Posted: 9/03/04

Anglos no longer majority in Texas;

BGCT responds to changing needs

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

Anglos no longer make up a majority of the Texas population, and the Baptist General Convention of Texas is racing to meet the needs of a demographically changing state.

A recently released United States Census Bureau survey shows Texas was 49.5 percent white in 2003, down 1.5 percent.

Hispanics constitute 35.3 percent of the state, African-Americans account for 10.8 percent and Asians number about 3 percent.

BGCT leaders long have recognized an exploding Hispanic population within Texas coupled with a declining Anglo majority and have emphasized strengthening ministries among Hispanics and other cultures.

“We're trying to be ready,” said E.B. Brooks, coordinator of the BGCT church missions and evangelism section. “We have focused staff employment, church planting, enlistment of volunteers, community ministries and events on reaching out to non-Anglo populations.”

The convention has expanded ministry and conference options tailored for the needs of non-Anglo congregations. An increasing number of materials are available in a Spanish.

The Baptist University of the Americas has become more of an emphasized part of the BGCT's ministry. Convention officials and leaders commonly praise and promote the school's work. Albert Reyes, the school's president, serves as the convention's first vice president and will be nominated as the BGCT's president at its November annual meeting.

Much of the growth in the convention is due to non-Anglo churches. More than 70 percent of the churches that have become affiliated with the BGCT during 2000-2003 have been non-Anglo.

The BGCT Church Multiplication Center has stressed the need for more Hispanic congregations. Last year, nearly half the center's 160 church starts were Hispanic. The group's 1,000th new church since 2000 is Hispanic, an indication of the convention's future, leaders have said repeatedly.

In the past 10 years, the ratio of Anglo to non-Anglo BGCT-affiliated churches has changed as well. In 1994, Anglo congregations made up 75 percent of the convention. In 2003, that number was 63 percent. Hispanic congregations jumped from 14 to 20 percent during that span. African-American churches went from 7 to 12 percent of the convention's congregations.

Gus Reyes, consultant in the BGCT Center for Strategic Evangelism, said Texas Baptists can expand God's kingdom if they view the changing demographics as a chance to reach people for the Lord.

“We're ready if we see it as an opportunity,” Reyes said. “We're ready if we see (non-Anglos) as people who need Christ as their Savior regardless of their language capabilities.”

Clay Price, associate director of the convention's research information services, said the changing demographics in Texas localize the Great Commission for Texas Baptists. People from around the world are coming to the state.

“For Texas Baptists, taking the gospel 'unto the uttermost part of the earth' may begin with a short walk next door or across the street,” Price said. “As non-Anglo population increases in Texas, it will be more important than ever for the BGCT to enlist and train non-Anglo pastors and church leaders to reach new generations of Texans with the gospel message.”

Brooks sees an increasing number of Texas Baptist churches catching that vision.

“I think our churches are coming to the realization that we must welcome diversity, grow strong multicultural congregations and reach out to non-Anglos in the community,” he said.

But Reyes and Brooks each noted the convention has much more work ahead of it. Though progress has been made, ministry among non-Anglos becomes complicated quickly.

Different ethnic groups tend to congregate with others of their culture. Many congregations have difficulty ministering in other cultures.

A large number of non-Anglo, specifically Hispanic, churches are needed. There are not enough congregations to serve the exploding Hispanic population.

However, finding leaders for these congregations can be difficult as well. Texas Baptist seminaries are not graduating enough non-Anglo students to meet the needs of non-Anglo congregations.

More ethnic leaders are needed on the BGCT Executive Board staff, Brooks said. Strategies for non-Anglo congregations need to be strengthened, honed and developed.

How Texas Baptists respond to the opportunities and challenges of the changing demographics will determine their future, Brooks and Reyes said. Decreasing Anglo reproduction rates and an exploding Hispanic population indicate the Anglo percentage of the Texas population will continue to drop.

“It's a very special moment in the history of Texas Baptists,” Reyes said.

A United States Census Bureau survey shows Texas was 49.5 percent white in 2003, down 1.5 percent.

Hispanics constitute 35.3 percent of the state, African-Americans account for 10.8 percent and Asians number about 3 percent.

Posted: 9/03/04

BGCT-endorsed chaplains top 200;
most are first-time endorsements

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

DALLAS–The Baptist General Convention of Texas has endorsed more than 200 chaplains, and most are first-time endorsements.

With the 17 chaplains endorsed in August, the BGCT has approved 210 chaplains in two years–109 first-time endorsements and 101 transfers. Most recent endorsements have been new chaplains.

These BGCT chaplains include 105 in healthcare, 31 Army, 21 restorative justice, 16 Air Force, 12 pastoral counseling, nine Navy and eight business and industry. BGCT chaplains serve in 20 states and five countries.

BGCT Chaplaincy Relations Director Bobby Smith tries to visit each endorsed chaplain at least once a year, meeting supervisors, taking each chaplain's family to dinner and looking for ways the convention can serve the chaplain.

Chaplaincy leaders also are looking for ways to offer training and fellowship opportunities. The annual October retreat is drawing interest from chaplains across endorsing lines, organizers note.

Gatherings help to support and encourage chaplains who often feel isolated because of the nature of their work, said Bill Ingram, a member of the BGCT Chaplaincy Endorsement Board.

“Being a chaplain is kind of a lonely thing,” he said. “It's not like they have a church around them all the time.”

These efforts–combined with the performance of BGCT chaplains–are drawing the attention of supervisors, Ingram reported.

