Posted: 8/04/06

Texas Baptist Forum

Best candidate available

Regarding the July 24 editorial …

Good word: Character.

Good idea: Call the best person available.

• Jump to online-only letters below

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

“This was the worst-case scenario. This was the hardest decision I ever made. The heinousness of a rape is a horrible thing. But I don’t think you should punish a child for the sins of the father.” Gene Herr Pharmacist who was fired by a Denton drugstore after he refused to fill a rape victim's morning-after pill prescription. (The Washington Post/RNS) “Churches have figured out what I have known all along—people are not giving because they don’t have money to give. When the collection plate goes by, they are thinking, ‘I know I should give, but then I can’t pay the light bill.’” Dave Ramsey Christian financial adviser, on why many Christians do not give more generously to their churches (RNS) “People admire what we do, but they would prefer to worship at a Baptist church or a Presbyterian church or that megachurch that’s in their neighborhood. They’ll donate money to us and volunteer to help, but they don’t want to worship with us on Sunday mornings.” Maj. George Hood Community relations officer for the Salvation Army, noting the organization is a church as well as a charity (Scripps Howard News Service/RNS)

But so many times, church search committees would rather be led by their human senses than their spiritual senses. That’s the difference between “what I think we should do,” and “what the Lord is leading us to do.”

If committee members find themselves using the former phrase too much, they might call someone who won’t pass the character test. On the other hand, if they’re relying on their spiritual sensitivity to the Lord’s leading, they’ll call someone who will pass the character test.

Another thing that hampers a committee’s work is the idea that we can only call a young man to be our pastor. Many older pastoral candidates already have passed the character test, over and over again. But human eyesight says, “Call someone younger,” and so the best candidate is turned down quite early in the search process. And when the younger candidate has a failure, there is pain and hurt all around.

The best candidate will be the most open, transparent candidate, the one whose life can withstand the most detailed scrutiny. Committees seem to be doing more screening than ever before, in search of the best candidate—credit checks, background checks, fingerprint checks. Smaller churches are limited in accomplishing this, therefore probably more susceptible to a candidate with a less-than-ideal background.

Bob Gillchrest

San Diego

Most dangerous time

If Hamas and Hezbollah were totally destroyed, there still wouldn’t be lasting peace in the Middle East. Governments that live by the “eye-for-an-eye and tooth-for-a-tooth” philosophy guarantee their citizens won’t ever experience true peace. The hellish wars going on in the Middle East right now are sowing the seeds of hate and resentment that will result in unending future conflict.

The life and teachings of Jesus, the Prince of Peace, show humankind how to break the cycle of violence. Christ’s peacemaking principles have been ignored ever since their utterance over 2,000 years ago, even by nations where Christianity is the dominant religion.

Jesus commanded us to love God with all our heart, soul and mind and to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. Jesus replaced the “eye-for-an-eye” old law philosophy with a new and better philosophy of love. Love does the unexpected—turns the other cheek, goes the second mile, acknowledges every individual is important. Jesus taught us to love our enemies and to do good to those who mistreat and hate us.

Today is the most dangerous time in history. We have the nuclear weaponry to totally destroy God’s wondrous creation. It is folly to believe waging war brings peace. Peace will be possible when we allow the better angels of our nature to implement our Creator’s peacemaking principles of love.

Paul L. Whiteley Sr.

Louisville, Ky.

Offensive comparison

In response to Walter Shurden’s address on religious freedom being threatened now more than ever before (July 10), I am left scratching my head and wondering where he has been recently.

In some aspects, I agree with him, but I find it offensive for him to compare Christians who gather together to work against well-funded liberal agendas as “religious right-wing militants.” Christians have rights as citizens, too. Remember how the abolitionists gathered in churches to organize to help free the slaves? What about the civil rights movement that organized in churches?

First Amendment rights and students: Aborting over 40 million babies since 1973 appears to youth as a horrendous abuse of freedom. Huge numbers of their peers have been aborted. The radical homosexual agenda is being embraced. Many youth don’t understand why adults would allow the propagation and acceptance of perverted alternate lifestyles that would bring the downfall of the family as we know it.

As to press freedom: Why would a young person feel good about the media exposing legitimate secret programs designed to protect our citizens against terrorists who want to kill us just so media outlets can profit from a story?

With freedom comes great responsibility. They see too many using their constitutional rights in selfish, irresponsible ways.

Jean Whitmore

Okinawa

Posted: 8/04/06

Churches’ failure to target men causes gender gap

By Kristen Campbell

Religion News Service

WASHINGTON (RNS)—Men don’t need pirates in the pews. Then again, the presence of swordfighting swashbucklers might not be the worst thing to happen Sunday morning.

So goes the thinking of David Murrow, author of Why Men Hate Going to Church.

