Posted: 7/07/06

African-American cowboy
church defies stereotypes

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

GOLIAD—As the summer sun sets each Friday in South Texas, bright lights come on and crowds gather to cheer every throw of a rope and buck of a bull at a local rodeo. And contrary to stereotype, many in the arena—participants and onlookers—are African-American.

Many have attended rodeos for years, honing their skills or learning the finer points of the sport. People bond through the events, building a community.

Pastor Ronald Edwards enjoys the occasional rodeo. It’s an opportunity for family and friends to come together to have fun.

He just never liked that it caused his church members to miss worship.

Minnehulla Baptist Church hopes to build a rodeo arena near its current facilities.

Edwards, pastor of Minnehulla Baptist Church, watched Sunday after Sunday as members of his congregation participated in rodeo arena events rather than attend worship services. Mothers in the church were saddened their children couldn’t rodeo and go to church. And Edwards knows there are many others who must make the same choice as people in his congregation.

So, the Minnehulla Cowboy Fellowship was born as a place where cowboys and people interested in cowboy culture could be involved in church. Western Heritage people in the Goliad area no longer have to choose between rodeo and worship.

The congregation, believed to be the first church for African-American cowboys, kicked off with a rodeo of its own this summer, followed by a worship service. The church is supported partially by funds from the Mary Hill Davis Offering for Texas Missions and has been assisted by Baptist General Convention of Texas affinity group leaders.

While most of the 150 people who attended the event focused on the action in the arena, Minnehulla Baptist Church members scattered around the grounds were locked in on the people outside the metal ring—getting to know individuals and striking up conversations about spiritual matters.

After all, church doesn’t take place on the back of a whirling bull; it happens outside the ring, said Florence LeBlanc-Stovall, Minnehulla Baptist Church’s minister of education. “It’s outside, intermingling.”

Church members spoke to men about the importance of being family leaders. They talked to others about the dangers of alcohol. When two young boys got in a fight, church members separated them and took the opportunity to teach them Christian principles. Each encounter was a “divine appointment,” Edwards said.

“You’ve got to recognize God places people in your life for a purpose, and if he placed someone in your life and allowed you to connect with them, he really wants you to witness to them, to encourage them, to share the gospel with them,” he said.

Two people prayed to accept Christ as Lord during the rodeo, and about 100 people attended the Sunday worship service, which was required to participate in the calf-roping competition scheduled later that day. The church also gathered contact information for numerous people, which can be used for evangelistic follow-up.

Edwards believes those actions are an indication the rodeo and a church for African-American cowboys can change lives.

Minnehulla Baptist Church prays the ministry to cowboys grows and plans to build a rodeo arena near its current facilities to allow Minnehula Cowboy Fellowship to hold arena events on its property.

“We thought if we could identify with our roots and teach their children where their ancestors came from and to tap into their culture and their taste, maybe we could reach them more effectively,” Edwards said.

View a video clip from Minnehulla Cowboy Fellowship at http://www.bgct.org /documents/ video/goliadcowboychurch.wmv.

Posted: 7/07/06

BGCT treasurer: No ‘financial crisis’

By Ken Camp

Managing Editor

Contrary to Internet-circulated rumors of across-the-board Baptist Building cutbacks and “financial crisis” in the Baptist General Convention of Texas, year-to-date Texas Baptist Cooperative Program giving is up over 2005 levels and appears on track to meet the 2006 budget, said Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer David Nabors.

Texas Cooperative Program gifts through the end of May totaled more than $17.8 million—6 percent greater than the first five months of 2005 and 97.5 percent of the year-to-date budget, he reported. Final figures for June receipts were not available, but Nabors said early indicators looked encouraging.

“We are in good shape, and I feel positive about the future,” he said.

Nabors characterized reports of across-the-board 60 percent cuts in program budget requests as “inaccurate” but declined to discuss specific issues about a budget still in development.

“We’re in the middle of the budget process, and it’s totally inappropriate to talk about the budget at this point,” he said.

However, he confirmed the proposed 2007 budget probably will reflect an increase over the 2006 budget.

In a June 27 entry on his Internet blog, Pastor David Montoya of Calvary Baptist Church in Mineral Wells wrote: “I have been told by my source in the Baptist Building that we are in a financial crisis. I have been told that the budget requests turned in by the staff of the BGCT were all cut to 60 percent.”

Two days later, he posted e-mails on his daily blog refuting the charge. The following day, he apologized for his initial posting.

“I was misinformed. Therefore, I must apologize to those who read my thoughts on this blog,” he wrote. “I made a mistake. I was wrong.”

Apparently, confusion centers on a change in the way the BGCT Executive Board staff prepared 2007 budget requests—what Nabors called a “modified zero-based budgeting” approach.