“The exciting thing is sometimes we are getting people who are not endorsed by us who are leaders who are recommending us as endorsers,” he said.

The rapidly growing number of Texas Baptist chaplains reflects God working through this BGCT effort, Smith said. God has blessed this ministry greatly, calling the appropriate people to his service, he added.

“It has been a true blessing to observe how God has been moving in the hearts and minds of Baptists to extend a call and lead them beyond the walls of the local church to do pastoral ministry in specialized ministry settings,” Smith said.

“I appreciate the two years of devoted service by the BGCT Endorsement Board to the Baptist General Convention of Texas and its chaplains and pastoral counselors, which led to the creation and development of such a strong and wonderful program of ministry and relationship.”

Posted: 9/03/04

Chaplains offer tips for hospital visitation

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

BELTON–Keeping people's needs at the forefront of ministry can make hospital visits more comfortable for patients and ministers, two veteran Texas Baptist chaplains insist.

When people are in the hospital, the situation creates serious concern for patients and their families, said Bobby Smith, director of the Baptist General Convention of Texas chaplaincy relations office. They usually are in quite a bit of pain and always facing uncertainty.

Knowing this, ministers should keep visits short, typically about 10 minutes, Smith said. Patients do not have the strength to talk for long periods and probably do not want to catch up on old times. They have more important events occurring.

“They just want to know that you care enough to come,” said Smith, a longtime hospital chaplain.

When visiting patients, it helps to treat the hospital room like their home, said Joe Perez, director of pastoral services for Valley Baptist Health System in Harlingen.

Knock before entering and check to make sure the person is fully covered, he advised.

Ministers need to identify themselves and take a seat in a chair next to the bed as conversation begins, Smith said. The move helps people know who is visiting them and initiate a connection at eye level.

From there, the visit is in the hands of the patient, Smith continued.

Ministers are there to ask open questions and let patients take the conversation wherever they want, he observed.

Ministers need to resist the urge to preach, Perez said.

Words cannot correct physical issues. God can, but that is his choice, Perez said.

A minister never should promise that God will heal if the person has enough faith. That is a theological error, he insisted.

“The more it hurts, the fewer words we need to use,” added Perez, a member of the BGCT Chaplaincy Endorsement Board.

Church leaders are to embody Christ's love, Smith continued.

If ministers listen to each patient, they will know the needs of each person, he said. Allowing people to speak about their concerns can be therapeutic.

“I've always found that when I come in with an agenda, I always stifle what God has going on,” Smith said.

Perez described hospital visitation as a ministry of “presence.” The minister is there to “go where they go” along their spiritual journey.

At the end of the meeting, ministers should promise an ongoing ministry, Smith said. There, the relationship will continue to grow.

If a minister feels the need to know about a person's condition prior to entering the room, he or she has two options–the family and the nursing station. A pastor can glean information from a person's family about the situation. That process also can open other avenues of ministry.

It is important for the minister to build relationships with nurses, doctors and staff. This will facilitate a better ministry for patients and their families, as well as possible ministry to hospital personnel, Smith added.

Posted: 9/03/04

Wichita Falls church makes splash with water park baptism

By George Henson

Staff Writer

WICHITA FALLS–Colonial Baptist Church in Wichita Falls made a splash this summer with a baptismal service at the city's new water park.

Not only did the local newspaper feature the church's baptism of 63 people on its front page, but the NBC television affiliate also noted the event.

After the outdoor baptism was reported in those two venues, the church received media attention from across the country.

Pastor Tim Wheat knows at least two families who came to church as a result of seeing the church's media coverage, and he said that number might be higher because attendance has increased.

But publicity wasn't the intent behind holding the service at Castaway Cove water park, Wheat said.

“The past two years, the church has done a summer baptism event at a local swimming pool. But with the opening of the water park, we decided to go all out and give us a boost during the summer months,” he said.

Even more important was the opportunity to get the entire congregation together at the same time. About 1,100 people from the church attended the baptism, almost equaling the number of people who attend all of the four services each weekend at the church.

Colonial holds a Saturday evening service and three more services Sunday morning, with a combined attendance of about 1,200 people. The church's sanctuary capacity “maxes out at about 475,” Wheat said. “We might be able to squeeze in 500 using the balcony, but that's really too many.

“What I really tried to hold up as the value of this is that we were able to have a sense of community since our facility doesn't allow us to come together on a regular basis.”

Posted: 9/03/04

ANOTHER VIEW:
Church directories & U.S. politics

By Melissa Rogers

Little did we churchgoers know that high-powered political operatives would one day take a keen interest in those dog-eared church directories in our kitchen drawers.

As has been widely reported, the campaign to re-elect President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney has produced materials informing “coalition coordinators” that one of their “duties” is: “Send your Church Directory to your State Bush-Cheney 04 Headquarters or give to a BC04 Field Rep.”

The Associated Press recently reported that “the Republican National Committee confirmed it had asked Catholics who back Bush to give parish directories to the RNC as a way to identify and mobilize new voters.”

There are some legitimate ways for political campaigns to try to reach religious people. Soliciting directories isn't one of them.

Churches and other organizations that are tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code are prohibited from participating in any political campaign on behalf of–or in opposition to–any candidate for elective public office.

Among other things, this means a church cannot selectively provide its mailing list to a candidate or political party. To do so would jeopardize a church's tax-exempt status.

A Religion News Service article also noted that “Federal Election Commission guidelines forbid 'membership organizations' from donating anything 'of value' to a political campaign unless they register as a political action committee” and that a church mailing list “could certainly be considered something of value,” according to an FEC official.

