Posted: 7/23/04

Partnership, cooperation fuel churches' missions engine

By Marv Knox

Editor

HOUSTON–Partnership and cooperation are important fuels for missions, leaders of missions groups insisted during the Texas Baptists Committed annual convocation.

Participants explored the theme “Local Churches on Mission.” In addition to learning from congregational missions leaders, they heard from missions strategists who help churches do missions.

Christ's Great Commission applies to all Christians, not just clergy, stressed Joan Parmer Barrett, director of Gloria al Padre Ministries, a “missions broker” that links churches to ministry opportunities in Mexico.

“Every layperson has that responsibility to go and tell. Everybody has a purpose and a mission. It's part of being Christian,” said Barrett, whose late father, Billy Ray Parmer, founded Gloria al Padre more than 40 years ago.

She cited her father's “4F” advice to missions volunteers: Remain faithful to the mission, focused on the mission, friendly to the culture and flexible.

Christians of Latin America are waiting to join Texas Baptists in spreading the gospel, reported Otto Arango, president of the Piper Institute for Church Planting.

The Piper goal is to create 5,000 church-planting institutes in 5,000 Latin American churches so they can train 100,000 church planters and start 50,000 churches.

“In the next 10 years, you're going to see at least 50,000 churches,” predicted Arango, president of the Union of Baptists in Latin America, one of six regions of the Baptist World Alliance. “That means millions of people coming to Jesus.

“The Baptists in Latin America are ready to work with Texas Baptists in doing missions. We're going to do some crazy things for the Lord in starting churches.

“We hope the name of the Lord Jesus Christ will be exalted.”

One of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship's largest missions projects involves a strong partnership with Texas Baptists, said Gary Baldridge, co-coordinator of CBF Global Missions, and Rick McClatchy, executive director of CBF-Texas.

Partners in Hope is the Fellowship's rural poverty initiative, designed to minister in the name of Christ in the nation's 20 poorest counties, which include seven counties along the Texas-Mexico border.

Rural poverty in the region is “crushing,” McClatchy noted.

In the Rio Grande Valley, Partners in Hope serves children and families through Kids Heart, a joint venture with CBF and Buckner Baptist Benevolences.

Other “partners” working in the ministry include Rio Grande Valley Baptist Association, Texas Baptist Men, Baptist University of the Americas and Baptist churches, he said.

McClatchy called on Texas Baptists to “pray every day for missions,” set aside $1 per day for missions and spend an average of one hour per week in hands-on missions.

The connection between Texas and CBF Global Missions is strong, Baldridge said, noting half the Fellowship's missionaries have Texas connections.

“Our No. 1 mission is to serve you and your church as you discover your mission,” he added.

Compassion is an essential component of missions, stressed Emily Row, Texas Baptists Committed's program coordinator.

She described how Jesus cared for the crowds who followed him and sent his disciples out to serve them because he had compassion on the “lost sheep of Israel.”

In Texas, that's a huge crowd, she added, reporting that 10.5 million residents of the state report no church affiliation.

Missions is built on divine vision, insisted Bill Tinsley, leader of WorldconneX, the Baptist General Convention of Texas' new missions network.

“Something happens when we connect with God's vision,” he said.

Missions has been Texas Baptists' vision since 1880, six years before the BGCT began, when they appointed their first missionary, he said.

Baptists fall into malaise when they lose that commitment to missions and fail to “connect to God's vision,” Tinsley said. “We need to reach back to the past and grab hold of that passion for missions. …

“We have to connect with God's vision and ask: What is God's vision for my life? What is God's vision for my church?”

Christians should look for missions opportunities all around them, urged B.J. Ritchie, site coordinator for Christian Women's Job Corps in Houston.

The ministry helps underprivileged women gain job skills so they can support themselves and their families.

It is sponsored by Woman's Missionary Union and involves not only training, but one-on-one Christian mentoring–“nothing more than just being a friend,” she said.

“We get to see people come to Jesus every day,” Ritchie noted. “We get to say, 'Hallelujah!' every day.”

Posted: 7/23/04

Churches challenged to move outside
four walls, be on mission for Christ

By Marv Knox

Editor

HOUSTON–No matter what others think, God will judge the Baptist General Convention of Texas by one standard, Ed Hogan told participants at the Texas Baptists Committed annual convocation in Houston.

“The BGCT will be judged by whether or not we win this state for Christ,” insisted Hogan, pastor of Jersey Village Baptist Church in northwest Houston. “Regardless of what historians say of us, God will hold us accountable.”

To illustrate, he described the population that lives within a five-mile radius of his church: “That's 630,000 people. Forty-four percent of them–300,000–claim no religious affiliation. God will hold me accountable as pastor for what we accomplish in reaching them. God will hold me accountable for what I do personally to reach people for Jesus Christ.”

