Buckner honors Lubbock couple for consistent giving

Posted: 4/18/08

Buckner honors Lubbock
couple for consistent giving

One Lubbock couple’s consistent monthly donation added up for a ministry to children and families.

In 1973, Dennis and Ramonda Bingham sent their first $5 check to Buckner Children’s Home and established a giving legacy that lasted 35 years, or 420 months. It’s the longest continuous string of giving ever recorded in the organization’s 129-year history.

Dennis and Ramonda Bingham

Buckner International honored the Binghams, members of Southcrest Baptist Church in Lubbock, as the R.C. Buckner Philanthropists of the Year during the agency’s annual Founder’s Day dinner in Dallas.

“Ramonda and Dennis Bingham represent the essence of faithfulness,” Buckner President Ken Hall said. “Their consistency is a testimony for all of us and it is an encouragement to the ministry of Buckner.”

The Binghams support didn’t stop with monthly donations. The couple has also included Buckner in their estate plans, and they serve as strong advocates for the children’s home throughout the Lubbock community, serving on the advisory board and volunteering in numerous ways.

Their involvement with Buckner pre-dates their 56 years of marriage. Mrs. Bingham grew up giving her toys to the Milam Girl’s Home, which later became Buckner Children’s Home.

When the Binghams had a family of their own—complete with three adopted children— they decided to give back to those children who had no family other than Buckner.

Other Founder’s Day award honorees included First Baptist Church in Knoxville, Tenn., for dedicated church service and ConocoPhillips for dedicated service.

First Baptist Church in Knoxville has cooperated with Buckner through Kids Hope USA mentoring programs, Shoes for Orphan souls drives and a variety of other community ministries and missions projects. Bill Shiell, former pastor of Southland Baptist Church in San Angelo, is pastor of the Knoxville church.

ConocoPhillips was honored for its volunteer service on behalf of Parkway Place in Houston, particularly The Harbor, a facility for residents with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of memory impairment.




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




Missions conference challenges Christians to ‘Go. Be. Do.’

Posted: 4/17/08

Buckner International mission trip coordinator Jeremy Copeland talks with Dallas Baptist University student Chris Holloway about upcoming mission trips during the “Go. Be. Do.” Global Missions Conference at Park Cities Baptist Church in Dallas. (Photos by Analiz Gonzalez/Buckner)

Missions conference challenges Christians to ‘Go. Be. Do.’

By Analiz González

Buckner International

DALLAS—More than 300 people attended Buckner International’s first-ever “Go. Be. Do.” Global Missions Conference at Park Cities Baptist Church in Dallas.

Dickson Masindano, director of Buckner in Kenya, talks about needs in Africa.

People from around the country gathered to hear Buckner directors from Latvia, Ethiopia, Mexico, Kenya, Russia, Romania, the U.S./Mexico border, Peru and Guatemala. The directors shared personal testimonies, described needs and told conference participants how they can get involved in missions.

“It was a great opportunity to bring people together and tell them how they can get involved in international and local missions,” said Buckner International President Ken Hall.

“Instead of building structures, we need to build people and empower them to go, right now,” he continued. “We don’t need a big infrastructure nearly as badly as we need to go out now and make a difference in broken lives. Just as the New Testament church was built—as they served others—that’s just what Buckner seeks to do.”

Workshops covered topics such as the AIDS epidemic in Africa, medical and dental missions and serving orphan children in Eastern Europe. A session was also offered to Spanish-speaking missionaries.

Greg Eubanks, executive director of Buckner in Southeast Texas, shares information during the conference.

“The conference gave people a chance to learn first-hand what Buckner is doing in other countries,” said Rachel Garton, director of Buckner Shoes for Orphan Souls, a ministry to give shoes to needy children around the world. “It gave people the information they need to decide where they would like to serve.”

“What I really want everyone who attended … to come away with was the word ‘moving,’ because there are millions of people in need of what we have to offer today,” Hall said. “More than 143 million orphans need us to get missional right now.”



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Richmond seminary budget shortfall leads to faculty layoffs

Posted: 4/16/08

Richmond seminary budget
shortfall leads to faculty layoffs

By Robert Dilday

Religious Herald

RICHMOND, Va. (ABP)—Faced with “worrisome” financial challenges, Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond will downsize its faculty and staff, the school’s president announced.

Four full-time professors and at least three administrative staff members will be let go in an effort to reduce costs, said seminary President Ron Crawford, who was elected to his position about a year ago. Though he did not release the names of the professors to be dismissed, Crawford said he has communicated with each one, and the school is offering severance packages that exceed a full year’s salary and full personnel benefits.