Nonetheless, the Bush-Cheney campaign and the RNC have doggedly defended these tactics. They say they are not asking churches to turn their church directories over to the campaign–they are asking only individual church members to do so.

Even so, they are asking these individuals either to act unethically or to act in a way that could endanger their church's tax-exempt status.

As a purely ethical matter, organizational members step over a line when they use group lists for purposes other than the organizational purpose without the group's prior approval. This notion has special resonance in the case at hand.

When our brothers and sisters in Christ walked down the aisle, they joined a church, not a political party. As people of faith, we must respect and protect that sacred act.

If, however, a church member tries to avoid an ethical problem by seeking permission from fellow church members to turn the directory over to a particular campaign, it could involve the church itself in ratifying the submission, thus running afoul of the tax code.

RNC spokespersons also have tried to justify their tactics by saying that church directories are “public documents available to anyone, and making the request violates no law.” Campaigns and political parties themselves may not violate the law when they engage in these tactics, but they create a legal trap for churches.

The RNC is wrong: Church directories are not “public documents available to anyone.” They belong to the church and only the church.

For a campaign to tell people that it is their “duty” to turn over their church directory and then list that “duty” as one of so many bullet points accompanied by specific deadlines is an affront to religion. These tactics dictate to religion rather than create a dialogue with it. They use religion rather than respect it.

Although RNC spokespersons claim the information gleaned from these directories will be used for “nonpartisan voter-registration drives,” this strains credulity. It simply highlights the fact that these overtures are confusing and likely to prompt actions that will inadvertently jeopardize churches' tax-exempt status.

Of course, these days it is only the rare religious person who is surprised when political parties ask him or her to do things that are completely inappropriate and even harmful to a religious body.

What would be surprising and disappointing, however, is if church members were to follow these instructions rather than heeding ethical and religious teachings.

After all, the most important reason for refusing to give our church directories to political campaigns is found in the Bible.

Jesus said: “Render … unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's.”

The church is not a creature of the state or of any earthly power–it is a creature of God. Before and beyond November 2004, may people of faith reject every entreaty that asks us to give to Caesar that which belongs to God.

Melissa Rogers, former director of the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, is a visiting professor of religion and public policy at Wake Forest University Divinity School in Winston-Salem, N.C. This column originally appeared in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram

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Posted: 9/03/04

DOWN HOME:
What big teeth you have, Satan

Have you ever been pursued by Satan?

It happened to me the other night. I now can attest that–at least sometimes–Beelzebub wears black fur and flashes a menacing grin.

My encounter with the devil occurred about sunset, during what I generously refer to as my “evening run.”

There I was, moving along College Parkway at what, for me at least, passes for a pretty decent gait. Traffic had slowed to a trickle, and I enjoyed the stillness, interrupted only by my breathing and footfall.

Out of my peripheral vision, immediately ahead and on the left, I notice an almost-imperceptible “shadow” moving rapidly toward the street, just behind a long, low hedge.

That “shadow” leapt into the street, about five feet ahead of me. Growling and baring its fangs, the black dog–80 pounds of teeth and muscle–squared away. His black eyes gleamed, and he barked as if to say, “Get off my street, you sweaty, middle-aged mop.”

About that time, a young woman scampered down the sidewalk, screaming (and I'm not making this up): “Lucifer! Lucifer, don't you chase him!”

Lucifer didn't seem to pay her any attention, but he growled at me again. He inched closer.

At that moment, I didn't consider the theological implications of the dog's name. I was too busy deciding if I'd try to drop-kick him or run when he lunged at me. (Later, I wished I'd had the presence of mind to “rebuke” Lucifer–standing my ground, wagging my finger in his muzzle and invoking a hellfire-preacher voice to bellow, “Get thee behind me!”)

Fortunately, the woman caught the canine by the collar. “Lucifer, leave him alone,” she cooed, soothing the savage beast.

By then, adrenaline coursed through my bloodstream, and I practically floated the rest of my evening trip.

As I jogged through the serene-again neighborhood, my thoughts turned to times when I actually have encountered evil face-to-face.

Occasionally, those confrontations have been as frightful as a mean dog in the street: Times when calamity or injustice threatened family and friends. Times when misrepresentation and mistrust tore at the fabric of friendship. Times when people invoked God's name for malevolent purposes.

But more often than not, my engagements with Satan have been much more low-key than my stare-down with Lucifer: Times when the devil whispered, “Nobody has to know.” Times when he tempted me to do less than my best for God. Times when he fed me lines of rationalization, teasing me to put my self-interest ahead of other's, much less ahead of God's will.

The good thing about a middle-of-the-street showdown with a dog like Lucifer is it clarifies the situation. We should pray for clarity any time Satan pursues us.

Posted: 9/03/04

EDITORIAL:
Demographic data point to needs

Texas' demographic trends have been both fascinating and disturbing lately.

Most fascinating: Our Lone Star State no longer claims a majority population. A U.S. Census Bureau survey revealed Anglos ceased being the majority ethnic group in Texas sometime last year–for the first time since at least 1845, when Texas became a state.

Texas is about 49.5 percent Anglo, 35.3 percent Hispanic, 10.8 percent African-American, 3 percent Asian-American and 1.4 percent others.

Two trendlines caused the Anglo population to slip below 50 percent of the total faster than predicted, state demographer Steve Murdoch explained to the Associated Press. Primarily, Hispanics are increasing much faster than the rest of the population, due to international immigration and the state's highest birth rates. Secondarily, Anglo growth has slowed, due to the slumping economy and a subsequent downturn of business-related migration to Texas.

