At Pleasant Hill Missionary Baptist Church in Dallas, focusing on meeting needs in the community has reshaped the congregation’s sense of mission.

“When I was in school, one of my instructors asked a question, and it changed the whole course of our ministry,” Senior Pastor Kennon Tennison explained.

“He asked us, ‘If you left the community, would they know you were gone?’ And initially, that was ‘no,’ but now that’s absolutely ‘yes.’”

Pleasant Hill reaches its neighborhood in the Pleasant Grove area of southeastern Dallas by feeding the hungry.

That initiative not only includes reaching into the community through a food pantry, a ministry to the homeless and a turkey distribution every November before Thanksgiving, but also helping to meet needs among those who attend the church.

The church’s food ministry started about 15 years ago.

“A couple of my members were down in Midlothian moving a bedroom set, and the guy across the street heard them … talking about God,” Tennison recalled.

That individual walked across the street to visit with them, pray with them, and tell them about a food pantry he was involved with called “Dare to Care.”

“And the rest is history,” Tennison said.

After that interaction, word spread quickly that Pleasant Hill Missionary Baptist Church was starting an initiative to fight hunger in its neighborhood.

“From there, we were getting a lot of things, and a lot of people started hearing about us,” Tennison said. “I mean people were just dumping so much food on us and so many different products and items …we just started spreading the love.”

In addition to donated items, the church receives some support for its ministry—particularly to the unhoused population in Pleasant Grove—made possible through the Texas Baptist Hunger Offering.

The median household income in Pleasant Grove is about $41,500, and Tennison’s congregation reflects the community.

Meeting needs with the church family

“Half the stuff that we do—that we receive to give away—I give to my parishioners, because the community that God has put me over is the church that I’m pastoring,” he said.

“The community in which the church sits gets what’s left after the parishioners that are sitting in the pews that are hungry, that are homeless, that are broke. I found out in doing this that there were more people crying out from the pews than there were from the streets.”

As members of the congregation receive much-needed food and other assistance, they become capable and motivated to serve their neighbors.

“It gives you more bodies to reach the community. It expands your arm and puts it in the right perspective,” Tennison said.

Once all of his parishioners are fed, Tennison explained, the food pantry is open to the neighborhood.

Members also deliver food to other churches and distribution sites in the community, when resources allow it.

“At one point we were feeding—transitioning food—to about 28 different churches because we had so much,” he said. “One guy was particularly moved to taking stuff to the high schools in DeSoto, … and so he started getting lunch meat and peanut butter and jelly for the football players.”

Seeing lives changed

Tennison particularly rejoices when he sees lives transformed through the church’s hunger-fighting ministries. He recalled a man came in to visit the food pantry, overcame homelessness and struggles with substance abuse, and eventually became a member of the church.

“He was homeless, [and] he was trying to get to Houston to a rehab facility,” Tennison said. “We took him to the bus station and bought him a ticket, [and] sent him to the rehab facility.

“[He] got himself clean and came back and joined the church, … [and] his wife and daughter joined.”

The man’s journey to recovery has been difficult, Tennison acknowledged.

“He relapsed, but he’s in rehab now again, and he’s just so thankful that we didn’t just throw him away. That’s not our job … We’ve just got to love on you and keep things moving,” he said.

‘Everybody is treated with dignity’

The theme of love is at the heart of the church’s effort to feed the hungry, and Tennison explained he often follows up with people who come to the food bank to see if their conditions are improving.

However, intentional conversations about faith and lifestyle have to wait until basic needs are met, he noted.

“When they’re hungry, … they’re in a bad spot. But if you take the hunger and the noise from their stomach, they can hear your voice when you speak,” Tennison said. “They’ll never forget when they were hungry, and an organization fed them.”

At no point is anyone pressured to attend church in exchange for receiving help, he stressed. Rather, the church meets people where they are and extends love to them.

“We literally just said, ‘We’re going to offer Christ, love on you, feed you,” he said.

“God just kind of opened the door for us, and we walked through. … It’s been … amazing and profitable to the souls of the people in the community, as well as the church.

“I’m ecstatic about it. I won’t budge on it. This is how we do it. Everybody is treated with dignity and respect, loyalty and love. … You do not have to be embarrassed for where God has you at the moment.”

Lauren Turner, a student at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, served as an intern this semester with the Baptist Standard.

IRVING—Psychologist Diane Langberg learned a valuable lesson from her father long before she became an expert on trauma and sexual abuse—a painful lesson with profound spiritual implications.

Her father, a World War II bomber pilot, stayed in the military after the war. However, an undiagnosed neurological condition eventually forced his retirement.

He soon needed around-the-clock care and couldn’t stand on his own. His head was directing his body, but his body wasn’t listening and eventually wasn’t able to support life.

She watched the illness unfold and drew a lesson from it.