“We don’t have to have hand-to-hand combat during the worship service to get men there,” Murrow said. “We just have to start speaking (their language), use the metaphors they understand and create an environment that feels masculine to them.”

Today’s churches, Murrow argued, just aren’t cutting it.

“My background is in marketing and advertising, and one day I was sitting in church and all of a sudden it dawned on me that the target audience of almost everything about church culture was a 50- to 55-year-old woman,” said Murrow, a Presbyterian elder who’s now a member of a nondenominational congregation in Anchorage, Alaska.

The gender gap isn’t a distinctly American one, but it is a Christian one, according to Murrow. The theology and practices of Judaism, Buddhism and Islam offer “uniquely masculine” experiences for men, he said.

“Every Muslim man knows that he is locked in a great battle between good and evil, and although that was a prevalent teaching in Christianity until about 100 years ago, today it’s primarily about having a relationship with a man who loves you unconditionally,” Murrow said.

“And if that’s the punch line of the gospel, then you’re going to have a lot more women than men taking you up on your offer because women are interested in a personal relationship with a man who loves you unconditionally. Men, generally, are not.”

Concern about the perceived feminization of Christianity—and the subsequent backlash—is nothing new.

In the mid-19th century, two-thirds of church members in New England were women, said Bret Carroll, history professor at California State University, Stanislaus. Portrayals of Jesus around that time depicted a doe-eyed Savior with long, flowing hair and white robes.

Then, around the 1870s and 1880s, came a growing emphasis on making religion attractive to men. The movement known as “muscular Christianity” extolled manliness, and it had its heyday from 1880 to 1920, according to Clifford Putney in Muscular Christianity.

Around the same time, fraternal orders grew exponentially among the urban middle classes, according to an online article by Mark Carnes, author of Secret Ritual and Manhood in Victorian America. Not only did the groups provide men with opportunities to cultivate business connections, Carnes writes, but they appealed to some who “found satisfaction in the exotic rituals, which provided a religious experience antithetical to liberal Protestantism and a masculine ‘family’ vastly different from the one in which most members had been raised.”

Fast forward to the late 20th century, when Promise Keepers experienced enormous—if somewhat fleeting—popularity. Determining the lasting influence of this or any other movement in men’s spiritual lives proves difficult.

But Chip Hale, pastor of Spanish Fort United Methodist Church in Spanish Fort, Ala., said he believes “real strides” have been made with Promise Keepers and other men’s movements. Mission trips and hurricane relief work have also helped to make faith become real for some.

“These guys have really come out because it’s something they can do,” Hale said. “They feel like they’ve made a contribution. … I think men like to do things that they feel comfortable doing.”

But come Sunday morning, “we’re going to sing love songs to Jesus and there’s going to be fresh flowers on the altar and quilted banners on the walls,” Murrow said.

Men aren’t the only ones alienated by such an environment. Murrow insists young people aren’t that keen on it either. Both groups are challenge-oriented and appreciate risk, adventure, variety, pleasure and reward—values some churches “ignore or vilify,” Murrow writes.

“It would look like the Rapture” if women didn’t come to the typical church one Sunday, he said.

“The whole thing would grind to a halt,” said Murrow, who noted he wrote the book for laywomen in particular. “They’re the ones who are suffering most from this gender gap. A lot of women feel overworked and underappreciated in our churches today because they are carrying the load.”

Statistics indicate they might not do so much longer. According to Barna Research, Murrow notes, women’s church attendance declined 20 percent from 1991 to 2000, and their volunteerism in local churches dropped 21 percent during that period.

Churches have to help men and women use their gifts, not just fit them into old religious molds, Murrow said.

“There has to be some stretching and risk or you’re not going to get men, and I think you’re not going to get the upcoming generation of women either,” he said.

“We’re ripping women off by making the church so much about nurturing and caring and relationships, and they’re missing that component that they need.”

Kristen Campbell writes for The Mobile Register in Mobile, Ala.

Posted: 8/04/06

Computers may draw some men to Christianity

By G. Jeffrey MacDonald

Religion News Service

REDMOND, Wash. (RNS)—For more than a century, women have outnumbered men in the pews of America’s churches. For almost as long, concerned Christians have wondered where all the men went—and how to get them back.

Now some are seeing glimmers of hope coming from a most unlikely place—flickering computer screens.

Religious software has become an $80 million industry in the United States, thanks to a clientele that’s predominantly male. According to a survey conducted last year, 77 percent of all Bible software users are men.

For niche-leading Logos Bible Software, which sells about 12 percent of all religious software, nine out of every 10 customers are men.

As devout men demonstrate a holy zeal for study around electronic platforms, evangelists are pondering the broader implications and possibilities.

