Posted: 11/14/03

Messengers wouldn't bite on challenge to Baylor nominee

By Mark Wingfield

Managing Editor

LUBBOCK–A nominee to fill the unexpired term of a Baylor University regent who resigned this fall was challenged on the floor of the Baptist General Convention of Texas annual session Nov. 10.

The BGCT's Committee to Nominate Institution Boards nominated John Reimers of Beaumont to fill the seat vacated this fall by Duane Brooks, pastor of Tallowood Baptist Church in Houston. Because Brooks' resignation came after the nominating committee had completed most of its work, the nomination for his replacement was not published along with the larger slate of nominees prior to the convention. Instead, it was printed in the first-day convention Bulletin.

Brooks resigned from the Baylor board after critics of the university's leadership pointed out that his service violated the BGCT's policies. His brother, David Brooks, is Baylor's chief financial officer.

Brooks was among the 25 percent of Baylor's board elected by the BGCT. The remaining 75 percent are elected by the Baylor board.

According to BGCT policy, the task of nominating someone to fill Brooks' unexpired term fell to the nominating committee and specifically its Baylor subcommittee. The committee operates through subcommittees for each institution. The subcommittees are comprised of members of the larger committee, along with representatives of the institution board and other Texas Baptists.

The Baylor subcommittee this year is chaired by Baylor regent Howard Batson, pastor of First Baptist Church of Amarillo.

That subcommittee recommended Reimers, who is a dentist and member of First Baptist Church of Beaumont.

When the slate of nominees was presented to the convention by CNIB Chairman Jordan Mills of First Baptist Church of Dumas, the Reimers nomination was challenged by Wayne Hodge, a member of Tallowood.

Hodge wanted the convention to fill his pastor's vacated spot on the Baylor board with another member of his church, Fred Cameron. Cameron is a former Baylor regent and former president of the Baylor Alumni Association.

“Baylor deserves the best, and I believe Fred is the best for this position,” Hodge said.

Mills responded that “all nominees are in compliance with BGCT and institution guidelines” and said he recommended following the committee's original nomination.

BGCT President Bob Campbell called for anyone who desired to speak in favor of amending the committee's report to do so. When no one rose to speak in favor of Hodge's motion, Campbell recognized Batson, who urged the convention to vote for Reimers.

“I ask the convention to trust the committee process,” Batson said, describing Reimers as having a “blue-chip Baylor resume” and being a “committed moderate.”

The motion to substitute Cameron for Reimers failed, with only a smattering of votes for Hodge's motion.

All other nominees for BGCT boards and committees were approved without discussion.

Posted: 11/14/03

Baptist University of Americas named

By Russ Dilday

Buckner News Service

LUBBOCK–A new name for Hispanic Baptist Theological School was approved by messengers to the Baptist General Convention of Texas annual session Nov. 10.

After approving the new name, Baptist University of the Americas, messengers gave a standing ovation to the school and its president, Albert Reyes.

The action came during the BGCT Executive Board report given by Executive Board Chairman Brian Harbour, pastor of First Baptist Church of Richardson.

The restated articles of incorporation reflect the name change as well as the school's relation to the BGCT through the Christian Education Coordinating Board rather than the State Missions Commission.

“We have a responsibility for the Americas and beyond,” Reyes said. “And we pray that through the work of the Baptist University of the Americas and your continued support, that we have not seen the best days of what we call Texas Baptists.”

In other business, messengers approved by acclamation motions brought by Harbour from the Executive Board to:

Request that the BGCT president appoint a committee to work with the Executive Board staff in reviewing all BGCT documents and bring a report to the 2004 convention concerning recommended changes.

Approve a second reading of constitutional amendments regarding trustee selection and charter changes. The amendments call for changes in the trustee selection process, namely for the self-nomination of 25 percent of trustees for affiliated institutions that desire to do so.

Messengers also heard a report from BGCT Chief Financial Officer David Nabors, who noted that although Cooperative Program giving has declined over the past few years, current receipts are up about 1 percent over the same period last year.

“As we approach the end of 2003, we expect to be at about 88 percent of our (2003) goal,” he said, adding that BGCT ministries had been operating “at about 90 percent of budget.”

Posted: 11/14/03

Wade pledges openness to change, calls Texans to cooperate

By Mark Wingfield

Managing Editor

LUBBOCK–The Baptist General Convention of Texas Executive Board staff is willing to meet changing needs of churches, Executive Director Charles Wade said in his report to the BGCT annual session Nov. 10.

