LET THE LITTLE CHILDREN COME: Children need worship role models

Posted: 7/20/07

LET THE LITTLE CHILDREN COME:
Children need worship role models

By George Henson

Staff Writer

An increasing number of churches offer separate worship services for children, but that may not be what is best for either the children or the church, many children’s ministry professionals agree.

The faith formation of children is greatly enhanced by not separating them for children’s church but by letting them remain with adults, said Diane Smith, children’s ministry strategist for the Baptist General Association of Virginia.

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION/David Clanton

Her advice to the congregations who call her about starting a children’s church is simple—“Don’t do it.”

“Cutting-edge churches … are equipping the parents to be the faith-formers for their children,” Smith said.

And children’s church typically begins at what is developmentally the worst possible time, said one children’s minister forced by the congregation’s pastor to hold a separate worship service for children.

“The age where you pull them out of worship is really the age where they are really modeling (behavior after) their parents,” he said. “There’s a time in the life of a child, around 5 or 6, when they are really looking for those models, and it’s just at that time that we’re separating them.

“Also, if you don’t have them in the bigger church, it takes them longer to transition into worship. At age 4 or 5, it may take them a year to adjust. At later ages, they may never adjust, because they’re always looking for something just for them.”

The minister—who feared he would be fired if identified—insisted the concept of a separate children’s worship service in itself does not trouble him.

“I don’t mind having another worship experience for children, but not at the time when families have the opportunity to worship together,” he said. “Sunday night or Wednesday night—I’m OK with that, but we need to keep families together for Sunday morning worship.

Still, more churches are moving toward a separate worship service for children on Sunday morning, said Diane Lane, preschool and children’s ministry specialist with the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

When they call for advice, she starts with a question: “Why are you thinking about doing this?”

“Sometimes, I hear, ‘We need to separate the children because sometimes we talk about adult issues,’ but I question what we need to talk about that children don’t need to be involved in,” she said. “And then some people say children need visual things to help them in worship. But my response to them is to give them a blank sheet of paper and a box of crayons, and oftentimes children will draw something that has to do with what the pastor is talking about.

“Really, what I suggest for churches considering children’s church is to include the children in worship, but most of them have already made up their minds.”

See Related Articles:
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Involving children in worship also is Smith’s counsel. She advocates letting children be greeters in the foyer with their parents, as well as reading Scripture as a part of the service. While younger children might not have necessary reading skills, she said they enjoy seeing older children taking part and thinking of the day when they will be old enough.

Children’s songs as calls to worship also help them feel included. She noted a few churches have brought in rocking chairs for children who still enjoyed being held in their mother’s lap.

Lane said she did not know of any children’s ministers who advocated a separate worship service for children, but many have them because of the wishes of either the pastor or parents.

But since so many churches still continue with plans for a children’s church, Lane offers tips for those churches.

“They need to get a think-tank together of parents, workers and a staff liaison to talk about what’s going to happen before they do anything else,” she suggested.

“A set of constant elements (must be) present weekly, or it just becomes a play time.”

Each week, children need Bible study, singing, an offering and application of the lesson.

Another constant should be the adults involved, Lane said. “Many churches have teams who come in sporadically on a rotation basis, and those adults are not comfortable and don’t really know what’s going to happen. The children then act up because they are more comfortable than the adults are,” she said.

She also recommends a set curriculum and said LifeWay Christian Resources’ “Worship KidStyle” is the best she has seen.

Age limitation is vital, she stressed.

“When you get multi-ages of children in a room, it is hard to teach them to respect one another, and the older children will probably pick on the younger ones,” Lane said, specifically discouraging participation by children older than second grade.

“At some point, children are going to need to be included in the body of worship,” she said. “If they are in a separate worship service, are they going to see people walk the aisle, see people baptized? Are they going to witness the rituals of the faith?”

Park Cities Baptist Church in Dallas has had success with preparing children for worship. Five-year-olds spend nine months learning how to understand and take part in worship. The program, designed by Tommy Sanders, now director of the master’s degree program in Christian education for children’s ministry at Dallas Baptist University, runs concurrent with the school year.

The children attend the first part of the worship service with their parents and then adjourn to another room, where they learn and discuss a different aspect of worship each month. Topics include prayer, the role of the ministers, the offering, baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

“It’s not children’s worship,” said Sanders, who developed the program while on staff at Park Cities. “It’s an educational format.”

The result has been positive.

“Children are getting more out of worship, and parents don’t feel their children are being dumped into the service for an hour all at once. This way, they get a taste of it each week and at the same time are being taught about what worship is,” he said, noting the end design is to prepare children to worship with their families.

“There are appropriate times for children’s worship, but in both the Old Testament and the New Testament, you see children worshipping with their families,” Sanders said.

