Posted: 10/29/04

Dallas church joins Buckner, Baylor in
providing for Guatemalan girls' home

By Felicia Fuller

Buckner News Service

ANTIGUA, Guatemala–At the Manchin Girls' Home in Antigua, structure is part of the strategy to give girls a fighting chance to succeed against tremendous odds.

Many have been abandoned. Most have been abused. All are vulnerable by nature of their gender in a society where girls seldom are encouraged to pursue an education or career.

Virtually every waking moment of a resident's day at the orphanage is spent studying, taking vocational classes, doing chores or engaging in other activities designed to inspire creativity and learning. A social worker, psychologist and pediatrician are on site.

Baylor Healthcare System is partnering with Buckner Orphan Care International to establish a community-based health program for Guatemala, which will be run from the home.

“I want to be something in my life,” says 15-year-old Selena. “That's why I really put my heart into all my workshops here. Coming out of here at least I can have initiative.”

“Whenever I was with my mom, I told her I wanted to study. She would say: 'Why do you want to study? Studying is not worth it,'” Selena recalls. “I told her I wanted to get ahead.”

Like many of her peers at the home, Selena is a survivor of family violence. After her father abandoned the family when she was an infant, she became the object of her mother's rage. “She treated me so bad, like I wasn't her daughter,” she says tearfully. “She would bite me, grab my hair and choke me around my neck.”

Selena eventually went before a judge, denounced her mother and then asked to be sent to an orphanage. “I wanted to keep studying. I don't want to keep suffering that way; I just want to get ahead.”

Since she's been at Manchin, Selena says she's growing into her potential and endeavors to become an administrator of a large corporation. Her motivation to succeed comes largely from the affirmation she's received from staff and volunteers, she notes.

Buckner ministry partner Park Cities Baptist Church in Dallas has adopted the orphanage and provided funding to support health care initiatives and to hire a computer and job skills instructor. Mission teams also distribute shoes, lead Vacation Bible School and minister to the girls.

“They help us feel loved and remind us there's a God who loves us, and that even though our parents have treated us badly, he loves us anyway,” Selena says.

Martina, 14, also has a renewed sense of self since arriving at Manchin just over a year ago. “I'm doing good now. I'm studying. My mom wants me to come back, but I can't do that. I want a new family.”

A Mexico native, Martina has two brothers. Her father died when she was 10.

“When I was a little girl, my mom used to work in a bar going to bed with men,” she recalls. “We came here to Guatemala, and she started working in a bar again. She used to hit me very much. She wanted to sell me to men. I ran away to live with my grandmother.”

Sarah, 15, tells a tragically similar story. Her abusive mother tried to force her into prostitution as well. Sarah resisted and ran away to live with a woman who owned a neighborhood bar, where police would later pick her up for truancy. She hasn't seen her mother or four siblings in five years.

She says of life at the orphanage: “It's nice. I like to be here.”

In addition to offering care and guidance for troubled teenaged girls, Buckner support also helped build a babies' wing adjacent to the girls' dorms at Manchin. The new structure can accommodate 45 infants and toddlers to 4 years old.

More than 40 children currently are in care, including 26 babies less than 10 months old. Several may be available for adoption.

“We're just beginning to tap into it (Guatemalan adoptions), but we think the numbers will grow very quickly,” says Shyrel Osborne of Buckner Orphan Care International. “Kids can get backlogged in the system and live institutionalized for most of their childhood. We're doing what we can to prevent that from happening.”

The staff in the babies' wing comprises eight government workers and 15 Buckner employees who serve as nannies–their salaries paid with dollars donated by a Buckner supporter.

“We required more from their character than any type of training,” Osborne explains, adding that most were referred by pastors of various churches in Antigua.

Ingrid Garcia, Buckner nanny coordinator, says she has identified someone to train the nannies in proper childcare. Meanwhile, Buckner is taking child-care standards widely followed in the United States and translating them in Spanish so the orphanage staff can have written guidelines to follow.

Posted: 10/29/04

Emergent church signals change in
preaching, not just music, speakers say

By Craig Bird

Baylor University

WACO–Maybe the pulpit is a safe-house in the worship wars–at least for now.

In the past half-century, evangelical worship has seen a lot of changes. Music styles have morphed, orders of service have flip-flopped, chalk talks gave way to PowerPoint presentations and pew Bibles and fill-in-the-blank sermon outline forms have appeared. In some cases, the lectern has disappeared, and the speaker has “dressed down.”

But overwhelmingly, the preacher still delivers a 20- to 30-minute uninterrupted soliloquy, most often with three points. It's a lecture format, intended to inform and inspire.

However, in the postmodern-influenced emergent church–which the New York Times has called the possible “next big wave of evangelical worship”–even sermons could be changing.

“I don't think we will have master orators much longer,” predicted Chris Seay, pastor of Ecclesia in Houston and a frequent commentator on postmodern culture. “Art, dance and music are new forces that will play increasingly larger roles” if the church is to be relevant to the Millennials, today's teens and young adults.

The postmodern person “celebrates experiences” and wants to “engage all the senses,” he explained. “They have shorter attention spans, and they process information differently from earlier generations. They learn through narrative–stories–and the visual is very important.”

Pastor/author Brian McLaren agreed. “We're facing a transition from the familar/normal to something less formal. Songwriters and music publishers play important roles in the theological formation of a congregation–even more than the pastor. I'm pretty sure people don't catch themselves humming the sermon during the week.”

Two other strong emphases in postmodern Christian worship–the desire for community and the desire for contemplation–also are apt to influence the preaching, several session leaders at Baylor University's “Music and Worship in an Emerging Culture” symposium agreed.

“For a long time, church has been a place to go–but you could go and sit in the same seat for years and never know the person who sat in front of you,” said Sally Morgenthaler, author and founder of Sacra-mentis.com. “But this generation wants to be connected, to each other and to God. The preaching experiences will need to contribute to that by being about worship instead of evangelism. The gathered church worships. The scattered church is involved with its community and showing what it means to be a Christ follower.”

Contemplation and meditation may invade the sermon. “I'm convinced that sermons need intentional silences in them,” said Hulitt Gloer, professor of preaching and Christian Scripture at Baylor's Truett Seminary. “I need to invite people not just to listen to what I say but to what God is saying. It's a radical idea to listen more than we speak so they (the congregation) will know they are to be actively engaged.”

If the emergent church model is accepted, preaching will shift from the linear style to the storyteller–like Jesus, who spoke in parables.

“I pretty much preach one-point sermons,” said Louie Giglio, director of Choice Resources. “My goal is to give them one image to take away with them that will help them live their life the rest of the week. And it's all about story, inviting them into God's story, telling about others who joined God's story. They aren't hungry for information–they hunger to know that there is a God who loves them.”

