Posted: 4/13/07

Are some people born to be religious?

By Bruce Nolan

Religion News Service

NEW ORLEANS (RNS)—A recent debate at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary was titled “The Future of Atheism,” but the heart of the dialogue explored a related question: Can mankind’s age-old belief in God be explained purely as a stubbornly recurring natural phenomenon—not much different than the common cold?

There is provocative evidence that is so, argued Daniel Dennett, a Tufts University philosopher, atheist and author of Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon.

But that “evidence” is suspect even in terms of good science, countered Alister McGrath, an Oxford University biophysicist-turned-Christian theologian. And even if it could be demonstrated that mankind is biologically predisposed to the idea of religion, he said, that still would not settle the ages-old “God question.”

The two met for two days of conversation and debate for the seminary’s third Greer-Heard Point-Counterpoint Forum in Faith and Culture. The annual forum pits an evangelical scholar against a nonevangelical in an intellectual wrestling match on a major cultural or faith topic.

The two staked out their ground before an audience of about 800. Observers characterized Dennett as good-humored, informal and sometimes droll, while McGrath was quicker, livelier and trying to make quick points in the style of an Oxford debater.

“I am a student of religion,” Dennett said by way of self-description. “I am an atheist, but that does not mean that I hate religion.”

Dennett’s basic argument is that some ideas—including religion—are like genes or viruses with their own evolutionary history. They jump from generation to generation. Weak ones die; strong ones survive.

“They spread because they can spread. They’re fit, and you can’t get rid of them any more than you can get rid of the common cold,” he said.

Fellow atheist and biologist Richard Dawkins in the early 1970s first proposed this idea, calling such ideas “memes.”

In Breaking the Spell, Dennett calls for a thorough scientific study of the incidence of the idea of religion in man, based on the idea that certain ideas—religion among them—are memes that successfully perpetuate themselves across generations for their own sake, not necessarily the good of their hosts.

That makes a certain sense, he argued. Consider that some exceptionally successful religions, like Christianity, Islam and Judaism, have endured for thousands of years.

“They can’t all be true,” he said. “So, if your religion has survived because it is true, the other religions that are robust and well today have survived for other reasons. What might those reasons be?”

For example, he asked, might there be a genetic or other natural explanation for why some people are deeply moved by a religious ritual or service, while others have tin ears?

“Could there be a genetic basis for this?” Dennett asked. “There could,” he answered himself.

“Do we know yet? No.

“Could we find out? Yes.”

McGrath’s primary counter was not theological, but scientific. A former atheist who enrolled at Oxford to study chemistry, McGrath discovered Christianity there and found it a “much more interesting and intellectually satisfying worldview than atheism.”

Still, the scientist in him challenged the scientific legitimacy of Dawkins’ concept of memes. He noted that Dawkins first proposed memes as cultural entities replicating themselves across generations, analogously to genes.

But postulating their existence merely by way of analogy is not science, McGrath said. It might be true, he acknowledged, that mankind has a “God-center” in the brain, “a so-called mystical gene favored by natural selection.”

“But—and it’s a big ‘but’—I wonder where the science is? Where is the rigorous evidence for this? … It’s a huge way from ‘might’ to ‘is,’” he said. “It seems to me the real issue is whether memes exist, irrespective of their implications for religion.”

The idea that memes exist is unnecessary, McGrath said. Other social sciences like cultural anthropology do a better job than hypothetical memes in describing the cultural role of religion over the ages, he said.

McGrath laid another charge against Dawkins: Belief in God is a mere trick of evolution; but disbelief isn’t, and is therefore “right.”

“That’s dangerously subjective judgment,” McGrath charged.

Near the end, a member of the audience asked both men to address the title of the forum, “Does Atheism Have a Future?”

“No,” answered Dennett, half-joking, “because we’re going to destroy the planet before the future arrives.”

“Yes,” countered McGrath, the Christian, in the same half-joking vein, “because people don’t know a good thing when they see it.”

—Bruce Nolan writes for the Times-Picayune in New Orleans.

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

Posted: 4/13/07

When Howard Payne students show love
to child, it leads Muslim family to church

By Kalie Lowrie

Howard Payne University

NEW YORK—Adam, a little boy in Queens, brought his devoutly Muslim family to Sunday school at a Christian church. They never had been interested in Christianity before, but after Adam spent the week with nine Christian students from Brownwood, they were ready to see what it was all about.

