Posted: 5/19/03

Pastors' wives know joy and pain

By Jo Gray

Special to the Standard

Wanted: Adult female to serve without pay. Must be able to function without complaint as secretary, music director, nursery worker, janitor, auxiliary president and fund-raiser. On call 24 hours a day. Cooking abilities a plus. Good sense of humor helpful.

In many churches, this is the unpublished job description of the pastor's wife–perhaps the only profession that has no real job description but is deemed vital to her husband's success.

Lawyers do not depend on their wives to defend clients. Doctors don't need their wives in the operating room. But in many churches, a pastor needs his wife in the ministry.

Pastors' wives sometimes see themselves not only without a title or job description but without an identity.

“I've got a name, and it's not 'The Pastor's Wife,'” said one pastor's wife, summing up her frustration of being identified with her husband's occupation in a way most women are not.

“As soon as I am introduced as the pastor's wife, I know I will be seen as someone to fill a vacancy and provide chicken casseroles when the need calls for it,” said this woman, who asked not to be named.

Other pastors' wives find joy in what they once would have considered obligation. Lisa Newton, for example, has been a pastor's wife nearly 14 years. She currently teaches a Sunday School class of teenagers.

“When I was new to the ministry, I would have felt inadequate to teach,” she explained. “Now I do it because it is in my heart to do so.”

Ruth McKay, another pastor's wife, experienced a clear call from God to be a pastor's wife when she was 14. Today, she also finds personal fulfillment in teaching children at church.

Even after 50 years of being married to a pastor, she feels certain about her own call to serve. “God revealed it to me,” she said.

“You have to be willing and able to answer God's call,” McKay said. “I've done more of what God has wanted me to do rather than what the church wanted.”

Yet expectations often are hard to break.

Newton said she never will forget the time she was asked by a member of a small congregation if she played the piano or sang. When she told the inquirer she did neither, she was asked, “What do you do?”

“People just assume the pastor preaches and you must sing and/or play the piano,” Newton said. “It is part of the role and is often expected of the pastor's wife.”

Sometimes, this expectation becomes part of the job interview if churches are seeking a package deal when hiring the pastor, she said.

One of the hardest things for her as the pastor's wife, Newton said, is losing her own identity.

“As a mother, I am known as Brooklyn's mom or Brittan's mom. And I am known as the pastor's wife. I don't mind being called Lisa.”

The life of a pastor's wife can be lonely at times, Newton said, explaining that she and other pastors' wives live in a situation that, by its nature, limits close personal friendships.

“You're surrounded by people, yet you are often alone,” she said. “I believe this is why many pastors' wives become depressed and somewhat withdrawn. We all need someone we can be honest with and share our feelings with–someone to understand.”

Yet the pastor's wife cannot confide in the women of the church about family issues, because these are the women who confide in her husband when they themselves are faced with the same kind of issues.

“You have to minister to the minister, but there is no one to minister to me,” said one young pastor's wife who asked not to be identified. She fears that to share her real feelings is too big a risk to take.

Another young pastor's wife agrees but said there are times when sharing is important.

“I have learned, so far, that being in the ministry automatically puts you in that fish-bowl status,” said Melissa Adams, who has been a pastor's wife less than two years. “People are always looking for fault, which they will find at some point or another because we are human.”

She echoed Newton's feelings of loneliness.

“That sense of loneliness can soon allow self-doubt to creep into our lives,” she said. “We no longer feel we are doing a good job in any of our roles. The job we have doesn't always produce tangible results. That in itself can make us doubt our self-worth.”

McKay, on the other hand, said she and her husband have always been a part of the community in which they serve, which has given them no lack of friends or the time to feel lonely.

“I recall the words of an old church member who said, 'Being lonely is a sin,'” McKay said. “I'm inclined to agree. I read. I talk to the flowers. I even talk to my toes if need be.”

Jeanie Mayfield fell in love with and married a sailor who had no interest in serving God at the time. She has watched God work in the life of her husband, who currently is a pastor. And now as a pastor's wife, she has had to adjust to expectations that are beyond her expertise.

“I am totally inadequate at taking charge and planning dinners and a lot of functions,” she explained. “This was intimidating at first, but I have learned that God always blesses me with ladies who are very good at this sort of thing.”

Now widowed, Sharon Escobar served as a pastor's wife for more than 40 years. She was 16 years old when she married a minister.

“I was so young and inexperienced that my biggest problem was me,” she said. “I would lay awake at night and worry that I would ruin my husband's life because I was so ignorant.”

Escobar now realizes that a pastor's wife is first of all a human being with the same wants and needs as any other woman. Yet she knows members of the congregation do not always acknowledge this fact.

“I believe our expectations of ministry and the belief that certain things are expected of us as pastor's wives can cause a lot of frustration,” Escobar said, recalling how she felt when she had to be involved in every aspect of church work in her younger days.

“This resulted in a very tired wife and mother,” she said. “Gradually, I learned there has to be a balance in anyone's life if there is to be anything that is worthwhile.”

Success as a minister's wife also requires turning the proverbial “other cheek,” McKay added.

“I have swallowed a lot of hurt,” she said. “But it is better to take the criticism than to break up the church. I've been criticized for hugging, but if I can give a hug, it's one thing I can do that may make a difference.”

