Pitman. “Estos valores impactan todo lo que hacemos”.

1. Buscar primero el reino : Dios está obrando a nivel local y global.
2. Profundizar la devoción— Sin la oración y la Palabra, somos impotentes.
3. Mantenernos unidos— Somos una familia unida por una misión.
4. Pensar en la multiplicación– La misión global de Dios exige discípulos e iglesias que se multipliquen.
5. Involucrar a tu ciudad— El Evangelio cambia vidas, familias y comunidades.

La implementación de los cambios se produce solo unos días después de que se anunciara que los fondos para Send Network, el brazo de plantación de iglesias de NAMB con unos 1,050 misioneros plantadores de iglesias respaldados actualmente, alcanzaron un máximo histórico este año de $ 68.9 millones ofrendados por los bautistas del sur a través de la Ofrenda de Resurrección Annie Armstrong.

Pitman también presentó un nuevo equipo de liderazgo ejecutivo: Félix Cabrera como vicepresidente de Send Network Español, Matt Carter como vicepresidente de movilización, Michael Crawford como vicepresidente de estrategias y desarrollo, Bryan Loritts como vicepresidente de regiones y Travis Ogle como vicepresidente ejecutivo.

Loritts y Crawford continúan en sus roles actuales como pastor docente en The Summit Church y director ejecutivo de la Convención Bautista de Maryland/Delaware, respectivamente, sirviendo de manera vocacional con Send Network, mientras que los demás serán personal de tiempo completo de la organización.

Pitman también presentó el primer equipo líder de plantadores de la red– practicantes experimentados que tienen un historial comprobado de plantación de iglesias. El equipo incluye 16 plantadores y representa cada región de los Estados Unidos y múltiples etnias.

Su experiencia colectiva de plantación y pastoral totaliza más de 260 años, dijo Pitman, con ministerios responsables de 882 plantaciones de iglesias en Norteamérica, e iglesias que han bautizado a más de 22.000 nuevos creyentes y tienen una asistencia actual de fin de semana de más de 45.000 personas.

Pitman describió que el equipo líder de plantadores tiene la responsabilidad de ser el rostro, la voz y el corazón de Send Network.

“Muchos plantadores y sus iglesias enviadoras se unen a Send Network por los recursos y el apoyo incomparables que ofrecemos”, dijo Pitman, “pero si el dinero y los sistemas desaparecieran mañana, seguiríamos siendo una familia de iglesias que plantan iglesias, dirigidas por este piadoso grupo de abanderados y tantos pastores y plantadores como ellos”.

Durante la reunión, Cabrera encargó a ocho campeones de la plantación de iglesias hispanas que están encargados de conectar y equipar iglesias a medida que ellas envían plantadores para comenzar nuevas iglesias de habla hispana y de mayoría hispana en Norteamérica. Estos campeones están ubicados en Estados Unidos y Puerto Rico, y energizarán la plantación de iglesias hispanas en sus regiones.

“La oportunidad de hacer nuevos discípulos y comenzar iglesias entre la comunidad hispana está creciendo rápidamente en Norteamérica”, dijo Cabrera, destacando las más de 1,360 iglesias bautistas del sur hispanas que ya se plantaron entre 2011 y 2021. “No estamos hablando solo de hispanoparlantes, hispanos de primera generación, sino también hispanos de segunda y tercera generación. Esta es una oportunidad increíble”.

Cabrera también dio a conocer un nuevo sitio web en español que sirve a los plantadores e iglesias hispanas con recursos e información contextualizada, en SendNetworkEspanol.com.

“Tenemos un grupo increíble de misioneros que se dedican a llevar el Evangelio a lugares de difícil acceso en Norteamérica”, dijo el presidente de NAMB, Kevin Ezell, al anunciar la financiación sin precedentes a la junta directiva de la organización a principios de esta semana en una reunión separada en Chicago. “Estoy agradecido por cada uno de ellos y los sacrificios que ellos y sus familias han hecho para seguir el llamado de Dios. Estos obsequios ya están marcando la diferencia”.

Por el personal de NAMB, publicado el 17 de octubre, 2022 en https://www.baptistpress.com/resource-library/espanol/send-network-presenta-nuevos-valores-equipo-de-liderazgo-sitio-web-en-espanol/