Learn evangelism from Starbucks

September 2, 2005

Posted: 9/02/05

Leonard Sweet, author and evangelism teacher at Drew University, insists the business world understands evangelistic principals better than most Christians. (Photos courtesy of leonardsweet.com)

Learn evangelism from Starbucks

By Jocelyn Delgado

Communications Intern

DALLAS–Some churches may be a little nervous using the word “evangelism,” but it's the new buzzword in the business world, author Leonard Sweet told the Urban Training Institute of the Southwest annual meeting.

Howard Schultz, chief executive officer of Starbucks Cof-fee Company, once said the “E” in CEO stands for evangelist, said Sweet, who teaches evangelism at Drew University in Madison, N.J. In Schultz's case, he evangelizes people about coffee.

Sweet laid out a four-part plan known as EPIC–experiential, participatory, image-rich and connective–to teach churches how to read signs and be aware of community needs. If Starbucks can do it, so can churches, he said.

“Starbucks is all about the experience; it's not about the coffee,” Sweet said. “Starbucks expects that when you become part of the Starbucks community, you ought to learn the lingo.”

Likewise, churches should offer a positive, meaningful experience to worshippers, he said.

And the rising generation wants the experience to be interactive.

“Television created passive people, the Internet created interactive people, and we are only beginning to see the effects,” Sweet said.

“People are not going to take anything straight; they're going to have to interact with it in every way. The new standard of excellence no longer is the quality of the performance; it's the quality of the participation.”

Another consideration is a cultural shift from a text-focused society to an image-rich society, Sweet said. People recognize Starbucks Coffee by its company logo.

“Church, by and large, is still trying to communicate in words,” Sweet said. “That's not how Jesus communicated. If you start playing around with people's images, you're doing spiritual brain surgery.”

Society became disconnected during the last mass migration from urban neighborhoods to cities, he noted.

Old houses used to come with wrap-around porches.

Now people have fenced-in backyards.

Starbucks coffee shops have couches and tables to sit at and meet with friends, implicitly telling customers: “We will be your front porch,” Sweet said.

Churches need to be more like refrigerator doors, Sweet said, citing a metaphor Reg-gie McNeal, director of leadership development for the South Caro-lina Baptist Convention, uses to describe how churches should welcome their congregations.

People put magnets, children's drawings, family photos and things on their refrigerator door that are not polished pieces of art, McNeal says.

Likewise, churches should be willing to offer “personal glimpses” into real life, not polished museum pieces.

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

Asian teen torches gang flag

September 2, 2005

Posted: 9/02/05

The Take Out Asian Youth Camp at Baylor University offered Asian youth from across Texas the opportunity for fellowship, worship, workshops and leadership training.

Asian teen torches gang flag

By Karen Simons

Special to the Baptist Standard

WACO–Flag burnings at an ethnic youth camp wouldn't usually be something to celebrate, but this year's Take Out Asian Youth Camp ignited a spiritual fire resulting in a physical one.

Sponsored by the Baptist General Convention of Texas' intercultural initiatives office, the Take Out Asian Youth Camp held at Baylor University offered Asian youth from across Texas the opportunity for fellowship, worship, workshops and leadership training. Fifteen churches were represented at the third annual camp this summer.

Reach All People, a BGCT Cooperative Program-funded initiative, provided $1,000 in scholarships so unchurched students could attend.

One of those students, Eric, was heavily involved in a gang in his home city. At camp, he made friends with several ex-gang members.

“Gang membership is becoming even more popular among Asian youth due to efforts to belong to the culture around them, especially the hip-hop youth culture,” explained camp organizer Cathy Dundas, an intercultural specialist with the BGCT. “When gang members find acceptance in Christ, they soon turn preacher in their home youth groups.”

These former gang members connected with Eric right away. They visited with him during small-group times, evening events and workshops. They showed him new ways to belong and find friends. They played basketball with him during free time.

On Wednesday night at the camp, Eric felt compelled to respond to the public invitation, but was not quite ready to make a faith commitment. After the service, he spent time with one of his new friends, who helped him understand what a commitment to Christ really means.

“He opened his life to a new Master that night, and as a result of his decision, immediately burned the gang flag he always carried,” Dundas said. “The last night of camp, Eric came for the invitation and brought a mass of friends as support.

“What a powerful change in his loyalty and allegiance. When we see this kind of changed life and think how sweet the smoke smelled to God that night, it reminds us why we plan camps, why we provide scholarships and the difference it makes in eternity.”

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

Texas Baptist children minister at Mexican orphanage

September 2, 2005

Posted: 9/02/05

Children receive notebooks and markers from Texas Baptist Children's Home residents on the last day of the one-week mission trip.

Texas Baptist children
minister at Mexican orphanage

By Miranda Bradley

Texas Baptist Children's Home

JUAREZ, Mexico–Youngsters at Texas Baptist Children's Home have chosen acts of service as their love language, speaking it fluently for more than 20 years at a small Mexican orphanage.

Since 1982, children from the Round Rock child and family services ministry have trekked to Juarez, Mexico, where they have developed a special bond with the children at Orphantorio Benito Juarez.

“There's a strong connection between the children here and the ones there because of the similarities in their circumstances,” said Brenda Toner, a house parent at Texas Baptist Children's Home who has been on every trip but one. “Their living conditions are different, but our kids identify with them.”

A Texas Baptist Children's Home resident helps a Mexican orphan with his Vacation Bible School project during an annual mission trip to Orphantorio Benito Juarez.

In fact, those living conditions are what probably impact the Texas children most. During a reflection time after returning from their weeklong mission trip, one Round Rock resident observed: “They have so little. But they are so happy.”

