Posted: 11/12/04

Historical Society explores how associations handle conflict

By Ken Camp

Managing Editor

SAN ANTONIO–Texas Baptist associations long have wrestled with how to balance principles of independence and interdependence when doctrinal diversity has sparked controversy, a veteran director of missions told the Texas Baptist Historical Society.

Associations historically have played a role distinctly different from state or national Baptist conventions, said Paul Stripling, executive director emeritus of Waco Baptist Association, when he addressed the historical society's meeting prior to the 119th Baptist General Convention of Texas annual session.

“Because of its history and the close proximity of churches, the association is the only unit in Baptist life other than the church with any responsibility akin to disciplinary action,” he noted.

“It can receive churches or withdraw fellowship if the churches' practices or beliefs are contrary to adopted doctrines.”

Associations seldom have withdrawn fellowship from churches, Stripling said. However, he pointed to three controversies –over charismatic practices, alien immersion and ordination of women–involving Dallas, Lubbock and Amarillo Baptist associations

In the mid-1970s, Dallas Baptist Association voted 604-401 not to seat messengers from Beverly Hills and Shadygrove Baptist churches because of those churches' charismatic practices, such as speaking in tongues.

“The effect of this unprecedented action by the Dallas Association was heard around the state,” Stripling observed.

In 1976, the seating of messengers to the BGCT from those two Dallas churches was challenged. Even though the convention's credentials committee agreed to deny the challenge, the convention body rejected the committee's recommendation, permitting the challenge to stand.

“The two churches were not seated at this convention–an historic first,” Stripling said.

Alien immersion–accepting for membership Christians baptized by immersion in non-Baptist congregations–sparked controversy in Lubbock Baptist Association in the early 1980s.

At an associational executive board meeting in 1982, Trinity Baptist Church of Lubbock was challenged over its decision not to require baptism of prospective members from other denominations “under certain circumstances.”

The issue had been swirling in Lubbock Association for nearly 20 years, then-Director of Missions Doyle Holmes said at the time, pointing to a longstanding controversy involving Second Baptist Church of Lubbock.

At its October 1983 meeting, Lubbock Baptist Association failed to pass a constitutional change that would have deleted a definition of a “regular” Baptist church as one whose membership is comprised “wholly of individuals baptized into a church of like faith and order.” In essence, the association left in place a definition that excluded churches such as Trinity Baptist or Second Baptist that accepted alien immersion.

The third controversy Stripling noted involved ordination of women. Terry Hill, then-pastor of South Lawn Baptist Church, presented resolutions at two meeting in the early 1980s declaring the association should not seat messengers from churches that ordain women as deacons or ministers.

Roy Kornegay, who was then director of missions for Amarillo Baptist Association, called a meeting of people representing various views on the issue.

Out of that meeting, the association's executive board approved a motion acknowledging a majority of member churches believed the practice of ordaining women is unscriptural and the association had the right to withdraw fellowship from churches “unorthodox in faith, un-Christian in character or leadership, or non-cooperative in practice.”

But the motion also stressed the importance of interdependence and voluntary cooperation, and it did not call for withdrawal of fellowship from any churches.

Without drawing any definitive conclusion, Stripling closed by quoting a 1983 editorial by Dick McCartney, who was then editor of the Oklahoma Baptist Messenger, “Every autonomous Baptist body has the right to define its own constituency, but we must be careful not to encroach on the authority of one body in attempting to further the ends of another.”

The Historical Society presented writing awards in five categories: church resident membership under 500, Don Wilkey for “Onalaska Baptist Church: Our History, 1910-2000”; church resident membership 500 to 1,000, Charlene Carson for “Building His Kingdom: 140-Year History, First Baptist Church, Salado, Texas”; church resident membership over 1,000, Charles Thompson of Temple for “God With Us: The Heritage of Immanuel Baptist Church”; general Texas Baptist and associational history to Carr Suter of Garland for “Dallas: The Doorway to Missions”; and for an unpublished paper, Ron Ellison of Beaumont for “A.C. Maxwell and J. Frank Norris, 1924-1935.”

The organization elected as officers for 2004-2005: president, Van Christian of Comanche; vice president, Ellen Brown of Waco; secretary-treasurer, Alan Lefever of Dallas; and executive committee members, Emily Row of San Angelo and Stephen Warren of Kyle.

Posted: 11/12/04

Inaugural intercultural banquet stresses unity

SAN ANTONIO–The Baptist General Convention of Texas' first Intercultural Banquet stressed unity in Christ and strong support for the BGCT Cooperative Program budget.