“A body that doesn’t follow its head is a very sick body,” said Langberg, author of Redeeming Power: Understanding Authority and Abuse in the Church and clinical professor at the Global Trauma Recovery Institute of Biblical Theological Seminary in Hatfield, Penn.

After controversies over sexual abuse in the Christian community—from the Roman Catholic Church, to the Southern Baptist Convention, to Ravi Zacharias International Ministries—Langberg now sees the same sickness at work in the church, the body of Christ.

“The church of Jesus Christ has a head. Our head has called for us to follow him. We are not doing that,” Langberg told the B.H. Carroll Theological Institute’s fall colloquy in Fort Worth Nov. 14-15. “Sexual abuse in Christian organizations is the king of oxymorons.”

Sexual trauma deep and widespread

The problem of sexual trauma is deep and worldwide, Langberg said. One of three females will be beaten or coerced into sex in their lifetime, many times by someone they know. According to the United Nations, nearly three quarters of women in some areas of the world will be raped.

Sexual trauma also affects men. Alcohol and drug abuse by male sexual abuse victims is 25 times higher than normal. The rate of suicide is 12 times higher.

The church’s goal, she said, should be to bring those hurting from silence to speaking, from isolation to community, and from a place of no hope to hope. That takes “talking, tears and time,” Langberg said.

Victims need to speak to heal, even if they cannot fully articulate their experience, she said. Their stories may come out in pieces without a beginning, a middle and an end. They may not make sense to those who are hearing them at first. They may also seem to the larger public unbelievable, especially when the one accused is a prominent and church leader.

But accusations rarely are false, Langberg said. In her 50-year-long career, she has uncovered only two false complaints of sexual abuse.

“No one wants to come to you to tell you they have been sexually abused,” she said. “If they do, you should listen. We cannot rely on what we hope to be true.”

Silenced by the system

Unfortunately, when a victim does come forward, they are most often met with the power of a system that feels threatened. The system unites to remove the threat by silencing the accuser, who is made to believe speaking about the abuse will destroy the work of God.

Likewise, the religious system remains silent about an abuser.

“Silence is a double vice,” she said. “It shows indifference to the victims, and it is complicity with the destroyers.”

Sexual abuse requires deception and produces coercion by the system. The deception begins on the part of the one who has committed the abuse. He or she has not only deceived the victim and others. There is self-deception involved in the failure to recognize a heart so deeply infected with sin, Langberg said.

Then the system gathers it forces and begins to make the victim feel responsible. Questions about how an accusation will affect the church make the victim carry both the burden of abuse and the weight of the church’s reputation.

“One of the most powerful weapons of deception is the use of spiritual language,” Langberg said.

When sexual abuse has been exposed, the response of the Christian community often has been naïve, she said.

“The exposure of something true is not going to destroy what God is doing,” she said. “If you lose the capacity to tell the truth, you become a slave to the sin.”

Slavery to sin has produced in the church a poor understanding of grace and a corrupted pathway of repentance. Many churches, Langberg said, accept tears and a simple plea for forgiveness when an abuser is confronted and confesses. They seek to move on, often with the abuser and abused only pews apart.

True repentance is a process

Instead of confessions and promises to “never do it again,” the church should understand repentance as a lifelong process—a slow, consistent change over time. Its genuineness cannot be discerned for a long time.

“To remove someone from a pulpit is a grace. It is a keen awareness that their sensibility to sin is so damaged they cannot recognize it,” she said. Removing the abuser from that position is a protection for him, as well as for the flock.

Churches can avoid many of the problems associated with sexual abuse by learning key lessons. First, the abuse of minors and sexual abuse is always, everywhere an illegal act, in all 50 states, Langberg said.

Second, discerning the truth and accuracy of an accusation is not the function of the church. It is the function of law enforcement. The first step church leaders must take when confronted with abuse, Langberg said, is the call to the police.

Third, while “clergy sexual abuse” is not a crime in all 50 states, it is important to recognize the phrase “it was an affair” should carry no weight with the church. A pastor having a sexual relationship with a congregant is abuse, because he is in a position of authority. Likewise, the church should reject excuses such as the pastor being enticed by the dress or appearance of a congregant.

God doesn’t desire ‘form over substance’

Another lesson the church must learn is God’s kingdom is not an institutional structure.

“He doesn’t desire form over substance,” Langberg said. “I believe God would rather see these things fall down flat than continue hiding these sins.”

Finally, the church needs to recognize that hurting the sheep breaks the heart of the Shepherd. The church’s allegiance is not to a system. Its allegiance is to its head—Christ.

“I fear we have revered the system more than God. …Our thinking is whatever we do to preserve what we love in our life is good, blind to the fact it looks nothing like him.”

Langberg urged churches to keep a watchful eye over the sheep, and to avoid selecting leaders based on talent and gifting rather than integrity. The ability of a minister to eloquently articulate theological truth does not mean that person is an obedient servant of Christ, she said.