One reason Sanders believes it is important to have children with their parents in worship is to increase their relationship.

Once, he noted, children grew up alongside their parents, who taught them everything—household skills like sewing and cooking, how to care for animals. They taught them spiritual lessons as well.

“I don’t want to say that children’s worship is right or wrong. Every situation is different,” Sanders said. “For our church, the real question was, ‘What’s best for the child long term?’ Parents are a child’s primary teacher, so who better to equip to teach and lead in worship than parents?”




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




A truly ‘heavenly’ cup of coffee

Posted: 7/20/07

A truly ‘heavenly’ cup of coffee

By Whitney Farr

Communications Intern

Try to imagine coffee with a higher calling than jolting people awake.

Sam Say, a Baptist layman from Hong Kong, hopes coffee-lovers throughout the United States and Canada will bless struggling people in Southeast Asia by indulging in a gourmet cup of coffee, beginning next summer.

Say is teaching farming methods that will multiply crop production, provide food security and dignified income, and create sustainable access to poor farmers’ processed coffee.

The plan begins with meeting physical needs of the poor and moves to sharing spiritual blessings God wants everyone to hear, Say reported.

“It’s not just about conversion, it’s about transformation,” he said.

The plan offers farmers two options: A resident program allows landless families to work at a demonstration farm full-time for two years and eventually move to develop their own government-granted land. A nonresident program offers short-term training for farmers who already work on their own farms but need additional skills for maximum production.

“The overall goal is to provide practical training … to all subsistence farmers, help the landless farmers establish their own family farms and fund the good work with the income generated through the full supply-chain coffee business,” Say said. “The ultimate focus is to share the love of God and bring hope … and peace.”

On a trip to Texas, Say sought support for his ministry and information for improving the demonstration farm.

Say met with George Chapman, a cattle breeder from Amarillo; staff of the Baptist General Convention of Texas; pastors from the Dallas area; Amie Sarker, Wayne Russell and Randy Byers from Dallas Baptist University; and Dick Talley, Ron Mathis and Steve Paris of Texas Baptist Men.

Texas Baptist Men provided 16 water filters, which Say is taking back to the demonstration farm. They will provide pure drinking water on the farm for about a year. Say also discussed drilling wells and using surface water with his Texas hosts.

“We believe water is our entry—that we can go in and help people by providing water, so others can tell them of the Living Water,” Mathis explained.

Because Christians are persecuted in parts of Southeast Asia, he is careful about how he evangelizes. Besides aiming to show God’s love through his attitude and service to the people, Say offers to pray with hurting people. He also hopes farmers will see the love of Christ in Christian volunteers who come to serve.

“Short- and long-term volunteers who have experience in farming, medical skills, coffee processing and construction skills are needed,” Say said. “But mostly, I ask for prayers and future coffee subscriptions.”

A subscriber would pay $200 and receive two bags of coffee every two weeks for a year, directly from the farms in Southeast Asia. “If you are buying coffee from elsewhere, we can meet that need better,” Say said.

The money would go directly to the farm and its workers, he said. It will provide for needs of people who live on less than a dollar a day.

“This allows people to help the greater goal of reaching this closed country,” Say said. “We would like to see coffee-drinking being used for a bigger purpose.”

For more information, contact LaVern Plett at (972) 822-3380 or lplett@msn.com, or contact Say at samsay@netvigator.com.






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




2nd Opinion: Immigration & evangelism

Posted: 7/20/07

2nd Opinion: Immigration & evangelism

By Juan Castro

As a pastor of a Hispanic church, it always has confounded me how so many Christians can reject undocumented Latinos in this country.

I realize there is a great deal of discussion about legality and illegality. Nevertheless, as Christians, we should seek what the Bible has to say about immigration.

What would Jesus do with illegal immigrants? Would Jesus worry about the legal status of an individual, or would he first focus on their evident spiritual need and hunger? Is the Bible in favor or against illegal immigration? Unfortunately, the answers to these questions have been clouded by controversy within the church body.

Some will quote passages of the Bible, such as, “Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities,” (Titus 3:1) or 1 Peter 2:13, “Submit yourself to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake.” Many Christians use passages like these to indicate biblical support for ousting illegal immigrants.

Are these Bible passages absolute teachings against any condition, or are they subject to divine and evangelistic principles? For example, we all know of Christians who are residing in “forbidden” countries where Christianity is not accepted. Part of our church offering goes to missionaries who are imbedded in foreign countries where Christianity is illegal. Are Christians sharing the gospel in these countries breaking the law? Yes, they are. They are not respecting the laws of those countries that forbid the teachings of Jesus. This evangelistic undertaking in countries where Christianity is banned indicates we believe evangelism supersedes the government regulation against Christianity in those countries. Most of us pray continuously for these “illegal” missionaries.