Sandy Brooks, too, has learned to deal with the hurtful things people say to her as a pastor's wife. She has served alongside her pastor husband 28 years.

She tries to consider the source and not let words get her down. “Negative remarks usually come from immature Christians,” she explained.

A key to surviving such incidents is to be secure, Brooks added. “We have to be secure in our relationship with our husband. We have to be secure in our relationship with the church, with God and with ourselves.”

And that gets back to calling.

“I believe being a pastor's wife is as much a calling as being called to preach,” Brooks said. “It is a calling, not a chosen profession.”

There is joy to be found in the journey, she insisted.

“Seeing lives change for the positive, that's what keeps us going,” Brooks said. “In the ministry, people come to us seeking help and reassurance. If everything around me is going bad but I can help one person, it is uplifting.”

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.

Posted: 5/19/03

Ministers' families not perfect, Miley says

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

SPICEWOOD–Ministers' wives need to overcome the pressure of perfection and strive for excellence in their lives, according to author Jeanie Miley.

While the stresses placed on ministers is well known, their spouses also face strenuous demands from their congregations and themselves, Miley said during the Baptist General Convention of Texas Ministers' Wives Retreat at Highland Lakes Baptist Encampment.

Many church people expect ministers' wives and families to be perfect at all times, said Miley, herself a minister's wife. With a laugh, she recalled the Sunday morning chaos of her and her children going to church. Each person was running in a different direction, and each person was mad at everyone else.

When they stepped out of the vehicle, however, they smiled “until their teeth were dry,” she said, knowing they were expected to be the picture of perfection.

Such expectations are impossible to reach, Miley reminded the audience. Instead, she encouraged them to try the best they could to be Christ-like.

“We live under this pressure to live perfect lives, which is a bunch of hooey because it's impossible to be perfect,” she said. “That's already been done, and we're not required to be perfect. It stands in the way of being excellent. So give up perfect and try for excellent.”

Being married to a minister does not protect a wife and family from the challenges every family faces, Miley reported. “Life's hard in the minister's home. Life's hard everywhere,” she said. “We're not special, and we need to get over thinking life should treat us one way or another because we're in the ministry.”

Ministers' wives are special in the same respect all humankind is–because they are made in the image of God, Miley said.

And every minister's spouse has spiritual gifts that can contribute to the health of the congregation, she added. Despite this knowledge, many spouses continually hide their talents to let others shine, because they believe that is the expectation, Miley said.

God asks each person to live a life for him, not stick to a “role,” she asserted.

“There is no role you play that is as important as your identity as a human being made in the image of God. And if you are born a woman and live your life as a role and die as a role, how sad.”

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.

Posted: 5/19/03

Loss of 43 missionaries in a day called IMB record

By Mark Wingfield

Managing Editor

The loss of 43 missionaries–including 13 who were fired— represents the largest mass exodus in the history of the Southern Baptist Convention's International Mission Board.

“We've never had anything close to this,” said Alan Lefever, director of the Texas Baptist Historical Collection. “They've never had a controversy in the IMB like this.”

The 43 missionaries who parted ways with the IMB May 7 joined at least 34 others who previously had resigned or retired rather than sign an affirmation of the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message as mandated by IMB President Jerry Rankin.

Names of the 13 terminated missionaries were not released by the IMB, but the list has been compiled by direct confirmation with the missionaries. (See chart at right.) The identities of all missionaries who have resigned or retired rather than sign the faith statement have not yet been ascertained.

Critics of the revised faith statement question its blanket prohibition against woman pastors, consider it to weaken the traditional Baptist doctrines of the autonomy of the local church and priesthood of the believer, and contend it places the Bible in higher esteem than Jesus as a guide to biblical interpretation.

But the primary conflict cited by missionaries is a feeling that signing any faith statement amounts to affirming a creed–something historically anathema to Baptists.

That concern is exemplified in a letter written to a regional IMB leader April 28 by Don and Angie Finley of Brazil, two of the missionaries whose resignations were accepted by the IMB May 7.

They declared they were “not resigning because we have a problem with grassroots Southern Baptists” or “because we have done anything wrong or have something to hide.”

“When a Baptist missionary sending agency demands doctrinal accountability on the basis of a man-made document rather than on the basis of Scripture, something is wrong,” they asserted. “When unnamed critics are taken seriously when they make vague, generalized and unsubstantiated accusations against doctrinally sound and spiritually committed missionaries, … something is wrong. When denominational politics takes precedence over mission priorities, and missionaries themselves are made pawns in a denominational political game, something is wrong.”

News of the IMB trustees' action also drew an expression of sadness from a subcommittee chairman of the Baptist General Convention of Texas Missions Review & Initiatives Committee. Dan Malone, an El Paso attorney, chaired the subcommittee that studied relations with the IMB last year.

“Of the many disappointments and frustrations since the so-called 'conservative resurgence,' the firing of God-called missionaries is far and away the saddest day of all,” Malone said. “I am particularly alarmed that it was President Rankin's request to his IMB trustees to take this action, because he had previously promised that missionaries would never be obligated to sign a doctrinal statement as long as he was president. The pressure placed on him and other IMB leaders must be intense.”

The 13 missionaries who were fired all were long-tenured personnel and represent a combined total of 273 years of service to the IMB.

