Posted: 1/20/06

New Urbanism offers antidote
for isolation, proponents say

By Marshall Allen

Religion News Service

PASADENA, Calif. (RNS)–Eric Jacobsen speaks passionately about things like sidewalks and storefronts. But he's not an architect or developer. He's a pastor.

As Jacobsen sees it, city planning has an important influence on religious experience. He is an advocate for New Urbanism, the architecture movement that calls for interdependence among residents, with neighborhoods where shops and homes coexist, streets that are pedestrian-friendly and parks that are gathering places for residents.

New Urbanism has become a mantra for people interested in restoring urban centers and reconfiguring suburban sprawl. Its designs have sprouted across the country, from new towns like Seaside, Fla., to redevelopment in places like Gaithersburg, Md., or West Palm Beach, Fla. The Congress for the New Urbanism started small 12 years ago and now has more than 2,300 architects, developers, planners and urban designers.

Now Christian leaders are adopting the movement. They say the philosophy behind New Urbanism is a possible antidote to the isolation experienced by many churches and Christians. Across the country, influential Christians are thinking theologically about urban design and applying its principles to the church. They advocate for New Urbanist concepts because they force people to share with one another, dwell among their neighbors and allow for a healthy exchange of ideas.

The national advocates for New Urbanism include Randy Frazee, a teaching pastor at Willow Creek Community Church, a trend-setting Illinois megachurch attended by more than 20,000 people. Frazee says there's a “movement brewing” where Christians are striving to capture the values of New Urbanism because of an urgent need.

Frazee compared mega-churches to castles surrounded by moats. A few times a year the drawbridge is lowered to let people in, where they become a subculture separate from the outside world. They become so involved in church life that they are not involved in their neighborhoods, he said.

“You have to disengage from your community to be involved in the church,” Frazee said, describing the problem. “Now the church has become irrelevant to the community.”

Willow Creek is a laboratory for new ideas in the evangelical world.

Frazee said the push for New Urbanism will include the 10,500 churches in the Willow Creek Association, which links smaller congregations that share the megachurch's philosophy of ministry.

Jacobsen, 38, was associate pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Missoula, Mont., when he became interested in urban design. He wrote the book Sidewalks in the Kingdom: New Urbanism and the Christian Faith, and now is earning a doctorate in theology of the built environment at Fuller Theological Seminary, one of the nation's largest seminaries.

On a recent weekday, Jacobsen wore a blue dress shirt and tucked the cuff of his gray slacks into his sock, so it wouldn't snag the chain of his bicycle. He rode to the Zona Rosa Caffe–a cozy coffee house located a half block from Colorado Boulevard, where the sun-drenched city holds its annual New Year's Day parade.

Over a cup of coffee, Jacobsen extolled the virtues of the location, which bustled with passers-by. The shop's entrance abuts the wide sidewalk instead of being separated from it by a parking lot. And only a pedestrian could appreciate the stained-glass artistry of a neighboring building, he said. Someone in a car would miss its beauty.

Jacobsen said places like Zona Rosa might make an ideal “third place,” the term New Urbanists use for a location where a person spends time that is not his home or place of employment. The third place is an important part of a community, he said. It's where people from diverse backgrounds learn to interact.

For Christians, the third place also provides opportunity for spontaneous ministry, he said. Jesus did much of his ministry in the context of everyday life. Jacobsen notes in one Bible story, Jesus was on his way to heal the daughter of a synagogue ruler named Jarius when a sick woman touched his cloak and was healed.

Today's ministers may not have noticed the sick woman be-cause their ministry is too structured, Jacob-sen said.

“She's not going to call for an appointment,” he said.

Christians must see their ministry “as not just supporting the programs inside your church, but also caring about the whole neighborhood,” Jacobsen said.

Christian advocates of New Urbanism are not in the majority. In fact, Jacobsen said many Christians resist or ignore his appeals to architecture and design. But that doesn't dampen his evangelistic fervor. He says part of the challenge is the historical propensity of Protestants to dismiss architecture. The saying is: “The church is the people, not the building.”

“That slogan obscures the fact that the building influences how people relate,” Jacobsen said.

Christian advocates of New Urbanism cite suburban sprawl as an isolating factor for many churches. The sprawl began in part because of federal subsidies after World War II, said Philip Bess, professor of architecture at the University of Notre Dame.