We have a large group of immigrants who do not attend a Christian church. We have a great opportunity and responsibility to share the gospel of salvation with these illegal immigrants. God has sent them to our backyard so they may hear of the gospel that gives eternal life.

The Bible is clear in its support of aiding those “strangers in a strange land.” In several passages, God tells Christians what our behavior should be regarding foreigners. We should listen to the command issued in Leviticus 19:34, “The alien living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself.” We read in the Old Testament that this was a law established by God in the context of his newly freed nation of Israel. Therefore, do God’s laws not supersede countries’ laws? Other passages such as Exodus 22:21, Leviticus 25:35, Numbers 35:15, Jeremiah 7:6 and Matthew 25:35 reiterate this command God gives us to show kindness to aliens. God does not make a distinction between illegal or legal immigrants.

Following the teachings of Jesus and the law established in Leviticus, we must love the immigrants just as we love ourselves. According to Matthew 25:38-40, Jesus teaches that when we open our home to an immigrant, we are doing it for him as well. He does indeed make a clear distinction between those with an open heart for the suffering stranger and those who would persecute them.

These passages are laws intended to be sealed in the hearts of God’s children. God assumed people could go from country to country without having to have special permission to live in those countries.

We should recall that Joseph, Mary and baby Jesus had to flee from the persecution of King Herod. The angel of God did not tell Joseph to go and get a visa to be able to enter Egypt, because it would be wrong to not do so. Jesus himself was preaching in different regions of Palestine in which he, as a Jew, was not welcomed to go.

A few days ago, I received e-mail from a person whom I consider to be a Christian, asking me how I would deal with an illegal immigrant. My answer was that as a Christian, it is not up to me to concern myself with an individual’s immigration status, but rather concern myself with their spiritual and eternal status. The Apostle Paul reminds us that we, ourselves, are strangers and pilgrims in this land, “But our citizenship is in heaven” (Philippians 3:20).


Juan Castro is pastor of Vida Abundante in Longview and professor of finance and international business at LeTourneau University in Longview.



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




DOWN HOME: It’s not too late to say some things

Posted: 7/20/07

DOWN HOME:
It’s not too late to say some things

Do you ever feel so overwhelmed with relief and gratitude to God you just about don’t know what to do with yourself? If the highest mountain were nearby, you’d climb it, just to shout to God how thankful you are. I feel that way this evening.

Two weeks ago, my buddy Glen thought he had the flu. A week ago, Glen wasn’t in good enough shape to think about anything, but his family and friends feared he was about to die. His liver was failing. The doctors didn’t know why, but they considered just about every horrible thing you can imagine. Tonight, he’s still a pretty sick guy, but his liver is functioning and he told his wife, Nancy, he just wants to go home.

And tonight, the world looks misty and sparkly for all of us who love him. Tears do that.

Glen was a BMOC—Big Man on Campus—when I was a mere freshman at Hardin-Simmons University “back in the day.” He was president of the Baptist Student Union. I remember he had long hair (but we all did then), rosy cheeks and a warm, affable way of talking that made even freshmen feel like they mattered to him. Everybody knew Glen.

Thank God, I really got to know Glen about nine years ago, when he became pastor of a church not far from my office. We planned lunch because we thought we should, so we could talk about mutual friends and professors. But before we finished chips and salsa, we started talking about the stuff of our lives—our wives and children, our jobs, our aspirations and frustrations, our faith and struggles for faith, our dogs, our city and Baptists—all that really matters. By the time we argued over the check, we were deep friends.

Years later, I can’t tell you how many times Glen and I have met for lunch. We get together in other places, too, but our lunch conversations have enriched my life. We always laugh. Sometimes, because we’re funny; sometimes, to keep from crying. But we laugh. And talk. The wisdom of Glen’s perspective keeps me sane. His humor keeps me joyous. And his love for God and for people keeps me passionate, too.

As Glen lay in the hospital, I thought about him almost constantly, and I realized what I admire most about him and why I love him so much: He’s honest, transparent and vulnerable.

I remembered our friend George’s description, that Glen “preaches his guts out” because that’s who he is. He’s candid and honest and feels things intensely. Sometimes, he looks directly at hard things, but he makes others look at them, too, and we’re better for it. Selfishly, I mourned for how my life would be diminished if Glen weren’t around to make me look.

One of the things I regretted last week was that I might not get to tell him how much I love him and admire him—his courage, his transparency and vulnerability, his goofy humor, his loving passion. When he gets better, we’ll go back to that restaurant. And I’ll tell him.