"Nothing we do has to continue to be done just because it is what we have always done," he said. "We should ask questions about how what we do relates to our priorities and our passion."

BGCT Executive Director Charles Wade called Texas Baptists to cooperate in missions and ministry to reach a needy state and world with the gospel.

He added: “Our staff is committed not to promote their own programs or pet projects, but to listen to you and your church so that together you can find the best resources that are available to help you achieve your vision, advance the kingdom and be the presence of Christ in the world.”

However, Wade refuted the notion that all denominational ties have become obsolete, like a bridge that leads nowhere.

“All around us are signs that God's people and local churches want to do missions and develop strategies in fresh ways,” Wade reported.

The work of the BGCT is to “help awaken and stimulate our Texas Baptist people and churches so they can become faithful participants in God's kingdom work,” Wade said.

Through cooperative missions, Texas Baptists multiply their resources just like the mustard seed spoken of by Jesus that blossoms into one of the largest of plants.

And advancing Christ's kingdom should be the measure of where cooperative resources are expended, he suggested. “Nothing we are doing has to continue being done if it does not help us advance all the interests of the Redeemer's kingdom.”

Starting churches remains a passion for Texas Baptists, Wade reported, noting a net gain of 1,920 congregations in the last decade.

“We must continue with an aggressive program of church multiplication. Why? The latest estimate is that Texas will add 1.7 million more people to our population total in the next five years.”

Wade also commended the launch of the BGCT's new missions network, WorldconneX, calling it “a new way to build a bridge that helps us go into all the world.”

He listed three priorities that “need to happen in Texas” if the BGCT will help churches advance the kingdom of God:

To provide students and support for the Texas Baptist universities and seminaries. “The future of our missions and ministry vision as Texas Baptists is in the hearts of our young people. … Our churches 10, 20 years from now will be no stronger than the quality of theological education and leadership development we provide now for our young men and women whom God is calling to service.”

To continue developing Bible study curriculum options “What happens in our Sunday Schools will have far greater impact on how ordinary Baptist people understand their calling, their responsibility, their opportunity and their resources than any other single thing that happens in most of our Baptist churches,” he explained.

To support the BGCT Adopted Budget.

Posted: 11/14/03

Motions call for study of HBU's ties and funds for restorative justice

By Mark Wingfield

Managing Editor

LUBBOCK–The Baptist General Convention of Texas will evaluate the implications of Houston Baptist University's fraternal relationship with a competing state Baptist convention.

The BGCT Administrative Committee also has been asked to find a way to give an additional $250,000 to restorative justice ministries in 2004.

Robert Creech, pastor of University Baptist Church in Houston, joins other messengers in voting on an issue during the Baptist General Convention of Texas annual session. At the Lubbock meeting, messengers agreed with Creech in calling for an evaluation of the BGCT's relation with Houston Baptist University. (Eric Guel/BGCT Photo)

Both actions were taken in response to motions made from the floor of the BGCT annual session in Lubbock Nov. 10-11.

The motion on HBU was made by Robert Creech, pastor of University Baptist Church in Houston. Creech is an HBU alumnus, former faculty member and former trustee.

He asked the BGCT Christian Education Coordinating Board to “evaluate fully the implications of Houston Baptist University entering into a fraternal relationship with another state convention and to clarify the status of the relationship between HBU and the BGCT, including future levels of funding provided by the BGCT to support HBU.”

In 2001, the BGCT finalized an agreement with HBU to resolve a dispute that began when the university unilaterally amended its charter to declare a self-perpetuating board. Previously, the BGCT elected all the school's board members.

After months of negotiation, both sides ratified a document granting the BGCT the right to name one-fourth of the board and pledging that HBU maintain a “unique affiliation” with the BGCT by “not affiliating or establishing a relationship with other denominations, conventions or religious entities.”

However, in September, HBU trustees affirmed a fraternal relationship with the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention while at the same time declaring a desire to maintain its relationship with the BGCT.

Creech told messengers the action four years ago to create a self-perpetuating board was HBU's “first step of distancing itself from the BGCT.”

The subsequent agreement between the BGCT and HBU “explicitly promised not to align with any other state convention,” Creech asserted. “The spirit if not the letter of that agreement” has been compromised. “However carefully one parses the phrases, … the very heart of that good-faith agreement has been called into question.”

