Posted: 11/09/07

Nigeria mission trip takes volunteer
far outside her comfort zone

By Craig Bird

Baptist Child & Family Services

KINGWOOD—Paige Maupin played the numbers—10 days, 6,500 miles one way, 800 patients, 24 professions of faith, two remote villages and one life changed forever—her own.

Maupin, a member of First Baptist Church of Kingwood, near Houston, joined a recent Children’s Emergency Relief International medical missions team to Nigeria. The trans-Atlantic journey challenged her, since she can “count on the fingers of one hand” the number of times she has flown on an airplane and had “never imagined going to another country to serve God,” even for a few days, she said.

“I would be the last person to volunteer for a trip anywhere away from my family,” she explained.

“I’ve lived in the same Houston community since I was 4-years-old, and now our house is just a few blocks from my parents. I always shop at the same grocery store, usually vacation at the same spot and have attended the same church—Kingwood First Baptist—since I became a Christian. I really like my comfort zone.”

But a year ago her pastor, Kevin McCallon, began challenging the congregation to “believe that God is who he says he is and that, like Abraham, we could believe that, as well.”

For several months, Maupin recalled spending most Sundays sobbing through the sermons, yearning to do just that.

That’s why she found herself in Otululu and Anyigba, Nigeria, with a Children’s Emergency Relief International team. CERI is the overseas arm of Baptist Child & Family Services, a San Antonio-based agency affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

Her team treated 200 patients in Otululu and 600 in Anyigba.

“I’ve often heard people say that mission trips are sometimes about the volunteers and not always only about those they go to serve,” Maupin says. “I definitely found this to be true. I am forever grateful and changed because I believed God and saw his faithfulness—and so were my four precious girls, my husband and my family. I learned to reach out to others, see hope where things looked hopeless and pray.”

Every day, every face was etched into her memory. But the most vivid was the last day the team worked at Anyigba, at a clinic that had not been open in several years.

Andrew Bentley, a Tyler doctor who is the volunteer medical director for CERI, examines a young Nigerian at the Mission of Mercy orphanage in Otululu.

The people, desperate for treatment, pushed open doors, climbed through windows and even lied to get seen by the doctors and nurses and receive medicine and treatment.

“I found myself very disillusioned until I looked at it from God’s perspective,” she admits. “This was a picture of people in need, dying from disease or hunger. I was seeing what poverty looked like. It was not a pretty scene, and it drove people to do things they wouldn’t ordinarily do, but that’s what desperation looks like.”

At church the next day, the team heard repeatedly that they had brought the people hope. “God used us to show them that they were not forgotten by him,” she says. “They needed, like us, to see that God loved them and heard their prayers.

“We received their thanks humbly, knowing it was us who should be thanking them. God’s gifts are good. He revealed himself to me in a greater way in Nigeria than I could see here in Kingwood.”

Alongside the medical clinics, team members witnessed and preached. At least 24 Nigerians made professions of faith in Christ, and numerous others rededicated their lives in response to their efforts.

“We are already planning on when we can go back and brainstorming ways we can help,” said CERI Project Director Pam Dickson, who led the team.

One volunteer already has placed her name on the list for the next trip—Paige Maupin.

For information about CERI’s work in Nigeria—as well as Moldova, Sri Lanka and Mexico—e-mail pdickson@cerikids.org, call (281) 360-3702 or visit www.CERIkids.org.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Baptist churches, in Texas, the BGCT, the nation and around the world.

Posted: 11/09/07

Buckner volunteers help
Valley woman receive dying wish

By Analiz González

Buckner International

ELSA—Martina García wanted to live, and she asked God for life. But if she couldn’t have that, she made one request—that God would give her family a home.

For 12 years the García family lived in a bus in Elsa, a small community northeast of McAllen. When they moved in, there was no electricity or water. They had to go to a friend’s house to shower and cool off from the South Texas heat. Then they carried back buckets to wash clothes and dirty dishes.

The bus where the Garcias lived before their house was completed.

But there was no protection from bugs. And every night, mosquitoes would bite their newborn baby.

Eventually, they convinced neighbors to let them tap into their electricity and water. They got rid of the bus seats and replaced them with a stove, a refrigerator, shelves and a small wooden table. Then they hung a water hose over the entrance and covered it with a thick blanket to use as a shower. They even added a one-room annex with a restroom next to the bus.

The modified bus offered slightly improved living conditions. But soon, tragedy hit the family.

After García gave birth to the family’s third child at age 41, she was diagnosed with colon and liver cancer. The colon cancer could be treated with chemotherapy, but the doctor told her the liver cancer was terminal.

As she received chemotherapy, it caused side-effects that made it hard to sleep. Her mouth filled with open sores, so the only thing she could taste was blood. And she was constantly nauseated and drained. Her two older boys, ages 16 and 13, helped care for the baby while her husband took care of her.

Jorge Zapata, director of Buckner Border Ministries, heard about the family when someone he knew saw their story on a local television news broadcast, García said.

Volunteers from churches in the Rio Grande Valley and from Northside Baptist Church in Victoria joined mission workers with KidsHeart, a collaborative effort between the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and Buckner, to build a home for the Garcías.

Finally, 12 years after moving into the bus, the family received what they wanted for so long— a three-bedroom home.

“All of God’s people really came together to get this done,” Zapata said. “We bought material to frame the house. The Valley Hispanic Baptist Men helped with the walls, and a church from Victoria took care of the roof and all the inside. Buckner provided the insulation and sheet rock.”

García said the hardest thing about being sick wasn’t her suffering, but her family’s worries. It’s hard for her husband to take care of the baby, she said, and wiped a tear before it left the rim of her eye. Even though she’s in a lot of pain, she has to be strong for her family.

García died in her home Nov. 4—two weeks after she made a profession of faith in Christ.

“We finally have our home now,” García’s husband, Juvencio, told Zapata. “It was Martina’s dream. I just wish the house didn’t feel so empty.”

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Baptist churches, in Texas, the BGCT, the nation and around the world.

Posted: 11/09/07

Laura Bush affirms faith-based youth programs

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

DALLAS—First Lady Laura Bush urged Americans to engage and encourage young people in the United States during a regional Helping America’s Youth conference held at Dallas Baptist University.