The 19-year old seminary is burdened with a $6 million debt and faces a significant deficit in its budget this year—about $450,000 out of an overall budget of $3.6 million, Crawford said in a statement distributed to the school’s alumni and supporters.

“Our immediate fiscal challenge is related to the capital campaign that was completed last summer as I became BTSR’s president,” he said. “The campaign included the purchase of two buildings along with two unanticipated financial challenges: significant debt and a payroll that overreaches annual revenues.”

BTSR, which enrolls about 160 students, currently employs 15 full-time professors and about 16 administrative staff, including the president and dean of the faculty. About 14 visiting and adjunct faculty members also teach classes.

The school’s campus is adjacent to Union Theological Seminary, a Presbyterian institution, and the seminary owns buildings that once housed Union’s Presbyterian School of Christian Education.

At a meeting in mid-March, BTSR’s board of trustees asked Crawford to devise a downsizing plan and present it at a called trustee meeting in late April. The president informed the seminary community of the developments at a March 28 meeting of faculty, staff and students.

“Once the downsizing is complete we will be left with a tenured faculty member in each of the disciplines we have traditionally covered, with the exception of one, where a visiting professor will be employed,” said Crawford. “With nine full-time faculty members, at least three visiting professors and other adjunct faculty members, we will continue to have a profoundly strong faculty.”

Crawford also said that the reduced faculty will have less impact on BTSR than it would on most seminaries. The school is part of the Richmond Theological Consortium, which includes Union Seminary and its School of Christian Education, as well as the school of theology at nearby Virginia Union University, a historically African-American Baptist institution. Students in the consortium’s schools may take courses at any of the institutions for no additional cost.

“On the administrative side, we are losing three and a half positions,” Crawford said. “Our idea is to replace full-time support staff with part-time students. We’ll train the students on the business inner-workings of a nonprofit, church environment. It should be a win-win.”

Founded in 1989, BTSR was one of the first institutions established by moderates who began leaving the Southern Baptist Convention in the 1980s and 90s. Though a number of other moderate seminaries and divinity schools have sprouted since then, many former Southern Baptists still retain passion for the first one, and Crawford is counting on that to get BTSR through the financial strain.

“I continue to say, ‘The future of BTSR is very bright, the short-term is worrisome,’” he noted. “BTSR will survive and, eventually, thrive. We fully anticipate going through a few very lean years. We will use the time to restructure and refocus our efforts on responding to the challenge of providing theological education in a 21st century world.”




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BaptistWay Bible Series for April 27: Drifting toward disaster

Posted: 4/16/08

BaptistWay Bible Series for April 27

Drifting toward disaster

• 2 Kings 14:23-29; 15:8-10, 13-14, 17-30

By Kenneth Jordan

First Baptist Church, Alpine

The air was crisp and clear. Crowds had gathered (a little larger than usual) to watch a modern marvel of engineering. The launch of the Space Shuttle had become routine. NASA was shortening the time between missions. Part of the excitement of this particular mission was the presence of a member of the “Teacher In Space” program.

From the eye of the casual observer, things were progressing normally. The launch had been delayed to allow things to warm up a bit. The countdown resumed—and the Shuttle Challenger lifted off at 11:38 a.m. from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Seventy-three seconds into the flight, the Challenger and the external fuel tank disappeared in a plume of smoke while the solid rocket boosters continued in their now uncontrolled flight. The shuttle had been destroyed.

When the presidential commission began to investigate this sudden disaster, what they found was that it was not sudden at all. A long string of mishaps and bad decisions came together in the necessary sequence to ensure disaster. The loss of the Challenger and her crew continue to be used as a case study for what can go wrong when warning signs are ignored.

The same could be said for the passage in this week’s lesson. For the Jews in exile asking, “How did we get here?” the answer was as close as a good dose of history—if they were willing to remember. The separation of the nation of Israel into the southern and northern kingdoms marked the beginning of the end—as it were.

The prophets had proclaimed a coming judgment. The warning signs of that impending judgment became increasingly frequent. The Northern Kingdom had long struggled with leadership issues. But there was the strong presence of the prophet (namely Elijah and Elisha) to keep the king and therefore the nation on track. As we get to the passages in this week’s lesson, we see the nation taking a turn for the worse.

The first major turn is the passing of Elisha from the scene. His death is recorded in 2 Kings 13:20 without much fanfare. There is no chariot of fire. There is no whirlwind. Perhaps most significant for the northern Kingdom of Israel is that there is no passing on the prophetic mantle, as was the case when Elijah’s time had come to an end.

That is not to say there were no prophets during these later years, but certainly not the central figure to assume the ministry of Elisha. Without a strong voice for God in the king’s presence, the apostasy seems to accelerate rapidly.

