Posted: 3/05/04

On the Move

Ronnie Aubrey to Trinity Church in Reno as pastor.

Jekabs Bikis to First Church in Richardson as pastoral intern.

Ken Cannon to First Church in Paris as associate pastor for pastoral ministries, outreach and singles. He had been church administrator there.

Tiffany Cohner to Adamsville Church in Lampasas as minister of youth.

Jim Cragg to First Church in Denison as senior adult and education minister.

Charles Cruce to Tulsa Metro Association in Tulsa, Okla., as executive director from Lamar Church in Arlington, where he was pastor.

Rick Davis has completed an interim pastorate at Northside Church in Victoria.

Brian Durr to First Church in Bay City as minister of youth/outreach.

George Easter to New Hope Church in Vernon as pastor. He had been minister of education there.

Carey Gable to Levita Church in Gatesville as pastor.

Jonathan Godfrey to Trinity Church in Gatesville as interim minister of music.

Dan Harrison to First Church in Paris as minister of education/administration from Deermeadows Church in Jacksonville, Fla., where he was associate pastor and minister of education and administration.

Gene Hendrix to First Church in Shreveport, La., as minister of Christian formation and administration from First Church in Abilene, where he was pastor for discipleship, development and administration.

Brandon Hitt to Iola Missionary Church in Iola as youth minister.

Jeff Howard to First Church in Richardson as youth intern.

Jeff Huckeby to First Church in Earth from Pecan Grove Church in Oglesby.

Jim Humphries has completed an interim pastorate at First Church in Canton and is available for interims, supply or missionary speaker. He can be reached at (903) 881-0231.

Rick Kosanovic to Midway Church in Springtown as youth minister.

John Lay to First Church of Urbandale in Dallas as minister of education from Bethlehem Church in Farmersville.

Lee McCullough to Walnut Springs Church in Walnut Springs as youth minister.

Gilberto Medina to Primera Iglesia in Elgin as pastor.

Basilio Montez Jr. to Iglesia Tierra Santa in Cameron as pastor from Primera Iglesia in Cameron.

Moises Padilla to Primera Iglesia in Goldthwaite as pastor.

Jarred Parnell to Rosedale Church in Austin as pastor.

Harvey Patterson to First Church in Mobeetie as pastor.

Jim Poe has resigned as pastor at Peniel Church in Greenville.

Velma Porraz to Primera Iglesia in Austin as assistant pastor.

Houston Prewitt has resigned as youth minister at Northside Church in Highlands.

Jim Puckett to North McKinney Church in McKinney as interim pastor.

Brad Reedy to First Church in Longview as minister to single adults/young married adults from Norwood Heights Church in Palestine, where he was associate pastor for youth and music.

John Mark Robinson to First Church in Canton as pastor.

Gary Samford to First Church in Lyons as pastor.

Bob Sexton to County Line Church in Bullard as interim pastor.

Tom Slavin to First Church in Cherokee as minister of youth.

Rick Spencer to Fellowship Church in Liberty Hill as interim pastor.

Henry Swofford to Living Faith Church in Austin as pastor.

E.J. Tyson to New Hope Church in Oklahoma City as pastor from New Hope Church in Vernon.

Jason VonWachenfeldt to Mountain Church in Gatesville as youth and children's minister.

Bryan Williams to Second Church in Pasadena as youth minister.

Keith Woolf has resigned as pastor at First Church in Needville.

Mike Wyatt to Memorial Church in Marshall as interim pastor.

Scott Zbylot to Calvary Church in Rosenberg as minister to students and family.

Posted: 3/05/04

'Passion' too intense for most young
children, ministry leaders suggest

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

Christians may want everyone to hear the gospel, but parents should be wary of letting their younger children view Mel Gibson's “The Passion of the Christ,” according to faith leaders.

Christian leaders are cautioning parents to use discretion when determining whether or not their children should see the film, which graphically depicts Christ's brutal last 12 hours on earth that led to his crucifixion and resurrection.

Many Christians are calling the R-rated film too explicit for young children and teens. Phil Boatwright, who reviews movies from a Christian perspective on moviereporter.com, calls the crucifixion possibly “the most believable death scene ever to be placed on screen.”

The violence is not only bloody but also prolonged, said Leighton Flowers, youth consultant for the Baptist General Convention of Texas. The demonic also is portrayed vividly.

The brutality is more agonizing for Christian children because they are seeing someone they love persecuted for the length of the movie, Flowers said.

The film could give some young children nightmares and flashbacks, said Bill Maier, vice president and psychologist-in-residence for Focus on the Family.

The movie is not suitable for many children under the age of 10, leaders said. Parents should strongly consider whether or not to allow anyone under 15 to see it in the theater.

“It's too much for little kids,” Boatwright noted.

Generally, parents need to know what is appropriate for their children when determining if they should see the movie, Flowers said.

They must understand their children's tolerance for violence and ability to understand what they are seeing.

“It's hard to pick a cut-off date because each kid is at a different point in maturity and exposure to violence,” Flowers said.