“Local Churches on Mission” was the theme for the annual Texas Baptists Committed meeting. A range of speakers from churches described missions tasks and opportunities that confront Texas Baptists:

“Our challenge is to take what God has given us and get it to people in need,” noted Phil Lineberger, pastor of Williams Trace Baptist Church in Sugar Land, a Houston suburb.

Many Texas Baptists–particularly those who live in upscale areas such as Sugar Land–are wealthy by the world's standards and must “resist social pressure to spend more and more on themselves,” he said.

But spending their money to participate in missions is one of the best things Texas Baptists can do, he added. Besides benefiting people in need, missions strengthens churches and their members, Lineberger said.

“The personal touch (of missions) has softened their hearts,” he explained of his church members' involvement.

For example, white-collar volunteers watched as a child “with nothing” gave sacrificially to participate in an offering taken at a church on a mission site.

On another mission field, teens from the church discovered a young mother, who had died alone at home, with her three small children, all abandoned by the husband/father.

“These are life-changing experiences,” Lineberger insisted.

Churches must be near-sighted and far-sighted, advised Michael Bell, pastor of Greater St. Stephen First Baptist Church in Fort Worth.

Near-sighted churches see the needs in their communities, and far-sighted churches focus on needs around the world.

“We need both,” Bell said. “There are hurting people everywhere. There are needs everywhere. …

“Authentic Christianity is a hands-on experience,” he added, noting, “If you're not a missionary, you're a mission field.”

And Texas is a growing mission field, said Rudy Camacho, a founding member of Iglesia Bautista Genesis in Fort Worth and a former president of the Hispanic Baptist Convention of Texas.

Fifteen million Mexicans live along both sides of the Mexico-Texas border, Camacho said. Texas alone is home to 8 million Hispanics, who now comprise 38 percent of the state's population.

“You're becoming the minority in Texas–in about five years,” he told the largely Anglo audience.

Texas Baptists must focus their energy and resources on the missions challenge among them, Camacho said. “It's getting late. We're about 10 years behind, … (but) the field indeed is brown for harvest.”

As they seek to do missions, churches and other groups should not confuse their organization with the kingdom of God, warned Ron Danley, pastor of Lytton Springs Baptist Church near Dale, south of Austin.

When churches become organization builders, they see people as resources needed to build the church, he explained. But when they are kingdom advancers, they recognize people need what the church has–the love and grace of Jesus Christ.

The call to engage in missions means Christians must serve the world, reminded Elmo Johnson, pastor of Rose of Sharon Baptist Church in Houston.

“Jesus expects every church–every church–to get out of their four walls. Get in your community,” Johnson said. “That's missions–to get out of your four walls, get to know the people and the needs in your community.”

Missions also means shaping the culture, emphasized Larry Venable, pastor of Freeman Heights Baptist Church in Garland.

“The people of God are called to challenge and change culture, but the culture will not come to church,” Venable said. “So, the church challenges and changes culture by serving culture.”

That means meeting needs, he explained. In his church's community, that involves operating a pregnancy center and food pantry, setting up a back-to-school nursing program, providing Bible clubs and gang-prevention ministry for children and teens, offering English-as-a-Second-Language classes for adults and tutoring for children, as well as conducting a sewing ministry and also a Bible school that operates alongside a summer food program.

“One of the lessons we've learned is the more you do, the more God gives you to do, and God gives you people to do it,” he said. “We've learned to wait on God for resources. … God brings everything you need.”

Christians can improve their missions effectiveness by listening, suggested Jeff Raines, missions minister at First Baptist Church in Amarillo.

He described the church's three-year partnership with Baptists in Uganda that involved providing discipleship training, church construction and discussions about doctrine.

“A key factor that served us well in that relationship was a willingness to listen,” Raines said. By listening to the knowledge and ideas of their Uganda hosts, the Amarillo Baptists not only affirmed and strengthened the Ugandans but also gained much from the experience.

The Amarillo congregation's goal is to involve at least 10 percent of its average Sunday school attendance in hands-on missions “somewhere in the world” every year, he said.

In following Christ's directive to engage in missions, Christians have a four-fold assignment, said Charlie Johnson, pastor of Trinity Baptist Church in San Antonio.

“We have a Great Commission,” Johnson said, noting Jesus' commandment to take the gospel into the whole world. “We have a great permission–a pass to go into the world, to love people across race, nationality, ethnicity, class and religious barriers.

“We have a great transmission. We've got the right message” of salvation through faith in Christ. “We have a great submission. We are to be submissive to (Jesus') love as we are submissive to each other.”

Texas Baptists need to be involved in missions personally and boldly, concluded Mike Massar, pastor of First Baptist Church in Tyler.

He described the thrill his church has received from two types of local missions challenges–starting a new satellite program in the booming south part of town while branching out into an array of human-needs ministries in the community surrounding its downtown site.

“We needed to have a missions experience that was not vicarious,” he said, affirming hands-on involvement of many church members.

And Baptists shouldn't fear failure, he added. “You can fail as long as you're failing forward.”