When given the opportunity to speak against Creech's motion, no one did so. The motion passed with little if any opposition.

By convention action, the coordinating board must report to the BGCT Executive Board no later than May 2004.

The motion regarding funding for restorative justice ministries was made by David Valentine of First Baptist Church of Huntsville.

He urged that the BGCT Administrative Committee “be strongly encouraged to find a way to secure $250,000 in the fiscal year 2004” for restorative justice ministries. The 2004 BGCT budget allocates $30,000 to restorative justice ministries.

Inmates, ex-inmates and their families represent one-third of the unchurched population of Texas, Valentine said. He spoke about the work of First Baptist Church of Huntsville in ministering to inmates upon their release. Within the next 12 months, 60,000 inmates will leave Texas prisons, he noted.

Kevin Dotson of Immanuel Baptist Church in Amarillo spoke against the motion, although not against prison ministry.

“We can only do so much,” he pleaded, noting the BGCT already has cut its budget more than 10 percent. “How can we justify a new quarter-million project?”

Steve Dominy of First Baptist Church in Gatesville spoke for the motion, calling restorative justice a “vital and important ministry” and noting that the state has cut funding for prison chaplains by a third.

The motion was adopted with little opposition.

Posted: 11/14/03

BGCT session gives survey of black Baptist history

By Craig Bird

Texas Baptist Communications

LUBBOCK–What if black Baptists offered a church history class and a bunch of white folks came?

Not only came, but heard how plantation owners encouraged or required their slaves to attend church. How the owners wanted their slaves to understand the biblical commands to obey and not steal. And how pre-Civil War black preachers delivered double entendre sermons that sounded submissive and safe to any white who happened to listen in, but their congregations heard as a call to freedom and dignity.

That's what happened the first morning of the 2003 annual session of the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

Forty-seven people, 60 percent of them white, participated in a breakout session on black Baptist church history in Texas. Andre Punch, black church consultant for the BGCT, was the primary presenter.

While bluntly acknowledging the pains and difficulties inherent in the “peculiar paternalism” that marked early and on-going relationships between white and black Baptists in America, Punch pointed out common interests and beliefs that have bound the two ethnic groups together.

Prominent among them:

The egalitarian concept of redemption.

Congregational rule that allowed each church to formulate its own forms of worship and call its own pastor.

Baptism by immersion, which appealed to blacks not only on biblical grounds but because of the similarity to a West African spiritual tradition of a water ceremony signifyng new life.

During a question-and-answer session, Punch was asked what white Texas Baptists could do to reach out to African-American Baptists. “Welcome them, celebrate their culture as well as your own. Have some of the joint meetings at their church,” he advised.

Near the end of the session, Punch noted that historically and today, church for many African-Americans provides a weekly refuge.

“African-Americans are scattered and often have few opportunities to enjoy their culture,” he said. “Often Sunday is a time of returning to that culture and familiar forms of worship where they can rest and heal from a week of battling.”

The room rang with amens.

Posted: 11/14/03

Be an army of one in ministry, McBride urges

By Mark Wingfield

Managing Editor

LUBBOCK–Texas Baptists should be an army of one, moving out as the presence of Christ in a lost world, Paul McBride urged.

McBride, pastor of Friendship Baptist Church in The Colony, delivered the convention sermon during the Baptist General Convention of Texas annual session Nov. 11. Speaking on Veteran's Day, McBride recalled his own service in the United States Army. Although moving on different fronts, the Army marched in coordination with the Air Force, Marines and Navy, he insisted.

Paul McBride

“We were all one army for one nation, and we were serving to the glory of God,” McBride said. “I don't know where your church may be, but we're not separate and apart. We may be ministering in a different area, but when we come together, we are one family working to the glory of God.”

He urged Texas Baptists to unite within the BGCT as “the best thing going.” He added: “God … has called us out that we may do a work together.”

McBride preached from the Book of Acts, where the Apostle Paul answered God's call to take the gospel into Macedonia. He specifically referenced the account of a woman named Lydia, whom Paul found in Macedonia, praying to know more about God.

Texas Baptists should be like Paul and Lydia, he urged.

More than 160 million people in America don't profess to have any religious attachment, he noted. “Do we ever think where they're going to spend eternity?”

He urged Baptists to see the world as God sees it. “Do you see the lost and hurting who are dying?” he asked. “What value do we put in a soul?”

