Posted: 9/17/04

EDITORIAL:
'04 decisions will impact decades

2004 will get a dog-eared and tattered page in Texas Baptist history books. Generations from now, our descendants will pore over these months, evaluating their impact on all that follows.

Next week, the Baptist General Convention of Texas Executive Board will consider the most significant reorganization of the BGCT in at least five decades. The board will act on new mission, vision, values and priority statements that place the health and vitality of local churches at the center of everything the convention does. It will vote on governance proposals that drastically reduce the size of the BGCT's rambling decision-making apparatus and make the convention more accountable to the churches. And it will review strategies that will outline how the convention will serve churches to make them stronger so they can bring people to Christ and minister in Jesus' name.

If the Executive Board approves, then messengers to the BGCT annual session this fall will vote their approval or disapproval. And if the messengers ratify the changes, BGCT Executive Director Charles Wade will begin the vital task of assigning staff to new responsibilities and allocating budget dollars to make it all happen.

Some Texas Baptists may be tempted to give this process the ho-hum treatment. We've all seen organization charts come and go. We've read mission and vision statements until our eyes cross. We've seen staff reassigned. What's the big deal?

This is a huge deal, and we all should pray it becomes reality–a new reality for the BGCT.

The proposed guiding statements and governance reorganization have the potential to change the culture of the BGCT. You won't sense it in Sunday school next week or mention it in your missions committee meeting next month. You won't feel it when your finance committee reports this quarter or ponder it when a church in your association picks a pastor the first of next year. But if these changes are approved and implemented well, they will impact all those aspects of church life before too long.

For decades, the BGCT has been program-driven, just like every other Baptist convention and most other denominational bureaucracies. The convention's job has been to develop programs at the Baptist Building in Dallas, promote them vigorously and pass them along to the churches. This hasn't been bad. God has blessed, and our churches and convention have prospered.

But times have changed. Just as the marketplace has been consumer-customized and businesses have become more client-oriented, the changing pace of our culture has geared churches to seek customization and specific support. Seek it because they need it. Cookie-cutter approaches don't cut it any more. And the proposed BGCT reorganization–a reorientation of the convention's function–will address those changing, changing church needs.

Within a couple of years, the reorganization will decentralize the convention. It will mean moving staff out of Dallas and closer to churches across Texas. It will mean shifting from calling the Baptist Building to get the latest upgrade of a program to working with a consultant to find the just-right options for your church. It will mean providing input from your church–ideas about what works and doesn't work and why–into a system that will take that knowledge and use it to help not only your church but other congregations. It will mean creating more flexible response systems for starting churches and doing mission work across Texas and around the world. It will mean investing in research and development to test approaches to ministry and to make the best practices available to all the churches. It will mean focusing resources on ministry to Texas' swirling demographic realities and training ministers to lead all our churches, including thousands not yet started.

It will mean all that. And more.

It hinges not only on approval, but also implementation. Pray for the Executive Board as it deliberates Sept. 28 and BGCT messengers as they meet Nov. 8-9. Pray for Charles Wade as he considers how to move reorganization to reality. And pray for all Texas Baptists as we anticipate a changing–and exciting–future.
–Marv Knox
E-mail the editor at marvknox@baptiststandard.com

Posted: 9/17/04

EDITORIAL:
Contest: Care for the poor

Like the tides, phases of the moon and the Texas Rangers' inevitable September nosedive, some events are predictable.

Take the responses that arrive every time an editorial calls on Texas Baptists to advocate government support for poor people. Say restoring funding for the Children's Health Insurance Program. Or helping the elderly and chronically ill with their prescription costs. Or maybe ensuring a basic level of education for all children, no matter where they or their parents were born.

Some responses are worse than others. Nobody these days enjoys being called a socialist. Most Christians don't appreciate their faith being called into question.

Other responses are sincere, heartfelt, genuine. And illogical. They usually go like this: “I can't believe the editor of our state Baptist paper would endorse something as absurd as wasting tax money on social-welfare programs. Don't you know what Jesus taught? It's the church's job to take care of the poor. 'Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's and unto God the things that are God's.' The government needs to butt out of the church's business. And it certainly doesn't need more of my tax money.”

If this were true, then churches are failing miserably. And every Christian in every church is failing, too.

But maybe I'm wrong. Let's have a contest to see if any church is meeting the challenge. To see if we can say, 'Government, take a hike; the church's got it under control.”

We're looking for a church that is doing its complete share to help provide food, clothing and shelter, medical care, educational support and emergency relief. If every church in town did its proportional share, the community wouldn't need any state or government support to meet the needs of poor children, the chronically and mentally ill, and the elderly.

Nominations should include a brief description of the church's ministries and a copy of the ministry budget, as well as information about the size of the community and the government-supported services for such people. Nominations also should include the number of other churches in the community, demonstrating that if the other churches did their share, government could get out of the business of helping poor people.

We'll also take nominations for individuals who contribute sufficiently to their churches' budgets to cover their prorated share of ministry to poor people in their town.

And if we receive bona fide winners, we'll write up their stories. We'll tell how they do it and how the rest of us can, too.

But until then, we need to demand the government adequately fund services for “the least of these” our churches are missing.
–Marv Knox
E-mail the editor at marvknox@baptiststandard.com

Posted: 9/17/04

Six BGCT-related schools post increases in
fall enrollment; three universities show drop

By Ferrell Foster

Texas Baptist Communications

Six schools affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas reported student enrollment increases this fall.