Posted: 7/23/04

Around the State

Brian Ward has been hired as the first associate director of Internet development and services for the Baptist General Convention of Texas. Ward comes to the newly created position from the Annuity Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, where he was information systems security manager.

Paisano Baptist General Encampment's annual family camp opened July 25. Located in the Davis Mountains of West Texas, the camp hosts the family camp each summer during the last full week of July. It has been held since 1915.

Houston Baptist University graduate Stephanie Smith was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army during a special ceremony during the university's graduation exercises. Smith received a bachelor of science degree in psychology and sociology. A second special presentation honored Vice President for Academic Affairs Don Looser for his 40 years of service to the university.

The San Antonio campus of Wayland Baptist University awarded degrees to 292 students during summer graduation ceremonies. Outstanding student awards were presented to Robert Lee Johnson, religion; Richard Morice, business administration; Billy Jack Harlow, management; Daniel Caluya, human services; Robert Eshelman, occupational education; Clark Fooshee, master of Christian ministry; Karen Wilburn, master of business administration; and Jeff Humphrey, master of arts in management.

Leland Harden has been named director of university communications at Hardin-Simmons University. He is a 1984 HSU graduate. In February, he was one of two recipients of the school's first Outstanding Young Alumni Award. He had been vice chancellor for institutional advancement at New Canoe University.

Gabriel Cortés has been named executive assistant to Baptist University of the Americas President Albert Reyes.

Wes Moore has been named associate dean of the College of Fine Arts and chair of the department of music at Dallas Baptist University. Prior to the appointment, he had been assistant professor of music and program head of vocal studies in the department of music. He is a member of Big Springs Church in Garland.

Jonathan Gary has been named directory of conservatory music at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor. He has been the assistant director of the conservatory the last four years. He also taught French at the school six years. More than 500 children currently are enrolled in the UMHB Conservatory of Music, which began in 1997 with 88 children. It includes four children's choirs, three youth orchestras, five levels of Kindermusik and private lessons in piano, voice, strings, wind instruments, percussion and guitar. The conservatory will begin its fall semester Aug. 23. For more information, call (254) 295-4868.

Howard Payne University recently launched its online university community. The web site will allow HPU faculty, staff and alumni to search an alumni database, read HPU news, register online for alumni events and post job listings and resumés.

The American Museum Society, which supports the Museum of American Architecture and Decorative Arts on the campus of Houston Baptist University, recently installed new officers. Lois Shanks was elected president; Mattie Stevenson, first vice president; Kristine Soleberg, second vice president; Sharon Corry, third vice president; Morna Wall, fourth vice president; Annette Duggan, recording secretary; Gina Saour, treasurer; Joan Cullinane, parliamentarian; and Margaret Riley, corresponding secretary.

Anniversaries

Joy Church in Gladewater, 100th, Aug. 1. Homecoming activities will include luncheon following the morning service and a performance by the Southern gospel group The Hamptons. Scott Johnson is pastor.

Second Church in Marshall, 100th, Sept. 5. Bobby Hoffpauir is pastor.

Retiring

Larry Embry, as pastor of Calvary Church in Brenham, where he has served 35 years. He also was pastor of First Church in Schulenburg four years to begin his ministry. A reception will be held in his honor from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Aug. 1.

Kenneth Coleman, as pastor of Hastings Church in Hastings, Okla., Aug. 8. A native of Mart, he has been in the ministry 45 years. Texas was the site of much of his ministry including serving as pastor at Connally Heights Church in Waco; North Central, Melrose and Saunders Road churches in Houston; First Church in Quemado; and Kirk Church in Mart. A reception will be held from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Aug. 8.

Roy Kornegay, as director of missions of Amarillo association, Sept. 1. He has been in the ministry 49 years, serving the association the last 18 years. Prior to that, he was minister of education at First Church in Amarillo 15 years. He also served at North Phoenix Church in Phoenix, Ariz., and First churches in Pampa, Texas City and Dumas.

Deaths

Hal Boone, 80, July 5 in Friendswood. Boone served as a medical missionary in East Africa with the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention more than 18 years. He worked in Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya until an automobile accident in 1976 severed his spinal cord, leaving him paralyzed from the chest down. He did not retire from ministry, however, and served Nassau Bay Church in Houston as interim pastor in 1977 and was minister of missions at Sagemont Church in Houston from 1978 until his retirement in 1993. He also served as a member of the boards of trustees at Baylor University, Southeastern Seminary and the Home Mission Board of the SBC. All six of his children returned to Africa as adults to serve stints as missionaries there. He was preceded in death by his brothers, J.B. and Carroll. He is survived by his wife of 59 years, Pat; sons, Hal, James, Paul and Daniel; daughters, Cathy Schellenberg and Susie Goodgame; sisters, Agnes Heffington and Jewel Gunter; 27 grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.