Rankin and other IMB officials have downplayed the impact of the firings, resignations and retirements, noting that 98 percent of the agency's 5,500 field workers have signed the affirmation.

That is a valid statistic, but but it may not address the issue of what motivated the missionaries to sign, according to Bill O'Brien, former executive vice president of the IMB and global missions strategist now living in Birmingham, Ala.

Stating a yes-no count “doesn't judge the motivation of those who signed or how deeply they agreed with the revised Baptist Faith & Message,” O'Brien said. “We've talked with numerous missionaries who basically said, 'God called me here, and I'll sign in order to keep doing my ministry.' Additionally, you have 'yes' responses ranging from 'This is a wonderful statement of faith' to 'I can live with it.'”

The IMB faces a potential negative impact on morale and unity on the field between those who signed in order to protect their ministries or careers and those who embrace the statement fully, he predicted.

Earlier statements by missionaries confirm O'Brien's assessment that not all who have signed did so out of convictional agreement with the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message:

Rick and Nancy Dill, among those fired, wrote to Rankin in April noting, “The truth is, many missionaries have signed against their conscience because it was imposed upon them.”

The Finleys, in their April 2003 resignation letter, noted “there are those who have encouraged us to sign … so we can continue to fulfill our call.”

Jan and Tim Webb, at a November 2002 meeting in Virginia after they had resigned as missionaries to Mexico, said they considered signing so it would “secure” their ministries and they could “go on with their lives” and that they knew other IMB missionaries who also disagreed philosophically with the statement but were planning to affirm it in order to avoid ending their ministries.

The revised SBC doctrinal statement was the sole issue surrounding the firings. No criticism of the ministries of the dismissed missionaries and no suggestions of immoral or unethical behavior were offered by the IMB.

Texas trustees of the IMB are David Evans of Amarillo, Kyle Cox of Houston, John Hatch of Lake Jackson, Skeet Workman of Ropesville, A.C. Halsell of Plano, Mike Smith of Jacksonville, Hal Kinkeade of Springtown, Albert Lee Green of Lancaster, Stephen Swofford of Rockwall, George Cook of Pasadena, Bob Pearle of Fort Worth and Bill Sutton of McAllen.

With additional reporting by Craig Bird

Missionaries terminated by IMB May 7
Name	Country	IMB Tenure
Ted York	Ghana	29 years
Frances York	Ghana	29 years
Larry Ballew	Macao	10 years
Sarah Ballew	Macao	10 years
David Dixon	Spain	15 years
Susie Dixon	Spain	15 years
Mary Katherine Campbell	Togo	35 years
Rick Dill	Germany	21 years
Nancy Dill	Germany	21 years
Leon Johnson	Mozambique	20 years
Kathy Johnson	Mozambique	20 years
Ron Hankins	Japan	24 years
Lydia Barrow-Hankins	Japan	24 years

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.

Posted: 5/19/03

For her birthday, Texas-born missionary
got a pink slip from the IMB

By Mark Wingfield

Managing Editor

As missionary Susie Dixon celebrated her birthday in Spain May 7, trustees of the International Mission Board were wrapping an unusual present for her–a termination notice.

Dixon and her husband, David, were fired by the IMB on Mrs. Dixon's birthday because they refused to sign an affirmation of the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message as mandated by IMB President Jerry Rankin.

Mrs. Dixon saw the ironic timing as a blessing rather than a curse, however, her husband said. “For her, the fact that the termination vote came on her birthday just meant that there were lots of faithful supporters praying especially for her, enabling her to have a wonderful day in the Lord in spite of what else was happening.”

Southern Baptist missionaries' birthdays are listed on prayer calendars circulated worldwide.

The Dixons both are native Texans. He is from Greggton Baptist Church in Longview, and she is from First Baptist Church of Midland. They previously served at Iglesia Bautista Central and Primera Iglesia Bautista, both in Fort Worth. He is a graduate of the University of North Texas in Denton. She is a graduate of Texas Tech. Both are graduates of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

In Madrid, he is academic dean and professor of Greek, New Testament and theology at the Spanish Baptist Seminary. She teaches in Christian education and discipleship.

In an electronic newsletter to friends dated May 7, the Dixons said they are confident God will carry them through the trial of termination. While IMB trustees declared them not to be working “in accordance with and not contrary to” the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message, “we continue to affirm … that the Lord is sovereign and we are his servants, eager to conduct our lives and ministry in accordance with and not contrary to his word,” they wrote.

After 15 years of service through the IMB, the Dixons will return to Texas in July for two months of “terminal leave” as provided by IMB policy.

By fall, they hope to return to Spain with different financial support.

Before they leave the field, however, the Dixons will host two Texas Baptist volunteer groups in Madrid. The Wayland Baptist University choir and orchestra will arrive May 25, and a team of women from the Baptist General Convention of Texas evangelism office will arrive in June to lead a Women on Mission retreat.

Despite their current circumstance, the Dixons urged Texas Baptists to continue praying for the Christian witness in Spain, considered one of the most secular of the European nations.

The Dixons were among 31 Southern Baptist missionaries given a May 5 deadline by Rankin to either sign the faith statement or resign. Rankin told them they must sign to be “accountable” to the SBC.

But the Dixons questioned whether signing that piece of paper was a true measure of accountability.