Those nine students from Howard Payne University—along with 40 of their peers—traveled to New York City for spring break to minister to people in the Big Apple.

Senior Brittany Longoria led the group that worked with Adam and other children at an Indonesian church in Queens. Throughout the week, Adam was quiet and withdrawn, she recalled. It was not until the last 10 minutes of every day that he would open up and smile. The girls in Longoria’s group worried about his behavior, but they kept showing him love.

At the end of the week, Adam’s grandmother told Longoria about Adam’s family—Muslims who had a bad view of Christianity. No Christians ever had reached out to them before, but now, because of the love they had demonstrated, the entire family was going to be in Bible study the next Sunday.

Andy Dennis, Baptist Student Ministry director, planned the five spring break mission trips for HPU this year, all in New York City. He wanted to allow students to experience different aspects of ministry in the same place. In a city of 8 million people, it was not hard for Dennis to find places for the students to serve.

Adam, a Muslim boy from Queens, spent the week playing with a team from Howard Payne University. Because of this team’s impact on his life, his whole family attended Sunday school at an Indonesian church the following Sunday. (Photo/Brittany Longoria)

Each morning, the students di-vided into five groups, led by seniors Amy Perkins, Phillip Scott, Andy O’Quinn, Longoria and Ashley Hayes. Each team had a different focus, but all had the same goal in mind—sharing the gospel of Jesus.

Focused on primary needs-based ministry, Perkins led her group through the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Manhattan as they worked with the homeless and after-school kids’ clubs. They worked with the Salvation Army, the New York City Rescue Mission and New York City Relief.

“Throughout the week, I was able to see the ways in which God changed our hearts to see people through his eyes and not our own,” Perkins said. “I was constantly amazed by the ways in which he broke down so many barriers to allow us to connect with people that I personally never would have thought I’d be able to connect with.

“One thing I really got out of the trip was simply realizing how different my view of New York City was after my first contact with the community—by serving and hanging out with the people who are considered to be at the very bottom of society. It made me think about my future and how differently I would view the needs of new communities I encounter if I began by serving and building relationships with the people at the ‘bottom.’”

Scott led another team in a construction project at the Park Slope Community Church in Brooklyn. They painted the balcony and sanctuary of the church, disassembled an industrial refrigerator and repaired a water-damaged plaster wall.

“Construction projects typically face setbacks due to unexpected complications,” Scott said. “But everything we set our hands to resulted in success. God demonstrated his provision, allowing us to accomplish more than we thought possible. We learned that God is ever-present, even in seemingly unspiritual tasks, such as construction work.”

Additional projects included prayer walking around university campuses and ministering to internationals in Queens.

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

Posted: 4/13/07

Churches show lasting benefits from
intentional interim ministry, study says

By Ken Camp

Managing Editor

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.—Churches that go through the intentional interim ministry process show lasting benefits, recent research has demonstrated.

The Center for Congregational Health examined churches 24 to 36 months after they completed the intentional interim process, paying particular attention to how it affected each church’s new pastor.

Research included on-site interviews, telephone conferences and mailed questionnaires completed by pastors and transition team members.

In a questionnaire, pastors gave their new churches highest marks for clearly communicating shared expectations and for differentiating their congregational identity from the former pastor’s personality and leadership style.

They also responded favorably to questions about whether they felt involved in their congregation’s shared vision of the future.

When members of transitional teams were asked to evaluate their congregations, they generally described the health of their churches as improved or improving.

Les Robinson of the Center for Congregational Health saw the survey results as “affirming” the intentional interim process.

“Churches that go through the process seem more in touch with who they are as the people of God and who God wants them to be,” Robinson said. “As such, they are in a better position to know what kind of pastor they need.”

Pastors gave lowest marks to their new churches for having systems of training lay leadership for various ministry tasks and for incorporating new people into leadership roles.

“This is by far the weakest link,” Robinson acknowledged.

Almost two-thirds of the respondents said their churches had no plan or program for training lay leaders. The center has created an advisory group to examine the issue of leadership development and to shore up that weakness, Robinson noted.

Most surveyed churches showed increases in nearly every readily measurable area. Membership grew 11 percent, with nine congregations gaining members and two decreasing in membership. Overall worship attendance increased about 9.5 percent, with eight churches experiencing growth and three measuring some decline. Church budgets grew overall by 4.5 percent, with eight churches showing a gain and three reporting a drop in giving.