The Backyard Band of (left to right) Danielle Coffe, Jonathon Nicholson, Emily Hoffman, Lindsey Lewis, Josh Stone and Jeremy Stone (not pictured) played for kids during The Heights Church in Richardson's "Son Games 2004" Vacation Bible School. More than 950 children attended the four-day event.

Ray Wilson, 62, July 9, while on a study-abroad program in Rome. Wilson, a professor of biology at Baylor University, was director of the Honors Program and had been denoted a Master Teacher. He had been on the Baylor faculty since 1973. He was known among the student body for mentoring hundreds of students pursuing graduate degrees in the sciences, while also directing countless undergraduate honors theses. Wilson served on the faculty Senate and, at the time of his death, was chair of the faculty advisory committee for student life and was co-director of the summer study abroad program. He was a member of Highland Church in Waco. He was preceded in death by his brother, David. He is survived by his step-mother, Eileen Wilson; sister, De'Andrea Myers; and brother, James.

Barry Beames, 45, July 16 in Pasadena. Beames was pastor of Woodland Trails Church in Pasadena at the time of his death. He also had served at First Church in South Houston; Fianna Hills Church in Fort Smith, Ark.; First Church in Jefferson; First Church in Blue Ridge; Calvary Church in Rotan; and Friendship Church in Abilene. He is survived by his wife, Carla; parents, Mary and Bob Beames; sons, Joshua, Caleb and Jonathan; and sister, Melanie Williams.

Chip Conyers, 60, July 18 in Houston. Conyers, one of Truett Theological Seminary's first faculty members, had been struggling with cancer. Conyers also was an author, speaker and frequent talk-show guest and a columnist in the local and national media. He was a member of Baylor's Faculty Senate. He was a member of First Church in Waco. He is survived by his wife, Debbie; daughter, Emily; and son, A.J; and one grandson.

Ordained

Buddy Burton to the ministry at First Church in Briggs.

Chuck Fountain to the ministry at Oak Island Church in Anahuac.

John Hensley as a deacon at Midway Church in Dayton.

Posted: 7/23/04

Assisted-suicide review requested

WASHINGTON (RNS)–The Bush administration has asked a federal appeals court to reconsider its spring decision to uphold Oregon's assisted-suicide law.

It would like the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to set aside its May ruling that backed the only law in the country that permits doctors to assist patients in hastening their deaths, the Associated Press reported.

The Justice Department said the case, decided 2-1, should be reheard by a panel of 11 judges.

The three-judge panel determined U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft cannot hold Oregon physicians criminally liable for prescribing overdoses under the voter-approved Death with Dignity Act.

The administration believes federal drug laws bar doctors from dispensing medication that would be used to end the life of a patient.

Eli Stutsman, a lawyer who represents a doctor and pharmacist in the case, said the federal government lacks authority over the state assisted-suicide law.

A recent Gallup Poll shows that about two-thirds of adults surveyed agree that doctors should legally be permitted to assist a person with an incurable disease to end his or her life.

Posted: 7/23/04

Future of Baylor 2012–and possibly
the school's president–in hands of regents

By Ken Camp

Managing Editor

WACO–Baylor University regents met July 21-23 for a three-day retreat to discuss Baylor 2012–the school's long-range vision–and possibly determine the future of embattled President Robert Sloan.

Baylor 2012 is a plan championed by Sloan to make Baylor a top-tier university by expanding the school's facilities, reducing class sizes and recruiting professors committed to academic excellence, scholarly research and Christian values.

Critics claim the plan has increased debt, pushed tuition to levels unaffordable by students from middle-income families and forced instructors to meet narrow and rigid religious tests.

Former regent Chairman Drayton McLane predicted in May the board might have to extend the long-range plan beyond 2012 because of economic conditions.

Twice in the last year, the university's Faculty Senate passed votes of no confidence in Sloan as president.

Regents responded last September by affirming Sloan by a 31-4 vote.

But at the board's May meeting, he came within one vote of losing his job. During a closed-door session, a motion to ask for Sloan's resignation failed by an 18-17 secret ballot.

At that same meeting, John Baugh, a major Baylor benefactor from Houston, warned he would ask the university to repay loans and return financial gifts he made if the board failed to rescue Baylor from “the paralyzing quagmire in which it currently is ensnared.”

The Committee to Restore Integrity to Baylor–a group critical of Sloan's leadership–issued a public statement prior to the July 21-23 regents meeting predicting the president would lose his job.

No vote on Sloan was on the agenda for the regent's July 23 business meeting.

However, some regents contacted prior to the meeting expected some kind of vote regarding his presidency. They declined to speculate about the possible outcome.

Baylor regent business meetings are closed to the media. At press time, the board had made no announcement about any actions taken.

Posted: 7/23/04

Baptist Briefs

Clingenpeel returns to pastorate. Mike Cling-enpeel, editor of Virginia Baptists' newspaper for the past 12 years, will be the next pastor of River Road Baptist Church in Richmond, Va. Clingenpeel will assume the pulpit of one of the most prominent moderate Baptist churches on the East Coast Sept. 7. He left a Franklin, Va., pastorate in 1992 to edit the 176-year-old Religious Herald, newsjournal of the Baptist General Association of Virginia.