It was something most of the children recognized. Children in the orphanage never were bored, never complained and were thrilled with something as simple as a set of markers.

The longstanding relationship began when children from Round Rock accompanied First Baptist Church of Austin to the orphanage, where volunteers conducted Vacation Bible School. Eventually, because of a surplus of volunteers, Texas Baptist Children's Home began mission work on its own.

Today, the children's home group still conducts Vacation Bible School but completes other projects as well. This year, they built a large fence, filled in a five-foot-deep trench outside the orphanage and helped paint an expansive wall. Volunteers also repaired a cooling system, since the children at the Juarez orphanage had been suffering through record-high temperatures with no air conditioning.

“These kids worked very hard this year,” Toner said of the children. “This certainly isn't just for fun.” Not every child at Texas Baptist Children's Home gets to make the trip; there is usually room for only 12 children. Each is chosen according to his progress while at the home, including behavior, grades and attitude over the course of a year.

Children throughout the Round Rock campus participate in a variety of fund-raising efforts to help defray costs. All of the children on campus contributed clothing and toys to send with their peers to Mexico.

More school supplies are handed out to children in Juarez.

While in Juarez, the Texas children rode around town distributing bags of clothes that, Toner says, spoke to the children in Juarez as much as anything else they did there.

“People would be sitting on these high hillsides outside their homes. When we'd stop the van, they would bound down that hill like it was nothing,” she said. “It was very moving to know something so simple had such an impact.”

The Texas Baptist Children's Home van also served as a mobile Vacation Bible School unit during the week. Children would sit in the middle of a dirt road just to hear about Jesus, Toner said.

Patricia, an 18-year-old former resident of the Round Rock campus, made her fourth trip to the orphanage this year. When her buddies headed home, she decided to stay another week.

“The first time I came here, I was in awe,” she said. “Just the poverty and dirt everywhere really hits you. Until you are here, you just have no idea how bad it is.”

Patricia, who recently graduated from high school, purchased her own plane ticket just so she could stay behind. She said she felt called to help minister to the children with whom she identifies.

“I've shared some of my testimony with them,” she said. “I want them to know that just because I am from America, that I have troubles and that God helps with everything. The Lord has blessed me just by being here.”

Over the years, Toner has seen positive changes in the orphanage. Ada Loire has operated the facility by herself since her parents retired, serving as chauffeur, teacher, mother and fundraiser for the children she considers her own.

Because of their love for the children they serve, Toner and Loire have become close friends, talking regularly on the phone and providing encouragement during trying times. So, it's not difficult for Toner to answer the one question some might ask: Why this ministry over any others all these years?

“It's about relationships,” she said. “It's because of a commitment that was made to this place many years ago. Like I tell the kids, always remember it's only a body of water that separates poverty from wealth. And we will continue that commitment to always serve people less fortunate than ourselves.”

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

Operacion San Andres brings hope to children in Peru

September 2, 2005

Posted: 9/02/05

An Operacion San Andres mission team poses with residents of Lima, Peru.

Operacion San Andres brings
hope to children in Peru

By George Henson

Staff Writer

LIMA, Peru–South Main Baptist Church in Houston and Buckner Orphan Care International are offering help and hope to homeless orphans and other rejected children in Lima, Peru.

About 700,000 children ages 4 to 12 live on the streets of Lima with no supervision. Some of their parents died in civil war. Other parents sent their children out of the house to fend for themselves because they could not afford to keep them.

Some children were cast out when their mothers took on new lovers who did not want them around. These children are called “social orphans.”

It all adds up to children who lack food, clothing and shelter, but most of all, they hunger for love.

Children in Peru receive much-needed nourishment from Christian volunteers.

Lima's poverty is not new information for Houston cardiologist Luis Campos. He grew up in Lima, and at age 16 wrote a story for his school newspaper describing life in the shantytowns that surround the inner city.

Campos left Peru as a young man, traveling to Scotland to study medicine. Since completing medical school, he has lived in the United States, and he has been a member of South Main Baptist Church more than 30 years.

Campos and his wife, Ruth, have been involved in medical missions since shortly after he completed his training as a physician.

The medical ministry to Peru took shape as a part of the overall missions strategy of South Main Baptist Church, called Ope-racion San Andres to honor the Apostle Andrew, who carried the word of God to others.

The ministry to Peru works well with the church's overall missions emphasis, Pastor Steve Wells said.

The church seeks to have every member involved in a hands-on ministry project.

The ministry's ongoing efforts include a partnership with Bread of Life, which focuses on meeting the physical needs of about 60 children in Collique, one of the towns on Lima's outskirts. At this point, the ministry is not able to give them a place to live, but it makes sure they have food, vitamins, clothing and the opportunity to learn about Christ.

More than 40 percent of the children in Peru have growth retardation due to malnutrition, Campos said.

Operacion San Andres has purchased a building in Collique. Plans call for the building to be the site of programs that will help educate and disciple children, Campos said. A program to teach mothers parenting, domestic and job skills also is part of the plan.

Buckner Orphan Care International supplies shoes not only for the 60 children involved in Bread of Life, but also for many more. Since Operacion San Andres and Buckner have similar interests in caring for impoverished children, the partnership has proved mutually beneficial, Campos noted.

The group effort began in 2003, when Buckner agreed to direct several hundred of the thousands of pairs of shoes the church collected to the children of Peru.

Leslie Chace, director of Buckner's international program for Latin America, also grew up in Lima, where her father was an American businessman.

A Buckner-sponsored group of 32 people, including seven from South Main Baptist Church, will leave Sept. 10 to deliver shoes to hundreds of orphans. The group also will lead Vacation Bible School activities for children.