The perception of pastors also will change as the role shifts from spiritual example to a fellow traveler. “I think of it as all of us going into a cave together and sharing what we've discovered with our pickaxes,” said Julie Pennington-Russell, pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Waco. “It's not like where you tie a Scripture to a chair and beat it with a rubber hose for 20 minutes to see what you can get out of it.”

The foundation of community also allows the pastor to speak the uncomfortable prophetic word.

“We have to be double agents, amphibians who are loyal to our community but also willing, when necessary, to turn on our community when it needs to be challenged. Promoting community and harmony can't keep us from saying the hard things that need to be said,” McLaren said.

But those hard things will have a fair hearing “if we've held their hands in the hospital and been with them through hard times as well as good times,” Pennington-Russell added.

Absolute honesty also makes people more willing to hear the hard things,” Seay argued. “We do a disservice to the gospel when we make the people in the Bible out to be better than they were and we pretend to be better than we are,” he explained.

“If we're honest about Abraham pimping his wife–and teaching his son to do the same thing–then the person sitting in the pew can realize, 'Hey, I'm not as bad as Abraham, so maybe God really can love me.' If he knows his pastor uses non-theological language when he stubs his toe–but still keeps trying to follow God, then he will understand he can too–even when it's hard.”

Posted: 10/29/04

Hispanic Baptist Laity Convocation About 500 Hispanic Baptist Men from throughout Texas gathered at Highland Lakes Baptist Encampment near Austin for the Hispanic Baptist Convocation of the Laity. Roland Lopez (above, right), pastor of Northwest Hispanic Baptist Church in San Antonio, speaks about "Leadership for the Future" during the convocation. In addition to hearing several keynote speakers, participants were trained through a series of breakout sessions on topics including church planting, Royal Ambassadors ministries, disaster relief, leadership and music ministry. Coordinator Eli Rodriguez of Dallas said the convocation has met its goals for the year–to train more than 1,000 Baptist men and to help more than 100 churches structure their Brotherhood organizations. (Eric Guel Photos)

Posted: 10/29/04

Korean Texas Baptists spearhead
partnership to send food to North Korea

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

Texas Baptist Men recently donated $10,000 for food in North Korea to help vast numbers of people who are starving to death.

The group's donation was combined with $10,000 from the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and $10,000 donated by Dallas Baptist Association and Dallas-area Korean churches. The funds bought food in China, which was shipped to North Korea.

Yoo Jong Yoon, pastor of Glory Korean Baptist Church in Dallas who spearheaded the effort, said God brought these groups together to relieve a desperate situation within North Korea.

People are struggling to get food, he said. Hospitals lack medicine. Some areas of the country do not have electricity, leaving many residents jobless as factories sit powerless. Many residents make $5 a month.

“To me, it's horrible,” said Yoon, Asian network coordinator for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. “The people there are starving to death.”

The distribution effort only helps temporarily, he acknowledged. But he is convinced God wanted him to help meet the immediate needs.

Other groups must do as they are asked to permanently fix the situation, he added.

“North Korea is 27 million people, and $30,000 of food is like a biscuit for an elephant,” he said.

Yoon has worked to help North Korea for eight years. He said he feels a kinship and calling to help his people.

“North Korea–that's my brothers and sisters,” he said.

"That's how I feel even though our politics are different and our ideologies are different. North and South Korea is one country.

“They are suffering. I feel obligated.”

Posted: 10/29/04

Hostility toward religion

Perhaps the reason so many Americans believe that church-state separation has become “too severe” (Oct. 4) is that it has become an excuse for government-sponsored hostility toward religious expression, in spite of constitutional protections.

Thomas Jefferson's famous “wall” represented his own opinion in 1802. The Supreme Court did not use Jefferson's phrase in reference to the First Amendment until 1879, and it was not elevated to constitutional authority until 1947. Since then, it has been used as the basis for government-sponsored hostility toward religion, religious expression and religious practice.

I'm not advocating a return to the excesses of the 17th and 18th centuries, against which the framers of the Constitution wrote the First Amendment. I just want an end to the overt hostility that our governments at all levels frequently demonstrate toward what has become the unwanted stepchild of civil rights–freedom of religion.

Glenn Goodrum

League City

Founding Fathers' faith

I'm surprised when Jerry Falwell and others proclaim our nation's founders intended to build a nation “under God.” Historians indicate many Founding Fathers were Deists who generally rejected the divinity of Jesus. Consider these quotes:

Thomas Paine–“I do not believe the creed professed by the Jewish church, by the Roman church, by the Greek church, by the Turkish church, by the Protestant church or by any church that I know of.”

Benjamin Franklin–“As for Jesus of Nazareth, I believe that his morals and religion are the best the world will ever see, but I have some doubts about his divinity.”

Thomas Jefferson–“The day will come when the mystical generation of Jesus will be classed with the fable of the generation of Minerva in the mind of Jupiter.”

John Adams–“In the formation of the American governments … it will never be pretended that any persons employed in that service had interviews with the gods or were in any way under the influence of heaven. … These governments were conceived merely by use of the reason and senses. … The government of the United States is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion.”

The weight of the evidence supports the conclusion that this nation was designed by secularists motivated by reason rather than by faith.

Charles Lee Evans

Fort Worth

Church-state separation

I believe church and state should continue to be separate entities. That was how our forefathers established our nation, and I think it's a good one.

President Bush scares me when he says, “It is our duty to be faithful to the Almighty and to spread freedom.” Some countries aren't ready for democracy; let them grow into it on their own. Iran's young generation is a good example. They are paving the way for future democracy.

The same philosophy goes for stem-cell research, abortion and gay marriage. People may not personally agree with these things, but it shouldn't be up to our government to enforce a law banning them.

Ironically enough, the Bible states that we are to educate and be a good example of Christ, not to force anyone into becoming a Christian. God is the ultimate Judge.

Marie Hartzfeld

Flower Mound

Politics & pulpits

The content of recent letters to the editor and the comments about the online poll regarding church-state separation make a collective point against preaching politics from the pulpit.

If our pastors would preach the truth from the Bible, then voting Christians would be informed enough to make their own correct decisions. Pastoral endorsements of politicians are for those people who are so unsure of Christian teachings they honestly do not know who or what they should vote for.

The content and tone of these letters and comments also demonstrate why church and state must be kept separate. History also teaches this same principle.

Charles McFatter

Semmes, Ala.

Baptists' northern origin

I had to chuckle over the belief of at least one Texas Baptist that Southern Baptists were the first to introduce Baptist churches to the North, namely Minnesota and Wisconsin (Sept. 20).

It's entirely the other way around! The first Baptists in the South came from Kittery, Maine. When William Screven was persecuted for preaching against infant baptism, he took part of his flock with him to South Carolina and established the First Baptist Church in Charleston as early as 1670.

John Moulis

Augusta, Maine

Prophetic voice

A cry went out through the land. A prophetic voice was silenced. Henlee Barnette, who died recently, was a great American, a great Baptist, but most importantly, a faithful and bold Christian.