Saying today’s youth face more challenges than previous generations, Bush called the country’s adults to provide positive examples for youth.

 “And we all know that the challenges facing young people in the United States today are far greater than they were for children just a generation ago,” Bush said.

“Drugs and gangs, predators on the Internet, violence on television and in real life are just some of the negative influences that are present everywhere today.

“And as children face these challenges, they often have fewer people to turn to for help. More children are raised in single-parent families, most often without a father. Millions of children have one or both of their parents in prison. Many boys and girls spend more time alone or with their peers than they do with any member of their family.”

She praised several faith-related efforts for providing positive outlets for young people. She specifically mentioned Homeboy Industries, a Catholic outreach that provides jobs for former gang members and CeaseFire, a Chicago based effort that encourages clergy to be role models for young people in neighborhoods with high crime rates.

Bush addressed a gathering of community leaders, including Albert Reyes of Buckner International and Tony Evans, pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Church in Dallas, noting that youth need people to listen to them and encourage them to develop their gifts.

“To make sure every child is surrounded by these positive influences, even more adults must dedicate themselves to helping young people,” she said.

“Adults should be aware of the challenges facing children, and then they should take an active interest in children's lives. Adults, and especially parents, should build relationships where they teach their children healthy behaviors by their own good example.”

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Baptist churches, in Texas, the BGCT, the nation and around the world.

Posted: 11/09/07

IMB attorney says board has
power to suspend Burleson

By Robert Marus

Associated Baptist Press

RICHMOND, Va. (ABP)—Although the full Southern Baptist Convention is the only group with the power to unseat a trustee of one of its agencies, the International Mission Board’s attorney said the board has legal power to effectively bar the participation of trustee Wade Burleson.

Derek Gaubatz, the IMB’s general counsel, said: “Any board has the ability … to regulate how it will conduct itself. And anybody, including the International Mission Board … has the power to take measures that it thinks will help it function most effectively as a deliberative body.”

Trustees voted Nov. 6 to censure Burleson and suspend him from voting and other official participation in the board’s work for its next four meetings. The censure resolution accused Burleson of intentional and unrepentant violation of board policies—approved in 2006 over his objection—that bar trustees from speaking critically of any board action or publicizing any information from a non-public conversation with a fellow IMB trustee or a senior staffer.

Burleson characterized those policies as “the worst policies that have been published in the history of any Southern Baptist Convention agency.”

Burleson, pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Enid, Okla., and a leader of a group of reform-minded bloggers across the SBC who want the massive denomination’s agencies to be more accountable to and inclusive of average Southern Baptists. His feud with IMB trustees fueled a denominational revolt that helped elect the current SBC president.

Burleson has blogged repeatedly in criticism of two board policies—adopted in 2005—that tighten the doctrinal parameters for who may be appointed an IMB missionary. The policies limit the proper mode of baptism and prohibit the practice of glossolalia, or speaking in tongues, when in private prayer moments.

The censure resolution, which the board approved in a closed session and reported publicly Nov. 7, effectively prevents Burleson from any participation on the board, including serving on its committees or speaking or voting in meetings.

Burleson has said his participation in trustee meetings is governed by the SBC members who elected him, not his fellow trustees. He has vowed to continue to attend IMB meetings—at his own expense—and will attempt to vote and carry out his other duties, short of being disruptive.

But Gaubatz said Burleson’s colleagues were within their rights to do anything they could short of actually removing him from office.

“Any board, whether it is the board of IMB or the board of IBM, has the power to take measures that it thinks will help it function most effectively as a deliberative body,” he said. “The only limit that exists on that power is if there’s something in the bylaws that says, … you can’t do such-and-such.”

He said a much more extreme example of such a situation would be suspending a trustee who “came into a meeting and used a bullhorn the whole time and was disrupting the meeting.” The board would have the right to eject that person from the meeting even though the SBC had not unseated him, Gaubatz said.

But Burleson, contacted Nov. 8, called that analogy “irrational and illogical,” because he is not disrupting the board’s business.

“In the past year and a half, I have spoken politely in public board meetings—and very courteously—only twice,” he said. “And it was about raising the pay we give our missionaries when they retire.”

He also noted that he has served as a parliamentarian for the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma. “So I completely understand how one must conduct business in a manner that is conducive to order.”

Gaubatz also noted that although Burleson said he disagrees with the code of conduct under which he was censured, he has not made any official attempt to rescind it. “Mr. Burleson like any other trustee, has been free since that code was passed to express his dissent about that by, in a proper forum, bringing a motion to the board to rescind it or rescind portions of it he disagrees with,” he said. “To my knowledge, he has not done that.”

Burleson countered that he knows any such motion would garner no support other than his vote and perhaps a handful of others on the board.

He noted that the trustees approved those policies March 22, 2006—the same day they rescinded an earlier attempt to ask the SBC to unseat him. The ouster attempt came in response to Burleson’s initial blogging in opposition to the restrictive new missionary policies. It was widely criticized in the Southern Baptist blogging community, and contributed to a wave of discontent that lifted long-shot candidate Frank Page, a South Carolina pastor, to the SBC presidency that year over candidates endorsed by the denomination’s fundamentalist power structure.

Burleson said the new trustee-conduct policy essentially took his critiques of the missionary requirements “out of the hands of the Southern Baptist Convention to deal with, and they brought them in internally, and said, ‘We’re going to deal with it by passing new (trustee-conduct) policies.'“

“In the beginning, I tried to abide by those policies,” he continued. “But what I found is those policies about prohibiting dissent are the worst policies that have been published in the history of any Southern Baptist Convention agency.”

The Nov. 6 censure came two weeks after a fellow IMB trustee who has been highly critical of Burleson sent his colleagues a 153-page letter accusing the Oklahoma pastor of “gross and habitual sin” for his blogging. Trustee Jerry Corbaley, an associational director of missions from California, also said Burleson “continues to initiate slander and gossip against the trustees.”

Gaubatz said that Corbaley’s letter only precipitated the censure action against Burleson in the sense that Burleson’s decision to publicize the letter was itself a violation of the trustee-conduct policy.

“This was not a public letter; it was a private communication and it was released, and that was a violation of the code of conduct,” he said.

Some of Burleson’s supporters have asked whether IMB Chairman John Floyd or other trustee officials would also recommend censure of Corbaley for violating the trustee-conduct code. It also bans trustees from speaking disparagingly of their fellow board members.

