Posted: 4/11/08

Baptist Briefs

Missouri Baptist Convention faces countersuit. The Missouri Baptist Convention could face paying more than $10 million to a developer over land formerly owned by Windermere Baptist Conference Center. William Jester of Springfield, Mo., has filed a counterclaim to legal action convention officials originally filed against him and the conference center in 2006. Jester accuses the original plaintiffs of hurting his business and defaming his character through the lawsuit and publicity associated with it. As part of a debt-restructuring plan to cover costs of expansion, Windermere transferred 943 acres to National City Bank of Cincinnati in 2005. The bank then sold the property to Jester’s Windermere Development Company. The convention sued, seeking to stop all land transactions at Windermere pending the outcome of a separate convention-filed suit against the conference center and four other institutions that removed themselves from the convention’s control in 2000 and 2001. In 2002, the convention filed suit to regain control of the agencies’ boards. In that case, a circuit court judge ruled Windermere had acted legally when its trustees changed the center’s corporate charter to appoint their own successors. The convention plans to appeal that ruling.

Missouri layman proposes peace committee. As battles continue to roil the Missouri Baptist Convention, prominent layman Kent Cochran is proposing a miniature recreation of the Southern Baptist Convention Peace Committee. Cochran wants the convention’s executive board, scheduled to meet April 14-15, to establish a 14-member committee representative of both sides within the embattled convention. “I’d be in favor of everything I could do to promote and bring about peace, but I’m not sure a peace committee is going to be an answer,” convention President Gerald Davidson said, adding that based on his recollection of the SBC Peace Committee in the 1980s, “the peace committee didn’t solve many problems at that time.”

Samford offers scholarship for freshman ministerial students. Samford University is offering a new Preministerial Scholars program aimed at students who demonstrate a clear calling to full-time ministry in traditional, church-related positions. The merit-based scholarships are worth about $11,000 per year initially, but they can increase to $16,000 if students meet certain academic criteria. For information on this program, call (205) 726-2925 or address mail to Preministerial Scholars, Department of Religion, Samford University, Birmingham, Ala. 35229.

Registration open for wellness walk/run. “Mission Milestone: 90 Years of Great Strides” is the theme of the annual wellness walk/run sponsored by GuideStone Financial Resources June 10 at White River State Park in Indianapolis during the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting. The theme celebrates the 90th anniversary of GuideStone, formerly known as the SBC Annuity Board. Registration is free and is available online at www.GuideStone.org/walk or by calling (888) 984-8433. Runners and walkers may choose between a one-mile and a 5K course. Warm-up begins at 6:15 a.m. Start times will stagger for runners and walkers, beginning at 6:30 a.m. Healthful refreshments will be served to all participants at the end of the walk. Registered walkers may pick up bib numbers at GuideStone’s booth at the SBC June 8-9. The first 500 registered walkers who come to the registration table will receive a free T-shirt.

Posted: 4/11/08

Good leaders in business and church
possess some of the same qualities

By Ken Camp

Managing Editor

The same leadership skills that make many of the best business leaders successful also can enable church leaders to fulfill their potential, some Christian business experts note.

“In both worlds, … leaders go first. Leaders set the culture,” said Craig Howard, a human resources executive with Coca-Cola and former bivocational pastor.

Whether in the corporate world or in congregational life, the facilitative leadership model brings out the best in other people, said Howard, a layman at Roswell Street Baptist Church in Marietta, Ga., who has worked as a leadership consultant with churches and associations of churches.

“Facilitative leaders establish strategic direction and then let go of control of the vision,” Howard said. “It takes team-building skills and the ability to articulate a vision.”

A facilitative leader must be “comfortable enough in his leadership skin that he can let go of control,” he said.

When church workers—paid or volunteer—fail to find a good “fit” and end up performing below expectations, Christian leaders have the responsibility to model a redemptive leadership style that seeks the best for all parties involved, said Mitchell Neubert, who holds the Chavanne Chair of Christian ethics in business at Baylor University’s Hankamer School of Business.

“Clarity grows from two-way discussions where both parties come to know what is expected,” he said.

“Grace allows for growth and learning, and it means seeing if, over time, the fit improves. But if it doesn’t, then through loving, constructive dialogue, the leader may come to the point of saying, ‘We both realize this is not a good fit, but we want to support you in trying to find a different position, either here or somewhere else.’”

Neubert believes true servant leaders possess great strength of character.

“It takes a stronger constitution to be a servant leader than it does to give people orders,” he said.

While some iron-fisted CEOs who followed the hierarchical top-down style of management certainly have succeeded, Neubert believes a growing number of business leaders are beginning to recognize the value in the servant-leadership model.

