BGCT director challenges Texas Baptists to share the gospel with the entire state

FORT WORTH—Even though the Texas Baptist family is a diverse and complex group of 5,600 congregations, Baptist General Convention of Texas Executive Director Randel Everett believes the family has room to grow.

In his first report to the annual meeting of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, Everett reported on the spiritual state of Texas, where 48 percent of the state has no church affiliation. He also presented the convention’s new emphasis to reach the state for Christ—Texas Hope 2010, a challenge to present the gospel to every Texan by Easter 2010 and eliminate hunger in the state.

“Let’s make sure that every person in Texas has a chance to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ,” Everett said. “Everyone should have an opportunity to respond to the hope of God in their own language.”

In his first eight months as executive director, Everett said, his tour of the state’s educational institutions, hospitals, child care organizations and many churches has made him proud of what Texas is doing already to reach out to the communities around them. But there still is much to be done, as a great number of Texas residents remain unchurched.

Three questions 

Everett asked three questions: Who are Texas Baptists? What are the needs of Texas? And what strategies do we have to address those needs?

He found the “who” question the easiest, touching on the diverse group of churches from African-American congregations to the growing group of western-heritage churches, which account for 10 percent of all baptisms for the past year.

“We are Jesus people,” Everett said. “He is head of the body, the church, so he might have first place in all things. When we come together today, we are people who have been redeemed, who have been reconciled.”

While the needs of Texans are vast, the problem of poverty and hunger remains at the forefront, Everett said. One million Texans do not know from where their next meal will come, and two of the four poorest counties in the United States are in Texas, he said.

“With all our Texas Baptist resources, can’t we at least make sure every person in Texas has a nutritious meal every day?” Everett asked the gathered assembly.

The solution 

The solution, he said, lies in Texas Hope 2010, an emphasis that calls on Baptists to pray urgently for the needs and salvation of Texans, care about their needs and put that care into action, and share the gospel fervently.

Texas Baptists are urged to pray at noon daily for the hungry and spiritually lost in the state, then to call their churches together to pray corporately for the salvation of many. Secondly, he encouraged churches to pool their resources for human-care projects that help alleviate the suffering and basic physical needs of the state.

Finally, churches and individuals are urged to share the gospel in whatever way they can to as many people as possible. One strategy Everett suggested was to help support an effort to provide audio CDs of the gospel message in John 3 to every household in Texas, at the cost of $1 each through Faith Comes by Hearing, an Albuquerque-based organization. The CDs provide the gospel in 300 languages as well as a downloadable New Testament in 311 printed languages.

“The good news is that we have all the money we need for that project,” Everett said with a smile. “It’s still in your pockets, but we have all the money we need for that.”

While he hopes churches, associations, campus student ministries and other organizations get behind the effort, Everett said ultimately the success of the emphasis will depend on the commitment of each Texas Baptist.

“What if we left here tonight, and 100 people said, ‘By the grace of God, whatever it takes’? What would happen if 1,000?” Everett asked. “It’s now time for us to enjoy each other’s fellowship. But as we leave, let us go back into our state and share the hope of Christ so that they might be rescued from darkness and know the fullness of God.”