Auction benefits CBF missions. A violin and a collectible C.S. Lewis book were sold to the highest bidders at a silent auction during the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship general assembly in Birmingham, Ala., this summer. The auction raised $18,200 to support ministry projects of CBF Global Missions field personnel around the world. The auction's most valued items were a violin and a 1947 autographed edition of C.S. Lewis' "Miracles: A Preliminary Study." Three other highly-sought items were a painting and two pieces of embroidery by Chinese Christian artist He Qi. He donated his work for the auction as well as a painting to the Fellowship to be displayed in the Atlanta Resource Center.

KCBI, FamilyNet team up. Dallas Christian radio station KCBI and the Southern Baptist Convention's Fort Worth-based FamilyNet television network have formed an alliance to share audio portions of their newscasts. KCBI has won the National Religious Broadcasters' Best News award, several SCRIBE awards for best news on a Christian radio station, and numerous Dallas Press Club Katie awards and Texas Associated Press awards. FamilyNet News is a blend of headlines and stories that affect families. Both news outlets bill themselves safe for children to watch and include "good news" stories with positive endings.

GuideStone offers health screenings. The Southern Baptist Convention's GuideStone Financial Resources (formerly Annuity Board) has joined with Life Line Screening to make convenient health screenings available to Southern Baptist church and denominational workers at an affordable rate. The mission of Life Line Screenings is to make people aware of undetected health problems and encourage them to seek follow-up care with their physicians. Screenings scan for potential health problems related to bone density, blocked arteries that can lead to stroke, aortic aneurysms that can lead to a ruptured aorta and hardening of the arteries in the legs, a predictor of heart disease. For information, call Life Line Screenings at (800) 403-7417.

"Purpose-Driven …" stays on top. Rick Warren's "The Purpose-Driven Life" has received the Book of the Year Award from the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association for the second year in a row. The book by Warren, pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., has spent more than 70 weeks on The New York Times' best-seller list. "The Prayer of Jabez" by Bruce H. Wilkinson also was a two-time Book of the Year winner, in 2001 and 2002. "The fact that books like these have won in consecutive years is a true testimony of the lasting impact a Christian book can have on one's life," ECPA President Doug Ross said. "These titles are mere examples of the power of God working through his people to convey the message of hope. I pray they continue to impact lives for Jesus Christ for many years, driving people to discover the many other resources our industry offers for growth and encouragement."

Multihousing conference set for Fort Worth. The Emerging Multihousing Church conference will train Baptists interested in helping start churches. The national meeting will be held at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth Aug. 26-27. The conference is designed to develop a strategy to help bring residents of multihousing communities to faith in Christ. For more information, and to register online, visit www.experiencemultihousing.org. The cost is $100, and the registration deadline is Aug. 15.

Posted: 7/23/04

Missions offering helps Buckner Border
Ministries touch lives along Rio Grande

By Mary Crouch

BGCT Summer Intern

PROGRESO–Jorge Zapata knows Texas is a big state. But he believes Texas Baptists from every corner of the state can touch lives in the name of Jesus, even if they never leave home.

Zapata, coordinator of Border Ministries for Buckner Children & Family Services, sees firsthand the impact Texas Baptists are having through the annual Mary Hill Davis Offering for Texas missions. Buckner receives just over $17,000 for its border ministries from the offering.

With that money, Zapata, along with nearly 1,000 mission volunteers, provide home repairs, basic medical assistance, groceries and a long list of other support for people living in colonias along the border with Mexico.

Kayla Cope of First Baptist Church in College Station tars the roof of a home during a missions trip coordinated by Buckner Border Ministries and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.

Buckner also uses the funds to provide Vacation Bible Schools, bilingual Bibles and other spiritual support.

Buckner tries to “help families in need,” Zapata said. “They come here with nothing.”

Zapata recalled a young couple in desperate need of medical care. The wife had been raped, and aside from the emotional scars, she was sick as well.

Through the local community center, Buckner found a doctor to provide her with medical attention. After the initial check-up and twice-monthly visits, the doctor discovered the woman had a bladder infection and needed medicine. Since the couple could not afford to pay for their prescriptions or hospital bills, Buckner again stepped in to help them.

After checking the wife in the local hospital in Edinburg, Zapata and others from Buckner asked if they could tell the couple about Jesus. They soon decided they wanted to accept Jesus as their Savior.

The Mary Hill Davis Offering provides assistance in other ways as well. In impoverished colonias, families live in houses made of cardboard and plastic, and they often have little to no basic amenities.

Buckner Border Ministries uses Mary Hill Davis Offering funds to give these families medical care, food, clothing, education and, if they own a house, home repairs.

Buckner tries to only give to families who are “truly in need,” reported Tommy Speed, administrator of the Rio Grande Children's Home. “We look at the situation to improve long-term.”