For example, in Good to Great, Jim Collins identifies what he calls a “level-5 leader” as crediting other people for their success and possessing enough self-confidence so they can focus on helping other people in the organization succeed, he noted.

“It’s not the charismatic leader who says, ‘I have a great vision; follow me.’ Rather, it’s the strong servant leader who says, ‘We have a great mission,’” Neubert said. “The servant leader focuses on developing others and demonstrates a concern for other people’s growth.”

The best church leaders operate within the sphere of grace, faith and a surrendered life that does not seek to grasp power, said Chris Stull, executive pastor at First Baptist Church in McKinney.

“If grace is one of our core values, then leaders will give people a second chance—and maybe sometimes a third chance—to succeed,” Stull said. “The leader’s role is to teach, guide and attempt to restore.”

Business should be able to look to the church for models of successful leadership, said Stull, who holds a master of business administration degree from the University of Oklahoma.

“The best leaders ought to be at church because we have the benefit of biblical principles and the Holy Spirit guiding us,” he said. “The church should offer the greatest models of leadership.”

Posted: 4/11/08

Churches taking care of business

By Ken Camp

Managing Editor

Churches can learn from business —the good, the bad and the ugly.

Some best practices in the corporate world translate well to the nonprofit sector, including churches, experts insist. And at the same time, churches can benefit by looking at some lessons failed businesses learned the hard way.

Baptists with expertise in both business and congregational life note several areas where churches can discover lessons worth learning:

• Core values and mission.

“Start with a core set of values—an irreducible minimum of nonnegotiable basics,” said Chris Stull, executive pastor at First Baptist Church in McKinney. “For churches, those core values are always biblical, and they are always straight from the heart of God.”

Stull, who earned a master of business administration degree from the University of Oklahoma, believes the business world has “helped churches get their arms around” the importance of using core values to determine mission and strategy.

Mitchell Neubert, who holds the Chavanne Chair of Christian ethics in business at Baylor University’s Hankamer School of Business, agreed; for-profit businesses have learned the importance of understanding their mission clearly, and churches should embrace that principle.

“That’s a critical idea that goes to the matter of core identity,” he said. “From its mission, the business or church makes decisions about where it invests its resources.”

A growing number of churches—particularly congregations that have adopted the purpose-driven model espoused by author Rick Warren—recognize the importance of being able to clearly state their mission, he noted.

The process of defining values and developing a mission statement can be a learning experience for congregations. Phill Martin, deputy chief executive officer of the National Association of Church Business Administration, noted churches benefit from the dialogue surrounding the adoption of a shared vision and by asking missional questions.

“The hard part is deciding what are the things that we could do well as a congregation but that we shouldn’t do because they are not central to our mission,” he said. “Saying ‘yes’ to some things also means saying ‘no’ to other things. The mission can become derailed if the church tries to do everything and goes off in every direction.”

• Goals.

While a growing number of congregations recognize the value in adopting a statement of mission or vision, many struggle with taking the next step in the business model—adopting measurable goals related to that mission, said Neubert, who has been part of Evangelical Free Church and Baptist General Conference congregations in the past and currently attends Highland Baptist Church in Waco.

Granted, some of a church’s goals—particularly related to the spiritual growth of its members—may be difficult or even inappropriate to quantify, but he insists the discussion generated by setting goals can be beneficial in itself.

Neubert recommends churches regularly engage in these kinds of discussions, paying particular attention to how the Holy Spirit seems to be leading in affirming what is important or essential.

“People find it easier to direct their attention toward goals. It’s a mechanism to motivate and to measure how far we’ve progressed,” Neubert said.

Churches and nonprofit organizations can develop quantifiable goals by adapting the balanced scorecard approach—a strategic planning and management system developed by Robert Kaplan of Harvard Business School and consultant David Norton—to their mission, he suggested.

The balanced scoreboard approach challenges business to look at their organizations from four perspectives—learning and growth, internal processes and the customer’s viewpoint, as well as financial health.

Neubert, who has consulted with nonprofits and worked five years as a ministry director with Campus Crusade for Christ, believes the system can be adapted successfully to a church or nonprofit organization.

For example, spiritual vitality may be one component, measured at least in part by the number of people involved in programs at the church, in missions projects and in community ministries, he noted.

Churches also can learn from business how to develop effective strategies to meet their goals, Martin added.

A growing number of churches mirror a trend in business away from long-range plans to shorter “seasons of decisions,” he noted.

“You don’t see many businesses with a 20-year strategy that are not radically evaluating their strategy every two or three years,” he said. “It’s OK to have a dream of what you want to see over 10 years, but a two-year or three-year strategy for a church seems more realistic.”

• Accountability and integrity.

“One of the issues that’s at the forefront right now is transparency in accounting and governance,” Martin said.