Baptist University of the Americas in San Antonio, an accredited theological university, enrolled 185 at its San Antonio campus, up from 171 a year ago. In its Baptist Bible institutes, enrollment stayed the same at 500.

Eighty-nine percent of students are in the school's bachelor's program, and 28 percent come from outside the United States.

Dallas Baptist University reports fall enrollment is up 3.9 percent, an increase of 176 students to a total of 4,714.

The record level marks the 17th consecutive year of growth at the school.

DBU has been adding buildings to accommodate its growth. The most recent addition is a three-building on-campus apartment complex that houses 250 students. A fourth building is to open in the spring.

East Texas Baptist University in Marshall enrolled 1,404 this fall, compared to 1,354 in fall 2003.

University officials attributed the growth, in part, to a new financial plan that guarantees no increase in student costs related to tuition, fees, room and board for eight semesters.

Hardin-Simmons University set a record enrollment this semester with 2,392 students, topping the all-time high of 2,374 in 1995.

It marked a 2.5 percent increase over the 2003 enrollment of 2,333.

Hardin-Simmons' Logsdon School of Theology's master of divinity program enrolled 95 students this fall, an increase of 30 students or 46.2 percent.

Minority enrollment is up 8 percent, and transfer enrollment is up 25.8 to 190.

The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor at Belton enrolled 2,706 students this fall, a 3 percent increase. The freshman class declined to 477 from 508, but the number of transfer students jumped to 340 from 282.

The university's freshman retention rate reached an all-time high, with 70 percent of fall 2003 freshmen still enrolled.

Wayland Baptist University's enrollment climbed to 6,272 this fall, up from last year's 6,205.

At the Plainview campus, 1,057 enrolled, compared to 1,037 in 2003.

Almost one-third of the freshman class were designated “Pioneer Scholars,” which earned them special tuition scholarships based on entrance exam scores. Twice as many freshmen this year are participating in Wayland's honors program.

Houston Baptist University's 12th day enrollment figures were not finalized, but preliminary numbers indicate 2,231 students enrolled, compared to 2,334 last fall.

New student undergraduate enrollment at Houston Baptist University remains at last year's level.

At Baylor University in Waco, overall enrollment is down 138 students to 13,799, compared to last fall's 13,937.

There are 11,580 undergraduate students, 1,297 graduate students, 424 in the law school, 391 at George W. Truett Theological Seminary, 99 at the U.S. Academy of Health Sciences in San Antonio and eight in a physical therapy doctoral program at West Point.

Baylor's freshman enrollment climbed this year by 107 students to 2,785.

The freshman class also represents a rise in average SAT scores (1190, up from 1179) and an increase in minority students (30.3 percent, up from 25.5 percent).

At Howard Payne University in Brownwood, enrollment dipped 4.8 percent, with 1,318 students this fall compared to 1,385 in 2003.

Of those students, 1,145 attend at the Brownwood campus, and 173 attend classes in El Paso, Harlingen, Corpus Christi and Weatherford. The number of new students increased to 427 from 414.

University officials attributed the decline in part to sluggish enrollment at the school's extended education .

Howard Payne graduated a near record number in the spring–260 graduates compared to the average 224.

Posted: 9/17/04

Reorganization will help BGCT meet
Texas churches' needs, leaders agree

By Marv Knox

Editor

Reorganization of the Baptist General Convention of Texas is long overdue, BGCT leaders agree, but they predict the changes will enable the BGCT to improve its ability to meet the needs of Texas Baptist churches.

BGCT Executive Director Charles Wade, President Ken Hall and Chief Financial Officer David Nabors also stressed the proposed reorganization will increase accountability to the churches.

“For a long time, many Texas Baptists have felt that the Executive Board and the various boards and commissions, for all the good they have done, needed to be reorganized,” Wade explained.

He cited three primary reasons: “First, the present organization is confusing and difficult to explain.

“Second, members of the Executive Board often feel they have no input into developing policies, recommendations or initiatives. All of that is done by committees or other entities.

“And third, in a time of concern that boards of directors hold executive staff accountable, it is clear the 234 Executive Board members constitute too large a body to be fully engaged in evaluating and setting direction for the executive staff.”

Hall echoed the accountability theme.

“Governance has to match the convention's goals so you can force accountability,” he said. “You have to change the governance structure.”

To illustrate, he cited “too much duplication and confusion on our boards, commissions and committees.”

“And in this era of corporate scandal and poor board oversight in the for-profit and not-for-profit worlds, we've got to strengthen accountability,” he said. “We've been fortunate in Texas, because we've had godly people leading us.”

The proposed structure would do just that, Wade added.

“There will be more accountability for decisions made and actions taken,” he predicted. “The Executive Board will be asked to decide on matters which they have had a part in researching and developing. There will be better coordination and integration of ideas and solutions to help local churches, associations and institutions.”

And that accountability has ramifications throughout the convention structure, the leaders noted.

For example, the BGCT executive director currently relates to five major governing bodies in addition to the Executive Board, and they all have fiduciary responsibilities that overlap with the Executive Board, Hall said.

Charles Wade

“The executive director now will have accountability to one group–the Executive Board, particularly through its Executive Committee,” Nabors explained.

Similarly, since the BGCT's institutions relate directly to coordinating boards and only indirectly to the Executive Board, “they never have had to be accountable to the Executive Board, even though the (BGCT) funding comes through there,” Hall noted, advocating a closer relationship between funding and accountability.

That will be accomplished through “a single line of accountability to a committee of the Executive Board,” Nabors responded.