About 90 people attended the dinner during the BGCT annual session in San Antonio.

The event featured presentation of 28 certificates of appreciation by Glenn Majors, the BGCT's director of Cooperative Program services.

Participants represented the Philippines, Japan, Vietnam, Cambodia, Brazil, China, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Korea, Nigeria, Laos, India and the United States.

“We are here tonight because of Jesus Christ,” said Ernest Dagohoy, pastor of First Philippine Baptist Church in Houston. “In Jesus Christ, we are one family. … We are one family because we seek unity and break down the walls that divide.”

BGCT Executive Director Charles Wade told the participants the hope for the future of the newly reorganized BGCT is for at least 30 percent of the convention's Executive Board to come from those ethnic backgrounds.

Other program personalities included Pak On Chan, pastor of Arlington Chinese Baptist Church, who gave the invocation; Cecile Dagohoy, music director at First Philippine Baptist Church of Houston; Patty Lane, director of intercultural initiatives for the BGCT; Le P. Le, worship leader at Vietnamese Baptist Church of Garland; Peter Leong, pastor of Southwest Chinese Baptist Church of Stafford, who gave a Cooperative Program testimony; and Lorenzo Peña, coordinator of associational missions and administration for the BGCT.

Posted: 11/12/04

Jeremiah offers lessons for ministers,
ETBU professor tells BGCT workshop

SAN ANTONIO–An Old Testament prophet offers insights for ministers who face serious challenges, an East Texas Baptist University teacher said at a workshop on Jeremiah during the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

Jeph Holloway, associate professor of theology and ethics at ETBU, said, “Jeremiah's challenge to the religious and political establishment meant that all those who wielded power in Jerusalem saw the prophet as a threat to be nullified.”

The prophet searched the streets of Jerusalem in vain to find one person who was doing justice, but instead he found a dysfunctional society in which the wealthy lived by deceit and enjoyed their advantage at the expense of the vulnerable.

Jeremiah's lament provided him four crucial strategies for negotiating his vocational crisis, Holloway said. It taught him to pray in specific ways, display vigorous faith, find a measure of order amidst chaos and place his life and crisis in perspective.

Posted: 11/12/04

Vision, empowerment crucial building blocks
for healthy churches, Ballinger pastor says

By Miranda Bradley

For Texas Baptist Communications

SAN ANTONIO–Vision and empowerment provide the building blocks for active, healthy churches, Bobby Broyles told participants in a lay-leadership workshop held during the Baptist General Convention of Texas annual meeting.

Broyles, pastor of First Baptist Church in Ballinger, illustrated by pointing to his own congregation.

When he became pastor of the Ballinger church more than a year and a half ago, Sunday school attendance had fallen from 300 to 75.

“It had become a dysfunctional church,” he acknowledged. “There was a hired-gun mentality that robbed laypeople of using their abilities to serve the Lord.”

When the congregation transferred controlling power from the deacons to the members, laypeople showed renewed interest among individuals serving the church, he said.

“People no longer felt afraid or unable to use their abilities. Instead, they felt encouraged.”

Broyles' plan began with a ministry vision and included empowering groups within the church to establish their own description and select their own leadership.

Instead of 30 committees, the church now only has four, and it functions much better that way, he said.

“There are so many churches maintaining the organization instead of maintaining the body,” he observed.

Broyles shared the Ballinger church's outline for lay leadership:

Begin with clear objectives. The church places a priority on carrying out Christ's Great Commission and meeting human needs.

Believe that Christians want to do God's work. they can begin to do that work when they begin to understand their gifts and talents, he said. And the pastor should give them the freedom to use those gifts and talents without a lot of bureaucracy.

Establish ministry teams. The church can clarify its needs and list ministry opportunities for meeting those needs, he said. The ministry teams can choose their leaders and detail how to carry out their tasks.

Create a vision team. This team includes church staff and key leadership.

New plans often require strong leadership, Broyles said, citing flexibility, layers of communication, relationship-building and constant encouragement as important attributes of leadership. By handing over ministry leadership to laypeople, Broyles said, his congregation has felt moved to participate, but that plan is not for every church.

“None of this is in the Bible,” he said. “There might be better ways. This is what helped us, and we have had to tweak it as we go.”

