Around the State

• Waco Regional Association is sponsoring "Resonate: Reconnecting Church and Community," a workshop focusing on collegiate, hunger and restorative justice ministry, March 31 at La Vega Community Church in Waco. RSVP to (254) 753-2408 or admin@wacoregionalbaptistassociation.org to indicate the workshop you are interested in.

• Engage: Evangelizing Texas conferences have been set for Abilene and Corpus Christi. The March 21 Corpus Christ conference will be held at First Church and will feature Jon Randles and Sammy Lopez. The free conference begins at 8:45 a.m. The April 2 conference held in Hardin-Simmons University's Logsdon Chapel will begin at 8:30 a.m. with keynote speakers Brent Gentzel, Wayne Shuffield and Trevor Carpenter. Registra-tion fee is for the Abilene conference.

• Katharine Hayhoe, co-author of A Climate for Change: Global Warming Facts for Faith-Based Decisions, will be the April 3 chapel speaker at Hardin-Simmons University. Her talk begins at 9:30 a.m. in Behrens Auditorium.

• A one-day missions conference will be held at Wayland Baptist University April 21. Experience Missions 2012 will consist of seminars led by current missionaries and will cover topics and issues ranging from working with Muslim populations to learning more about Mission Amarillo and Mission Arlington. There will be tracks for adults, youth and children. For more information, call (806) 291-1162.

• A team from Tarrant Association travelled to Venezuela to facilitate a training event. Executive Director David Bowman joined Hector Mendez, Rey Martinez, Gary Crowell and Becky Biser in aiding 34 pastors in their theological training, and more than 200 pastors and church leaders in a coaching workshop.

• Dallas Baptist University has named Jekabs Bikis dean of online education. He has served the school 12 years, most recently as interim associate dean of the College of Business. He and his wife, April, attend First Church in Arlington.

Anniversaries

• Dan Curry, 20th, as pastor of South Oaks Church in Arlington, Jan. 8.

• First Church in Kenedy, 150th, April 29. A meal will follow the morning worship service. Artifacts and memorabilia from the church's history will be on display. Participants will receive a bookmark and have the opportunity to order a copy of the church history and DVD. John Wheat is pastor..

Retiring

• Norris Cash, after 15 years as minister of music and education at First Church of Gresham in Tyler and 50 years in ministry. He previously served as minister of music and education at Northside Church in Arlington, Royal Haven Church in Dallas and Northpark Church in Sherman. He also served as director of missions for Dogwood Trails Association and Grayson Association. He is available for music supply and as a humorous speaker/entertainer for church banquets and senior adult programs..

Deaths

• Helen Fling, 97, March 1 in Wimberley. She was a former missionary, president of national Woman's Missionary Union and a pastor's wife. The child of a missionary pastor, she was introduced to missions at a young age as her mother involved her in many WMU organizations as a girl. She married pastor Bob Fling at age 19. She attended Baylor University, but while raising their daughter, completed her degree through correspondence courses at East Texas State University. She served with her husband during his pastorates in Natchitoches, La.; Grand Saline, Troup, Ennis and Cleburne in Texas; and in Seminole, Okla.

Helen Fling

The Flings also served as missionaries in New York through the Southern Baptist Convention Home Mission Board, and the Foreign Mission Board in Munich, Germany. Through the years, she served in prominent WMU posts, including recording secretary for national WMU from 1957 to 1963; president of national WMU from 1963 to 1969; and president of New York WMU from 1971 to 1976. She also made history as the first female Texas Baptist officer when she was elected second vice president of the Baptist General Convention of Texas in 1967. She wrote two books that encouraged the advancement of missions: Enlistment for Missions and Changes and Choices. When her husband retired in 1977, they moved to Birmingham, Ala., where she served on the national WMU staff as promotion coordinator for development of WMU work in new-work areas. She guided the founding of state WMU organizations in Nevada, Wyoming, New England and Minnesota-Wisconsin. Her husband died in 1982, and she retired in 1984. In 2001, she moved to Texas to be near her daughter. She is survived by her daughter, Sheila Fling; and son, Michael.

• James Cassel, 92, March 2 in Abilene. A Hardin-Simmons University graduate, he was a lifetime member of the university's President's Club, was a member of the board of development and was the recipient of the Keeter Alumni Award in 1973. He also served on the board of trustees for Hendrick Memorial Hospital and the Executive Board of the Baptist General Convention of Texas. As a member of First Church in Abilene, in 1954 he volunteered to help start a mission congregation, Pioneer Drive Church, and that temporary assignment became a long-term commitment as he stayed there until his death, serving as a deacon and in other capacities. He was preceded in death by his sisters, Juanita Bone and Doris Smith. He is survived by his wife, Mickey; son, James Jr.; daughter, Molli Elliston; four grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.

• Joe Dee Ray, 88, March 7 in Denison. He surrendered to preach at age 16. After serving as pastor for a number of Oklahoma churches, he was pastor of First Church in Borger and First Church in Denison. He also helped establish Faith Fellowship Church in Denison. He preached more than 100 revivals and often served as pulpit supply and interim pastor in his retirement. He is survived by his wife, Jeanne; daughters, Mary Helen Blake; Nan Wampler; Peggy Wendt and Dee Ann Clemons; nine grandchildren; and nine great-grandchildren.

• Jim Gayle, 76, March 11 in Plano. A missionary in Vietnam during the 1960s and 1970s, he worked closely with orphans there, working to bring 69 of them to Buckner Children's Home when their orphanage was overrun by the war ravaging their country. He also served as a missionary in Indonesia during the 1970s and 1980s. He is survived by his wife, Margaret; sons, Kyle, Kurk and Kent; brother, Lee; and 10 grandchildren..

Events

• Southside Church in Bowie will hold its fourth annual Bible conference March 25-28. For more information, call (940) 872-2793. Tony Rogers is pastor.

• A seminar on Christian ethics and politics will be held at First Church, South Campus, in Tyler March 30 from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Barry Hankins, professor of history and church-state studies at Baylor University, will be the speaker.

• Alto Frio Encampment will hold its spring senior adult retreat April 23-26. D.L. Lowrie and Ben Craver will be preachers, and Dale Durham, Ginger McKay and the Reagon Family will provide the music. Call (830) 232-5271 for reservations..

Revival

• First Church, Slaton; March 25-28; evangelist, Stacy Conner; pastor, Cleve Kerby.