The one exception to growth was in Sunday school and Bible study attendance. More than half of the churches reported a decline, with the overall decrease measuring about 6.5 percent.

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

Posted: 4/13/07

Novel challenges readers to view
gospel through the eyes of Judas

By Francis X. Rocca

Religion News Service

ROME (RNS)—A new book by a colorful British author and an Australian New Testament scholar offers a sympathetic portrayal of Judas as the unwitting betrayer of Christ.

The Gospel According to Judas, by Benjamin Iscariot, published simultaneously in eight languages, is a work of fiction presented in the form of Scripture, complete with numbered verses, pages in gold trim and key passages highlighted in red ink.

The unlikely co-authors are best-selling novelist Jeffrey Archer, known since 1992 as Lord Archer of Weston-Super-Mare, and Francis J. Moloney, former dean of the School of Theology and Religious Studies at Catholic University of America in Washington.

Their account of the life and teachings of Jesus Christ is based on the four Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, but it deviates from the standard narrative on certain important points—most significantly in asserting that Judas unintentionally abetted the capture of Jesus that led to his crucifixion.

In this new version, Judas hands Jesus over to Jewish leaders in the mistaken belief that they will save him from death at the hands of the Romans.

In the fictional version, Judas does not receive 30 pieces of silver.

The book portrays Judas as disillusioned when Jesus turns out not to be the warrior king he expected, even as he continues to venerate him as a prophet.

Following the death of Christ, the book’s Judas does not hang himself as recounted in the Gospel of Matthew. Instead, he joins a community of ascetic Jews near the Dead Sea, living there until he was crucified by the Romans at the age of 70.

Archer, who is listed as the book’s principal author, said he sought out an academic collaborator at the behest of his publisher and agreed to give Moloney a veto on any material that did not meet scholarly standards.

The authors have taken pains to distinguish their Gospel According to Judas from The Gospel of Judas published last year. That book was based a third-century manuscript never accepted as part of the Christian canon of Scripture.

“We’re telling the traditional story, through the eyes of Judas,” said Moloney. He acknowledged “a few details in the book that may bother traditional Christian readers.”

For example, Archer and Moloney portray Jesus performing healing miracles, but they quote Judas as dismissing reports that Jesus walked on water or turned water into wine.

Archer is a past master at generating controversy. A former Conservative member of Parliament, he was convicted in 2001 of perjury in a libel trial and spent two years in prison, an experience he used as the basis for three volumes of Prison Diaries.

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

Posted: 4/13/07

McKissic and Southwestern
trustees reach peace agreement

By Hannah Elliott

Associated Baptist Press

FORT WORTH (ABP)—Arlington pastor Dwight McKissic and his fellow trustees at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary decided to make peace, despite their previous public disagreements.

In a statement issued several days prior to the seminary trustees’ spring meeting, Chairman Van McClain said board leaders and McKissic had “jointly agreed to put past issues behind us.”

“We look forward to working together for many years to impact SWBTS and the world for Christ,” the brief statement said.

The announcement came two weeks after trustee leaders at the Southern Baptist Convention school and McKissic issued a joint statement saying they had agreed to discuss their differences privately and would decline any further news comment on the subject. They also said a threat of removing McKissic from the board had been taken off the table.

McKissic is pastor of Cornerstone Baptist Church in Arlington and a graduate of the Fort Worth-based school.

He had feuded for months—sometimes quite publicly—with his fellow trustees over board openness and school policies on “private prayer language,” a form of speaking in tongues. The controversy began in August, after McKissic delivered a sermon in Southwestern’s chapel service in which he mentioned his own practice of private prayer language.

In the homily, McKissic also said he disagreed with the SBC International Mission Board’s 2005 decision to exclude missionary candidates who espouse the practice. Two months later, Southwestern trustees said the seminary would not endorse, advertise or commend “the conclusions of the contemporary charismatic movement including ‘private prayer language.’“ McKissic was the lone Southwestern trustee to vote against the measure.

Later, trustee leaders threatened to ask the Southern Baptist Convention to remove McKissic from the board. The entire saga became the focus of attention throughout the Southern Baptist blogosphere, with many younger SBC bloggers criticizing Southwestern trustees and administrators for their treatment of McKissic.

McKissic, who is African-American, at one point compared his treatment to a “lynching.” He later apologized for that rhetorical choice, saying he did not suspect board chairman McClain or his fellow trustees of racism.

McClain accused McKissic of inappropriately using confidential material sent to him in advance of the board’s meeting last October.