Barnette, who taught Christian ethics at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., was often the subject of ecclesiastical and political criticism. FBI files reveal he was investigated for his leadership in the civil rights movement and the anti-war protests of the Vietnam era.

He spoke out against racism, war mongering, genderism and fundamentalism. He was, like the ancient prophets of God, an advocate for the poor.

He was a great American, a proud son of the South, an outspoken Baptist who put Christ above all other allegiances. Who will pick up the torch in these days when so many who speak in the name of Christ are mere defenders of the status quo and chaplains of materialism?

He now walks with God. May his mantle not lie too long in the dust.

Raymond Bailey

Waco

Convention asset

The members of Greater St. Stephen First Baptist Church in Fort Worth support our pastor, Michael Bell, 1,000 percent and endorse his candidacy for first vice president of the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

Our nationally renowned pastor is an asset to the convention. Few persons possess his cross-cultural credibility and legitimacy.

That is why Gary Dyer's letter (Oct. 4) was so disappointing. He didn't consider that most African-American churches are dually aligned, accounting for membership in at least two, sometimes more, conventions.

Dyer is unfamiliar with African-American church dynamics and our responsibilities to a community facing interlocking crises of racism and classism. Our church gives thousands of dollars to missions. It subsidizes educational and health needs of families. We hope a church that subscribes to the liberating mandate of Luke 4:18 would not be demeaned for taking seriously the Great Commission.

Since Dyer is unaware of what we give to cancer research, HIV/AIDS, sickle-cell anemia, diabetes, heart disease and the like, he, and those who are likeminded, should consider the truth that different cultures are authentically different in emphases, priorities and financial profiles.

Our Bible suggests such differences are not bad, negative or insidious. As our pastor says, “Our differences suggest God has an appreciation for variety.”

Unfortunately, some still feel they must misuse the word of God to buttress their parochial perspectives.

Our church will continue to grow in financial and prayer support for the BGCT. We look forward to the election of Michael Bell as its first vice president.

Hervey Bolden

Deacon chairman

Greater St. Stephen FBC

Fort Worth

Highest commodity

I was struck by the letter concerning the nomination of Michael Bell and the amount of his church's Cooperative Program gifts. The gentleman's remarks demonstrated the chasms that exists between many churches in our denomination.

Investigation of Greater St. Stephen First Baptist Church would have revealed an explanation for the giving amount.

I am sure the concerned brother was not aware that Greater St. Stephen Church is located in one of the poorest sections of Fort Worth.

I am sure the writer was not aware of the fact the members of the church are indigenous to that church, unlike other churches whose membership is often comprised of people who live outside the inner-city area.

I am sure the writer was unaware of the fact Greater St. Stephen Church ministers to those people who may not be welcomed in some of our “silk stocking” churches. Many of the people would not be accepted in some of our more affluent dominant-ethnic cultural church settings.

I am sure the writer has zero knowledge of the number of men and women who have been rescued from the streets because of the ministry of Greater St. Stephen Church.

Unfortunately, poor people do not posses a great amount of monetary capital, but they are precious in God's sight.

Moreover, when serving in high-crime areas with high unemployment, the highest commodity is measured by the size of the people's heart, not their bank account.

C.M. Singleton

Fort Worth

Healthy dialogue

Your article about the debate over the meaning of “priesthood of the believer” (Oct. 18) was thoughtful and well-balanced.

David Jeffrey has made good use of his academic freedom to prompt a healthy and intellectually engaging dialogue about one of our distinct doctrines. As a Latino, I cherish the opportunity to go to God without the aid of an earthly priest; but I also have been reminded that I read and interpret Scripture in the context of my local congregation and the church throughout the ages.

Carlos Colón-Quintana

Hewitt

Academic freedom

I am writing with reference to your fine article on academic freedom at Baylor (Oct. 18). Ironically, the Faculty Senate has been the greatest threat to my academic freedom at Baylor, not the administration.

At the Faculty Senate website is posted a list of leadership issues at Baylor University. Included in this list is “hiring of additional proponents of Intelligent Design despite the Polanyi Institute debacle and in the face of continued profound faculty opposition.” I am a proponent of Intelligent Design (see for example http://www.leaderu.com/offices/bradley/docs/scievidence. html). According to the Faculty Senate, I should not have been hired at Baylor. The Faculty Senate practices the very ideological narrowness for which they criticize the administration. I have also been a subject of discussion at a Faculty Senate meeting for the same reason (Nov. 19, 2002).

It is incredible that the faculty senate at a Christian university would seek to “blackball” me, despite my impeccable qualifications, because I have the audacity to believe that God designed our universe and that evidence of this can be seen in nature. Ironically, during my 24 years at Texas A&M University in mechanical engineering, I was never discriminated against because of my work in Intelligent Design.

Is it any wonder that the administration sometimes feels obliged to ignore input from the Faculty Senate? I should add that I have fallen in love with Baylor students and colleagues in my department during my first two years, and am thankful to God to be able to contribute to Baylor 2012.

Walter L. Bradley

Waco

Innocent blood

While serving in Iraq as a military chaplain, I get the Baptist Standard weeks late. I read with interest a letter that stated: “God's word has not changed to conform to society and never will. God has a lot to say about the shedding of innocent blood” (Aug. 23).

I pray all Baptist Christians will be mindful that innocent blood is shed by the hundreds and thousands during the course of human conflict. Our political parties are far from monolithic with regards to the sanctity of human life and our Savior's call to correct practice of our faith.

Like in biblical times, the sword strikes the innocent every day in places like Afghanistan, Iraq and Russia. Neither political party has moral high ground with respect to the taking of innocents and the sanctity of human life.

David D. Dinkins

La Marque

Iraq's spiritual warfare

Much has been written in this paper about the war with Iraq, but nothing has been written about the greater spiritual war that has been going on in this country for the last 50 years. This war is described in Ephesians 6:14 and is Òagainst the powers of the dark world and against the forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

The hottest issue in this war for us is abortion and homosexuality. Both of these are forbidden by God and have serious consequences for the nations that disobey. These are issues that have eternal value.

We are on the brink of a crisis. Voters decide what God will do for or to America. Which will our choice be? Will we choose the good or the evil? May God have mercy on America for the millions of babies we have murdered and our sexual immorality.

Mildred Bevan

Burleson

Can he justify his vote?

J.J. Harryman referred to himself as a “yellow-dog Democrat” (Oct. 18). I have never heard that expression before. He's a child of the King!

But I have a big question for him: How can you vote for people that go along with homosexuality and same-sex marriage? My Bible says it's an abomination to God! These same people believe in abortion. Doesn't one of the Ten Commandments state, “Thou shalt not kill”?

Can he justify his vote and his belief in?