Posted: 11/12/04

Texas Baptists elect first Hispanic president

By Ken Camp

Managing Editor

SAN ANTONIO–Messengers to the Baptist General Convention of Texas elected their first non-Anglo president, and they gave initial approval to a streamlined governance plan as the first major step toward what likely will be the convention's most sweeping organizational reorganization in 45 years.

The 119th annual session drew 2,937 messengers from 1,226 churches for a two-day celebration of the convention's growing cultural and ethnic diversity, as evidenced by the theme: “Celebrando la Familia de Dios: Celebrating the Family of God.”

Albert Reyes, president of Baptist University of the Americas in San Antonio, was elected by acclamation as president. He served this past year as first vice president.

Messengers also elected an African-American pastor, Michael Bell of Greater St. Stephen First Baptist Church in Fort Worth, as first vice president and a West Texas Anglo pastor, Stacy Conner of First Baptist Church in Muleshoe, as second vice president.

Reyes' pastor, Charles Johnson of Trinity Baptist Church in San Antonio, described him as “God's man for this day.”

The BGCT stands “at a historic crossroads,” Johnson said, and Reyes “gets who we are as Texas Baptists and who we are rapidly becoming.”

In his post-election news conference, Reyes said his election “says that Texas Baptists recognize the changing demographics around us and want to be inclusive–not only for these groups to be a part of the BGCT but for the leadership to be reflective of that, as well.”

BGCT messengers voted 1,973-444 to approve constitutional changes that would dramatically streamline the convention's governance structure–and likely increase the percentage of non-Anglo representatives on the BGCT Executive Board. The proposal must be approved a second time at the 2005 BGCT annual session in Austin to go into effect.

The changes would reduce the BGCT Executive Board from 234 members to 90, plus about 10 ex-officio members. Board members would be chosen from sectors of 52,000 resident Baptist church members rather than from each Baptist association.

The plan will increase the percentage of board members coming from the Houston area from about 12 percent to nearly 17 percent, for instance. At the

Albert Reyes addressed the press after being elected president of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, the first Hispanic top officer in the history of same time, it will consolidate parts of West Texas into sectors covering more than 30 counties.

The plan also would eliminate the Human Welfare and Christian Education coordinating boards, the State Missions Commission, the Christian Life Commission and several committees and replace them with committees of Executive Board members.

The plan would give the Executive Board members, who are legally liable for decisions impacting the convention, more direct decision-making involvement, said Executive Board Vice ChairmanWesley Shotwell, pastor of Ash Creek Baptist Church in Azle.

Although the measure passed by 81.6 percent, it sparked extended–but markedly cordial–discussion on the convention floor, particularly from messengers who were concerned the voices of small rural churches would no longer be heard on the Executive Board.

“I'm afraid if we approve this today, we are telling churches we don't want to hear you,” said Ron Danley, pastor of Lytton Springs Baptist Church in Dale.

But Josh Stowe, pastor of First Baptist Church in Rule, maintained the restructuring is about enhancing missions and ministry, not about representation. The new Executive Board is meant to be able to respond more rapidly to churches' needs.

“I'm not so concerned about representation as relevancy for the BGCT,” he said.

Dean Dickens of Garland initially suggested a motion to postpone the vote, but he withdrew it after BGCT leaders pledged to launch an extensive effort to inform churches of the implications of reorganization before the 2005 annual meeting.

An amendment to make only members of singly aligned BGCT churches eligible for the Executive Board failed. Shotwell noted many African-American congregations are aligned with other groups as well as the BGCT.

In other business, BGCT messengers:

Approved new mission, vision and value statements. The new mission statement says, “The Baptist General Convention of Texas encourages, facilitates and connects churches in their work to fulfill God's mission of reconciling the world to himself.”

The vision statement reads: “We are a fellowship of transformational churches sacrificially giving ourselves to God's redemptive purpose. Continually being transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit into the likeness of Christ, we join together to transform our communities and the world.”

The vision statement goes on to underscore the importance of engaging culture to reach people with the gospel, being on mission to continue Jesus' ministry, working together to give all people an opportunity to express faith in Christ and be transformed by him, seeking as local churches to be the presence of Christ in the world and seeking as individuals from diverse backgrounds to obey God's commands.

The convention adopted eight values–the Bible as God's written word, transformational churches, spiritual formation and discipleship, servant leadership, the worth of all people, Baptist distinctives, integrity as individuals and churches, and inclusiveness.

Adopted a $47.3 million budget for 2005, a $1.5 million increase over the current year.