The second major turn we find in these verses is the shift in leadership succession. The father-to-son leadership exchange is interrupted by assassination at least four times. The reigns of the kings cease to be long-tenured. Zechariah keeps the job only six months before he is relieved of his duties in a manner that would have made Tony Soprano envious.

This instability in leadership was coupled with a consistent theme from the author: These new kings hadn’t learned from the mistakes of the old kings. Again and again, we find the phrase, “he did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat.” At its core was the issue of idolatry. Worshipping false gods while claiming allegiance to the Lord (and seeking his blessing).

Sadly, the Northern Kingdom finally got just what their ancestors had asked for: a king just like the rest of the nations (1 Samuel 8:6). The disaster awaiting the Northern Kingdom would catch them by surprise, but like the fate of the Challenger, could have been predicted if anyone was willing to connect the failures of the kings.

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BaptistWay Bible Series for April 20: Extending God’s Help to a “Foreigner”

Posted: 4/15/08

BaptistWay Bible Series for April 20

Extending God’s Help to a 'Foreigner'

• 2 Kings 2-5

By Kenneth Jordan

First Baptist Church, Alpine

The story of Naaman covers a lot of ground in small steps.  On first glance, it’s easy to get swept up in the rapid ascent from diseased to healed.  Let’s take small steps through this seemingly innocuous story and make sure we don’t miss anything.

Our first stop is at the house of Naaman, the valiant warrior for the King of Aram.  Naaman had been used by God to bring victory to Aram.  From what we can tell, he is a man who is accustomed to authority and getting his way (at least on the battlefield).  Scripture tells us that God had used him to give victory to Aram.  But his winning on the battlefront is marred by the leprosy that covers his skin.  The Hebrew word used for leprosy can refer to a variety of infectious skin diseases including what we know today as clinical leprosy.  Naaman had been used by God in spite of the fact that he was (1) not part of the covenant community; and (2) would have been considered “unclean”.

This narrative takes place during a time of relative peace between Aram and the Northern Kingdom.   The continuing skirmishes between these neighboring kingdoms account for a great deal of unrest during Elijah’s day.  During one of the raids, a young Hebrew girl had been carried off and forced into servitude.  Serving Naaman’s wife, she was aware of the disease of the master of the house.  In a seemlingly insignificant comment, the servant girl sets into motion a significant sequence of events.

I want to call your attention to a couple of items in this passage.  First, note the division of the characters.   Those considered to be a part of the upper eschelon include Naaman, the king of Aram (Ben-Hadad), the king of Israel (Jehoram), and the mighty prophet (Elisha).The kings and the commander were accustomed to political games and had almost certainly acquired a taste of the honor and respect that their offices entitled them.  Elisha (as Scripture continually showed) was not one for games and pretenses.  He had taken the attitude of Psalm 27:1 to heart.  The second group of characters fall in the category of servants.  The Hebrew girl that served Naaman’s wife, Gehazi, Elisha’s assistant, and Naaman’s aides.  Each one of them plays a role pointing the “high-class” players toward the power of God (although Gehazi serves as a negative example).

Naaman’s healing, we find, does not come at the hand of the king.  It was logical for one king to go directly to another king rather than address any subordinates.  The problem is obvious to the reader – the power to help and the power to heal do not reside in the king’s palace. They reside in the hand of God – who is getting ready to display His glory to Jews and aliens alike.  We find Naaman’s approach to the important people echoed in his expectation of the prophet.  Naaman is upset when the prophet won’t even meet with him but sends his servant.  His anger and resentment grows when the direction for healing amount to washing in a muddy river. This high-power commander wants a high power assignment from a high-power person – and he is disappointed all the way around.  Yet God uses the servants of Naaman to again point him to the power of God.  I like the way this intervention plays out in The Message:  But his servants caught up with him and said, "Father, if the prophet had asked you to do something hard and heroic, wouldn't you have done it? So why not this simple 'wash and be clean'?"  (2Kings 5:13)  Why not, indeed?

Two final thoughts as we leave Naaman’s quest for healing.  In this passage, we find those considered “important” by the world being pointed to God by those the world had labled “disposable.” Let’s not forget the role that even the so-called “lowly” have in proclaiming the power of God to the world around us.  Also, the sentiments of Naaman continue to be echoed across the generations:  “Give me something important to do!”  Very often, the “important” assignments are simple day to day obedience to the clear instructions of the Lord.

Mark Twain is often quoted as saying, “It ain't those parts of the Bible that I can't understand that bother me, it is the parts that I do understand.” I agree – let us not look for some profound assignment if we’re not willing to lay hold of the easily understood.