“Churches are learning there is a high level of expectation that churches will be honest with their supporters—with their shareholders, to put it in business terms,” he said.

When it comes to financial management, churches should not shy away from the same kinds of discussions that happen regularly in business—topics such as costs versus benefits and return on investment, Stull said.

“Long term, a church should not presume upon tomorrow,” he said, particularly when it comes to taking on inordinate amounts of debt.

Bob Bass, a retired general contractor and layman at BonAire Baptist Church in Richmond, Va., believes churches benefit from many of the same basic financial practices that guide successful businesses.

“One of the most basic is to keep costs and expenses within income,” said Bass, who has been involved with his local association of churches and the Baptist General Association of Virginia.

“Our churches need to be honest about income expectations,” he said, noting the danger of church leaders sometimes interpreting prudent financial practices as lack of faith.

When churches encounter financial difficulties, they need to “work both sides of the problem,” finding ways to increase income and reduce costs, he noted.

Considering another aspect of integrity, Bass counseled churches to avoid promising more than they can fulfill.

“I see businesses that create artificial expectations in their advertisements, trying to dupe people into doing things they shouldn’t do,” he noted. “Churches should be honest, faithful and not make unsubstantiated claims.”

• Structure.

Churches should follow the common business practice of developing written policies and procedures without becoming slaves to them, said Dennis Lambert, administrator at First Baptist Church in Washington, D.C.

Lambert, who served as a congressional chief of staff on Capitol Hill and worked in city management, believes organizational structure, clearly defined expectations and explicit policies and procedures provide a vital framework for churches.

“Flexibility is a wonderful quality, but it’s only positive if you have organization in place. Otherwise, flexibility only leads to chaos,” he said.

• Motivation.

Churches can learn from business how to motivate workers—paid or volunteer, Neubert observed. Obviously, businesses hold an advantage over churches in one respect. They can entice workers to work harder by offering more money, and they can fire workers who don’t meet expectations.

But, Neubert insists, extrinsic motivators—tangible rewards and threat of punishment—generally just generate short-term results.

“In business, we are finding some of the best long-term results come from intrinsic motivation,” he said. “That includes giving people a sense of ownership, the opportunity to be creative and the chance to do tasks they find more interesting, challenging and exciting.”

Of all places, churches should excel at offering intrinsic motivation—giving people an opportunity to do meaningful work that fits their spiritual gifts and God-given talents, he noted.

“As Christians, we recognize God has gifted people for different types of ministry. The challenge for leaders is to figure out where people fit,” he said.

• Key differences.

For all that can be learned from business, Martin advises congregations to remember fundamental differences exist between the for-profit sector and churches.

“Business is about making money. It’s about producing products or providing services,” he said. “For churches, ministry is the bottom line. … Ultimately, you can’t measure a church by the sum total of its assets.”

Craig Harwood, a human resources director with Coca-Cola, leadership consultant and former bivocational pastor in New York, stressed the importance of context.

Some of the biggest “train wrecks” in congregational life occur when well-meaning lay leaders try to “help” the church by imposing business practices that do not fit the character and context of a specific congregation, said Harwood, a member of Roswell Street Baptist Church in Marietta, Ga.

Even valid business principles may be rejected if they are not translated into terms acceptable to a congregation, he added.

“There can be a backlash against applying business language in churches,” he said. Some members may see discussion of marketing or performance evaluation as too secular or as compromise with the world.

“Every principle needs to pass through the filter of Scripture,” he advised.

Neubert agreed that not all business practices can—or should—be transplanted into church life.

For instance, although he believes in the importance of setting goals, he added churches should guard against viewing the achievement of goals as their ultimate measure of success.

“In God’s economy, faithfulness is more important than results,” he said.

Posted: 4/11/08

Posted: 4/11/08

DOWN HOME:
Is it a bathroom or spiritual metaphor?

Call it The Law of Unintended Home Improvements.

Or maybe call it The Difference Between Husbands and Wives.

I’m not sure what you call it, but we’ve got Exhibit A at our casa in Coppell.

Where to start? Where to start? I guess at our “beginning.”

Joanna and I moved about 20 months ago, after we realized our girls were grown and we didn’t have to drive so far to work anymore. So, we relocated just far enough south to cut my commute time by about half but not so far that we needed to change churches. (We’re so “Baptist.” Our lives sit on a three-legged existential stool propped up by home, church and work.)

One of the major factors that attracted us to our house was its location in an older, etablished neighborhood. We live in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, so “older” is a relative term. In our case that means a shade more than 20 years old. And “established” means they didn’t raze the earth and knock down all the trees when they built these homes. So, we’ve got tall, tall trees. At least by local standards.

The only problem with “older” homes is that things start to break down.