“We have to ask whether such accountability should focus solely on those Southern Baptists in attendance at the 2000 convention which approved the current Baptist Faith & Message as the 'official' expression of 'our common faith,” the Dixons wrote in an April 24 letter to Rankin. “We personally know many Southern Baptists who help send and support us on the mission field who do not consider the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message to be an adequate expression of their beliefs. Entire state conventions could be cited as examples. Does their voice no longer matter in the Southern Baptist Convention?”

The Dixons said they chose to be fired rather than resign “for the sake of” those Southern Baptists whose dissent over the Baptist Faith & Message has not been heard. “When you terminate our service with the IMB, are you not sending a message of alienation to these faithful Baptist people to whom we also feel accountable?” they asked Rankin.

The Dixons detailed in their letter numerous ways in which they believe they have been “accountable” to Southern Baptists, including a thorough theological examination upon appointment in 1988, regular reports from the field and interaction with hundreds of volunteers from various states.

Like most other missionaries who refused to sign Rankin's required statement, the Dixons cited an aversion to signing a creed.

“By asking us to submit our ministry to any document other than Scripture, you are turning a corner that Baptists have historically not been willing to turn,” they wrote.

They added: “Southern Baptists have never needed a 'papal' committee to bring about conformity to one sole interpretation of biblical doctrines. … In Spain, our Roman Catholic friends and neighbors have a pope to tell them what the Bible means and how they should interpret it. As Baptists (we) cannot and will not affirm a document that seems to take us in that same authoritarian direction.”

Not even the Holy Spirit always conducts himself “in accordance with and not contrary to the current Baptist Faith & Message,” the Dixons asserted. “We need only witness events in China to discover that he does not: women serving as pastors, evangelists, church planters. They demonstrate that when it comes to winning the lost and gathering them into the kingdom, God uses any instrument available to do his bidding.”

As they return to Texas to regroup, the Dixons asked that Baptists pray not only for them but for their children–Daniel, 19; Joel, 16; and Michael, 10.

Dixon also lost his father to a stroke in April, and he asks prayer for his 90-year-old mother, who is facing several major adjustments.

But most of all, they urge Texas Baptists to pray for the people of Spain, particularly the immigrant population in Spain with whom they have been working closely.

“We'll celebrate our final immigrant meeting of the season on May 24,” they wrote, “and ask that you'd pray with urgency that we'll be able to communicate the Lord's vision to this precious group.”

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.

Posted: 5/19/03

WORSHIP WITNESS:
Texas songwriter Chris Tomlin

By Leann Callaway

Special to the Standard

As Chris Tomlin travels across the country leading thousands of people in worship, he remains true to his Texas Baptist roots.

“I grew up in a Christian home and grew up going to a Baptist church in a small town in Texas, ever since the nursery,” he explained.

While growing up at Main Street Baptist Church in Grand Saline, Tomlin had an intense desire to be used for God. “As a young kid, I had given my heart and said, 'God, whatever you want me to do … .' I didn't pray to be a songwriter or worship leader, anything like that. I just wanted to be God's man and be available to go wherever God would lead me.”

By the time he was a junior at Texas A&M University, Tomlin felt a calling to lead others in worship.

“All through college, God was really starting to open doors for leading worship,” he said. “Around my junior year, I felt like it was a strong opening of the doors. I was kind of at a crossroads as to whether I was going to pursue a career in business or whatever, or whether I was going to walk by faith and follow these doors that God was opening.”

With that inspiration, Tomlin began to pursue a full-time ministry as a songwriter and “lead worshipper”–which he views as a better description of his calling, rather than “worship leader.”

“As God started giving me some songs to write, people were starting to sing these songs. It was a really exciting time. It was also scary because I didn't know how to do ministry as far as a livelihood, but God was faithful.”

Today, his songs like “Forever,” “We Fall Down,” and “The Wonderful Cross” are sung in churches around the country.

“All kinds of things are involved in the songwriting process,” Tomlin explained. “Scripture is a big part of it. Sometimes, a certain Scripture will jump out in a way that we've never seen before; that's always a big deal.”

After forming an idea, Tomlin said, the melody and lyrics usually come together about the same time. From there, he usually collaborates with his co-writing friends, such as band mate Jesse Reeves and Passion Conferences founder Louie Giglio.

“It's a good process; that way it gives another perspective, another angle, another idea,” Tomlin said. “Usually the idea comes, and I just usually sit with an acoustic guitar in my room and just see what happens. I have a lot of ideas all the time, just trying to put those ideas on paper. Worship is simply a response to God, and in songwriting, you're responding to who God is. All of life is worship; it's responding in that way, and it comes out in songs.”

Throughout the year, Tomlin and his band maintain a busy schedule, which includes many Baptist General Convention of Texas events such as the Hot Hearts Student Conference, Super Summer, as well as performing at Baptist youth camps and area churches.

“Our style is just what really comes natural to us,” Tomlin said. “It's how we play, how we feel it. We're not trying to put on anything or be anything. We're just ourselves, and that's our style of music.”

That style is “definitely more progressive,” he acknowledged. “Mostly, our heart is the spirit behind it versus the style. Styles come and go, but hopefully the spirit is what is really reaching people.”

When Tomlin isn't on the road, he is the lead worshipper at a church he helped start, Austin Stone Community Church.