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




EDITORIAL: At least the pope cleared the air

Posted: 7/20/07

EDITORIAL:
At least the pope cleared the air

“Is the pope Catholic?”

That’s got to be one of the world’s oldest one-line jokes. It’s also probably the world’s most-used non-scatological rejoinder to an obvious question. For example, this discussion about Texas weather in July:

“Is it going to be hot tomorrow?” your neighbor asks.

“Is the pope Catholic?” you reply.

knox_new

Everybody knows the pope is Catholic. That’s why reaction to Pope Benedict XVI, who recently acted Catholic, has been baffling.

The Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which Pope Benedict headed when he was Cardinal Josef Ratzinger, declared the church established by Jesus Christ exists completely and fully only in the Roman Catholic Church. Although the document affirms other Christian denominations can be “instruments of salvation,” the statement insists on the primacy of the Catholic Church. It contends Protestant denominations are not really churches “in the proper sense”; they’re only “ecclesial communities.”

The theological thinking behind the Vatican’s assertion is fairly straightforward. Basically, it goes like this: Catholics believe in apostolic succession, or the idea that the pope’s spiritual authority has been handed down, in unbroken succession, from the Apostle Peter, whom they believe was the first pope, all the way to Benedict XVI. The pope—the bishop of Rome—is authoritative over all the church, its “universal monarch.” The pope’s authority extends through archbishops and bishops down to priests, who are empowered to administer sacraments and, in effect, connect Christ to people. Since God’s grace must be mediated to people, and since pastors and ministers of other denominations are outside the authority of apostolic succession and cannot appropriately mediate grace, they’re not part of the true church.

Ironically, some other Christian leaders seemed surprised by the pope’s assertion. The Vatican’s “exclusive claim … goes against the spirit of our Christian calling toward oneness in Christ,” responded Setri Nyomi, general secretary of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches. Those claims “caused pain,” added Mark Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

So, what’s this really mean for Baptists and other non-Catholic Christians?

Well, Baptists shouldn’t be surprised, nor should we be bothered by the pope’s claims. For almost 400 years, Baptists have held fast to doctrine entirely counter to papal authority and apostolic succession. We’ve championed “the priesthood of all believers”—the notion that each individual is a priest before God, both privileged to approach God directly and individually and responsible for the stewardship of such a blessed privilege. We believe each soul is competent to stand directly before God, so we don’t need a priest, or even a pope, to intercede for us. We shouldn’t feel perturbed knowing the pope thinks we’re wrong, especially since we believe he’s wrong.

But we also owe the pope a measure of admiration. He sees himself as the shepherd of the Roman Catholic flock, and one way he seeks to protect them is to clarify spiritual issues for them. (Perhaps he even believes he needs to care for non-Catholics by clarifying issues for them too.) So, he seems to be taking his pastoral duty seriously, and that is commendable.

Also commendable is his effort to clearly state his church’s position as contrasted to Orthodox, Protestants and other Christians. We live in a talk-radio world, where shouting and anger seem to be the norms of disagreement. Yet here we have a forthright yet calm presentation of belief. Yes, it provides ground for disagreement, but also opportunity for honest dialogue.


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




Faith Digest

Posted: 7/20/07

Faith Digest

Muslims, evangelicals not so apart. Muslim Americans and white evangelicals have more in common than other religious groups when it comes to religious fervor, scriptural literalism and social morality, according to the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. They consistently scored closer than other groups, including black and mainline Protestants and Catholics. For example, on the question of religious vs. national identity, 47 percent of Muslims saw themselves as Muslims first and Americans second, while 62 percent of evangelicals said they were Christians first and Americans second. Similar scores were 55 percent for black Protestants, 31 percent for Catholics and 22 percent for mainline Protestants.


Accident stills Marlette’s pen. Doug Marlette, 57, whose editorial cartoons often lampooned fundamentalist religion but whose folksy comic strip celebrated a rural Southern Baptist pastor, died in an automobile accident July 10. He was 57. The Pulitzer Prize winner , who recently joined the staff of the Tulsa World, died near Holly Springs, Miss., after a truck in which he was a passenger careened off a rain-slicked highway. “The Creator endowed him with such creativity that he was literally one of a kind—and a real Baptist,” said James Dunn, former executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty. “He could see the ironies and the contradictions (in political or religious life) so clearly and then reduce them to just a few strokes in a cartoon.” Dunn and another famous Baptist preacher, Will Campbell, reportedly were the inspiration for one of the lead characters in “Kudzu,” a small-town Baptist preacher named Will B. Dunn.