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

Posted: 4/13/07

Missional leaders needed for churches

By Barbara Bedrick

Texas Baptist Communications

DALLAS—Vitality of churches in the 21st century depends largely on pioneering and missional leaders, according to Reggie Thomas, director of the Baptist General Convention of Texas congregational leadership team.

Drawing from Reggie McNeal’s book, A Work of Heart, Thomas encourages pastors and other church leaders to take seriously and personally the great commission as marching orders for the church. Thomas also stresses leaders be kingdom-conscious, seek to discover where God is at work and join him there.

Effective leaders, Thomas adds, are not competitive, but collegial, and more community focused than they are on a church culture agenda. They are team players and entrepreneurial.

“Leaders need to create a network around them for support, counsel, accountability and implementation of vision,” Thomas says. “Don’t rely on previous ministry models, but seek to try different things to attract people to Christ.”

Be a “people developer” who empowers others to lead and do ministry, he recommends. Equip people with skills and resources needed for effective ministry and missional living.

Thomas encourages church leaders to build up others for ministry and “don’t use people to make your own ministries successful.”

Creative leaders are “visionary,” able to communicate and lead others toward the future. To be effective, Thomas adds, church leaders must be driven by their love for Jesus, not love for their ministries.

But church leaders who seek to be effective may fail if they don’t consider the most important social reality in the church—culture, Thomas insists.

He advocates church leaders “engage” their culture and look at the sum of attitudes, customs and beliefs that distinguish one group of people from another.  Considering the church no longer holds the community standing it did in the 1960s and 1970s, Thomas implores leaders to get creative in the way they engage their communities.

A missional church always looks outward, Thomas adds. It always is changing but always faithful to the Scriptures. It changes with the culture in order to engage the culture.

But shifting the culture of the church cannot merely be a “cosmetic” change; it must go beneath the surface to have long-lasting impact in a church’s ministry efforts. Thomas suggests a move to the “incarnational” approach that is very much rooted in the Bible when God sent his Son to earth in the form of a human. He embodied the culture, which is what Christians must do today to reach others with Jesus’ love, Thomas believes.

To become an effective leader and 21st century church, Thomas offers suggestions gleaned from Culture Shift: Transforming Your Church From The Inside Out, by Robert Lewis and Wayne Cordeiro:

• Identify and believe God’s promises about your church’s potential. Believe the best days are ahead and model kingdom culture personally, Thomas said.

• Enlist allies to champion the church’s culture shift to help implement leadership decisions. Thomas encourages church ministers and leaders to focus on what the church is becoming and not on how long the transformation is taking.

• Compare the vision of the future to present reality, Thomas suggests. One of the issues that causes people to resist change is they don’t understand the future. Church members need to see how a church leader’s proposal is going to be better than the present plan.

• Outline a specific, achievable pathway. The vision may be big, but pursue it incrementally. Leaders who share the outline with the church can learn from feedback, Thomas adds.

“Members need to be informed,” Thomas said. “Some of them will become allies and have good ideas.”

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

Posted: 4/13/07

On the Move

• Jim Addison has resigned as pastor of Hillcrest Church in Kemp.

• Paul Beard to Temple Church in New Boston as pastor from Old Union Church in Simms.

• Bruce Boling to Fairview Church in Granbury as youth minister.

• Charles Carter to New Hope Church in Lone Oak as pastor.

• Bradley Dietz to Fellowship Church in Coleman as interim pastor.

• Clint Dobson to Purmela Church in Purmela as pastor.

• Gabe Duron to First Church in Grapeland as minister of worship.

• Steven Gaither to River Hills Church in Corpus Christi as youth minister from First Church in George West.

• Aaron Green to First Church in Matador as youth minister.

• Tim Hardaway to First Church in Wake Village as minister of music from Hampton Road Church in DeSoto.

• Eddie Hayworth to First Church in Meridian as music minister.

• J.V. Helms to First Church in Goliad as interim pastor.

• Allen Hightower to Tallowood Church in Houston as interim minister of music and worship.

• Jason Horne to First Church in Iredell as pastor from College Avenue Church in Fort Worth.

• J.D. Humber to First Church in Madisonville as youth minister.

• Matt Jeffreys to First Church in Lewisville as young adult minister.

• Larry Johnson has resigned as pastor of Bethel Church in Ingleside and is available for supply or interim ministry at (361) 230-0647.