The first time we knew we had a problem was when paint started flaking on the baseboard in our bedroom right by the bathroom door. At first, if memory serves me, I pretended not to notice.

Finally, when the board started looking like barn siding, I had to concede that maybe the previous owners didn’t prime the lumber when they painted. Unfortunately, that’s about the time the water stain showed up in the carpet beneath the baseboard.

I come from the Duct Tape Will Fix Everything school of home repair, so I was stumped. First, I re-caulked the shower, but that didn’t work. Then Larry the Plumber suggested caulking behind the baseboard and inside the shower door, but that didn’t work. Larry said the shower drain pan must be cracked.

Since I’m a logical guy, I figured, “Well, we need to get somebody to replace the shower drain pan.”

Since Jo is a brilliant domestic strategist, she figured, “Well, we need to re-do the bathroom!”

She was almost right.

We re-painted the bedroom, too. (After all, if you have to re-paint a three-foot piece of baseboard, you might as well re-paint the whole bloomin’ room.)

So, now we have not only a new shower, but also new countertops, a new bathtub, new sinks, and fresh paint and glaze designed to look—what else?—really old.

Little did I know it at the time, but our bathroom became like the Apostle Paul’s metaphor for becoming a Christian: “… old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

–Marv Knox

Posted: 4/11/08

EDITORIAL:
Ring the bell to end feeding frenzy

One of the problems with feeding frenzies is the invitation never says when the feeding is supposed to finish and the frenzy is supposed to fizzle.

That’s what we’re up against as the mantle of Baptist General Convention of Texas executive leadership passes from Charles Wade to Randel Everett. For the past couple of years or so, the frenzy focused on Wade and his leadership among Texas Baptists, particularly the Executive Board staff. Some criticism was justified; some was not. But the feeding frenzy became a habit. Now, we’re left wondering if blaming, name-calling and finger-pointing have become a reflexive template for corporate behavior. If so, the result will be wholly unfair to Everett, who just got here after many years out of Texas and who inherited, but did not create, the status quo.

So, will the sharks swim away and give Everett room to start fresh? Or will they continue to circle and bite, exacting a price for the simple sin of accepting the job and showing up? We’ll see.

Over and over, the feeding frenzy focused on three issues that need to be laid to rest so Everett can begin with blessing:

• ValleyGate. In 2006, Texas Baptists learned about a church-starting scandal in the Rio Grande Valley. The BGCT gave $1.3 million to help three pastors start 258 churches. But 98 percent of those churches no longer exist, and some were “phantom churches” that existed only on paper.

In response, the convention’s Executive Board submitted all its investigation records to federal law-enforcement officials, tightened church-starting guidelines and implemented stricter record-keeping programs.

Still, some Texas Baptists kept on fanning the controversy, harassing Wade about prosecuting the pastors. Never mind that he would only make things worse if he, in turn, harassed the feds. The frenzy seemed calculated to injure Wade, not prompt prosecution.

Texas Baptists need to leave Everett out of this. “ValleyGate” was not his doing, and it’s not his responsibility to clean it up. He’s responsible for promoting and overseeing future church starts. If the past keeps getting thrown in his face, it will only hurt the future.

• Staff reorganization. In recent years, the convention has revised its mission, vision and values statements, restructured the Executive Board’s representational model and at least twice reorganized the Executive Board staff. That’s churning change.

Tight finances prompted most of the staff reorganization. Each time, many Texas Baptists protested that good people should not lose their jobs. That’s understandable, because staff who lost their jobs are people we love and respect.

Now, many Texas Baptists have a “no more cuts” mindset. Problem is, money is tighter than ever, and we won’t have enough funds to do all that needs to be done. So, more reorganization is inevitable. Everett should not be vilified if he has to eliminate jobs. He should be judged by how strategically he organizes for effectiveness.

• National conventions. Some Texas Baptists want Everett to lead us to snuggle closer to the Southern Baptist Convention; others want him to embrace the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship more completely. Together, that’s a lose-lose mindset. No one can satisfy both desires.

When it comes to conventions, Everett and the churches should be evaluated the same way—how they relate to, support and build up the BGCT. Leave trans-Baptist relationships to the churches. Live at peace with other Baptists, but measure Everett and each other by how we treat each other.

Randel Everett deserves—and Texas Baptists need—a fresh start. Leave the strife and dissension of the recent past in the past so that we and our new leader may move into the future proactively and progressively.

Marv Knox is editor of the Baptist Standard.