Program staff submitted ministry budgets in which they were expected to “justify from zero every dollar spent” rather than basing budgets on dollars spent the previous year, he explained.

Nabors characterized it as “modified” rather than total zero-based budgeting process because it did not include administrative areas such as utilities, general accounting, technology systems and salaries.

“It’s a bottom-up rather than a top-down approach, so that means we get more requests,” he said.

Budget requests submitted by staff for missions and ministry expenditures—particularly during a time of reorganization—included new initiatives, which mean reducing or eliminating some established programs.

While Nabors declined to discuss specific percentages, some Baptist Building program staff confirmed they received 100 percent of their requests. Others, who requested significantly more, may have been cut to 60 percent.

“You don’t start analyzing the budget in the middle of the process,” Nabors said.

Posted: 7/07/06

VP Vernon to be nominated for BGCT president

By Marv Knox

Editor

LEVELLAND—Veteran denominational leader Steve Vernon will be nominated for president of the Baptist General Convention of Texas this fall. If elected, missions will be the theme of his tenure.

Vernon, pastor of First Baptist Church in Levelland, is the BGCT’s first vice president and was second vice president in 2001-02.

Ken Hall, president of Buckner Baptist Benevolences and a former BGCT president, announced he will nominate Vernon for the presidency when the convention meets in Dallas Nov. 13-14.

“Steve represents the best of what it means to be a Texas Baptist pastor,” Hall said, citing a range of qualities that reflect well not only on Vernon, but also on Texas Baptists and on pastoral ministry.

“Steve’s lifestyle reflects his commitment to service,” Hall reported.

“He loves his church first, but he also loves the Baptist General Convention of Texas. He’s very missions-minded, and his church has a strong history of missions involvement.”

Vernon has been a role model of denominational cooperation, Hall added, noting, “He believes in funding our ministries, and First Baptist in Levelland is a strong Cooperative Program church.”

The Levelland church contributes 10 percent of undesignated receipts to the Cooperative Program, the convention’s unified budget. According to the most recent BGCT Annual, that amount was $85,740. The church’s combined missions contributions were $250,841—24.5 percent of total receipts.

“Steve loves his alma mater, Baylor University, and Christian education as a whole,” Hall continued. “He stands strongly for religious liberty and the autonomy of the local church.

“I view Steve as a peacemaker, but one who advocates strongly for what’s right and what’s best about being a Baptist. His lifestyle reflects his commitment to service. He’s attractive to people of all cultures, ages and geographic perspectives.

“Steve has put his life where his voice has been. He’s one of those preachers who does it right. He pastors his church and is a community leader—a ‘bishop’ to his town. He’s somebody who makes you proud to be a Baptist.”

The time is right to elect a BGCT president from a small town and from West Texas, Hall stressed. If elected, Vernon would be the first president from West Texas since Jerold McBride of San Angelo presided in 1994-95 and the first president from a town whose population is less than 25,000 since Carlos McLeod of Plainview presided in 1980-81.

Vernon noted many Texas Baptists are qualified to serve as BGCT president, but he said he would put his experience—particularly the insights he has gained this year as first vice president—to use in strengthening the convention.

“It helps to have been vice president and then move on to be president, since we’re moving with one-year (presidential) terms now,” Vernon said. Since the BGCT elected Hall as its president in 2003, convention presidents have served only one year, as opposed to the traditional two consecutive years. Subsequently, each first vice president has followed as president.

Looking into 2007, Vernon said he would make missions the theme of his presidency.

“Missions is the whole key—to focus Texas on the world,” he explained. “Across Texas, we have an amazing missions force already. A lot of churches are doing individual missions work already. The convention needs to be part of that, enhance that, involve other churches. I think that’s where we need to be focusing.”

If elected, Vernon’s goal would be to “refocus on the whole missions enterprise.”

The BGCT has a strong history of missions involvement, Vernon acknowledged. He cited such programs and organizations as Texas Partnerships, WorldconneX, River Ministry, Buckner Baptist Benevolences, Texas Baptist Men and Woman’s Missionary Union, as well as church-based missions programs across the state.

“My goal is to refocus on the whole missions enterprise,” he said. “I want to focus the convention to be more and more committed to missions, to be a missional convention.”

Vernon expressed excitement about a pre-convention meeting—to be held at First Baptist Church in Arlington immediately before the BGCT annual meeting—that will bring pastors and church missions leaders from all over Texas together to talk about doing even more for missions.

Incidentally, an emphasis on Texas Baptist involvement in foreign missions will strengthen missions and ministry here in the state, he insisted.