Asked if trustee officials would recommend censure of Corbaley, Gaubatz said he could not reveal the contents of any internal or executive session of IMB trustees.

However, he added: “The code of conduct is enforced consistently against all trustees. Part of that code of conduct includes how steps of discipline should be followed. The first thing that’s taken in any case is to allow an opportunity for someone to repent and apologize for what he’s done and promise to not engage in such action again. If that takes place, you don’t get to the next step of having to take a censure.”

Floyd did not return a message left with him requesting comment. Wendy Norvelle, an IMB spokesperson, directed a reporter inquiring about the censure vote to Gaubatz.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Baptist churches, in Texas, the BGCT, the nation and around the world.

Posted: 11/09/07

BaptistWay Bible Series for November 18

Live like this

• Romans 12:9-18; 13:1-14

By Andrew Daugherty

Christ Church, Rockwall

More than 30 years, Bill Hybels and Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Illinois, have been a mainstay institution of American evangelical Christianity. Hybels pioneered a movement that attracted nonchurch-going “seekers” weary of “old school” Christianity but presumably still searching for spiritual meaning in their lives.

He created a highly effective formula that has spawned the rise of megachurches across the country. Complete with easy-to-understand sermons, live Christian rock bands, large video screens, concert-style auditoriums and the best in audio-visual media, critics of this movement say it is high on entertainment but light on the gospel. Now, it seems Hybels may agree in part.

For a printer-friendly version, click on the printer icon at bottom of page.

A few years ago, Willow Creek Church convened a self-study to determine whether their programs and ministries were producing the sort of Christians they deemed “fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.”

A comprehensive survey was conducted of the congregation to find out what the church was doing that actually was helping people mature spiritually. The church leadership also wanted to determine what they were doing that was ineffective at helping people grow in their faith. They wanted to find out if their resources were being used as well as possible to achieve their mission to turn irreligious people into fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.

The survey turned up startling results. In what Hybels called “the wake up call of my adult life,” they discovered millions of dollars went into helping people grow spiritually, but it really wasn’t helping much. Willow Creek had been effective at attracting a crowd of pre-Christian seekers but not effective at producing self-described mature Christians. Many members indicated they were not being fed by biblical studies and traditional Christian practices.

The longer they stayed at Willow Creek, the more dissatisfied they became with their spiritual life. Once they crossed the line into becoming more committed Christians, what attracted them to Willow Creek was not what made them want to remain at Willow Creek.

Says Hybels: “Some of the stuff that we have put millions of dollars into, thinking it would really help our people grow and develop spiritually, when the data actually came back, it wasn’t helping people that much. Other things that we didn’t put that much money into and didn’t put much staff against is stuff our people are crying out for.”

Apparently, church growth has not necessarily produced spiritual growth. In many cases, these trends show American church-goers have become consumers of religious goods and services looking for the church that can provide the best “bang for their bucks.” Many people coming to churches are asking, “What can the church do for me and my family? What services and products can you provide us?”

The American church-growth movement arguably has fostered this dependence on spiritual pablum. Just as many have become dependent on the church to spoon-feed them spiritually, many churches have compromised the gospel’s priorities to the cultural priorities of convenience, on-demand entertainment and self-help sermons. Perhaps spiritual significance has been subordinated to cultural convenience.

Hybels continues: “We made a mistake. What we should have done when people crossed the line of faith and became Christians, we should have started telling people and teaching people that they have to take responsibility to become ‘self-feeders.’ We should have gotten people, taught people, how to read their Bible between services, how to do the spiritual practices much more aggressively on their own.”

Any church that seeks to speak to the moral and spiritual issues of our time constantly must evaluate its relationship to culture. But obviously technological savvy is not the only element that defines a church’s relevance to culture. A church’s relevance to culture has less to do with rock bands, smoke machines and overhead screens. A church’s relevance to culture has more to do with the ways the church engages the gospel’s priorities outlined by the Apostle Paul in these texts.

What Willow Creek is rediscovering is what concerned the Apostle Paul from the beginning of the Jesus movement. The enduring truth of the gospel is rooted in the substance of Christ’s way of life, not the styles and trends of the latest fads and fashions.

We can attract a crowd to church by being trendy. But we can attract people to Christ by being truthful about what the gospel ultimately demands of us. Ultimately what produces full-grown Christians is practicing the way of life Jesus lived. What defines a Christian, according to Paul, is genuine love. Genuine love manifests itself in sharing this way of life by practicing patience in suffering, perseverance in prayer, and showing hospitality to strangers (12:12-13). It means practicing peace in the midst of violence and living according to the values of the gospel, even when it puts us at odds with society.

The nature of this genuine love Paul talks about in these texts is a love that is the fulfillment of the law God gave to Israel: Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law (13:10).

Contrary to popular romantic opinions, this sort of love is not an emotional state of being. The love that motivated God to reach out to the world is the same love that motivates the church to reach out to fellow people within the church and the world beyond. How, then, is the church called to transcend its own insular culture to affect the people around it? When will churches get beyond the so-called worship wars to take stock of the sorts of Christians being formed by the priorities of the gospel?

The way God feels about us pales in comparison to the good God has done on our behalf, namely, to pave the way for our redemption and wholeness through the gift of Christ. Therefore, ask not what your church can do for you, ask what you can do for your church. Better yet, ask what you can do for Christ.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Baptist churches, in Texas, the BGCT, the nation and around the world.

Posted:11/02/07

Explore the Bible Series for November 11

The call to be Jesus

• Matthew 19:1-15

By Travis Frampton

Hardin-Simmons University, Abilene

A couple of years ago, I received a phone call late Friday afternoon, before leaving from work to head home for the weekend. It was a friend from church.

“Travis, I need a favor from you.”

It had been an unusually long week for me at work, and I was looking forward to the weekend before me. In my mind, I was already searching for an excuse to pardon me: “I am not feeling well; I’m busy this weekend with home projects; we have Little League baseball games to attend.” I had several excuses lined up ready to go, anything to spare me.

“Yes, OK, what is it?” I said, hoping it was something that would not require too much effort or commitment on my part.

“This weekend several churches downtown are putting on an outdoor interactive play for children. We’re dramatizing the life of Christ from Palm Sunday to the Passover meal.”