Perhaps, the thinking goes, men turned off by preaching, small talk and shared feelings in tight-knit groups will be receptive to the gospel when it’s delivered instead via technology.

A man “might be on a spiritual journey and not want anyone to know about it,” said Rick Kingham, president of the National Coalition of Men’s Ministries, which is based near Microsoft headquarters in Redmond, Wash.

Just as “a guy can be sneaky” to access pornography on the Internet, he said, so also can he seek knowledge of God privately in settings where “being a Christian isn’t cool.”

“I think God’s going to use the same technology and the same system to, in fact, spread (faith) like wildfire—even amongst those who are just on a spiritual journey and are doing it very anonymously,” Kingham said.

But even if men get inspired by electronic resources, they won’t necessarily become more interested in congregational life, said David Murrow, author of Why Men Hate Going to Church. In fact, he says, the opposite could occur.

“It might actually cause men to be more isolated from a local church body because, you know, they’re not interested in the church politics or the sermon or the singing that we offer. They just want to know about God,” Murrow said. “And if they can bypass that bore that we call ‘Sunday morning worship,’ they’ll do it.”

Men say they appreciate the convenience of electronic resources, since they don’t require arranging meetings with other people or lugging around a sack of books. For example, Mike Laird configures his laptop to open to sacredspace.ie, where he gets a daily devotional from Irish Jesuits as soon as he logs on.

“If I’m in (a coffee shop) working on my sermon, I can log on and it’s right there,” said Laird, pastor of North Shore Chapel, which meets in a movie theater in Danvers, Mass. “Before I know it, I’m already into the day’s meditation.”

During Sunday worship, Laird lets loose a manly passion for gadgetry each time he fires up the MediaShout projection system software. The software, which lets religious communities blend music, text and moving pictures, more often than not attracts men to its control buttons, said Jann Saulsberry, vice president of marketing at MediaComplete, maker of MediaShout.

The technologies men love are fast becoming staples of worship in many of America’s churches. More than 60 percent of Protestant congregations now use large-screen projection systems and show video clips during worship, according to a September 2005 survey from Barna Research Group, a leading Christian trend tracker.

That trend could bode well for getting at least a few more men to darken the door of a church, according to Quentin Schultze, professor of faith and communication at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Mich.

“Men have become more involved in worship planning and worship itself by participating in the use of technology in worship, such as PowerPoint and special software designed for worship presentations,” Schultze said.

However, he cautions that those who run the gadgets aren’t likely to join small discussion groups any time soon.

“There is a general stereotype that men use communication technologies to escape relationships, and women use them to foster relationships,” Schultze said. “It tends to be true.”

Technology alone won’t overcome all the reasons why many men of faith don’t like going to church, Murrow said. Men “are drawn to risk, challenge and adventure,” he insisted. “But these things are discouraged in the local church. Instead, most congregations offer a safe, nurturing community—an oasis of stability and predictability” that appeals more to women and seniors.

But competent usage of technology, he argues, can be a helpful start for churches aiming to make men feel comfortable.

“A church that uses the latest technology to teach and encourage,” Murrow writes in his book, “will be sending a strong message to men and young adults: we speak your language.”

Posted: 8/04/06

Mexico vision trips slated

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

The Baptist General Convention of Texas is sponsoring “vision trips” for Texas Baptists interested in ministry to indigenous people groups in Mexico.

Dexton Shores, director of BGCT’s Border/Mexico Missions, will lead a series of trips throughout Mexico starting Aug. 14. Texas Baptist leaders will visit indigenous groups to ascertain ministry possibilities.

Each group has been identified by the National Baptist Convention of Mexico as a strategic place where ministry needs to be strengthened, Shores said. Mexican Baptists are sharing the gospel with these people groups, but their outreach is limited. Texas Baptists hope to enlarge the ministry of local Christians.

“We’re not starting anything but building off of what’s already there and working with Mexican leaders,” he said.

Shores hopes churches will partner to adopt a people group. English-speaking congregations can team with Spanish-speaking churches to effectively communicate and minister in Mexico, he noted.

These trips are crucial to churches who want to minister to these groups, Shores continued.

“Texas Baptists are never going to capture the vision until they see the need,” he said. “By meeting the leaders and hearing their vision and their burden for sharing the gospel, Texas Baptists will know how they can best join with Mexican Baptists to expand God’s kingdom.”

For more information about these trips, visit www.bgct.org/ riverministry or call (888) 244-9400.

Posted: 8/04/06

Operation Knit Together
warms orphans’ feet & hearts

By Craig Bird

Baptist Child & Family Services

Operation Knit Together intends to take the pain out of spring for all the orphans in Moldova. But it’s going to take a lot of shoes, socks and volunteers to provide for the residents of the country’s 66 institutions.

