Posted: 8/27/04

BGCT chaplaincy tops 200

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

DALLAS—The Baptist General Convention of Texas has endorsed more than 200 chaplains, and most are first-time endorsements.

With the 17 chaplains endorsed in August, the BGCT has approved 210 chaplains in two years—109 first-time endorsements and 101 transfers. Most recent endorsements have been new chaplains.

These BGCT chaplains include 105 in healthcare, 31 Army, 21 restorative justice, 16 Air Force, 12 pastoral counseling, nine Navy and eight business and industry. BGCT chaplains serve in 20 states and five countries.

BGCT Chaplaincy Relations Director Bobby Smith tries to visit each endorsed chaplain at least once a year, meeting supervisors, taking each chaplain's family to dinner and looking for ways the convention can serve the chaplain.

Chaplaincy leaders also are looking for ways to offer training and fellowship opportunities. The annual October retreat is drawing interest from chaplains across endorsing lines, organizers note.

Gatherings help to support and encourage chaplains who often feel isolated because of the nature of their work, said Bill Ingram, a member of the BGCT Chaplaincy Endorsement Board.

“Being a chaplain is kind of a lonely thing,” he said. “It's not like they have a church around them all the time.”

These efforts—combined with the performance of BGCT chaplains—are drawing the attention of supervisors, Ingram reported.

“The exciting thing is sometimes we are getting people who are not endorsed by us who are leaders who are recommending us as endorsers,” he said.

The rapidly growing number of Texas Baptist chaplains reflects God working through this BGCT effort, Smith said. God has blessed this ministry greatly, calling the appropriate people to his service, he added.

“It has been a true blessing to observe how God has been moving in the hearts and minds of Baptists to extend a call and lead them beyond the walls of the local church to do pastoral ministry in specialized ministry settings,” Smith said.

“I appreciate the two years of devoted service by the BGCT Endorsement Board to the Baptist General Convention of Texas and its chaplains and pastoral counselors, which led to the creation and development of such a strong and wonderful program of ministry and relationship.”

Posted: 8/27/04

Road was sometimes rocky, but still led to mountains

By Sarah Farris

BGCT Summer Intern

BOULDER, Colo.—Life had taken a wrong turn. A minister with a passion for unreached people was called to work in Waco with Baylor students, and a Rocky Mountain girl who wanted to attend Colorado University ended up at Baylor University.

But God used their detours to create an unlikely partnership between First Baptist Church of Woodway and Boulder, Colo.

Bobby Erickson is the college pastor at First Baptist Church of Woodway. Before coming to Woodway, Erickson and his wife, Tyra, served two years in East Asia.

“When God unexpectedly led us to Waco, we couldn't understand at first why he had led us to such a saturated place. Then we began to see Baylor as an incredible resource. Thousands of 18 to 22 year-olds passionate for Jesus.”

The Ericksons began an intentional effort to make the college group at First Baptist of Woodway a sending ground for students to go to “frontier places overseas and secular campuses in the states.”

Christina Gibson's desire to invest in the students at Colorado University never subsided. But she believed God called her to Baylor, so she invested her time and energy in ministry among Baylor students. She became involved in Woodway's college group, and eventually she was one of the student leaders.

During the summer of 2002, one of the reasons God sent her away from Colorado became clear to her.

College group leaders were discussing strategies for reaching secular colleges. Out of that conversation, several individuals began feeling God's call to work with college students after graduation.

The group began weekly prayer meetings about moving to Boulder, and all seven of the current mission team members came out of that group.

“From the beginning, the student who was going to carry this vision to others was Christina,” Erickson said. “Her heart was in Colorado, and her desire was to see the students (at Colorado University) have the same opportunity she had during her college years at Baylor.”

While the team knew that that they were called to Colorado, they had no idea what that would look like. After pursuing several avenues, doors opened to work with Cornerstone Church of Boulder Valley. First Baptist of Woodway's vision for ministry was to plant a college group at an existing church.

Cornerstone Church, a Southern Baptist congregation, is only two minutes from the university, but it had no college group.

In preparation for the new ministry, First Baptist of Woodway sent short-term mission teams to Boulder during school holidays before any long-term team members moved there. The trips, which the church has continued, focus on praying for Boulder, the university, the team, the church and the ministry, rather than evangelism.