Texas Baptists should be willing to go and then shouldn't waste time getting where God sends them, McBride declared.

That may require letting go of the past, he added. “The future is now, but the past is still yet. We're still grasping on to much of the past. Somehow, Paul says, we've got to forget those things that are behind us and go forward to those things that are ahead of us.

“Go back to where you came from,” he urged. “Tell them about the presence of Christ.”

Posted: 11/14/03

Crossover Lubbock warms hearts on High Plains

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

LUBBOCK–Hundreds of High Plains residents found shelter from chilly temperatures in the warm welcome of Baptist church members during evangelistic outreach prior to the Baptist General Convention of Texas annual session.

Texas Baptists invited their neighbors to block parties and revivals and shared the gospel through inner-city outreach teams during Crossover Lubbock, a cooperative outreach between the BGCT and Lubbock Baptist Association.

Brandon Parker (left) and Armando Riojas play a basketball game during Nueva Vida Baptist Church's evangelistic block party Nov. 8. (Nan Dickson/BGCT Photo)

The work brought nearly half the churches in the association together to impact their communities for Christ.

“We share the same dreams and hopes,” said Manny Longoria, pastor of Iglesia Bautista Templo. “It's really been a shot in the arm for churches.”

His church's fall festival featured a cake walk, praise-and-worship band and children's games based on Bible stories.

“We're all about reaching our community,” said Margie Oswalt, who directed the effort. “We're here for them. There's a place here for them and their families.”

By reaching out, Longoria hoped the congregation could change the image some people have of Christians.

“A lot of people have their image of Christians as sour-faced and judgmental people who don't have freedom to do anything,” he said. “I want them to know following Jesus is not a dreary life. They can find acceptance here and can find a new life.”

In all, 348 professions of faith in Jesus Christ were recorded through Crossover Lubbock ministries. Forty-nine Lubbock-area Baptist churches and members of eight Baptist churches from around the state participated.

The blitz included 63 events, ranging from block parties to fall festivals to an international gathering at the Texas Tech Baptist Student Ministry.

Posted: 11/14/03

Hunt still on for Texas Baptist Men executive director

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

LUBBOCK–Texas Baptist Men continues looking for a permanent executive director.

Outgoing President Andy Andreason announced Nov. 9 that the search committee has made significant progress but is not ready to nominate someone for the position. He made the report during the organization's annual meeting, which preceded the Baptist General Convention of Texas annual session in Lubbock.

Kevin Walker of Fort Worth, chairman of the personnel and search committees as well as the newly elected president of Texas Baptist Men, reported during the organization's Nov. 8 executive board meeting that the search committee has surveyed Texas Baptist Men to learn their desires for a leader, sifted through resumes and interviewed five people.

Garland Clark (left) and E.D. Morgan receive Silver Hammer awards from Texas Baptist Men for outstanding service as retiree builders.

Although Andreason and Walker indicated they would like to see someone nominated at the organization's February board meeting, they said they are awaiting God's lead.

“It is imperative to have God's man,” Andreason said. “God willing, we will present that man at the February meeting.”

Meanwhile, Texas Baptist Men is re-evaluating when is the ideal time to hold its annual meeting. The event historically has been held in conjunction with the BGCT annual session.

Earlier this year, the autonomous BGCT-funded ministry entered into a “fraternal relationship” with the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention while affirming its “unique relationship” with the BGCT. The SBTC was formed by former BGCT churches that desired a closer relationship to the SBC.

Andreason expressed concern that some members of Texas Baptist Men who affiliate with SBTC churches might be reluctant to attend a meeting so closely tied to the BGCT annual session. He suggested it might be better to convene prior to the SBTC annual meeting, because it falls earlier in the year.

The SBTC annual meeting typically falls in the latter half of October, while the BGCT typically meets in early November.

Andreason appointed a committee to study when Texas Baptist Men should hold its annual meeting.

Andreason said the committee would attempt to meet with Charles Wade, BGCT executive director, and Jim Richards, SBTC executive director, before making a recommendation.

Executive board members also were told the SBTC had sought to retain the identification of its unique disaster relief units. SBTC churches currently have constructed two chainsaw clean-up units.

However, those units will move into action when called upon by Texas Baptist Men.

Executive Director Emeritus Bob Dixon of Dallas pointed out during the meeting that more members of SBTC churches were in leadership positions than BGCT church members during the relief effort related to Hurricane Claudette.