Wade pledged the new structure will result in “a coordinated effort to assist the institutions in helping the churches be most effective in developing leaders, meeting human needs and other priorities of the convention.”

And the accountability will bounce back to the Executive Board as well, he observed.

“The Executive Board will have 90 members representing the entire state and the wonderful ethnic diversity we have in our churches,” he said. “They will be accountable for the work of the convention because they will be given the responsibility to develop the plans, policies and strategies that will affect all the work we will do together.”

Although the BGCT's institutions no longer will relate to coordinating boards, they will relate to the Executive Board's Institutional Relations Committee, Wade said.

“In fact, we hope we can better coordinate efforts and increase collaboration to encourage the institutions to help local churches be more effective,” he reported.

For example, integration of the work of institutions and commissions into the Executive Board's proposed committee structure will improve efficiency and effectiveness, he said.

David Nabors

“The Executive Board will be involved in the evaluation of the work of the institutions and the missions, education and public policy matters,” he explained. “So, the board will be able to make better decisions about allocating resources through the budget and personnel assignments.”

And the new structure will not erode the strength of the Christian Life Commission, which has “spoken to and not for” Texas Baptists on moral concerns for more than five decades, Wade added. “We will not lose the prophetic voice on ethical and moral issues which the CLC provides. We will improve our ability to educate our churches and people regarding biblical ethics.”

Advisory groups will strengthen the impact of ministries previously represented by coordinating boards and commissions, he noted, stating these groups will “serve as resources and advocates for our missions and ministry efforts.”

Although each of the BGCT's 113 affiliated district associations no longer will be represented on the Executive Board, representation will be fair and equitable, Nabors and Wade promised.

“Resident membership of our churches is a better representative baseline measure of Texas Baptists,” Nabors said.

“There will be three Executive Board members for every 50,000 resident members of our Baptist churches across Texas, This is the fairest way to represent our people and our churches,” Wade added. “Although every association will not always have at least one Executive Board member, we will be working so hard to relate to the churches and associations across Texas that they are going to feel better represented and better served than ever before.”

Moreover, the new Executive Board's membership “will be a more accurate representation of our true makeup” than the current board's roster, Nabors added.

“We will implement overlays of ethnic, gender, clergy, laity and other appropriate measures to be sure we have a fair representation of our churches' membership. These measures will be updated periodically to assure consistency in that representation.”

That diversity will be evident in about a year, when the first roster of Executive Board members is presented to the convention at the time of the final constitutional vote, which would make the reorganization official, Wade said.

“Everyone will be able to see before the final vote that we have achieved a broad-based representation of all our Baptist people,” he said.

The reorganization is vital for the BGCT's future, the convention leaders stressed.

“These changes will make our convention more accountable to the churches,” Wade noted. “The changes will make the convention staff more helpful to our churches, associations and institutions, and more focused on encouraging, facilitating and connecting our churches in their work to fulfill God's mission of reconciling the world to himself.”

“We are not the convention we were 50 years or 20 years ago,” Nabors said. “In order to be viable and helpful to our churches, we must change to reflect who we are today and who we need to be tomorrow.”

“The challenge we face in the BGCT is not from those who oppose us,” Wade said. “Our challenge is to be useful and enthusiastic partners with the Holy Spirit and the churches so that people everywhere will get a chance to know how much God loves them.

“We must focus on what God has called us to do if we hope to engage and energize young Baptists across this state in doing the work God has given us all to do.”

The proposed changes will create a strong Executive Board that can guide a strong state convention, Hall added.

“There should be one group of people who looks at the whole picture of what Texas Baptists want to do and holds agencies and leadership accountable,” he said.

Hall praised the proposals for enabling the BGCT to meet the needs of the times.

“In this day, organizational governance must be lean and adaptable to the ever-changing nature of the world,” he explained. “This streamlined governance model enables Texas Baptists to be more flexible and have less denominational bureaucracy, and therefore we are able to respond to needs and opportunities more quickly.”

The reorganization is not simply change for the sake of change, Wade added.

“It grows out of our desire to be more accountable to the churches for the decisions and proposals that will arise in the future,” he said. “We believe it will be more effective and will generate more appreciation and confidence among our Baptist people as we move forward.

“Equally important to me are the proposed mission, vision, values and priority statements,” which also were proposed by the convention's strategic planning committee.

“These will shape our core strategies and then the operational decisions that will put our staff in the most strategic places with the most strategic assignments to help us encourage, facilitate and connect the churches in their work.”

That's a new vision, “a refocusing on the needs of the churches,” Nabors said.

And fulfillment of the new vision is up to Texas Baptists, Hall added: “The outcome is dependent upon our faithfulness and stewardship of ministry. I'm committed personally to do everything I can to make it happen.”

Posted: 9/17/04

Executive Board will consider streamlining BGCT governance

By Marv Knox

Editor

A streamlined Baptist General Convention of Texas decision-making structure and an emphasis on accountability are the key ingredients in a historic proposal to reorganize the convention.

The proposal–to be implemented through an amended BGCT constitution–would eliminate five major BGCT governance groups and bring their responsibilities under authority of the convention's Executive Board.

It also would trim the Executive Board from 234 members to less than 100, while mandating the board reflect the BGCT's geographical, racial and ethnic, gender, age and ecclesiastical diversity.

A special strategic planning committee, named by BGCT Executive Director Charles Wade, developed the recommendations. The reorganization would mark the convention's first major structural change in five decades.

The Executive Board will consider reorganization at its fall meeting Sept. 28. The recommendations are part of a package of proposals that include new mission, vision, values and priority statements, as well as core strategies for directing the convention's work.