“Many have fed off the vulnerable sheep under their care. But sheep do not eat sheep,” she said. “Wolves eat sheep.”

LEWISVILLE—Pastor Joseph Fields and New Beginnings Baptist Church in Lewisville have a vision—to touch their community and show love by meeting basic needs.

“It’s all God,” Fields said. “God is the one who gave the vision, and God is the one who gives the provision.”

The vision prompted New Beginnings Church to open its facility on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays so families in need can receive nutritious food, and to make clothing available two Saturdays each month.

God’s provision came in the form of partner organizations that work alongside the church to make the ministries possible.

‘Blessed us to bless the community’

“God has blessed us to bless the community,” Fields said.

Heart of the City, a nonprofit formed by Rob Veal, executive pastor of Northview Baptist Church in Lewisville, operates the food pantry, serving an average of 165 families each week.

Love Thy Neighbor, another local nonprofit organization, operates the clothing assistance program at New Beginnings Church two Saturdays each month.

“I just want to partner for the sake of the gospel,” Fields said.

Heart of the City’s Farmers Market Food Pantry provides drive-through grocery distribution each Saturday morning. The food pantry is open by appointment on Monday and Wednesday afternoons, giving individuals the opportunity to shop for their own groceries—at no cost—and to interact on a deeper level with volunteers.

‘We want people to feel love’

“We want people to feel love. We want to treat them with dignity,” Fields said.

While volunteers engage in brief conversation and offer a word of blessing to neighbors during the Saturday morning food distribution events, the two weekday afternoons provide greater opportunities to build relationships, said Luis Matos, a Heart of the City worker.

“We offer to pray for them,” Matos said. “We try to establish a rapport with them and offer them a listening ear.”

In addition to the elderly, disabled veterans and the underemployed, the food pantry has served recent immigrants and refugees from Venezuela, Honduras and Cuba, along with a significant number of the Chin ethnic group from Myanmar. The New Beginnings Church campus is adjacent to Chin Baptist Church, which it helped launch.

Any perishable produce left over after a Saturday distribution is made available to worshippers at New Beginnings Church the next morning.

“We tell people to take whatever they can use. We let them know: ‘This is the overflow. You’re not depriving anybody in need,’” Fields said.

The North Texas Food Bank provides the bulk of the groceries for the food pantry. Local grocery stores and discount centers also donate some food. New Beginnings includes both the food pantry and clothing closet in its church budget.

‘A dream come true’

A group of concerned women in the Lewisville-Flower Mound area started Love Thy Neighbor about 12 years ago to help meet basic needs of families and individuals. For more than a decade, Love Thy Neighbor worked with a well-established local agency to provide clothing.

When that agency narrowed its focus to concentrate exclusively on serving the unhoused, Love Thy Neighbor needed another partner. About that same time, New Beginnings Church wanted to expand its ministry to neighbors in need by providing clothing.

“It was a dream come true for both” the nonprofit agency and the church, said Mary Ann Saxton, program manager for Love Thy Neighbor’s clothing assistance program.

“A family from Venezuela arrived fresh in this country with only the clothes on their backs,” Fields recalled. “We were able to outfit them in time for their children to start school.”

As volunteers set up early on the Saturday morning of Labor Day weekend, some wondered aloud if they would have many guests to serve on a holiday weekend.

Both ministries exceeded expectations. The food pantry served 107 families on Saturday, after already serving 62 on Monday and Wednesday, providing food for a total of 169 families for the week. The clothing closet served 65 guests, compared to 60 on an average Saturday.

Field hopes the ministries will continue to expand. New Beginnings Church’s long-range plans for facility expansion include designated areas for the food pantry and clothes closet.

“God didn’t just give us this facility to meet on Sunday morning,” Fields said. “We want to touch the community.”

This article originally appeared in the fall 2022 issue of CommonCall magazine.

WACO—While peer influence is the top factor that leads Baylor University students to attain higher levels of faith maturity, attending a local place of worship also is a powerful predictor.

Those are key research findings from Baylor’s ongoing Faith and Character Study, which tracks the long-term impact of a Baylor education on a person’s faith and character.

The study—“Factors Associated with Vertical and Horizontal Faith Maturity at a Christian University” in the Journal of Research on Christian Higher Education—investigated the influence of peers, programs and professors on students’ faith maturity using data from the Baylor Faith and Character Study, which began in 2018.

Each year, surveys on religion and character are administered to new students, seniors and alumni. The current research focused on the Senior Religion Survey administered online to graduating seniors in March 2020 to April 2020.

The latest findings measured faith maturity with survey items distinguishing between vertical faith maturity—centered on engagement with God—and horizontal faith maturity—the application of faith in service to others.