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Bible Studies for Life Series for April 27: Exploring humility

Posted: 4/15/08

Bible Studies for Life Series for April 27

Exploring humility

• Genesis 32:3,6-12; 33:1-5,9-11

By Gary Long

Willow Meadows Baptist Church, Houston

Humility is an ever elusive trait, mainly because as soon as you think you’ve acquired, you just lost it. Humility is that trait of being modest, and we use it to describe a person who does not think of himself as greater or better than another person. It is the trait most idealized in the person and character of Jesus, but it also is evidenced in other figures in the Bible. One such person is Jacob, the subject of this week’s study.

This is the familiar story of the encounter between Jacob and Esau, many years after Jacob stole the blessing of Abraham from Esau. From our perspective, it is possible to miss the tension in Jacob that created the atmosphere for humility to flourish. Let’s take a look at the four phases of this story and how Jacob’s humility shaped the outcome of a situationthat could have been a family feud.


Assess the situation

Jacob had to do a hard look inside when he got the news that Esau was coming toward him. He had every reason to believe Esau would be angry with him—the last word he had on Esau was from his mother Rachel, who said, “Your brother Esau is consoling himself with the thought of killing you. Now then, my son, do what I say: Flee at once to my brother Laban in Haran. Stay with him for a while until your brother's fury subsides” (Genesis 27:43-44).

Jacob also knew from the “scouting reports” that Esau’s men outnumbered him. Clearly, Esau would be the winner of a direct battle. The reality was Jacob was in trouble. He deserved it for tricking his brother, and he knew it. A position of submission and humility was the right posture for Jacob to assume.

When we look honestly at our own lives and recognize we are in dire straits, it is good for us to do what Jacob did—assess the situation, admit where we are wrong and humble ourselves before God.


Humble yourself before God

Jacob was a trickster, this much is true. He had stolen his brother’s blessing, as well as conning him out of his birthright. But Jacob recognized his position and rightly humbled himself before God. There is deep urgency to his prayers to God, and some translations stress this more than others. The point is, Jacob is pleading earnestly with God for deliverance from his brother’s hand.

In our lives it is necessary for us to humble ourselves before God by prayerfully confessing the distance between God’s holiness and our sinfulness. Consider asking your learners to remember a time when they prayed desperately God for deliverance. Identifying with that utter dependence upon God in our everyday lives—not just in times of distress—will help us to keep humble before God, and in turn lead to lives humble before humans as well.


Humble yourself before others

Jacob took a route of humility toward his brother, and it is evident in several areas. First, he sent gifts before him to Esau. He sent them as a sign of his willingness to make peace over the past, as well as an admission of his own wrong doing in their shared history. Those gifts sent to Esau were more than just gifts—they were tokens that expressed apology, remorse and a desire for restoration.

Jacob took a route of humility toward his brother in the language he uses. He refers to himself as “your servant” and he refers to Esau as “my lord.” He is making it clear that not only does he desire to make things right with his brother, but that he sees himself as the subject of his older brother.

This modest view of oneself is rather uncommon in modern American culture. Most of your learners will be more acquainted with tactics used socially to communicate “I am most important” or “I have power and influence.”

Rather than bluffing his way through on an image of power—like so many Americans who spend frivolously to impress others—Jacob simply presented himself as who he was.


Acknowledge God’s role

As they made peace, Esau essentially compliments Jacob for all the wealth he has acquired. Jacob, however, deflects the comment and points to God as the source of his wealth and blessings. This kind of godly humility is an essential element in the spiritual growth of a maturing Christian.

To recognize the graciousness of God in our lives also is essential to a sense of self-worth. Jacob knew he was a trickster, but he also had a strong sense of God’s provision and strength as God blessed him. While he was humble, he also recognized God cared for him and provided great material blessing to him.

Similarly, Christians recognize we are sinful and broken, but we also rejoice in the fact this is not the end of the story. God cared for Jacob even though he was sinful, and God cares for us in the same way.

In recognizing our position as blessed people, it is even more vital we learn from Jacob the notion of sharing our blessing with others. Even though Esau essentially said, “You don’t have to give me these gifts,” Jacob wanted to give them out of a desire to share God’s blessing with Esau.

The bottom line in this lesson is to help your learners see pride easily overcomes humility and that only a daily walk with God—that is patterned after Jesus—can help us bridge the distance between reality and the goal of humility.


Bonus teaching idea

Try to find a painting, photo or portable sculpture that expresses an artist’s view of humility. A quick Google search of images of humility will give you many options to share. Print out a half dozen and ask your learners to choose one they think best depicts humility as they understand it. Do this before your lesson, and then ask them after the lesson if they’d make the same choice.