Christian sales ring register bells. Sales of Christian products increased to $4.6 billion last year, according to reports by the major trade association for Christian retailing. The $4.63 billion in 2006 sales, through a range of religious and secular distribution channels, is up from $4.3 billion in 2004, $4.2 billion in 2002 and $4 billion in 2000, reports CBA, a trade association formerly known as the Christian Booksellers Association. A new CBA study shows Christian retailers sold 52 percent of Christian products, while general-market retailers—including stores such as Wal-Mart and Borders—sold 33 percent. The remaining 15 percent of sales included direct-to-consumer and nonprofit ministry sales.


Mennonite ducks ‘mark of the Beast.’ A Mennonite farmer from Pennsylvania does not have to comply with a state animal identification program after arguing that numbering his ducks would bring about his eternal damnation. Pennsylvania officials now say the identification program, designed to protect against disease outbreaks among fowl, is not mandatory. James Landis had argued the program’s requirements would force him to violate his religious beliefs. Amish dairy farmers in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania objected to programs that would have forced them to number their cows, insisting the biblical book of Revelation warns of a numbering system from the Antichrist. Landis is a member of the Eastern Pennsylvania Mennonite Church, a small, conservative spin-off from the more mainstream Mennonite Church and theological cousins of the Amish.


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




Texas Baptist Forum

Posted: 7/20/07

Texas Baptist Forum

Long-term missionaries

Ken Hall’s suggestion that long-term missionaries have a minimal place in the future of missions (July 9) concerned me.

Letters are welcomed. Send them to marvknox@baptiststandard.com; 250 words maximum.

“We have to demand full religious liberty here at home for non-Christians. That sounds kind of like the Golden Rule. … You can’t be for separation of mosque and state abroad and come home and oppose separation of church and state here at home. Let's be consistent.”
Melissa Rogers
Visiting professor of religion and public policy at Wake Forest University, at a forum on ministers and politics sponsored by Christian Ethics Today (RNS)

“I would absolutely reject any idea that God sends suffering our way. The issue for me is not, ‘Why me?’ It is, ‘Why not me?’ I’m not exempt from the difficulties that come to everyone else.”
Tom Graves
Former president of Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond, Va., who departed his post because issues related to multiple sclerosis (Baptists Today)

“Faith and reason are knitted together in the human soul. So don’t leave home without either one.”
Tony Snow
White House press secretary (The Washington Post/RNS)

Some of the Apostle Paul’s missionary endeavors were brief, but strategic distinctions exist between his context and ours. He probably didn’t learn new languages for his ministry, and his upbringing prepared him for bicultural missionary life. These differences enabled Paul to engage immediately at a level of culturally sensitive ministry that demands a lengthier period of adaptation for us.

Whatever we emulate from Paul’s example, we should adopt his clear ambition not only to preach Christ, but to proclaim him where he has not yet been named (Romans 15:20-21).

In contrast, Hall proposes that we focus on partnerships with national churches. Many of these churches exist only because of God’s work through the faithful ministries of long-term missionaries.

Exclusively partnering with national churches virtually ensures we will ignore 1.5 billion people in unreached groups with no realistic access to the gospel. One-quarter of our world’s population does not have a local church that worships in their language. Missions to these peoples will demand more than occasional, short-term engagement, but rather the continuous investment of our churches’ best resources—their sons and daughters.

Rather than seeing short-term missions as a replacement for career missions, let’s see it as an opportunity for vocational discernment, character formation and strategic mentoring. Let’s not allow partnerships to completely substitute for pioneering work among the world’s 6,000-plus unreached people groups.

Silas Bishop

Houston


Global warming

The Southern Baptist Convention’s resolution on global warming (June 25) rejects government-mandated limits on carbon dioxide and other emissions because “it might not make much difference” and could lead to “major economic hardship.”

The majority of scientists all over the world say addressing carbon dioxide emissions is our only hope of averting disaster. The window of opportunity to avert this is limited. Some scientists say we have about 10 years. The most optimistic say no more than 50.

Concerning “major economic hardship,” what is going on right now in Africa, due to carbon dioxide emissions from our SUVs, coal-fired power plants, etc.? If we do not attempt to control our emissions, this will do far more damage to our  economy, not to mention the whole world. China is said to have lost about 750,000 people last year due to air pollution. That is more than stem-cell research.

Global warming is the most critical situation mankind has ever faced. God gave us brains; we are supposed to use them.

We can do it, but it is going to take all of us.

Leon Logan

Tucumcari, N.M.


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




On the Move

Posted: 7/20/07

On the Move

Bill Austin to Park Lake Drive Church in Waco as interim pastor.

Thomas Barber to Prairie Hill Church in Prairie Hill as minister of outreach.

Tim Berg to Meadowbrook Church in Rockdale as youth director.

Cory Brand to First Church in Edna as youth minister.