In the former Soviet Republic, “when temperatures begin warming in March, the hands and feet of many of the children who live in government institutions remain swollen because of frostbite,” said Dearing Garner, who is leading the effort to raise $250,000 and 90 volunteers to distribute shoes, socks, hats and gloves throughout the tiny Eastern European country.

“As blood starts to flow once again their skin turns from waxy white, to red, and then to purple. The pain is intense.”

Churches and organizations from seven states have joined Operation Knit Together. The project is a ministry of Baptist Child & Family Services through its international arm, Children’s Emergency Relief International.

Teams of volunteers will distribute the clothing in three stages Nov. 24-Dec 3, Dec. 2-11 and Dec. 9-17.

“Our goal is to personally put the shoes, socks and other items directly into the hands of the children,” Garner explained. “They need this material help but the greatest gift we can give them is the knowledge of the saving grace of Jesus Christ. We will work alongside local Christians to show solidarity with the Moldovan Baptist churches, as well as distributing gospel tracts in English, Moldovan and Russian.”

A December 1999 mission trip to Moldova sparked Operation Knit Together. “One night a group of children surrounded us to greet us, and we realized many of them were barefoot and didn’t have hats or gloves in that bitter, bitter cold,” Garner recalled. “People started pulling off their own hats and scarves and gloves—and when we got back home we began praying about how to spare children from frostbite. We think Operation Knit Together is what God told us to do.”

From 2000 to 2005, Garner spearheaded an effort that reached some of the country’s orphanages. But when he retired as pastor of First Baptist Church in Kingwood last year and joined the staff of CERI, the vision grew.

While meeting with officials of Moldova’s Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports in planning for the 2006 distribution, “God just impressed me that we could minister to all the orphanages—so we told the government not to even budget for shoes because CERI and Operation Knit Together would take care of it,” he explained.

The census for the 66 orphanages is 12,630—which translates to 15,156 pairs of shoes, “to be sure everyone gets a pair that fits.” Most of the shoes will be purchased in Moldova, which gives a boost to the local economy, but donated shoes also will be shipped. Buckner Baptist Benevolences also is donating shoes. The socks are being donated by a North Carolina textile company, Kentucky Derby Hosiery.

On July 17, the government and CERI formalized the agreement. Valeviu Gilescui, president of the Baptist Union of Moldova, was among the officials who signed the agreement.

Project Knit Together accomplishes many things, said Steve Davis, CERI’s program director for Eastern Europe. “First, it reinforces to the children that they aren’t anonymous to either God or his followers; second, it makes a statement that the United States and its people can be viewed as friends; third, it is critical to our effort to be seen as a valuable partner with Moldova’s Ministry of Education;

“And finally, kneeling down before a Moldovan child with no possessions and nothing to offer in return is probably the best posture possible for the people of a nation blessed with disproportionate wealth and prosperity. Until we seriously acknowledge the value of the least among us and begin working for God’s will to be done on earth just as it is on heaven, we won’t be the ambassadors of grace and love we were created to be.”

By mid-July, churches—mostly Baptist but including Methodist, Presbyterian and non-denominational congregations—from Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and North Carolina were deep into fund-raising and recruiting volunteers, while churches in West Virginia and Pennsylvania were gearing up to participate.

Additionally the North Carolina National Guard has taken Operation Knit Together on as one of its projects, along with two Rotary Clubs in the Tar Heel State.

Though the focus is on the children, Operation Knit Together also will provide shoes, socks, gloves and hats to all the adults who are institutionalized in government facilities.

“Moldova is the poorest of the former Soviet republics and is at the same latitude as Chicago and southern Canada,” Garner pointed out. “The orphanage buildings and heating systems are poorly constructed and maintained, and the government can’t afford to provide enough coal and electricity for heat. Obviously we can’t solve all these problems—but we can provide warm shoes, socks, gloves and caps.”

For information about donating or volunteering with Operation Knit Together contact Garner by e-mail at dgarner@ CERIkids.org; by phone at 210-787-0535 or by mail at 1442 Kingwood Drive #111, Kingwood, Texas 77339 or a participating church. CERI’s website is www.CERI kids.org.

Participating Texas Baptist churches include: First Baptist Church, Kingwood; Bethel Baptist Church, New Caney; Calvary Baptist Church, Erwin; Tanglewood Baptist Church, Jasper; Center Hill Baptist Church, Oakhurst; and First Baptist Church, Slidell.

Posted: 8/04/06

Online music store specializes
in family-friendly tunes

By Steve Woodward

Religion News Service

WASHINGTON (RNS)—Imagine rap lyrics without the F-bomb, acid rock lyrics without sex or reggae lyrics without drugs.