Buckner works in the Rio Grande Valley with local community centers, whose responsibility is to tell needy families about Buckner.

Once the families have come to a community center, they are referred to Buckner Border Ministries, which steps in to offer appropriate service, financial or otherwise.

Many families end up being so touched by the work Buckner has done for them that they accept Christ as Savior.

“The Mary Hill Davis Offering is making it possible for people to come to Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior,” said Ken Hall, president of Buckner and current president of the Baptist General Convention of Texas. “That's the best investment we can possibly have when we give sacrificially.”

Posted: 7/23/04

JIMMY CARTER:
Sunday school teacher

By Shalynn Ford Harvey

Religion News Service

PLAINS, Ga. (RNS)–A little more than 100 miles and several light-years southwest of Atlanta lies a bucolic hamlet surrounded by pine trees, pecan groves and peanut farms.

A row of turn-of-the-century buildings and a modern post office form the downtown. Across the silent railroad tracks and a little ways down the road sits a small Baptist church where a faith-driven man is about to begin teaching his weekly Sunday school lesson.

As soon as a battery of somber but stylishly dressed Secret Service agents signal the room is secure, the class commences.

Welcome to Plains, Ga., idyllic home of the world's most famous Sunday school teacher–former President Jimmy Carter.

“We had 12,739 visitors last year,” says Dan Ariail, pastor of the 131-member Maranatha Baptist Church. The volume of visitors could be daunting for some, but not to Ariail, who simply says of the crowds, “Blessed are the flexible, for they never get bent out of shape.”

He should know. He literally wrote the book–a 197-page doctoral dissertation–on how to maintain hospitality and normality under arguably bizarre circumstances, including armed guards and huge crowds regularly attending Sunday worship service.

“We're a small church with a worldwide outreach,” said Ariail.

He is, of course, referring to the global draw of his most famous yet eminently accessible member, 79-year-old Jimmy Carter. Despite a grueling travel and work schedule, he somehow manages to teach Sunday school at the small country church 35 to 40 weeks out of the year.

A few minutes before 10 a.m., Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, arrive without fanfare and enter the packed sanctuary via a noisy and frigid waiting room jammed with “overflow” guests seated on metal folding chairs.

They will have to settle for hearing the former president deliver his lesson via closed-circuit television. Only those who arrive at daybreak have a prayer of being seated in the sanctuary. Aware of this inconvenience, Carter lingers behind in the waiting room almost 10 minutes, chatting with the audience and answering a few questions.

On this day, Carter sports a bolo tie with turquoise accents, dark blue wool jacket and slacks, and burgundy loafers. Although the air conditioner has been cranked up high, observers note the aura of the room grows noticeably warmer with the presence of Carter–a peanut farmer-turned-president-turned-peacemaker.

Perhaps it is his altruism-in-action for the poor and disenfranchised. Or his revered “elder statesman” title. But whatever “it” is, it keeps people from California to Calcutta and everywhere between coming in droves to see how a man who once led the free world now leads a Sunday school class at a small church whose name means “Come, Lord.”

Carter begins this Sunday's lesson, titled “The Lord's Supper,” with a humorous anecdote about viewing Mel Gibson's movie “The Passion of the Christ” at a local theater.

“Rosalynn and I went (on a) Tuesday, thinking there wouldn't be a big crowd since it was a weekday, … but the Secret Service had to use their influence just to get us two seats together,” he said.

The crowd laughs at the hominess of it all. Then Carter gets serious and the lesson officially begins.

Gibson did an “outstanding job,” in Carter's opinion, of “accurately depicting Scripture.” But, he adds, “the violence was excessive” and he was “disappointed with the last scene” because he thought the Resurrection was not given its full due, nor was it explained sufficiently enough for non-Christians to understand.

The lesson continues with a mix of Scripture, an interpretive narrative about the symbolism and significance of the Lord's Supper, and personal anecdotes. One personal story included Carter's confession that, although a born-and-bred Baptist, he routinely attended early morning Catholic services during his Navy days. He said it freed up the rest of the day to spend with his family.

All too soon, the lesson concludes and the teacher quietly departs the podium to take his place next to his wife, and along with the rest of the congregation, prepares to worship.

Later, offertory plates, hand-crafted from Philippine mahogany by Carter (also an accomplished carpenter) and hand-lined with green felt by his wife, Rosalynn, are passed around the room.

A little over an hour later, the service concludes with the choir singing, “Christ Receiveth Sinful Men,” while the Carters quietly exit the sanctuary.

Once outside, they begin the tedious process of becoming photo opportunities for nearly 500 people who have trekked to Plains and endured security checks to have their 15 seconds with the world's most-recognizable Sunday school teacher.

Posted: 7/23/04

Posted: 7/23/04

Churches must intentionally give
priority to planning, ministers maintain

By Trennis Henderson

Kentucky Western Recorder

BIRMINGHAM, Ala.–Warning “inertia is against planning,” Mark Wingfield said churches must make an intentional effort to achieve effective long-range planning.