“A big deal this year has been planting a church in Austin,” he said. “We've been on a few tours, and we're doing a Passion tour this fall. This summer, we're doing a lot of festivals, conferences and camps. As for next year's plans, I don't look that far ahead. God could change things at any moment, but I know that this year's a lot of travel, planting this church and living in a new city. We're kind of building our lives here.”

When preparing for an event, Tomlin carefully selects songs he feels will best suit the targeted audience, with the goal of leading others to Christ.

“Because each event is different, I try to figure out what it's about, who the people are and where they're coming from,” he said. “We always have a planned-out set list, but we always have options, and the guys in the band know that I could go anywhere at anytime. We have an idea of what we're going to do, but there's the option of seeing where the people are and through the spirit of God, knowing where the crowd is.”

Tomlin's popularity among churches is largely credited to the humility and passion he displays while leading others in corporate worship.

“You don't want people following you,” he noted. “You want people following God. I think you see that in a great example from King David. He had a very humble heart before God and really sought after God. Whether we ever sell another record or anything, I know we'd still be doing this because we love to travel and to do this. … If he never gave us another stage, I know that we would still play music, sing to him, and worship him.”

One of his own most meaningful worship experiences happened at the OneDay conference in 2000, when he and Matt Redman were leading the song “The Wonderful Cross.”

“We were blown away by the idea of the cross,” Tomlin said. “We had just been teaching about the cross. Everything was focused, and these students brought a cross from the back of the field and set it up. People from everywhere started running to the cross and wanted to touch it; thousands of people wanted to get close to it.

“They began to pick the cross up and surf it over the crowd. Wherever the cross would go, people's hands would move. They just wanted to get close to touch it. At that moment, we were just like, 'Where would we be without the cross? Where in the world? We surely wouldn't be here, and there wouldn't be any hope.'”

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.

Posted: 5/19/03

Wayland keeps tuition rate steady

PLAINVIEW–Wayland Baptist University trustees have frozen tuition rates at the Plainview campus through spring 2004.

They retained the tuition rate of $270 per semester hour for undergraduate courses and $275 per hour for graduate courses.

The decision to forego an increase was based on consideration of the region's economy, said President Paul Armes. “We live in an area that has faced more than its share of economic struggles in recent years, and our recommendation reflected consideration of that.”

Estimated costs for a semester at Wayland's Plainview campus, including books, shared dormitory room and meal plan, is $5,542.

Trustees approved a $10 per credit hour tuition increase at Wayland's external campuses, the first raise for those sites in three years. That will bring tuition to $140 per hour for undergraduate work and $165 per hour for graduate courses.

Trustees approved a $33.9 million budget for the 2003-04 fiscal year, an 11.7 percent increase.

Trustees also adopted an amended mission statement that says: “Wayland Baptist University exists to educate students in an academically challenging and distinctively Christian environment for professional success, lifelong learning and service to God and humankind.”

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.

Posted: 5/19/03

Massive collegiate worship event coming to North Texas

By Leann Callaway

Special to the Standard

What happens when a generation comes together to pray, worship, and fuel their fire for Christ?

On Memorial Day weekend, college students from around the world will meet on a private 400-acre ranch in Sherman seeking a spiritual awakening in this generation. The event will be called OneDay.

A previous OneDay was held in May 2000 and was the largest collegiate gathering of its kind in 25 years, drawing more than 40,000 college students from 26 countries to Shelby Farms, Tenn.

Hosted by Passion Conferences, led by Louie Giglio, the assembly will begin May 24 and build to the focal point, OneDay, on May 26 and conclude May 27.

For three days, students will hear messages from well-known worship leaders focused around intercession, celebration, confession, reflection, adoration and repentance.

Leaders of Passion Conferences and OneDay03 said they are dedicated to uniting college students from campuses and churches across the nation, uniting them across ministry and denominational lines to seek God together in worship and prayer.

“We want people to really grasp the idea that it's a God-centered world and to live our lives in a very God-centered way,” said lead worshipper Chris Tomlin. “You'll see everything with the Passion movement that has '268 Generation' on it. People are always like, what's that? We've always been rooted in the Passion scripture, Isaiah 26:8, which says, 'Yes, Lord, walking in the way of your truth, we wait eagerly for you, for your name and your renown are the desire of our souls.'”

Tomlin continued: “That's what we want to be about. We want to hold up God in front of people as big as we can, and say here's the living God–live for this.

“Even as people from stage, we're not up there saying we've got it all together. We're saying we're in this with you. We want to lead you in this way, and I think it's very unique. We just want to pray that we step out of the way, and God is glorified, and that the people come who need to come.”

More than 1,500 volunteers are needed to help facilitate an event of this magnitude, which was open to ages 18 to 26, graduate students, adult leaders and students entering their senior year in high school.

“It's very university-driven, a specific age for them,” Tomlin said. “We're very excited, but we have no idea what God's going to do. We have no idea what to expect, but we really sense that it's going to be something very special from the Lord. This is different in that it's a solemn assembly–a gathering of people opening their hearts to God and being honest before the Lord.”

Many Baptist churches and colleges around the state, including Lake Pointe Church of Rockwall, First Baptist Church of Richardson, Dallas Baptist University and Hardin-Simmons University, are among the student ministries with large groups planning to attend OneDay03.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.