Gibson and her husband, Brett, along with a concert violinist, two engineers, an outdoor recreation specialist, and a non-profit administrator make up the team. All work full-time at regular jobs except for the Gibsons, who are the full-time college ministry leaders at the church. Because Cornerstone does not have the budget for college staff pastors, the Gibsons are supported financially by some members of First Baptist of Woodway.

The strategy of the team, besides holding weekly college group services, is to build relationships with students and to start Life groups, small groups to encourage spiritual growth and accountability among the students .

In the groups, “Students can interact on an intimate level and challenge each other's pursuits of Christ,” said team member Ashlyn Reynolds.

“Especially exciting is when students catch on to the idea of committing to each other's relationship with Christ. We have seen students form accountability on their own who normally would not necessarily even socialize, but who are learning about the deeper connection they have by being a part of the body of Christ.”

The team, made up of Baylor University graduates, has found the environment of the Colorado University different than the one to which they were accustomed.

“At Baylor, students are raised in the Christian tradition and know all the right answers, but few are willing to live out their convictions. At CU, students are not concerned with conforming to a belief system they do not live out, but rather flaunt their lifestyles,” Reynolds said.

“All ideas and religions are accepted and practiced. CU students are open to anything except Christianity,” said team member Derek Polk.

The team hopes the students will become leaders and take ownership of the ministry. Their biggest challenge has been the lack of commitment or continuity by many local students involved in the budding ministry, but still a core group of students have developed, and after almost a year since the team began full-time work in Boulder, Cornerstone's college group sent a small summer missions team, lead by the Gibsons, to Asia.

Erickson says he has “seen a dramatic increase in dependence up on God and one another.”

“I think we can talk spiritual community theory all day in Waco and really not know what we are talking about,” he said. “In Boulder, those students have had to live it.

“They know the struggles and the successes of living in a close community with a team of believers all living under the same vision for the same purpose. It is not always pretty, and it's definitely not easy, but for those who endure—and thankfully our entire team continues to persevere—the experiences of genuine spiritual family and purpose is far greater than the momentary struggles that must be faced.”

For the seven members of the Baylor group in Colorado, ministry has taken on a new meaning—it has become everyday life.

“Life is your ministry, not just college students,” said team member Josh Duncan. “Therefore, your team, coworkers and neighbors also make up the reason for being where you are.”

For the Ericksons and the Gibsons, it wasn't a wrong turn after all. But it wasn't a short cut either.

Posted: 8/27/04

Keep patient in mind during hospital visits, chaplains urge

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

BELTON—Keeping people's needs at the forefront of ministry can make hospital visits more comfortable for patients and ministers, two veteran Texas Baptist chaplains insist.

When people are in the hospital, the situation creates serious concern for patients and their families, said Bobby Smith, director of the Baptist General Convention of Texas chaplaincy relations office. They usually are in quite a bit of pain and always facing uncertainty.

Knowing this, ministers should keep visits short, typically about 10 minutes, Smith said. Patients do not have the strength to talk for long periods and probably do not want to catch up on old times. They have more important events occurring.

“They just want to know that you care enough to come,” said Smith, a longtime hospital chaplain.

When visiting patients, it helps to treat the hospital room like their home, said Joe Perez, director of pastoral services for Valley Baptist Health System in Harlingen. Knock before entering and check to make sure the person is fully covered.

Ministers need to identify themselves and take a seat in a chair next to the bed as conversation begins, Smith said. The move helps people know who is visiting them and initiate a connection at eye level.

From there, the visit is in the hands of the hospitalized, Smith continued. Ministers are there to ask open questions and let patients take the conversation wherever they want.

Ministers need to resist the urge to preach, Perez said.

Words cannot correct physical issues. God can, but that is his choice, Perez said.

A minister never should promise that God will heal if the person has enough faith. That is a theological error, he insisted.

“The more it hurts, the fewer words we need to use,” added Perez, a member of the BGCT Chaplaincy Endorsement Board.

Church leaders are to embody Christ's love, Smith continued. If ministers listen to each patient, they will know the needs of each person. Allowing people to speak about their concerns can be therapeutic.

“I've always found that when I come in with an agenda, I always stifle what God has going on,” Smith said.

Perez describes hospital visitation as a ministry of “presence.” The minister is there to “go where they go” along their spiritual journey.

At the end of the meeting, ministers should promise an ongoing ministry, Smith said. There, the relationship will continue to grow.

If a minister feels the need to know about a person's condition prior to entering the room, he or she has two options—the family and the nursing station. A pastor can glean information from a person's family about the situation. That process also can open other avenues of ministry.