Nevertheless, Andreason reaffirmed the unique relationship with the BGCT in comments after the board meeting.

“We will always be wed to the BGCT,” he said. “We will never separate from the BGCT in my lifetime.”

In other business, Texas Baptist Men presented Silver Hammer awards, given to outstanding retiree builders, to E.D. Morgan of Trinity and Garland Clark of Gary.

This year's Parabaloni Award, granted to a member who risks his life to spread the gospel through the organization's ministries, was presented to Dick Talley of Dallas, logistics coordinator, who helped develop water purification systems in war-torn Iraq during the past year.

Talley then recognized Interim Executive Director Leo Smith for his leadership during the past year.

Posted: 11/14/03

In celebration of the 90th birthday of the missions education program Girls in Action, GAs and GA leaders participated in a processional of world flags.

WMU: Tell the generations

By Teresa Young

Wayland Baptist University

LUBBOCK–Share missions with the coming generations, leaders urged during the 123rd annual meeting of Texas Woman's Missionary Union.

Based on a Scripture passage in Deuteronomy, the theme “Tell the Generations” was carried throughout the program at First Baptist Church of Lubbock. The program featured families in various segments who displayed generations of missions involvement.

Missionary Sheila Mitchell gave her testimony, explaining how she helps tell the generations in her work as executive director of DaySpring Villa, a shelter for homeless women and children in Tulsa, Okla.

Journeyman Kathy McCammon. (Nan Dickson/BGCT Photo)

Mitchell credited adult influence in her decision to serve: “Because adults cared enough to teach me, I answered God's call to serve in Oklahoma. We need to ask God, 'What is it you want me to do?'”

Her work involves meeting physical needs of women and children, many of whom are fleeing domestic violence situations. Through this ministry, she finds opportunities to share God's love and grace with those families, she said.

“They need a home, not only here on earth, but also in heaven. God didn't tell me to take care of everybody, but he told me to do something with the ones he places in front of me.”

In her report, Texas WMU Executive Director Carolyn Porterfield shared the stage with Leo Endel, director of the Minnesota-Wisconsin Baptist Convention. Texas Baptists have a long association with Baptists in that region, and Porterfield recently spent nine days there.

Endel recounted that the first Baptist church in Minnesota-Wisconsin was started in 1953 by Texans. “You're really our parents,” he said. “Every one of our 152 churches has a strong Texas connection.”

The northern region first petitioned the Baptist General Convention of Texas for membership as an association in the mid-1950s, and that partnership has helped the area grow in church starts, he explained.

Texas Tech women's basketball coach Marsha Sharp.

However, the needs for evangelization remain great, he said. Currently, 4 percent of the population in Minnesota and Wisconsin is associated with an evangelical church.

“Your resources have allowed us to plant churches we might never have been able to,” Endel said. “Your people have moved here to help lead us. Many of our churches are pastored by Texans.”

In celebration of the 90th birthday of the missions education program Girls in Action, GAs and GA leaders participated in a processional of world flags, and GAs later helped take up the offering for the WMU endowment.

Three generations of one family gathered on the stage to share their heritage of missions. Kelly McCammon, a journeyman who recently returned from two years in Kosovo, said her parents and grandparents played a vital role in her missions interest.

“My family raised me to know that I should go out and share Jesus, from my participation in GAs and onward,” McCammon said.

Her father, Joe McCammon of Mesquite, credited his parents as well. “My parents taught missions and a servanthood lifestyle,” he said. “It was a joy to see that zeal and a joy to pass it on.”

Kelly McCammon first visited Kosovo with her mother, Debra, in 1999 on a mission trip and felt God's call to serve there. She returned in 2001 as an English teacher and worked in lifestyle ministry, building relationships to allow her to share the Christian gospel in the Muslim country.

Texas WMU officers Kathy Hillman, president; Edna Wood, recording secretary; Laura Harris, first vice president; Shirley McDonald, second vice president; and Nina Pinkston, third vice president.

Texas WMU President Kathy Hillman of Waco shared her report time with Marsha Sharp, head coach of the Texas Tech University women's basketball team. Both spoke about the impact of missions education on their lives as young girls.

Sharp shared her earliest memories of missions participation as a child in Roswell, N.M., where her mother served as the Girls in Action leader at South Manor Baptist Church.