“Once they get going, they thrive—and they see home differently,” he explained of the change that comes over local-church volunteers who serve in projects on mission fields. “It’s almost the Great Commission in reverse. We go away to the ‘uttermost parts of the earth,’ and then we see ‘Jerusalem’ and ‘Judea’ in a different light.”

So, Vernon wants to help Texas Baptists commit themselves more energetically to missions, “everything from local to global,” he said.

“It’s not just evangelism, which is important,” he added. “But there are so many needs, and we as Texas Baptists have the resources to meet them. We’ve got to be part of those people’s lives.”

This focus on missions is a natural progression down the path the convention has been on for the past three years, Vernon said. During that time, the convention rearranged its governance structure and reorganized its Executive Board.

“We’re reorganized. We’re ready to go somewhere, and somewhere is missions,” he declared. “We’ve got to get back to what we’ve always been about. We must focus with more intention than before. The focus is going to be on getting the kingdom of God out there in the world.

“That’s not to say we weren’t out there or that we haven’t been focused on missions. But with the new organization, we can focus more intently.”

Despite all the uncertainty of reorganization, Vernon sees a bright future for the BGCT. “Texas Baptists need to know their best days are ahead of them,” he stressed. “I’ve been across the state this year and in meetings with almost every ethnic and cultural group we serve, and, boy, it’s exciting.

“There are such wonderful Christian people in this state. We have such a positive message to share. It’s an exciting thing to be part of.”

Vernon is the immediate past president of the Panhandle-Plains Pastors’ and Laymen’s Conference. He has been chairman of the BGCT Christian Life Commission and a trustee of Wayland Baptist University.

He also has served on the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship’s national and state coordinating councils. He has participated in multiple mission trips and has served in various Baptist associational leadership positions.

Vernon has been pastor in Levelland since 1991. Previously, he was pastor of churches in Panhandle, Kress and Ames, Okla. According to latest reports, First Baptist in Levelland has 1,710 resident members and averages 382 participants in Bible study. It baptized 12 people in 2004.

Vernon is a graduate of Baylor University and earned master of divinity (1976) and doctor of theology (1987) degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He and his wife, Donna, have three children.

Posted: 7/07/06

Hispanic convention elects new officers

ARLINGTON—The Hispanic Baptist Convention of Texas elected a new slate of officers during its annual meeting.

Baldemar Borrego, pastor of Nueva Esperanza Baptist Church in Wichita Falls, was elected president of the convention after a run-off with Javier Elizondo, vice president of academic affairs for Baptist University of the Americas.

In nominating Borrego, Alex Camacho called him “a good pastor and a good friend” and a solid leader. Borrego has demonstrated courage in addressing controversial immigration issues, Camacho added.

Borrego, a former first vice president of the Hispanic Baptist Convention of Texas, member of the Convención’s strategic planning committee and president of the Hispanic Ministers Conference, has been in ministry 30 years. He has been the host of a radio program, “Jesus is the Answer,” and is a member of the American Association of Christian Counselors.

Camacho, pastor of Iglesia Cristiana in McKinney, was elected as first vice president, narrowly defeating Robert Arrubla, pastor of Iglesia Bautista El Buen Pastor in Fort Worth, in a run-off.

Ruben Chairez, pastor of Primera Iglesia Bautista in Del Rio, was elected second vice president, and Carlos Alegria, pastor of Iglesia Bautista Betel in Baytown, was elected third vice president of the convention. Darlene Gamiochipi was elected as secretary of the convention by acclamation.

Posted: 7/07/06

Partners sign church-starting agreement

ARLINGTON—Hispanic Baptist Convention of Texas, Baptist General Convention of Texas, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and Baptist University of the Americas leaders signed a partnership agreement to start Hispanic churches across the United States.

The partnership is a renewal of an original partnership formally signed during the 2003 CBF General Assembly, which included the Fellowship, BGCT and His-panic Baptist Convention of Texas. The renewal formally includes Baptist University of the Americas.

According to the partnership renewal—signed at the Hispanic Baptist Convention of Texas annual meeting—the BGCT provides church-starting training and Baptist University of the Americas trains ministers to work in Hispanic contexts.

CBF recruits congregations that want to start Hispanic churches. And the Hispanic Baptist Convention of Texas and Baptist University of the Americas help identify individuals who may make good church starters. All entities help promote the partnership.

The Hispanic population is growing nationwide, and the need for more churches is clear, outgoing Hispanic Baptist Convention of Texas President Alcides Guajardo said. Demographers expect Hispanics to make up 50 percent of the Texas population by 2015. Only 2 percent of the current Hispanic population in Texas is Baptist.

Baptist University of the Americas is the premier equipping institution for recruiting, educating and training the large numbers of cross-cultural ministry leaders needed by tomorrow’s Hispanic churches, BGCT Executive Director Charles Wade said.