Bess, who has a master's degree in church history, is a Catholic and New Urbanist. The low-interest housing loans the government provided GIs returning from the war applied only to new houses.

Meanwhile, the government was funding the interstate highway system, and zoning laws separated communities into their commercial, industrial and residential uses.

The suburbs were born, neatly dividing people by economic class and forcing them to drive everywhere–to the market, to work and to church.

Churches followed people into the suburbs. Bess said they also adapted suburban development patterns, buying sizable plots of land, erecting a church and surrounding it with a surface parking lot. Churches then offered multiple programs to draw members, who drove to the site, leaving neighborhoods behind.

Sprawl makes it more difficult for churches to achieve their objectives, Bess said. For example, anyone who can't operate a vehicle–the young, old or disabled–are disenfranchised, he said.

“Just as a matter of social justice, it's arguably better to make mixed-use, walkable environments,” Bess said.

Curt Gibson, director of neighborhood ministries at Lake Avenue Church, an evangelical megachurch in Pasadena, said New Urbanism is a hot term in the world of Christian community development. Lake Avenue has shifted focus in recent years in a way that illustrates the philosophical connection between the architectural movement and ministry, he said.

Several years ago, a survey at Lake Avenue found few of the children in the youth programs were from the low-income neighborhood surrounding the church campus. Instead, the children mostly were white-collar types who arrived and departed by the carload from nearby cities. Most attended private schools. The smallest group of students was from the struggling Pasadena Unified School District.

The church poured resources into the Lake Avenue Commun-ity Foundation, which expanded its neighborhood outreach and tutoring programs.

Now, Pasadena Unified has the largest representation of any district in the youth program, Gibson said.

“There's been a heart change at Lake Avenue,” Gibson said. “A subtle transition has happened where they recognize they need to be an active participant in the local community.”

First Presbyterian Church of Spokane, Wash., is another urban church where leaders realized low-income neighbors almost were absent from the congregation, said Kevin Finch, the church's associate pastor of mission and evangelism.

A few families from the church took the radical step of moving into Felony Flats, a crime-prone area within a mile of the church. While Felony Flats is a rough neighborhood, Finch said, it also promotes community interaction. There are sidewalks, and the homes face the street. One of the families that moved to the area hung a hammock in front of its house, and the home soon became a gathering spot for neighborhood children, Finch said.

Now the church is planning to form a nonprofit organization to create New Urbanist-style affordable housing throughout the area, Finch said.

“I see some of the principles of New Urbanism as a perfect parallel for what I think the church should be involved in,” Finch said. “And not just the church, but anyone with a heart for the city.”

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

Posted: 1/20/06

On the Move

Kevin Boyd has resigned as minister to students at Longbranch Community Church in Midlothian to help start a church in Red Oak.

George Killam to White Creek Church in George West as pastor.

Stacy Martin to Shady Shores Church in Denton as youth minister.

David Miller to Crescent Park Church in Odessa as pastor from First Church in Huffman.

Beth Simpkins to First Church in Norfolk, Va., as minister of childhood development from University Church in Houston, where she was director of children's ministries.

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

Posted: 1/20/06

Sponsors needed for children
in Russian foster care

By Felicia Fuller

Buckner Benevolences

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia–Having spent her first year of life in the cold institutional confines of a Russian orphanage, 2-year-old Anya still struggles with social phobias and speech delays.

“Where she (lived) had white walls, caregivers with white coats –everything white–and she was very afraid of anything different,” said her foster father, Leonid Markov.

“She has about 10 words, like 'mother' and 'father'. She wants to talk (more), and she's really upset that she cannot. She's doing her best. But we can emotionally understand her.”

Anya is one of three foster children Markov and his wife, Julia, have welcomed into their home over the past four years The other children, ages 4 and 15, also have challenges linked to abuse, abandonment and institutionalization. But while some couples might be dissuaded by the difficulties, the Markovs view them as opportunities for ministry.

Buckner is seeking individuals and churches to pledge $75 per month, or $900 per year, to sponsor a foster child in Russia. Sponsors receive a photo and profile of their child, along with an annual progress report and the opportunity to correspond with the child.

“We teach the children, and they teach us–all of us, our two biological children as well,” said Markov, a physicist and print-shop owner.