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Explore the Bible Series for April 20: When presented with challenging tasks

Posted: 4/15/08

Explore the Bible Series for April 27

When presented with challenging tasks

• Genesis 41:1, 12-13, 15-16, 28-40

By Donald Raney

First Baptist Church, Petersburg

Life is full of challenges. Sometimes they come as we seek to challenge ourselves in some area of our lives. At other times, challenging tasks can be thrust upon us by other people or circumstances. While these are not usually negative in nature, they can create a moment of crisis for us as we gauge our ability of overcome the challenge.

Such a crisis can elicit a variety of responses. Some immediately begin to make excuses about why they cannot meet the challenge. Others seek to suggest or recruit others whom they feel would be better equipped for the task. Still others procrastinate in approaching the task hoping it will pass. Finally, some may begin by rising to the challenge only to quit when it is not quickly accomplished.

Joseph had spent much of his early life in relative ease as the favored son of his father, Jacob. We might speculate that whenever particularly difficult tasks arose at home, Jacob assigned them to one of Joseph’s older brothers. Yet despite this favored status, Joseph had come to realize that God had given him special gifts and abilities he could use whenever challenges arose. Through his life experiences, he came to see challenges as an opportunity to stretch his faith by using those gifts to overcome a series of difficult circumstances.

As we read about Joseph’s experiences in Egypt, we learn several valuable lessons concerning the way we might faithfully respond when presented with challenging tasks.


Trust God’s providence (Genesis 41:1, 12-13)

Two years had passed since Joseph had used his gift to help the baker and cupbearer understand their dreams. When the cup bearer was released, he must have felt his days in that prison were nearly over. Yet after two years, he still was a prisoner. Through his dreams as a child, God had shown him he had great plans for Joseph, but he must have wondered how those would ever be realized in light of his current situation. He was in a situation far beyond his control with little or no foreseeable means of escape.

Many times in life, each person may find him or herself in a seemingly hopeless situation or faced with a seemingly insurmountable challenge. It can be easy to begin to wonder whether God still is watching and how you will ever get back on the path to God’s plans for your life.

Joseph’s story reminds us of the providence of God. Throughout his life God had used events in Joseph’s life to prepare him and position him to accomplish great things.

We often cannot understand the purpose or timing of the events of life, but we can trust God is able to use all those events to bring about his good purposes so that when we face challenging tasks, we can fully rely on God’s providential care.


Depend on God’s guidance (Genesis 41:15-16, 28-32)

The day finally came when the prison guard came and told Joseph pharaoh wanted to see him. While he may at first have wondered why, he must have felt this was his big break. After years of struggle wondering how and when his visions would come to pass, he could finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. Yet he also knew it all depended on how he handled this meeting with the most powerful man on earth. As a boy, he had flaunted his position and dreams. But now his time in the Egyptian prison had been used to teach Joseph to rely on God rather than his own abilities.

So often when we face difficult circumstances, our immediate response is to seek to overcome it through our own strength and cunning. This especially can be true when the solution seems to fit with our particular talents.

When he arrives at the palace and hears pharaoh is seeking to understand a dream he had, Joseph must have been relieved. He knew he had a gift for interpreting dreams, yet he recognized the gift would be misused if he did not allow God to work through it. Rather than accepting credit, Joseph acknowledged his need for God’s guidance before he began to offer help.

When faced with challenging tasks, we can only see a small piece of the larger picture. In order to navigate the problem most effectively, we must, from the start, depend on God’s guidance.


Propose solutions and accept God-given opportunities (Genesis 41:33-40)

While pharaoh certainly was grateful to have the answer to his question, the answer created a further dilemma. Knowing a famine was coming, what should he do? A famine lasting seven years would cause severe problems for many people, and as king, it was pharaoh’s responsibility to provide for them. Joseph knew the problems this created, and although he was not asked for help and it was not his responsibility, he took the bold step of suggesting a solution to the coming crisis.

Many times when challenging circumstances arise, it can be tempting to think our ideas are insignificant or to excuse our lack of involvement in the solution by saying, “it is not my responsibility to solve it.” Yet throughout history it often has been the suggestions of those who did not bear the responsibility that have led to the solution to significant problems and led those individuals on to do great things.

When we face trying times, we should never be hesitant to offer suggestions concerning a solution. For as Mordecai suggested to Esther, perhaps God has place us in the situation in order to recommend a course of action which may not otherwise be considered (Esther 4:14). If we do, we may find like Joseph, that God will bless our faithfulness in ways we could not imagine.