All four organizations play a crucial role in this partnership, Baptist Uni-versity of the Americas President Albert Reyes added. “We know that the BGCT plans to start 100 more Hispanic churches each year in Texas, and we are aware of the need to plant 500 churches throughout the USA,” he said.

“BUA receives weekly calls from all across the country for church starters. Over the last 60 years, we have provided ministry leaders and church planters to 75 percent of Hispanic pulpits in Texas. We will continue in that role with this agreement.”

Posted: 7/07/06

President challenges Hispanic Baptists

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

ARLINGTON—God has given Hispanic Texas Baptists grace, and they need to share it with the rest of the world, President Alcides Guajardo told the Hispanic Baptist Convention of Texas.

By working together with a Christ-like spirit of service, Hispanic Texas Baptists can minister to the entire world, Guajardo said in his address to the convention at its annual meeting.

Through benevolent ministries such as feeding malnourished children, outreach programs for immigrants and cooperative efforts involving the larger Texas Baptist family, Guajardo believes, Hispanic Baptists can have a significant impact on the world.

“You have been given grace,” he said. “Give grace back.”

Making an impact on the world begins by focusing on evangelizing Hispanics in Texas, Guajardo said. Only 2 percent of Hispanics in Texas are involved in Baptist churches. The fastest-growing population segment in Texas needs more churches and ministers to share the gospel with it.

Changing the spiritual habits of Hispanics could change the world, Guajardo said. Hispanics could be the key to spreading the gospel throughout the Muslim world, since they have much in common culturally with Muslims, according to missiologists.

“We need to focus on Hispanics, and we will win many more,” he said.

To have significant impact, Guajardo said, Hispanic churches need to be more active. He encouraged them to give to the Baptist General Conven-tion of Texas Cooperative Program and participate in the convention. He also urged them to reach out to those around them.

“If we focus on the evangelization of Hispanics, the future of our convention is bright,” he said

Posted: 7/07/06

Around the State

• Paisano Baptist Encamp-ment will hold its 86th consecutive general encampment beginning the evening of July 23 and running through noon July 28. Morning worship services will be held at 11 a.m., and evening worship will be at 8 p.m. Supper is served at 6 p.m. with choir rehearsal at 7 p.m. Childcare is provided during services. Camp pastors are Steve Wells and Milton Cunningham. Larry McGraw will be the Bible study leader. Between services, several activities are available. For more information, go to www.paisanoencampment.org.

• Four Howard Payne Uni-versity students have been chosen to receive the Hatton W. Sumners Foundation scholarship in the Douglas MacArthur Academy of Freedom honors program. Selected were Rachel Chapman of Grapevine, Jessie Goodwin of The Woodlands, Kelly Grewe of San Antonio and Johnnie Wiedman of Belton. The scholarship provides $9,000 a year for two years.

• Dallas Baptist University has received two gifts totaling $550,000 from the estate of Wynonia Pallmeyer. The gift will establish two scholarship funds for students facing financial hardship.

• Houston Baptist University has named its Student Foundation members for the upcoming academic year. The students serve as representatives in various activities and university promotional functions. New members include Ashley Hatchett, Alyssa Johns, Andrea Legare, Elsa Marquez, Sadiya Jamal, Edward Batinga, Diego Bello, Ashley Nunes, Derrick Owens, Cheri Wood, and Humair Khan. Returning members are Margaret Bowen, Edgar Gonzalez, Sidra Qasim, Karen Singh, Mon’Sher Spenser and Jessica Watson.

A $26.1 million expansion of Tallowood Church in Houston’s campus pushed forward the extraction of a lead box time capsule slated for removal in 2012. Pastor Duane Brooks read an inventory of the capsule that had been placed in the original chapel’s cornerstone. The capsule contained the list of people present when the cornerstone was laid on Nov. 13, 1960, copies of that week’s Baptist Standard, Training Union and Sunday school materials, and a Bible that included Pastor Russell Dilday’s five-digit telephone number. Several charter members were present for the ceremony.

• Heather Gates, a student at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, has been awarded Chick-fil-A’s top scholarship in recognition of her academics, employment, community service and leadership. Gates is one of 25 national scholarship recipients, which earned an additional $1,000 scholarship to the one they previously had been awarded. Gates, from Rockwall, is studying accounting.

• Wayne Roy has announced his “phased retirement” from Hardin-Simmons University. Roy, senior vice president of institutional advancement, will become special assistant to the president for development following his Dec. 31 transition date. Roy said he wanted to put this plan into effect rather than an abrupt retirement so that the school’s development momentum would not be hampered. Roy came to HSU in 1998 from the Abilene Reporter-News, where he was vice president of advertising and marketing.