Most disturbing: Texas leads the nation in the percentage of uninsured residents. Almost one in four Texans–24.6 percent of the population–does not have health insurance. That's more than 3 percent higher than the next-to-worst state, New Mexico. This represents a personal and family crisis for the state's uninsured. It also reflects a financial crisis for all of us, since we indirectly pick up the tab for indigent healthcare. But what did we expect in the wake of state cutbacks in the Children's Health Insurance Program and other safety nets for the most vulnerable people in our state?

Texas also lags behind the nation in median annual household income. The national figure was $43,381 last year; Texas' was $40,934. And we're one of the poorest states, with 15.8 percent of Texas residents living below the poverty line.

For generations, Texans have been justifiably proud of our state. The land and the people are vast, expansive, resourceful and productive. We're entrepreneurial and industrious and possess an often-imitated, seldom-duplicated can-do spirit. Unfortunately, we also possess a reputation as one of the meanest states. The indicators of heartlessness seem to grow, particularly with the passing of each legislative session, as we seek to balance our budget on the backs of people already on their knees at the bottom of the socio-economic pile.

These new demographic studies connect. The economic status of the growing Hispanic population contributes to the state's dismal showing in the national standard-of-living rankings. As Murdoch notes, multiple “historical and discriminatory factors” cause Texas Hispanics to make low wages. And because poor Hispanics comprise a bigger percentage of the population, the statewide statistics decline.

On one level, immigration makes this challenge seem almost intractable. Although immigrants' cheap labor benefits some sectors of the economy, the flood of undocumented and illegal immigrants raises poverty levels and strains schools, hospitals and service agencies.

On another level, that doesn't make a difference. Texans are who they are. God doesn't care where they were born and whether they are illegal aliens or fifth-generation landowners. Christian people should care for their needs, and Baptists should lead the way.

We already do much. Our Baptist General Convention of Texas childcare and healthcare agencies provide extensive help for “the least of these” across Texas. Numerous other endeavors, from the BGCT's River Ministry, to associational missions, to county and community benevolence ministries provide a safety net for at-risk families. Christian Women's Job Corps and English-as-a-Second-Language programs prepare unskilled and sometimes untrained people to enter the job market. Countless missional churches reach out to countless people in countless ways.

But the needs are great, and we need to do more. We must increase our churches' benevolence and ministry budgets, give more to the Mary Hill Davis Offering for Texas Missions and to local missions, and volunteer more time to hands-on ministries.

Jesus loves all Texans. He measures our love for him by how we show our love to others.

We must advocate in the public square. We must make sure every school system in Texas has the resources to provide a good education for every child. This investment will produce dividends–not only for the children, but for their families, communities and the state–for generations. We also must make sure each child in our state has access to decent healthcare.

Jesus doesn't care if they're “immigrant” or “native Texan.” And neither should we.
–Marv Knox
E-mail the editor at marvknox@baptiststandard.com

Posted: 9/03/04

EDITORIAL:
Will the 'crops' be watered?

During the bountiful years of my youth in Perryton, the “Wheatheart of the Nation,” harvest usually was about the best time of year. On those occasions when the rains arrived at just the right time and the hordes of bugs and pestilence of hail stayed away, we rejoiced at the abundance of grain God bestowed on all our farms. I remember one great year when the grain elevators filled up, and the farmers dumped the excess wheat down the middle of Amherst Street.

Of course, a successful harvest also represented months of hard work. Farmers tilled and planted and fertilized and weeded and irrigated and sometimes grazed cattle in their fields. Even when the ground was too wet to work, they repaired machinery, tended to their finances and prepared for the next day. Along the way, farmers and townsfolk alike prayed and prayed for heavenly harvests. Growing up in a small farming community is a spiritual experience; even the backsliders pray for good crops.

The Apostle Paul understood farm life. He used the plant … water … harvest cycle as a metaphor for ministry: Each Christian has a role to fill, and God gives the spiritual harvest. Paul's words, “Plant … Water … Harvest,” provide the theme for this year's Week of Prayer for Texas Missions, beginning next Sunday, and the Mary Hill Davis Offering for Texas Missions.

We pray for God to provide a spiritual harvest in Texas: Where more than half the population has no affiliation with any church whatsoever. Where one-third of families have special needs. Where one-fourth of adults live in poverty, one-fourth of babies aren't immunized and one-fourth of adults can't read or write. Where 78 women are raped and 360 children are abused or neglected every hour. We pray God will bring a spiritual harvest, turning hearts and lives toward the purposes for which God created them.

But our job is to plant and water. A significant way we all can “water” is by contributing to the Mary Hill Davis Offering. You can't invest your money any more wisely. The goal this year is $5 million. Every penny is vital.

Among the allocations, Mary Hill Davis funds will help present the gospel to Hispanics along the Texas-Mexico border; provide training for rural churches, enabling them to serve poor people; support a statewide evangelistic outreach to teenagers; supply scholarships for Baptist University of the Americas students who are preparing to start churches; train African-American pastors to lead their congregations to be missional churches; recruit and train retired ministers who will help churches develop and equip members for ministry; produce spiritual materials for crime victims and their families, opening doors for sharing the gospel with them; and start churches statewide.

At least 70 ministries across Texas depend upon the Mary Hill Davis Offering. Many workers are in place, planting the gospel. We need to help water so God will provide the harvest.
–Marv Knox
E-mail the editor at marvknox@baptiststandard.com

Posted: 9/03/04

Children find hope for a new school year at backpack bash

By Miranda Bradley

Texas Baptist Children's Home & Family Services

ROUND ROCK–Like a child on Christmas morning opening a present, Jessica peeked into her brand-new backpack and pulled out all its contents.