More than $40.5 million is meant to come through the BGCT Cooperative Program. The remainder is to come through the Mary Hill Davis Offering for Texas Missions, endowment income, allocated funds, fees and other sources.

Took no action on a motion to escrow funds allocated for Baylor University. Joan Trew, a member of University Baptist Church in Fort Worth, called for the BGCT to escrow its funds budgeted for Baylor until “unity is restored and confidence re-established in the administration.” The BGCT allocated nearly $2.5 million to Baylor in fiscal 2005.

BGCT President Ken Hall ruled the motion out of order for not being “in harmony with the spirit of the convention,” and messengers voted overwhelmingly to affirm his ruling.

Approved a resolution saying “the Bible teaches that marriage is a sacred union between and man and a woman” and affirming that “biblical understanding of marriage, while honoring and supporting those who are single.” Other resolutions urged support for public education and prison chaplains.

The next BGCT annual session will be Nov. 14-15, 2005, in Austin. James Wong, pastor of Chinese Baptist Church in Houston, will preach the convention sermon. John Nguyen, pastor of Vietnamese Baptist Church in Garland, is the alternate preacher. the convention.Nan Dickson

Posted: 11/12/04

Ministry awards go to church planter, pastor & social worker

By Ken Camp

Managing Editor

SAN ANTONIO–The “trail boss of the Cowboy church movement,” a veteran Texas Panhandle pastor and a Christian social ministries leader received Texas Baptist Ministry Awards at a dinner held in conjunction with the Baptist General Convention of Texas annual session.

Baylor University and the Baptist Standard presented the awards at the Friends of Truett Seminary dinner.

Ron Nolen, statewide consultant for Western heritage church planting with the BGCT Church Multiplication Center, received the George W. Truett Award for ministerial excellence.

The award–named for the Baptist statesman and longtime pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas–honors a Texas Baptist minister for a recent singular ministry achievement that exemplifies imagination, leadership and effectiveness.

Nolen started the Cowboy Church of Ellis County in 2000 to reach people “who prefer rodeo arenas to church sanctuaries,” said presenter Marv Knox, editor of the Baptist Standard.

The church has baptized more than 600 new Christians in four years and averages about 1,100 in worship.

Nolen went on to start the Frontier Church of Ellis County and the Ranchhouse Cowboy Church in Maypearl.

He also started the Ranchhouse School of Cowboy Church Planting to train other church starters for Western heritage-style congregations.

Charles Davenport, pastor of First Baptist Church in Tulia for 30 years, received the Winfred Moore Award for lifetime ministry achievement.

The award–named for the former pastor of First Baptist Church in Amarillo–recognizes a Texas Baptist minister for a lifetime contribution that exemplifies commitment, stability and effectiveness.

Davenport preaches and teaches a Bible study at a local prison, and he led the church to conduct an ongoing Bible correspondence program for prisoners.

The church also offers a Tuesday night Bible study designed particularly for children who do not attend church regularly, has opened its facility to an African-American congregation that needed a meeting place and has launched a truck-stop ministry.

Davenport has participated in more than 20 mission trips to Brazil, numerous trips to Mexico, and also has been involved in mission efforts in Australia and China.

He is a former first vice president of the BGCT, past chairman of the BGCT Administrative Committee and vice chairman of the BGCT Executive Board, as well as an institutional trustee.

Gaynor Yancey, assistant professor in the Baylor University School of Social Work, received the Marie Mathis Award for lay ministry.

The award is named for a past president of Woman's Missionary Union of Texas who led the Baptist University Student Union more than 25 years, served two terms as national WMU president and led the women's department of the Baptist World Alliance.

The award honors a Texas Baptist layperson for singular or lifetime ministry achievement.

Yancey served with the Southern Baptist Home Mission Board as an inner-city missionary in Philadelphia, Pa., and Camden, N.J., for which she was named the first recipient of the Clovis Brantley Award for outstanding service in Christian social ministries in the United States.

She later became president of the Greater Philadelphia Food Bank, growing the agency from a $200,000 annual operating deficit to a $500,000 surplus.

She taught at Eastern University in St. Davids, Pa., before joining the Baylor social work faculty in 1999. She teaches in the school's graduate program and directs its baccalaureate program.

Also at the dinner, the Truett Alumni Association presented its inaugural alumnus of the year award to Joseph Parker, pastor of David Chapel Missionary Baptist Church in Austin.