Participants will meet with government officials to elevate the level of trust so the government will be more willing to share the needs of orphan children in the nation.

“This is just a wonderful opportunity for us to help some really needy kids,” Chace said. She noted the group will take shoes both to orphanages and to the street children Operacion San Andres focuses on.

Campos finds his church's efforts to support the Peruvian ministry deeply gratifying.

“This has been a wonderful experience for me in many ways,” Campos said. “But one of the greatest of those is that not only is South Main such a missions-minded church, but it also is my faith community, and it has been such an encouragement to me to continue to find God's will in this and where he will lead.”

Operacion San Andres has been a good thing for the church, too, Wells added.

“The Peru trip is becoming a real focus for us. I just am convinced that we have an opportunity to do something really wonderful in Lima, and that if we don't do it, no one else will,” he said.

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

Baptists respond in wake of Hurricane Katrina’s fury

September 2, 2005

Posted: 9/02/05

Hurricane Katrina floods streets in the 9th Ward of New Orleans. About 80 percent of the city flooded after two levees collapsed. (Photo by Ted Jackson/NEWHOUSE NEWS SERVICE)

Baptists respond in wake
of Hurricane Katrina's fury

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

Texas Baptist churches, community ministries and disaster relief volunteers mobilized in response to the needs of neighboring Louisiana when Hurricane Katrina struck.

Two Baptist churches in Orange turned their facilities into makeshift American Red Cross shelters as the number of people who evacuated Louisiana continued to escalate.

About 400 evacuees filled the gym, family life center, chapel, fellowship hall and game room of North Orange Baptist Church in Orange. Nearly 115 people were housed in the gym at First Baptist Church in Orange. Memorial Baptist Church in Baytown sheltered about 250 people. Green Acres Baptist Church in Tyler made its facilities available to the Red Cross, but it had not been needed as of Aug. 30.

• I want to help victims of Hurricane Katrina.

More than 100 people moved into Shepherd's Inn in Port Arthur, a ministry supported by the Mary Hill Davis Offering for Texas Missions, Texas Baptist Offering for World Hunger and Golden Triangle Baptist Association.

In Beaumont, Texas Baptist chaplains ministered to more than 1,000 individuals at a Red Cross shelter.

Ministers at two Baptist churches in Orange tried to make people affected by Katrina as comfortable as possible. Families slept on mats and cots. Church members prepared meals and offered a listening ear for people who wanted to talk. One woman at North Orange Baptist Church went into labor while staying there and had to be rushed to the hospital.

At First Baptist Church, a group of teenagers from the congregation brought cookies and played basketball with the children. A child from the church brought a large sack of her own clothing to help the people staying at the church's facilities.

News quickly spread through Orange that multiple churches would be used as shelters, and citizens responded by bringing by food and other goods. Others have volunteered their time.

“We're doing everything we can,” said Phyllis Stephenson, director of childhood education at North Orange Baptist Church. “They're away from their homes. They're away from their families.”

Barry Bradley, pastor of First Baptist Church, said hosting the shelter was an extension of what God has called the congregation to do. The congregation is reaching into the community, meeting needs and sharing the gospel as it can.

“It is our pleasure to be able to help,” he said. “It really is. Our hearts go out to these people. Some of them have lost everything.”

Texas Baptist Men disaster relief teams were called into action immediately after the hurricane hit. After gathering at a staging area in Marshall, several teams moved into Louisiana.

The statewide emergency food-service unit, the mobile command center and the Hill Country shower unit traveled to Lafayette, La., where they expected to serve from the Cajun Dome. The Top O' Texas Baptist Area feeding team went to Horseshoe Baptist Church in Alexandria, La.

The Tarrant Baptist Association, Dallas Baptist Association and Permian Basin units were dispatched to Hammond, La., about 40 miles northwest of New Orleans.

The South Texas feeding team was directed to Orange to help churches serve people who evacuated from Louisiana.

Potential volunteers can contact Texas Baptist Men at (214) 828-5350.

Baptist General Convention of Texas Executive Director Charles Wade is encouraging every Texas Baptist church to get involved in ministering to those affected by Hurricane Katrina.

He urged BGCT congregations to take a special offering for the Texas Baptist disaster relief efforts.

The Baptist General Convention of Texas supports Texas Baptist Men through the Cooperative Program budget, but disaster relief funds come from money donated to the convention and designated for this ministry. There are three Texas Baptist giving channels to support Hurricane Katrina disaster relief.

To give directly to the BGCT, send checks designated “Katrina relief” to BGCT Controller's Office, 333 N. Washington Ave., Dallas 75246.

To give only to Texas Baptist Men, send checks marked “Katrina relief” to Texas Baptist Men, 333 N. Washington Ave., Dallas 75246.

To give through the Texas Baptist Missions Foundation, send checks designated “Katrina relief” to Texas Baptist Missions Foundation, 333 N. Washington Ave., Dallas 75246. The foundation also accepts donations by credit card. Call (214) 828-5343 or toll free (800) 558-8263.

All funds given through these channels will support Texas Baptist relief efforts related to Hurricane Katrina. Funds given through the BGCT will benefit TBM and Texas Baptist churches. Money given through TBM will support only the TBM relief ministry.

Buckner Baptist Benevolences is accepting donations at four sites. For more information, call each site directly–Beaumont at (409) 866-0976; Dallas at (214) 275-9002; Longview at (903) 757-9383; and Lufkin at (936) 637-3300.