“I've never had all this stuff for school before!” she exclaimed, smiling. “It's so exciting.”

Hers was just one of more than 50 backpacks stuffed with supplies at HOPE's Backpack Bash. Children at the Chisolm Trail Apartments in Round Rock flooded into a room that displayed each bag, complete with nametag.

“My daughter was worried she wouldn't get anything for school,” said Cindy Boldt, a resident at Chisolm Trail. “When I went to pick her up today, she was so excited this was the day.”

HOPE–Healthy Opportunities that Protect and Empower–is one of many Texas Baptist Children's Home programs that received donations from surrounding communities.

In HOPE's case, a newly established organization decided one of its main focuses would be philanthropy. The 25-member Round Rock Business and Professional Women's Group decided one of its first orders of business was to choose a charitable organization and establish an ongoing relationship.

“We wanted to make sure these kids were taken care of,” said Sheri Marshall, president of the women's group. “The backpacks were just the beginning.”

The group plans to sponsor gifts and support for Thanksgiving and Christmas, as well, she noted.

Another program has been helping TBCH children go back to school in style for six years. The Worthwhile Bible study class at Second Baptist Church in Houston collects a mission offering to help programs such as the Back-to-School Drive.

“Each Christmas, our members bring an envelope with a donation for our mission fund,” said Joyce Biederstadt, a member of the class. “It's important to us to do hands-on mission work.”

Their dedication paid off at the Texas Baptist Children's Home Family Care Program back-to-school luau. Not only did the class help 35 children receive backpacks bursting at the seams with supplies, but they also lent a hand with dinner.

“We were in the kitchen cooking,” Biederstadt said. “I thought the children's reactions (to the backpacks) were just wonderful.”

The Worthwhile Class also assists with related ministries such as Miracle Farm in Brenham and Gracewood in Houston.

Both Family Care and HOPE share a common bond–single parents. While some two-parent households are assisted through HOPE, a nonresidential apartment outreach program, most are single parents struggling to make ends meet. Family Care is a residential TBCH program that helps single mothers and their children.

“We estimated it costs around $100 per child to get everything for school,” said Linda Martinez, Family Care's intake coordinator. “I had to run around all over town searching for everything because the lists are so specific.”

Each child needed certain colors of notebooks, certain sizes of manila paper, highlighters, pencils, markers, crayons and plastic bags.

Still rifling through her bag, Jessica notices a crisp, new dictionary.

She opens it excitedly and flips the pages. Looking up at one of the HOPE staff, she seems thoughtful, as if all this receiving is too much for her. Then she smiles.

“I can give it to my mom,” she says. “She'll like that.”

Posted: 9/03/04

Click for larger versions of these maps showing Texas Baptist education ministries.

Texas offers theology students
multiple-choice answers

By Ken Camp

Managing Editor

Thirty years ago, when a Texas Baptist minister spoke of going to “the seminary,” nearly everyone assumed he would load a moving van and head for Fort Worth.

Today, a Texas Baptist who feels God's calling to ministry might just as likely move to Waco, Abilene or San Antonio–or stay in the community where he or she already is serving a church.

Obviously, some ministerial students choose to leave the state to study at one of the five Southern Baptist Convention-supported seminaries outside Texas, at one of the new Baptist divinity schools created in recent years or at a non-Baptist seminary.

Others stay in Texas but attend non-Baptist schools ranging from the conservative Dallas Theological Seminary to more liberal mainline schools like Brite Divinity School at Texas Christian University or Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University.

Add to the mix the SBC-supported Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth–the oldest and largest Baptist seminary in Texas–and the new B.H. Carroll Theological Institute.

But even for students who remain in Texas and want to attend a school related to the Baptist General Convention of Texas, the menu of options has grown so complex the BGCT printed a “theological education locator” as a navigational tool. The roadmap guides potential students through their choices, from certificate of ministry courses to advanced graduate studies.

Options at BGCT-related schools

The BGCT Theological Education Committee, created by the convention seven years ago, has worked with BGCT-related institutions to develop multiple options for students at various educational levels and in diverse locations, said Royce Rose, BGCT director of theological education.

“The committee, made up of Baptist ministers and laypersons from around the state and representatives from each of the 11 theological education programs at the universities, has focused its attention on making quality, biblically based, historically Baptist training available to every minister in Texas at whatever level of study they need,” Rose said.

Baptist University of the Americas in San Antonio provides special developmental programs for students with limited English skills, as well as a program that allows students to earn a high school equivalency diploma.

Howard Payne University in Brownwood, East Texas Baptist University in Marshall and the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor in Belton offer 18 one-hour ministry courses leading to a certificate in ministry. The courses are available at the schools' main campuses and at off-campus centers. Students who want to continue their education can transfer those credits toward an associate or bachelor's degree.

Wayland Baptist University in Plainview, Dallas Baptist University, Howard Payne University and East Texas State University offer 64-hour associate degrees, and those credits can be applied toward the 128 hours required for a bachelor's degree.

Those four schools–along with Baylor University in Waco, Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, Houston Baptist University, the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor and Baptist University of the Americas–offer bachelor's degree programs designed specifically for students preparing for ministry.

At the graduate level, Dallas Baptist University, Houston Baptist University, Hardin-Simmons University's Logsdon School of Theology and Wayland Baptist University offer master's degrees in ministry studies. Wayland provides graduate-level studies in ministry at sites in Lubbock, Amarillo and San Antonio, as well as in Plainview.