Howard Rachinski imagined it all last year, when his then-10-year-old son began to get interested in music.

Although Apple’s iTunes and other commercial music-download sites offered plenty of Christian and other inoffensive songs and albums, Rachinski wanted something that catered exclusively to religious people like himself and his family.

So, he and his colleagues created Portland, Ore.-based SongTouch, an online music store much like iTunes—but without a single “Parental Advisory” label among its 220,000 religious, inspirational and classical titles.

“Our core target market is people with Judeo-Christian values or faith not wanting to compromise that faith,” Rachinski said.

Today, tens of thousands of SongTouch customers are legally downloading 99-cent copies of such songs as Carrie Underwood’s Jesus, Take the Wheel, Casting Crowns’ Lifesong and Tobymac’s Catchafire (Whoopsi-Daisy).

SongTouch—www.songtouch.com—offers 27 musical genres, from Americana to Southern gospel, plus spoken-word performances. A recent top-selling song was Mark Harris’ gospel song Find Your Wings. The top-selling album, at $9.99, was country singer Alan Jackson’s collection of old hymns called Precious Memories.

The website also offers news and features about artists, a monthly video show on Christian entertainers, upcoming music releases and customer polls.

A feature called Showcase lets SongTouch users list their recommendations, along with their comments. Other users get to rate the Showcases. Rachinski says Showcase users often turn the service into a way to help others.

“I just went through a tough time,” Rachinski paraphrased one Showcase user as writing, “and I just went through this music for things that would help me. Here’s what I found that helped me through it.”

SongTouch already is drawing attention in the entertainment world. The website is the only online Christian store that Microsoft has built into its system of exclusive partner stores in Windows Media Player 10. Grammy winner Amy Grant, one of Christian music’s top stars, sent word through her agent that she wants to record spots advertising the site. Point of Grace, a Grammy-nominated Christian singing group, asked SongTouch to feature its music video.

Rachinski is no stranger to Christian music. The former church music minister is president and chief executive of Christian Copyright Licensing International. The little-known company acts as a middleman between 170,000 client churches worldwide and the holders of copyrighted music that the churches wish to use in worship services.

SongTouch, which is affiliated with Christian Copyright Licensing, will be offered as a service to churches that want to use SongTouch’s technology to sell music, including their own labels, on their websites. Christian music is about 6 percent to 7 percent of all music downloads now, Rachinski said, but he expects the category to grow exponentially.

“I have no personal animosity against Eminem or Madonna,” the 55-year-old Rachinski said. “But some people want a safe place to go.”

Steve Woodward writes for The Oregonian of Portland, Ore.

Posted: 8/04/06

On the Move

• Bill Claiborne has resigned as music and administration pastor at Sharon Church in New Chapel Hill to become a ministry resource representative in the service center of the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

• Matt Crawford to First Church in Matador as pastor.

• Brian Edwards to First Church in Hamilton as minister of youth, where he had been interim.

• Ed Ethridge to First Church in New Braunfels as interim pastor.

• Scott Fay has resigned as minister of music at North Waco Church in Waco.

• Glyndle Feagin has completed an interim pastorate at First Church in Matador.

• David Gage has resigned as pastor of First Church in Thrall.

• Gaines Gardner to First Church in Rockport as minister of education from Allen Heights Church in Allen, where he was associate pastor.

• Jerald Garner to South Garland Church in Garland as minister of music from Southmont Church in Denton.

• Bob Hairston has completed an interim pastorate at First Church in Palacios.

• Roger Hammonds has resigned as minister of education at Western Heights Church in Waco.

• Michael Hardy to First Church in Golden as associate pastor.

• Gordon Hightower has resigned as pastor of First Church in Canyon Lake to join the Nehemiah’s Vision ministry in Vidor.

• Brian Holt to Little River Church in Cameron as pastor.

• Doug Jones to Iola Missionary Church in Iola as pastor.

• Matthew McAnally has resigned as minister of music at Hyde Park Church in Denison.

• Patrick Mead to Fairview Church in Sherman as pastor from First Church in Purcell, Okla.

• Randy Osborn has resigned as pastor of First Church in Lott.

• Michael Patterson has resigned as pastor of Western Heights Church in Waco.

• Gene Russell to Central Church in Bellaire as pastor, where he was interim.

• Glenn Scruggs to First Church in Thrall as pastor.

• Kyle Steinhauser has resigned as pastor of Little River Church in Cameron.

• J.V. Thomas to First Concord Church in Rye as pastor.

• Chris Walker to Hebron Church in Bells as student minister.

• Josh Whitlock to Georgetown Church in Pottsboro as youth minister from Countryside Church in Clearwater, Fla.