Wingfield, associate pastor of Wilshire Baptist Church in Dallas, and Jerry Bryant, retired executive vice president of Baylor Health Care Systems in Dallas, led a workshop on “Grassroots Congregational Planning” during the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship general assembly in Birmingham, Ala.

“If you don't intentionally set out to plan, you won't plan because you won't find the time,” Wingfield said.

Wilshire leaders have “introduced some new concepts into the congregation” such as an intentional focus on pursuing spiritual formation, mobilizing members for ministry and communicating with the congregation.

Bryant, who served as a consultant throughout the church's planning process, said grassroots congregational planning includes a succinct mission statement that leads to key priorities, strategies and tactics.

“The mission defines what the calling or the purpose of the organization is,” Bryant explained.

“It needs to be simple enough that people can remember it. If the folks understand what we are here to do, there are some amazing things that can be accomplished.

“The mission statement should not define how it is going to be achieved,” he noted. “If you do that, you're actually putting yourself in a box.”

How a church accomplishes its mission “will change as the world changes and as our congregation and resources change.”

Once a church has produced a clear, concise mission statement, Bryant said, the next step is to establish a few key priorities that call for specific action.

The priorities should lead to strategies that “define the direction or course of action into the future,” he said. “A strategy is nothing in the world except a definition of work that needs to be accomplished in order for something to be done.”

Bryant described the next step–tactics–as “the to-do list” in accomplishing the church's priorities.

“Why would we want to do planning?” he asked. “If we're not watching changes and addressing those changes with a good plan, we may find ourselves unable to keep up.

“This process starts with a rich review of data. If we don't look at the data, we have absolutely no idea where we are and it's hard to tell where we want to go.”

The data should include an accurate evaluation of key church statistics, such as baptisms and attendance trends as well as community demographics.

“The planning part is the easy part,” Bryant noted. “The tough part is the implementation process. Enlisting the right person to take responsibility for a strategy has everything to do with whether that strategy goes anywhere.”

Bryant encouraged church leaders to review and revise ministry strategies every three months.

“I don't believe a plan ought to go in a book and stay on a shelf,” he said. “Review: What did we achieve in the last quarter? What are we going to try to achieve in the next three months? What's working and what's not?”

Both the planning and implementation process should involve evaluating “what are some of the things we do really well and some of the things we don't do really well?” Bryant said.

He encouraged church leaders to “make a note of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities or threats” the congregation faces and use that information to help determine ongoing strategies.

Describing effective strategy planning as “a living tool,” Bryant said such efforts can help “create a shared consensus of what we believe God wants the congregation to become during the approaching five years.”

Posted: 7/23/04

ANOTHER VIEW:
A pastor/dad's advice on ministering to military families

By Lee Brewer

Our son Daniel is a Marine in Fallujah, Iraq. As you might imagine, these past five months have been difficult for our family.

Here are some ideas that would help Christians minister to families with troops in harm's way. Because of our family's context, I will address a Marine, but you can apply the branch that fits your situation:

Nothing encourages families like hearing that you are praying for their Marine. So every now and then, drop them a card or e-mail and just say, “Hey, we prayed for your troop today.”

Nothing demonstrates true concern like sending a card, letter or package to their Marine. When the occasion permits, ask them what you can send. We have been so encouraged to hear from our Marine about all the people who have mailed him letters, cards and packages.

Sometimes, the families want to talk and will talk nonstop about their Marine. Be courteous and just let them talk. Sometimes, they don't want to talk. The key is to let them decide.

Don't tell them you just heard on the news that five Marines were killed. There are two kinds of families–families who watch and read the news nonstop and families who never watch or read the news. The point is those who can't stay away from the news already know five Marines have been killed. Those who don't watch or read the news don't want to know. It's their way of coping.

Avoid asking every time you see them if they have heard from their Marine. Odds are, if they have heard, they will let you know. It is painful to be asked time and time again if they have heard, when weeks pass by without hearing anything.

At times, family members of Marines may appear to lack faith or to be losing their minds or having a nervous breakdown. Each family member struggles with how he or she is perceived in handling the fact that the Marine is in harm's way.

Be careful not to make a judgment. Let them have days of being down. It's not a sign of a lack of faith. Every family member with a Marine in harm's way is growing in faith by leaps and bounds. Some days, it may not seem like that to you. Let them make mistakes. Let them say the wrong thing at the wrong time. Let them fail in handling things from time to time. Their decision-making abilities are not in top form.

Allow them to have times when they don't seem to be present. They struggle with being preoccupied. At work or at church, they may seem to be somewhere else. The truth of the matter is they are. Give them some freedom to not be like they used to be at times.

If you don't support the war, keep that to yourself. You can still be friends with them and not share your politics. It is really painful for families to hear that, in your opinion, their loved one is in danger for an unjust cause.