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

BGCT approved $1 million for Katrina relief efforts

September 2, 2005

Posted: 9/02/05

BGCT approves $1 million for Katrina relief efforts

By Ferrell Foster

Texas Baptist Communications

DALLAS â The Baptist General Convention of Texas will direct $1 million toward hurricane relief in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.

The funds will be channeled to churches in those three states that are seeking to meet the needs of people victimized by Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, said BGCT Executive Director Charles Wade. The convention's Administrative Committee approved the expenditure Sept. 1. âAll of us have been moved, shaken by this awful devastation,â Wade said.

Individual Texas Baptists and their churches are contributing hundreds of thousands of dollars in addition to the $1 million BGCT gift. Earlier this year, more than $1.4 million was given through the BGCT and its related ministry, Texas Baptist Men, toward tsunami relief in South Asia.

A system will be set up involving state Baptist groups in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama in order to assure that the money gets to people in need.

âBy working with churches and state groups we will have access to a ready-made system of communication and channels for handling the money,â Wade said. âThe people in the churches know the people in their communities and where the most desperate needs exist.â Jesus set the example of helping people in need around him, Wade said, and âTexas Baptists are following in his footsteps.â

âWe're grateful we can give the money but even more we are grateful that we can be with them in their loss and grief,â Wade said. âAnd the prayers of our people, from every church, will be continuous until everyone is cared for.â

Volunteers from BGCT churches already have streamed into the impacted areas via Texas Baptist Men disaster relief efforts; and with so many evacuees coming to Texas, even more volunteers are responding, Wade said.

Storylist for 8/22 issue

September 2, 2005

Storylist for week of 8/22/05

GO TO SECTIONS:
• Around Texas • Baptists
• Faith In Action
• Departments • Opinion • Bible Study

• Condition of New Orleans Seminary still unknown

• Texas churches take in hurricane victims; TBM relief units set up in Louisiana, Mississippi

• Five receive Texas Baptist Heritage Awards

• Pat Robertson retracts assassination remark

• Stem cell discovery could make moral debate moot

• Abstinence program loses federal funding

• Guidestone prescription drug benefits will exceed Medicare minimums

• Religious issues will color vote on Iraqi constitution

• Pastor, missionaries share ideas during sabbatical in Thailand

• Gang member burns 'flag' after meeting Christ at Asian Youth Camp

• Families minister together during Ecuador trip

• Texas Baptist universities preparing 3,000 students for ministry

• North Carolina convention, retirement home 'adjusting' relationship

• Children's home residents continue 20-year tradition helping Juarez orphans

• South Main, Buckner team up to help street children in Peru

• Committee drafts proposal on North Carolina churches funding CBF

• New WMU president has heart for 'MKs'

• Slovenian camp leads students through 'vertical ministry'

• Consultant for U.S. Embassy in Baghdad saw need for 'oasis' of hope

• Survey finds teens' pro-marriage attitudes paired with tolerance

• Children want justice for mother's 1964 murder by racists

• 'Holy discontent' precedes vision, speakers say

• Hybels says airline could be pattern for church 'customer service'

• Sweet: Evangelism means opening up to different ways of thinking

• Business can teach churches about evangelism

Articles from our 8/22/05 issue:

• The Bible goes to school

• The Bible goes to school

• Christian teachers walk the line between church & state

• BSM helps establish sense of community among students

• Musicians on mission in South Texas

• Irving church becomes missions learning lab for students

• Baylor professor a delegate to ONE Campaign summit

• Richardson woman clarifies missions calling in Sri Lanka

• Agency offers healing from tsunami's emotional damage

• Pray for Muslim women

• WMU challenges: Share the light

• On the Move

• Around the State

• Texas Tidbits

Previously Posted
• Baylor students apply classroom skills during mission to Kenya

• DBU, Buckner share love with orphans

• Winding path leads musician to Hardin-Simmons

• Mane Mission seeks record to benefit ministry

• Howard Payne student fulfills missions calling in Peru

• Student missionaries see God at work in Thailand

• Wayland BSM launches worldwide missions strategy

• Baptist Briefs

Previously Posted
• European Baptists unlikely to join network

• Rainer to lead LifeWay

• Irving church becomes missions learning lab for students

• Christian rock bridges secular and sacred music worlds

• Reviewed in this issue:
The Bible and Healing: A Medical and Theological Commentary by John Wilkinson
Finding God's Vision: Missions and the New Realities by Bill Tinsley
Jesus, King of Kings by Preston Alford Taylor
The Christian Century, Christianity Today, Priscilla Papers, Sojourners and Vital Theology (periodicals); Sightings and EthicsDaily.com (websites)
The Golden Ocean and Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian.

• Classified Ads

• Cartoon

• Texas Baptist Forum

• On the Move

• Around the State

See articles from previous issue 8/08/05 here.

• EDITORIAL: Battle against hunger picks up allies

• DOWN HOME: How can you top 7,950 lovely days

• TOGETHER: This could be God's perfect time for us

• Texas Baptist Forum

• Commentary: Christian nurses helping people in difficult circumstances

• Cyber Column by Brett Younger: Footsteps of Jesus?

• Cyber Column by John Duncan: Seasons of change

• Cyber Column by Jeanie Miley: God calls collect

• BaptistWay Bible Series for August 21: God s power will be revealed in end-time events

• Family Bible Series for August 21: Actions always have consequences

• Explore the Bible Series for August 21: Rejoice in the Lord s sovereignty

• BaptistWay Bible Series for August 28: Draw comfort from God s awareness

• Explore the Bible Series for August 28: Prayer & Bible reading are beginning of knowing God

• Family Bible Series for August 28: Heaven and hope are on the way

• BaptistWay Bible Series for Sept. 4: In the midst of change, God is there

• Family Bible Series for Sept. 4: Purpose stems from a right relationship with God

• Explore the Bible Series for Sept. 4: What do you think about the gospel?