Posted: 4/11/08

Faith Digest

Most ministries submit materials to Grassley. Two-thirds of the prominent ministries Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, is investigating are cooperating with requests to provide financial information. Bishop Eddie Long’s New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, Ga., said it will provide information April 15, Grassley’s staff announced. A lawyer for Randy and Paula White, who led Without Walls International Church in Tampa, Fla., told Grassley’s office materials had been sent. The senator’s office already had received materials from Joyce Meyer Ministries in Fenton, Mo., and Benny Hinn Ministries of Grapevine. Creflo Dollar Ministries in College Park, Ga., has refused to submit financial records, and Kenneth Copeland Ministries near Fort Worth responded to the request but hasn’t provided sufficient materials. Grassley, top-ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, plans to “continue dialogue” with those two ministries, his office said.

Ten percent of voters wrong about Obama’s religion. One American voter in 10 believes believes Sen. Barack Obama is Muslim, despite the presidential candidate’s frequent descriptions of his Christian faith and a high-profile flap over his former pastor. According to a survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, a majority of voters—53 percent—correctly identify Obama as a Christian. But 16 percent of conservative Republicans, 16 percent of white evangelical Protestants, 19 percent of rural Americans and 10 percent of voters overall believe the Illinois senator is Muslim. Confusion over the candidate’s religion crosses party lines. Fourteen percent of all Republicans, 10 percent of Democrats and 8 percent of independents think he’s Muslim, according to the survey.

Gorbachev denies conversion. Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev debunked reports, based on his recent visit to the shrine of St. Francis of Assisi, that he had become a Roman Catholic. “Some media have been disseminating fantasies—I can’t use any other word—about my secret Catholicism,” Gorbachev told the Catholic Church’s AsiaNews agency. “To avoid misunderstandings I would like to say: I was atheist, and I stay atheist.” Gorbachev visited the Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi, Italy, with his daughter Irina in mid-March. A subsequent report in Italy’s La Stampa newspaper called the event a “spiritual perestroika,” and the international press promptly spread news of the supposed conversion.

By 2020, more practicing Muslims than Catholics in U.K. New research indicates that within the next 12 years, the number of Muslims worshipping at mosques in Britain will outstrip that of Roman Catholics attending traditional church services. According to a report by London’s Daily Telegraph newspaper, the study by Britain’s Christian Research organization estimates, based on present trends, the number of Catholics attending Sunday Mass will have dropped to 679,000 by 2020. At the same time, the report’s statisticians say, the number of Muslims in attendance at mosques will have climbed to 683,000.

Posted: 4/11/08

Feds say minister diverted flood aid

By Bruce Nolan

New Orleans Times-Picayune

NEW ORLEANS (RNS)—Federal prosecutors have charged the former pastor of a church damaged by Hurricane Katrina with diverting thousands of dollars in private donations and public flood relief money to his private bank account.

The U.S. attorney’s office said it filed a bill of information charging Noah A. Thomas Jr., former pastor of Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church, with a single count of mail fraud. He led the church until October 2006, authorities said.

Thomas was unavailable for comment.

Prosecutors said the church applied for a donation from the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund, a private philanthropy headed by the two ex-presidents. The church also applied for a Small Business Administration rebuilding loan, they said.

The Bush-Clinton Fund donated $35,000 to the church, and the SBA approved a rebuilding loan of $252,000, prosecutors said.

Thomas opened a new bank account over which he had sole control and deposited into it the $35,000 from the Bush-Clinton fund, as well as the first installment of $10,000 from the SBA, prosecutors said. His purpose was “to conceal the award of those funds and to illegally use the money for his own personal benefit,” according to the bill of information filed with the court.

The church appears to be functioning today. A sign outside the property identifies the new pastor as Brian K. Richburg, who was unavailable for comment.

U.S. Attorney Jim Letten would not say whether prosecutors have evidence Thomas spent any of the money on himself. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in jail and a fine of $250,000.

Posted: 4/11/08

Veteran pastor sees last five years in
for-profit hospital as expansion of ministry

By Karen May

Baptist Health Systems

SAN ANTONIO—George Gaston served 25 years as pastor of Texas Baptist churches. For the last five, he has been vice president of a for-profit hospital system. And Gaston has found the latter role fulfilling—and the fulfillment of God’s calling for this season of his life.

Gaston serves as regional vice president of ministry for Baptist Health System in San Antonio. In that role, he has led efforts to strengthen the Christian mission and pastoral presence in the health system’s five hospitals and various other health-related businesses, as well as its presence in the community.

Gaston offers a prayer, asking God’s blessing on a Habitat for Humanity House built by volunteers from the hospital system.

He left First Baptist Church in Corpus Christi to accept the position about the time Vanguard Health Systems acquired Baptist Health Systems— a change that took the health system from a nonprofit to for-profit status.

“I was one of the people who was against the sale to a for-profit health system,” Gaston acknowledged. “I didn’t want to lose this strong influence and opportunity to witness here in San Antonio and south Texas. When the sale became a reality, the calling was clear to me. I felt God’s leadership in my life to help get the mission off the ground from the beginning.