If you're going to drop by their house for a visit, call in advance. Every time their front doorbell rings, their hearts stop. Bad news comes through the front door.

Think about how you would want to be treated if the shoe were on the other foot. That's what Jesus said to do.

Lee Brewer is pastor of First Baptist Church in Aledo

Posted: 7/23/04

CYBERCOLUMN:
The one that got away

By John Duncan

I’m sitting here under the old oak tree, thinking about fishing. Jesus called fishermen to follow him.

The orange sun rose over the bay in Key West, Fla. The humidity of the morning and the coming day excited me. I watched the sunrise while the glassy waters mirrored the life of the sun. I ate breakfast, a feast of watermelon, sausage, scrambled eggs and orange juice. I walked off the ramp of the cruise ship on that summer morning and boarded a smaller vessel for fishing in the Florida Gulf Coast. The Duncan men—my father, George Sr.; my brother, George Jr.; my nephew, Graham; and I greeted that morning as we ventured on a fishing expedition. Sal and Brian, the crew of the ship, greeted us. Brian explained where the ice water was, where we were going, and our task for the day—to catch fish.

He exuded confidence that we, the Duncan men, would, no doubt, catch fish. Captain Brian opined along the way: “Fish with the best and not the rest.”

I am a disciple of Jesus. He loved fishermen. He loves me. I am no fisherman, but I do like to fish occasionally. Does that make sense? We rode out to our fishing spot on the boat named “Bullbuster.” I could not help but think of Key West, Ernest Hemingway, and his books, “The Sun Also Rises” about bullfights in Spain and “The Old Man and the Sea.” In Hemingway’s book about the old man and the sea, he tells the story of an old man battling a shark on a fishing excursion.

Hemingway describes with fabulous lines the fish: “Then the fish came alive, with his death in him, and rose high out of the water showing all his great length and width and all his power and his beauty. He seemed to hang in the air above the old man in the skiff. Then he fell into the water with a crash that sent spray over the old man and over all of the skiff.”

Would today be the day when I would battle a fish and splash of the ocean would spray mist on my face?

Brian drove us in the “Bullbuster” 10 miles out into the Gulf of Mexico. We fished over a World War II vessel named “Alexander.” Sailors guided the vessel in WW II, but later it became a target for bombers practicing air raids. I guess the sunken ship “Alexander” was name after Alexander the Great, Aristotolean pupil, military general, 4th century B.C. military strategist, and the great one who once tamed a defiant colt. The sunken “Alexander” was our fishing spot. Would today be the day to tame a wild fish? Brian instructed us that we were fishing for “yellow snapper.” I asked Sal, whose cackling laugh kept me entertained, if it helped to talk, “Does if help to talk to the fish?”

“Yeah, oh, yeah,” he cackled and laughed and laughed and cackled.

The Duncan men caught yellow snapper, enjoyed the Gulf, and bonded in the life of the sun and the spraying mist of the ocean waters. Then it happened.

As I reeled in hook, line and sinker, a small yellow snapper, a larger fish zoomed quickly across the top of the water. “What do I do?” I asked Sal. “Leave it there,” he replied, instructing me.

Before I could say, “Howdy,” or whatever a Texan fishing in Florida should say, a kingfish grabbed the yellow snapper, the hook and took my fishing line fast and furious a hundred yards into the Gulf. Laughing and crying out, I said to Brian and Sal: “What do I do? What do I do? Tell me, what do I do?”

Anne Lamott in her book “Traveling Mercies” speaks of the two best prayers she knows: “Help me, help me,” and “Thank you, thank you, thank you.” I cried out help me with words, “What do I do?”

“Just hang on,” Sal said as he cackled, “he’ll get tired,”

The fish tired. Sal and Brian explained to me how to reel in the kingfish. I struggled and battled and fought for 20 minutes. My hand felt tremendous pain, but I kept reeling.

Hemingway has a couple of sentences about pain: “I must hold his pain where it is, he thought. Mine does not matter. I can control mine. But his pain could drive him mad.”

The pain in my hand did matter. Was the pain of a hook in the kingfish driving him mad?

The fish and I fought and struggled, struggled and fought until I had the fish within 10 feet of the boat.

Then suddenly, with a spin on top of the water, the fish whipped his tail like a sword and cut the line. It is my fisherman’s story of the big one that got away.

So here I am under the old oak tree, thinking. Life is cackling laughter and struggle and days where men bond together in the life of the sun and the spray mist of the ocean.

Abundant life is about being a disciple of Jesus, a fisherman whom Jesus loves. It is about saying to our Lord God in Jesus Christ, “Help me, help me, help me!” and “Thank you, thank you, thank you.” Life is about the story: fishing, the big one that got away, and the gospel story of Jesus’ love. Feel the sun. Feel the mist of ocean spray. Feel the love – of Jesus. “Come unto me all you who are heavy laden and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).

John Duncan is pastor of Lakeside Baptist Church in Granbury, Texas, and the writer of numerous articles in various journals and magazines