Posted: 11/12/04

God used headline to call minister to
invest his life in Minnesota-Wisconsin

By Miranda Bradley

For Texas Baptist Communications

SAN ANTONIO–Bill Williamson had a feeling he was going to be part of something big when he picked up the Baptist Standard in 1956 and read a headline announcing a new Texas partnership with Baptists in Minnesota-Wisconsin.

“I had a warm feeling in my heart,” he said. “I just knew the Lord was working something out for me.”

Williamson was a seminary student, and he couldn't know just how imbedded the new relationship between Texas Baptists and Minnesota-Wisconsin would be in his life. Four years later he found out, when he was asked to join the effort. Today, he is retired as director of missions for Pioneer Baptist Association in Minnesota.

Since that time when a sprinkling of small churches dreamed of a convention of their own, Baptist work in Minnesota-Wisconsin has flourished into a ministry of great proportions.

In 2004 alone, 10 new churches of varying nationalities were started. From the Korean Church in Woodbury to Faith Vietnamese Church in Mennetonka, it has become apparent the relationship between Texas Baptists and Minnesota-Wisconsin continues to impact many, he said.

“Texas Baptists have had the absolute assurance that what has happened in Minnesota-Wisconsin will have eternal consequences,” said Charles Lee Williamson, retired missions leader with the Baptist General Convention of Texas. Texas Baptists have benefited from the relationship between the conventions, he said.

“Texas Baptists have received the satisfaction of watching the development of a mission field as an example of where God has moved across a people,” he said. “And Texas Baptists have had the privilege to carry the blessings God has shared with us with others.”

Posted: 11/12/04

Texas Baptists pray for 'longer arms'
to embrace a world that needs Christ

By Craig Bird

For Texas Baptist Communications

SAN ANTONIO–A whirlwind of God-does-it-again stories, vivid documentation of the darkest spiritual and physical needs within reaching distance of Texans, straight-talking Scriptures that reveal God's redemptive heart, heart-felt music about grace and salvation–and even a finishing flourish of confetti–boiled down to a five-word prayer.

“God, give us longer arms,” said Baptist General Convention of Texas Executive Director Charles Wade.

Texas Baptists–rich in resources, blessed with visionary churches and used to thinking large–need those longer arms to “wrap around a big world that needs to know that God loves them,” Wade said.

Wade was keynote speaker at the annual BGCT missions emphasis, but he wasn't the only storyteller.

Charles Wade

Texas Baptists told about wrapping their arms around hurricane victims in Grenada, patients at a children's hospital in Mexico and music-loving concert-goers in Brazil.

Two more described fire truck evangelism along the Rio Grande River and job training for economically hard-pressed women all across the state through the Christian Women's Job Corps.

Four young women told how Texas Baptists had made a vast and eternal difference in their lives.

In Moldova, the poorest of the former Soviet republics, scores of young girls who likely would have wound up as prostitutes and scores of young men who likely would have wound up in prison are escaping that fate, “because of churches like Kingwood Baptist Church in Houston and Christian Emergency Relief International,” a program of Baptist Child & Family Services, said Marina Florio–herself a native of Moldova.

A supporting video focused on “a small, rural church in East Texas”–First Baptist Church of Huntington–that not only makes regular trips to the landlocked country but, on a single Sunday, raised more than $34,000 to support CERI's efforts.

Ten-year-old Charity Chambers charmed the crowd when she thanked them for helping her church, World Missionary Baptist in Fort Worth, operate a private Christian school she attends. “In Bible class, they told me how to become a Christian and how to tell other people,” she explained.

The video showed how the small, mostly poor congregation is building a nursing home that will open in January 2005.

Five-year-old Christine Kim has spent most of her life as part of First Korean Baptist Church in Lewisville. “I'm glad I learned that Jesus loves me,” she said.

Begun with 20 members in 1999 as a joint project of Denton Baptist Association and the BGCT, the congregation now runs more than 300 and has baptized 87 in five years. The church's vision is focused on home cell groups and already has 16 operating.

Katie Smith, a member of First Baptist Church in Athens, shared how her life was changed when her church teamed with Baptist congregations in Lubbock and San Marcos to undertake continuing work with a remote Indian tribe in the mountains of Mexico. In addition to evangelism, Bible studies, medical care and providing food, the churches jointly support the work of an Indian missionary.

Maria Flores

“More and more of our people are discovering the joy of taking Jesus away from their own church and carrying him to other places,” Wade said.

“Everybody we meet is someone whom Jesus Christ died for. What the world sees as trash, God sees as treasure. What we see as expense, he sees as a resource. Faces that may look unfamiliar and frightening to us are people God wants to introduce to us that we might become friends–and invite them into the family of God.