If the board approves the proposals, they will be presented to messengers who attend the BGCT annual session in San Antonio Nov. 8-9.

And if messengers approve the constitutional changes at annual sessions in 2004 and 2005, the BGCT governance structure will shrink and accountability will focus on the Executive Board.

According to the governance proposal, the BGCT would eliminate the Christian Education Coordinating Board, which acts as a liaison to the universities and academy affiliated with the convention. The Human Welfare Coordinating Board, which relates to the convention's child care, aging care and health care institutions, also would be eliminated.

Duties currently assigned to the coordinating boards would be delegated to a new Institutional Relations Committee of the Executive Board.

The proposal also recommends disbanding the State Missions Commission, which supervises work of the Executive Board's missions and ministries staff. Supervision of these tasks would be assigned to the Executive Board's new Church Ministries Committee.

The proposal suggests renaming the Christian Life Commission the Christian Life Group, which will continue to address public policy and ethical issues.

According to the proposal, “advisory groups throughout the state” could be formed to “provide input, feedback and ministry involvement” for areas of work previously administered by commissions and committees.

In addition, the governance proposal would do away with the free-standing BGCT Administrative Committee, which serves as the convention's personnel and budget committee. A new Administrative Committee of the Executive Board would take up those duties.

A new Executive Committee would “plan, coordinate and monitor the general progress” of the Executive Board. The committee would be comprised of the chairperson and vice chairperson of the Executive Board, the president and two vice presidents of the BGCT and the chairperson of each Executive Board committee.

The Executive Board would respond to its new duties by expanding its operational framework. Instead of meeting three times a year for a half day each, the board would conduct three two-day meetings. The new oversight committees would meet one day, and the full Executive Board would convene the next day.

The new structure is designed to increase accountability to the convention by centralizing authority–which previously had been dispersed–in the Executive Board.

The reorganized Executive Board would be comprised of 90 members–three each from 30 geographic/population sectors across the state. Each sector would be comprised of about 50,000 resident members of BGCT-affiliated churches.

The Executive Board also would include the BGCT's president and two vice presidents. Presidents of Woman's Missionary Union of Texas, Texas Baptist Men, Baptist Student Ministries and Hispanic Baptist Convention–all of which have been members of the Executive Board–will be ex-officio members of the new board, as will presidents of “any other convention-recognized fellowships” and the convention recording secretary.

The membership structure would depart from the current guidelines, which provide for at least one member from each of the 113 district associations affiliated with the convention.

But the new structure still would ensure representation from all across the state. With the sectors allocated according to resident church membership, representation would somewhat resemble legislative districts. High-population counties would include more than one sector, while low-population counties would be grouped geographically to create a sector.

The smaller Executive Board–with its committees that would oversee specific convention operations–responds to a frustration expressed by many current and former board members: The sheer size of the current board and the limited scope of members' participation in the governance process has translated into limited accountability for the board.

Executive Board membership would be reserved for “members of churches that are supportive of the Baptist General Convention of Texas,” the proposal notes.

When the Executive Board is fully functioning, members will be divided into three groups, with each member serving a three-year term but one-third of the members' terms expiring annually. Members would be eligible to serve a second three-year term, but they would be ineligible to serve for more than six years consecutively.

Unlike the current Executive Board policy, the convention would pay travel expenses for board members to attend meetings.

Still, the new arrangement is expected to save money, since the convention would not be paying travel and other expenses for meetings of the eliminated coordinating boards, commissions and committees.

Posted: 9/10/04

Group accuses two churches
of endorsing Democratic candidates

By Robert Marus

ABP Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON (ABP)—A religious-liberty group often accused of attacking conservative churches for political activity has criticized two progressive Baptist congregations for Democratic advocacy.

Americans United for Separation of Church and State asked the Internal Revenue Service to investigate New Birth Baptist Church in Miami for hosting what the group called a “Democratic rally” during an Aug. 29 worship service.

At the service, which featured Democratic National Committee chairman Terry McAuliffe and Democratic political activist Al Sharpton, speakers urged the congregation to defeat President Bush in his bid for re-election.

“Bush has misled us for four years and will not mislead us the next four years. Get out and vote, and we'll send Bush back to Texas,” McAulliffe said, according to Americans United.

Churches and other non-profit groups organized under Section 501(c)(3) of the federal tax codes are not allowed to endorse political parties or candidates without risking loss of their tax-exempt status. However, churches may host voter registration drives and educational activities as long as they are done in a non-partisan fashion.

In his complaint to the IRS, Americans United Executive Director Barry Lynn said New Birth's actions went beyond that.

“This event seems to have gone beyond legitimate voter education about issues,” he wrote. “Rather, the event was partisan in its approach and included only Democrats. It promoted Democratic candidates while disparaging Republicans. … I urge you to take appropriate action to correct this abuse of the law.”

Americans United also criticized—although it stopped short of asking for officials to investigate—an Aug. 29 speech by former President Bill Clinton at the famously liberal Riverside Church in New York City. Clinton's speech, which was timed for the beginning of the Republican National Convention in New York, was highly critical of Bush's policies. However, Clinton did not directly endorse Bush’s Democratic challenger, Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry.

Riverside Church is dually affiliated with the American Baptist Churches and the United Church of Christ.

“The difference between the Florida and the Riverside cases is that you in Florida, you had the chairman of the Democratic National Committee basically telling people how to vote—not just criticizing the shortcomings of a candidate,” Lynn said. “Bill Clinton's speech … came right to the edge of the cliff, but stopped short of a direct candidate endorsement.”