Colin Colburn to Tabernacle Church in Ennis as minister of worship.

Fred Culbertson has resigned as music and youth minister at First Church in Taft.

Shannon Cunningham to Crestmont Church in Burleson as interim minister of youth.

Brian Dunks to Columbus Avenue Church in Waco as pastor from First Church in Salado.

Philip Garvin to Midway Church in Ferris as interim pastor.

Craig Golden to Park Lake Drive Church in Waco as interim youth minister.

Ricky Guenther to First Church in Burnet as pastor from First Church in Henrietta.

David Heath to Lakeview Church in San Angelo as minister of music and worship from First Church in Merkel.

Wes Henson to First Church in Merkel as youth/education minister.

Brian Holt has resigned as pastor of Little River Church in Cameron.

Tom Ledbetter has resigned as pastor of Temple Church in Waco.

Jeff Lee has resigned as minister of youth at Cherry Heights Church in Clyde.

Jim Lemons to Dallas Baptist University as assistant professor of biblical studies and leadership from River Oaks Church in Fort Worth, where he was pastor.

Kevin Martin has resigned as minister of music of Crestmont Church in Burleson to serve a church in Florida.

Joe Merritt to First Church in Gainesville as interim high school minister.

Eric Moore to First Church in Marlin as pastor.

Jason Moore to First Church in Longview as minister to students.

Edward Olivarez to Ranchland Heights Church in Midland as pastor.

Jesus Reyes has resigned as pastor of Primera Iglesia in Rockdale.

Roland Robles to Ranchland Heights Church in Midland as minister of music.

Dean Savage to First Church in Wichita Falls as minister of instrumental music.

Joseph Schaloff has resigned as pastor of Lebanon Church in Cleburne to become pastor of a church in Virginia Beach, Va.

Travis Seekins to First Church in Clyde as minister of youth.

Shawn Siemers has resigned as student pastor at Wylie Church in Abilene.

Jonathan Smith to First Church in La Grange as pastor from First Church in Richmond, where he was associate pastor.

Larry Smith has resigned as pastor of Sublime Church in Hallettsville.

Paul Vickers to Hillcrest Church in Marshall as pastor.

Ken Williams to Sunset Canyon Church in Dripping Springs as minister to youth.

J.J. Young has resigned as youth pastor at Alamo Heights Church in Port Lavaca.


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




Shores to lead Buckner ministry to Mexico, Border

Posted: 7/20/07

Shores to lead Buckner ministry to Mexico, Border

DALLAS—Dexton Shores, who has led Border/Mexico Missions and the Rio Grande River Ministry for the Baptist General Convention of Texas since 1999, has been named director of ministry development for Mexico and the Border for Buckner International, effective Aug.1.

As director of ministry development, Shores will lead Buckner International’s existing ministries along the United States-Mexico border as well as develop new ministries in the Mexican interior.

Dexton Shores

Shores will “immediately bring years of relationship-building, kingdom-building legitimacy to our work in Mexico,” said Randy Daniels, director of Global Initiatives for Buckner. “We’ve been seeking ways to provide ministry, but had not, until Dexton, found the right person to carry that through. Dexton is the person to take us into Mexico.”

Shores’ abilities and passion for Mexico and the border region is a “natural next step” for Buckner Border Ministries, added Albert Reyes, president of Buckner Children and Family Services.

“Buckner has provided ministry along the border many years, and we have enjoyed a good working relationship with Dexton and the River Ministry,” Reyes noted. “Over the past few years, we have received an increasing number of requests to provide support to children in the interior of Mexico as well. Dexton’s focus on indigenous people groups in Mexico and the mobilization of border churches to engage this focus has uncovered a vast array of needs that could be met by Buckner Children and Family Services in collaboration with American and Mexican congregations.”

BGCT Executive Director Charles Wade praised Shores’ ministry with the convention and believes he is an ideal fit for his new position at Buckner.

“Dexton Shores has given remarkable leadership to our River Ministry, helping us make the transition from ministry only along the border to a strategy of cooperation with the National Baptist Convention of Mexico,” Wade said. “I can think of no one more qualified to do what Buckner wants to do to care for the needs of children in Mexico than Dexton Shores.

“We will continue to make Border/Mexico Missions one of the high commitments of Texas Baptists, advancing God’s kingdom in amazing ways.”

The push into Mexico is part of Buckner’s larger  initiative to serve orphans and at-risk children globally, Reyes said. “Mexico is part of a new initiative to develop ministry throughout the Americas. Since we have ministry presence in Guatemala and Peru, starting with Mexico and moving toward Argentina, we are providing the kind of reach I envision for the Americas.”