Survey items measuring vertical faith maturity included “I have a real sense that God is guiding me,” and “I am spiritually moved by the beauty of God’s creation.”

Sample items measuring horizontal faith maturity included “I give significant portions of my time and money to help other people,” and “I care a great deal about reducing poverty in the United States and throughout the world.”

“Our study points out the common and contrasting ways that students can cultivate commitment to God and commitment to others,” said lead author J. J. Burtt, who earned his doctorate in sociology from Baylor in 2022 and now is an assistant professor at Trinity Western University in Langley, British Columbia. “Both of these expressions of faith are important outcomes for Christian colleges and universities.”

The researchers found Christian colleges can promote faith maturity most effectively through peer relationships and intentional programs.

Predictors for faith maturity

The study showed significant predictors for students’ vertical faith maturity are:

• Discussions with peers about religious/spiritual matters.
• Spending time with people who share one’s religious views.
• Attending a class, workshop or retreat on matters of religion/spirituality.
• Participation in community food or clothing drives.
• Attending a racial/cultural awareness workshop.

Significant findings measuring students’ horizontal faith maturity are: discussions with peers about the purpose and meaning of life; attending a class, workshop or retreat on matters of religion/spirituality; participation in community food or clothing drives; performing other volunteer work; and attending a racial/cultural awareness workshop.

Although faculty can serve as facilitators and role models for students’ faith maturity, the study found peer influence on faith maturity is stronger, matching findings from prior research on religiosity in college.

Since contact with professors largely is limited to classes, students spend much more time with their peers—in myriad ways—than with professors.

One of the most powerful predictors of both the vertical and horizontal faith maturity of students is attending a local place of worship, the research revealed.

“In every model, religious service attendance was positive and statistically significant. Seniors who attended religious services more often expressed higher vertical faith maturity and higher horizontal faith maturity, net of other influences,” the researchers wrote.

“Like on-campus student organizations, congregations are a context for relationships and service. Students develop bonds with others in a way that deepens their faith and encourages them to act on their faith to serve others.”

“This is important news for parents,” said study co-author Kevin D. Dougherty, professor of sociology in the College of Arts & Sciences at Baylor. “To help your college daughter or son have a vibrant faith, encourage them to find a local place of worship and attend regularly.”

The implications of these findings extend beyond religious universities.

At colleges and universities where faith is not an explicit part of curricular and co-curricular programs, the researchers suggest they can offer classes on meaning and purpose, support the formation of student-led religious organizations, promote acts of community service and offer racial/cultural awareness workshops, all associated with increased faith maturity.

CARROLLTON—Almost 30 years ago, kids at First Baptist Church at The Fields began riding in circles once a year to raise money for Christian missions through Texas Baptist Men. A new generation is keeping the practice alive, recently raising $2,801 for TBM disaster relief in one evening.

The annual Wheel-a-Thon in Carrollton involves children obtaining pledges for laps they make around a church parking lot. Eight laps equal one mile. Participants can ride anything with wheels—bicycles, in-line skates, scooters—or they can walk.

More than 35 children participated this year, with one boy riding 62 laps on a bicycle in 50 minutes, said Mark Forester, church Royal Ambassadors director.

RAs is a mission discipleship organization for boys in grades 1-6. It promotes growth by developing biblical character in all aspects of life. RA leaders use activities to help boys learn about God’s mission and understand how they are part of it.

The Wheel-a-Thon was not just about raising money, Forester said.

“It gets the kids thinking about something else outside of themselves, … about helping other people in Jesus’ name,” he said.

Savion Lee, TBM state RA coordinator, said the Carrollton event is ”special because it connects the RAs with their local church body.” It helps church members learn about RAs and the group’s missions involvement.

Lee and Ryan Lenamon, TBM director of donor relations, spoke to the children the following week about TBM’s varied ministries to help people in need and to share the good news of hope through Christ.

“Discipleship events such as these are critical to our youth,” Lenamon said. “These are the future leaders of our country and our world. Discipleship matters. If discipleship doesn’t come from the church, it will come from somewhere else.”

Long history of missions support

Forester started the Wheel-a-Thon in 1993 when one of the RA leaders, the son-in-law of then TBM Executive Director Bob Dixon, recommended the money raised be given to TBM disaster relief.

After the event, Dixon attended a RA chapter meeting to receive a cardboard check representing the amount raised. The church has held the event every year since, except for 2020 during the COVID pandemic.

The Wheel-a-Thon used to be exclusively for boys in RAs. Since moving to a new church location in 2019, Girls in Action members joined in, and the younger boys and girls in Mission Friends joined in this year. One of the Mission Friends boys raised $500 for the cause, Forester said.

The RA and GA leaders also added some competition to the mix this year. Lainie Applegate, the GA director, got a pie in the face Nov. 9 because the boys out-raised the girls by $100.