Logsdon and Baylor's Truett Theological Seminary offer master of divinity degrees, as well as other related graduate degrees through the universities of which they are a part. Truett also offers the doctor of ministry degree.

Distinctive purposes, niches

The two seminaries related to BGCT-affiliated universities–Truett and Logsdon–each has its own carefully defined purpose and distinctive niche.

“Our mission is to be the premier Baptist seminary of the world,” said Truett Seminary Dean Paul Powell. “We want to train the emerging generation of ministers. We're not in competition with anybody else. We know who we are and what we're capable of becoming.”

With 400 students and 15 full-time faculty already, Powell is convinced Truett is poised for growth.

Logsdon School of Theology, on the other hand, expects to enroll no more than 115 students this fall, including remote sites–at Lubbock in a cooperative venture with Wayland Baptist University and at Corpus Christi in cooperation with the South Texas School of Christian Studies.

Having a student enrollment that barely tops triple digits is fine with Logsdon Dean Tommy Brisco, who says some students choose Logsdon because it offers a level of individualized instruction not possible at some larger schools.

“Dialogue and interaction at the graduate theological level is crucial. We don't want to get 25 or 30 people in a classroom,” he said. No classes are larger than 15 students, and Logsdon will offer a class with as few as five students.

“We believe with the size we are, it's easier to do spiritual formation,” Brisco added. “Chapel experiences are really family experiences. We're still at a size where students can dialogue around the lunch tables with speakers.”

Both Logsdon and Truett emphasize the importance of mentoring programs, but they define the terms differently.

At Logsdon, each incoming student is assigned to a professor who works with the student on spiritual formation, academic advancement and professional development, both inside and outside the classroom.

“It's an ongoing process of spiritual and intellectual formation,” Brisco said.

Likewise at Truett, professors are expected to work individually with students, but each student's mentor is a practitioner in a local church.

“Each student spends one full semester under the tutelage of an experienced minister on the church field,” Powell said.

As opposed to the field experience requirements in some schools that provide limited interaction with experienced ministers and a narrow field of experiences for student ministers, Truett has made efforts to “put teeth into” its mentoring program, he said.

“Each student must do everything a pastor does at least once,” such as officiate at a wedding, conduct a funeral, baptize someone and lead the church in observing the Lord's Supper, he explained. Then students must put together a notebook on their experiences.

“The student comes out of the experience with the equivalent of a homemade pastor's manual,” Powell said.

Leaders of Logsdon and Truett agree each of their schools benefits from being related to a liberal arts university.

“We do allow–and even encourage–students to take advantage of courses outside the Logsdon seminary curriculum,” Brisco said.

In addition to taking classes at Hardin-Simmons in subjects ranging from business administration to psychology, students also can “double-dip” by attending conferences and guest lecture series offered by either the school of theology or the university, Brisco added.

Powell echoed the same view about his school, saying, “One of the advantages of Truett is the cross-pollination that takes place and the students' ability to take courses in other disciplines.”

Truett Seminary offers courses in worship and Christian education, and students can take concentrations in a variety of disciplines, but the seminary offers only two degrees–the master of divinity and the doctor of ministry.

“We want them to have a good knowledge of the Scriptures. Ministers of education and ministers of music ought to have a good theological background,” Powell said.

Students who want the academic preparation leading to a doctor of philosophy degree are referred to the Baylor University religion department. Truett has its own faculty separate from the university's religion department.

Logsdon, on the other hand, is the religion department at Hardin-Simmons University. Logsdon offers both a master of divinity degree and a master of arts in religion, as well as a master of arts in family ministry in cooperation with the university's psychology and counseling department.

Clear mission, clear choice

Southwestern Seminary in Fort Worth offers advanced degree programs in Christian education and church music and training opportunities for laity through its leadership development center. But President Paige Patterson is convinced the school must place greatest emphasis on what he believes is its founding mission.

“The major responsibility for Southwestern Seminary continues to be the training of the next generation of pastors, missionaries and evangelists,” he said.

The numbers reflect that commitment. Of nearly 3,000 students enrolled in Southwestern Seminary last spring, more than half–1,772–were in programs in the School of Theology. Another 879 were in the School of Educational Ministries and 134 in the School of Church Music, with the remainder in lay studies and certificate programs.

Students select Southwestern Seminary in part because of its “great heritage,” but primarily because they want a school with high academic standards and an evangelistic, missionary zeal, Patterson said.

Earlier this year, the seminary's board of trustees voted to approve a School of Evangelism and Missions, and Patterson hopes to see it launched by the fall 2005 semester.

“This is a school that is returning to its roots in terms of its strong emphasis on every student being involved in personal witness and as a missionary,” he said.

“We are working toward having every student on a Third World mission field sometime while he or she is here. My preference would be that they have to sleep in hammocks, fight off cobras and tarantulas, and eat rice three times a day. I want them to be out of their comfort zone. I want them to be in a situation where their prayer life alone sustains them, and where they see God doing the impossible.”

Unlike BGCT-related schools such as Truett and Logsdon, professors at Southwestern Seminary must sign a statement affirming the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message.

The SBC confession restricts the pastor's role to men, calls on wives to be submissive to their husbands and deletes a reference declaring Jesus Christ to be the criterion for biblical interpretation.

“A Baptist school ought to advocate Baptist positions,” Patterson said.

Women in ministry

Southwestern and the BGCT-related theological education schools clearly part company on the matter of training women for teaching and preaching roles.