“The addition of foster children highlights issues that otherwise may go unnoticed. We receive the opportunity to heal our spiritual ills and draw closer to God.”

The Markov family's strong faith in God was one of the reasons orphanage director Anatoly Ulianov asked them to consider foster parenting.

“They are active in the church and volunteer working with kids,” said Ulianov, whose or-phanage is the largest in St. Peters-burg, with more than 230 children.

“We need more families like them for this (foster care) system to be successful.”

Foster care in Russia, introduced following World War II and later disbanded, was reinstated 10 years ago as an alternative to institutional care–first in Moscow, then in 30 other regions. Even so, Russia still maintains thousands of orphanages but merely a few hundred foster families, according to recent government reports.

In 1999, Buck-ner Orphan Care International partnered with the Department of Education in Vladimir, Russia, to help the fledgling foster care program gain a foothold. In 2003, Buckner expanded its support to St. Petersburg and today employs two case managers and provides financial assistance and training to 24 foster families in the region.

“The number of children needing placement continues to rise in the countries we serve, and our only limit to increasing the number of children in families is financial support,” said Amy Norton of Buckner Orphan Care International.

“In foster care, children receive individual attention and learn what it means to be part of a loving family. This prevents many of the problems associated with institutionalization.”

Buckner case manager Larisa Kruchkova, who works in St. Petersburg, says families are screened carefully to determine their motivation for wanting to be foster parents and their willingness to treat a foster child as a member of the family.

“Where will the child sleep? Where will they eat? Where will they be seated in the car?” are among the questions case managers ask, she said. “Sometimes these are the things they don't think about. They want a child; but they don't see the child's place in the family.”

Case managers visit foster families at least twice monthly to assess their progress.

Additional resources would allow them to expand family recruitment efforts, training and counseling services, she noted.

Buckner is seeking individuals and churches to pledge $75 per month, or $900 per year, to sponsor a foster child in Russia. Sponsors receive a photo and profile of their child, along with an annual progress report and the opportunity to correspond with the child.

“We ask that sponsors make a minimum one-year commitment,” Norton said.

“Our hope is that sponsors will support their sponsored child until they leave placement, but we understand that may not be feasible for everyone. The purpose of the program is to not only provide for financial needs of the child, but to give the sponsor the opportunity to invest in a child's life.”

For further information about the Buckner foster care program in Russia, contact Amy Norton at (214) 388-1442 or anorton@buckner.org. To sponsor a child, contact Candy Elmore at (214) 388-1442 or celmore@buckner.org.

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

Posted: 1/20/06

Above: Hospital 15 in St. Petersburg, Russia, is improving its medical services to HIV-positive orphans thanks to Buckner supporters like Blair and Melissa Pogue of Park Cities Baptist Church in Dallas. At Right: Buckner and Russian government officials met recently on ways to stem the surge of infections in Russia's government-run orphanages. (Photos by Felicia Fuller/Buckner Benevolences)

Buckner addresses HIV epidemic in Russian orphanages

By Felicia Fuller

Buckner Benevolences

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia–With children and young adults accounting for 80 percent of HIV cases in Russia, Buckner and Russian government officials met recently on ways to stem the surge of infections in Russia's government-run orphanages.

“In the last two years, the number of children who have come into the orphanages with HIV exposure has tripled. There is very little education about the disease in Russia and many misconceptions,” said Amy Norton, director of programs for Buckner Orphan Care Inter-national.

The number of people living with HIV in Eastern Europe and Central Asia reached an estimated 1.6 million in 2005, the World Health Organization reported. Among pregnant women in Russia, HIV infections have increased manifold in the past six years, with the total number of children born to HIV-positive mothers now exceeding 13,000.

At the heart of the epidemic are drug addiction and denial, officials say.

“It's a very big problem at the moment,” said Nugzar Dzhan Gavadze, director of a children's home in St. Petersburg, where 50 of 132 children from infancy to 4 are infected with the virus that causes AIDS.

“We don't get much money from the state, but Buckner has helped by giving money for renovations so we can have exam rooms and provide special care for children with HIV.”

Roundtable topics focused on ways to meet the medical, social, emotional and educational needs of orphans living with HIV. Panelists also discussed the importance of HIV drug therapy.