 “I am so thankful that our boys and girls had the opportunity to learn about TBM and how to support their mission efforts,” Applegate said. “I love teaching children that hard work and serving others can be fun.”

As for the RAs, a team of several men lead the Carrollton group, Forester said. He noted “things have changed with RAs” through the years.

“You have to adapt, he said. The boys are “no longer into the book work, because they do book work all day.”

Instead, the RAs focus on activities such as campcraft and archery.

“There is a spiritual application with anything we do, and that is what the boys remember”—application linked to activities, he said.

ABILENE—Hardin-Simmons University and McMurry University reached an agreement regarding the Patty Hanks Shelton School of Nursing, which has operated as an intercollegiate consortium of the two Abilene universities.

In a joint statement, HSU and McMurry formally announced Nov. 16 HSU will establish its own nursing program by 2025—a move already alluded to in an earlier statement by Rick Strange, chair of the HSU board of trustees, concerning the board granting a three-year contract extension to President Eric Bruntmyer.

McMurry will retain the Patty Hanks Shelton School of Nursing and will acquire its assets for its own nursing program.

Both nursing programs are contingent upon approval by the Texas Board of Nursing and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges.

Lawsuit dismissed

This summer, McMurry filed a $1 million lawsuit against HSU, claiming a breach of contract regarding the Patty Hanks Shelton School of Nursing. McMurry asserted HSU failed to honor a contract to sell its interests in the nursing school to McMurry.

The Nov. 16 public statement said the universities had resolved “prior misunderstandings,” and McMurry confirmed HSU had fulfilled all duties owed.

“As a result of this agreement, both institutions released each other of all claims asserted in the Taylor County District Court litigation and submitted a joint notice of dismissal of claims to terminate the litigation,” the public statement read.

In an email to HSU faculty, staff and students, Bruntmyer wrote: “HSU paid nothing in settlement to McMurry, nor damages of any kind, and admitted no wrongdoing whatsoever. We are gratified that McMurry was willing to confirm that HSU fulfilled all of its duties to both McMurry and to the Patty Hanks consortium, which HSU has been administering for many decades. HSU’s administrations, past and present, have always fulfilled our duties, legal and otherwise, to both entities.

“We are truly pleased with the ultimate outcome which gives us what we wanted all along, to either purchase McMurry’s interests in PHSSN and move it to our campus or, as has now been accomplished, sell our interest to McMurry in a fair deal and begin our own on-campus nursing program. Thank you for your patience and understanding in this process. The future of nursing education at HSU is bright, and we are excited for this next phase in our school’s history!”

In the public announcement, Bruntmyer said the agreement allows HSU and McMurry to “move forward with independent programs that will increase the number of nurses in the Big Country and beyond,” Bruntmyer said.

“HSU is excited to create a new nursing program delivered on campus and integrated with the rest of the university,” he added.

Sandra Harper, president of McMurry, called the agreement “a win for Abilene” and a move that “will impact the region positively by helping to fill vacant nursing positions.”

“All of us at McMurry are excited to continue our commitment to enhance nursing education by ensuring that Patty Hanks graduates are prepared to meet diverse patients’ needs and deliver safe, quality patient care,” Harper said.

Transition begins

More than 40 years ago, HSU, McMurry and Abilene Christian University created the Abilene Intercollegiate School of Nursing as a nonprofit corporation. Nearly 20 years ago, the nursing school became an unincorporated association, and the three universities entered into a consortium agreement, with HSU acting as the coordinating institution. ACU withdrew from the consortium in 2012.

During the transition to independent nursing education programs, HSU and McMurry will continue as members of the consortium, but McMurry becomes the coordinating institution effective Dec. 1. The transition is expected to be complete by January 2025, according to the Nov. 16 public statement.

In his email to the “HSU Community,” Bruntmyer provided additional details. Between now and January 2025, HSU will seek a founding program director “who will play a key role” in developing the Hardin-Simmons nursing education program, which will be housed in the Holland Health Sciences Building.

Students who enter the Patty Hanks Shelton School of Nursing beginning in fall 2023 “are expected to complete their education and training through HSU’s new nursing program,” he wrote. Currently enrolled HSU students who are scheduled for spring 2025 graduation will graduate from the Patty Hanks Shelton School of Nursing.

Bruntmyer outlined three benefits to HSU operating its own nursing education program:

• Nursing continues to be the top program of interest indicated by prospective students.“By starting our own nursing program on campus, we can attract and accommodate more of these prospective students to grow enrollment and improve student completion rates.”
• Nursing shortages continue to be critical. “The potential for enrollment of aspiring nursing students at HSU makes this the right time to bring this program onto campus and contribute directly to our community by addressing and solving a need.”
• HSU already has a solid foundation of healthcare and science programs, plus facilities and community partnerships. “Operating an independent nursing program is a natural step in our university’s evolution as a health care education leader in the Big Country region.”