“Vanguard was looking for someone with a doctorate in pastoral ministry, deep ties to the BGCT and healthcare experience. I fit all those criteria and had a strong sense of God’s clear desire of this for my life.”

Gaston was pleasantly surprised by what he discovered when he arrived Baptist Health System. Vanguard had promised to continue the faith-based focus of the health system, and he soon discovered the company planned to follow through on that commitment. The first step was to give Gaston vice president-level authority within the health system. In the past five years Gaston has used the influence of his position to the fullest to accomplish what many thought could never happen.

“The fiscal and organizational stability of Baptist Health System under Vanguard has allowed us to not only maintain, but also enhance our Christian pastoral presence in the hospitals and in the community as well,” he said.

“I am in a position, along with all of our chaplains, to help shape the culture of the entire health care system. My office is right next door to the chief executive officer, Trip Pilgrim, who is a great support for our mission and values. I share retreats and planning sessions with senior management, and minister to the leadership team, which allows for the involvement of our pastoral mission in everything we do as a health system.”

Pilgrim is convinced Vanguard’s promise to keep the faith mission at the heart of what Baptist Health System does was the right thing to do for many reasons.

“The strong association that Baptist Health System had with good works was something we did not want to lose. Healing means more than just addressing the physical problems a person may have,” says Pilgrim. “We believe that it is our mission to help heal the whole person, and that’s what our pastoral program does. Beyond that, the faith and community aspect of what George and his team does, strengthens our internal culture and adds to the wellbeing of the community as a whole.”

“We have rewritten the mission statement and our values statement so that they strengthen a clear understanding of the Christian mission here, and we have enabled the pastoral care team to be leaders in instilling the mission and values into the people that work here,” Gaston added. “With more than 5,500 employees modeling the Christian healthcare mission, that has a huge impact on the community at large.”

Under Gaston’s leadership, the pastoral-care team maintains 11 full-time chaplains in the hospitals. Eight part-time chaplains handle all of the on-call work over the weekends. The team provides 24/7 coverage in case a nurse calls in the middle of the night with a request from a patient or family member in need of counsel and support for end of life, grief and other needs. The clinical pastoral education program has grown, as well. Two clinical pastoral education supervisors work each year with six full-time students and 12 interns. Each year 18 to 20 students go through the program, learning about pastoral care.

The Christian mission of Baptist Health System is felt not only among patients, their family and friends, and the staff of the hospitals, but also extends outside the hospital walls.

“The health system has become even more community focused in interacting with community partners in efforts to improve life in San Antonio,” Gaston said.

One way the mission is felt in the community is through the preaching and teaching provided by the health system’s team of pastoral care leaders in San Antonio-area congregations. As interim pastor at First Baptist Church of Boerne and Baptist Temple in San Antonio, Gaston found himself back in the pulpit almost every Sunday during his first three years in San Antonio.

“If I’m preaching, I’m happy. I feel disconnected if I’m not,” he said. These days, Gaston preaches on average every other Sunday and consults with church committees and with pastors.

“The pastors can turn to me to talk about personal issues in their lives and in their churches and leadership issues in their churches. Because I am no longer identified with just one congregation, I am free to be available to all as a resource. As a pastor, you’re focusing on your one church. Here, as a leader of a faith based enterprise, I get to consult with any and all.”

With five hospitals located across San Antonio, Gaston constantly is in motion, traveling often to meet with chaplains in the hospitals in an effort to make sure everyone is moving in the same direction. “On a daily basis I consult with our pastoral care team in their work to help keep them unified in how we do our pastoral care. Together, we’ve set goals, and so it’s my job to facilitate the fulfillment of those goals in the hospitals.”

If he’s not in the hospitals, Gaston is consulting with ministers in the community or managing the large community-based projects in which the health system is involved. In the past four years, more than 950 employees have volunteered their time and money to build six Habitat for Humanity homes. United Way giving in the health system has gone from $109,000 in 2002 to $416,320 in 2007.

The health system is involved in more than a dozen nonprofit health organizations that support the health and wellness of children and families. Other outreach projects bring health care educators and information into local churches.

Gaston also helped re-establish an employee crisis fund that raises money for employees who find themselves in financial need because of illness, divorce or other unforeseen circumstances. “Our employees have embraced this opportunity to help their fellow workers, which has been very gratifying to see,” Gaston said.

Gaston and his team also are working to create a Center for Pastoral Ministry in San Antonio. “This will expand our ability to teach ministry students about pastoral ministry and pastoral counseling, and to provide actual ministry for persons in the crisis times of life.”