Along the border, he added, Buckner is also in a position to extend Buckner Border Ministries “to impact the entire U.S.-Mexico Border, from San Diego to Brownsville and Tijuana to Matamoros. We have the expertise, the resources, and the passion to bring hope to ‘the least of these’ along this international boundary and we have ministries like ISAAC—Immigration Service and Aid Center—to complement this kind of reach.”

Shores will develop ministries by focusing on the four primary ministry goals Buckner applies when working in the United States and in other countries—developing and supporting foster care ministries, supporting children’s homes, establishing ongoing transitional programming for children and families, and helping churches develop effective community ministries, Daniels said.

“We want to take those same ministries into Mexico and work with the churches in Mexico to develop ministries,” he said, “And we want to wrap all that up in a supportive, missional relationship where churches can go and give to help children and families, including connection through mission trips.”

Shores said his decision to move was emotional. “I grew up on the River Ministry. Both my parents …poured their lives into it,” he noted.

But despite leaving the BGCT position he has held for eight years, he said he sees his move to Buckner “as a win-win” for ministry in Mexico.

“The BGCT has had a strong background in planting churches and equipping leaders, and I see the new Buckner position as being on a parallel track with the River Ministry,” he said. “With Buckner’s vision for targeting Mexico, the BGCT can continue to strengthen churches and equip leadership, while at the same time Buckner can develop community and children’s ministries and the result is a lot of people come to Christ and they’re going to need to be churched. We’ll work with the BGCT to help them find those churches.”

The BGCT will continue its mission work along the Texas-Mexico border and throughout Mexico, including its efforts to evangelize unreached people groups, Wade said.

Individuals can continue to find information about BGCT Border/Mexico Missions by calling (888) 333-2363

Shores estimated there are “a million-plus children on the streets of Mexico City, and in many villages, dads have immigrated and left mom and kids to fend for themselves. There are so many needs, we’re going to have to figure out where to start, but they are needs no one has met.”

A native of Winters, Shores is a graduate of Baylor University and completed his classwork for the master of arts degree in missiology at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Prior to his service with the BGCT’s Border/Mexico Missions, he served as a church extension coordinator for the San Antonio Baptist Association, associate director of missions for Dogwood Trails Baptist Area, and as pastor and interim pastor of several English- and Spanish-language churches in Texas. He and his wife, Deborah, have three children.

Shores’ office will be located on the campus of Baptist University of the Americas in San Antonio. He can be reached at dshores@buckner.org .



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




Court affirms religious obligation in case pitting sacred vs. secular

Posted: 7/20/07

Court affirms religious obligation
in case pitting sacred vs. secular

By Adelle M. Banks

Religion News Service

AUSTIN (RNS)—The Texas Supreme Court unanimously dismissed a suit brought by a former member of a Fort Worth church who accused her pastor of violating her confidentiality.

The case centered on questions of what roles civil courts should have when asked to resolve matters related to church discipline.

C.L. “Buddy” Westbook, pastor of CrossLand Community Bible Church and a licensed professional counselor, had ordered his congregation to shun Peggy Lee Penley, a former parishioner, because she had engaged in a “biblically inappropriate” relationship with a man who was not her husband.

Penley sued Westbrook, claiming he learned the information he disclosed in a “secular” counseling session.

“A church’s decision to discipline members for conduct considered outside of the church’s moral code is an inherently religious function with which civil courts should not generally interfere,” Justice Harriet O’Neill wrote in the court ruling.

O’Neill said Penley’s two roles had to be considered.

“In his dual capacity, Westbrook owed Penley conflicting duties,” she wrote. “As Penley’s counselor, he owed her a duty of confidentiality, and as her pastor, he owed Penley and the church an obligation to disclose her conduct.”

The judge determined that “parsing those roles” for a civil case—when safety or health was not an issue—would be an unconstitutional entanglement of the court in the governance of a church.

Penley initially had alleged that the church and its elders had defamed her and caused her emotional distress. The pastor filed counter claims saying the matter was outside the court’s jurisdiction because it dealt with a church dispute.



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




Texas Tidbits

Posted: 7/20/07

Texas Tidbits

Hendrick named ‘Great Workplace.’ Hendrick Health System in Abilene has receive the Gallup Great Workplace Award, given to the world’s 12 most productive workforces. The Baptist General Convention of Texas-affiliated hospital system ranked alongside such companies as Starbucks and Wells Fargo. Hendrick President Tim Lancaster credits the system’s employees: “Hendrick is based in the idea of Christian service, with values like integrity, quality, teamwork and compassion. We are very blessed to have the majority of our employees dedicated to those values. When those employees believe in those values, and they live those values, they inspire those around them to do the same every day.”