When administered early, antiretroviral medications can reverse HIV infection in infants, but financially strapped orphanages have a difficult time acquiring the expensive drug cocktails for all the children who need them.

“We have lots of kids who are living in Texas (with adoptive families) who used to live here and used to have HIV,” Gavadze said. But with antiretroviral drugs given for two months immediately following birth, “they are absolutely healthy kids now. All the kids should get the same chance.”

One child at an orphanage in St. Petersburg was not so fortunate. She came into the orphanage system too late for drugs to do any more than manage her disease. Orphanage director Anatoly Ulianov worries that she will be ostracized by her teachers and peers when she starts school in the fall or, worse, barred from at-tending school at all.

“People are still very afraid of HIV,” he said.

Key Russian government officials attending the roundtable on HIV included Galina Volkova, chief of staff at the St. Petersburg Center for HIV and AIDS; Galina Stepanova, chief epidemiologist at the St. Petersburg Center for HIV and AIDS; and Valentina Ivanova from the Committee of Education­St Petersburg. Also present were several orphanage directors, social workers and university educators.

Russian officials asked if Buckner could provide resources to train orphanage caregivers and staff and age-appropriate materials to educate children about HIV. Roundtable participants are drafting a summary of the discussion for submission to the governor of St. Petersburg and other officials.

“Buckner will continue working with the group to develop goals and action items to address this crisis and meet the needs of the children,” Norton said.

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

Posted: 1/20/06

Managing risks a crucial
church stewardship issue

By Ken Camp

Managing Editor

SAN ANGELO–When church leaders fail to identify and manage risks in areas such as legal liability, health and safety standards, and compliance with civil rights laws, they neglect an important aspect of biblical stewardship, risk-management consultant Dick Baggett has concluded.

God calls church leaders to be good stewards, and their stewardship obligations ex-tend beyond issues of giving and money management, Baggett asserted.

“These obligations call for protecting his assets and people entrusted to us,” he said.

Baggett, who owns a human resources consulting firm in San Angelo that specializes in risk-management consultations with churches, examined the theology of risk management and stewardship as part of a course at Southwestern Baptist Theo-logical Seminary.

The course–and the 69-page paper he wrote on the subject–partially fulfill certification requirements set by the National Association for Church Business Administra-tion.

Since he is not employed as a church business administrator, Baggett knew he would not be eligible for certification, but he pursued the studies so he could talk to ministers in their own language about risk management.

In his experience, he discovered church business administrators typically understand the importance of discussing risk-management issues, but he has found it “more difficult to connect” with pastors.

“With many of these church leaders, the conversation that frequently must take place is more on the biblical and spiritual dimension,” Baggett explained.

Discussions about risk management need to be addressed from the position of stewardship, and stewardship needs to be understood in the full biblical sense, he insisted.

“Stewardship consists of our realizing the ownership of the world belongs to God and that our activities are simply in response to his gift of occupancy,” he said.

Church leaders have a stewardship responsibility to protect their congregations the way shepherds protect their flocks, Baggett said.

But few churches understand that it's possible to analyze and identify risks, respond logically and professionally to those risks and then manage them in a way that eliminates or at least seriously reduces liability.

“I have not yet come across a church who understands that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has 100 percent jurisdiction over the church,” he noted as an example.

“Almost no churches–definitely not those I know of–have an actual safety or risk-management committee. Churches do not characteristically have at hand accurate material to even conduct a true survey of their buildings and grounds. Further, when it comes to ministries, the concept of risk management is as foreign and far away as the galaxies.”

Many church leaders–both ministers and laity–mistakenly assume that because churches are nonprofit religious organizations, laws regarding safety, health, civil rights, accessibility, labor and transportation do not apply to them.

“I have never understood how successful, informed people who are leaders in their industry, the business world and their local business communities can become totally ignorant when they link up to work with a nonprofit organization,” he observed. “It is a truly sad phenomenon to witness. But I have seen it repeatedly occur.”

That attitude represents not only ignorance of the law and good business principles, but also a flawed theological understanding of Christians' relationship with government, he said.

“The churches and their leaders are supposed to be exemplary citizens,” Baggett said, pointing to the Apostle Paul's teachings in Romans chapter 13 and in the writings of the Old Testament prophets about justice and righteousness.