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Cost cutting continues at Baptist Building

Posted: 4/15/08

Cost cutting continues at Baptist Building

By Ken Camp

Managing Editor

DALLAS—To cut costs, five additional Baptist General Convention of Texas Executive Board staff positions are being cut, the research and development team is disbanding, counseling will be outsourced and the WorldconneX missions network will move its offices to the Baptist Building.

BGCT Executive Director Randel Everett announced April 15 the elimination of five staff positions, adding he expects these to be “the final staff cuts.” Earlier, six positions were cut from the BGCT Service Center.

The BGCT faces a projected $5.3 million shortfall from the approved 2008 budget.
Read the complete text of Randel Everett's statement

The staff cuts “bring some real financial savings” at a time when the BGCT faces a projected $5.3 million shortfall from the approved 2008 budget, Everett noted. But, he added, “the cuts have not come without pain to individuals and the convention.”

The eliminated posts have been occupied by Lynn Eckeberger, director of the research and development team, and his associate, Ed Hale; Don Sewell, executive liaison of missions relationships; counseling and psychological services specialist Rick Owen and marriage and family specialist/pastoral care specialist Kathy Owen.

“Some essential functions” performed by research and development are being moved to other program areas, Everett explained, and the most of the responsibilities carried by Sewell are being transferred to the Texas Partnerships missions office.

“We will reorganize our counseling ministry in order to better connect ministers around the state with competent counselors,” Everett said. “This will require closing of the Dallas counseling office and elimination of two staff positions. One staff person will then serve to help connect more ministers and their families with approved, licensed counselors in their area of the state.”

WorldconneX will be asked to relocate its offices to the Baptist Building.

“WorldconneX currently pays for office space in another Dallas location,” Everett explained. “Such a move would save money and help WorldconneX and the BGCT Missions, Evangelism and Ministries Team work more closely together.”

In an effort to “place our resources in the most critical ministries to impact churches directly,” Everett announced he and his leadership council agreed to fund fully the Missions, Evangelism and Ministries Team and the Collegiate Ministries Team.

“In these tough economic times the Baptist General Convention of Texas is committed to living within its resources,” Everett said. “The BGCT also is committed to using Cooperative Program dollars in the most effective ways to have a direct impact on our churches and our world. These are driving principles for us.”


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Randel Everett’s Statement Regarding 2008 BGCT Budget

Posted: 4/15/08

Statement Regarding 2008 BGCT Budget

By Randel Everett

In these tough economic times the Baptist General Convention of Texas is committed to living within its resources. The BGCT also is committed to using Cooperative Program dollars in the most effective ways to have a direct impact on our churches and our world. These are driving principles for us.

As a result of income challenges this year, the Leadership Council and I are making budget cuts to match spending to income, and we are making budget decisions that place our resources in the most critical ministries to impact churches directly. In announcing our revised budget approach for 2008, let me share with you the following:

1) We will maintain full funding for our Missions, Evangelism and Ministry Team. This means that while the BGCT overall will operate at 90 percent of budget, we will continue to implement all of our plans in regard to missions, evangelism, ministry and congregation resources.

2) We will maintain funding for our Collegiate Ministries Team at 100 percent of budget. While fully funding our important Baptist Student Ministry work, we have reallocated some dollars to further bring campus minister salaries to an appropriate level.

3) We will reorganize our counseling ministry in order to better connect ministers around the state with competent counselors. This will require closing of the Dallas counseling office and elimination of two staff positions. One staff person will then serve to help connect more ministers and their families with approved, licensed counselors in their area of the state.

4) We will encourage WorldconneX to move its offices into the Baptist Building in Dallas. WorldconneX currently pays for office space in another Dallas location. Such a move would save money and help WorldconneX and the BGCT MEM Missions Team work more closely together.

5) We will eliminate the Research and Development Team. This will allow for a reduction of two staff positions, while some essential functions performed by this team will be moved to other teams.

6) We will eliminate the position of liaison of missions relationships in the executive director’s office. We will move most of these responsibilities to the MEM Partnership Missions office.

7) We already have announced elimination of the outbound calling function. This resulted in six staff positions being cut from the Service Center.

While these changes bring some real financial savings and make possible some better effectiveness in areas, they have not come without pain to individuals and to the convention. This grieves our Leadership Council and me; but financial realities forced us to make the best decisions we could in a short amount of time. If we lose one job it’s tragic, but thankfully we have only lost several.

Today I am announcing the elimination of five more positions, but we expect this to be the final staff cuts. Those eliminated positions are:

• Director, Research and Development Team, Lynn Eckeberger;

• Associate Director, Research and Development Team, Ed Hale;

• Executive Liaison of Missions Relationships, Don Sewell;

• Counseling and Psychological Services Specialist, Rick Owen; and

• Marriage & Family/Pastoral Care Specialist, Kathy Owen.