Baylor hospital ranks among best. For the 15th consecutive year, U.S. News & World Report has designated Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas among the nation’s top 50. Baylor Dallas ranked with the nation’s best hospitals in seven of 16 specialty areas—digestive disorders, endocrinology, gynecology, kidney disease, orthopedics, respiratory disorders and urology. Baylor Institute for Rehabilitation also ranked 15th among the nation’s top rehabilitation facilities.


Sadler aids DBU chapel. Jeannette Sadler of Dallas has donated $1 million to support the $16 million campaign to build the first chapel on the Dallas Baptist University campus. Sadler’s gift supplements an $8 million gift from Bo Pilgrim to construct the Patty and Bo Pilgrim Chapel. Her gift will fund Cletys and Jeannette Sadler Hall, named for Sadler and her late husband. She is a longtime member of Cliff Temple Baptist Church in Dallas and recently began working with Buckner International and her church to fund a community outreach center in the congregation’s multi-racial neighborhood.


Baugh family advances BJC. The Baugh family of Texas gave a boost—and a challenge—to the campaign to create a permanent home for the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty. BJC Executive Director Brent Walker announced the Baugh family contributed $500,000 to support the campaign to build the Center for Religious Liberty on Capitol Hill in Washington. Babs Baugh of San Antonio then said her family would match any other pledges or gifts made to the campaign between June 29 and July 15. The center would help purchase, renovate and endow a row house on Capitol Hill that would hold offices. Babs Baugh, a member of Woodland Baptist Church in San Antonio, is the daughter of Eula Mae and John Baugh, who founded the SYSCO Corporation. The Baughs have provided financial support to many Baptist causes. This year, the Baugh family received the BJC’s J.M. Dawson Religious Liberty Award.


Immigration training offered. The Baptist Immigration Center will conduct an immigration skills training conference Aug. 6-7 in Plano. The event will focus on a range of legal issues, particularly based on the Immigration and Nationality Act and the Code of Federal Regulations. Registration is $375 and covers lodging at the Southfork Hotel, a manual and meals. To register before July 30 or for information, contact Alex Camacho at (972) 562-4561 or camacho@justice.com.


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




TOGETHER: Ministers need time for rest & renewal

Posted: 7/20/07

TOGETHER:
Ministers need time for rest & renewal

Years ago, a church member criticized my father because he announced he would a take vacation. She said: “How can you take a vacation with so much to be done? The devil never takes a vacation.” He replied, “Yes, and that’s why he’s so mean.”

Rosemary and I just got back from a week in the Creede area of Colorado. All four of our children and their spouses plus nine of our 10 grandchildren gathered for a fabulous week. When our children were young, we tried to take a vacation every year and go somewhere. Sometimes, we had to borrow some money to make the modest trips, but we always said we were “buying memories.”

wademug
Executive Director
BGCT Executive Board

Sure enough, the memories that live on often are about those excursions. Several times, we could take these trips because members of our church who had cabins/houses somewhere would invite us to use their place for a few days. The kind generosity of our church and our members in making vacations possible blessed us.

When I got back from vacation, I had an e-mail from a BGCT congregational strategist.

He wrote: “I am deeply concerned and frustrated. Several pastors I am working with are the only staff person their church has. They work so hard, and they are doing good jobs, but some are awfully close to breaking down. I know some pastors who have preached in their pulpit every Sunday for three years without one break.

“Why don’t they take a vacation? Often, they feel there is just so much work to do, especially in the summer when so much is happening for children and youth in the church. Sometimes, they feel that if anything goes wrong while they are gone some will be critical. Many times, it is simply that they can’t afford to go. I love getting to be a pastor’s friend, but it hurts to see my friends hurting.”

Now is a good time for some of you to encourage your pastor (and other ministers) to take a vacation as soon as possible. If finding the time is the problem, encourage your pastor to find the time. If money is the problem, perhaps there is someone in the church who has a place where the minister and his family can go and be alone for a week. If having a supply preacher is a problem, perhaps the deacons could choose one of their own, or our congregational strategist could come without charge or find someone, or the director of missions in your association would love to help.

You may wonder if vacations are biblical or necessary for faithful Christian servants. Remember what God did when he finished his work in six days. He rested. He set aside the Sabbath, which is to be a day of rest. All of us need to rest. Indeed, God insisted on it in the fourth commandment (Exodus 20:8).

Furthermore, note how often Jesus would get away from the crowds to pray, be alone and spend some time fishing, I expect.

Serving Jesus well includes taking time to rest and pray, finding time to be alone and making time to be an attentive and interesting husband or wife and parent to your children.

Let’s encourage each other to find time for rest and renewal.

We are loved.

Charles Wade is executive director of the Baptist General Convention of Texas Executive Board.


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