It is important for the minister to build relationships with nurses, doctors and staff. This will facilitate a better ministry for patients and their families, as well as possible ministry to hospital personnel, Smith added.

Posted: 8/20/04

TOGETHER: Yearn for the sea, vault for the gold

Paul Hamm pressed on, refusing to let an embarrassing fall mark the way he would remember the 2004 Olympics.

In the fourth of six events which make up the men's all-around gymnastics championship, Hamm vaulted. When he landed on his seat rather than his feet, the air seemed to go out of the hopes the Americans had for their first gold medal in that event. All his hard work and dreams suddenly evaporated. The announcer warned no one could get an Olympic gold after such a glaring fault.

The Apostle Paul wrote to the church in the Greek town of Philippi: “I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, … one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:12-14).

Hamm was sure his dream for a medal of any kind was toast. But he gathered himself for the last two events–parallel bars and the horizontal bar. Putting his failure behind him, he soared to new heights, scoring more in each of those two events than in any of the four preceding ones. He outscored the courageous Koreans by only 0.012–and captured the gold!

“Don't ever quit.” That was the advice the Hamm twins, Morgan and Paul, received from their mother. It paid off on that night, as his coach observed: “I thought he was done. But he never, ever gave up.”

In our lives, we experience mistakes, failures and falls. It feels almost spiritual to blame ourselves harshly and surrender to guilt and weak yearnings. But we have been given another way to live. We have a passport for citizenship in another state of being. Those who follow Jesus have been called to live lives of obedience which leads to joy and victory–the life abundant, Jesus called it.

Jesus said, “I am the Way.” Because we journey heavenward with him, we do not dwell on triumphs or failures. We stretch forward to what lies ahead, confident that the goal he has set before us will bring blessing and joy to us and to others.

Churches can learn from this truth. Over the past five years, 54 percent of our Texas churches have declined, 12 percent have plateaued and 34 percent have grown. While demographic changes, leadership issues and spiritual health matters always can be considered, it is time for all of us to look at the need around us, forget failures and address with all our strength and determination our opportunities. Jesus calls us to the harvest and prays for laborers to join him there.

Milfred Minatrea, director of the Missional Church Center for the BGCT, has just written “Shaped by God's Heart: The Passion and Practices of Missional Churches.” It is profoundly helpful. He writes: “At its core, it is not the number of activities a church is involved in that defines success, but whether those activities result in accomplishing God's mission for his church. True success can only result when the activities of God's body reflect what is in his heart.”

His prescription for helping a church to be missional? He quotes Antoine de Saint-Exupery: “If you want to build a ship, don't drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea.”

Let us yearn for the sea, for the gold, for the “Well done!”

We are loved.

Posted: 7/30/04

Summer camp means missions
service for DBU Pacesetters

By Kristi Brooks

Dallas Baptist University

DALLAS—For more than 100 high school students, summer camp meant more than fun and games as they stocked a food pantry, loaded a truck with shoes for orphans and even painted a public restroom in a city park.

The youth participated in the 9th annual Pacesetters Camp, held on the Dallas Baptist University campus and sponsored by the school’s Glowing Heart Ministries.

Pacesetters is designed to deepen high-school-age students’ relationships with God, teach them about leadership through service projects, and prepare them to put their leadership skills into action in their churches, schools and communities.

“One of the goals of Pacesetters is to teach students about how to be servant leaders who share Christ with the world,” explained Henry Loftin, director of Glowing Heart Ministries.

“To do this, we try to give students different types of service projects. Some projects put the students in front of people and allow them to minister one-on-one, sometimes seeing the fruits of their service. Others are designed to be behind-the-scene service projects … where no praise will be given because nobody is there to witness their actions. These different projects help remind the students that service is not about obtaining praise for themselves but about being used to make God’s name known.”

One group sorted food at the North Texas Food Bank. The students went through pounds of donated food, culling certain items that cannot be sent to food pantries, such as over-the-counter medicines, opened packages and baby food and other unsafe items. Once the food was sorted, it was distributed to one of the food bank’s 400 member agencies.

A different group worked at Duncanville’s Harrington Park, repainting public restrooms.

“We know that painting a public restroom wasn’t the most glamorous service project, but our goal was to train these students to be servant leaders. What better way to humble yourself and serve the community than to paint the restrooms at the local park,” said DBU Senior Shannon McKinney.

Another student team loaded trucks with donated items for Buckner Orphan Care International’s “Shoes for Orphan Souls” project, while others cooked and served lunch at a Ronald McDonald House near a hospital.