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Texas Baptists minister in wake of raid on polygamist compound

Updated: 4/10/08

Women and children taken from the polygamist ranch in Eldorado, Texas, stand outside their shelter in nearby San Angelo, looking toward other shelters. Texas Baptist Child & Family Services is helping coordinate their care at the request of state officials. (Craig Bird/BCFS)

Texas Baptists minister in wake
of raid on polygamist compound

By Ken Camp

Managing Editor

ELDORADO—When state investigators and law officers removed 416 children and 139 women from the rural West Texas compound of a polygamist sect, Texas Baptist churches, agencies and missions organizations responded by offering ministry to the relocated—and sometimes traumatized—former residents of the YFZ Ranch.

Texas Child Protective Services and the law enforcement officials entered the compound April 3-4 with search warrants, investigating allegations of child abuse by followers of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

The main temple in the YFZ Ranch outside Eldorado. Texas Child Protective Services and the law enforcement officials removed 416 children and 139 women from the rural West Texas compound of a polygamist sect.

First Baptist Church in Eldorado made its facilities available to house between 70 and 80 women and children April 4-6.

The church also allowed state agencies to use two 25-seat church buses to transport more than 180 women and children from the 1,619-acre compound to the church building and to another shelter at the town’s civic center.

Tommy Speed, director of Buckner Children and Family Services programs in West Texas, worked as a consultant and first-responder as the investigation began and relocation occurred.

“We had Texas Rangers, a SWAT team, Highway Patrol and volunteers from the community. But they weren’t in need of humanitarian aid, and it was too early to tell whether they’d need us to take some people into Buckner care,” Speed said. “So, I ended up helping with breakfast, transporting people to the civic center and First Baptist Church of Eldorado and running errands.”

Until the women and children were relocated to San Angelo, Community Baptist Church in Eldorado—along with a local Methodist church and a Church of Christ—provided food and volunteers to serve meals at First Baptist Church and the civic center.

Baptist Child & Family Services took the lead role in the massive, multi-site shelter operation in San Angelo.

Officials with the San Antonio-based agency and its incident-management team supervised the shelters in San Angelo at the request of the Governor’s Division of Emergency Management. By April 8, seven shelters were operating on the grounds of Fort Concho—a historic frontier outpost—and another shelter was planned several miles away.

Fifty Baptist Child & Family Services staff members served onsite at the San Angelo shelters, working 12- to 16-hour shifts, and the agency spent about $200,000 on the effort.

Baptist Child & Family Services also provided a mobile food-service unit in San Angelo, staffed by Texas Baptist Men disaster relief volunteers. TBM made available three portable shower and laundry units for the shelters.

“We are in San Angelo purely and simply to take care of women and children,” said Baptist Child & Family Services President Kevin Dinnin, who was named onsite incident commander of the shelters.

“We were not part of the circumstances that brought them here and have no input in what will happen in the future. We’re here to make sure they have safe, clean places to sleep, access to medical care, healthy food and people who care about them.”

Shelter operations are complicated by the group’s religious beliefs, officials with Baptist Child & Family Services noted. Adherents eat only organic, non-processed foods and do not allow their children to play with certain toys. 

Cultural briefings for CPS investigators and caseworkers, quoting individuals who have left the Fundamentalist Latter-Day Saints, warned that the color red is offensive to members since it represents evil. Another explanation is that the color is reserved for Jesus, since they believe that will be the color of the cloak he will wear when he returns to usher in the apocalypse.

Albert Reyes, president of Buckner Children and Family Services, said he is unsure how the state will serve the displaced women and children.

“We have made an inventory of available beds in our system, and we are ready to receive them at different locations if needed,” Reyes said. “For Buckner, our core mission is to improve the lives of children and families. So, so as a Baptist institution, this is consistent with our mission and history, and we remain ready to help in any way that we can.”

Baptist Child & Family Services, Children at Heart Ministries and South Texas Children's Home also have made their systems available to receive any individuals placed by the state.

Buckner International President Ken Hall noted Baptists across the state have demonstrated a great willingness to offer their services in support of the displaced women and children of YFZ Ranch.

“This situation is a good example of how Texas Baptist ministries have made themselves available to First Baptist Church of Eldorado to serve the needs of these children,” Hall said. “This is a testimony to how sister groups like Buckner, Baptist Child & Family Services and Texas Baptist Men have been there to serve the needs of the local church, which in this case has served as a fantastic first-responder.”