There was a pause.

“Yes,” I replied. My friend probably needed someone to help set up scenes or read from the Bible. I already felt a cold coming over me. My boys did have Little League games Saturday afternoon. The yard always needed work.

“I know this is rather late and all, but we need your help tomorrow morning during the play.”

I winced and said, “OK, what is it you need me to do?”

“Would you be Jesus?”

There was another pause. I was speechless. How does one say no to a request like that? It seemed none of the excuses I had prepared seemed legitimate. After all, who is ever too busy to be Jesus? I accepted the part.

That Saturday morning I put on my sandals, threw on my robe and sash, loaded my kids into the minivan and drove downtown to play Jesus.

Being like Jesus

The Passion play was set up in several stages, and to my disappointment, I was not the only Jesus in town. There was another. He was shorter, though, and had black hair and a black beard. I was taller with brown hair and a brown beard. The other actor played Jesus for all the scenes except mine. I was filling in as Jesus during the time when the little children came to him.

I wondered if having two radically different looking Jesuses would be too confusing for the children. After all, there is just one Jesus. I figured they would identify more with the other Jesus since they would see him more often that morning. Nevertheless, I played my part.

My routine went like this: As I sat there on a box of hay teaching my disciples, several women brought their children to me. These women and children were actors, too. My disciples began sending these people away, chastising them for coming to me. I stood up and rebuked the disciples, saying: “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these” (Matthew 19:14).

As I finished my line, I then placed my hands on their heads and greeted each child that had a part in the play. As I was uttering the line “the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these,” and as I was stretching my arms out to indicate the children in the play, I turned to look at the audience and found 30 sets of eyes staring back at me, all various ages ranging 10 and under.

We had not rehearsed our parts with an audience watching. I realized I was interpreting the very life and ministry of Jesus before these little ones who had come to watch the play, and I had just indicated that the kingdom of heaven belonged to children such as those who were in the play. Immediately, almost as if it were instinctive, I spread my arms wider to include the children in the audience who were watching.

They all smiled, and I walked over to touch them on the heads and bless them as well. I realized I was now committed to touching and blessing every child. My greatest fear was that I would miss one. They each came closer to me, all wide-mouthed and teeth showing. One woman even rushed from the back of the crowd to the front with her infant and toddler so that I would not miss her children.

Surprised by Jesus

The morning was exhausting. I saw about 10 sets of 30 kids. After I had finished my part, I blended in with the rest of the crowd that gathered to watch the final scene where the other Jesus broke bread with his disciples.

James walked off the tractor bed where Jesus and the disciples were sharing their meal and addressed the entire audience: “Dear friends, Jesus told us that evening that the Son of Man would be taken away, tried before authorities, crucified, dead and buried. But after the third day, he will be raised again. He told us that we, his disciples, would suffer trials and persecutions for following him. He told us not to lose hope, for one day, my friends, he will come again and be in our midst. So have hope, you who follow Christ, for he has risen and will come again.”

As I was standing there among the rest of the audience listening to James speak, a little girl caught my attention out of the corner of my eye. She was staring at me. I looked at her. She smiled. She looked up at her mother who was paying attention to the play. She looked at me. At her mother. Then back to me. The girl tugged at her mother’s shirt. Her mother looked down at her and said: “What is it?”

“It’s Jesus.”

“What?”

“It’s Jesus. He’s come again. He’s right there,” the little girl whispered to her mother, stressing each word emphatically, as she pointed in my direction. Her mother laughed, and I did too.

For whatever reason, even though she had spent more time with the other Jesus, even though he spoke more often than I, that little girl identified more with the Jesus who took time to welcome her into the kingdom of heaven. She related to the Jesus who blessed her and gave her personal attention.

As my family and I were walking back to our minivan to go home, I recalled the words of Jesus that follow my lines in the play: “Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me” (Matthew 18:4-5). During the ride home, I thought about what the little girl had said to her mother; it made me chuckle again. I wonder if she’ll ever know that it was actually she who, on that day, was Jesus to me.

Discussion questions

• Have you ever been the presence of Christ to others?

• Has anyone been the presence of Christ to you?

• What did Jesus mean when he said the kingdom of heaven belonged to children?

• Why did Jesus strongly rebuke the disciples?

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Baptist churches, in Texas, the BGCT, the nation and around the world.

Posted: 11/08/07

IMB trustees censure Burleson,
bar him from board activities

By Robert Marus

Associated Baptist Press

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (ABP)—In a rare move, trustees of a Southern Baptist Convention agency voted to censure one of their own and effectively bar him from carrying out the duties of his office.

However, reform-minded Oklahoma pastor Wade Burleson has vowed to continue doing the job to which his fellow Southern Baptists elected him. And he defended his right to dissent, saying he will continue to offer a respectful critique of some International Mission Board policies.

Trustees of the SBC’s foreign missionary-sending agency, in a closed session during a regularly scheduled Nov. 6 meeting in Springfield, Ill., voted to censure Burleson. The trustees reported the move in a public session the next morning.

Burleson, pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Enid, Okla., said there were no tallies available for the voice vote, and the IMB did not release information about the vote count.

The resolution of censure also banned Burleson from active participation in the board’s work for at least the next four trustee meetings, which take place every other month. The board said Burleson violated two recently adopted policies barring individual trustees from criticizing actions of the board or reporting on any private conversations between trustees about IMB business.

The board cannot fully eject Burleson from its membership—only messengers to an SBC annual meeting can do that. Two years ago, a majority of IMB trustees voted to ask messengers to do just that but later rescinded the action.

Burleson rose to prominence across the SBC for his critique—spread mainly through his blog, "Grace and Truth to You" at kerussocharis.blogspot.com—of board policies he believes are unjustifiably tightening the parameters of who may be appointed as SBC missionaries, such as the IMB guideline that rejects candidates who practice a "private prayer language," a variation of speaking in tongues.

In a blog post published shortly after the board announced his censure, Burleson said he would continue serving.

"The bylaws of the Southern Baptist Convention state that I am elected by the Southern Baptist Convention,” he wrote. “Though I had initially intended to cease blogging about IMB and SBC issues, I will now continue blogging for the indefinite future. My wife and I will pay for my own way to the trustee meetings, and I will be present and voting at all plenary and executive session board meetings. I will continue to be courteous and kind to all my fellow trustees and will blog about those issues I believe to be of an essential nature to the future of the SBC.”