Americans United has regularly criticized—and sometimes reported—conservative churches and ministries for appearing to endorse Republican candidates. In recent months, the group has asked IRS officials to investigate Virginia Baptist pastor and television preacher Jerry Falwell as well as Arkansas Baptist pastor Ronnie Floyd for endorsing Bush. It also criticized an Aug. 24 chapel speech that Falwell gave at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth where he said, “The press is here today, expecting me to get into politics, which I’m not going to do, except to tell you to vote for the Bush of your choice.”

“I'm appalled by both of them,” Lynn said of Falwell and Clinton's respective speeches. “I think that it's deplorable when political leaders or religious leaders—a Jerry Falwell or a Bill Clinton—kind of skirt the law and turn a religious institution almost into a political entity.”

Several conservative groups have pushed in the last two years to pass legislation, sponsored by Rep. Walter Jones (R-N.C.) that would end the ban on politicking by churches and other houses of worship. Americans United and other church-state separationist groups have strongly opposed the bill.

Bill Murray, a Virginia-based conservative religious activist whose biggest claim to fame is being the born-again son of the late atheist Madalyn Murray O'Hair, is one of Americans United’s fiercest critics. He backs the Jones bill, and recently started a satirical organization to "rat out liberal churches" for political involvement. He said that Lynn, through Americans United , “does nothing but attack conservatives in order to help liberals get into political office.”

Murray also accused Lynn of reporting the Miami church only to avoid criticism that the group only attacked conservative churches.

“This is just grandstanding to pretend that he is being non-partisan,” he said, noting the conservative Catholic League reported the political activity at New Birth Baptist a day before Americans United did. “As of two weeks ago, (Americans United) had only reported two liberal churches” to the IRS, he said.

Americans United spokesman Joe Conn said his group hadn’t waited on the Catholic League to report the Miami church to the IRS, but simply took longer to investigate the situation carefully before deciding to report New Birth for violations of the law.

Conn also called Murray's accusations of partisanship on Americans United’s part unjustified.

“Our first interest in this was (church endorsements of Democratic presidential candidate) Jesse Jackson back in ’88, so it’s hardly a partisan effort on our part,” he said.

According to a document the group provided, of the 52 churches Americans United has reported to the IRS since 1992 for inappropriate political activity, 31 were accused of activity in support of conservative candidates, while 21 were accused of activity in support of liberal candidates.

Posted: 9/10/04

'Uncle Charlie' leading Ugandan orphans to Christ

By Leann Callaway

Special to the Baptist Standard

Five years ago, musician Charlie Bancroft picked up a nickname while on a mission trip to Uganda, and it’s stuck with him.

Now, children everywhere call him “Uncle Charlie.”

“They have a custom in Uganda to call all adults uncles and aunties,” he explained. “That name stuck with me, and now that's what kids all over the world call me.”

Bancroft has continued ministering in Uganda to children by leading worship at a camp for more than 1,000 orphans.

“Through the years, I have developed a strong bond with the kids in Uganda, and to me, there's nothing better than ministering to orphan children and watching them grow in their faith and develop into responsible leaders.”

Wherever Bancroft leads worship, he says his goal is to lead children to the heart of Jesus.

“I want them to see Jesus in me, on and off the stage, and to love the Jesus that I love,” he said. “Our goal should be to lead our audience to the heart of Jesus. That doesn't mean we can’t have fun. Believe me, we have tons of fun; that’s where kids are at. But a quality of a good worship leader is to take the children’s energy and channel it towards focusing on Jesus.”

At age 16, Bancroft made a profession of faith in Jesus Christ while attending an outdoor crusade in Lawton, Okla. At age 19, he dedicated his life to full-time ministry and began serving as a Baptist youth minister.

He was involved in youth ministry 21 years, serving in Baptist churches across Oklahoma and Texas, including Central Baptist and West Side Baptist churches in Wichita Falls. In addition, he established “Off Campus” evangelistic rallies in southern Oklahoma and founded Young Men of Integrity, a ministry for teenage boys.

In 1997, Bancroft created Upward Bound Ministries, which evolved into a full-time children’s music ministry.

Last year, he led worship at 70 children’s conferences and rallies. During the summer, he often leads worship at Mount Lebanon Baptist Encampment’s preteen camp. Bancroft recently moved to Tampa, Fla., where he attends Idlewild Baptist Church, but most of his events still are in Texas Baptist churches.

“To me, the ultimate experience is when children give their lives to the Lord,” he said. “That's what it is all about. Whether through camp, rallies or conferences, the whole point of what we do is to point kids to Jesus and have fun while doing it. I jokingly say it took 21 years of youth ministry to prepare me for children's ministry.”

Posted: 9/10/04

'Tubers' puzzled but happy with
free water ministry on Guadalupe River

By Craig Bird

Special to the Baptist Standard

CANYON LAKE—Every summer, the Guadalupe River becomes an international waterway. Mike Bates thinks that makes it a prime location to tell folks about a God who loves the whole world.

Bates, who leads First Baptist Church of Canyon Lake’s ministry to the “tubers” who flock to the small Comal County town to float the Texas Hill Country stream, admits he wasn’t looking for a multinational experience when he suggested the unusual evangelism effort. He just wanted to offer free bottled water and soft drinks as an expression of God’s love to hot and thirsty tubers. But he assumed most would speak in a Texas drawl.