“This was a wonderful chance for the Pacesetters students to minister to families who have seriously ill children,” Loftin explained. “Sometimes being available and listening to those in need is a great blessing to them. We want the students to learn that acts of service can be carried out in numerous ways. That’s why we have a wide variety of service projects scheduled throughout the week.”

Pacesetters, Kara Whiteman & Aubrey Graves laugh it up with Bashir (an apartment tenant) as they sing silly songs out on the front lawn of the apartments

The Glowing Heart teams used the afternoons to train the students in the principles of servant leadership and the importance of modeling their lives after Christ, and the mornings were used to put that knowledge into action. The following day, the Pacesetters and their leaders were off to new locations and new assignments. The majority of the groups spent Wednesday and Thursday playing games, serving snow cones, singing songs and teaching Bible lessons to children at apartment complexes from Grand Prairie to Dallas.

Despite the hot weather, all the teams had a great time, and for several Pacesetters this camp has become a staple on their summer activities list.

“This was my fourth year to come to the Pacesetter Camp,” said Aubrey Graves, a senior from Blue Ridge. “Every summer I grow even more than I thought I could, and I love working with the kids at the apartments.”

For others, it was their first time to participate with the camp, and it was truly a life-changing experience.

“I visited DBU as a prospective student, and the admissions counselor told me about Pacesetters,” said Amanda Bright, a senior from Tomball. “I’m so glad I came because it’s been an awesome week, and I’ve learned that serving others can be a lot of fun.”

The Glowing Heart leaders spend several months preparing for the camp, and the week before the students arrive is spent attending to last minute details, ensuring everything goes smoothly.

“I enjoy the Pacesetter Camp because I grew up helping with service projects through my youth group,” said Glowing Heart member Josh Prince, a sophomore at DBU. “I really love working the Pacesetters Camp because we are investing in the lives of the upcoming generation and hopefully helping to shape the way they see the world.”

Posted: 8/20/04

Post-Enron age could be era of ethics, values in business

By Todd Svanoe

Associated Baptist Press

CHASKA, Minn. (ABP)–As a parade of former Enron executives defend themselves before a federal grand jury, a new era is emerging in American business, according to business leaders and consultants.

The Enron scandal represents a pendulum swing toward business reform, says consultant Ken Jennings, who has worked with more than 25 Fortune 500 companies in the last six years. Values Christians hold dear now are being road-tested in some office suites around the country.

But deep-rooted reform won't occur overnight, said Jennings, a Christian who helps companies build businesses above reproach.

“Quick-fix solutions to ethical problems won't work for businesses that have an anything-for-the-bottom-line approach,” he said.

“The theory is, if you see a cockroach in the kitchen, there are a whole lot more behind it,” he explained. “In a business culture that is rotten at the core, there are things going wrong that you don't yet see.”

Criminal charges have been brought against more than 30 Enron employees so far, many of whom faked telephone calls and made imaginary stock trades, investigators say.

How do you reform a business culture that rewards such deception?

“You can't just take the anti-Enron pill,” said business consultant Susan Van Vleet, who agrees with Jennings that business foundations need rebuilding. “A thousand things prop up a culture of immorality and greed, so no single change will turn it around.”

Warped priorities become deeply entrenched, she said.

“Business schools teach that only profits count. There is a belief that obscene stock options for CEOs and executives are the best way to attract talent. Current incentives support people cutting corners and cheating.”

Even new and improved business ethics courses are failing, Van Vleet said.

“Students' ethics scores actually decline while in many MBA programs,” she said.

“All of the sudden, we're in a moment of time in which the business world is throwing up its hands and listening for another model of leadership,” Jennings said.

Jennings tried to answer that call last year with a book, “The Serving Leader,” that steers businesses away from self-serving models.

The first principle in creating a growing and sustainable work culture is simple, Jennings insisted. “Good people make good companies.”

“Self-serving leaders create self-serving followers, and self-serving followers do only what they're told. They lack ingenuity and overall responsibility,” added Jennings, whose consulting business is based near Detroit.

“Self-sacrificing leaders, on the other hand, serve their workers and see them as a precious resource. They are willing to divest themselves of power when necessary to remove barriers to their workers' success, unleashing workers' gifts or strengths. They're not threatened by their workers' promotions.”

