Texas Tidbits

Posted: 11/16/07

Texas Tidbits

WMU Foundation names Texans to leadership roles. Patsy Meier, a former medical missionary to Nigeria and member of First Baptist Church in El Paso, was elected to the Woman’s Missionary Union Foundation board of trustees. Trustees elected James Westbrook, a layman from First Baptist Church of Richardson, as vice chairman. Other Texas Baptists on the board are Sylvia DeLoach and Joy Fenner, both from Garland.

Baylor ER expansion campaign raises $11 million. The Baylor Health Care System Foundation announced it has raised more than $11 million to help fund the expansion of the Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas emergency department. The building project will expand the emergency department to 78,000 square-feet and increase the hospital’s capacity to treat patients requiring trauma care.

Baylor regents OK new centers. Baylor University’s board of regents approved creation of an Academy for Teaching and Learning and the Keston Center for Religion, Politics & Society. The academy will promote scholarship in teaching and learning through research in interdisciplinary teaching environments and learning outcomes measurement, and it will create additional avenues to integrate faith and learning. The Keston Center at Baylor will provide students and faculty—as well as scholars from other institutions—access to a comprehensive collection of books and research materials related to religious persecution under communism. This past summer, Baylor acquired the complete archive and library of Oxford’s Keston Institute, the primary organization involved in monitoring and documenting religious affairs in the communist world during the Soviet period.

Young named BCFS division’s senior executive director. Jim Young, former prison chaplain and pastor who served more than seven years as director of community ministries for the Baptist General Convention of Texas, has been named to the newly created position of senior executive director of the health and human services division at Baptist Child & Family Services. Young will oversee a system of 25 social service ministries in Texas. He is a graduate of Texas A&M University and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Royal Ambassadors seek memorabilia for centennial. The Royal Ambassadors missions organization marks its 100th anniversary next May, and Texas Baptist Men is seeking to record its history. Keith Mack, state director for RAs and Challengers, wants to collect copies of old photos and other memorabilia that can be displayed during the centennial observance. He also hopes to discover the oldest living former RA in Texas and the first church in Texas with an RA chapter, as well as record memories of RAs from its early years. Contact Mack at (214) 828-5354, keith.mack@bgct.org or keith.mack@texasbaptistmen.org.

Correction. Two photos in the Nov. 5 print edition of the Baptist Standard were incorrectly credited to the wrong photographer. The photographs of Gary Morgan on page 2 and Bob Fowler on page 8 were by Eric Guel.