“Who would have thought we’d get to talk with people from Ireland and Mexico or from Germany, Switzerland or England?” he asked. “We had one man who only spoke French, so I don’t know if he ever understood what we were saying—and a man from Japan kept trying to pay us for the drinks, over and over.”

One reply was clearly understood—nothing is really free, and there is a catch buried somewhere in those ice chests among the plastic bottles and pop-top cans.

“The first time they come by, they look to see if there is a donation can somewhere and keep asking: ‘Is it really free? What’s the catch?” Bates admitted. Obviously, the large hand-lettered signs proclaiming “free sodas” and “free water,” or even the First Baptist team members’ assurances weren’t convincing enough.

But the card the tubers were offered along with the drink convinced most of them.

“Yes … it really is free!” the purple-and-white business-card-sized handout declares. “We hope this small gift brings some light into your day. It’s a simple way of saying that God loves you—no strings attached. Let us know if we can be of more assistance.”

The reverse side has a schedule of services at FBC Canyon Lake along with a map, address and phone number.

Bates isn’t aware of anyone who has visited or called the church, but he is encouraged that so many people tucked the cards into waterproof pouches, along with their driver’s licenses and other important documents.

“This is about getting them to realize there is a God who cares about them even when they are floating down a small river in an out-of-the-way rural Texas town,” he explained. “We’re not here to be intrusive or get in their way. But if they want to talk, we are available.”

Though the First Baptist church building is less than a mile from the popular launch point of Horseshoe Bend, Pastor Gordon Hightower pointed out the church never before had found a consistent means of sharing the gospel with tourists.

But Bates paid attention when Hightower taught a class on “How to Become a Contagious Christian” that included books on friendship evangelism. The church embraced his idea. Four other church members joined him for distribution duty while others provided cases of water and soft drinks and cash contributions.

The project launch was delayed for a month when unusually heavy spring rains kept the release rate from Canyon Lake Dam so high that the currents were unsafe. But by July 4 weekend, the flow was cut back, and the weather was hot and clear.

“The river was bumper-to-bumper with people all weekend,” Bates said. “There were times you couldn’t see the water because all the inner tubes were touching.”

The effort may be nonintrusive and casual, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t strategic, he noted.

“The local economy is pretty much driven by the floaters,” Bates pointed out. “We didn’t want to upset the companies who make their living catering to them, so we don’t go into the camp grounds. I checked with the sheriff’s office to be sure we were all legal—then we picked our spot. I feel like God made this path just so we could be here and do this.”

The location is about two-thirds into a mile-long hike—uphill—tubers must make to take another trip around the bend.

“It takes about an hour to float from the bridge where they get into the water until the bridge where most of them get out,” Bates said. “Then they not only have to climb uphill, but they are carrying those heavy inner tubes that—because they are black—absorb lots of heat. Some of them make that loop four or five times in a day. By the time they get to our little shady spot on the trial, some of them look like they are coming out of the desert.”

The team even helped one 15-year-old girl who was on the verge of heatstroke along with scores of lesser emergencies. Sometimes they helped smaller children carry the tubes the rest of the way to the river and, “there was one couple who had spent their last $6 on food but hadn’t had enough money to get anything to drink, so we got to meet that need,” Bates said.

Team member Tommy Lawson is a veteran at one-on-one Christian witnessing and relishes the opportunity to talk about his faith when the opportunity arises.

“I enjoy meeting people, and I’m not embarrassed to stand out here with this sign and share these drinks,” he said.

Becky Roosa, who distributed cards while Lawson and Bates passed out drinks, is confident the effort “plants seeds” for other Christian witnesses to water and later reap. Team members also benefit, she says.

“This sharpens our ministry and witness skills so we can better share our faith in all types of situations,” she explained. “I am on my way to southern Spain as a missionary, and while I know I won’t be able to do this exact type of thing there, this experience will help me in what I can do.”

Bates, who hopes to expand the project to multiple sites along the river next summer, set three ministry goals before they started: Show God’s love to the people he brings to the river. Get First Baptist Church members who never had been active in planned evangelism involved. And provide a model for other churches.

The first goal obviously has been met.

“I’ve been told that our little river is the seventh most popular vacation spot in the country,” he said. “We had an estimated crowd of between 5,000 and 10,000 each day of the July 4 weekend.”

The second goal is under way. In addition to the core team of five, “people at church are interested and involved in praying for us and supporting us—and that’s where the new teams will come from next summer.”

The third goal was a bit of a stretch, Bates thought, but he felt led to include it.

Then the very first day a youth group from a church in Corpus Christi was tubing the river, met the First Baptist Canyon Lake team and peppered them with questions about what they were doing and why.

“They left here all excited saying: ‘We can do this on the beach at Padre Island. We’re going to do this on the beach at Padre Island,’” he said with a broad smile.

And First Baptist Canyon Lake will do it again next summer on the Guadalupe River.

Posted: 9/10/04

Texas Baptist Men teams race
to work between Florida storms

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

MOBILE, Ala.—After days of waiting on Hurricane Frances to move through Florida, Texas Baptist disaster relief volunteers and their Southern Baptist counterparts from other states raced to meet needs in the storm-ravaged state.

Chainsaw, clean-up, building and feeding units stationed for several days in Mobile, Ala., received the green light by the Southern Baptist Convention North American Mission Board Sept. 7. About 75 people who were in Mobile are coordinated by Texas Baptist Men.

Volunteers left Mobile early Sept. 8. Teams included the TBM East Texas and Top of Texas feeding units, an Oklahoma chainsaw crew and a trailer of meals. Texas chainsaw units from Collin Baptist Association, Sabine Neches Baptist Area and Amarillo Baptist Association also left Mobile.