“A significant part of church risk management is being in compliance with the government's laws, regulations and monitoring agencies that exist to ensure compliance, equality, fairness and justice.”

From Moses' dealing with the Israelites during the Exodus to Jesus' handling of the multitudes who followed him, the Bible offers examples of spiritual leaders who understood the importance of giving attention to detail, gathering good information, planning effectively and “counting the costs,” Baggett insisted.

Christian leaders need the discipline and intelligence to see threats their congregations face and find a way to deal with those threats and resolve confrontations, he determined.

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

Posted: 1/20/06

Let terminally ill control own fate, most say

By Jason Kane

Religion News Service

WASHINGTON (RNS)–An overwhelming majority of white Catholics and Protestants support laws endorsing the right of terminally ill patients to decide whether medical care should keep them alive, a new study by the Pew Research Center has found.

Ninety-one percent of white Catholics and 84 percent of white Protestants support legislation that would allow a patient or his or her closest family member to decide if medical action should be taken to prolong the patient's life, the study showed.

The poll results come less than a year after the Terri Schiavo case sparked end-of-life debates across the nation, with many growing angry when government and medical officials attempted to intervene.

Since a similar poll in 1990, the percentage of individuals believing the patient and family should control their own medical destiny jumped by 11 points for white Catholics and 4 percentage points for white Protestants.

The survey did not provide breakdowns for other ethnic groups within religions.

The poll also found nearly three in 10 Americans–29 percent–now have a living will, and 69 percent have spoken to their spouses about their wishes for end-of-life medical care, up from 51 percent in 1990.

The nationwide study was conducted in November, sampling 1,500 adults with a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percent.

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

Posted: 1/20/06

Texas governor advocates intelligent design

By Bobby Ross Jr.

Religion News Service

AUSTIN (RNS)– A letter from Gov. Rick Perry’s office advocates teaching intelligent design in public school classrooms, but Perry’s office and the state school board chairwoman insist there are no plans to push for curriculum changes.

Kathy Walt, the governor’s press secretary, told the Dallas Morning News Perry supports teaching intelligent design “much as the theory of evolution is now taught” in Texas schools.

Perry’s position came to light because of a letter sent by his office last month to an East Texas constituent who asked the governor whether he backed teaching intelligent design, a theory that says the universe and living things are so complex an intelligent agent must be behind them.

The letter from Perry’s office stated that it would be a “disservice to our children to teach them only one theory on the origin of our existence without recognizing other scientific theories worth consideration.”

The letter noted a Pennsylva-nia federal judge’s recent ruling prohibiting a school district from requiring teaching intelligent design probably would be appealed.

“Once the courts have spoken with finality and clarity, Texas schools will abide by that decision,” the letter said.

But Walt said the governor’s office was merely responding to a constituent’s question and has no plans to seek legislation that would require teaching intelligent design in science classes.

“We try to respond to all letters that ask the governor’s positions on issues,” Walt said.

“He has always supported providing students with alternative theories as part of the effort to teach critical and analytical thinking skills.”

Tincy Miller, chairwoman of the Texas State Board of Education, noted that board members voted in November 2003 against endorsing only biology textbooks that presented the most qualified characterizations of evolution, with words such as “may” or “could.”

“We had a huge discussion; it was just put to bed,” Miller told the Austin American-Statesman. “We teach evolution in 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.

Posted: 1/20/06

Texas Tidbits

Baylor names chair of Christian ethics in business. Mitchell Neubert has been appointed Chavanne Chair for Christian Ethics in Business by the Hankamer School of Business at Baylor University. Before joining Baylor, Neubert was director of the masters' programs in organizational change and development at Bowling Green State University. "In the new position, Neubert will serve as a champion and catalyst for ethics across business disciplines and within our executive, graduate and undergraduate programs," said Terry Maness, dean of the Hankamer School of Business. Neubert completed his doctorate in human resource management and organizational behavior at the University of Iowa.

BUA hires development officer. Jeff Johnson has joined Baptist University of the Americas as a development officer. Johnson was vice president for development with Lay Witnesses for Christ International, a sports chaplaincy ministry, and was pastor of Seventh & Main Baptist Church in Bonham. Johnson's job will include fundraising and new-donor development as BUA gears up for its expansion to a new 75-acre campus that will break ground this year.