The censure resolution said Burleson has violated the policies because he has “repeatedly used his blog to share private communications with fellow trustees with persons who are neither trustees nor senior (IMB) staff, in violation of the trustee standards of conduct” and has also used his blog and other public forums to speak “in terms that are not positive and supportive of the board when interpreting and reporting on actions by the board.”

The resolution also accused Burleson of speaking “in disparaging terms about fellow trustees,” and said that Burleson declined to apologize for any of his violations of the new trustee rules except for speaking in a way about fellow trustees that they found disparaging. The resolution said he offered to apologize for any offense other trustees may have taken at his words, but not for the other violations.

In a telephone interview, Burleson confirmed that account.

“In any place or portion, people I have spoken of disparagingly, all they have to do is tell me and I will immediately correct it and seek their forgiveness, because that is not my desire,” Burleson said.

However, he added, he continues to disagree with policies prohibiting any public critique of board actions and barring discussions of any private conversations with fellow board members.

“I voted against it on the basis they were stifling dissent. I have intentionally continued to dissent,” he said. “That’s the Baptist way, if I disagree. But I’ll always be supportive of our mission and our cause. And so what they wanted me to apologize for is saying that the guidelines were leading to the narrowing of the doctrinal parameters in the SBC.”

Burleson said he would continue to attempt to participate in IMB meetings—although he would not be disruptive “in any form or fashion”—unless and until the full SBC takes action to remove him from the board.

“I’m going to be there, I’m going to vote. Whether they count the vote or not … I can’t control that,” he said. “I believe I represent Southern Baptists; I don’t represent my fellow trustees.”

Burleson said he attempted to make a statement to the trustees to inform them of that intention after the board’s action was announced, but trustee Chairman John Floyd refused to recognize him to speak. Floyd is a former top administrator at the agency, and has been linked to the missionary-appointment policies that Burleson has criticized.

Burleson published the statement he would have made on his blog. It concluded, “I pray that those who supported the motion will be able to understand I cannot violate my Baptist distinctives, particularly the freedom to dissent. I am an IMB trustee for a season. I am a Southern Baptist for a lifetime. I am a follower of Jesus Christ for eternity.”

The action to censure Burleson was taken shortly after one of his most outspoken critics on the board sent fellow trustees a 153-page treatise accusing the Oklahoman of what he called “gross and habitual sin.” Jerry Corbaley, an associational director of missions from California, said Burleson was “an unrepentant slanderer and an unrepentant gossip. He continues to initiate slander and gossip against the trustees of the International Mission Board.”

Corbaley is also a supporter of the policies that Burleson has criticized. He did not return a phone call requesting an interview.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Baptist churches, in Texas, the BGCT, the nation and around the world.

Posted: 11/02/07

Bible Studies for Life Series for November 11

The cure for anxious care

• Matthew 6:19-34

By Steve Dominy

First Baptist Church, Gatesville

In the first half of Matthew 6, Jesus describes the inner life of the disciple—giving, fasting and praying. In the second half, Matthew 6:19-34, Jesus is concerned with our public work in the world. Jesus uses illustrations of money, possessions, food, drink, clothing and ambition to illustrate that the Christian life is about more than just “spiritual” matters. We cannot separate our lives into neat little compartments of spiritual and secular; if Jesus really is Lord, then he is Lord of all, not just the “spiritual.”

Jesus summons his followers to a different life in both sections of chapter 6. In the first half of the chapter, Jesus calls his followers to be different from the hypocrisy of the Pharisees. In the second half of the chapter, Jesus calls his followers to be different from the materialism of the rest of the world.

Jesus places the alternatives before his followers in each section of the second half of chapter 6. There are two treasures, two conditions of sight, two masters and two concerns. In each case, Jesus recognizes the earthly loyalty the first alternative offers and counters that with a different loyalty.

The first question Jesus poses is one of treasure: In whom or what do we trust? There is a consistent echo throughout all of chapter 6. In the first half, Jesus mentions not to practice giving, prayer and fasting so that we are seen by others. We are not to practice these in a manner that draws attention to ourselves, but give the attention to God.

The same is true in the question of treasure. Jesus’ warning is not that we all should take a vow of poverty, but that we “should not store up treasures for yourselves.” The danger of wealth is not in the money or possessions themselves; it comes when we become attached to them or somehow feel we have earned them, or have a right to them.

The fact is, money is a necessity in our culture. Luke 8:3 tells us there was a group of women who helped support the ministry of Jesus “out of their own means.” It was a necessity even for Jesus and his disciples.

So, how do we use what God has given us? Are we storing it up and hoarding it, or are we using it in the work of God’s kingdom? Jesus said on three occasions in the first half of the chapter, “Your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” Just as we are to honor God and seek God in our private life, we are to do so in our public life as well.

The choice between two treasures really is the choice between two masters. Jesus says we “cannot serve both God and mammon.” “Mammon” can be translated several ways, one of which is money. One of my former professors suggested a good translation for our society might be “stuff.” We build bigger houses with bigger closets for our stuff. We park our cars outside and fill our garages with stuff. We build storage facilities specifically for our stuff. The more stuff we accumulate, it seems, the less time and space we have for God. Jesus makes the choice clear to us: Will we serve God and master the money and stuff we are given to be used for God’s glory, or will we be mastered by our money and stuff?

Jesus begins the conclusion of this section of the sermon with, “Therefore, I tell you, …” When we have made the comparisons, and Jesus states it in such a way that the correct choice is obvious, Jesus tells us the implications of that choice. Don’t worry about your life or your body (notice he does not tell us we should not care for them). Rather, seek first his kingdom and righteousness.

The choice of the master we serve will radically affect the way we view each. To choose to serve mammon is to make it our priority, to seek it in all of our efforts. It means the financial bottom line is the ultimate decision maker and not the bottom line of the kingdom of God.

When Jesus speaks of seeking God’s kingdom, he is speaking of his followers seeking to be obedient to God in every area of life. To seek God’s kingdom first is to seek to follow Christ in such a way that every area of our lives, our homes, work, personal morality, finances, ethics and citizenship is joyfully and freely submitted to Christ. It continues in our communities accepting the call to share the gospel with our friends, neighbors and coworkers and reaches out to include the witness of the church in the entire world.