“The Scriptures are crystal clear about it. In the church of God, a woman is not to be placed in a teaching or ruling position over men,” Patterson said.

Women are eligible for admission in any degree program at Southwestern Seminary, “contrary to the popular conventional wisdom out there,” he said. Only faculty–not students–are required to sign a confession of faith, and students may hold positions contrary to the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message.

But if a woman believes she is called to be pastor, she should come to class fully aware she will hear a different view advanced by the professor, he said.

“We believe there are biblical positions that have to be advocated,” he said. “And, of course, we have very different convictions on the gender roles, and she would have to be prepared to hear that. We believe all views ought to be taught, and some views ought to be advocated.

“She would read the womanist theologians here, but then we're also going to show her why that dog won't hunt and also give her a thorough evangelical alternative. So she'd have to be prepared to live with that.”

In contrast to the “touchy-feely shallow stuff” taught in many women's conferences, Patterson wants to see women trained at Southwestern as biblically grounded teachers of women.

He believes the New Testament restricts women from teaching men in church, but that does not necessarily extend to other settings, such as the seminary classroom.

“I would say it would be rather inconsistent, however, of a theological institution like ours to view that a woman should not be pastor of a church, and then put her in a teaching role where she's teaching systematic theology or preaching or pastoral ministries or something of that nature,” he said.

“So that won't happen here. There are certain areas of the faculty that will be men only.

“We can't dictate to them, but we counsel women to give themselves to the teaching of women,” he said, noting his wife, Dorothy, is on the theology faculty but exclusively teaches women.

In contrast, Truett and Logsdon place no restrictions on women preparing for ministerial roles.

“The Lord brings to us whomever he wills,” Powell said. “It's the church's job to call people to staff positions. We're not trying to tell God or the churches what to do. We take the ones God sends us and those whom the churches recommend.”

Baptist congregational church polity demands that seminaries respect the judgment of churches, Brisco added.

“We assume churches are capable of recognizing gifts and calling, and we take their recommendations at face value,” he said. “That's the genius of Baptist polity. God calls. Churches affirm. Seminaries equip. I can't think of a more Baptist way to do it.”

Launching new initiatives

Truett, Logsdon and Southwestern seminaries all have plans for new initiatives in the not-too-distant future.

Truett Seminary offers four pastors' conferences each year as continuing education opportunities for ministers–a general-interest preaching conference and specialized conferences for Hispanic, African-American and bivocational pastors. And the seminary will offer two unusual courses during its abbreviated January term, between the fall and spring semesters.

“One is a course in entrepreneurial leadership and general business,” Powell said.

“It's designed to help pastors become good leaders by teaching them business practices such as how to read spreadsheets, learning about liability insurance and learning something about real estate. It will be taught by people from the business world who have firsthand experience.

“Another course is on the art of persuasion–taught by a trial lawyer and a preaching professor. The purpose is the same, whether you're a trial lawyer or a preacher. It is to win a verdict, not just to convey information.”

Truett also is exploring the possibility of online courses and certificate-level classes in the Dallas area and the Rio Grande Valley.

Logsdon School of Theology already offers classes in Lubbock and Corpus Christi and is exploring the possibility of expanding to El Paso, Brisco said.

Logsdon also cooperates with Texas State Technical College to provide theological instruction for students in its missionary aviation program.

Brisco said he hopes to explore educational opportunities for military personnel stationed at Dyess Air Force Base.

Southwestern Seminary will launch an undergraduate college–“no later than the fall of next year,” Patterson said.

“We're not trying to be a general liberal arts institution. … As we understand our assignment (from the SBC), it has to do with the churches. Whatever we do, even at the college level, has to be with regard to people who plan to give their lives to the ministry of the churches.”

The college will offer a biblical studies major and a “great books” intensive reading program for students who major in the history of Western ideas, he explained, insisting the college is not in competition with Dallas Baptist University, Criswell College or any other undergraduate school in the area.

“We wish them all well as long as they are in the service of the King,” he said.

As far as other innovations are concerned, Patterson categorized as “absurd” rumors that Southwestern Seminary plans to segregate classes male and female, institute a rigid dress code for students, or do away with the ethics or church history programs at the seminary.

“It's difficult for me to believe those rumors are not malicious,” he said.

Southwestern will continue to adjust to changing realities–such as offering master of divinity courses in Spanish and taking steps to make the faculty more ethnically diverse.

The seminary will be “a servant institution” for Texas churches affiliated with either the BGCT or the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention, Patterson said.

And it will continue to play an important role in preparing ministers for those churches–no matter now much some people point to changes in church life, he insisted.

“My persuasion would be that things have not changed as much as people think they have. I do not see any time in the foreseeable future when our churches will not need pastors who have availed themselves of theological training.”

Posted: 9/03/04

B.H. Carroll Institute takes 'back-to-the-future'
approach to theological education

By Ken Camp

Managing Editor

ARLINGTON–Leaders of the B.H. Carroll Institute see their institution as filling a distinctive niche in seminary education.

“Our distinctive is formation for ministry within the context of the local church,” said Carroll Institute President Bruce Corley. “It's a seminary without walls. Students do not come to us. We go to them.”

But that doesn't mean the institute is an online school or correspondence school, he added.

“The heart of the structure is a nexus of teaching churches,” he explained. Currently, the institute has seven teaching churches in the Houston, Dallas/Fort Worth, Bryan/College Station and San Antonio areas, and its leaders plan to add another five soon.

“The teaching church provides the opportunity for face-to-face classroom instruction. It's a mix … of intensive interpersonal instruction with online support,” Corley said.