Posted: 5/19/03

Singles urged to be people of God

By Becky Bridges

Texas Baptist Communications

PASADENA–Like the first Old Testament patriarch of Israel, Christians are called out to become part of a new family. And that may mean leaving blood relations behind, according to Mike Stroope, professor of Christian missions at Baylor University's Truett Seminary.

“When God called Abraham, God was speaking to one individual and pulled him out of his comfort zone to create a new family,” Stroope told about 400 participants from 100 churches attending the Texas Baptist Single Adult Conference at First Baptist Church of Pasadena.

Christians, called to become part of a great community, will move toward a promise, he said. “God has promised us, just as he did the Israelites, that we will become a new nation that he will bless.”

God provides the power, Stroope added. “We demonstrate who God is by knowing him through relationship so others can marvel and wonder and talk about our God. We aren't walking around like any other people. We have now been brought nearer to God through Jesus.”

God's power can be demonstrated today by how Christians defy cultural bias and become one family despite heritage and cultural differences, the professor explained.

“I am Dutch and German. I've laid down my Dutchness to join this new community and have a heritage that began with Abraham. Pedigree doesn't matter as much as being a people of God.”

Christians must consider themselves “as now inside the tent, when we were once outside–as a part of a race, and born into a new nation,” Stroope said. Through a relationship with Jesus, Christians became a kingdom of priests and now are responsible for interceding for the nations.

“We are to proclaim his excellency and not just have a spiritual checklist. We should be careful that we not make community the point. The world isn't impressed with our theology. They aren't impressed with our technique,” Stroope warned.

Instead, Christian community exists for the name of God so that as believers walk together through neighborhoods and at their jobs, the world might marvel at their oneness, he said.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.

Posted: 5/19/03

Tamez nominated for Convencion

By Marv Knox

Editor

FORT WORTH — David Tamez, pastor of Primera Iglesia Bautista in Tyler since 1997, will be nominated as president of the Hispanic Baptist Convention of Texas when it meets in San Antonio next month.

Tamez will strengthen both the Hispanic Baptist Convention and the Baptist General Convention of Texas as they launch a joint missions partnership with Baptists in Mexico, predicted Rudy Camacho, a Fort Worth layman and Texas Baptist leader who plans to nominate him.

“David Tamez is a leader among Hispanic Baptists” who has taught seminary, served successfully as pastor and started several congregations, said Camacho, immediate past president of the Hispanic Baptist Convention of Texas and current first vice president of the BGCT.

“He would move us in the right direction as we expand our ministry into Mexico and partner with Mexican Baptist Convention officers and others,” Camacho said.

Noting Tamez has taught seminary in Mexico and frequently travels to Latin America to train ministers, Camacho said, “He will be an asset, because he already knows so many pastors.”

Tamez has been professor of pastoral ministries at Seminario Teologico Bautista Mexicana, as well as director of the Christian education department and teacher at the Instituto Evangelistico de Mexico, both in Mexico. He has led pastor-training conferences in Argentina, Cuba, Honduras, Israel, Mexico, Nicaragua and Spain.

“He was my pastor, and I know he is sound doctrinally–a solid preacher and teacher,” Camacho said. As a pastor, Tamez has started five mission congregations in Mexico, he added.

Tamez has led churches where he has been pastor–in Fort Worth as well as Tyler–to be strong supporters of the BGCT and contributors to its Cooperative Program unified budget, Camacho said.

“David has demonstrated leadership in Hispanic Baptist Convention committees,” Camacho said. “He will take us in the right direction as we continue what (current HBC President) Antonio Estrada has started. The partnership with Mexico will be very important.”

Tamez said he is not seeking the presidency but will feel blessed to serve if elected.

“I am not looking for this, but I am looking to do the will of God, and if this is his will, I am available to serve in this position,” he said. “I believe in a sovereign God, and my life and ministry are in his hands.”

As president, Tamez would focus on his longtime calling to train and equip pastors for ministry, he said.

“I have a passion for pastors, and since the beginning of my ministry, the Lord has used me to minister with pastors,” he said. “Our convention has a vision to partner with the Mexican Baptist Convention and train pastors. … One of the strongest needs is to develop the leadership, to train the pastors in order to lead the people.”

He praised the work of two BGCT leaders–Lorenzo Peña, coordinator of associational missions and administration, and Jimmy Garcia, director of the office of Hispanic work. He also praised Hispanic Baptist Theological School in San Antonio and its president, Albert Reyes.

One of his goals would be to help unify Hispanic Baptists, Tamez said.

“Our churches are struggling with problems, and one of the main problems I can see is unity,” he explained. “We need to learn to work together for the sake of the gospel. If we want to impact our communities, state and the uttermost parts of the world, we need to learn to work together to accomplish goals.”

Tamez, 48, and his wife, Ruth, have three children, Elizabeth, Pedro and Josué.

He is a graduate of the Instituto Politecnico Nacional in Mexico and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth. He is a doctoral candidate at the University of Liverpool in England and Trinity Theological Seminary in Indiana.

He has been a missions promoter for Tarrant Baptist Association in Fort Worth and president of the Hispanic Baptist Fellowship in Fort Worth and the East Texas Hispanic Baptist Fellowship.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.