• Five Baptist Health System chaplains have completed requirements for certification by the Association of Professional Chaplains. Receiving certificates were David Kirk, John Stoker, Mark Spain, Michael Robinson and Jeanene Atkinson.

Anniversaries

• Ronnie Tucker, 20th, as pastor of Friendship Church in Amarillo, July 8.

• Calvary Church in Tulia, 50th, July 16. Events are planned throughout the afternoon. Jeffrey Lee is pastor.

• College Heights Church in Wharton, 40th, July 16. Former Pastor Jim Daniel will preach in the afternoon program. Don Hurley is pastor.

• Buel Church in Cleburne, 60th, July 26. A celebration service is planned for July 30. A meal and singing service will follow morning worship. David Carfrey is pastor.

• Huey Harpe, 25th, as organist/music associate at First Church in Tyler, Aug. 20. An anthem commissioned from Mary McDonald will be performed in the special service planned for that morning. A reception is set for 4 p.m.

Retiring

• Randy Ford, as pastor of First Church in La Grange, June 25. He served the church more than eight years and was in the ministry 35 years. Other churches he served as pastor were Pleasant Grove Church near Lexington, Trinity Chapel in Youngstown, Ohio, and Sunset Church in Jacksonville. He can be reached for supply preaching at 625 South 5th Street, Midlothian 76065.

• Dan McClinton, as minister of music/associate pastor of The Oaks Church in Grand Prairie, July 31. He has served the church 27 years and has been in ministry 41 years. An alumni choir and orchestra rehearsal will be held July 29 at 4 p.m., followed by a reception from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Other Texas churches he served include Hotwells and Northside churches in San Antonio, Baptist Temple in Big Spring and Windsor Park Church in Austin.

• Pete Freeman, as pastor of First Church in The Woodlands, Aug. 13. He has been pastor of the church 12 years, and in ministry almost 42 years. He previously served as pastor First Church in Kilgore, Baker Road Church in Baytown, Baptist Temple in Houston, First Church in Mount Vernon, Pine Spring Church in Tyler and Redland Church in Lufkin. A reception is planned after a 6 p.m. concert by the Celebration Choir.

Deaths

• Joseph McLeod, 84, May 28 in Fort Worth. He was ordained in 1963 and served several congregations as pastor. He also taught American history for three decades at Howard Payne and Dallas Baptist universities. He was a long-time member of First Church in Burleson. He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Carol; daughters, Barbara Ford, Becky Bownds, Debra Muenich and Marilyn DeVere; sons, Gerald and James; 11 grandchildren; eight great-grandchildren; and three sisters.

• Clifford Jones, 81, June 24 in Bedford. He was the founding pastor of Skyline Church in Lubbock. Since 1969, he has been a member of Davis Boulevard Church in North Richland Hills, serving 35 years as a deacon and Sunday school teacher. He was preceded in death by two daughters, Mary Jones and Carol DeArmond. He is survived by his wife of 61 years, Juanita; son, Clifford Jones II; daughters, Rebecca Perry, Sandy Miller and Renee Miller; sisters, Norma Lee Reynolds and Ola Mae Nicholas; brother, Amos; 12 grandchildren; and 14 great-grandchildren.

• Charlie Barrow, 84, June 25 in San Antonio. A former Texas Supreme Court justice, he became law school dean at Baylor University in 1984. He retired in 1991. He was preceded in death by his son, Charles Jr. He is survived by his wife, Sugie; sons, John, David and James; sister, Bea Little; and numerous grandchildren.

• Lila McGaw, 90, June 28 in Rusk. She graduated from Wayland Baptist University in 1934 and Howard Payne University in 1936. While at Howard Payne, she won the Texas Baptist Oratorical Contest. After graduation, she married O.E. McGaw, who was pastor of churches in Shallowater, Kingsville, Cayuga, Talkington and Texas City. He then was associate director of Texas Baptist Haven in Houston. She was preceded in death by her husband a decade ago. She is survived by her daughter, Martha McGaw, and her brother, Donnal Timmons.

Events

• The Blackwood Gospel Quartet from Knoxville, Tenn., will perform at First Church in Devers July 14 at 7 p.m. Harry McDaniel is pastor.

• City Light Ministries, a ministry of First Church in Abilene that provides assistance and humane support to needy families, the homeless and children in Abilene, received the Community Service Award from the Abilene Southwest Rotary Club.

Ordained

• Ken Freeman and John Roberts as deacons at First Church in Granbury.

Revivals

• Honey Creek Church, Wolfe City; July 16-20; evangelist, Paul Cherry; music, The Cherrys; pastor, Ken Horton.

• Mount Zion Church, Cumby; July 23-26; evangelist, Paul Cherry; music, The Cherrys; pastor, Roy Lee Dittmore.