“We are positioned to truly become a multicultural people in a multicultural world. Our mission work no longer stops at the state borders but reaches into the 'uttermost' parts of the world. We are called to be both ministers of reconciliation and messengers of reconciliation, and if we don't get this right, nothing else we plan to do–or even pray about–will make any difference.”

Bill Tinsley, leader of the WorldconneX missions network, agreed great opportunities for sharing the Christian faith are available–but only if Christians are willing to look at new ways to undertake that task.

“I'm a product of the 20th century,” he said. “I grew up in a world where a missionary went away, and we didn't hear from them for four years at a time. We developed strategies and systems built around that truth. But this is the 21st century. We can be in constant contact with people anywhere in the world. Young people called to missions today often have international jobs and are no longer asking, 'Who will send me?' But they wonder, 'When will I go?'

“We have churches sending and funding their own members to other countries. We have identified at least 3,000 separate mission-sending agencies, and 30 or 40 of them might be a good match for what your church wants to do.

“We stand ready to help you explore your response to God's call to go and tell–much of which drives us back again and again to the biblical book of Acts.”

Posted: 11/12/04

Texas Baptist Missions Foundation honors three laypersons

By Felicia Fuller

For Texas Baptist Communications

SAN ANTONIO–Three Texas Baptists whose ministries focus on the health and well-being of children and families were recognized by the Texas Baptist Missions Foundation.

The foundation honored Delores Kube with the Innovator Award for creativity in missions; Wayne Grant, the Pioneer Award for service in missions; and Babs Baugh, the Adventurer Award for leadership in missions.

The three were honored at a luncheon during the Baptist General Convention of Texas annual session in San Antonio.

“It's just a real honor that God even permits us to be part of his work,” said Kube. “I find it extremely rewarding just to know that I can be on mission for God, helping to be a facilitator of changing lives.”

Kube, who describes her work as “part missions, part social work,” serves as director of community ministries at Cornerstone Baptist Church in Dallas. Her ministry in Texas began more than four decades ago when she served as a Home Mission Board summer missionary stationed in one of Dallas' most blighted neighborhoods.

Over the years, she has helped empower families in crisis by providing humanitarian aid, organizing health and dental clinics and teaching literacy classes. She also is noted for devising creative strategies to keep children off the streets and in the Scriptures.

“The work I do is for the glory of God … for Kingdom building,” she said.

The Innovator Award is given to a church or individual who has created a model for missions that others can adopt.

Previous recipients include First Baptist churches of Houston, Arlington, Midland and El Paso, Paul and Katy Piper, Pioneer Baptist Church of Rising Star, Otto Arrango, Donna Dee Floyd and Shirley Madden.

Grant, this year's Pioneer Award winner, is a pediatrician, child development specialist and author who has served children and families for more than 30 years.

He is a clinical faculty member of the University of Texas at San Antonio Medical School and formerly served as medical director of the South Texas Children's Habilitation Center.

Among his book credits are “Growing Parents Growing Children,” “The Caring Father” and “Strategies for Success–How To Help Your Child With Attention Deficit Disorder.”

The Pioneer Award goes to a long-time leader in missions or someone who has played a key role in beginning mission work that impacted Texas Baptist life. Previous recipients include A.B. White, Olen Miles, Charles McLaughlin, Elmin Howell, Bob Dixon, John LaNoue, Bill Pinson, Cotton Bridges, and Delbert and Mary Lou Serrat

Adventurer Award recipient Baugh has posted a service career as vice chairman of Baptist Child and Family Services and a board member of the Baptist Joint Committee on Public Affairs and Texas Baptists Committed, as well as the Baptist University of the Americas in San Antonio.

Previous responsibilities include the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Coordinating Council, Christian Education Coordinating Board and Baptist Child and Family Services Foundation. She directs the SonShine Singers, a group of vocalists who minister through song to nursing home residents throughout Texas.

She presides over the John and Eula Mae Baugh Foundation.

The Adventurer Award honors an individual who has advanced missions through direction of significant mission activities, outstanding financial support or leadership in ministry opportunities.

Previous recipients include Drayton McLane, Joe and Jayne Harper, Herbert Reynolds, John and Eula Mae Baugh, Noble and Jane Hurley, E. W. “Bud” Hudgens, Fred Roach, Harold Ellis and First Baptist Church in Plains.