With additional reporting by Craig Bird and Russ Dilday





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




RIGHT or WRONG? Buying lottery tickets

Posted: 4/11/08

RIGHT or WRONG?
Buying lottery tickets

I buy one or two lottery tickets a week, just for fun. I don’t expect to win; I just do it for the entertainment value, like playing a video game or something. Is this really gambling? Since it is just a small amount of leisure income, is it wrong?


Allow me to answer the easy part of this very common question first. Yes, this really is gambling. The amount is irrelevant. You are wagering a small amount for the potential of winning a larger amount. You may see it as a form of personal entertainment, but the fact is you are entertaining yourself by gambling.

The next part of the question is harder to answer. Is it wrong to gamble a small amount, especially if it is truly leisure income? Let me address this from three perspectives.

First, gambling a dollar or two of your leisure income may be a completely innocent entertainment indulgence on your part. In today’s society, however, there may not be a better example of the principle discussed in 1 Corinthians 8 about eating meat that had been offered to idols. We are warned not to let the exercise of our freedom become a stumbling block to a weaker believer. You may not have a problem, but thousands do, and we are admonished to deny ourselves an innocent pleasure rather than cause someone else to fall.

Second, you should realize what your dollar supports. The lottery is a dangerous, immoral social evil. I do not use these strong words lightly. The facts on the lottery bear witness to the truth. The lottery is in essence a regressive tax that preys on the people who least can afford it. The lottery is not an entertainment venue for most of its participants, but a gluttonous parasite that drains people of the money they need to survive. As Christians, we must oppose institutions like the lottery that have at their heart the propensity and desire to do such violent damage to individuals, families and society as a whole. At the very least, we must not support them.

The third, and for me the most significant, perspective opposes the lottery because it has encroached upon one of the most significant roles of the church. Most people play the lottery not for entertainment, but because it gives them hope. People have come to believe that money, and a lot of it, is the solution to their problems.

Christians know better than that. We know where to find hope, and it is certainly not in the lottery. Ephesians 4 says there is one Spirit, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, one hope when we were called, and that hope is not the lottery. Christians must not abdicate the role of providing true hope to a desperate world.

In short, yes, it is wrong, and you need to find something better to do with your $2 each week.

Van Christian, pastor

First Baptist Church

Comanche

Right or Wrong? is sponsored by the T.B. Maston Chair of Christian Ethics at Hardin-Simmons University's Logsdon School of Theology. Send your questions about how to apply your faith to btillman@hsutx.edu.

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




Buckner programs make history in Peru

Posted: 3/31/08

Nine-year-old Elvis greets his new foster parents Vilma and Adolfo Gomez for the first time. (Photo/ANDINA/Carlos Lezama)
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• Buckner programs make history in Peru
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Buckner programs make history in Peru

By Jenny Pope

Buckner International

Buckner International made history in Peru when officials from the Ministry of Women and Social Work and the Texas-based agency placed eight Peruvian children into the country’s first foster families.

It was the first step of many in an ongoing pilot foster care program. Organizers hope to place 60 orphans and at-risk children into families by the end of the year.

“We interviewed 43 families to choose these first seven,” said Buckner Peru Director Claudia León Vergara. “All the families are well adjusted and stable, with a lot of love to give. They are eager to help these great kids.”

León and her staff have faced overwhelming difficulties to bring the term “foster care” to life in their country. The term didn’t exist until they gave it a name: acojimiento familiar, which literally means “to admit into your house as a guest” or “to offer protection.”

“People frequently think that this concept is similar to adoption,” she said. “In that sense, it has been hard work to make them understand and accept foster care as a possibility.

“Ultimately, we hope to develop this program into public policy. We hope to persuade the government to consider foster care as an alternative to placing children into orphanages when they are in a crisis situation.”

In addition to foster care, Buckner Peru also is providing transitional services for 27 young women and mothers who have been raised in the orphanage system.

Junior, 8, hugs his new foster parent Pablo Vargas as his wife Maria Guadalupe looks on. Junior is one of the first eight children to be placed into foster care in Peru. (Photo/ANDINA/Carlos Lezama)

Two homes have been purchased—in Lima and Cusco—where these young women will live and study for their careers, which includes anything from baking to business administration to fashion design. Another home for teenage mothers will be supported at Reina de la Paz orphanage, near Lima.

“All the girls who take part in the transitional programs come from families living in extreme poverty conditions,” León said. “They have been victims of abuse, abandonment and sexual violence. For them, violence was a normal part of life. These homes will allow them to live in a calm environment and focus on their future careers.

“They will also be reinforced on issues like responsibility, Christian values and self sufficiency in order to encourage them to face the real world and its daily challenges.”

For more information about Buckner ministries in Peru, contact Leslie Chace at lchace@buckner.org.










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