The Top of Texas unit was traveling to First Baptist Church in Bronson, Fla. The rest of the teams, including the group of retiree builders, were to be based at First Baptist Church in Lake Wales.

Relief help is needed in Florida. More than 74,000 people live in shelters. Estimates indicate the storm may have caused $10 billion of damage. Six million people have no electricity.

Frances was the second hurricane to hit Florida in less than a month. The more intense Hurricane Charley slammed the state several weeks ago. And residents were watching Hurricane Ivan as it moved west in the Atlantic Ocean.

The volunteers activated out of Mobile was the second Southern Baptist deployment in as many days. Several units moved to Florida from Savannah, Ga., Sept. 6. The mission board has stationed teams in at least 19 locations, said Jim Burton, director of volunteer mobilization. He expects further action as needs are discovered.

“The operation has gone well,” he said. “We have been pleased with the response of the states.”

Cooperative Baptist Fellowship-directed disaster units entered Florida Sept. 7.

The Southern Baptist mobilization command was welcome news to disaster relief volunteers, some of whom had been camping at Government Street Baptist Church since Sept. 4.

A sense of relief flowed over the volunteers as news spread of the activation.

“It’ll get exciting now as everyone will be relieved to know where they are going,” said TBM President Kevin Walker, who was in Mobile.

Several workers indicated they are happy to see an end to days of waiting. Though the volunteers cleaned their equipment, fueled vehicles and underwent further training, they clearly were ready to move into Florida.

“We’re thankful,” said Joe Detterman, who coordinated the Collin chainsaw unit. “It’s very difficult to wait.”

Some Southern Baptist disaster relief teams remain on hold or on standby. Several Texas Baptist Men feeding units still are in Mobile. Two feeding teams remain in Perry, Ga.

Those volunteers still may be called to service as the Red Cross continues assessing needs, Walker said. Hurricane Ivan hampers long-term relief planning.

“We’ll be ready to respond to get to Texas for Ivan or go back to Florida if needed,” Walker said. “They are as important right now as the units that are being activated now.”

Posted: 9/03/04

CYBERCOLUMN:
Like no one’s watching

By Brett Younger

Alfonso Soriano and I were on television together—sort of. On Staff Appreciation Day—which ought to rank just behind Easter and Christmas among church holidays—my family hit the jackpot. We received tickets to a Texas Rangers’ game.

When I buy tickets we, sit close to teenage fans with painted faces, pigeons and God. Since “bleachers” and “upper bleachers” are about the same, I don’t pay much attention to where our seats are located. But on this occasion, I noticed “VIP infield, Row 1.” I thought our friend was kidding when she handed me the tickets and said: “Dress well, because you’re right behind the plate. You’ll be on TV the whole time.”

When we got to the game, I decided that we were far enough toward first base that we weren’t on TV. Not being televised made it easier to sit back, relax and enjoy watching millionaires scratch themselves.

Then during the third inning, Carol’s parents called to tell us that of the 44,348 at the Ballpark, the four of us were the ones in living color. We had been warned, “If you’re on TV, don’t be the guy who talks on his cell phone and waves, ‘Look, Ma, I’m on TV,’” so we tried to stay calm.

My father-in-law wanted to know why we were unhappy. None of us thought we were unhappy, but now we felt the need to look giddy. We could wave our arms and cheer, but the camera was on us only until the batter made contact. Gesticulating wildly when nothing was going on would have been peculiar.

Carol decided to say “hello” to her mom in sign language. The sign for “Grandma” is not subtle— a thumb to the chin and 10 fingers extended like a spider. Those who do not know sign language could interpret it as an obscene gesture.

I began to think I should have dressed differently. I was wearing a plain blue T-shirt, which seemed reasonable, but now I wondered if I should have worn a T-shirt that makes a statement—”Amnesty International,” “Bread for the World” “Broadway Baptist Church!” Maybe I should have dyed my hair and held up “John 3:16.” Could I have gotten people to look up “Isaiah 22:18”? “God will seize firm hold of you, whirl you round and round and throw you like a ball.”

In the sixth inning, we discovered that Graham had eaten two-thirds of our peanuts before we left home. This would normally lead to a gentle reprimand, but no one wants to lecture their child on Channel 27.

Caleb decided to go for cotton candy. I thought it would make me look like a good father, so I went with him. Should we buy pink or blue? Which looks better?

We watched a tape the day after the game. The Toronto Blue Jays, who lost 11-2, looked better than we did. Why didn’t we tell Graham to put his feet down? Why didn’t we kiss when the Rangers scored? Why does eating a sucker make you look like one? Why did I take off my cap?

So here’s what I learned from my brush with stardom: The camera really does add 10 pounds. Sunglasses make even the gentlest minister look like a member of the Mafia. And most obviously, caring that somebody is watching keeps you from enjoying yourself.

Reinhold Niebuhr said that we need a “genuine Christian nonchalance”—indifference to the foolishness in the world. He means that Christians shouldn’t care about the stupid things other people care about.

But next time, I will get a haircut.

Brett Younger is pastor of Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth and the author of “Who Moved My Pulpit? A Hilarious Look at Ministerial Life,” available from Smyth & Helwys (800) 747-3016.

Posted: 9/10/04

Outreach ministries take many forms

By Craig Bird

Special to the Baptist Standard

CANYON LAKE—Giving away bottles of water and soft drinks to sunburned tubers may be the most unusual outreach project at First Baptist Church in Canyon Lake, but it is certainly is not the only one.

u Wayne and Fran Bradbury manage a clothing ministry that is growing rapidly and has even bigger dreams.