Worry enters our lives when our trust is placed in the wrong things. It enters our lives when our loyalty is given the wrong master. When we seek God’s kingdom first, when we seek God’s righteousness, it is hard to expend much emotional energy on the things of this world.

Children who live with the assurance and security of their parents' love know the joy of childhood. You can see it in their faces and hear it in their voices. They do not worry about tomorrow because they know their parents will take care of them. This is the promise the Father gives us through Jesus: We are loved and will be cared for. What place does worry have when we are children loved by the Father?

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Baptist churches, in Texas, the BGCT, the nation and around the world.

Posted: 11/05/07

Missouri convention rejects candidates
backed by fundamentalist group

By Bill Webb

Word & Way

OSAGE BEACH, Mo. (ABP)—For the first time in eight years, messengers to the Missouri Baptist Convention annual meeting have rejected a slate of officer candidates allied with an organized fundamentalist organization.

Meeting at a resort on the state’s Lake of the Ozarks, messengers did an abrupt about-face, overwhelmingly rejecting four officer nominees closely identified with Project 1000. The effort, almost a decade old, had been a successful strategy for fundamentalists to take control of the state convention.

However, messengers did not return the Missouri Baptist Convention to the moderate fold. They elected Gerald Davidson, a retired pastor who was one of many Missouri Baptist conservatives to break ranks with the Project 1000 faction in the past year.

Since 1999, messengers have backed officer slates endorsed by Project 1000, which refers to the number of messengers that fundamentlaist leaders estimated would be needed to beat any moderate candidate for Missouri Baptist Convention president. But among this year’s election casualties was Roger Moran himself, architect of the bitter takeover effort.

Instead, messengers opted for a slate endorsed by a group supportive of the so-called “conservative resurgence” in the state convention but critical of what they said was a legalistic spirit and the increased tightening of control by Moran, his five-member Missouri Baptist Laymen’s Association and other Project 1000 insiders.

The group held Save Our Convention rallies across the state starting in May to state their case for a leadership change.

Messengers elected Davidson, retired pastor of First Baptist Church in Arnold, Mo., who had served a previous stint as Missouri Baptist Convention president, over incumbent Mike Green 832-381. Green is director of missions for Twin Rivers Baptist Association, based in Wright City, Mo.

In perhaps the most closely watched election—for second vice president—John Marshall, pastor of Second Baptist Church of Springfield, Mo., garnered 80 percent of the votes to defeat Moran. The vote was 649 to 160.

Marshall’s church is one of the state convention’s largest and is the state’s leader in gifts through the Cooperative Program and the Lottie Moon and Annie Armstrong missions offerings.

For first vice president, incumbent Bruce McCoy, pastor of Canaan Baptist Church in St. Louis, was an easy winner over Jay Scribner, retired pastor of First Baptist Church of Branson, Mo., 577 to 310.

Chadd Pendergraft, pastor of Splitlog Baptist Church in Goodman, Mo., was elected recording secretary. He defeated Jerry Williams, director of missions for Barry County Baptist Association in Cassville, Mo., 601 to 174.

In their Save Our Convention rallies, speakers decried the power of the laymen’s association and its allies. They criticized Moran groups not only for having an inordinate amount of influence in the selection of trustees to state convention boards and commissions, but also for positioning themselves on the most powerful boards and committees in Missouri and Southern Baptist life.

At last year’s annual meeting, Davidson prefaced the annual sermon with an appeal that Project 1000 shut down its operation. He declared that while the “conservative resurgence” needed to happen, Missouri Baptists did not need anyone or any group to be “a kingmaker.”

At the Save Our Convention rallies, speakers expressed dismay at a St. Louis Post-Dispatch article that called Moran “the most powerful Baptist in Missouri.” They circulated a list of positions held by Moran and fellow Missouri Baptist Laymen’s Association members Kerry Messer, Cindy Province, Richard Stone and Ron Turnbull, as well as Moran’s brother-in-law, Jason Rogers.

Four of the six —Messer, Province, Turnbull and Rogers—were simultaneously members of the powerful Missouri Baptist Convention Executive Board until March, when Province resigned.

At one rally, pastors spoke of being contacted the year before by Moran when he was chair of the convention’s nominating committee and being told that Executive Board positions needed to be filled by people willing to address “a problem” on the Missouri Baptist Convention staff—the future of then-Executive Director David Clippard.

The Executive Board fired Clippard in a closed session on April 10. Clippard claimed he was not given a chance to defend himself.

Davidson, the new Missouri Baptist Convention president, said in an interview shortly after this year’s annual meeting that he felt the convention had given him and the other officers a mandate.

“I’m going to convey that to the Executive Board as we endeavor to lead,” he said. “We’ll have to wait and see what their spirit is.”

Messengers felt the need for change, Davidson added.

“I think Missouri Baptists just got tired of the fact that they really didn’t feel like they were given a choice,” he explained. “Everything was already handpicked for them, the committees were being built and stacked, and there was great dissatisfaction with that. Missouri Baptists want to be heard.

“I think we’re just wanting to get on with the task of evangelism and missions and soul-winning and building churches and quit bickering, fussing and fighting,” Davidson continued.

“Baptists believe the Bible. We Baptists as a whole are conservative and we are just interested in getting down the road,” he said. “We can spend our time tearing up one another and tearing up churches and everything else. But there’s no need for it.”

How long will Save Our Convention continue?

“As far as I’m concerned, it can stop right now,” he said.

Robert Marus contributed to this story

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Baptist churches, in Texas, the BGCT, the nation and around the world.

Posted: 11/05/07

Foreclosure narrowly averted
on former Windermere acreage

By Vicki Brown

Associated Baptist Press

CAMDENTON, Mo. (ABP)—A refinancing agreement with a bank means private development will move forward on land adjacent to Missouri Baptists’ Windermere Baptist Conference Center.

Corporate representative Jerry Hill confirmed a foreclosure notice has been served on Windermere Development Company, Inc., owners of 941 acres that once belonged to Windermere Baptist Conference Center. The center occupies valuable land on a cove of the Lake of the Ozarks, a popular resort destination in south-central Missouri.