Posted: 8/04/06

Paynter named Texas CLC director

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

DALLAS—The Baptist General Convention of Texas has named Suzii Paynter as director of the Texas Baptist Christian Life Commission effective Aug. 15.

Paynter will be the first woman to serve as director of the CLC, historically one of the most high-profile positions in Texas Baptist life. She has served as CLC interim director since March 2.

Paynter has served five years as the CLC citizenship and public policy director.

Baptist General Convention of Texas Executive Director Charles Wade praised Paynter’s ministry, saying she is an effective leader, administrator and motivator who has a deep passion for Christ, serving Texas Baptists and making the state a better place to live.

Paynter follows in the footsteps of mentor and longtime CLC Director Phil Strickland, who died earlier this year. Like Paynter, Strickland served as a public policy director for the CLC before becoming the commission’s director.

“Suzii exemplifies the qualities and passion that filled the past great leaders of the Christian Life Commission,” he said. “She demonstrates an ability to lead and lead effectively the ethics arm of the Baptist General Convention of Texas.”

BGCT Chief Operating Officer/ Associate Executive Director Ron Gunter said he is “delighted” Paynter will lead the CLC, adding that she will continue Texas Baptists’ tradition of being leaders in the realms of ethics and religious liberty.

“She will build upon the work of those who have gone before her, and she will lead us to new levels in our work,” he said. “We are pleased and excited to announce Suzii as our new director of the CLC.”

Wade and Gunter consulted with a search committee led by Jim Nelson, vice chairman of the BGCT Executive Board, in selecting Paynter. Paynter was the best candidate in a strong field of people who applied to be CLC director, Nelson said.

“Suzii has the abilities to excel as director of the Christian Life Commission,” Nelson said. “She is passionate about helping churches find biblical answers to ethical issues.”

Paynter served 25 years as a national literacy professional, professor and consultant. In these roles, she advocated for state and federal policy to provide systemic remedies for hard-to-teach populations.

Previously on the faculty at Stephen F. Austin University and Baylor University, she has been an advocate for religious liberty issues, literacy and early intervention for high-risk children.

Paynter has served in leadership in many Baptist groups and institutions. Currently, she serves on the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Coordinating Council and is a recent board member and officer of the Baptist Joint Committee, Religious Liberty Council and Whitsett Baptist Heritage Society.

Paynter has served as president of the Samaritan Counseling Center Austin and is a board member of Texas Impact and the Literacy Coalition of Central Texas.

Her husband, Roger, is pastor of First Baptist Church in Austin, where she is a frequent teacher and ordained deacon.

Paynter earned a bachelor’s degree from Baylor University and master’s degrees from Stephen F. Austin University and the University of Louisville.

Posted: 8/04/06

TBM, Mexico prepare for disaster

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

JUAREZ, Mexico—The waters in the Gulf of Mexico may have been calm so far this hurricane season, but Texas Baptist Men and Mexican Baptists are preparing for the next natural disaster.

During the recent annual meeting of the National Baptist Convention of Mexico, a team of TBM volunteers trained more than 100 Mexican Baptist leaders from throughout the nation in how to set up and execute a widespread disaster relief ministry.

The Texans showed the Mexican Baptists how to minister to people affected by a natural disaster through cooking meals, cleaning out homes and purifying water.

Ed Alvarado, TBM ethnic consultant, said disaster relief ministry could be extremely effective in Mexico because hurricanes hit the country on both coasts, causing a large amount of destruction.

“They’re more susceptible to hurricanes, and probably 60 percent of their land is coastland, so it’s a very viable thing to have,” he said.

Francisco Lopez, first vice president of the National Baptist Convention of Mexico, agreed with Alvarado. Mexican Baptists need an organized way to quickly minister to victims of natural disasters.

“It is very important for us to provide training for people who live close to the sea,” he said.

TBM already has provided some disaster relief equipment to Mexican Baptists, but no large network of disaster relief units yet exists.

Dexton Shores hopes that changes. Shores, director of Baptist General Convention of Texas Border/Mexico Missions, arranged the training event between TBM and the Mexican Baptists.

Alvarado agreed, saying TBM hopes to do three or four more trainings in Mexico within the next two years.

“The idea was instead of waiting for disasters and then responding like we did last year, we went ahead and trained individuals,” Shores said.

Posted: 8/04/06

Texas Tidbits

BGCT contributes to relief in Middle East. The Baptist General Convention of Texas has sent $20,000 to Baptist World Aid to help Israeli and Lebanese Baptists minister to people affected by armed conflict in the region. Texas Baptists can continue to support disaster response ministries by sending funds to BGCT Disaster Relief Fund, P.O. Box 159007, Dallas 75315.