Mona Carol Workman

Boerne

Stationed in Iraq

Posted: 10/29/04

Speakers sound alarm: Respond to needs of changing world

By Marv Knox

Editor

SAN ANTONIO–Christians need to ask, “So what?” to determine how they should love and engage the world, Albert Reyes told participants at the We Love Missions Conference in San Antonio.

The question and its corollaries echoed throughout the three-day conference, sponsored by Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Global Missions and Trinity Baptist Church, the host congregation.

Alarms have gone off to warn U.S. Christians the world is changing rapidly, said Reyes, president of Baptist University of the Americas in San Antonio. He cited the Chinese youth rebellion at Tiananmen Square, the fall of the Berlin Wall and the implosion of the Soviet Union, as well as the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States.

Another alarm came from conference speaker Phillip Jenkins, Reyes added.

Albert Reyes

Jenkins, historian and author of “The Next Christendom,” described the shifting “center” of Christianity from Europe and the United States to the Southern Hemisphere.

“Christianity is a religion born in Africa and Asia, and in our lifetime, it's going home,” Jenkins said. “By 2025, half of all Christians will live in Africa and South America. The center will be in Africa. …

“The most important thing right now is to understand the shape of Christianity,” he added. “We don't need to take the faith to (the Southern Hemisphere); they have faith. We need to take them the health and wealth and skills of the West.”

U.S. Christians' sense that they are the strength of world missions is out-dated, Jenkins said. “We live now in the greatest age of missions. But it's not coming from the North to the South. It's coming from the South to the South, from the South to the North,” with African, Asian and South American churches producing an increasing number of missionaries.

“The alarm went off. … This is a different world,” conceded Reyes, vice president of the Baptist General Convention of Texas and nominee for the convention's presidency. “The question is, 'So what?'”

The stakes are enormous, he warned, noting if U.S. Christians don't change their missions involvement, “we will miss the most dramatic shift in Christian history in our lifetimes.”

Reyes offered four keys to engaging missions creatively.

First is vision. “When you look out there (in the world), what is your reaction?” he asked. “Is it fear–fear that you won't be in control?”

U.S. Christians can fear they will be a minority or they won't be the center of Christendom, but that is the wrong attitude, he advised. “You can feel fear or faith. This is the most exciting time to be alive.”

A second response is collaboration. “We need to work with people we didn't even think we needed,” he said. Poor Christians in other parts of the world don't have wealth, but they provide culture, language, passion and other assets for reaching the world for Christ.

“Look at Hispanic, African and Asian congregations and decide how we will collaborate,” he challenged. For example, Hispanics have many cultural, linguistic and physical links to the Arabic world and could be the link to reaching Muslims with the gospel.

Christians also need to focus on relationships, Reyes said. “We need to build connections with people who didn't know they mattered.”

Finally, missions-minded Christians must respond with resources, supporting others who may be better situated to accomplish missions tasks, he said.

Bill Tinsley (right), leader of WorldconneX, explains to exhibit hall visitors how the missions network can link Christians to missions opportunities around the world.

“We're talking about power and control of resources,” he said. “How are we going to resource people who don't have (material) resources? Are we going to be brave enough to give away what we don't own anyway?”

Throughout the We Love Missions conference, participants heard a barrage of missions challenges:

Ken Hall, president of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, called attention to the world's need by telling a story from Winnie the Pooh in which Eeyore, the donkey, falls into a river. “Eeyore says, 'Pooh, if it isn't too much trouble, would you mind rescuing me?'” Hall recounted.

Christians must focus on rescuing a world in need, he insisted. Unfortunately, Baptists often tend to think the church exists for them, missing the command to take the “Good News” to all nations, he lamented. “Our chief task is evangelism, missions, direct involvement in the lives of people.”

He also challenged Baptists not to be isolated but to join in partnership with other Christians doing authentic ministry in a world of need.

“It grieves me that often we Christians look at what separates us instead of what unites us,” Hall said. “Let me say how strongly I affirm the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and its ministries. As a Texas Baptist, let me say it is beyond time to figure out ways to work with others to do better the task of rescuing the perishing.”

Migration is bringing the world directly to Christians, said Ann Woolger, a missionary among international refugees.

In 16 years, refugees from 64 countries have passed through the halfway house she operates in Toronto, Canada, Woolger reported.

“I have seen God loving the world. … The world is arriving here in North America, here in Texas. The world is here. The nations are among us.”

Anne Burton, a Texas native serving as a Cooperative Baptist Fellowship missionary at the University of Southern California, echoed a similar theme.

“There are opportunities right here in our midst,” Burton said, noting international students attend colleges and universities throughout the nation. In her situation, about 95 percent of them come from non-Christian cultures.

International students who become Christians return to their homelands carrying the gospel, she noted.

Unfortunately, many people never have had an opportunity to receive and understand the gospel, stressed Dick Hugoniot, president of Wycliffe Bible Translators.

Of the world's 6,000 languages, 2,737 do not have any Scripture portion, he said.

Wycliffe hopes to translate at least some part of the Bible into every language by 2025, Hugoniot said. “The Great Commission has not changed. We are to go into all the world–into every language group. … The mission sounds impossible, but I tell you, God is going to accomplish the impossible.”

Cooperation is vital to missions accomplishment, insisted Jerry Dailey, pastor of Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church in San Antonio and president of the Texas Baptist African-American Fellowship.

“Your church can't reach everybody by itself,” Dailey said. “We need white churches. We need black churches. We need Hispanic churches. We need Vietnamese churches. One can't do it.”

Missions is part of God's plan, both for the world and for the church, said Charles Wade, executive director of the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

“God values us–loves us–so much that he did not want to spend an eternity apart from us,” Wade said.

He recited the key to missions he learned from Tillie Burgin, director of Mission Arlington, a citywide missions/evangelism enterprise: “Keep telling the (gospel) story, and hang out with the people.”

Another key is taking missions personally, said Phillip Williams, vice president for church and community development at Buckner Baptist Benevolences.

“Missions is personal; it's power-packed,” Williams said. “Go where God says to; make a difference. Someone is dying. Will you make missions personal to you? It's personal to me.”

Alcides Guajardo, president of the Hispanic Baptist Convention of Texas, shared those sentiments: “I love missions because I have a commission from the Lord. Our commission is very personal. It's very direct. He sent you, and he sent me. That's why I love missions. He sent me.”

The personal nature of missions often involves sacrifice, noted Patty Lane, director of intercultural initiatives for the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

She told about a person who gave a friend a beautiful seashell for a present. When the recipient noted they lived a long way from the ocean and the giver, a poor person, must have walked an extremely long way to retrieve the shell, the giver simply replied, “The walk is part of the gift.”

Lane recounted sacrificial ministries by Filipino and Congolese churches and another congregation whose home country is closed to the gospel.

“Missions is about giving our walk,” she said. “God not only transforms us; that's how he transforms the world.”