WACO—In his final executive director’s report to the Baptist General Convention of Texas, David Hardage spoke from the heart to messengers, celebrating milestones and encouraging steadfastness.

Hardage first recognized three entities celebrating anniversaries—75 years at Baptist University of the Américas, 40 years of African American ministries and 20 years of Texas Baptists’ Chaplaincy Relations—before mentioning a few highlights of the state convention’s strategic mission partnerships.

“We are not a missions-minded convention. We are a missions-centered convention,” Hardage said. “That’s the heartbeat of Texas Baptists.”

Hardage mentioned the expansion of the Missionary Adoption Program, which connects Texas Baptist congregations with churches in other parts of the world to support ministry work in those areas.

Birthed by a request from the Brazilian Baptist Convention seven years ago, the partnership has grown to support nearly 50 missionaries in Brazil and another 90 in other nations.

He noted two other strategic missions partnerships. Texas Baptists, working in partnership with the International Mission Board, are involved in South Asia. In Laredo, a new partnership with the North American Mission Board’s Send Relief is making an impact. The new ministry center will connect with and equip local churches to impact a largely unchurched city. Hardage also noted the long-time impact River Ministry has had along the Texas/Mexico border.

Hardage offered parting thoughts on the future of Texas Baptists. Quoting Psalm 106:35, he noted that while there is a responsibility to influence the nations, there is also a warning not to let them influence the church negatively.

“We have been called to be a separate kind of people who love God and love others,” Hardage said.

Finally, Hardage shared his hope that Texas Baptists protect the unity and harmony they enjoy. Calling it rare and a treasure, Hardage passionately urged churches to take up the responsibility to guard that unity.

“I’ve worked for 11 years to build bridges, make peace and be kingdom-focused. Not everyone wants peace, but we do. Never be divisive, but be a unifying voice every time you have an opportunity. There is too much at stake for us not to be,” he said.

“It has to be the gospel above all else, and around that we build our harmony, around that we build our unity, around that we stay together, and around that our best days are yet to come.”

WACO—Without mentioning Christian nationalism by name, Texas Baptists approved a resolution rejecting any government attempt to coerce worship of Christ or favoring one religion over another.

At the Baptist General Convention of Texas annual meeting in Waco, messengers also approved resolutions calling for gracious cultural engagement and expressing gratitude for David Hardage, who retires at the end of next month as BGCT executive director.

The resolution on religious liberty affirmed the “God-ordained purpose” of government but asserted “God has not authorized government to coerce the worship of Christ.”

It acknowledged the presence of “state-sanctioned persecution of Christians and other religious groups across the world.” It also noted “Baptists historically have been committed to religious liberty and the separation of church and state.”

Consequently, Texas Baptists at the Waco meeting resolved to “affirm the historic tenets of religious liberty and will not seek to use government to coerce the worship of Christ.”

They further resolved to deny support to “any attempt by government to commandeer the church for political ends or any attempt by government to favor one religion over another.”

Engage culture with grace, truth, love

The resolution on cultural engagement acknowledged a prevalent tendency “to focus more on divisive, condemning rhetoric at the expense of the grace, truth and love that characterizes the gospel.”

So, Texas Baptists at the annual meeting resolved to “seek to follow the way of Jesus in how we engage with culture with God’s grace, truth and love.” They also resolved to “avoid cruel jokes, mockery and belittling language as we articulate our biblical convictions.”

The resolution regarding Hardage noted his service of more than four decades in ministry and more than a decade as BGCT executive director, pointing out his wife Kathleen served alongside him “prayerfully and faithfully.”

In addition to expressing appreciation to the Hardages, the resolution also affirmed his commitment to “the GC2 movement”—an emphasis on the Great Commission and Great Commandment of Christ.

A final resolution expressed appreciation to the host city, its churches and everyone involved in hosting the annual meeting.

WACO—Michael Gossett, pastor of Green Acres Baptist Church in Tyler, called Texas Baptists to experience “holy discontent” until God brings revival.

“Revival requires a heart that longs for the presence of God. It requires a divine and holy discontent,” Gossett told messengers and guests at the Baptist General Convention of Texas annual meeting in Waco.

 “Are you willing to live without revival? Contentment and complacency are very close, but you and I must never be content about others’ salvation. We must long to tell others that there is a Savior.”

Preaching from Psalm 85, Gossett encouraged Texas Baptists to “stand firm” in their commitment to sharing the gospel and seeing spiritually lost people come to faith in Christ.

 “You know what I love about Texas Baptists? It’s a convention that believes in evangelism. It’s a convention that understands the power of the gospel and God’s word. You and I have to continue that direction, we have to stand firm in our faith and stand firm in the mission that God has called us to,” he said.