Wayland names associate VP. Elane Seebo, dean of Wayland Baptist University’s Wichita Falls campus, has been named associate vice president of external campuses—a new position at the university. Seebo will be responsible for overseeing operations on the 13 external campuses in the Wayland system with their combined enrollment of about 5,000 students. Seebo is a graduate of Oklahoma State University, holds master’s degrees from Texas Tech University and Pepperdine University and earned a doctorate from the University of North Texas.

Baylor honors Samford dean. Baylor University’s Center for Christian Music Studies presented its award for exemplary leadership in church music to Milburn Price, dean of the School of Performing Arts at Samford University. Price served on the music faculty at Furman University in Greenville, S.C., from 1967 to 1981, with nine of those years as chair of the department of music, and dean of the School of Church Music at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., from 1981 to 1993.

Restorative Justice Ministries Network headquarters burns. In an apparent arson, facilities of the Restorative Justice Ministries Network in Huntsville burned Aug. 2. The ministry lost five computers, at least five printers, a copier, its phones and office equipment. However, most of the data crucial to the ministry is accessible. Restorative Justice Ministries Network helps connect recently released ex-offenders to churches and ministries in their hometowns. The ministry, which was launched by the Baptist General Convention of Texas and is partially supported by the Mary Hill Davis Offering for Texas Missions, has moved into the facilities of First Baptist Church of Huntsville. Anita Parrish, Restorative Justice Ministries Network ministry assistant, said funds donated by Texas Baptists will be used to purchase computers, phones, printers and other office supplies. Funds can be sent to Restorative Justice Ministries Network, 1229 Avenue J, Huntsville 77340.

DBU Patriots move into new clubhouse. The Dallas Baptist University baseball team, the Patriots, recently moved into the new Harold and Mildred Sadler Patriot Clubhouse, made possible by a $250,000 pledge from the Sadlers of Henderson. Raul and Jymme Gomez of Colleyville also contributed $100,000 for the new clubhouse. Doug Tabor of Dallas, an executive at global freight distributor Team Worldwide, gave a $50,000 personal donation, along with $25,000 from Team Worldwide/Worldwide Freight Forwarders.

Foundation issues challenge grant to UMHB. The Mabee Foundation of Tulsa, Okla., has issued a $500,000 challenge grant to the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor. The grant will move the university into a final phase of fundraising for the Paul and Jane Meyer Christian Studies Center. Construction of the $4.1 million center will begin when all funds have been raised for the project. Under the terms of the challenge grant, the university will need to secure all funds needed for the center by July 2007.

Correction: The cover story in the July 24 print edition of the Baptist Standard, “AIDS in Africa,” carried an incorrect byline. Scott Collins of Buckner Benevolences wrote the article.

Posted: 8/04/06

TOGETHER:
Texas Baptists not slowed by summer heat

In the midst of one of the hottest summers in recent memory, when many people are simply looking for the coolest place to escape the heat, our Texas Baptist family is deeply and richly involved in kingdom work.

We have sent Texas Baptist World Hunger Offering and disaster response funds to help with the needs of refugees caught in the war zones of the Middle East. Our Baptist brothers and sisters in Lebanon, Syria, Palestine and Israel are seeking to be instruments of grace and peace in the heartbreak that surrounds them, and Texas Baptists are helping them.

Executive Director BGCT Executive Board

Every region has its own politics to deal with, but Jesus followers are called to minister wherever they can. From Lebanon came the appeal for help as the Lebanese Baptists minister to the refugees from southern Lebanon who in previous years sometimes persecuted the Christian believers. How do you ask people to care for people who have abused them? In Jesus’ name. Let all of us who serve the Prince of Peace pray now for peace in this troubled and dangerous land.

There is a different kind of devastation in El Paso—flooding. In the first six months of the year El Paso received one inch of rain. In a few hours on July 31 six inches of rain fell in the city. Pray for the people who are hurting and pray for your Baptist family as they minister to the needs. The BGCT will be glad to forward funds to help in this situation, as well.

South of the border, Texas Baptists are helping in yet another ministry. Some of our BGCT churches have been partnering with Primera Iglesia Bautista of Acuna, Mexico, to minister to needs in the small villages just south of Big Bend National Park.

One of our BGCT health care coordinators who lives and works in Acuna, along with a doctor who is a member of Primera Bautista, communicated with Mexican government officials about the unsanitary water supply in those villages. They have received a response for which they are praising God. The governor has sent representatives and help to correct the problem and to assure long-term clean water for the villages.

And finally, Texas Baptists have been blessed again by the availability of one of God’s choice servants. With the unanimous recommendation of the search committee in hand, I have asked Suzii Paynter to take the responsibility of the director of the Christian Life Commission for Texas Baptists.

