Around the State

Posted: 8/17/07

Around the State

• The Texas Baptist Missions Foundation is hosting a Sept. 17 event to help North Texas churches and individuals connect with mission opportunities through Baptist General Convention of Texas avenues. “Celebrate Texas Missions” will be held at Park Cities Church in Dallas and begin at 10 a.m. and continue until 1:30 p.m. Among the groups represented will be Texas Baptist Men, Buckner International, Woman’s Missionary Union of Texas, WorldconneX, and the BGCT’s collegiate ministry, community missions, border/Mexico, world hunger and worldwide partnership arms. Paul Powell will be the keynote speaker for the free gathering, which includes lunch provided by Texas Baptist Men.

• Debbie Rippstein has been named executive director of Gracewood, the Children at Heart Ministries residential program for single mothers and their children in Houston. Children at Heart is an agency of the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

• Gabriel Cortés has been named special assistant to the president at Baptist University of the Amercias after joining the university in 2004 as executive assistant to then-President Albert Reyes. He now will have additional responsibilities for directing a church relations program and promoting the Center for Culture and Language Studies program.

• Ninety-nine University of Mary Hardin-Baylor students were awarded degrees during summer commencement ceremonies. Seventy-nine earned bachelor’s degrees, and 20 were awarded master’s degrees. Keith Bruce, director of institutional ministries for the Baptist General Convention of Texas, was awarded an honorary doctor of humanities degree.

• Dallas Baptist University granted degrees to 128 undergraduate and 111 graduate students during summer commencement ceremonies. The university also awarded Dallas businessman George Shafer an honorary doctor of humanities degree. Shafer has served on the boards of numerous civic organizations and is a member of Prestonwood Church in Plano.

• Howard Payne University will use a gift from Brownwood’s TexasBank to purchase a portable basketball floor and a portable goal system to be used in Brownwood Coliseum. The floor the teams had been playing on was more than 50 years old, and the goals did not meet current NCAA regulations. Despite the outdated equipment, the school has had great success in recent years, and last season set a Division III all-time attendance record for any game during women’s playoffs, with attendance of more than 4,000.

• Buryl Red, a 1957 Baylor University graduate and musical director of The CenturyMen, has received the Award for Exemplary Leadership in Church Music, given by Baylor’s Center for Christian Music Studies.

• Leslie Adams has returned to Houston Baptist University as director of marketing and communications. She will serve as editor of the HBU News and work closely with the staff of the Ornogah. She also will oversee the university’s media relations and creative services areas. Adams taught in the school’s department of languages from 1990 to 2003.

• Ned Calvert has been appointed vice president for administration and finance at East Texas Baptist University. Calvert previously held the same position before leaving in 1999 to enter private business. He and his wife, Sarah, are members of Central Church in Marshall.

Anniversaries

• Joel Odom, 25th in ministry, July 8. He is pastor of Oak Hills Community Church in Floresville.

• David Gale, 10th, as pastor of First Church in La Vernia, July 29.

• Ken Cannon, fifth, as associate pastor of First Church in Paris, Aug. 1.

• Jack Ables, 15th, as pastor of Eastridge Church in Red Oak, Aug. 2.

• Wayne Ford, 50th in ministry, Aug. 11. Licensed at Patillo Church in Patillo in 1957, he has been pastor of Allison Church in Lipan since 1979.

• Baptist Temple Church in Victoria, 55th, Aug. 12. David Hudson is interim pastor.

• The Well Community in Dallas, 10th, Aug. 19. Joel Pulis is pastor.

• Gary Chevalier, 10th, as pastor of Ferris Avenue Church in Waxahachie, Aug. 24.

• San Patricio Church in Mathis, 10th, Aug. 26. A meal will follow the morning worship. Rayford Smith is pastor.

• Kevin Moore, fifth, as pastor of Beulah Church in Millsap, Sept. 8.

• First Church in Throckmorton, 125th, Sept. 21-23. Activities will begin Friday evening with a fellowship following the high school football game. Registration on Saturday will be from 1 p.m to 4 p.m., and will be followed by an anniversary choir practice at 4:30. At 6 p.m., there will be a meal at the Throckmorton Youth Center, followed by a worship service there. On Sunday, a continental breakfast will be served at the church beginning at 9 a.m. A choir rehearsal will be held at 9:30 that morning. Former member Donnie Hibbitts will preach in the 10 a.m. service. A lunch and afternoon service will follow at the youth center. Will Fish is pastor.

• Powderly Church in Powderly, 100th, Sept. 22-23. A time of fellowship, singing and remembrance will begin at 2 p.m. Saturday, followed by a sandwich supper. Sunday moring’s worship service also will be followed by a meal. Jerry Moore is pastor.

Retiring

• Isaac Rodriguez, as pastor of Segunda Iglesia in Corpus Christi, Aug. 26. A reception will follow the morning worship service at Kings Crossing Country Club. He has served the church 23 years, and prior to that was pastor of West Brownsville Church in Brownsville 15 years. He has served in denominational positions at both the associational and state level.

• R.T. Blalock, 90, July 19 in Mount Pleasant. He was a graduate of the College at Marshall, now East Texas Baptist University, Baylor University and Southwestern Seminary. His first pastorate was with a church in Katy in 1946. In 1953, he served with the Marines as a Navy chaplain during the Korean War. After leaving the armed forces, he served several churches in Texas and California. After retirement, he led a nursing home ministry and taught a men’s Sunday school class at First Church in Mount Pleasant. He was preceded in death by his first wife, Viola; daughter, Kathleen; six sisters; and three brothers. He is survived by his wife, Inez; sons, Bob and Johnny; daughters, Cathi Brown, Donna Neuville, Pam Adams and Krista Yeary; 13 grandchildren; and 11 great-grandchildren.

• Michael Cook, 56, July 21 in Texarkana. An electronics engineer, he was a member of First Church in Red Springs, where he was interim minister of music. He was preceded in death by his son, Jeffrey. He is survived by his wife, Kathy; sons, Adam and Brad; brothers, David and Eric; sisters, Carolyn Cole, Linda Cole and Cindy Powell; and one grandson.

• Anita Low, 83, Aug. 12 in Houston. She and her husband were commissioned as Southern Baptist missionaries to Nigeria in 1950, where they served 11 years. They returned to Canyon, where they lived 40 years before moving to Houston in 2003. She was preceded in death by her husband, Joe. She is survived by her sons, Jon and David; daughter, Martha Bishop; and four grandchildren.

Event

• Priddy Church in Priddy will hold a homecoming service Sept. 16 at 10:30 a.m. The Brazos Boys will perform during the service, and a catered lunch will follow. Butch Pesch is pastor.

Ordained

• Rick Carney to the ministry at Bones Chapel in Whitesboro.

• Chance Perkins to the ministry at College Heights Church in Plainview.

• Larry Norotsky to the ministry at First Church in Corpus Christi.

• Robert Anthony, Hal Bales, Toby Jones and Larry Sleadd as deacons at Haltom Road Church in Haltom City.

Revival

• First Church, Sulphur Springs; Aug. 25-26; evangelist, Chuck Pourciau; pastor, Bob McCartney.