• North Church, Greenville; July 23-27; evangelist, Herman Cramer; music, Paul and Christy Newberry; pastor, Leslie Mills.

Posted: 7/07/06

Baylor choir sings in Australia

By Julie Carlson

Baylor University

The Baylor Religious Hour Choir recently spent nine days in Australia, performing and providing service throughout the Sydney area.

“We worked with a local church and some of its sister churches,” said Maxey Parrish, faculty sponsor for the choir. “It was a small, suburban church that has been in existence a couple of years, but is starting to grow and trying to expand its outreach.”

The students sang in churches and also worked in a coffee shop the host church operates as an outreach ministry. They performed public concerts, often several in one day.

Allison Deily of Houston gets acquainted with a koala during a Baylor Religious Hour Choir trip to Sydney, Australia.

“An interesting thing is that the public schools allow for an hour of religious education per week,” Parrish said. “This is unusual by U.S. standards, and the religious education can be any religion. So, we were allowed to perform in the schools.

“And the school kids really looked at us like a novelty, because while the Australians aren’t hostile to religion like you would encounter in Western Europe, the Christian church is not a dominant force in their lives. But they were very warm and receptive. We were treated very well.”

Recent Baylor graduate Allison Deily of Houston had been a member of the choir since her freshman year and had taken two previous mission trips—one to Alberta, Canada, and one to New York City.

“I have traveled extensively in Europe, but I found Sydney to be a unique cross between British and Asian cultures. It was really interesting,” she said.

Deily found working with the Australian churches a particularly rewarding experience.

“The pastors were so encouraged by our presence there,” she said. “Most churches in Sydney have congregations of about 30 to 100 people, so our choir was as big as the church we were helping.”

The Baylor Religious Hour Choir has been a university organization since 1948 and serves primarily as a ministry to Baylor’s campus and churches in Texas. The choir also travels nationally and internationally for annual mission trips. Previous years’ mission trips have included destinations such as Taiwan, Mexico and France.

Posted: 7/07/06

Book Reviews

Hell’s Broke Loose in Georgia. Survival in a Civil War Regiment by Scott Walker (University of Georgia Press)

This new book by Scott Walker, pastor of First Baptist Church in Waco, tells the story of the 57th Regiment of Georgia. Walker follows the regiment through the Civil War, beginning with its organization in Savannah in 1862, with more than a passing interest. He is the great-great grandson of one of the regiment’s few members who survived the war.

What are you reading that other Texas Baptists would find helpful? Send suggestions and reviews to books@baptiststandard.com.

The book does not offer mere military history. Rather, it presents “family history” of the men who served in the 57th. Through personal letters and journal entries, it vividly describes the human tragedy and personal devastation of war. This may be its chief value.

The book was carefully researched and documented. It is a concentrated read; a good balance be-tween academic material and poolside reading. As one might expect from a pastor, it ends with an “application” section containing the author’s insights gained from writing the book. I found these quite meaningful.

Ron Lyles, pastor

South Main Baptist Church

Pasadena

102 Fascinating Bible Topics for Group Discussion by Preston Taylor (Xulon Press)

Whether we are pastors, teachers or discussion leaders, all of us have been at that place of pondering, “Where do I start?” and “What do I do next?” Author and pastor Preston Taylor has developed an exciting new teaching resource that he calls 102 Fascinating Bible Topics for Group Discussion. The book is easy to use and helps church discussion leaders figure out both where to start and what to do next.

Taylor’s topics—such as angels, faith, health and worship—start with a short illustration that sets up the discussion to follow. Taylor then lists 10 biblical references on each topic and asks thoughtful questions on each Scripture to “start the ball rolling.” An added benefit is this book requires each group member to use his or her Bible.

This book is a gem, and my copy will be well-worn in short order. Both novice and scholar will find this book to be indispensable. Congregations that use the small-group model or the traditional Sunday school structure can benefit from placing this book in every leader’s hands.

Jerry Barker, pastor

First Baptist Church

Falfurrias

Leaves of Hope by Catherine Palmer (Steeple Hill)

In the Christian romance Leaves of Hope, Baylor University graduate Catherine Palmer skillfully weaves a plot of intrigue with threads of faith, hope and love.

Raised in Africa as the daughter of Baptist missionaries, Palmer uses her global knowledge to move Beth Lowell from her hometown of Tyler to New York and a job that requires traveling the world.

While visiting her recently widowed mother, Jan, in Texas, Beth discovers a hidden box clearly meant for her to open after her mother’s funeral. But the impetuous, adventurous Beth can’t wait. She unwraps an antique, hand-painted tea set that reveals her mother’s scandalous secret.