Suzii is a remarkable leader, a passionate advocate for public righteousness and justice, a gifted pastor’s wife, a beloved presence in her church, an experienced and persuasive voice on behalf of children and education, a thoroughgoing Christian and a Baptist by deep conviction.

Phil Strickland asked her to work in the CLC four years ago, and she has done her work with amazing creativity and dependability. He mentored her in the work of the CLC, and she is ready now to take up this great task.

As the interim director, she showed that she could handle the task of working in the Dallas office, while also living in Austin where her husband, Roger, is pastor of First Baptist Church there. Please pray for her and for all that we Texas Baptists need to do to help our people and our churches be a transformational, Jesus kind of presence in Texas.

We are loved.

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

Posted: 8/04/06

Texas WMU moves toward
‘frontline’ missions involvement

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

DALLAS—Mission work worldwide remains the focus of Woman’s Missionary Union of Texas, but how the organization carries that vision out is set to change in the next several years.

The Baptist women’s group soon will be trying to provide more “frontline” missions opportunities than it has in the past in an effort to connect with a younger generation.

That’s because more people today want to be involved in mission work worldwide, rather than simply learning about it and supporting it financially and with prayer, said Carolyn Porterfield, Texas WMU executive director-treasurer.

Mary Hill Davis Offering for Texas Missions

“Women want to fulfill God’s ministry calling upon their lives, whether that is serving meals to the elderly, teaching a Sunday school class or ministering overseas,” added Texas WMU President Nelda Taylor-Thiede. “WMU of Texas aims to help women do just that.”

Texas WMU—supported by the Mary Hill Davis Offering for Texas Missions, which it also helps to promote—looks for opportunities to build relationships with strategic missions partners around the globe, while continuing to work through current relationships.

Leaders also are finding service opportunities through Christians worldwide. This fall, a group of Texas women will travel to Moldova to serve alongside women there. The organization also will host an event in October called TouchPoint in Ellis County, where Texas Baptists can participate in a variety of missions projects.

“I think we have been known more for our missions support, and we will continue to do that, but we want to help our membership to move toward the frontline of missions—whatever that means to them,” Porterfield said.

The shift comes shortly after Texas WMU revamped its training conference style, moving toward regionally supported and regionally planned meetings, rather than one leadership training event.

Early returns on the change are positive, Porterfield said. Women are designing meetings for the people in their regions, and people who never have attended before are participating. New leaders are being identified. New support is being solidified.

Leaders are being trained so they can train other leaders, creating a multiplying effect.

“People just don’t know what WMU is and the value it can bring to the church,” she said. “So, we have to introduce ourselves to a new audience.”

Texas WMU continues its emphasis on empowering women from all ethnic backgrounds, an area that has grown recently for the organization, Taylor-Thiede said.

As people of diverse backgrounds come together, their excitement for God is multiplied as they share their stories, she added.

“I just feel there has been a stirring of the women,” Taylor-Thiede said. “They are coming together with all the language groups. I know the heart is really coming through, and doing missions is part of it.”

WMU of Texas leaders hope to involve girls and women of all ages in hands-on mission projects.

The changes may be effective, but Porterfield is quick to note the focus of Texas WMU—worldwide missions—will not change. The group will continue to promote missions giving through designated offerings and the Baptist General Convention of Texas Cooperative Program, missions education in churches for girls of all ages and prayer for missions around the globe.

All three of these emphases continue to be tools God is using in the lives of Texas Baptists, Porterfield said.

The Mary Hill Davis Offering provides millions of dollars to ministries throughout the state each year, as well as starting churches, training leaders, encouraging evangelism and meeting physical needs, she noted.

Mission education, camps and projects remain important to Texas WMU, Porterfield said. This is how women learn about missions, become passionate about spreading the gospel and pray for missionaries, she added. Participants are making the connection between giving to mission work and being involved in it.

The group also hopes to communicate its ministries more effectively so people can understand what the organization seeks to accomplish. Porterfield believes WMU leaders must remind Texas Baptists how effective the Mary Hill Davis Offering and missions education efforts are.

“Some amazing things happen,” she said. “There will be several thousand girls and teenage girls who go to GA and Acteens camps each summer. That story probably will not be told. There are girls who come to know Christ. There will be girls who come forward and say, ‘I want to be a missionary.’

“New missions organizations are being started in churches across Texas. The growth from one Christian Women’s Job Corps site in 1997 to approximately 50 in 2005— which now includes Christian Men’s Job Corps—is another example of God moving through WMU.”

Taylor-Thiede and Porterfield agree Texas WMU is ministering in a time of change, and the organization must change with it while remaining true to the Great Commission. Fortunately, Texas Baptist women are up to the challenge, they said.

“I think we have to be open to the changes that need to be made,” Porterfield said. “If we will remain obedient to the mission of God, we can be confident that he will bless us.”