Windermere officials approved sale of the land to National City Bank of Cincinnati as part of a loan restructuring plan on Nov. 15, 2005. They undertook the sale to reduce the conference center’s debt from $21 million to $14 million. Windermere Development then purchased the property from the bank in early 2006.

Hill said the foreclosure notice came as a bit of a surprise to the development company’s officials, who were negotiating a refinance plan of their own.

“It has since been resolved, and the land will not be sold” again, Hill said in a telephone interview.

According to a legal notice in the Oct. 15 edition of the Lake Sun Leader, an area newspaper, the property was scheduled to be auctioned on Nov. 6 at the Camden County Courthouse in nearby Camdenton.

The Springfield, Mo.-based firm will move forward with the first phase of its development plan, Hill said. Planning and engineering work has already been done for a residential subdivision on the point beyond the conference center’s chapel.

“It will not be visible from the (Windermere) campus,” Hill added.

When the development company purchased the land in 2006, Jester had assured center administrators that he wanted development to complement the center’s existing programs.

At that time, Jester’s plans included townhouses, villas, condominiums, private residences and commercial areas.

If foreclosure against Windermere Development Co. had occurred, sale of its property would not have affected the conference center, Windermere chief executive officer Dan Bench contended.

“The property isn’t ours,” he said, noting that no restrictions or conditions were placed on the land at the time it was sold to the bank.

Conference center attorney Jim Shoemake agreed.

“The land that was included in the foreclosure notice is not land that is being utilized by Windermere Baptist Conference Center for operations or future development,” he said.

The Missouri Baptist Convention wants the 941 acres, which was part of a 1,300-acre tract deeded to the conference center after messengers to the 1999 annual meeting agreed to convert Windermere from a committee-governed entity to a separate institution.

The convention is seeking to reclaim the land as part of its ongoing litigation against the conference center, as well as four other historic Missouri Baptist institutions. The Missouri Baptist Convention filed legal action against the five in 2002 in an attempt to overturn corporate charter changes made in 2000 and 2001 that allowed the five to elect their own trustees.

The case is still pending, with a jury trial scheduled in the convention’s suit against Windermere on Feb. 1, 2008.

Despite continuing controversy, the conference center has experienced its “best year ever,” Bench said, noting that guest numbers and revenue have paced 10 to 12 percent above last year’s figures.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Baptist churches, in Texas, the BGCT, the nation and around the world.

Posted: 11/05/07

BWA leader urges U.S. Baptists to cooperate

By Trennis Henderson

Kentucky Western Recorder

CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. (ABP)—Declaring that “the mission of God in this century of glorious mission opportunity needs as much unity as possible,” Baptist World Alliance President David Coffey is calling on his Baptist brethren in America to set aside their differences, for Christ’s sake.

Coffey, who was elected in 2005 to a five-year term as BWA president, recently made a tour of the United States. He retired last year after 15 years as general secretary of the Baptist Union of Great Britain.

In several stops to speak to Kentucky Baptist groups, he urged his brothers and sisters of Southern Baptist heritage to cooperate with others.

“The Baptist World Alliance needs Kentucky Baptists, and I dare to suggest to you that Kentucky Baptists need the Baptist World Alliance—because we are family,” he told a crowd at Campbellsville University, a Kentucky Baptist Convention-related school.

Speaking candidly about the Southern Baptist Convention’s 2004 withdrawal from the BWA, Coffey said: “I was very intimately involved in all the conversations that eventually led to the Southern Baptist Convention resigning from the Baptist World Alliance. … The decision saddened me and I still have some very good friends on the other side of the decision.”

Citing the separation and eventual reconciliation between the Apostle Paul and John Mark in the New Testament, Coffey noted, “I think Christians must always hold in their hearts the hope of reconciliation.”

Insisting that “very, very little should divide Baptist Christians,” Coffey said, “I’m proud to be a conservative evangelical in the Baptist tradition.”

Alluding to SBC leaders’ charges of liberalism among some BWA member bodies, Coffey said: “Are there liberals in the BWA? When you have a family of 34 million baptized believers … inevitably you will have those who will cast themselves as liberals. The real question is: Is the Baptist World Alliance liberal? The answer to that is no.”

Warning that “an adherence to orthodoxy is no guarantee of spirituality,” Coffey affirmed fellow Baptist leaders who have “a passion for seeing the lost world come to know Jesus Christ … a passion for the Scriptures, a passion for spirituality.”

He added, “Christians who have sound minds and warm hearts are those who bless the world.”

Cautioning against the extremes of “cynical liberalism and sentimental evangelicalism,” Coffey declared, “I long for Baptists to learn the lessons of history, the good and the bad. We had a history before the Reformation.”

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Baptist churches, in Texas, the BGCT, the nation and around the world.

Updated: 11/02/07

First woman BGCT president
elected, budget approved

By Ken Camp

Managing Editor

MARILLO—Messengers to the Baptist General Conven-tion of Texas annual meeting narrowly elected the first woman president of the state convention—and continued a two-decade string of officers endorsed by the moderate Texas Baptists Committed organization.

By about a two-to-one margin, messengers approved a $50.1 million Cooperative Program budget, and they overwhelmingly rebuffed a move to consider a “no-confidence” vote in the BGCT Executive Board. They also approved creation of a committee to recommend a “shared vision” for the convention—but without the 2008 completion deadline or the 2020 target goal proposed by the original maker of the motion.

Joy Fenner presides over a session of the Baptist General Convention of Texas annual meeting in her capacity as first vice president. She was elected the convention’s first female president in Amarillo. (PHOTO/Robert Rogers/Baylor University)

The annual meeting drew 2,027 messengers and 1,098 visitors from 601 churches. The 2006 meeting in Dallas attracted 1,990 messengers and 820 guests—the lowest attendance in more than 50 years.

Fenner, 72, a former missionary to Japan, executive director emeritus of Woman’s Mission-ary Union of Texas and incumbent BGCT first vice president, was elected over Canyon pastor David Lowrie. Fenner—a member of Gaston Oaks Baptist Church in Dallas—received 900 votes (52 percent), compared to 840 (48 percent) for Lowrie.

Fenner’s election marked another in a series of presidential elections demonstrating BGCT diversity. In recent years, the state convention has elected its first Hispanic president and its first African-American president.

