Julio Guarneri: Advancing the Great Commission, perhaps to its completion

Julio Guarneri has been the lead pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in McAllen a little more than six years. From deep in the heart of one Texan, he shares his background and thoughts on ministry. To suggest a Baptist General Convention of Texas-affiliated minister to be featured in this column, or to apply to be featured, click here.

Background

• Where else have you served in ministry, and what were your positions there?

Getsemani Baptist Church, Fort Worth, senior pastor, 17 years

Segunda Iglesia Bautista, Corpus Christi, minister of education and youth, 2½ years

Shalom Baptist Mission, Corpus Christi, pastor, 2 years

Primera Iglesia Bautista, Taft, pastor, 1 year

Calallen Baptist Church, Corpus Christi, youth minister, 1 year

Calvary Baptist Mission, Freer, pastor, 1 year

Everything before Getsemani was pre-seminary graduation; before Segunda was pre-college graduation.

• Where did you grow up?

I was born in Mexico City, went to elementary school in Monterrey, Mexico, went to junior high in Edinburg, Texas, and to high school in Beeville and Freer, Texas.

• How did you come to faith in Christ?

Growing up in a minister’s home, I heard the gospel since a very early age. I made a profession of faith—or several—in my early childhood. However, I distinctly remember trusting Christ in a very real and meaningful way at the age of 7 while my mother taught my Sunday school class. For the first time since I had heard the story of Jesus’ death on the cross, it reached my heart, and I realized I needed his forgiveness. I gave my heart to Jesus then.

• Where were you educated, and what degrees did you receive?

Texas A&I University, Kingsville: bachelor of science in secondary education

Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fort Worth: master of arts in religious education

Dallas Baptist University, Dallas: doctor of philosophy in leadership studies

Ministry/church

• Why do you feel called into ministry?

Growing up as a PK, I decided early on that I would not go into ministry. However, at the age of 16, while attending Congreso (the Hispanic youth evangelism conference) at Houston Baptist University, I felt a compelling call to ministry. I surrendered to God’s call on my life to be part of the generation that would advance the Great Commission, perhaps to its completion.

• What is your favorite aspect of ministry? Why?

There are so many things I love about ministry. I enjoy the opportunity to pray with people, to listen, to encourage, to be with them in moments of great joy—like weddings, baby dedications, baptisms and graduation—and to be with them in moments of great hardship—like funerals and personal crisis.

I love the opportunity to lead God’s people to do things together that we could never accomplish alone. I love proclaiming and teaching God’s word. I enjoy sharing meals and enjoying fellowship with children, students, couples and senior adults.

• How do you expect congregational life to change in the next 10 to 20 years?

I cannot begin to imagine the different ways in which congregational life will change in the next 10 to 20 years. I anticipate church members will value relationships more than the organization. I anticipate younger generations will be passionate about making a difference and will look for leaders who will equip them, empower them and release them for ministry. I anticipate churches will have to learn how to do more with less.

• What qualities do you look for in a congregation?

Several qualities are desirable in a congregation. I will address these by asking five questions:

1. Does the church display a love for God and for God’s word?

2. Do the members of the church relate to ministry, to others and to issues in a spiritual—Christ-like—manner, or are they “carnal” in their approach?

3. Does the church have a passion for reaching the lost in its community and around the world?

4. Do the members respect the leadership of the pastor, while at the same time sharing a commitment to lead and serve?

5. Does the congregation love people in its context, even when they have opinions and lifestyles they disagree with, or do they have a judgmental attitude toward everyone who is not like them?

• What do you wish more laypeople knew about ministry or, specifically, your ministry?

I wish more laypeople knew how important they are to the ministry of the church.

I wish more laypeople lived with the confidence that God has called them and gifted them for ministry.

I wish more laypeople realized they can be and are God’s change agents in their own sphere of influence.

About Baptists

• What are the key issues facing Baptists—denominationally and/or congregationally?

I believe there are at least five key issues facing Baptists in Texas—though not exclusively. They have to do with pastoral ministry, leadership, discipleship, stewardship and Baptist identity.

1. Pastoral Ministry. The key issue regarding pastoral ministry has to do with pastor-church transitions. Our process of pastors resigning and search committees finding the next pastor often assumes certain things that are no longer true in Texas Baptist church life. The result often is painful for incoming pastors and churches.