Posted: 11/12/04

BGCT must bridge cultural divide, ethicist says

By Felicia Fuller

For Texas Baptist Communications

SAN ANTONIO–Given the growth of America's black and brown populations, the Baptist establishment must bridge the cultural divide to reflect the body of Christ, Bill Tillman insisted.

“Texas has been an Anglo-oriented and -directed state politically, economically, socially and in the Baptist churches, but that's changing,” reported Tillman, who led a workshop titled “Transitioning to a Multiethnic Congregation” during the Baptist General Convention of Texas annual meeting.

“Here are (ethnic minorities) we're living with and working with, so we should be worshipping with them, as well,” he insisted. “It's the starting point for living right.”

Tillman, a self-described Baptist bureaucrat, teaches Christian ethics at Hardin-Simmons University's Logsdon School of Theology in Abilene.

“Promoting cultural diversity should not be an exercise in political correctness but a commitment to fulfilling the Great Commission,” he said. “We must be ambassadors for reconciliation. Unfortunately, we're not very well prepared, because we're so entrenched in cultural frameworks.”

Although timely and topical, the 9 a.m. workshop drew only five participants, further evidence, some say, of a lack of cultural awareness and general acceptance of the status quo.

“The older folks in my church were raised in a segregated society and, despite changing demographics, they're still uncomfortable around people who are different,” said Keith Cogburn, pastor of Fairview Baptist Church in Grand Prairie. “They just don't grasp the necessity of bringing other races into the fold and especially giving them position or authority in the church.”

Charles Whitmire, pastor of Crestview Baptist Church in Austin, echoed that sentiment. “We're looking at becoming multiethnic, but while we have the vision, there's been some resistance,” he acknowledged. “We're a 50-year-old, largely white congregation with a median age of 65.”

Change, especially for seniors, doesn't come easy, he observed.

Whitmire, who laments he can't “preach Christians into diversity,” is modeling his multicultural initiative after churches that successfully merge cultures by recruiting leadership from African-American, Hispanic and Asian communities.

“You attract what you are,” he said. “These leaders bring in other people of diverse backgrounds, and it's been effective. I came here (to the convention) to find other models that I can draw from.”

Tillman said racial reconciliation must begin with frank discussion and cultural exploration on both sides of the divide.

“We've got some hard roads to go down, but it's a journey we must make,” he said. “We are called to win souls for Christ. There's no place for division.”

Posted: 11/12/04

BGCT elects top officers reflecting
the convention's growing ethnic diversity

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

SAN ANTONIO–Messengers to the Baptist General Convention of Texas elected officers representative of the state's–and the convention's–ethnic diversity.

Albert Reyes, president of Baptist University of the Americas, was elected the first non-Anglo president of the BGCT.

BGCT messengers elected Reyes, who served as first vice president of the convention this year, by acclamation. He is the second consecutive institution president to be named convention president, following Buck-ner Baptist Benevolences President Ken Hall.

Messengers also elected by acclamation Michael Bell, pastor of Greater St. Stephen First Baptist Church in Fort Worth, as first vice president and Stacey Conner, pastor of First Baptist Church of Muleshoe, as second vice president.

Charles Johnson, pastor of Trinity Baptist Church in San Antonio, nominated Reyes. Johnson said Reyes' perspective is a perfect fit for a convention ministering in an increasingly Hispanic state.

Texas seems destined to become a predominantly Hispanic state in the coming decades, Johnson said.

The convention is at a “historic crossroads” where churches must minister among a multitude of cultures, and Reyes can help congregations do that, he said.

“No one is more uniquely equipped to lead us into this new era of mission and ministry,” he said.

Reyes inherits a convention in the middle of a massive reorganization effort. It is primed to overhaul its governance system, spread its Executive Board staff across the state and implement a new vision.

Officials also are trying to more strongly include non-Anglos and younger generations in leadership positions.

Prior to becoming Baptist University of the Americas president, Reyes was the founding pastor of Pueblo Nuevo Community Church in El Paso.

He has been chairman of the Hispanic Outreach Task Force of the White House Initiative for Hispanic Academic Excellence.

Reyes is a board member of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty and Texas Baptists Committed. He was a trustee of Valley Baptist Academy.

He earned master's and doctoral degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and is working on another doctorate from Andrews University. He holds a bachelor's degree from Angelo State University.

He and his wife, Belinda, have three sons.

In nominating Bell for first vice president, George Mason of Wilshire Baptist Church in Dallas described him as “made to lead. … Electing him to this position only validates the work of the Creator who so gifted him.”