Thrift shops in Lampasas, La Grange and Canyon Lake provide a regular supply of high- quality clothing.

Every Tuesday morning and once a month on Saturday morning, volunteers sort, shrink-wrap and pack items into boxes and then onto pallets. In addition to two 8,000 to 10,000 pound shipments to a reservation in South Dakota, the ministry also sent clothes to Native American churches in Sanostee, Rock Springs and Fort Wingate, N.M.

The clothing ministry even receives mission help from time to time.

Earlier this summer, a youth group from First Baptist Church in Irving traveled to Canyon Lake to paint houses, but that project was rained out. Youth leaders called Pastor Gordon Hightower at First Baptist to see if he had any projects, and they wound up sorting and packing clothes.

“One teenage boy quietly prayed over each box as he loaded it on the pallet,” Bradbury said. “He was thanking God that somebody who really needed those clothes would receive them because of this ministry.”

Bernie Glasford, a truck driver who grew up on the Lower Brule Reservation in South Dakota, has hauled two truckloads of clothes to Bible Baptist Church there in support of the work of Pastor Mike Smalljumper. He hopes to take a group of young people from the church to the Sioux reservation to round up and brand cattle while helping the church in community evangelism.

Ken Johnson, a waste water treatment specialist who works for Texas A&M University, heads a church construction team that keeps busy at Alto Frio Encampment and is ready to branch out to other projects. Recently, the team built a gift shop for the Baptist camp as well as assembled scores of wooden beds.

Jan Johnson leads a sewing ministry. She and a co-worker recently made 687 dresses and shipped them to a missionary in a Muslim country for use in her work. She also makes church banners and baby quilts that Hightower distributes to the families of terminally ill children.

Alex Powell, a Mission Service Corps volunteer coordinator, is in charge of an in-demand disaster relief unit. The church bought a trailer, which is capable of serving up to 10,000 meals a day, three years ago and the truck to pull it two years ago. Already, volunteers have worked in the debris of Hurricane Claudette on the Gulf Coast, in Piedras Negras, Mexico, after the flooding there last April and at the scene of a derailment of a train carrying toxic chemicals in San Antonio.

Ironically, their first job, almost immediately after the first group completed training with Texas Baptist Men, was to help their own town recover from the 2002 flood that swamped 256 houses.

"Backhoe Bob" Whitehead made a profession of faith in Christ after Hightower witnessed to him as the two men worked to repair a water pipe leak. Six months ago, he agreed to go as a support person when a preacher from Tyler started a “trucker’s chapel” at a truck stop on I-35 in New Braunfels. The second Sunday, Whitehead agreed to preach—and has been doing it ever since.

Darin and Pam Zumwalt went to New Mexico to deliver used clothing and hauled loads in their company’s trucks and trailers. They are putting together teams to return to the reservation churches to do construction projects.

Additionally, they are leading efforts within the church to provide furniture, school supplies and other necessities, as well as coordinating a "shoe box" project for children in those churches. Locally, Pam Zumwalt heads the Helping Hands program, which provides holiday gifts of food and personal items for families. The primary funding source is the offering taken up for Helping Hands at the children’s Christmas cantata each year.

Bill and Wanda Steward spent a year in Zimbabwe and Malawi in southern Africa as volunteers with the Southern Baptist International Mission Board. That has lead them to several projects including gathering clothes, linens and school supplies to ship to Angola and supporting a missionary couple in a closed country by supplying materials they need to run a business.

Hightower, who gladly admits to preaching and teaching the need for mission involvement, also has intentionally changed his role.

“For the first 15 years are so, I thought I had to be the one in the middle of doing everything, that I had to lead by example—whatever the task was,” he explained. “Now I’ve seen that my primary role is to seek the vision from God, present it to the congregation and equip the members. I still stay plenty busy, but it’s important for others to lead out as God calls them.”

Posted: 9/10/04

70-year-old swims English Channel for missions

RIDGEFIELD, Conn. (ABP)—George Brunstad of Wilton, Conn., gives new meaning to the term “putting feet to your faith.” In fact, he also put his arms and his legs into it. In an effort to raise awareness for his church’s ministry in Haiti, the 70-year-old Baptist layman swam the English Channel.

His swim set a new record, not for speed—he finished in 15 hours, 59 minutes—but because he is the oldest person ever to tackle the channel. He broke the record of Bertram Cliffort Batt of Australia, who was 67 years old when he made the journey in 1987.

“His inspiration for the swim came when he went with our church last November on a mission trip to Haiti,” said Bob Guffey, Brunstad’s pastor at Wilton Baptist Church. “George swam to raise awareness of and money for the Center of Hope orphanage and school project that (the church) sponsors in Hinche, Haiti.”

Brunstad, who is a retired American Airlines pilot, has competed in several open-water swims, even winning medals. But he said the channel swim was the most grueling feat he has undertaken.

“My preparation swimming in Long Island Sound and especially off the coast of Maine helped me,” Brunstad told the News-Times of Danbury, Conn. “But I had to swim as hard as I could for as long as I could” to make it across the channel.

Brunstad swam a total of 32 miles—seven more than a direct route across the channel from England to France.

“Near the end, I had to swim four hours to make two hours' time because of the tide coming toward me,” he recalled. “It was pulling me to the north. I had to fight it.”

Brunstad credited the “hand of the Lord” for giving him good swim conditions.