Hardin-Simmons, HBU named colleges of distinction. Hardin-Simmons University and Houston Baptist University are among 11 Texas schools named as colleges of distinction by collegesofdistinction.com, a national higher education guide. To qualify for the designation, the schools were evaluated in four areas–"engaged students, great teaching, vibrant communities and successful outcomes."

ETBU plans Tiger Day preview event. East Texas Baptist University has scheduled "Tiger Day" March 4 as a free event open to prospective high school and transfer students and their families. Sessions for the prospective students include sports information, campus ministry opportunities, band, choir and theatre, admissions/financial aid and separate parent and student question-and-answer times. For more information or to register, visit the website at www.etbu.edu or call (800) 804-3828.

Family Ministry Academy launched. Baylor University's Center for Family and Community Ministries in the School of Social Work will launch its new Family Ministry Academy in North Texas with Family Ministry 101 Feb. 7 at Wilshire Baptist Church in Dallas. The academy offers a series of three one-day workshops that focus on helping congregational and lay leaders strengthen family and community ministries. Family Ministry 101 explores the changing dynamics of family and family ministry, the missional family in congregations, how to nurture family faith and how to assess strengths and challenges of families within a congregation. Family Ministry 201 and 301 will be offered in upcoming months. Presenters include Diana Garland, dean of Baylor's School of Social Work, and Bo Prosser, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship coordinator for congregational life. Cost of the Family Ministry 101 workshop is $150 per participant, with lunch and materials included. For more information or to register, visit www.family-ministry.org or call Vicki Marsh Kabat at (877) 710-1159.

Valley Baptist invests $20 million in medical center. Valley Baptist Health System has invested $20 million in Harlingen Medical Center in the form of two $10 million loans. Additionally, Valley Baptist Health System will sell services to the medical center. "We are pleased about our strategic investment in Harlingen Medical Center and adding that fine organization to our provider network," said James Springfield, president and chief executive officer for Valley Baptist Health System.

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

Posted: 1/20/06

California pastor to direct
BGCT leadership team

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

DALLAS–The Baptist General Convention of Texas has appointed California pastor Reggie Thomas to direct its leadership development efforts.

Thomas will assume the role Feb. 27 when Jan Daehnert retires as interim director of the BGCT leadership team.

Thomas takes over a recently formed convention team responsible for identifying and developing leaders.

Thomas will lead the convention's increased emphasis on raising younger generations of leaders, said Ron Gunter, BGCT chief operating officer and associate executive director.

Gunter described Thomas as a creative thinker with experience in Texas, who will strengthen Texas Baptists' ministries.

“He knows Texas Baptists,” Gunter said. “He's excited about what Texas Baptists are doing. Leadership is at the very center of who he is. He is passionate about discovering and developing leaders for the local church.”

Thomas' leadership team will work hand-in-hand with the convention's team of congregational strategists to meet the needs of Texas Baptist churches, he added.

The leadership team's responsibilities also include chaplaincy counseling and psychological services, intentional interim ministry, ministering in crises and personality testing.

Leadership is the key to the success of congregations in the 21st century, Thomas said. It is vital that leaders set vision, act with integrity, take courageous stands and influence people relationally.

He looks forward to developing lay and vocational leaders through conferences and individual consultations. Everything the leadership team does will be designed to meet the needs of Texas Baptists, he added.

“I believe leadership is going to be the cutting edge of effectiveness in the church,” Thomas said.

“Everything rises and falls on leadership.”

Thomas re-turns to the BGCT after serving as pastor of First Baptist Church in Walnut Valley, Calif., since 2000. The congregation serves people from a variety of backgrounds. About 20 percent of the church is Asian and another 20 percent is Hispanic and AfricanAmerican.

Prior to that, Thomas was pastor at First Baptist Church in Rancho Cordova, Calif., four years. During his tenure, the congregation baptized 130 people and grew from about 100 to 250 people in worship each week.

He also has served in a variety of other positions, including executive director of Central Baptist Association in Al-buquerque, N.M., and as a church development consultant for the BGCT, helping church starters carry out their ministries.

Thomas holds a bachelor's de-gree from Union University in Jackson, Tenn., and a master of divinity degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

He and his wife, Jeannine, have two daughters, Amanda and Emilee.

The leadership team can be reached at (214) 828-5185.