Bill Tinsley, director of WorldconneX, the BGCT's new missions network, picked up on the transformational theme.

That idea began with Jesus' call for repentance–for spiritually changed lives, Tinsley said. “We cannot embrace God unless we repent. … We must be transformed–our lives, our churches, our communities, our cities, our nations, the world.”

Daniel Vestal, the CBF's coordinator, presented a three-part challenge for missions.

“We're going to fulfill the Great Commission only when we give a dialogical witness,” Vestal said. “We've got to listen and learn, then give an authentic witness, and God does the rest.”

Christians also validate their witness through “suffering love,” he added. “How do we handle our own pain and suffering in the world? What do you do with your own pain–avoid it, anesthetize it or embrace it? God will use your pain to transform you into Christ's likeness.”

And Christians must depend upon the power of the Holy Spirit, he added. “We are at a time when we may come upon a great harvest, not because of what we're doing but because of the work of the Holy Spirit.”

Love is a powerful missionary tool, said Craig, a missionary whose last name was not used because he works in an Islamic country.

He told about a Muslim neighbor who wanted to argue about the Bible versus the Koran and Christianity versus Islam. But the way to reach his neighbors is not to out-argue them; it is to love them, he said. "We want to be known as Christians–people who love God and love others," he explained. "We need more workers. There aren't enough people like us out there."

Bruce Greer, a Dove Award-winning composer and concert artist, affirmed that idea. “If we're to win the world, we've got to love it,” he reminded participants in a song.

God is working among impoverished people along the Mexico-Texas border, reported Jorge Zapata, border ministries coordinator for Buckner Children & Families Services of South Texas, which serves residents of colonias–unincorporated towns and villages–up and down the Rio Grande.

“There's a revival going on in the colonias,” Zapata said. “God has been transforming people.” For example, Buckner Border Ministries volunteers have repaired 60 houses in the region, and “every home where we have repaired, every member of the family accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior.”

Baptists are saving people from starvation around the world, said Paul Montacute, director of Baptist World Aid, the relief arm of the Baptist World Alliance.

He recounted stories of hunger-relief ministry in Rwanda, Sarajevo, Kosovo and along the Burma/Thailand border. “Baptists are loving, caring for others,” he said.

But Montacute challenged what has become, for some, conventional wisdom: “Short-term (mission) trips might not always be best. With just a tithe of the airfare, we could make a significant impact on world hunger.”

The Old Testament prophet Micah offered a practical guide for modern Christians concerned about missions, suggested Barbara Baldridge, the CBF's co-coordinator of Global Missions.

Noting Micah called on God-fearing people to enact justice, love mercy and walk humbly with others, Baldridge said, “If we can do that, I think we can know we're on mission.”

Christians today cannot dodge their responsibility for missions, stressed Bill Shiell, pastor of First Baptist Church in Knoxville, Tenn., who served as master of ceremonies for the conference.

Citing Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy, he said: “The most important time is now. It is the only time we have power, in this convergence of the past and the future. … It's our turn. We are the church now.”

Lance Wallace and Craig Bird contributed to this story.

Posted: 10/29/04

Conference showcases missions
ventures involving the Fellowship

SAN ANTONIO–The We Love Missions conference provided a showcase for ventures sponsored or supported by the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.

CBF joined Buckner Children & Family Services in partnering with Kids Hope USA to match church volunteers with school students in a one-hour-a-week mentoring program.

CBF Global Missions Co-coordinator Barbara Baldridge, Buckner Children & Family Services Vice President Felipe Garza and Kids Hope USA Founder Virgil Gulker signed a three-year agreement that calls for the Fellowship to provide mentors from churches to 150 children in San Antonio, Dallas/Fort Worth, Waco and Lufkin.

Founded in 1995, Kids Hope USA began as a pilot project among three churches and 30 students in southwestern Michigan. Now, Kids Hope USA has more than 271 churches providing mentors for 4,700 children across the country.

The Fellowship currently partners with Buckner in the Rio Grande Valley, El Paso and Nairobi, Kenya.

"I am so grateful to Kids Hope USA and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship," Garza said at a signing ceremony. "We will be able to reach children, show them the love they need and share Jesus."

CBF Global Missions announced a new category of mission service that will enable “affiliates” who establish their own sources of funding to work with the missions group.

The new program will be called AsYouGo, announced Tom Ogburn, the Fellowship's associate coordinator for volunteer and partnership missions.

The program will allow individuals being sent to do missions work to affiliate with CBF Global Missions even if they are funded by churches, have full-time employment that takes them abroad or some combination of both.

The Fellowship currently has four categories of mission service–career field personnel, the short-term Global Service Corps program, Student.Go semester missions and Envoys, who are affiliated with but not funded by the Fellowship. AsYouGo replaces the Envoy category, Ogburn said.

A partnership linking CBF with four other sponsors aims to empower a San Antonio neighborhood with the designation as “one of the poorest ZIP codes in America.”

Jeremy Everett, point person for the experiment in long-term Christian community development, is employed and supervised by Baptist Child & Family Services, supplied with an office by Trinity Baptist Church and also supported by the San Antonio Baptist Association, the Baptist General Convention of Texas and CBF.

“We want to shift from benevolence to empowerment, to help the community organize and utilize its own resources and to lead the way in solving its own problems,” Everett said.

Students at the Baptist University of the Americas in San Antonio will continue to receive scholarships for purchasing textbooks, thanks to an ongoing partnership with CBF Global Missions.

Since 2001, Global Missions has provided $3,000 each semester for the university to distribute to students for assistance with textbooks.

Baldridge presented a check to Marconi Monteiro, BUA's dean of student services, in a special presentation during the missions conference at Trinity Baptist Church in San Antonio.

Reported by Lance Wallace of CBF Communications

Posted: 10/29/04

Posted: 10/29/04

BGCT offers partnering ministry grants

The Baptist General Convention of Texas is offering grants of up to $1,000 to partnering congregations looking to start new ministries.

Partnering churches must be made up primarily of members from different ethnic groups. For example, an African-American church could partner with a Korean congregation or an Anglo congregation could cooperate with a Sudanese church.

The new ministry or event must be culturally appropriate to the community. Suggested projects should be planned to take place within 12 months of funding. Applications for the grants can be found at www.texastapestry.org, or requested at (214) 828-5379. The submission deadline is March 30, 2005. Decisions about the applications will be made by the end of April 2005.

Posted: 10/29/04

'God is not nice,' nor is he one of us, theologian insists

By Bob Smietana

Religion News Service

CHICAGO–Contrary to popular belief, God is not an American, one of us, religious or a capitalist. He's not very nice either, says Stephen Long.

Unfortunately, says Long, too many Christians prefer “the nice god” to the God of the Bible.