• Cary Killough to Meadowbrook Church in Robinson as pastor.

• Doug Knight to First Church in Maud as pastor.

• Bill Lindley to Calvary Church in Aransas Pass as interim pastor.

• Paul Lively to Bellaire Church in Lubbock as pastor from First Church in Morton.

• Chris Lovejoy to First Church in Collinsville as music and education minister.

• Ben Macklin to First Church in Vernon as pastor.

• Paul Magyar to Stonebriar Community Church in Frisco as minister of music and worship from Tallowood Church in Houston.

• Stan Martin to Second Church in Lampasas as interim pastor.

• Don McCollum to Providence Church in Hamilton as pastor.

• Michael Menasco to Indiana Avenue Church in Lubbock as minister of education, where he was media director.

• Rick Oliver to Grace Unlimited Church in Lubbock as pastor.

• Jeff Peavy to First Church in Hooks as youth minister from Malta Church in Malta.

• Troy Robbins to Second Church in Ranger as music minister.

• Juan Ruiz to Iglesia Memorial in Waelder as pastor.

• Brian Sadler to First Church in Wortham as minister to youth.

• Darren Shaddix to Calvary Church in Simms as pastor.

• Greg Sipe to First Church in Garland as minister to students from Southside Church in Palestine.

• Forrest Smith to First Church in Ingleside as interim pastor.

• Zach Souter to Taylor Memorial Church in Hobbs, N.M., as associate pastor to youth and college students from First Church in Merkel, where he was youth and education minister.

• Tony Stang to Ecclesia Community Church in Waco as pastor.

• Mark Stephenson to First Church in Grapeland as minister to students.

• Paul Stripling to West Robinson Church in Robinson as interim pastor.

• David Tatum to Lakeside Church in Granbury as worship leader.

• Wade Traylor to First Church in Kopperl as music/youth minister.

• Amber von Ende to College Heights Church in Cleburne as minister of music.

• Linda Wallace to Trinity Church in Gatesville as music minister.

• Joel Watson has resigned as pastor of Colony Park Church in The Colony.

• Michael Welch to Heart of Worship Church in Lubbock as pastor from Trinity Church in Woodrow, where he was music minister.

• Damon West to First Church in Wolfforth as associate pastor/youth from First Church in Abernathy, where he was youth minister.

• Drew Wilson has resigned as pastor of Park Lake Drive Church in Waco.

• Darren York to First Church in Red Springs as pastor from Ferron Road Church in Red Lick.

• Aaron Young has resigned as pastor of First Church in Mart.

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

Posted: 4/13/07

The church in parenthesis

By Ken Camp

Managing Editor

When pastors leave congregations, their former churches often face what could be termed a punctuation crisis.

Some mark the departure with a period, as the end of a sentence—either for the minister or the congregation. Others approach it with a question mark, asking: “Where do we go from here?” But others see it as a parenthesis in their church’s history—an in-between time when the church can regroup, refocus and retool for its future.

David Odom, founding president of the Center for Congregational Health in Winston-Salem, N.C., believes the parenthesis created by a change in church leadership can be a helpful time when churches clarify their identity and work through other critical issues.

More than 25 years ago, Loren Mead of the Alban Institute initiated work that led to creation of the Interim Ministry Network, and Odom’s organization partnered with the network to develop training for intentional interim ministry.

While new issues—such as changes in worship style—have developed to put stress on congregations during transitional times, the basic principles and presuppositions underpinning the intentional interim process remain valid, Odom said.

“Identify clarification is a good thing for congregations, and that’s as true today as it was before,” he said.

Intentional interim ministers help guide churches through five key developmental tasks:

• Coming to terms with their history. If the previous pastor left on good terms, it may mean “letting go” of a beloved leader. If conflict surrounded a pastor’s last days at a church, it can mean coming to terms with pain and allowing wounds to heal.

• Examining leadership and organizational needs. Odom pointed to key questions a church should ask: “What is the role of the pastor? How much responsibility and authority does the staff have? Who in the church has the responsibility for making decisions?”

• Rethinking denominational linkage. “There’s a lot of emotion tied up in denominational identity for some people. If a congregation is strictly pragmatic, it may be simply a question of what kind of mission and ministry opportunities does it want to be involved in,” he said. And search committees face another crucial question: “Where do we go to find a minister that we can trust?”

• Developing new identity and vision. Intentional interim ministers help congregations rediscover what sets them apart from other churches and gives them meaning. “Identity and values often are picked up in the stories of a church,” Odom noted.