Accompanied by the handsome British owner of Wilson Teas, Beth flies to Darjeeling, India, and a tea plantation in search of a birth father who knows nothing about her. Ultimately, faith enables Beth to face the present with grace and helps Jan face the past with courage.

In Palmer’s award-winning style, the author allows her readers to travel along with the daughter and mother as they run the race God set before them.

Kathy Robinson Hillman, former president

Woman’s Missionary Union of Texas

Waco

Posted: 7/07/06

Baptist Briefs

Blackaby resigns from Canadian seminary. Richard Blackaby has resigned as president of Canadian Southern Baptist Seminary to become president of Blackaby Ministries International, an organization founded by his father, Henry Blackaby. Blackaby will continue at the seminary as chancellor, and a presidential search committee named Bob Tucker interim president. Tucker, a professor at the seminary, was interim president before Blackaby’s arrival 13 years ago.

Lotz challenges Baptists to leave Christendom behind. Western Baptists need to leave Christendom behind and become more like the early church, Baptist World Alliance General Secretary Denton Lotz told a BWA dinner held in conjunction with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship general assembly. Many Westerners still hold a “Christendom-based” model of thinking—characterized by the dominant cultural role played by the Christian church in Western history, particularly in Europe, where national churches were granted privileged status, he said. But Christianity has moved to the southern hemisphere, he noted. “Baptists work best outside of a Christendom model,” Lotz said. As a result, Africa and Asia are on their way to becoming the center of Christianity, he said. And a day will come, he said, when America and Europe will need to be re-evangelized.

CBF commissions self-funded missionaries. The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship commissioned 19 new missions workers during a service at the CBF general assembly. Of those, six were funded for one- to three-year posts under the aegis of the group’s Global Service Corps, including Susan and Wes Craig of Waco, who will work with the Romany people in Bucharest, Romania, and Elizabeth Fortenberry of Waco, who will work with international women and families in Los Angeles’ academic community. The remaining 13 were self-sustaining missionaries appointed as part of CBF’s AsYouGo program, which provides CBF affiliation and some support to workers whose careers take them to mission fields or whose full-time missions work is funded completely by a church, donors or themselves. AsYouGo affiliates commissioned included Connie and Rod Johnson of Houston, who will facilitate teams helping with medical and other physical needs in far southern Mexico. CBF, whose missions giving has lagged in recent years, will not appoint any career missionaries this year. With the latest appointments, CBF has 107 active career missionaries, 20 Global Service Corps workers and 38 other missionaries affiliated with CBF through AsYouGo and other programs in the United States and abroad.

Grants benefit history/heritage group. The Baptist History & Heritage Society recently was awarded two grants totaling $35,000 to help publish two special projects. Christian Mission Concerns of Waco has provided a matching grant to help publish the Baptist Origins series of eight pamphlets in October. These pamphlets will focus on the origins of Baptists in England and the United States; the American Baptist Churches, USA, Southern Baptist Convention and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship; African-American and Hispanic Baptists. Floyd and Margaret Patterson of Washington, D.C., provided a grant to finance writing and publishing a new history of the International Baptist Theological Seminary.

New hymnal slated for 2009. A new hymnal for Baptists—and other Christian traditions—is slated for release in 2009. A collaboration of the Townsend-McAfee Institute and Mercer University Press, the hymnal project will be led by an editorial team of church musicians who will work with ministers of music, music professors, pastors and lay leaders in its creation. Heading up the editorial team are John Simons and Stanley Roberts, both of the Townsend-McAfee Institute, and Milburn Price, dean of the School of Performing Arts at Samford University. Baptist layman Thomas McAfee, chairman and president of Hallmark Systems, will serve as project chairman. Simons, associate professor of music at Mercer and director of the Townsend-McAfee Institute, said the hymnal will include great hymns of the Christian faith, new hymns, spiritual songs, worship music from other cultures, service music, worship readings, creative worship medleys and worship planning tools. As a worship resource, the hymnal will include online updates, CD-ROM database information, production downloads, orchestrations and instrumental charts. For more information about the new hymnal, contact Simons at (478) 301-2748 or simons_je@mercer.edu.

Posted: 7/07/06

Handle theology with care, chaplain says

By Angela Best

Communications Intern

ARLINGTON—“Theology, like nitroglycerine, is man-made, and both ought to be handled in the same way … very carefully,” a Baptist military chaplain told participants at a conference exploring “life in the face of death.”

Chaplain Jerry Reynolds spoke at the B.H. Carroll Theological Institute’s summer colloquy at First Baptist Church in Arlington.

Theology determines “what you do and how you relate to people, the content of sermons, how you relate to people in visitation, how you look at your own life and how you maintain yourself,” he said.

Reynolds, a retired Army colonel, said his personal theology about dealing with “life in the face of death” comes from Psalm 23, where the key is found in the first five words—“The Lord is my Shepherd.”