Long, who teaches systematic theology at Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary, is one of six scholars whose essays appear in “God is Not,” a book from Brazos Press that takes on “culturally misinformed views about who God is.” The title of the book comes from Thomas Aquinas, who argued that “we cannot know what God is, but only what God is not,” says editor Brent Laytham.

In his essay, “God is not nice,” Long reworks a famous section from Isaiah, where the Old Testament prophet is terrified when he sees God “sitting on his throne, high and lifted,” surrounded by angels crying “Holy, Holy, Holy.” The nice god, by contrast, is seated on a lawn chair, wearing a Chicago Cubs hat, writes Long. And the angels call out “Nice, nice, nice is the Lord of Hosts; the whole world is full of his niceness.”

Long, Laytham and the other essayists are all members of the Ekklesia Project, a group of scholars, pastors, and lay people who believe the modern church has forgotten its true calling. Ekklesia–taken from the New Testament Greek word for church–members believe Christians owe their ultimate allegiance to the church, not to their country, class or ideology.

When churches forget that, the group's website at www. Ekklesia.org argues, “they turn the clear and unambiguous call of Jesus and the Holy Spirit into a confused and contradictory mix of caution and self-interest.”

The purpose of the Ekklesia Project is to “remind the church of its true calling as the real-world community whose primary loyalty is to the Body of Christ, the priorities and practices of Jesus, and the inbreaking kingdom of God.”

About 120 people attended Ekklesia's annual conference recently at DePaul University in Chicago. DePaul University philosophy professor Michael Budde calls the group “friends we didn't know we had,” who are drawn together by a sense that something was missing from their faith.

“Most people share this deep sense that there has to be more to being the church, to being disciples, that what I have lived out so far,” he said.

Budde and Stanley Hauerwas of Duke Divinity School co-wrote a pamphlet, posted on the Ekklessia Web site, called “Subversive Friendships,” which outlines some of the group's goals. One of them is to “make the church feistier and more self aware.”

“We have no use for happy and/or 'friendly' churches,” they wrote. “We do not desire to see the church grow using the manipulative strategies of the church growth movement. We do not want our churches to 'entertain' us by trying to be an alternative to the American entertainment industry. If the church tries to compete with TV, then the church is already lost.”

The conference theme came from the song of Mary in Luke 1, which describes the “upside down kingdom of God”–where the mighty are knocked down and the lowly are exalted; where the rich are hungry and the poor are satisfied.

But Jonathan Wilson, conference presenter and professor of theology and ethics at Acadia Divinity School in Nova Scotia, said that the “upside-down kingdom of God” is a misnomer. Instead, he said, it should be called “the right-side up kingdom of God.”

“In God's creation, the current state of affairs is upside down,” Wilson said. “The kingdom of God comes not to turn things upside down, but to turn things right-side up.”

At a time when politicians are debating how much influence the church has on the state, Ekklesia members worry about the influence of the state on the church.

Part of one afternoon session centered on getting the American flag removed from church sanctuaries.

“The American flag does not belong in the chancel,” Hauerwas said, “partly it's because people think that it is more significant than the sacrifice of the Eucharist–and when that happens you have idolatry.”

Hauerwas added that the church is an international community, connecting people across national boundaries.

That's a theme taken up by Ekklesia member Michael Baxter in an essay titled “God is not an American.”

“In a time of war,” Baxter says, “the challenge of Christians, scattered among the nations of the world, is to live as one body of Christ, and to pledge their allegiance not to one nation under God, but to one church under God.”

Posted: 10/29/04

Nominees named for BGCT boards & committees

The following information is provided in compliance with the bylaws of the Baptist General Convention of Texas. Nominations to be considered by messengers to the BGCT annual session in San Antonio, Nov. 8-9, are presented by the Committee to Nominate Executive Board Members, the Committee on Committees, the Committee to Nominate Coordinating Boards and the Committee on Nominations for Institution Boards.

Key: # new member/trustee/ regent; % non-church/denominational employee; ^ elected by BGCT; + elected by institution board; @ elected at an Executive Board meeting and must be elected at convention; E/one-year extended term

Executive Board

Members to be re-elected

Term to expire in 2007: % David Alford, Waco; Mike Barrera, Laredo; Darrell Beggs, Teague; % Wanda Bishop, Palestine; Becky Brown, Houston; % Rudy Camacho, Fort Worth; % Jean Childre, Garland; Derwin Comer, Wellington; Ron Davis, Liberty; Al Flores, San Antonio; % John Freeman, Dallas; Jim Haskell, Georgetown; % Barbara Hearn, Athens; Robert Herring, San Antonio; Charles Kimball, Allen; Manny Longoria, Lubbock; Ron Lyles, Pasadena; Ray Meador, Port Arthur; % Garnett Mitchell, Kingwood; Dana Moore, Amarillo; % Linda Murdock, Lubbock; % Johnnie Pigg, Fort Worth; Fred Raney, Hemphill; Allen Reed, Nacogdoches; % Audrene Robison, Gainesville; Eddie Sanchez, Dallas; Randall Scott, Paris; Don Shannon, Coldspring; Bill Skaar, Grand Prairie; Mark Smith, Warren; John Stanislaw, Coleman; % Charlie Summers, Dimmit; % Jean Talley, Grapevine; Barry Taylor, Winters; Betty Thompson, Mineola; John Thielepape, Arlington; % Tommy Thompson, Mission; % Gordon Wear, Leona; % Charles Whiteside, Kilgore; Mitch Wilson, Shallowater; Larry Womack, Houston

New members

Term to expire in 2007: % Janelle Boyce, Frisco; Jerry Carlisle, Murphy; % Gwenda Carrell, Godley; Sammy Garcia, Denison; % Mart Hanna, Kerrville; % Royce Jenne Harmon, Stephenville; Ron Hood, Longview; % Elmo Johnson, Houston; Rachel Lopez, San Antonio; J. Morgan Malone, Bonham; % Jose Maymi, Belton; % Glen Mitchell, Iowa Park; Bruce Murray, Austin; Jim O'Dell, Leakey; % Gary Purser, Amarillo; Ed Seay, Magnolia; Chris Simmons, Dallas; Chris Thacker, Eagle Lake; Ed Walker, Granite Shoals; Norman Whittington, Killeen; % Lisa Harper Wood, North Richland Hills; Harry Wright, Port Neches

Members nominated to fill un-expired terms

Term to expire in 2005: John Collis, Ozona; % Anna Marie Edgemon, Sulphur Springs; Joel Odom, Floresville; Troy Richardson, Amarillo

Term to expire in 2006: % Alice Curtis, Fort Worth; Nestor Menjivar, Austin; % Marshall Morgan, Odessa; Craig Rhoton, Monahans; % Gene Shelburne, Midland; % Eunice Vincent, Alpine

Member nominated at large

% Danny Montez, San Angelo

Christian Education Coordinating Board

Term to expire 2007: Jerry Sawyer, El Paso; Jerry Dailey, San Antonio; % Walt McKee, Grandfalls; #% Yuvi Cadenhead, Haskell; Craig Vire, Burleson