Also during the Nov. 14 evening session, Texas Baptists expressed gratitude to David Hardage, who retires at the end of the year as BGCT Executive Director after more than 10 years in that role, and his wife Kathleen.

“David and Kathleen, you have made Texas Baptists proud. And most importantly, you have made God proud,” said Jason Burden, who ended his second term as BGCT president at the close of the 2022 annual meeting.

Clint Davis, chair of the BGCT Executive Board, likewise praised Hardage and offered thanks for his service.

“Dr. Hardage, I want to thank you, because you’ve led us with integrity, a sense of conviction and with purpose. You’ve loved us with that Christ-like love,” Davis said.

Associate Executive Director Craig Christina shared some of Texas Baptists’ accomplishments under Hardage’s leadership, including the reorganization of the convention into five ministry centers and casting the GC2 vision of sharing Christ and showing love.

“Thank you, Dr. Hardage, for leading us from viability to vitality,” he said.

Christina also announced the inaugural David W. Hardage Run With It 5K, which will benefit the David and Kathleen Hardage Endowment Fund at the Baylor University Baptist Student Ministry.

WACO—In his final address as president of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, Jason Burden spoke of his deep love for Texas and Baptist ministry within the state.

“I love Texas. It’s dear to me. It has nurtured me, provided me and my family opportunities. It has been our primary mission field,” Burden told messengers and guests at the BGCT annual meeting in Waco.

“Everything is bigger and better in the state of Texas, and we’ve enjoyed great ministry here.”

Burden emphasized changes are on the horizon—and already taking place—within the state. The Texas population is projected to grow to 50 million people by the year 2050, he said.

He traced the history of Texas from cattle barons to oil barons to the emerging tech barons who are bringing waves of change in present-day Texas.

“Texas is changing. We could yearn after the ways of yesteryear, but we’d be wasting our time. God’s not going to stand still. God’s going forward, and God is looking for people to keep up with him,” Burden said.

“The kind of Texas that will be in the future is going to be largely determined by what God does through Texans in this room today.”

Burden read from Hebrews 11, offering his hope Texas Baptists exhibit the character of those heroes of the faith found in the New Testament passage.

“Aspects of the new Texas we can’t control. But we can control how we use our resources and how we commit our lives together to a greater cause. … Our reach is being extended, and the reason for that is because our God still reigns,” he said.

Burden encouraged Texas Baptists to greet incoming residents with love and the gospel message.

“We must make sure that every new Texan is welcomed to our great state with an invitation to know Jesus the Savior,” he said.

“A Texas without Jesus is not a Texas worth bragging about.”

WACO—Pastor Ariel Martinez encouraged Texas Baptists to remain unwavering through “the trauma and drama” of a society still recovering from a pandemic by trusting God to help rebuild what was destroyed.

“God’s people are not called to live in defeat or survival mode,” Martinez, lead pastor of Del Sol Church in El Paso, told messengers and guests during Texas Baptists’ 2022 annual meeting in Waco.

He pointed to the example of Nehemiah, who mourned for what God’s people witnessed when they returned to their homeland after exile in Babylon.

“Nehemiah teaches us that it’s valuable to honor our grief as he mourned. I’ve had people say they feel bad for wrestling with doubt or having fear and anxiety, but those are real human emotions that God gave us,” Martinez said.

“God is not disappointed with you or mad at you. God understands the difficulties of life and is not ashamed to associate with those who are experiencing the traumas of life.”

Martinez recalled the trauma suffered in 2019 when a terrorist opened fire inside an El Paso Walmart, killing 23 and wounding another 23.

Then, when COVID-19 hit, the city experienced a high death count, with Martinez himself noting he “lost count of how many funerals I preached during that time.”

Martinez implored fellow Texas Baptists to turn to God for healing and rebuilding in the wake of the traumatic past few years. He asked hypothetically how many were enduring life instead of enjoying life with God.

Quoting Psalm 137:1-4, Martinez said it would be understandable for God’s people to want to hang up their harps and not have a reason to smile.

‘You can’t heal what you hide’

But to be an unwavering people, rebuilding is necessary. To do that well involves handing those burdens to the Lord, who alone can handle them.

“Jesus looks at the struggles in our lives and says, ‘Why don’t you just bring it to me?’ You can’t heal what you hide. When we’re honest about our emotions, we are respecting the image of God within us, respecting how God has formed us,” Martinez said.

“We’re being honest about what we feel inside, and that’s worship. Worship is when we expose our hearts to God and are honest about how we feel.”

Leaning into Jesus and allowing him to heal those wounds is essential to overcoming trauma.

“Trauma lies and says: ‘It’s always going to be like this. Everyone is going to hurt you.’ But God tells the truth. The key to freedom and healing is honesty,” Martinez said. “God is calling you to rebuild biblical faithfulness one brick at a time. It’s worth the work.”