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

Posted: 1/20/06

Untapped potential in Christians' wallets

By Ken Camp

Managing Editor

If American Christians tithed, churches could gain $156 billion a year, a recent study found.

And if denominations allocated a greater percentage of their receipts to international human needs, they could make strides in eliminating poverty-related child deaths, researchers concluded.

A recently released study by John and Sylvia Ronsvalle–the latest in an annual series published by empty tomb, a Christian service and research organization based in Champaign, Ill.–examines giving trends and church priorities.

In 2003, members of Christian churches in the United States gave an average of less than 2.6 percent of income to their churches, the researchers discovered.

“If church members were to reach a congregationwide average of 10 percent giving, an additional $156 billion would be available to assist both local and global neighbors in need,” the Ronsvalles wrote.

“The potential impact of this money is seen in need statistics that could be addressed in Jesus' name: $5 billion could help stop the majority of 29,000 deaths a day around the globe among children under 5, most of whom are dying from preventable poverty conditions; $7 billion could provide basic education for the world's children; $124 million could launch a massive world evangelism effort in the '10-40 Window'”–an area of global need spiritually and physically.

But the long-term trend points to a downturn in individual giving. Overall, church members gave a smaller portion of their income in 2003–2.59 percent–than in 1968, when members gave an average 3.11 percent.

During that same period, churches chose to keep more of the money they received rather than forwarding it to their denominations to support national and international causes, and the 2003 level marked the lowest point in 35 years.

“If the portion of income donated to the church had not declined between 1968 and 2003, congregations and denominations would have had, in aggregate dollars, 72 percent or $2.2 billion more for benevolences, funding the larger mission of the church, than the amount actually donated in 2003,” the Ronsvalles observed.

As a part of their study, the Ronsvalles surveyed 28 Protes-tant denominations. They found–on av-erage–less than 2 cents of every dollar donated to affiliated congregations in 2003 funded the denomination's international missions programs.

They noted in 14 denominations that grew in membership between 1969 and 2003, about 3 cents of every dollar went to denominational global missions. In 14 denominations that declined during that period, less than 1 cent of every dollar went to international missions.

For the full report, visit www.emptytomb.org.

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

Posted: 1/20/06

TOGETHER:
One of a kind, plus 2 soul heart-cries

When I was in my twenties, I was deeply convicted about racial injustice and the failure of Baptists to move to a biblical view of Christlike love and acceptance. For many young Baptists and me, Foy Valentine was the prophetic voice we needed to hear.

Taught by the unforgettable biblical ethics professor T.B. Maston at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Foy became a voice for Baptists in the call for justice and righteousness in our nation. He served as director of the Baptist General Convention of Texas Christian Life Commission before taking the CLC responsibility for Southern Baptists. He was not liked by everyone, but he saved me from despair and helped me believe Baptists would one day get it right.

We celebrated his life and the difference he made at his funeral at Park Cities Baptist Church in Dallas Jan. 11.

Executive Director BGCT Executive Board

Foy had a favorite response to those who tried to divide the importance of evangelism and ethics: “People are always telling me we need to change people and then let them change the world. I am one of those changed people, and I want to change the world. Isn't it time for us to do that?”

Foy believed evangelism was absolutely crucial to the life of the church because only Jesus saves. But he believed equally that Jesus-saved people ought to care about what Jesus cared about.

I liked to say about him, “Foy made Paul shake hands with James.” We will miss him. But he did what he was called to do: By the grace of God, he made a difference.

As I pray about the future of Texas Baptists and ask God to lead me as I serve you, these are the heart-cries of my soul:

Begin new churches. I was in a new church the other evening, and the atmosphere was warm and welcoming; the anticipation for the future was palpable. Texas is growing by more than 4 million people a decade. Who will care for the souls of men and women, boys and girls, families and communities? I believe Baptists will.

Pastors, I encourage you to look for places where churches need to be started. There are people your church will not reach for Jesus unless you start a church or a ministry that touches their lives. The BGCT wants to help churches start 1,500 new congregations in Texas by the end of 2010.

Affirm the children. Make sure your church is paying attention to the children–the children who are in your church, the children who are in no one's church yet, and the children who are abandoned or are at risk to drop out of school and out of life.

A director of missions in our state buried his mother recently. He wrote me that his mother and dad cared for 350 foster children over 25 years.