See articles from previous issue 8/08/05 here.

2nd Opinion: Missions requires response to God
September 2, 2005

Posted: 9/02/05
2nd Opinion: Missions requires response to God

By Carolyn Porterfield

It was one of those opportunities I relish–speaking to ministerial students about the place of missions in the church. I was noting that as Christ-followers, we are to “go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.” A student on about the second row said under his breath, “Well, that is just your opinion.” And before I considered how it would sound, I replied, “No, that is Mark 16:15.”
From our beginnings, Texas Baptists have been a people guided by God's word who believed deeply that we are to go to anyone, anywhere and share the good news of Jesus' gift of salvation. It is not a human opinion or a program, but rather the mission of God for the church.

When Christ gave the Great Commission, it was given to the whole church, not just a certain segment of the church. Acts 1:8 lays out the strategy that we are to use: Empowered by the Spirit, we are to be witnesses–beginning where we are and not stopping until we've touched the ends of the earth. In our own state, we do not have to leave our borders to touch the nations. God is bringing the nations to us!
On Sept. 12, Texas Baptists will again focus on Texas missions as we consider the vast mission field in which we live and how we can minister together by joining our resources through the Mary Hill Davis Offering for Texas Missions. I have a great vision that all (and I do mean all!) Texas Baptists will awaken to the mission of God and mature as true disciples as they come to understand the strategic role they play in sharing the gospel in Texas. And that vision extends beyond our state, because I also believe God wants and can use Texas Baptists to extend his kingdom to the ends of the earth.
In years gone by, we would describe churches as “missions-minded.” That usually meant offerings were given, prayers were prayed and encouragement was offered to the missionaries who were sent out from our churches. We still need those things today, but “missions-minded” is not enough in our world today. The challenge is for “missions-engaged” churches–those that will move to the frontlines of missions and bless every member of their church to go outside the church walls to minister in Christ's name.
Texas affords every Texas Baptist that opportunity. It has been said that more than 10 million Texans need a personal relationship with Christ. If every Texas Baptist would just reach one of those 10 million, our state would be dramatically different.
Over the years, I have come to believe more strongly that Texas missions is what every Texas Baptist does, not just a few Texas missionaries. Money given to the Mary Hill Davis Offering flows throughout the state to enable churches to start other churches, to assist with creation of Christian Women's/Men's Job Corps sites, to do recreation ministries at parks and recreational facilities, to meet physical needs of Texans who find help through local-church ministries, to establish medical clinics along the Rio Grande and so much more. Every dollar given to meet the $5 million goal helps a fellow Texas Baptist to be on mission. And every time we don't meet the offering goal means a ministry will not receive what it needs for the following year.
Our involvement in missions is a response to what we believe about God's mission and the nature of his body, the church. We are called to go. We are called to be witnesses of God's work in our own lives through Jesus Christ. We are empowered with a power that created the universe, gives life and forgives sin. God has even laid out the strategy for our going. He has provided all that is needed. What is lacking is our loving response to him.
Carolyn Porterfield is the executive director-treasurer of Woman's Missionary Union of Texas.

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

Around the State
September 2, 2005

Posted: 9/02/05

James Moore, East Texas Baptist University director of choral activities, has received the Texas Choirmaster Award from the Texas Choral Director's Association. The award, which has not been presented since 1997, is the highest honor given by the organization. According to the TCDA, the award is given to “a person who has exhibited unparalleled leadership in the choral field and is a consumate conductor and musician.” Dean Tom Webster of the ETBU School of Fine Arts said, “The Texas Choirmaster Award is essentially a lifetime achievement award that is awarded only on those rare occassions when the TCDA leadership believes that an individual has made a major contribution to the art of choral music through many years of outstanding work.”

Around the State

An 18-hole Hunger Hounds Golf Tournament is set for Sept. 16 at Mead-owbrook Country Club in Kilgore, with all entry fees going to a church or charity of the player's choice. Ana-Lab in Kilgore is underwriting the tournament. The tournament format is a two-person scramble with a 1 p.m. start. The cost is $150 per team. Lunch is from noon to 1 p.m. Hunger Hounds is a group of Baptist laypeople committed to feeding hungry children. Golfers make their entry fee checks payable to any church or other charity. For more information, call (903) 753-2500.
More than 31,000 people attended the Franklin Graham Festival held in Corpus Christi last month, with more than 2,400 people making professions of faith for the first time.

Clara Herrera, a second-year student at Howard Payne University, is the recipient of the Rudy and Micaela Camacho Scholarship for the 2005 academic year, provided by the Hispanic Baptist Convention of Texas. She is majoring in exercise and sports science.
Three Houston Baptist University employees have retired. They are Don Byrnes, legal counsel; James Taylor, dean of the College of Arts and Humanities; and Cynthia Young, assistant vice president for institutional effectiveness and research. All served the school more than 30 years and began their careers at HBU as classroom instructors.
Steve Theodore has been selected to head the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor's new student affairs division. The student affairs division combines the work of the former student life and enrollment divisions. The new division is designed to coordinate all the efforts between the admissions and recruiting offices and all student services on campus. Theodore had been vice president for enrollment management since 2001.
Bob Utley, former East Texas Baptist University professor of religion, has compiled a 13-volume New Testament commentary into a compact disc format. The $37 CD can be purchased from the ETBU Office of Alumni Relations, with 50 percent of the proceeds placed in the Rufus Spraberry Scholarship Fund. For more information, call (903) 923-2041.
Robert Webb, John White and Pamela Zelner have graduated from the Baptist Health System's clinical pastoral education residency program. The year-long program provides extensive education in pastoral care in a health-care setting.