Gaston hopes to have the program up and running by January of 2009. “We are in the process of establishing the endowment now, so anyone interested in helping out with that can give me a call,” Gaston said, grinning.

He believes the biggest impact that’s been made since Baptist’s transition from a nonprofit to a for-profit system has been the ability to help shape the Christian mission and values of an entire health system and to connect those up with its employees.

“We challenge and encourage our employees to work in ways that reflect the compassionate Christian mission and values of our health system. We ask all of them, whatever their faith, to simply respect the fact that we are a Christian faith-based organization and share in the mission of the BGCT.

“In addition, our promise as a system is to practice business and medical ethics that are consistent with the Christian faith—the very same ethics that were practiced when we were officially affiliated with the BGCT. You would not expect to have this focus in a for-profit health system.

“I always like to quote Kent Wallace, the COO of Vanguard, in saying ‘our tax status does not dictate our culture.’ We are paying taxes, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have a Christian set of values. People think that when you sell a nonprofit, that you give up the ability to render Christian care. We have not done that at all. We have strengthened and built upon what was done before us. We’ve got a wonderful ministry here.”

Posted: 4/11/08

Some Jews ‘uneasy’ with
high-profile Christian allies

By Omar Sacirbey

Religion News Service

WASHINGTON (RNS)—In re-cent years, conservative Christians have emerged as some of the most vocal supporters of the state of Israel—support many Jewish groups have welcomed at a time when they feel Israel is under siege.

One of the loudest voices has been John Hagee, the San Antonio megachurch pastor who recently endorsed John McCain’s White House bid and raised the ire of Catholic groups with statements that even some Jews called vicious and inflammatory.

The Catholic flap has sparked a new round of questions among Jewish groups over the support from Christian Zionists like Hagee. Where is the line between embracing their support and keeping their politics at arm’s length?

“On the one hand, there’s a desire to have as strong a support for Israel as possible,” said Joel Meyers, who heads the Rabbinical Assembly, an umbrella group of Conservative rabbis. “On the other hand, there’s concern that no one wants to back any religious extremist. And some of the comments coming from some of the leaders of the evangelical movement are certainly extreme when they talk about other faiths. That makes a lot of people, including myself, very uneasy.”

Christian Zionism has various interpretations, but the central belief is that ancient Israel must be restored to bring about Armageddon and the Second Coming of Christ.

Christian Zionists believe Israel’s birth in 1948 fulfilled biblical prophecy and an intact Israel also must include Judea and Samaria—the predominantly Pales-tinian West Bank captured by Israel in 1967. As such, they have resisted returning any land to the Palestin-ians as part of a peace deal. And a war with Iran, some say, could usher in Armageddon.

Estimates on the number of Christian Zionists in the United States range from 20 million to 40 million. The movement is mostly evangelical, and its most potent force is Christians United for Israel, established two years ago by Hagee, the pastor of the 18,000-member Cornerstone Church in San Antonio. The group’s executive board includes Gary Bauer, Jonathan Falwell and other evangelical leaders.

Hagee, in an interview, said he can “understand” why some Jews would “shy away from Christian support,” but blamed that reluctance on 2,000 years of anti-Semitism, not political or social differences.

“We have made a clean break with the past replacement theology and have embraced the Jewish people for whom the Bible says they are—the apple of God’s eye,” Hagee said. “And we would say to our critics you need to take a closer look at 26 years of unconditional support of the Jewish people.”

Many Jewish leaders have been turned off by some statements leaders of the Religious Right have made about Catholics, Muslims and gays. Hagee has stepped away from previous comments that called the Catholic Church “the whore of Babylon” and that seemed to blame Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans’ willingness to host a gay parade.

“I am not now, nor have I ever been, an anti-Catholic,” Hagee said, arguing the media have misconstrued his statements. “I have never called the (Catholic) church the Antichrist or a false cult system.” Katrina, he said, was either a blessing or a curse, and “it was not a blessing, I can tell you that.”

Ohio megachurch pastor Rod Parsley, a director of Christians United for Israel, has said “Islam must be destroyed” and issued a “lock and load” call against spiritual enemies. Hagee has been equally critical of Islam, but said, “my remarks about Islam are always … about radical Islam.”

Still, Eric Yoffie, president of the Union for Reform Judaism, said such bombastic rhetoric is bound to raise eyebrows—and concerns.

“I think we need to be very, very reluctant to partner with anyone who isn’t fundamentally respectful towards other religious traditions,” Yoffie said. “His comments on Islam are a legitimate and important factor here when Jewish groups consider whether they should join with him.”

Some Jewish groups have tried to draw a line between Hagee’s views on Israel and his views on practically everything else.