Passing the torch to younger Baptists is vital, she said. “There is not one thing we leave the next generation that is as important as what we're talking about tonight. The things we do for those who will follow us should be something we give thought to daily. My career means nothing if it doesn't lead me to a platform to affect people's lives for Christ.”

Hillman closed with encouragement for members to keep spreading the gospel and supporting missions endeavors that “tell the generations.”

“I'm grateful that a generation of Texas Baptists helped me grow,” Hillman said. “Unless we tell the story, the next generation will not be told.”

Posted: 11/14/03

PINSON:
How to make a Baptist

By Marv Knox

Editor

LUBBOCK–Despite their diversity, Baptists are made from the same recipe, Bill Pinson told seminar participants at the Baptist General Convention of Texas annual session.

Pinson, the BGCT's executive director emeritus, presented 400 years of Baptist heritage, beliefs and polity in 30 minutes during a breakout session at the convention's meeting in Lubbock.

He compared the recipe for making a Baptist to the ingredients in cornbread, noting regional influences may change the precise flavor, but the end result still is cornbread.

The same is true for Baptists, he added, noting seven ingredients are vital for being a Baptist. They are:

The Lordship of Jesus Christ. Jesus is Lord over all personal and denominational life, he stressed.

“The Bible as the sole written authority for faith and practice.”

“Salvation by grace alone through faith alone–not by baptism, church membership, good works, sacrament or anything else–and the security of the believer.”

The priesthood of the believer. This trait implies individual privilege and responsibility, but it also involves priesthood of believers, corporately exercising this principle as a group.

Believer's baptism. Baptists historically have baptized only individuals who have made public personal decisions to follow Christ, he noted. However, unlike Baptists today, early Baptists practiced baptism by sprinkling, not immersion, until they “got it right.”

Symbolic understanding of baptism and the Lord's Supper. Pinson said he is somewhat disturbed when people say these Baptist ordinances are “merely symbolic,” noting: “They're not merely symbolic. They're more than that. But they're not sacramental, either.”

Religious freedom and separation of church and state, which have been Baptist distinctives since their earliest years, both in England and in America.

Baptists also share common polity, or the way they practice church, Pinson reported, citing four items:

A born-again church membership. Baptists insisted on counting as members of the church people who have had a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, he said.

For this practice, they were persecuted, he added. Kings and other church leaders despised this Baptist practice because it undermined their control over the people.

Congregational church governance. Baptists' governance isn't exactly democratic, because, although members vote and make decisions democratically, God is the head of the church, he said, calling Baptists' practice “Theo-democratic.”

Local-church autonomy. “Every church is independent,” Pinson said. “Everything (whether it's state or national in scope) relates to the local church.”

Voluntary cooperation. This principle has enabled Baptists to accomplish many things, he said, noting both parts of the term are important. “Baptist cooperation is voluntary; it is not coerced. And it is cooperative; we do together what no one can do separately.”

Because of their beliefs and practices, Baptists have made two significant contributions to the religious world, Pinson stressed.

“Baptists led the way in the struggle for religious freedom,” he said.

For example, Early American Virginia Baptist pastor John Leland was instrumental in working with James Madison to secure guarantees for religious liberty in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, he explained.

“Baptists also led the way in missions advance,” he added.

While many early Baptists believed God would save those people God chose to save and therefore they didn't need to do missions, since 1792, Baptists have been world leaders in taking the gospel around the globe, he said.

Posted: 11/14/03

BGCT program signs, seals and delivers missions emphasis

By Craig Bird

Texas Baptist Communications

LUBBOCK–It started with the slow, stirring wail of a single bagpipe. It ended with a pastor-wife team from a 17-member congregation that puts it money and its time where its heart is.

In between, the Nov. 10 evening crowd at the Baptist General Convention of Texas annual session heard about:

Handing out cold water and prayer at a fair.

Choral tours as evangelism in Spain.

Don Robinson (center) talks with Otis and Christine Cooks about what God is doing through Cornelius Baptist Church in Lubbock, where Cooks is pastor.

Students testing well water in rural villages in Muslim Southeast Asia.

Hauling medical supplies via backpack into the interior of Costa Rica.

Wrapping Christ's love in Halloween candy.

Ministry via chainsaw.

A mission connection among Baptist churches in Duncanville, Lubbock and Rio Bravo.

It was missions night, and the single message was presented in numerous ways: All Texas Baptists are called by God to missions; the myriad options mean there are no valid excuses not to be faithful to that call.