Anniversaries

Mattea Sciba, fifth, as children's minister at North-side Church in Victoria, Aug. 6.
Carl Ingram, 50th in the ministry, Aug. 21. He is pastor of Rock Crossing Church in Electra.
Preston Highlands Church in Dallas, 115th, Sept. 11. A meal and program will follow the morning service. Jeremy Johnston is pastor.
First Church of Horse-shoe Bend, 25th, Sept. 18. A meal and a concert presented by The Davids will follow the morning service. Red Waller is pastor.
First Church of North Houston (formerly Freeway Forest Church), 50th, Oct. 9. A lunch will follow the morning worship service. The Gold Rush Quartet will perform in an afternoon concert. For more information, call (281) 449-7201. Larry Reinecke is pastor.

Deaths

John, 7, and Kaleigh Robinson, 20 months, Aug. 19 in an auto accident. Their grandfather, Miller Robinson, is a retired minister of Colonial Hill Church in Snyder. They are survived by their parents, Kinney and Ronda Robinson; and grandparents, Miller and Sandra Robinson, and Ronald and Marilyn Atterbury.

Calvary Church in Mineral Wells recently honored Paul Massey for 56 years of service as a deacon. He celebrated his 92nd birthday last month. Massey, a retired mechanic, accepted Christ and was baptized in the church in 1930. He was ordained as a deacon there in 1949. He also has served as a children's Sunday school teacher and van driver. An ardent supporter of missions around the world, the church presented him with a clock that displays the time in cities around the world. Chairman of Deacons Lee GoLightly and Church Treasurer Gary Murph made the presentation. David Montoya is pastor.

Mildred Merritt, 96, Aug. 22 in Waco. For 54 years, she was the wife of Pastor Jack Merritt. His pastorates included First churches in Wills Point, Irving and Vernon. He was pastor of Ingleside Church in Shreveport 19 years. She worked as a registered critical care nurse in several hospitals. She also was active in Woman's Missionary Union. She was preceded in death by her husband and three sisters, Essie Johnson, Inez Ulmer and Eola Hill. She is survived by her son, Jack; daughters, Karen Copeland and Ruth Ann McMahan; five grandchildren; sister, Emma Herrington; and brothers, J.W., Robert, Randolph and Theodore Adams.
Milford Prichard Jr., 76, Aug. 23 in Abilene. A 1957 graduate of Hardin-Simmons University, he was an avid supporter of the school's athletic program. He was a member of the school's Academic Foun-dation and Cowboy Club. He was a deacon at First Church in Abilene, Southside Church in Abilene and First Church in Odessa. He is survived by his wife of 47 years, Rosa Lee; son, Marlon; daughter, Lou Ann Draper; brothers, Bill, Jim and Ed; sister, Fay Rutherford; and two grandchildren.
Robert Smith, 88, Aug. 29 in Lindale. He was pastor of churches in Henrietta, Terrell, McAllen, Port Arthur and Weslaco. He was the first director of missions for Rio Grande Association. He also was a trustee of the University of Corpus Christi, president of Valley Baptist Academy in Harlingen, chairman of the Southern Baptist Foreign Mission Board and sat on numerous boards of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, including the Baptist Standard. He taught hundreds of seminary extension courses, started 74 churches in Mexico and conducted services for winter Texans for many years. He was preceded in death by his wife of 54 years, Marguerite, and brother, Charles. He is survived by his wife of eight years, Sue; sons, Eddie, Jeff and Tim; sister, Kathy Waller; and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Events

Don Billingsley, one of the main characters portrayed in the film “Friday Night Lights,” will be the featured speaker at an event to held Sept. 10 at 7:30 at Wink Stadium. He will give his testimony as well as talk about the pressures of being a student athlete. Gates open at 6:30 p.m. First Church in Wink is the sponsor for the event. For more information, call Pastor Richard Ray at (432) 527-3831.
First Church in Devers will host The Brashears in a Southern gospel music concert Sept. 23 at 7 p.m. For more information, call (936) 549-7653. Harry McDaniel is pastor.

Ordained

Royce Sparks and Chris Parkhill as deacons at First Church in Gholson.
James Blakely, Ed Davidson, Jason Hodges, John Melton, Pat Norris, Mark Roberts, Patrick Simpson, Gary Snowden and Patrick Stewart as deacons at Lakeside Church in Dallas.

Licensed

Dick Talley to the ministry at Lakeside Church in Dallas.

Revivals

First Church, Lake Brownwood; Sept. 7-11; evangelist, Jimmy Smethers; pastor, Arthur Switzer.
Calvary Church, Dayton; Sept. 11-14; evangelist, Malcom Ellis; music, Mervyn Collins; pastor, Tony Rogers.

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

Twins’ Ford relies on commitment to Christ
September 2, 2005

Posted: 9/02/05
Twins' Ford relies on commitment to Christ

By George Henson
Staff Writer
Lew Ford's stint at Dallas Baptist University prepared him for more than life as a Major League Baseball player; it was the beginning of his spiritual journey.
“It all started at DBU,” he said. “I started seeing God active in all the activities, from our baseball team to the classroom.”
He played for DBU's Patriots in 1998 and 1999 and left to play minor league baseball. He completed his degree in 2004.