“Will I welcome Hagee’s support? Absolutely,” said Jerome Epstein, executive vice president of the United Synagogue of Conserv-ative Judaism. “Would I want his endorsement, or would I appear with him? No, because I don’t want to be associated with his positions.”

Some Jewish leaders said they welcome the support of Christian Zionists—but reserve the right to openly and publicly disagree.

“I don’t have to agree with anybody 100 percent in order to welcome their support, as long as their support is not conditioned on my agreeing with them on everything or accepting them 100 percent,” said Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League.

Posted: 4/11/08

Rising food, transportation costs
raise need for gifts to hunger offering

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

DALLAS—The rising cost of food and transportation heightens the need to give to the Texas Baptist Offering for World Hunger, according to leaders of the effort.

Faith-based and secular agencies worldwide are facing an economic crunch as they battle soaring fuel and food costs globally. The increased costs mean fewer people can be fed with the same amount of resources.

Food aid from the U.S. government has fallen 43 percent between 2002 and 2007, due in part to the soaring cost of transporting food to other countries. It has been estimated nearly two-thirds of the $2 billion marked by the government for food aid is being spent on transportation, storage and handling costs.

The result of the economic and aid situation is that more dollars are needed to feed the same number of hungry people around the globe, said Joe Haag, who coordinates the Texas Baptist Offering for World Hunger of the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

The Texas offering, like other faith-based hunger efforts, largely eliminates the issue of having to pay for the transportation of food. Area ministry leaders buy items locally.

“Money given through the Texas Baptist Offering for World Hunger supports local re-lief and development projects around the world,” Haag said. “Our ministry partners buy food locally or help people grow their own food, helping stretch dollars further than if they were used to purchase food here and ship it overseas.”

But Haag acknowledges the $700,000 he hopes the offering will raise will not buy as much food as it would have last year. Add that financial reality to the fact that hunger ministries typically are in need of funds anyway, and there is a serious issue.

“The truth is, there were hungry people when the economic situation was better,” he said. “With the downturn in the economy, there could be even more people left hungry if people don’t share what we have with people in need.”

The Texas Baptist Offering for World Hunger supports about 100 relief and development projects around the globe. The designated date for churches to give to the offering is April 27, but congregations can give throughout the year. Undated resources are available.

Posted: 4/11/08

IN FOCUS:
Focus on & share the hope of Christ

“Four hundred sixteen children are taken from a West Texas polygamist compound.” “A 48-year-old grandmother and her 5-year-old granddaughter were killed by a gunman when a child’s birthday party turned violent.” “Home sales decline last month, the steepest so far, putting the entire first quarter into a double-digit downturn.”

We are reminded of the sorrow and fear in our world each morning when we read the paper. Our own lives also are interrupted by challenges and heartache at unexpected times. Yet we still are called on to proclaim a message of hope. How can we do this with integrity?

In Colossians 1:27 we read, “Christ in you the hope of glory.” Hope is not what we wish to experience or imagine. Hope doesn’t come from pretending that bad things are not happening. The hope we proclaim is the transformational hope we know in Christ. As Texas Baptists, we must focus continually on the hope of Christ that God makes available to the world through us.

As I begin this journey with you as your executive director, I am filled with hope. I am certainly not looking at the world through rose-tinted glasses, yet I am reminded constantly of the power of Christ.

Sheila and I have worshipped with three of our BGCT churches already and each time heard powerful biblical messages. Each church celebrated baptism the Sunday we were with them. Some of these were accompanied by video or live testimonies of the new believers about the hope they have found in Christ. Baptism reminds us that God still rescues and transforms.

One of our first opportunities was to attend the Baptist University of the Américas Hispanic Preaching Conference at Theo Avenue Baptist Church in San Antonio. I read some of the history of this church led by Pastor Efraim Diaz and saw that for several years the church had baptized more than 100 people. Many of the attendees were bright, young, enthusiastic students from the Baptist University of the Américas merging with the presence of men and women of other generations who have been faithful leaders in our Baptist life. I was filled with the hope of Christ when I was reminded that God continues to raise up men and women in each generation who will share this hope with the changing world around us.

Saturday evening, April 5, Sheila and I attended a dinner at Dallas Baptist University, where we celebrated the 20th anniversary of Gary Cook as president. It had been years since I had been on the campus, and I was absolutely amazed. During these past two decades, the enrollment has tripled and dozens of buildings stand as testimonies to the vitality of this great Baptist institution. The real story, however, was listening to Dr. Cook tell his own personal story about the healing power of Christ in his own life. The miracle of DBU is the miracle of prayer.

We must not focus on the real problems of the world or even the challenges we face as a family of faith. We must focus on the hope of Christ and be committed to sharing this hope with every person in Texas.

Randel Everett is executive director of the Baptist General Convention of Texas Executive Board.