There are many ways to affirm children, and our churches can show the way. Children need parents who love and care for them. They need friends and advocates in the halls of government. They need to see the way of Christ, and they need to be told the stories of the Bible and experience the love of God in Christ Jesus.

In my next column, I will continue the list of my soul's desires. Texas Baptists are making a real difference in people's lives across Texas and even around the world. I am grateful to share with you in the calling God has issued to our people.

We are loved.

Charles Wade is executive director of the Baptist General Convention 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.

Posted: 1/20/06

CYBER COLUMN:
6:23

By Berry Simpson

One day, I had this noble idea that if I looked up all the 6:23 verses in the Bible, maybe they would speak to me in some special way.

The reason I thought that was because my birthday is June 23, or 6:23. Surely the verses that correspond to my birthday, my verses, would speak to me in some significant way, I thought. Not all books of the Bible have six chapters, and among those that do have six chapters, not all have 23 verses. However, all in all, I found 21 6:23 verses.

As it turned out, it wasn’t what I’d hoped. The first verse I found was Exodus 6:23: “Aaron married Elisheba, daughter of Amminadab and sister of Nahshon, and she bore him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazer and Ithamer.” Yikes! What was I supposed to do with that? Those were all strange names, even for Bible names, and it’s too late to use any of them for my own children (I’m sure they’re happy about that). I doubt I’ll convince Byron or Katie or Drew to use them for any future grandchildren.

So, the next verse was Leviticus 6:23: “Every grain offering of a priest shall be burned completely; it must not be eaten.” Well, again, a disappointment since I don’t have much experience with grain offerings. It did occur to me that I give other kinds of offerings to God, and I should take the lesson that when I give to God it should be a complete offering. I should hold nothing back.

The next verses were similar. I’m sure they’re important within their own context, but I couldn’t make much of them when pulled out for this exercise. For example, Numbers 6:23 says, “Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is how you are to bless the Israelites.’” I didn’t know what to do with that verse, nor did I find any personal insights in Deuteronomy 6:23, Joshua 6:23, Judges 6:23, 2 Samuel 6:23, 1 Kings 6:23, 2 Kings 6:23, 1 Chronicles 6:23, 2 Chronicles 6:23 or Job 6:23.

Then I read Proverbs 6:23: “For these commands are a lamp, this teaching is a light, and the corrections of discipline are the way to life.” Well, finally. The reason I started this project was because I believed the words of the Bible are the lamp for my life, my light and my correction.

With that encouragement, I continued. Jeremiah 6:23 says, “They are armed with bow and spear; they are cruel and show no mercy. They sound like the roaring sea as they ride on their horses; they come like men in battle formation to attack you, O Daughter of Zion.”

Daniel 6:23 says, “The king was overjoyed and gave orders to lift Daniel out of the den. And when Daniel was lifted from the den, no wound was found on him, because he had trusted in his God.”

I didn’t feel like I was getting anywhere with verses about bows and spears and lion’s dens. Maybe it was my mother’s fault. I should’ve been born on a better “verse day.” Maybe she simply wasn’t paying enough attention to that sort of thing back then.

Then I read Matthew 6:23, “But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!” OK, well, maybe it was my fault (and not my mother’s). Was I trying to read the Bible through bad eyes, looking for what I wanted to see, instead of what God wanted to say?

• Mark 6:23—“And he promised her with an oath: Whatever you ask I will give you, up to half my kingdom.”

• Luke 6:23—“Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their fathers treated the prophets.”

• John 6:23—“Then some boats from Tiberias landed near the place where the people had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks.”

• Romans 6:23—“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” OK, I knew that was about me, but I was hoping more for special direction into my future and not simply a reminder of God’s grace.

The last verse I looked up was Ephesians 6:23, “Peace to the brothers, and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” It was a good place to stop.

It’s just that I was hoping for a formula. Think of the time I would save if all I paid attention to were my own personal verses. But the word of God will not be manipulated. It’s not a puzzle to be solved, but a relationship to be lived. God didn’t want me to save time; he wants me to spend time … with him, in his book.

All of it.

Berry Simpson, a Sunday school teacher at First Baptist Church in Midland, is a petroleum engineer, writer, runner and member of the city council in Midland. You can contact him through e-mail at berry@stonefoot.org.

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.