• Making a commitment to new leadership. Intentional interim ministers generally work with transition teams to help churches prepare to receive a new leader.

When churches fail to approach the interim period with intentionality, tensions often develop. Leadership issues rank as the No. 1 challenge churches face when the congregation is without a pastor, said Karl Fickling, intentional interim specialist with the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

In some cases, conflict stems from deacons who always have functioned as an administrative body that supervises the pastor rather than as servant-leaders in the congregation, he noted.

In others instances, pastors have caused church splits by imposing on them a governance model that takes away the congregation’s right to self-governance, he noted.

“One thing we see frequently is what I would consider an epidemic of pastors reacting after they visit a Willow Creek or Saddleback (church growth) conference and then come back to their churches, do away with the deacons altogether, cancel the church business meetings and put into place a small group of elders who make all the decisions with the pastor,” Fickling said.

“Often, that attempt is seen positively by some young members who have come into the church without any Baptist background, but it is resisted by older members who believe the whole church should be involved in decision-making. So, it results in a church split.”

Next to leadership issues, the second-most-common challenge churches face is the question of how to relate to pastors who retire or resign but who don’t leave a congregation, Fickling noted.

The problem becomes particularly acute when the pastor has served the congregation a long time—or, even more so, when he founded the church, he noted.

“Any time a pastor is in a particular church for a long tenure, the church tends to grow to have the personality of that pastor,” Fickling noted.

Over time, congregations tend to grant the pastor greater decision-making authority, he added.

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

Posted: 4/13/07

San Angelo bus ministry
takes gospel to travelers

SAN ANGELO—At First Baptist Church in San Angelo, bus ministry doesn’t mean transporting people to church. It means taking a message of God’s love to people who may never pass their way again.

Volunteers from the church minister at the San Angelo Bus Center, board buses to deliver brown paper sacks filled with bottled water, snack crackers, a can of Vienna sausages, a small plastic container of chocolate pudding and tracts in English and Spanish.

A “love note” is stapled to each bag. One side says: “This is our simple way of saying that God loves you. Let us know if we can be of more assistance.” The other side of the card contains contact information for First Baptist Church.

The bus center ministry began one year ago. Ten buses pass through San Angelo’s bus station every 24 hours—some in the middle of the night.

Due to a limited number of volunteers, the church focuses its ministry on Sunday afternoon and holidays—times when the traffic is heaviest and their impact greatest.

On a recent Sunday, volunteer Bob Hays boarded a bus to distribute gift bags. He greeted each passenger with the words, “We bring this in the name of Jesus Christ.”

If a traveler didn’t accept the gift, he repeated in Spanish, “En el nombre de Jesucristo.”

When some appeared hesitant, he added another welcome word—“Gratis” (free)—that typically elicited a grin and warm reception.

Hays and his wife, Lee, went through the same routine again about 20 minutes later, when a southbound bus arrived in San Angelo on its way to Del Rio and Eagle Pass. In less than an hour, the couple touched the lives of 50 travelers and two drivers—as well as clerks inside the station.

Ronnie Laughlin, associate pastor at First Baptist Church, works closely with the ministry. In addition to the Hays family, Ken Phipps and Frances Neal, Mike and Debbie Bitner and Paul and Sue Mansfield volunteer with the bus center ministry on a four-week rotation.

Fellow church members Cecil and Gwynn Tucker purchase supplies. Volunteer Noemi Jimenez regularly helps fill the paper sacks, and members of the church’s college and career Sunday school class also helped fill 200 bags one week.

Last year, the church’s Vacation Bible School designated part of its offering to the bus center ministry. In its first 10 months, the ministry distributed gift bags to more than 1,100 travelers.

“We tell our people that their prayers and gifts have made a difference to many of God’s children and will continue with their help,” Mansfield said.

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

Posted: 4/13/07

Churches seeking pastors put
plenty of hooks in the water

By Robert Dilday

Virginia Religious Herald

RICHMOND, Va.—What’s in a name?

For churches seeking a new minister, the bottom line is collecting names of candidates—and lots of them. That’s not always an easy task, and search committees typically discover it takes a variety of approaches to create a critical mass of potential pastors.

“You have to look at multiple ways in today’s world,” said Jim Vaught, church minister matching specialist for the Virginia Baptist Mission Board. “We never know how God is at work. God works in multiple avenues and channels. And the goal is always to find the right fit between a church and a minister.”