The presentation mixed video clips, orchestral pieces, solos and congregational singing, skits, live interviews, letters and numerous personal testimonies to show the scope of how Texas Baptists are doing missions.

Student summer missionaries told of leading Bible studies in the parks of Vancouver, British Columbia, where Chinese immigrants made professions of faith in Christ and of a water safety project in Southeast Asia that distributed more than 3,000 copies of the Gospel of Luke in 130 villages.

Broadview Baptist Church in Lubbock reported on its Halloween ministry to a mobile-home park that involved church volunteers from youth to an 80-year-old woman. One resident, facing eviction after losing his job, met a Broadview member who was personnel director of a local company and who helped him get a new job. There were 12 professions of faith in Christ among the 300 residents who participated.

Kris and Shelly Riggs, IMB missionaries in West Africa reported on their work via video.

Texas Baptist Men volunteer Bob Mayfield reported on 14 projects ranging from Royal Ambassador camps to work in Iraq, China and Nicaragua.

Sylvia and Richard Magallenas testified to their call to missions with a small church in Rio Bravo while they were members of First Baptist Church Duncanville, how a job transfer took them to Primera Iglesia Bautista in Lubbock and they connected their former church home to their new one in a partnership.

First Baptist Church in Arlington reported on a trip to Costa Rica last summer involving 24 people, each hefting 35-pound backpacks and hiking three days to a remote area to do medical/dental missions.

Wayland Baptist University's choir tour in Spain provided numerous instances where “God arranged it so we could share our faith despite the language barrier,” a speaker said.

Otis Cooks, pastor of Cornelius Chapel Baptist Church in Lubbock, and his wife, Christine, told how “the smallest church in the BGCT” with just 17 members makes significant contributions to the Texas Baptist Cooperative Program. Through cooperative giving, the small congregation helps start churches and do missions far beyond their community, he said. “You can't beat God in giving. Whenever we get more than $500 in offerings, we find somebody to give it to.”

At the conclusion of the missions presentation, messengers and guests gave $12,022 to the Mary Hill Davis Offering for Texas missions.

Posted: 11/14/03

Lubbock woman challenges MSC volunteers to dream

By Teresa Young

Wayland Baptist University

LUBBOCK–Shirley Madden just smiles when she hears people say her dream facility can't be completed. To her, that's a sure sign God has great things in store.

Madden testified of her work with the Christian Women's Job Corps in Lubbock to fellow Mission Service Corps volunteers at their annual breakfast held in conjunction with the Baptist General Convention of Texas annual session in Lubbock.

Shirley Madden

Madden, a member of First Baptist Church in Lubbock, said she first got the vision for service in her hometown while working at a government agency and encountering a young mother with a frustrated, crying child.

“I told that girl her baby was crying out for peace and comfort, and as I said that, I became burdened that she didn't know (about Christ), and she didn't know she didn't know. No one was telling her.”

Through Christian Women's Job Corps, a welfare-to-work program started by Woman's Missionary Union, Madden found a means to teach valuable life skills and share her faith. But challenges still loomed for those with whom she worked.

“We'd love on them and encourage them all day and build them up, and then send them home at night to hell,” she said. “We really believed that they really could 'go and sin no more.' I began to dream about his place of peace and solace where women could come and rest.”

The result was My Father's House, a 45,000-square-foot facility currently under construction in southwest Lubbock. Built in great part by Texas Baptist Men, the facility will feature 18 apartments where women will reside while completing the Job Corps program, all the while learning culinary, housekeeping and laundry skills through a partnership with the Texas Tech University department of restaurant, hotel and institutional management.

Although many have doubted the facility would become reality, Madden said her faith has remained strong.

“I began to pray that what God would do in this place would be so off the wall that no one would think any one of us could do it,” she said. “Ask for the impossible; that's the only way he gets the glory.”

Jim Young, director of the Missions Equipping Center of the BGCT, encouraged Mission Service Corps volunteers to tap into the power of the Holy Spirit to do good works and advance the kingdom of God.

“If the church of today is to reach the world of today, it'll be through amateurs, not professionals,” Young said, noting the word amateur means “for the love of.”

“I pray we never lose our amateur status and become professionals doing it for the money, the institution or the status.”

Mission Service Corps has 2,753 volunteers nationwide, with 1,281, or 46.5 percent, coming from the BGCT.