“Putting yourself first and pursuing profit at any cost produces a culture that takes short cuts,” said Brad McMahon, director of human resources at Entegris Corp., headquartered in Chaska, Minn., where 50 upper-level managers are adopting Jennings' serving leader model.

Personal integrity is good for the bottom line of any business, McMahon said.

That message, he said, comes through loud and clear in Jennings' book, a novelette similar to “Tuesdays with Morrie.”

Co-authored with John Stahl-Wert and Ken Blanchard, “The Serving Leader” portrays a business-driven protagonist named Mike, whose life is transformed when he is forced into a season of reflection while attending to his father in the late stages of cancer.

Mike meets his father's business associates at several teachable moments and, while visiting their workplaces, witnesses the impressive results of their “servant leadership.” He contrasts this approach with the cutthroat world he knows.

These leaders are people-driven rather than power-driven. They are demanding yet compassionately devoted to their workers. They inspire workers with a higher purpose.

“The key,” McMahon said, “is creating a business culture that motivates people to give their best, rather than just the bare minimum necessary to get by, a culture of short cuts. Jennings portrays a business culture in which people give discretionary effort, not because they have to, but because they want to. They go above and beyond without being asked to do it.”

“The equation is good, talented people multiplied by a top-notch environment,” McMahon said.

Entegris is an international semi-conductor packaging company that grosses more than $300 million annually. Already employing 1,800 people, the company wants to hire another 1,000 in the coming decade. In doing so, Entegris will hire people as much for who they are as for what they can do, McMahon said.

Placing human virtues such as goodness, faithfulness and honesty alongside technical skills and competence makes sense for Entegris and other employers, Jennings said.

“If you hire people just for their functional skills, like accounting or strategic planning, and not for their underlying integrity, you're inviting problems,” he said.

McMahon, who has been hiring 28 years, agreed.

“Research supports this trend,” he said, citing figures from Harvard, Gallup and the Hay Group. “It is easier to find people with business acumen and leadership gifts. But now we're looking for a third dimension, people who have values and character.”

Entegris board Chairman Stan Geyer goes even further.

"It used to be that businesses measured IQ. Then human resources were supposed to measure prospective employees' EQ or emotional quotient," he said. "Now we're seeing the importance of a person's SQ or spiritual quotient. You have to bring all three of those parts of who you are to the workplace or you're really missing something.

“People are spiritual, and if you don't acknowledge that, you're leaving something parked in the lot.”

In this hiring mix, talented Christians have a natural advantage, Jennings said. “Christians are used to serving beyond self-interest and following a wisdom outside of themselves,” he explained.

Christians don't need to use the workplace as a platform for preaching, Jennings said. “We're talking about the witness of good, honest work.”

“We're not looking for a statement of beliefs,” Geyer added. “We're looking for behaviors that demonstrate character, demonstrate trustworthiness, demonstrate creativity and the need for improvement.

“Anyone can say what they believe. But we're looking for good people who are engaged in the business, people with spiritual focus are more likely to be fruitfully engaged.”

Posted: 8/20/04

In spite of SBC withdrawal, Baptist
leaders in U.S. pledge BWA support

By Trennis Henderson

Kentucky Western Recorder

SEOUL, South Korea (ABP)–While the Southern Baptist Convention has voted to cut ties to the Baptist World Alliance effective Oct. 1, many Baptist leaders in the United States have pledged to continue to support BWA.

That fact was evident during the recent BWA General Council meeting in Seoul, Korea–the alliance's first global event since the SBC's action in June.

Only one of the SBC's 17 voting members of General Council attended the meeting. But others who did participate included state Baptist convention executive directors, national Woman's Missionary Union leaders, Baptist college administrators and professors, and retired SBC agency employees.

Charles Wade, executive director of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, preached during a Friday evening evangelistic rally that attracted more than 4,000 participants.

Preaching a fervent evangelistic message, Wade told the crowd: “Jesus is our only way between the heart of sinful man and the heart of holy God. He died on the cross that he might bring us to God.”

Jesus Christ “did not run away from death, but he embraced the cross that he might bring us to God,” he added.

“When you come to see Jesus, you come to see God as he truly is.”

Highlighting Jesus' parable of the prodigal son, Wade urged listeners: “Come to Jesus tonight. He will bring you to the God who loves you and will never let you go.”

Wade's straightforward message stood in stark contrast to SBC leaders' charge that BWA “no longer efficiently communicates to the unsaved a crystal- clear gospel message that our Lord Jesus Christ is solely sufficient for salvation.”

