Texas Tidbits

Posted: 9/01/06

Texas Tidbits

BGCT sponsors battle of bands. A battle of the bands will highlight Weekend Fest activities leading up to the Baptist General Convention of Texas annual meeting in November. The event is scheduled Nov. 11 in the Dallas Convention Center. The next day, the convention will sponsor a festival at the convention center for families. The BGCT annual meeting begins Nov. 13 at the same location. Bands endorsed by a BGCT-affiliated church or institution are eligible to compete for recording time and opportunities to perform at the BGCT-sponsored Youth Evangelism Conference and Texas Baptist Youth and Singles Congreso in 2007. Band members must be between the ages of 13 and 24. For more information, call (888) 244-9400 or send an e-mail to bob@bgct.org. For information about the BGCT annual meeting and related events, visit www.bgct.org/annualmeeting.

Baptist fellowships send medical volunteers to Lebanon. A new Baptist medical disaster relief effort has sent a physician and a nurse to serve north of Beirut two weeks, treating refugees of the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. They are the first two people to serve through the Baptist Medical Disaster Relief Ministry—a joint effort between the Baptist Nursing Fellowship, the Baptist Medical and Dental Fellowship and Texas Baptist Men. For information about how to serve through this ministry, call (214) 828-5359 or e-mail Shirley.Shofner@bgct.org.

Baylor Specialty Health Centers president named. Baylor Health Care System has named Scott Peek, vice president of Baylor Medical Center at Garland, as president of Baylor Specialty Health Centers. Peek’s responsibilities will include overseeing Baylor Specialty Hospital in Dallas, an inpatient hospital that cares for chronically ill patients who need additional medical care before returning home, as well as the hospital’s satellite locations in Garland and Irving. In addition, Peek will oversee Our Children’s House at Baylor, a licensed pediatric hospital that specializes in the treatment of children with developmental or birth disorders, traumatic injury or severe illness. Prior to joining Baylor Garland in 2003, Peek worked as financial analyst at Richardson Regional Medical Center and with the Coopers & Lybrand accounting firm. He is a graduate of Texas A&M University and earned master’s degrees in business administration and health care administration from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

BGCT helps Mexican Baptists rebuild in Juarez. The Baptist General Convention of Texas has given $15,000 to Mexican Baptists to rebuild homes in the Juarez area damaged by flooding. Baptist leaders in Juarez have identified homes for 67 families that churches will help rebuild in the area across the Rio Grande from El Paso. The money for homes is the third wave of financial assistance for Mexican Baptists from Texas Baptists in the wake of flooding. The BGCT provided $2,000 to Juarez Baptists to feed flood victims in shelters and $3,500 for Mexican Baptists to provide medical care for shelter residents.

Ministry launches new website. Children at Heart Ministries—formerly Texas Baptist Children’s Home and Family Services—recently launched a new website. The organizations that make up Children at Heart Ministries—Gracewood in Houston, Miracle Farm in Brenham, STARRY in Round Rock and Texas Baptist Children’s Home in Round Rock—can be accessed through www.childrenatheartministries.org. A related organization, Children at Heart Foundation, will provide development and communications functions for the ministry. Its website address is www.cahfoundation.org.