Bell serves on the BGCT Executive Board and Christian Life Commission. He also is secretary of the African American Fellowship of Texas and president of the Tarrant Baptist Association African American Pastors' Fellowship.

He is a member of the board of directors for Texas Baptists Committed and has been a member of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Coordinating Council and the Baptist Advisory Committee at Texas Christian University's Brite Divinity School.

He helped found the Tarrant Clergy for Inter-Ethnic Peace and Justice. He also led a CBF committee that helped the organization develop relationships with people groups.

He earned a doctorate from the Interdenominational Theological Center and Morehouse School of Religion. He has master's degrees from Howard University Divinity School and the University of Texas at Tyler. His bachelor's degree is from Wiley College.

He and his wife, Mary Louise, have three children.

In nominating Conner for second vice president, Lonny Poe of Sunset Canyon Baptist Church in Dripping Springs described him as having been brought up Texas Baptist and faithfully serving Texas Baptists.

Conner has been pastor at First Baptist Church in Muleshoe since 1991. Before that, he was pastor of First Baptist Church in Matador.

He is a trustee of Wayland Baptist University and is on the national Coordinating Council of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.

He is a former BGCT Executive Board member. He also served on the Christian Education Coordinating Board, including a term as vice chairman.

He earned a doctor of ministry degree from Texas Christian University's Brite Divinity School, a master's degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and a bachelor's degree from Wayland Baptist University.

He and his wife, Debbie, have three childen.

Convention messengers re-elected Irby Cox as registration secretary, David Nabors as recording secretary and Bernie Spooner as secretary of the corporation.

Posted: 11/12/04

BGCT messengers affirm marriage
as union between a man and a woman

By Miranda Bradley

For Texas Baptist Communications

SAN ANTONIO–The Baptist General Convention of Texas overwhelmingly affirmed marriage as a union between a man and a woman, but not without verbal protest from a couple of messengers.

“I don't feel this resolution is in accordance with a sense of inclusion and allowing everyone who is Baptist to be part of this wonderful group,” said Charliene Hooker, a messenger from First Baptist Church in Fredricksburg.

All but one other comment supported the resolution, which received applause and a strong show of support from the crowd.

“Let us take firm our resolve and stand bold and tell the whole nation we serve a living Savior,” said Marvin Delaney, pastor of South Park Baptist Church in Houston.

The resolution passed by an overwhelming majority. It stated the BGCT affirms “the biblical understanding of marriage, while honoring and supporting those who are single.”

Another resolution promised Texas Baptists' commitment to pray for public school children and staff.

The resolution in support of public education noted, “Baptists were instrumental in supporting the development of public education in the United States” and pointed out public schools “provide education for 'the least of these' in our communities, including the poor, immigrants, refugees and special-needs students.”

It also pointed out thousands of Texas Baptists “serve ably and faithfully as public school teachers, administrators and staff out of a deep sense of Christian commitment to their communities.”

In addition to pledging prayer for the schools, the resolution promised Texas Baptists would “support the public schools in our communities in appropriate and tangible ways” and “support adequate funding for public education so that teachers, administrators and students can meet the critical challenges confronting them.”

A resolution on the role of churches and other volunteer organizations took a stand for Texas' poor and needy.

The resolution noted BGCT churches annually provide 180,000 volunteers to help people in need in their communities, and pointed out many churches provide such community ministries as food banks, emergency financial assistance, clothes closets, senior services, transportation and prisoner/ex-offender support.

However, it reported most churches are better-suited to provide short-term, small-scale relief and directed care, rather than ongoing, large-scale programs.

The resolution cited the Texas Health and Human Services Commission plans to close more than 200 regional offices and depend upon 1 million volunteer-hours to take up the slack. It called on state officials to recognize that partnerships with churches in the new initiative “must be based upon prudent judgments, research-based practice and adequate investment from both state and volunteer organizations.”

Another resolution noted the state legislature reduced the number of prison chaplains by more than 40 percent and called on state officials to “maintain all current correctional chaplain positions and support no more reductions of staff” in the next two years.

When asked if this resolution promised to send a BGCT representative to speak to legislators, the answer was yes.

“We need to repair some of the damage that has been done” by recent cuts, said Phil Strickland, executive director of the BGCT Christian Life Commission.

The convention also recognized the host city of San Antonio and local Baptists for assistance with the annual meeting and thanked convention officers and staff for their leadership and “untiring labor on behalf of Texas Baptists.”