In some respects, the institute offers a “back-to-the-future model” of theological education, he added.

“In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, theological education was initiated by pastors among their protégées,” Corley said.

The institute believes it can bridge the “widening gap between the seminary campus and the local church” through its teaching church approach, he added. Residential seminary campuses try–not always successfully–to recreate the sense of community and fellowship that already exists in local churches and that is essential for spiritual formation, Corley said.

“Spiritual formation should be done in the congregation,” he said. “We've embedded education in the ongoing life of the church. We've never believed you could do formation for ministry online. But neither do we believe it can be done effectively in a seminary by a professor who has been out of day-to-day church life for five years or more.”

The institute capitalizes on a wealth of untapped resources, Corley observed, saying 60 percent of church facilities go unused most of the time during the week, and half of the qualified theological educators are not teaching.

Online resources supplement the instruction provided by pastors and other ministers in teaching churches.

“We are building the best theological e-library in the world,” Corley said. Eventually, the institute will make available tens of thousands of digitized theological reference works on the Internet.

But the institute has no plans to build a residential campus, he added.

“We are targeting people who will not relocate to a residential campus and dislocate their families–people who want to stay on the job and learn to minister through those jobs in the context of the community where they are,” he said.

Posted: 9/03/04

Two Hardin-Simmons staff go from marketplace to campus

By Ferrell Foster

Texas Baptist Communications

ABILENE–Thousands of students graduate each year from Texas Baptist universities. Years later, some of them come back.

Jimmie Monhollon and Leland Harden are two such graduates. After years in the marketplace–one in the world of high-level federal economic policy and one in the realm of high-tech entrepreneurship–both followed God's “call” to return.

Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene got them both.

Harden, the entrepreneur, came back to his alma mater. Monhollon, the economist, came back to Baptist academia a little further down the road from his alma mater, Wayland Baptist University in Plainview.

Their stories are similar, yet different.

Harden, 41, returned to Hardin-Simmons this year after a 20-year sojourn to Manhattan and San Francisco. Monhollon, 71, came to Abilene in 1995 after almost 40 years in places such as Richmond, Va., Charlotte, N.C., and Baltimore, Md.

Monhollon is teaching business and economics to a new generation of achievers. Harden is helping the university develop an integrated marketing strategy.

During the past 20 years, Harden helped start several companies, including Media Link, Cybernautics, Giftcertificates.com and New Canoe.

“I started companies, went after my dream,” he said.

But his first start-up happened in his hometown of Abilene. While a student at Hardin-Simmons, Harden began a lawn-mowing company and hired his friends. At one point, he was supervising five crews and was clearing $4,000 a month. After graduation and the demise of the lawn mowing company, his income actually declined.

Entrepreneurs are “never seeing difficulty, but always seeing opportunity,” he said.

“That's what entrepreneurs instinctively do.”

That same spirit of entrepreneurship led Harden to write three books about marketing using leading-edge technologies, including a business bestseller, “New Results: Web Marketing that Works.”

He saw a new opportunity earlier this year while back in Abilene to receive Hardin-Simmons' Outstanding Young Alumni Award. He felt God calling him to return to Abilene to help his alma mater develop an integrated marketing strategy to “get the message about Hardin-Simmons out.”

Harden believes all of his experiences in business have prepared him for what he's doing now. His wife, Elise, helped him see in Psalm 23 how God had been at work. Harden now looks on the past 20 years as “God leading me in round-about paths to get me at the right place.”

Jimmie Monhollon teaches a business class at Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene. He came to the university after a career as a research economist in the Federal Reserve banking system.

After four months on the job, Harden calls his work at Hardin-Simmons “the most rewarding experience in my life. … I've done well before. Now I have the opportunity to change lives.”

Monhollon did well in the business world, as well. He didn't plan on a career in the Federal Reserve System; he planned to teach.

After graduating from Wayland, Monhollon earned an interdisciplinary master's degree from the University of Wyoming, and he became enthralled with economics. That led to a doctorate in economics from Vanderbilt University.

“My intention was to go into academic life, preferably at a Baptist school,” Monhollon said. But he “couldn't find exactly the school I wanted.”

A friend suggested he spend a “couple of years” as a researcher in the Federal Reserve system. He followed that advice, but a couple of years stretched into 34 years, minus a one-year stint teaching at the University of Illinois.

As a research economist, he helped “formulate and execute monetary policy” for the nation.

Eventually, he moved into management as senior vice president in charge of operations at the Fed's Charlotte branch and then to the same position in Baltimore. Then, in 1980, Monhollon became first vice president and chief of operations for the Federal Reserve Bank in Richmond, one of 12 scattered across the country.

His retirement from the Fed in 1995 finally led to Monhollon doing what he planned 35 years earlier.

Dick Maples, a “college buddy” and longtime Texas Baptist leader, connected Monhollon with Craig Turner, then academic dean at Hardin-Simmons and now president.

Monhollon loved what he saw at the university and, in the fall of 1995, became a professor of economics and finance. He became dean of the business school in 1999, a job his son, Michael, took over about a year and a half ago.

The senior Monhollon, however, stayed in the classroom teaching.

He has two objectives with his students. First, he teaches, “you've really got to be competent.” Second, he seeks to convey the importance of a “sense of calling.”

“You can be called to the business world as well as to being pastor of a church,” Monhollon said. “There's a real opportunity for Christians in the workplace.”

Both Monhollon and Harden have illustrated that understanding. Now both are trying to help a new generation of students prepare for the workplace.