Finding the “right fit” between a church and the tools it uses in its search process is critical as well, say veterans of congregational search committees. Factors such as church size, geographical location and ability to spend money all play a role—as does a church’s perception of a method’s compatibility with its spiritual undertaking.

“The trick is to find the tool that works best for the church,” said Mike Lipford, who chairs the pastoral search committee at First Baptist Church in Richmond, Va. “God is the ultimate recruiter, but he’s given us talents and abilities to discern the person that’s right for the church.”

Most churches seem to be employing a combination of the five approaches:

• The Network. Word of mouth has always been an effective disseminator of potential ministerial candidates and still may be the most widely used approach. “I tell churches to talk to pastors who they like and trust in their areas and ask for recommendations,” Vaught said.

While abuses by the “good ol’ boy network” have tarnished its effectiveness, networking is a familiar procedure for laypeople who generally fill church search committees. It smooths the wheels of most business operations, and it is compatible with Baptists’ decentralized polity.

• Madison Avenue. Religious newspapers and magazines across the nation report increased advertising revenue from churches seeking to fill ministerial posts. “We took out ads in a number of publications that had wide circulation and consequently had resumes come in from all parts of the country and even outside,” Lipford said.

Advertising for a pastor hasn’t always been widely accepted. Twenty years ago, the Religious Herald, newsjournal for the Baptist General Association of Virginia, routinely declined any ads to fill ministerial positions.

“I think advertising carried with it a whiff of the secular market,” said Jim White, the Herald’s editor. Today such ads represent a significant percentage of its overall advertising.

Though little research has been done to track the extent to which ads generate names, the increased volume suggests satisfaction and success.

• Headhunters. Consulting firms have long been a pillar of the secular job market but are only beginning to make inroads in Baptist churches—possibly because, like earlier attitudes toward advertising, “headhunters” still retain a hint of the secular.

“We discussed that possibility (of a consulting firm) and decided not to unless we had to” to generate names, Lipford said. “And so far we haven’t had to.”

Consulting firms are, of course, profit-making ventures—and that may at times conflict with a church’s perceived mission.

“Someone from (a consulting firm specializing in locating church ministers) cold-called one of our staff members at our church,” a Texas pastor said. “This staff member was shocked and even asked if I had given them his name thinking that something might possibly be wrong. After assuring our staff member that I had not given them his name, I called (the firm) and spoke with its president. He said that cold-calling church staff was an acceptable practice and that he did not believe it to be unethical. I asked him and his staff to refrain from calling our staff as a courtesy, but he would not give me a guarantee.”

• Click on this. Soliciting resumes on church websites to fill staff positions is an inexpensive and, potentially, wide-reaching way of gathering names. Old Powhatan Baptist Church in Powhatan, Va., includes a “Prospective Pastor” link on its website that offers a demographic profile of the 236-year-old congregation.

“We would like to share a little information about our church and community in order to give you the opportunity to begin prayerfully considering Old Powhatan Baptist Church for your next ministry position,” the church’s search committee notes in a “Dear Prospective Pastor” letter, which includes information a profile of the community and its schools and cultural offerings.

• The matching game. Increasingly sophisticated computer data bases link ministers and churches with detailed information that more effectively match the two. One of those is a collaborative effort by the Baptist General Association of Virginia, the Baptist General Convention of Texas, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond. Launched in February, the Leader Connect database can be accessed from the websites of each of the collaborators.

“I think a smaller church will find the matching service and its database of names is a good place to start,” Lipford said.

“We contacted lots of friends, and they used many sources—some of which likely were matching services.”

And what happens if a committee winds up with too many names?

“When you cast a wide net and generate a lot of resumes, you’ll have a number of candidates’ names to wade through that are not necessarily the person you’re looking for,” Lipford said. “But on the other hand, you can generate a lot of interesting names as well.”

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

Posted: 4/13/07

Texas Tidbits

Buckner honors contributors.