Many convention messengers attributed the close margin of Fenner’s election less to her gender and more to dissatisfaction with current BGCT leadership, as well as the other nominee’s West Texas ties.

In nominating Fenner, Steve Wells from South Main Baptist Church in Houston acknowledged Texas Baptists “have been going through a difficult time,” and he insisted Fenner could provide the “clear and courageous voice” needed. Fenner “knows this is a new day that needs a new vision,” Wells said.

Lowrie—who would have been the first second-generation BGCT president—had been endorsed by several Baptist bloggers who called for an end to what they saw as the Texas Baptists Committed organization’s control over the BGCT.

They also called for change in BGCT leadership in light of a church-starting fund scandal in the Rio Grande Valley, a recent round of layoffs at the Baptist Building in Dallas and a ruling by the presiding officer at the 2006 BGCT annual meeting that essentially al-lowed the Executive Board to trump the decision-making authority of convention messengers.

Lowrie particularly voiced concern that since the majority of BGCT churches continue to relate to the Southern Baptist Convention, he wanted to see members of loyal BGCT churches with SBC ties given a more prominent role in BGCT life.

Gary Morgan, pastor and messenger from the Cowboy Church of Ellis County, questions why the missions, evangelism and ministry area of the BGCT budget showed a reduction. (PHOTO/Eric Guel)

In a news conference after the election results were announced, Lowrie pledged his continuing loyalty to the BGCT and encouraged messengers who voted for him to follow suit.

“You don’t create a future by pulling out,” he said. “You create a future by being engaged in the process.”

Joking with reporters, Lowrie added: “I feel like the winner. I accomplished my goals, but I don’t have to be president.”

Fenner could help promote unity among Texas Baptists by ensuring that people who have not served previously be appointed to places of service on BGCT boards and committees, he asserted.

Communicating with 5,700 diverse churches presents a challenge, Fenner noted, and she indicated Texas Baptists who believe they have not been represented adequately have a responsibility to help keep the lines of communication open.

“We have tremendously gifted people in our churches,” she said. “Help us know who they are and what they bring to the table” in terms of talents, experience, knowledge and ability.

Messengers also elected Mike Massar, pastor of First Baptist Church in Tyler, as first vice president and Jeff Raines, associate pastor at First Baptist Church in Amarillo, as second vice president. Massar received 967 votes, compared to 257 for Lee Saunders, minister of church development at Garden Oaks Baptist Church in Houston. Raines was unopposed.

During discussion of the 2008 budget, several messengers went to the microphones to raise questions—particularly regarding decreased funding for the missions, evangelism and ministry section.

Gary Morgan from the Cowboy Church of Ellis County called the reduced funding for that area “almost unconscionable.”

The annual meeting voted not to consider a motion by Michael Chancellor from Crescent Heights Baptist Church in Abilene calling for messengers to give the BGCT Executive Board directors a vote of “no confidence.”

With only a smattering of dissenting votes, messengers instead approved a motion by Dan Malone of First Baptist Church in El Paso objecting to the consideration of the “no-confidence” motion.

Ed Jackson from First Baptist Church in Garland introduced a motion calling on the BGCT president and the Executive Board chair to appoint a committee with no more than 25 members to consider a “shared vision” for the BGCT for 2020.

His original motion called on the committee to bring interim reports to the Executive Board in its February, May and September meetings next year and to bring a final report to the 2008 BGCT annual meeting.

It also gave specific charges to the committee about addressing the relationship between the BGCT and its institutions, setting priorities, studying changing missions strategies and analyzing “the impact of innovation on our ministries and the sustainability of all programs.”

Philip Wise of Lubbock, chair of the committee on convention business, brought a substitute motion that abbreviated the language of the original motion, expanded the number of people naming the committee to include all convention officers and extended the deadline for a final report to “no later than the 2009 annual meeting.” It also made no mention of the 2020 date.

Executive Board Chair Bob Fowler reports on a statement adopted by the board regarding its role in relation to the convention in annual session. (PHOTO/Eric Guel)

Messengers to the annual meeting approved the substitute motion from Wise’s committee.

At the recommendation of Wise’s committee, two motions introduced by Daniel Downey from First Baptist Church in Memphis were referred to the Executive Board. One called on the Executive Board’s administrative subcommittee to examine the chief operating officer’s position to determine “if it is really vital or necessary to the operation of BGCT ministries since the recent reorganization and consolidation of BGCT departments.”

The other motion—which a sizeable minority of messengers wanted to vote on to show the will of the body—called on the Executive Board to examine the necessity and effectiveness of the Baptist Building’s service center.

The presiding chair ruled out of order a motion by Kyle Clayton of First Baptist Church in Farwell calling for biographical information about all officer nominees to be provided to messengers. Since nominations are allowed from the floor of the annual meeting according to the BGCT governing documents, advance preparation of a resume of all possible nominees would be impossible, the chair determined.

Messengers also approved a special agreement with Baptist Child & Family Services to allow the agency to elect two-thirds of its trustee board and for the BGCT to elect one-third of the board.

In other business, messengers gave initial approval to a constitutional amendment that will clarify the decision-making authority of the convention in annual session.

The amendment to Article VII, Section 1 of the BGCT constitution says, “The Executive Board shall have charge and control, except when otherwise directed by the convention, of all the work of the convention, including missions, education and beneficence, in the interim between its sessions.”

The motion of clarification was prompted by outcry following a ruling by the presiding officer at the 2006 BGCT annual meeting, who said a decision by the Executive Board in a called meeting immediately prior to the annual meeting “pre-empted” action by messengers to the state convention. Constitutional amendments require two-thirds approval at two consecutive annual meetings.

Messengers to the annual meeting also approved a resolution that Texas Baptists “encourage, promote and support Baptist ministries that show the love of Christ in practical ways to immigrants within the confines of the law and according to biblical mandates.”

They also approved a resolution commending strategies that strengthen early childhood education, drop-out prevention, language ministry, adult literacy and higher education and encouraging churches and institutions to “provide academic and other support to at-risk students, including forming partnerships with schools.”

Other motions included appreciation to Charles Wade, who retires as BGCT executive director Jan. 31, 2008, as well as recognition of the 300th anniversary of Baptist associations in North America and thanks to the hosts of the annual meeting and the officers of the convention.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Baptist churches, in Texas, the BGCT, the nation and around the world.