Wade's views echoed those of BWA General Secretary Denton Lotz, who told General Council members, “Let me be very clear that as Baptists we believe that Jesus Christ is our only way of salvation. There is no other name under heaven whereby we can be saved.”

Introducing BWA's five-year “Living Water” global evangelization strategy set to begin next year, Lotz added: “That's who we are as Baptists. That's why we come together. We're a missionary movement.”

Wade, a member of BWA's church renewal workgroup, said he remains deeply committed to the work of BWA.

"On a personal level, I have been so blessed over the last four years witnessing the courage and faithfulness of our Baptist brothers and sisters who live in such trying, even dangerous places and who have been and are faithful to the gospel of Christ. I am inspired by them," Wade said. "The Baptist World Alliance offers Baptists around the world a fellowship in which to celebrate our fidelity to Jesus Christ, our passion for people to know him and the richness of our Baptist distinctives."

The BWA also offers opportunities for idea-sharing and networking, said John Upton, executive director of the Baptist General Association of Virginia. He compared the BWA to the server in a network that allows numerous computers to access a common database.

“The BWA puts us in touch with real needs around the world. It serves as an outlet for all of our state conventions whose churches are seeking the kinds of hands-on missions experiences they believe God has called them to do,” he said.

Upton particularly applauded the emphasis on relationship-building at the BWA General Council meeting in Soeul, and he sees even greater opportunities for fellowship at the centennial meeting in Birmingham, England, next year.

“It's a place where the Baptist family globally can come together and get to know each other,” Upton said. “I want Virginia Baptists to be a part of that. We have been since the beginning of the BWA, and we will continue to be.”

David Waltz, executive director of the Baptist Convention of Pennsylvania-South Jersey, noted that his convention's administrative committee adopted a resolution earlier this year urging SBC and BWA leaders to seek reconciliation.

“I was very disappointed personally at the action that was taken” by SBC messengers, Waltz said. “I continue to hold out hope that we may soon be reconciled and back with the BWA just as the SBC recommended.”

Although SBC leaders declared they still are open to reconciliation, it is likely to be only on their terms. The SBC study committee's nod to “restoration of fellowship” declares: “We pray for the day when the BWA will return to the faith on which it was founded and which has been historically held by Baptists for centuries. We pray for the restoration of fellowship that such a return will bring.”

Highlighting BWA's perspective, General Council members adopted a resolution citing regret over the SBC's decision “to withdraw from the world Baptist family, resulting in loss of unity and a compromise of the worldwide testimony of all Baptists.” The resolution expresses hope “for a future reconciliation and renewal of SBC membership.”

Despite the impasse, Waltz said his personal involvement in BWA “has given me a great appreciation for the faithfulness of Baptists around the world. I have often been humbled by the price other Baptists have had to pay to remain faithful to Christ.”

Waltz, a member of BWA's freedom and justice commission, added, “I hate for Southern Baptists to be cut off from those experiences and to miss the opportunity to learn and grow from our Baptist brothers and sisters around the world.”

Wanda Lee, national executive director of the SBC Woman's Missionary Union, was the only one of the SBC's 17 voting council members who attended the July meeting in Seoul. Janet Hoffman, national WMU president, also participated.

Citing WMU's commitment to continue working in cooperation with the BWA Women's Department, Lee said, “The women's department is an auxiliary to BWA just as WMU is an auxiliary to the SBC.”

Noting that WMU helped establish the BWA Women's Department in 1911, she added, “For us to not participate in prayer with all the women of the world is unthinkable. … When you look at the world climate in which we live, Baptists need to speak with one voice in regard to religious freedom, separation of church and state, and on behalf of those who have no voice and are persecuted.”

Roy Edgemon, who retired in 2000 after 23 years as a discipleship leader with the SBC's LifeWay Christian Resources, is chairman of BWA's Christian education and literature workgroup.

Edgemon, a former missionary to the tiny Japanese island of Okinawa, recalled the spiritual impact of helping sponsor a trip for area pastors to the 1970 Baptist World Congress in Tokyo.

Noting most of the pastors attending the 1970 global conference came from places “where they were always in the minority,” Edgemon said, “when they realized they were part of something so huge, they were never the same again.”

“To me, that is the essence of BWA. It is the fellowship of like minds and like hearts. I wish every Southern Baptist could hear the stories of their fellow Baptists and the suffering and triumphs they've gone through. … When they are in BWA, it is a healing fellowship.”

Managing Editor Ken Camp contributed to this report.