Lew Ford of the Minnesota Twins credits Dallas Baptist University-where he met future wife, Cori, with deeply impacting his life. (Photo courtesy of the Minnesota Twins)

Ford, a Minnesota Twins outfielder, played in 154 games last year with a .299 batting average. This year, his numbers are down a bit, but he remains a key contributor on a team still competing for the American League wildcard playoff spot.
It was also while at the school that he met his future wife, Corri. She invited him to go to church with her, and he “became more receptive to learning about Christ,” he said.
About a month after he began attending church, he went to San Antonio to meet her grandmother. During their visit, he began asking questions about how to know Christ as Savior, and she led him to a profession of faith.
That commitment to Christ has served him well as a baseball player, Ford said.
“There are times you get into situations you don't want to get into, and you start to feel uncomfortable. That's the Holy Spirit telling you it's time to leave,” he said.
The language used on the baseball field at times can also make a Christian feel uncomfortable, but it's not as bad as some people might think, he added.
Major League Baseball includes many Christian ball players, who prove it is possible to be a stellar athlete and a Christian, Ford said.
“I've heard that a Christian guy isn't going to have the same intensity as a non-Christian, and I don't understand that. I don't even know where that comes from unless it is that you're not out there cussing or something,” he said.
Being a professional baseball player has given him a platform from which to share his faith, he added.
“Jesus said to go and tell other people, and there are so many opportunities for me to do that since I play professional baseball that I wouldn't have otherwise,” Ford explained.
He has spoken at four or five Fellowship of Christian Athletes events and has a few more scheduled after the season is over–quite an accomplishment for someone who says he is much more comfortable standing at home plate than behind a lectern.
“I'm a very shy guy as far as talking in front of people goes, but God knows that, and I just put my trust in him,” Ford said. “I take all the opportunities that God has given me to share about him.”
One thing that helps, Ford said, is that he is not the only Christian on his team. First baseman Matthew LeCroy is a strong Christian and a good friend, he said.
Ford's wife and sons, Jake, 6, and Jordan, 4, also live in whatever city he does. That's unusual for a baseball player, but he insists it's an important part of staying grounded, along with participation in Bible study.
“I like to grow in the word of God. I'm pretty young in my spiritual life. I'm taking discipleship courses in order to be a better disciple and hope to have the opportunity one day to disciple a teammate,” he said. “I just want to be open to whatever God has for me.”

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

Bell to be first African-American nominee for BGCT president
September 2, 2005

Posted: 9/02/05
Bell to be first African-American
nominee for BGCT president

By Marv Knox
Editor
SAN ANGELO–Michael Bell, pastor of Greater St. Stephen First Baptist Church in Fort Worth and current first vice president of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, will be nominated for president of the BGCT this fall.
If elected, Bell would become the first African-Ameri-can president of the state convention. He would succeed Albert Reyes, the first non-Anglo BGCT president.

Michael Bell

David Currie, executive director of Texas Baptists Committed, announced he plans to nominate Bell for the presidency when the convention meets in Austin Nov. 14-15.
“Michael has a long, distinguished history of leadership, not only with our African-American churches, but with all Texas Baptists,” Currie said. “He has served on many BGCT committees through the years as well as many leadership positions with the Texas Baptist African American Fellowship.”
Currie called Bell's possible election a “historic moment in Texas Baptist history,” noting Bell would become the BGCT's first African-American president, immediately following its first Hispanic president.
“This is important because the BGCT is a unique convention with many more ethnic congregations than any other state convention,” Currie said. “Texas Baptists are striving intentionally to include all our churches–large and bivocational, urban and rural, ethnic and Anglo–in our united effort to 'be the presence of Christ in the world.'”
Although Bell's election would be historic, his race is not the deciding factor for his nomination, Currie added.
“I will not nominate Michael just because he is an African-American pastor but because he is a great Texas Baptist pastor who has demonstrated leadership and commitment for years. As we move toward our future as Texas Baptists, we need to move beyond labels to one united, cooperative family.”
“I welcome any opportunity to serve our beloved convention,” Bell said in response to Currie's nomination, adding he is enthusiastic about both the present and future of the BGCT.
Bell noted he respects, appreciates and feels challenged by “the rich legacy of our convention's unwavering commitment to missions and evangelism.”
The BGCT has benefited from the leadership of its current president, Reyes, his predecessor, Ken Hall, and others who went before them, Bell said, praising them for how they “prayerfully and skillfully assisted our convention in navigating the waters of comprehensive and complex and global change.”
Reyes and Hall particularly have presided over major change. During their tenures, the convention has adopted new mission, vision, values and priority statements and set in motion the most significant governance and organizational changes in five decades.
Firsthand experience leads Bell to champion the BGCT's focus on local congregations, he said. “For the past 20 years, I've been privileged to pastor a congregation of people whose focus and heart have been the gospel of Jesus Christ, who reveals God's love for all people and who by the Holy Spirit empowers us to live and to serve in love.”
The potential for ministering to people in Jesus' name led Bell's church to increase its Cooperative Program contributions in recent years, he said.
Greater St. Stephen has helped fund its Cooperative Program increase by postponing plans to add a minister of education to the church staff, he said.
Bell's primary goal as president would be to strengthen the BGCT, he said.
“We've got to let people know Jesus is the gravitational center of who we are about–the core of who we are as Christians.”
He also would place an emphasis on leading people to faith in Christ, he added. “I will work to help build and to grow our vision for evangelism–to help every congregation who wants the help reach and baptize at least 10 percent more people than they're currently baptizing. That's a doable goal.”
Bell is vice chairman of the BGCT Christian Life Commission and has been president of the Tarrant Baptist Association African American Fellowship since 1994.
Greater St. Stephen First Baptist Church has 894 resident members and has baptized 47 new Christians in the last two years. The church has an average combined attendance of 320 at two Sunday morning worship services and about 95 at its Sunday evening worship service.
The church has increased its contributions to the state convention in 2004 and in 2005, giving $1,554 to the Cooperative Program for BGCT causes in 2003, $3,614 in 2004, and $4,420 through July of this year, noted Clay Price, the convention's director of research and information services. In 2004, it was the fourth-largest Cooperative Program giver for African American churches its size (100-400 in worship) in the state convention.
So far in 2005, Greater St. Stephen is the eighth-largest Cooperative Program giver among all BGCT African-American churches, Price added. Its giving in 2005 puts the church in the top 25 percent of all givers to the BGCT's Cooperative Program this year.
Bell is the executive director and founder of the Southeast Neighborhood Interest Coalition in Fort Worth. He also serves on several community boards.
He is a member of the Texas Baptists Committed board of directors and was chairman of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Committee on Represen-tation and Relationships. He has been a member of the CBF Coordinating Council and the Baptist Advisory Committee at Texas Christian University's Brite Divinity School.
Bell is a native of Marshall and grew up in Fort Worth.
He earned a bachelor's degree from Wiley College in Marshall, master's degrees from Howard University Divinity School in Washington and the University of Texas at Tyler, and a doctorate from the Interdenominational Theological Center and Morehouse School of Religion in Atlanta.
He has been pastor of four churches and also taught public school and at Brite Divinity School.
He and his wife, Mary Louise, have three children and three grandchildren.