Panel discusses revitalization

The Nov. 14 afternoon worship time also featured a panel of pastors describing how they have benefited from Pave, a new revitalization program through Texas Baptists’ Center for Church Health.

Tim Williams, lead pastor at Gladewater Church in Mount Pleasant, said growth came to his church through celebrating every win. For example, he began making simple video recordings with his cell phone of new believers’ testimonies the congregation could see when a person was baptized. The congregation has grown from nine members to 34 in a year.

For Canyon Creek Baptist Church in Temple, it was a new method of assimilating visitors into new members that has helped with community and growth.

“We had a lot of people visiting, and we felt we were doing everything to communicate but getting no response,” said Pastor Josh Murray.

However, when the church began texting guests and inviting them to an assimilation event, “we got almost a 100 percent response,” he said. “We had 36 go through our first [event] and join the church.”

The panel also featured J. Carlos Garduño, associate pastor at First Baptist Church in Devine; Robert White, pastor of Freedom Church in Bedford; and Dustin Slaton of First Baptist Church in Round Rock.

WACO—Texas Baptists will explore the creation of a residency program that would enable young ministers to work alongside and learn from experienced ministers.

Scotty Swingler, associate pastor to students at Sugar Land Baptist Church near Houston, introduced the motion at the Baptist General Convention of Texas annual meeting in Waco as a representative of the Gen Z/Millennial Task Force. His motion to create a task force to consider the development of a residency program for young ministers passed without opposition.

The Gen Z/Millennial Task Force, created in response to a motion at the 2021 annual meeting in Galveston, had recommended Texas Baptists “commission a task force to study the viability of a BGCT pastoral residency program that helps emerging adults grow under seasoned pastors in both rural and urban settings.”

Swingler’s motion called for the chair of the BGCT Executive Board to “appoint a task force to explore the creation of a residency program whereby young ministers are mentored and trained by established ministers.”

His motion stipulated the task force have a $10,000 budget to cover its expenses.

“The task force will present their recommendations in a timely manner to the new executive director, executive board and the messengers of the convention no later than the 2024 annual meeting in Waco,” the motion stated.

Address the need for ‘on-ramps’

In speaking to the motion during the Nov. 15 business session, Swingler said one of the recurring themes in discussions of the Gen Z/Millennial Task Force was “a lack of on-ramps for young ministers to serve in Texas Baptist churches.”

On a personal note, Swingler said he might not be serving a Texas Baptist church today if BGCT Executive Director David Hardage—who will retire at the end of next month—had not sought him out after a Friends of Truett Seminary dinner in 2017. Hardage “invited me to invest in Texas Baptist life,” Swingler recalled.

“Dr. Hardage was my on-ramp to being a Texas Baptist pastor, but we can’t rely on our next executive director to personally invite every young pastor into Texas Baptist life,” he said.

Dealing with several problems

Swingler identified several problems—some on the part of young ministers and others experienced by many congregations—a residency program potentially could solve.

He pointed to seminary graduates who end up serving outside of Texas Baptist life because they “cannot find a ministry role in a Texas Baptist church,” he said. Some move to congregations out of state, and others end up in “Methodist or nondenominational churches, because those are the spaces where their spiritual gifts are affirmed, developed and utilized.”

Swingler said he and others on the task force “lament the sheer weight of talent and giftedness that Texas Baptist churches lose each year because young Texas Baptist university and seminary graduates just don’t know how to find a home here in our convention.”

At the same time, many Texas Baptist churches struggle to fill ministry roles with well-qualified individuals, he added.

“Rural churches are disproportionately affected by this, as they often don’t have the financial or networking resources to identify and hire rising ministers,” Swingler said.

Many rural and small-membership churches struggle to grow because they cannot afford more than one—or at the most two—full-time ministers, he added.

Sponsor learning environments

“What if Texas Baptists helped fund residencies across our state, in churches large and small, urban and rural, putting aspiring pastors—men and women alike—in full-time ministerial roles where they can develop and use their gifts to serve a church without worrying about whether they can afford rent, and without the church worrying whether they can afford another pastor?” he asked messengers to the annual meeting.

“Suddenly, after two years in a Texas Baptist residency, that seminary graduate is now an experienced youth minister or worship leader, and Texas Baptist congregations represented here today would love to call a young, accomplished Texas Baptist resident to come serve as their next associate pastor.”

Swingler pointed out some large churches already have residency programs in place, and Baylor University’s Truett Theological Seminary also has launched a residency program.

“The efficacy and blessing of residency programs is evident. Let’s do it at a statewide level,” he urged.

“The [Gen Z/Millennial] Task Force feels we can keep more young pastors connected to our convention and better resource our churches, if we’ll sponsor these sorts of learning environments. And give it time, we’ll have a host of young, trained, innovative ministers in Texas Baptist churches across our state.”