Term to expire 2005: #% Kate Fite, Lewisville

Institution representative, term to expire 2005: Lanny Hall, Howard Payne University, Brownwood

Human Welfare Coordinating Board

Term to expire 2007: # Lee S. Wilson, Fort Worth; #% Rebecca Hines, Houston; #% Mark Heard, Cuero; Delia Vela, El Paso

Term to expire 2005: # Luis Garcia, Corpus Christi

Institution representatives, term to expire 2005: Tim Holloway, Baptist Community Services, Amarillo, aging care; Jerry Haag, South Texas Children's Home, Beeville, child care; Art Hohenberger, Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center, Waco, health care

Baptist University of the Americas trustees

Terms to expire in 2007: John Bobo, Hurst; # Frances Barrera, Plainview; Teresa Luna, San Antonio; % Jackie Miller, El Paso; Brad Russell, San Antonio; Johnny White Jr., San Antonio; Scott Willingham, Wichita Falls

Baylor University regents

Term to expire, May 31, 2008: ^% Wes Bailey, Waco; # Duane Brooks, Houston; ^% Randy Ferguson, Austin

Dallas Baptist University trustees

Term to expire in 2007: #+% Gayla Crain, Irving; ^% Charlie Frazier, Dallas; ^ Dan Griffin, Arlington;^% Charles Ku, Flower Mound; #+ Bernie Moraga, Albuquerque, N.M.; #^% Ken Pilgrim, Pittsburg; ^%Harold Sadler, Henderson; ^ Jack Shelton, Lampasas; ^ Gary Singleton, Garland; ^% Buena Stevenson, Frisco; ^% Nobu Togami, Belton, #+% Bianca Yip, Houston

Term to expire in 2006: #^% Donna Slette, Waco

East Texas Baptist University trustees

Term to expire in 2007: ^% Don Anthis, Houston; #+% Glenn Bickerdike, Marshall; ^% Don Bush, Beaumont; ^% David Chadwick, Center; ^% Robert Cooper, Carrollton; ^ Clint Davis, Mt. Pleasant; #+% Ray Delk, Marshall; #+% William Gean, The Woodlands; #^% Kenny Hall, Marshall; #+ John Hatch, Lake Jackson; #^% Denie Kendrick, Pasadena; #^% Sam Moseley, Marshall; ^% Louise Ornelas Tyler; ^% Ed Smith, Marshall; #+ James Webb, Longview

Term to expire in 2005: E/^% D.M. Edwards, Tyler; ^% Sheila Hurtte, Daingerfield; #^ Bob Mayfield, Tyler

Term to expire in 2006: #^% Joy Howell, Marshall

Hardin-Simmons University trustees

Term to expire in 2007: ^% Jimmie Cantrell, Abilene; ^ David Garza, Abilene; ^ George Gaston San Antonio; #^% Ron Howell, Arlington; #^ Bubba Stahl, Corpus Christi; #^% James Parker, Abilene; ^% Jud Powell, Abilene; ^ Charles Price, San Antonio; ^% Clinton Wolf, El Paso

Term to expire in 2006: @^% Elaine Gabbert, Dallas

Houston Baptist University trustees

Term to expire in 2007: ^% Max Grigsby, Houston; ^% George Roper, Houston; #^% David Stutts, Houston; #^ Larry Womack, Houston

Howard Payne University trustees

Term to expire in 2007: ^% Rick Akins, Salado; ^% Russell Berry, Abilene; #^ Mike Chancellor, Abilene; #^% Al Lock , Fort Worth; ^% Jim McEachern, Midlothian; ^% Robert Rockwell, Lewisville; %^ Daniel Sanchez, Fort Worth; ^% Ben Sinclair, Montgomery; #^% John Weidner, Brownwood

San Marcos Baptist Academy trustees

Term to expire in 2007: W.D. Broadway, Salado; E/% Mike Davidson, Jr., Dripping Springs; #% Bobby Miser, Missouri City; % Charlene Morgan, Houston; % Peggy Portillo, San Antonio

Term to expire in 2005: #% Jimmie Scott, San Marcos

Term to expire in 2006: #% Mel Shook, Lubbock

University of Mary Hardin-Baylor trustees

Term to expire in 2007: #+ Henry Adrion, III, Hilltop Lakes; ^ Jerry Carlisle, Murphy; ^% Kathy Cook, McGregor; #^% Martha Cooper, Grand Prairie; #+% Camille Dillard, Dallas; ^ Mike Hark-rider, Temple; ^ Jim Haskell, Georgetown: #+% Gary Heavin, Gatesville; ^% Arch Jacobson, Comfort; @^ Martin Knox, Temple; #^% John Messer, Belton; #^% Clark Potter, Belton; #+% Mary Priest, Salado; ^% Ernie Roberts, DeSoto; ^% Barbara Sherwin, Stephenville; ^% Ricky Thompson, Waco

Valley Baptist Missions/Education Center trustees

Term to expire in 2007: # Jennifer Bordenet, Harlingen; #% Esther Fraire, McAllen; Pat Graham, Harlingen; # Roberto Rodriguez, Harlingen; % Joel Salazar, Houston

Wayland Baptist University trustees

Term to expire in 2007: #^% Danny Campbell, Midland; ^% Joe Cargile, Crosbyton; ^% David Foote, Dalhart;

^% Carl Hall, Boerne; ^ Gene Hawkins, Lubbock; ^% Robert Herring, Fair,Oaks Ranch; ^% Bruce Julian, Perryton; #^ D.L. Lowrie, Lubbock; #^% Delbert McDougal, Lubbock; ^% Bill Sowder, Shallowater

Term to expire in 2005: @^% Peggy Wall, Plainview; #+% Tim Powers, Wichita Falls

Term to expire in 2006: @^ Gene Meacham, Plainview

Baptist Health Foundation of San Antonio trustees

Term to expire in 2007: @^% Alice Gong, San Antonio; @^% Connie Jones, Fair Oaks Ranch, @^% Bill McCandless, San Antonio; @^ Philip McCraw, San Antonio

Term to expire in 2005: @^% Mary Brogan, San Antonio; #^ Ronnie Car-ter, San Antonio; @^ Roland Lopez, San Antonio; #+% Noah Rodriguez, San Antonio

Term to expire in 2006: @^% Ray Dinstel, Boerne; @^% Kim Moore, Fair Oaks Ranch; @^ Sam Pearis IV, Universal City

Baylor Health Care System trustees

Term to expire in 2007: ^ Bill Pinson, Duncanville; +% Jim Turner, Dallas

Hendrick Medical Center trustees

Term to expire in 2007: David Cason, Abilene; #% Ron Fogle , Abilene; % Monroe Levrets, Abilene; Charles Maciel, Abilene; % J.V. Martin, Sweetwater; % David Scott, Abilene; % Shelly Utley, Abilene; Mike Woodard, Abilene