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BCGT to disperse staff, create service center
September 2, 2005

Posted: 9/02/05
BCGT to disperse staff, create service center

By John Hall
Texas Baptist Communications
DALLAS–The Baptist General Convention of Texas will disperse more of its staff across the state and create a service center to meet churches' needs more effectively, BGCT Chief Operating Officer Ron Gunter announced.
Describing the broad framework for organizational restructuring, Gunter told BGCT Executive Board staff the heart of the new structure is four cooperating teams that will serve as primary contact points for churches–congregational strategists; a service center; a missions, evangelism and ministry team; and a leadership team.
Congregational strategists will be placed across the state to build and maintain relationships and serve assigned churches, Gunter said. Some strategists will be assigned to congregations in a geographic area, and others will be assigned to churches of affinity groups such as Hispanics, African-Americans, other ethnicities, cowboy churches, megachurches and bivocational/smaller membership churches.
BGCT staff members will be spread across nine geographic areas, each of which will have at least two congregational strategists, including one focused on church starting.
There will be about 450 to 600 congregations in each geographic area, and BGCT staff members will provide more personalized service, Gunter said. Each team member will be trained in listening to what a church needs and will help churches develop ministry plans.
“We're talking about congregational strategists that will better relate to smaller churches,” Gunter said. “We want that. We need that.”
Strategists will work out of homes, churches, association offices or existing BGCT offices in an effort to concentrate funding on ministry, not buildings, Gunter said.
A service center will place phone calls to and accept calls from churches, Gunter continued. Staff members in this department will call to see if churches need assistance, promote BGCT events, provide information, take orders for resources and register people for upcoming gatherings.
The center will be open late into the evening so bivocational ministers also can access BGCT resources. “If we're going to be service providers, we've got to be available,” Gunter said.
Congregational strategists and the service center will be able to refer church leaders to a group of ministry specialists who will make up the missions, evangelism and ministry team–largely comprised of staff members from the current BGCT Church Missions and Evan-gelism, Church Health and Growth, and Associational Missions sections.
This restructured team will provide help in specific ministry areas, Gunter said. The team's specific structure has not been determined yet.
The fourth group, the BGCT leadership team, will focus on identifying and developing transformational leaders through Texas Baptist churches and institutions.
Five other work teams will partner in the BGCT's ministry with churches–research and development, communications, institutional ministries, Texas Baptist Missions Foundation, and Christian Ethics and Public Life.
In the restructuring process, Texas Baptists repeatedly called for the convention to be on the cutting edge of ministry, said Sherrill Spies, an organizational development consultant working with the BGCT. The research and development group will identify trends, movements and methodologies, and create products and services not available to Texas Baptist churches.
Gunter also indicated Executive Board staff members will have fewer meetings, especially in Dallas. He wants to see more time devoted to ministry.
The BGCT is committed to serving its churches in an effort to fulfill God's mission of reconciling the world to himself, Gunter said. These structural changes are another step toward that end.
“Our prayer is that we're going to serve our churches better,” he said.
RESTRUCTURING UPDATE
The Baptist General Convention of Texas has been listening to Texas Baptists' ideas about how to improve the work of its Executive Board for nearly two years. Here's a quick look at where the convention is and a peek into the future.
What's been done:
Listened to concerns and suggestions of thousands of Texas Baptists.
Endorsed new BGCT mission and vision statements.
Set priorities for the BGCT's ministry.
Approved on the first reading a revised constitution that includes a 90-member Executive Board with more direct influence on convention affairs. The constitution must be passed again at this November's annual meeting to take effect.
BGCT Executive Board has approved a revised set of bylaws. They will be voted on at this year's annual meeting.
Ron Gunter elected BGCT chief operating officer.
BGCT executive director's office was reorganized.
What's next:
Congregational strategists will be located across the state. They will be trained in building relationships with churches and connecting them with appropriate resources. These staff members will help church leaders assess their ministries and set out strategic plans to accomplish God's vision for their respective congregations.
Four teams–church strategists, a leadership team, a service center, and missions, evangelism and ministry specialists–will work directly with churches and provide easier access to resources and services.
A research and development group will be started to help Texas Baptist churches be on the cutting edge of ministry.

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Learn evangelism from Starbucks