When our churches were more similar to each other and our educational institutions had more uniformity, this process was easier. However, in our current context, churches and pastors need to develop more sophisticated processes to find the right fit and to transition in a smoother way. Churches and pastors could use help from outside themselves in this area without betraying the autonomy of the local church.

2. Leadership. We seem to have a gap in congregational leadership, both ordained and lay leaders. We need to develop leaders who can lead our congregations to be relevant change agents in our changing world.

3. Discipleship. Pastors and churches must keep the Great Commission as the main thing. To make disciples of all nations should be our priority, and we need to do it well. I call it making missional disciples.

In other words, our task is to make disciples who live on mission and consequently make other disciples who live on mission. This is not a program, a course, or a curriculum, but it is the purpose and the outcome that permeates everything a church does.

4. Stewardship. For decades, we have seen the decline in giving in our local churches and for our denomination, specifically the Cooperative Program. We need to find ways to teach and invite Millennials to invest in the work of the local church and the kingdom, while we need churches to be creative about how to do more with less.

One of the dangers churches and the denomination face is getting in a survival mode, where our budgets exist to support our personnel and buildings. We need churches, associations and conventions with a vision to do great things for God’s glory. We need churches, associations and conventions that understand they are there to serve the community and the churches, respectively not to maintain their own organization. Money follows vision.

5. Baptist identity. We need to continue teaching Baptist identity. There have been great efforts on the part of the state convention in this regard, but it seems it is not getting to the pews. While I am a firm believer that we are Christians before we are Baptists and that we should have a partnership attitude with other denominations in advancing the gospel, I also believe it is important to know who we are and where we come from. We do so with humility but also with confidence.

One of the primary areas I have observed in this regard has to do with religious liberty. When many of the people in our pews talk about the relationship of church and state and about religious liberty, they are echoing what other faith traditions believe or what a particular political stance is. We need to remember our founders died and were imprisoned to maintain a stance of religious liberty for all—for us and for everyone else—Catholics, Protestants, Jews, Muslims and atheists. That’s our heritage, and it should be our legacy too.

About Julio

• Who were/are your mentors, and how did/do they influence you?

My mentors have been my dad; my mom; Stan Harlan, my first BSU director; Ted Eaton, my first boss on church staff at Calallen, Corpus Christi; Leobardo Garcia, Primera, Corpus Christi; Isaac Rodriguez, Segunda, Corpus Christi; Salvador Cervantes, El Mesias, Corpus Christi; Rugiero Izaguirre, Tierra Prometida, McAllen; Eliseo Alpape, BGCT; Bernie Spooner, BGCT; Charles McLaughlin, BGCT; Frank Palos, BGCT; Milfred Minatrea, BGCT; Bill Tinsley, Worldconnex; Daniel Sanchez, Southwestern Seminary; Karen Bullock, Southwestern Seminary and DBU; Bob Garrett, DBU; Leo Jimenez, lay leader and business owner in Fort Worth; Rudy Sanchez; Gus Reyes; and Albert Reyes, among others. (I’m sure I will remember others after I submit this!)

They each influenced me in different ways. They all have been good examples of ministry and leadership. I often have learned from their successes and good practices. Sometimes, I have learned from their mistakes. I have developed as a leader because they each either entrusted me and/or encouraged me in ministry. They cheered me on and often gave me very helpful advice.

I also have been shaped and influenced by peers who also have encouraged me, taught me a lot and become my friends. Among them are Moises Rodriguez, Daniel “Tiny” Dominguez, Jeronimo Aviles, Sergio Ramos, Octavio Esqueda, Jeff Sanders, Jay Harris, Tony Celelli, Rolando Rodriguez, Gabriel Cortes and Jesse Rincones, among others.

A good pastor needs good mentors and good peers.

• What is the impact of ministry on your family?

My wife and I are both PKs. So, going into ministry, we were sensitive about how our children would experience church and ministry.

Personally, there were two things that were important to me: (1) to not neglect my family for the sake of ministry and (2) to not let the church treat my family in a way that would distance them from the gospel.

Although I have meant well in the first aspect, I often have come short, especially when I was in full-time ministry and a full-time student at seminary and my children were young. The second aspect has been almost a non-issue, because the churches I have served have been very gracious to my wife and children.

All in all, my wife and children have felt like the church has been our extended family. They each love the church and love the Lord. My older two children (Josh and Rachel), who already have attended college, are pursuing a ministry call on their lives. I could not be happier about that.

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