Buckner International honored top contributors at its annual Founder’s Day event April 13. R.C. Buckner Founder’s Award recipients include Ruth and Don Buchholz of Dallas as philanthropists of the year and North Park Baptist Church in Abilene for dedicated church service. A donation by the Buchholz family, members of Park Cities Baptist Church in Dallas, made possible construction of the Buckner Center for Humanitarian Aid. The center, in east Dallas, will serve as the international receiving, processing and sending point for shoes collected through the Shoes for Orphan Souls drive, medicines, food, clothing and other humanitarian aid to orphans and at-risk children and families. North Park Baptist Church was recognized for its collaboration with Buckner to benefit the Buckner Children’s Home in Lubbock and the Bruce Ford Community Center in Amarillo. Pastor Louis Johnson also also traveled with church members to Guatemalan and Peruvian orphanages, ministering to orphan children through Buckner. Chevron Phillips Chemical Company also was honored for support of Buckner Children and Family Services of Southeast Texas.  

HBU applies to rejoin NCAA.

Houston Baptist University has made application to rejoin the National Collegiate Athletic Association as a Division I member. As a result of HBU’s application to the NCAA, the Huskies will leave the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics at the end of this school year. HBU was a member of the NCAA from 1967 until 1990 and competed as a Division I member from 1973 until 1989. HBU left the NCAA for the NAIA in fall 1990. The Huskies currently compete in seven sports—basketball, baseball and soccer for men, and basketball, softball, volleyball and soccer for women.

Wayland trustees OK capital campaign.

Wayland Baptist University’s board of trustees approved administrators moving forward with a major capital gifts campaign in conjunction with the university’s centennial celebration in 2008. Specifically, the board approved continuing an arrangement with Cargill Associates of Fort Worth to supervise and guide a capital campaign aimed at improvements on the Plainview campus and in San Antonio. Two simultaneous campaigns would be held to support additional building ventures at the South Texas campus, as well as needed improvements, facilities and scholarships on the main campus in Plainview. The board also approved a rise in tuition for most students and a $45 million budget, up about 11 percent over the current budget.

Orlando Magic VP speaks at Hardin-Simmons.

Motivational speaker and author Pat Williams, senior vice president and cofounder of the Orlando Magic National Basketball Association team, will address Hardin-Simmons University at 7 p.m., April 19, as keynote of the school’s McIntyre Distinguished Speaker Series. Drawing from his 40-plus years of experience in professional baseball and basketball, Williams will discuss “finding the will to win.” Williams, who has spoken at two Billy Graham crusades, is the father of 19 children—14 of them adopted from four countries.

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

Posted: 4/13/07

TOGETHER:
Moving forward in a time of transition

April 11, I announced to the Executive Board and to our staff that it is my intention to retire at the end of January 2008. There are several things I will continue to work on as we bring our eight years in this role to a close.

First, I will work to imbed in our organizational culture the gains we have made in serving churches and connecting them to a kingdom-sized vision.

Executive Director BGCT Executive Board

Second, I will work with our Baptist institutions and Baptist Student Ministries that are dealing with particular challenges.

Third, I will work to encourage a productive Missions Exchange meeting later this month to help Texas Baptists craft a strategic and collaborative approach to missions.

Fourth, I will help Texas Baptists be involved in the Celebration of a New Baptist Covenant Jan. 30-Feb. 1, 2008, in Atlanta.

I have preached in Spearman and Harlingen, El Paso and Texarkana, and everywhere in-between. It has been my privilege to help communicate to world Baptists that Texas Baptists want to be part of their lives in mission outreach and ministry.

I want to express my deep appreciation to :

• Myla McClinton and Sandra Sewell for their direct help in managing our office.

• Chris Liebrum, my executive coordinator, for helping me move forward the important work of our convention.

• Don Sewell, my missions liaison, for representing us faithfully in building relationships with Baptist bodies worldwide.

• David Nabors, treasurer, and Ron Gunter, associate executive director, for serving remarkably during so much transition.

• Bob Fowler, Jim Nelson and John Petty for giving extraordinary leadership to our new Executive Board.

• BGCT officers Steve Vernon, Joy Fenner and Roberto Rodriguez for being helpful as we approached this announcement.

And I say a special “thank you” to my wife, Rosemary; our children; and their families. With their support, prayers, encouragement and presence, I have been able to do what I never could have done without them. They are part of what prepared me for this task, and they are part of the reason I am now ready to move forward in the journey God has called me to walk.

Texas Baptists are a great people, and God will use us beyond our ability now to even imagine. I have observed that Texas Baptists believe there is nothing that cannot be done if God is in it and if someone will lead the way.

I need and appreciate your prayers for our work as we move though this wonderful time of transition. The search committee will need all of us praying faithfully for them as they seek to be open to the Spirit of God in his leadership through all of this.

“I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:3-6).

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.