King David wrote this psalm in his adulthood while looking back over his life, and death likely was not too far from his mind, Reynolds explained. One only has to read the first few words to see the main message behind this particular psalm, he stressed. “You must have the Lord as your Shepherd—that’s exactly what David said.”

When the Lord is Shepherd, people in the unbelieving world or who are experiencing a time of grief can’t help but see God in a Christian’s life, Reynolds said. He calls this the ministry of presence.

Since the majority of communication is just being present, never underestimate the high value of the ministry of presence, Reynolds urged.

Jim Spivey, senior fellow and church history professor at the Carroll Institute, echoed Reynolds’ views.

“Being there, and sometimes not even talking, but being there, is most important. And it’s not being somewhere where people come to you; it’s going to them,” Spivey said.

Reynolds also reminded the audience about the power of prayer.

“Prayer is a wonderful mystery that ought to be employed and enjoyed to the nth degree,” he said.

Reynolds used a personal example to illustrate how prayer had a deep impact on him. He was diagnosed with a terminal liver disease and told he had three to five years to live. Nineteen years later, Reynolds lives to tell about the pain and struggles he was forced to endure, as well as the comfort he received through prayer.

He recalled a prayer offered by his pastor prior to his first surgery—“Lord, take Jerry’s pain, agony and suffering, and use it for things redemptive in his life and in your kingdom.”

“From that day until this, that has been my prayer for everybody who experiences grief, loss, suffering or agony,” Reynolds said.

Christians should put their beliefs into practice by living a devotional, spiritual life, and always keeping one’s theology and experiences fresh—to never stop learning and growing—in order to help others during times of need, he said.

Spivey agreed, saying opportunities to minister to others are divinely appointed, and that a Christian never knows what God is going to do through them.

“There’s a ministry within the church, but wherever we go, there are hurting people out there, and we have to have a heart to listen, a willingness to respond,” he said.

Posted: 7/07/06

‘Passionate people change
the world,’ pastor believes

By Angela Best

Communications Intern

ARLINGTON—Dennis Wiles believes passionate people change the world. For nine years, he and his family have felt a consuming passion for the people of West Africa—a region stricken by genocide, starvation, disease and tribal warfare.

Wiles, pastor at First Baptist Church in Arlington, described his experiences with missions work in West Africa during a keynote address at the B.H. Carroll Theological Institute’s summer colloquy.

Wiles began working in West Africa in 1997 with his wife, Cindy, who makes the trip at least five times a year.

“Africa is an incredible place. It’s rich with people, with resources—it’s one of my most favorite places in the world. I love to go there. But it’s also one of the most challenging places that I’ve ever been,” Wiles said.

The 22 countries in West Africa have a combined population of about 267 million people. About 18 million belong to the Fulani tribe, a people group First Baptist Church in Arlington has adopted.

More than 99 percent of the Fulani, a semi-nomadic tribe of herdsmen in sub-Saharan Niger, are Muslim. While some Muslims not from the region consider the Fulani’s version of Islam nontraditional, the Fulani introduced Islam to West Africa and see themselves as the religion’s defenders.

“To them, to be Fulani is to be a Muslim,” Wiles said.

Most Fulani never have had access to the Christian gospel.

“It’s hard for us to believe in the confines of where we live that there are actually people in the world who know nothing about Jesus Christ—who have no clue as to what the Bible says and no grasp of the message of hope that you and I have received,” Wiles said. “I have actually met (people) who have never heard of Jesus, and the response that they have given to our teams is, ‘Does he live in a village close by?’”

Of the 18 million Fulani people, the teams from First Baptist Church in Arlington who have traveled to West Africa know of fewer than 1,000 believers.

While the challenge of reaching the Fulani remains great, the Arlington Baptists have chosen to face it head-on. The church has purchased medical and dental equipment to take to the villages, acquired a radio station in West Africa that enables them to broadcast the gospel in the Fulani’s native language via special radios the teams hand out to village chieftains and made plans to drill a well to provide clean water for villagers.

The church also works with missionaries in the region, providing retreats for them and their families and sending them supplies through a negotiated deal with a shipping company.

“Over the years, what I have noticed—not just in my own ministry, but what I’ve noticed historically—is that passionate people change the world,” Wiles said. “It’s people who truly believe in a cause, who truly believe they have something worth fighting for—that’s the kind of people who inspire movements.”

And those are the people he and other team members pray God will continue to raise up to help the people in Africa.

“We realize that we can only do so much, but we believe that with the power of God resting upon us and the insight that he has given to us, we can respond to the reality of the suffering of these people, and respond to their spiritual blindness and hopefully bring some hope into that culture and into that environment.”