Posted: 5/19/03

Greenville Hispanic church cultivates
a seedbed of outreach by training

By Ken Camp

Texas Baptist Communications

GREENVILLE–Jose Amaya views Iglesia Bautista Ridgecrest as a seedbed, a place where new believers can be nurtured, nourished and then transplanted to other places for ministry.

“We see ourselves as a training center,” the pastor said. “The Lord keeps sending us members with leadership qualities, people we can train, who the Lord has called for his ministry.”

One way the church trains these future leaders is by offering Saturday classes in basic biblical instruction and practical ministry, following the curriculum of Hispanic Baptist Theological School in San Antonio.

For several years, the training program was a satellite of HBTS, where Amaya currently serves as a trustee. While the San Antonio school is completing the review process leading to its accreditation as a Bible college, responsibility for satellite programs has been transferred to the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

Texas Baptists help support theological training for Hispanic church leaders through gifts to the Mary Hill Davis Offering for Texas missions.

In just over 10 years, 40 students have graduated from the training program at Iglesia Bautista Ridgecrest, and they serve in church leadership positions throughout Northeast Texas.

Manuel Lerma of Duncanville teaches classes in Greenville and helps direct the training program there.

“We have had some students who have driven 80 miles one way for five years,”
Amaya noted.

But while the training program draws students from as far away as Tyler, many past and current students came out of Iglesia Bautista Ridgecrest. One graduate, now serving as pastor of a church south of Dallas, was working with a circus when he was reached by the church and felt a call into ministry.

Victor Ramirez and his wife, Martha, were part of a troupe of Latin American circus performers spending the winter in the rural Jacobia community, northeast of Greenville.

“We didn't find them. They actually found us in the Yellow Pages, and we began ministering to them,” Amaya recalled. The church eventually baptized 25 trapeze artists, clowns, jugglers and other circus performers.

Some of that original group left the circus, settling in Florida to work at Sea World. Others continue to tour with various circuses, starting Bible study groups wherever they go. “All of them consider this church their home church,” Amaya said.

Amaya not only helped build Iglesia Bautista Ridgecrest from a small mission to a thriving church but also has helped rebuild it several times after key leaders left to follow God's calling into vocational ministry.

“We've sent out our treasurer, deacons, Sunday School teachers, the backbone of our church. After our first graduating class, our church felt the effects. But it felt good that we gave our best to the Lord's work,” he said.

Attendance dropped significantly at Iglesia Bautista Ridgecrest because the church lost not only the graduating students but also their extended families. But in time, the church began to rebuild its leadership base.

“Then the same thing happened again,” Amaya recalled. “We just keep sending and sending. We're a seed church. Our role is to send them out. It's all for the kingdom of God.”

“We've sent out our treasurer, deacons, Sunday School teachers, the backbone of our church. … But it felt good that we gave our best to the Lord's work.”

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.

Posted: 5/19/03

Missions network board adopts purpose statement

By Ken Camp

Texas Baptist Communications

DALLAS–The purpose of Texas Baptists' developing missions network is to “connect God's people to advance Christ's call to missions,” and its board of directors hopes to name a leader for the network by September.

At its May 14 meeting, the network's board of directors adopted a purpose statement in both English and Spanish for the emerging entity.

Mike Stroope, missions professor at Truett Seminary in Waco, noted the purpose statement is “Christo-centric rather than organizational, needs-centered, or man-centered.” He said the idea of “connecting” is “at the heart of the statement and key to everything we're going to do as a network.”

Charles Wade, executive director of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, characterized the purpose statement as “a powerful way of saying the Great Commission in a fresh new way, perhaps capturing the way Jesus' disciples first heard that commission.”

After extended discussion and after making some revisions to an earlier purpose statement proposed by the board's organizational committee, the board approved the statement in both English and Spanish. To express their affirmation, board members as a group stood and recited the statement–first in Spanish and then in English.

The board also approved a description of the network, a personnel profile for its leader and a suggested timeline for filling that leadership post.

According to the board, the network “facilitates the relational connection of churches, organizations and individuals around the world who are passionate about obeying Christ's call to missions. Connecting God's people with opportunities and resources results in collaboration of various kinds and duration. This collaboration includes sharing information, training, education, strategies, support and consultation.”

The board agreed to receive nominations for a mission network leader through June 27, with the goal of filling that role on Sept. 9 “pending the emergence of a leader and the leadership of the Holy Spirit.”

If elected by the board of directors, the mission network's leader would be presented to the BGCT Executive Board Sept. 30 and to the state convention at its annual session in Lubbock Nov. 10-11.

Albert Reyes, chairman of the search committee and president of Hispanic Baptist Theological School in San Antonio, presented a profile of desired characteristics, abilities, skills, experience and education for the leader.

Eschewing the corporate structure of traditional mission-sending agencies, the board had determined at an earlier meeting that the staff leader would not be given the title “chief executive officer.” Instead, the board approved a motion declaring the Holy Spirit the “CEO of the network.”

No title has been determined for the staff leader's role.

According to the profile adopted by the board, the network's staff leader should be an authentic and growing disciple of Jesus Christ with a vision and passion for missions; be a servant leader and a strategic thinker; hold a biblical and holistic philosophy of missions; be innovative and a lifelong learner; have an entrepreneurial spirit; and possess integrity.