Term to expire in 2005: # Ward Hayes, Sweetwater

Term to expire in 2006: #% Dennis Laster, Abilene

Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center trustees

Term to expire in 2007: ^ Paul Stripling, Waco

Memorial Hermann Baptist Hospital trustees

Term to expire in 2007: #^% Sonja Coffman, Beaumont; ^% Walter Snider, Beaumont

Valley Baptist Health System trustees

Term to expire in 2007: #+% Eddie Caughfield, Combes; ^ Charles Dixon, Harlingen; ^% Robert Hoot, Raymondville; ^% George Labar Jr., South Padre Island, #^% Wilbron Stanteen, Harlingen

Baptist Community Services trustees

Term to expire in 2007: ^% Robert Byrd, Canyon; ^% Bob Gibson, Amarillo; +% Henry Hamilton, Amarillo; #^% Gorden Jenkins, Amarillo; ^ Charley Jones, Amarillo; ^% Don Max Vars, Canyon

Baptist Memorials Ministries trustees

Term to expire in 2007: #% Michael Epley, San Angelo; % David Green, Sweetwater; % Gretta Hill, San Angelo; #% Stanley Mayfield, San Angelo; # John Petty, Kerrville; % Mary Robinson, Eldorado; #% Lynn Rutland, San Angelo; % Carol Scott, Big Spring; #% Monty Trimble, Corsicana

Term to expire in 2005: #% Steven Saldivar, Big Lake

Baptist Child & Family Services trustees

Term to expire in 2007: ^% George Cowden III, San Antonio; ^% Larry Lummus, Bullard; %^ Martha Morse, San Antonio; ^% Randy Norris, Austin; ^ Jim Shamburger, Victoria; ^% Terry Simmons, Dallas

Buckner Baptist Benevolences trustees

Term to expire in 2007: #^% David Hennessee, San Antonio; #+ Ellis Orozco, McAllen; #+% Lynette Ran-ton, Alto, N.M.; ^% Eddie Saldaña, Garland; ^% Michelle Spinks, Midland; +% Tom Stone, Longview; +% Victor Upton, DeSoto; +% George Vorpahl , Bee Cave

South Texas Children's Home trustees

Term to expire in 2007: % Tracy Crawford, Tyler; % Tom Culver, Richmond; % Tony Gray, Bellaire; #% Ron Hyde, Kenedy; % Lynda Martin, Corpus Christi; #% Mary Lou Mc-Kaig, Arlington; #% Lamar Meadows Jr., Richmond; % Chuck Radar, Victoria; #% Sherry Sigmon, San Antonio

Texas Baptist Children's Home & Family Services trustees

Term to expire in 2007: # Barry Chinn, Del Valle; #% Buddy Ferguson, Austin; % Doak Fling, Georgetown; #% Tom Norris, McGregor; Don Shannon, Coldspring; #% Jonda White, Austin

Term to expire in 2005: #% Billie Sue Cariker, Round Rock

Baptist Standard directors

Term to expire in 2007: #% Roger Hall, Midlothian; % Diane Payne, Spring; # Betty Ross Preisler, Wharton; Rudy Sanchez , Dallas; # Wil Tanner, Lubbock

Baptist Foundation of Texas directors

Term to expire in 2007: ^% Larry Franklin, San Antonio; +% Fred Norton Jr., Tex-arkana; ^% Sam Self, Dallas, ^% Jerry Turner, Blanco

Term to expire in 2005: @^% Kim Askew, Dallas

WorldconneX trustees

Term to expire in 2007: ^ Justice Anderson, Fort Worth; #+ Daniel Carro, Annandale, Va.; ^ Greg Deering, Arlington; ^% Frankie Harvey, Nacogdoches; ^% Bill Noble, Lubbock; ^% Robert Pinder, Georgetown; ^ Nina Pinkston, Fort Worth; ^ Jeff Raines, Amarillo; #+% Joel Vestal, Houston

Term to expire in 2005: #+ Cindy Wiles, Arlington; #+% Bill O'Brien, Frisco

Committee to Nominate Executive Board Members

Term to expire 2007: # James Fuller, Beaumont; # Allison Gilliam, Valley Mills; #% Nelda Jones, Rosebud; #% Roger Malone, Dimmitt; # James Wong, Houston

Committee on Nominations for Institution Boards

Term to expire 2007: #% Kathy Averitt, Waco; #% Luis Lozano, Laredo; #% David Malone, Austin; # Bill Wright, Plains

Term to expire 2005: # Houmphanh Vongsurith, Grand Prairie

Posted: 10/29/04

On the Move

Greg Ammons to First Church in Garland as pastor from Faith Church in Iowa Park.

Jeff Baergen to San Marcos Academy in San Marcos as director of admissions.

Lloyd Christensen to First Church in Quinlan as pastor.

Terry Cosby to First Church in Burnet as pastor from First Church in Hereford.

Rick Davis to First Church in Royse City as pastor.

Bobby Dupree to San Marcos Academy in San Marcos as vice president for development, where he was director of admissions.

Bob Ethredge has resigned as minister of education and administration at Vista Ridge Church in Carrollton.

Charles Fake to Timbergrove Church in Houston as pastor.

Orvin Feliciano has resigned as pastor of Free Bridge Church in Point.

Ken Flowers has completed an interim pastorate at First Church in Burnet.

Danny Gandy to Ardis Heights Church in Greenville as pastor.

H.B. Graves has completed his work as church planter for First Branch Fellowship in Chelsea, Vt., and is available for supply and interims at (940) 658-3192.

Walt Hammond to Rocky Creek Church in Brownwood as minister of youth.

Chad Howard to First Church in Little Elm as youth minister.

Linda McCrady has resigned as ministry coordinator, new member minister and senior adult minister at First Church in Waxahachie.

John McWhorter to Mustang Church in Pilot Point as interim pastor.

Terry Mick to First Church in Mobeetie as youth minister.

Jonathan Patrick has resigned as youth minister at First Church in Sanger.

Les Rhea has resigned as pastor of First Church in Cash.

Cecil Rice to Northview Church in Bryan as pastor.

Jennifer Slack to First Church in Wichita Falls as assistant director of preschool and children's ministries.

Chris Smith to Memorial Church in Denton as youth minister.

Stan Sullinger to Crossroad Church in The Woodlands as discipleship pastor from First Church in Garland, where he was minister of education.

Joseph Taylor to Memorial Church in Baytown as associate pastor/minister of music from Fort Caroline Church in Jacksonville, Fla.

Monty Weaver to Calvary Church in Wolfe City as pastor.

Linda Willeford to Southeast Church in San Antonio as youth minister.

Clell Wright to Lytle South Church in Abilene as music minister.