Around the State

Posted: 7/20/07

Around the State

• Baylor University has announced a $1.2 million gift from the estate of John Reagan Harris of Center that will establish an endowed scholarship, as well as the John Reagan Harris Endowed Music Ministry Excellence Fund with the Baylor School of Music’s Center for Christian Music Studies. The scholarship was established with a preference to graduates of Harris’ alma mater, Center High School, or other Shelby County high schools.

• San Marcos Baptist Academy marked the 100th anniversary of the approval of its charter July 10. On that date in 1907, President J.M. Carroll also supervised laying the cornerstone of the first building, and a spontaneous collection raised $25,000. San Marcos Academy will commemorate its century of preparing young people for college during its Founder’s Day and Homecoming celebrations Sept. 14 and 15.

• Two missionaries with Texas ties have been appointed by the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. Christy Craddock, from Calvary Church in Waco, will serve with Touching Miami with Love in Miami, Fla., as a Global Service Corps volunteer. Janée Angel, from First Church in Burleson, will serve as an affiliate in Brussels, Belguim.

Bob Riley, president of East Texas Baptist University (left), was presented a gift by past board of trustees Chair D.M. Edwards of Tyler (center), for his 15 years of service to the university. The wrought-iron sculpture of a tiger’s face peering through bamboo and jungle foliage was created by an Italian artist, framed on a raw silk backing. Also pictured is Clint Davis, current board chair and pastor of First Church in Mount Pleasant. Riley became the 11th president of the Marshall university July 16, 1992. A celebration of his anniversary is scheduled to coincide with ETBU’s fall convocation, Sept. 7.

• Bettie Girling has been awarded an honorary doctor of humanities degree from Howard Payne University. The award was presented at a special ceremony at the Four Seasons Hotel in Austin. She was one of the last graduates of Daniel Baker College in 1952 before it consolidated with Howard Payne University. In 2006, HPU established the Bettie and Robert Girling Center for Social Justice, an undergraduate multidisciplinary initiative involving the departments of social work, sociology, psychology, legal studies and criminal justice. The center was named for the Girlings in recognition of their leadership gift to restore the Coggin Academy building that houses the center.

• More than 350 graduating high school seniors in Texas have been awarded scholarships totalling nearly $1.5 million to attend the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor this fall.

Anniversaries

• Robbie Sutton, 20th, as children’s minister at The Heights Church in Richardson, June 15.

• Rodney Bowman, 15th, as pastor of First Church in Angleton, June 22.

• Steven Hartwick, 10th, as executive pastor of First Church in Corpus Christi, July 11.

• Rod Payne, 20th, as minister of media at First Church in Wichita Falls, July 15.

• Oakland Heights Church in Longview, 50th, Aug. 4-5. A barbecue lunch will be held on Saturday from 11:30 a.m. until 1:15 p.m. in the Family Life Center. A concert featuring former and present soloists, groups and instrumentalists will follow from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. An open house will be held on Sunday beginning at 8:30 a.m. The morning worship service will feature a reunion choir and former Pastor Lavonn Brown. To make reservations for the lunch or for other information, call (903) 753-0291. Tom Roberson is pastor.

• Primera Iglesia in Bryan, 85th, Aug. 11-12. The celebration will begin at 3 p.m. Saturday with a time of fellowship and a look at the church history through photographs. A service of music and testimony will begin at 4 p.m., followed by a meal at 6 p.m. A worship service is scheduled for 7 p.m. Special music and a celebration sermon are set for 11 a.m. Sunday, to be followed by a meal. Julian Silva is pastor.

Retiring

• Dusty Rhodes, after 41 years of music ministry, June 30. He served a number of churches as bivocational minister of music, including Faith Church in Sweeny and First Church in West Columbia. The last six and a half years of his ministry were in full-time service at First Church in Seguin. He is available for supply and interims at (830) 491-1187.

• Dan Crawford, after 22 years as professor of evangelism and missions; chair of prayer at Southwestern Seminary, Aug. 31. He also was pastor of two Texas churches, director of Baptist Student Ministries at three Texas universities and national evangelism consultant with the North American Mission Board, plus short-term assignments with the International Mission Board in China, Germany, Canada, and Central and Eastern Europe.

Deaths

• Sonny Manuel, 71, July 1 in San Antonio. He was a pastor in Huntsville before moving to San Antonio, where he was pastor of Palm Heights Church 27 years. He also spent several years in Peru as a missionary. He was instrumental in organizing several stadium crusades in San Antonio. He also served as director of Palm Heights Baptist School and was president of the Texas Association of Baptist Schools for two years. He and his family made several gospel music albums and traveled extensively singing and preaching in revivals. He is survived by his wife of 53 years, Joy; sons, Charlie, Kerry and Terry; daughters, Bambi Rigal and Angela Carleton; brother, Ron; sisters, Paulette Muray and Jean Love; and 10 grandchildren.

• Ralph Lynn, 97, July 10 in Waco. Lynn was a professor of history at Baylor University from 1952 until retiring in 1975. A favorite of students, he was the recipient of the Herbert H. Reynolds Exemplary Service Award and the Retired Faculty and Staff Award in 1986. He was a member of the James Huckins Society of the Medallion Fellowship (cumulative gifts to Baylor greater than $250,000), a charter member of the Old Main Society and a lifetime member of Baylor Alumni Association. He supported numerous university causes, including an endowed professorship, the Baylor Libraries, Bear Foundation, Baylor/Waco Foundation, Alumni Association, History Excellence Fund and various academic scholarship funds. He was a member of First Church in Waco, where he taught a college men’s Sunday school class for about 30 years. He also hosted a reunion in conjuction with Baylor’s homecoming at his home every year since 1952. He contributed columns to the Waco Tribune-Herald for more than 40 years. Lynn was preceded in death by his wife, Bessie Mae, in 1992 and by his wife, Barbara, in 2000. He is survived by his wife, Dorothy.

• Willie Scott, 42, July 10 in Houston. Scott, a deacon at Rose of Sharon Church in Houston, was shot and killed by robbers at his clothing and shoe business. Scott was founder of Jails to Jobs, a nonprofit organization that trained ex-offenders to do construction work. He is remembered as a spiritual leader who had helped many former inmates on the road to a new life. Scott had himself escaped a life of criminal conduct and drug addiction many years ago. He is survived by his wife and 2-year-old son.

Licensed

• David Caldwell to the ministry at First Church in Haskell.

Ordained

• Curt Edgerton to the ministry at Liberty Church in Bridge City.

• Will Alley to the ministry at First Church in Belton.

• Charlie Brown, Coley Gatlin, Dan Pifer, Will Reid and Jon Sibert as deacons at Trinity Church in Kerrville.

• Jud Griffith and John Williamson as deacons at Tolar Church in Tolar.

Revival

• Elm Grove Church, Waelder; July 29-31; evangelist, The Seale Family; music, The Seale Sisters; pastor, Hoyt Hunnicutt.