Texas Tidbits

ETBU to offer counseling master's program. The East Texas Baptist University board of trustees approved an addition to the school's graduate program—a master of arts in counseling degree. The new program, to be housed in the department of behavior sciences, will be offered beginning with the fall 2012 semester. ETBU currently offers a master of arts in religion and a master of education degree. The board also approved a 4.8 percent increase in tuition and fees for 2012-2013—the smallest increase in 13 years.

BCFS program ranked tops nationally. Legal Orientation Program for Custodians, a program of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, recently honored the Baptist Child & Family Services health and human services case management team in Harlingen. It tapped the BCFS International Children's Services team as the nation's top program for helping families and youth make successful transitions into their new lives together. The program provides shelter and care for children from foreign countries while federal immigration authorities determine the next step toward reuniting youth with their families. If the federal government determines the best environment for a youth is with a family member or guardian in the United States, BCFS works to ensure the family has the resources and support needed to establish a safe and positive home.

Dead Sea Scrolls on exhibit. Gary and Stephanie Loveless of Houston gave a $1 million gift to sponsor a "Dead Sea Scrolls and the Bible" exhibit at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. The exhibition will run from July 2012 to January 2013 in the seminary's new MacGorman Chapel and Performing Arts Center. For more information on the exhibit, visit www.SeeTheScrolls.com. Loveless, who serves on the seminary's board of trustees, provided the lead gift that enabled the school to purchase Dead Sea Scrolls fragments in 2010. He is the founder and chief executive of Houston-based Square Mile Energy.

NAMB recognizes Texas Baptists for evangelism. The Southern Baptist Convention North American Mission Board recently presented the excellence in evangelism award to the Baptist General Convention of Texas in recognition for an increase in people baptized. The award honors a gain of baptisms in churches between 2009 and 2010 of at least 390, according to voluntarily reported statistics. The latter year was the final period of Texas Hope 2010, an evangelistic effort to share the hope of Christ with people throughout the state. The BGCT is one of only four Baptist conventions across the country to receive the award.

Student leaders meet at DBU. The annual Christian Association for Student Leaders meeting drew 267 college students and staff to the Dallas Baptist University campus. Workshop leaders included Tim Elmore, author of Habitudes: Images that Form Leadership Habits and Attitudes; Wright Lassiter, chancellor of the Dallas County Commun-ity College District; and John Tolson, former chaplain for several professional sports teams.