The prospective leader should be able to cast an articulate vision, initiate and lead change, coalesce and lead a team, mobilize and organize resources, and utilize research and technology. The individual should have well-developed relational and collaborative skills, as well as effective networking and communication skills.

The network's leader should be an active member of a Baptist church and have experience with and understanding of Texas Baptist culture and polity, along with understanding and commitment to historic Baptist beliefs. He or she needs experience in networking with individuals and organizations, leading a team and cross-cultural missions.

The individual should have completed advanced studies or training in missiology, and the board would prefer a graduate degree from an accredited institution.

Recommendations will be received by Reyes at Hispanic Baptist Theological School, 8019 South Pan American Freeway, San Antonio 78251. To protect confidentiality, all recommendations should be sent by mail or by special delivery. No phone or e-mail recommendations will be accepted.

In other business, the board set early August as the target date for considering an official name for the network. Directors voted to enlist a commercial firm to conduct research and present recommendations regarding a name.

Chairman Justice Anderson also appointed a six-member research and development committee to identify critical issues regarding the network's organizational philosophy, assess emerging opportunities and discover resources.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.

Posted: 5/19/03

HBU trustee committee to study relation to SBTC

By Marv Knox

Editor

HOUSTON–Although Houston Baptist University's trustees have created a committee to study how the school might “communicate” with the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention, they will not violate their agreement to “maintain a unique affiliation” with the Baptist General Convention of Texas, their chairman said.

The HBU board of trustees voted to create the study committee during its spring meeting May 13, reported board Chairman Mark Denison, pastor of First Baptist Church in Gainesville. The committee is expected to report back to the board at its next meeting in September.

HBU has been affiliated with the BGCT since the university's founding in 1960. The current status of that relationship is detailed in an agreement approved by the convention and the university in the fall of 2001.

For the previous four decades, the BGCT elected all the university's trustees. Up to 2000, the convention provided HBU with $1.6 million in financial support.

But in May 2000, HBU trustees voted to create a self-perpetuating majority on their board. The BGCT escrowed its annual contribution to the university, and both groups appointed representatives to seek reconciliation.

That process led to a “relationship agreement,” approved by the BGCT Executive Board and HBU trustees in September 2001 and ratified by messengers to the BGCT annual meeting that November.

The primary points of the agreement allow the university to select 75 percent of its trustees but call for the university to maintain its “unique affiliation” with the BGCT.

“HBU agrees to maintain a unique affiliation with the BGCT by not affiliating or establishing a formal relationship with other denominations, conventions or religious entities,” the agreement states.

In addition, the BGCT restored most of the annual funds it provides to the university. In this year's budget, the BGCT contributes $125,000 for campus religious activities, $120,000 for minority and ethnic scholarships and emphases, $180,000 for ministerial student tuition support and $492,000 as HBU's share of funding divided proportionately between the eight universities affiliated with the BGCT.

A basic block grant of funds the BGCT previously provided to HBU has not been restored. However, several convention leaders expressed hope to restore that funding in the near future. The value of that grant is about $600,000, said Keith Bruce, the BGCT's institutional ministries director.

The Southern Baptists of Texas Convention split from the BGCT in 1998. Its stated purpose is to work more closely with the Southern Baptist Convention, whose theology and politics have moved sharply to the right during the past 25 years.

The SBTC previously approached the BGCT's 23 institutions, asking about the possibility of creating formal relationships. The SBTC acknowledged it would require support for the SBC's doctrinal statement, the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message, and the institutions declined or did not respond.

In February this year, Texas Baptist Men voted to reaffirm its unique relationship with the BGCT but agreed to “officially work” with the SBTC, its associations and churches. That agreement allows the men's organization to involve men from churches affiliated with both conventions but does not mention the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message.

SBTC reached out to HBU, Chairman Denison said. “They have contacted us to see if we are interested in communication, in dialogue,” he said.

“The university is always exploring venues and relationships that will serve the university and its students,” he said.

However, Denison pledged the committee and board would not violate the relationship agreement with the BGCT.

“The boundaries of the committee are to work within the unique relationship to the BGCT,” he explained. “We will maintain the integrity of our agreement with the BGCT and will work within the context of that unique relationship.

“We will maintain close contact with (BGCT Executive Director) Charles Wade. The communication lines will be very much open.”

The result of the committee's study should veer more toward communication than relationship with the SBTC, Denison said.

“'Relationship' may be a strong word,” he said, referencing the result of the study. “It's really to explore how we communicate with them (SBTC) at this point. We as a board are always interested in exploring venues to communicate with all Baptists, particularly in the state of Texas.

“We feel strongly that our relationship with the BGCT has been wonderful, and the context of that has been maintained.”

Denison declined to speculate how the university would respond if the SBTC insists on loyalty to the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message.

“I would not begin to anticipate what this committee will do,” he said. “We are committed to working within the boundaries of the BGCT, and we will not violate that. We are very happy with that relationship. … The purpose of this committee is to say: 'Do we want to have dialogue (with the SBTC) and how do we relate? But only within the boundaries of the agreement with the BGCT.”

The BGCT's Wade said: “We expect that the (HBU) board of trustees will honor the agreement we have in place. We achieved a covenant statement that has served us well. I will be interested in finding out exactly what their intentions are.

“Texas Baptists can be confident that we will work to protect the interests of our churches in the future of Houston Baptist University.”

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.