If parents are having trouble deciding whether a child should see the film, Maier encourages them to see the movie before their youth do. Adults also can choose to purchase the video of the movie at a later date and show it to their children when appropriate.

“Parents are the guardians, gatekeepers of their child's media experience,” he said.

Maier also urged parents to attend the film with their children rather than letting them go with a youth group or friend. This allows families to discuss the movie and any emotions they are feeling immediately after the show.

Tommy Sanders, minister of childhood education at Park Cities Baptist Church in Dallas, said the same standards that are applied in teaching the gospel to younger children should be applied to the movie.

Bible study teachers should be careful not to over-emphasize the brutality of the persecution of Christ, because it can leave them fearful, Sanders said. Younger children need to hear the message of hope in Christ clearly. The brutality of Jesus' sacrifice is more appropriate for older youth.

The movie can invigorate the faith of mature teens, leaders said. The depiction helps viewers understand the painful sacrifice Jesus made for humanity's sins.

“It is brutal, but there is a difference between 99 percent of (movie) brutality and this brutality,” Boatwright said. “This brutality shows what Christ went through on our behalf.”

Posted: 3/05/04

Quilting bee-lievers at First Baptist Church in Plano

By George Henson

Staff Writer

PLANO–Needle and thread can be prime tools for ministry, Margaret Shafer believes. And she is teaching women both inside and outside her church to use them.

Several women in Shafer's Sunday school class at First Baptist Church of Plano approached her nearly four years ago about teaching them to quilt. She agreed but thought it would be a short-lived venture once they discovered how time-consuming the work was.

“I didn't think they were too serious, quite frankly,” she admitted.

Apparently they were. Each week, 29 women meet for fellowship and to waork on their quilting projects. Not all the women are from Shafer's Sunday school class anymore, or even from her church. In fact, the group now boasts participants from six denominations.

All share not only a joy of quilting, but also a desire to minister. Each year, the group makes quilts for a Hispanic mission church.

“We decided that making something we could share with others was something we wanted to do–something we needed to do,” Shafer said. She acknowledges that it was a year after the group started before they took up the mission project.

“We weren't sure we were good enough. But I don't think there is anything they won't try now,” she said.

In addition to expanding their project line to include handbags and vests, as well as quilts, they also have adopted new ministry projects.

The First Baptist quilting group is helping the Red Hat Quilting Club, a new ministry Shafer started at an assisted-living facility. She teaches more than a dozen women at Plano's Life Care Center to make quilts for themselves and a large one to auction. Each participant in the club wears a distinctive red hat of her own choosing.

Since arthritic hands no longer allow the members of the Red Hat Quilting Club to maneuver a needle and thread, the women who meet at First Baptist Church cut out cloth in shapes for them and apply a backing to make them iron-ons.

In February, for instance, various-sized hearts became the pads for the hands and feet of teddy bears. While Shafer provided the shapes and an example, members of the Red Hat Quilting Club applied them where they liked, making each one unique.

Scoring the backing with a hat pin and peeling it from the fabric also provides therapy for hands and fingers.

Red Hat Quilters at the Life Care Center in Plano (above) take the same pride in their handiwork as do the quilters at First Baptist Church in Plano.

In addition to cutting out the shapes for their older friends, the First Baptist quilters also stitch around the edge of each square and do any sewing that is needed, such as fastening button eyes onto teddy bears.

“These ladies put a lot of time and effort into things they'll never see,” Shafer said. “They are just so willing to give of their time and money for these ministry projects, it's wonderful.”

The First Baptist quilters are glad to help the Red Hat quilters create things they can be proud of, said Celia Price, a charter member of the church-based quilting group.

“I have a dad who died in a nursing home, and my mom is borderline ready. You just come to a point in your life where you realize you won't always be able to do all you want to do, and you need to help others while you can,” she said.

Barbara Roberts, another member of First Baptist, came to the club because her mother-in-law had made the top of a quilt featuring a donkey. Roberts wanted to finish the quilt but didn't know how.

She finished that project long ago and now is happy to help others the way she was helped.

“It's good to know that you can help someone too,” she said. “I could be in that home some day–we might all be there–and it's nice to be able to help them make something pretty.”

Margaret Shafer goes to the Life Care Center of Plano each month to teach residents how to make quilting squares that are put together and finished by the the quilters at First Baptist Church of Plano.

While the women are glad to help the Red Hat quilters and make the quilts for the Hispanic mission, they particularly are proud of what they refer to as “the quilt”–their first major project.

In March 2001, the women were asked to create a quilt for First Baptist Church's 150th anniversary that August. Shafer looked at old photographs of the church's various buildings and drew sketches for each square. She also drew pictures of the various churches First Baptist in Plano had started as missions. She then included drawings of the church's stained glass windows.

The 15 women then involved each took squares. When combined, their work became the church's sesquicentennial quilt.

“These ladies just took those drawings of mine and went to work on them, and what we wound up with is just beautiful,” Shafer said. The quilt hangs in the church's welcome center as a commemoration of the church's history.

Teaching women to quilt has been one of great joys of Shafer's life.

“It's the most satisfying thing I've ever done to see these ladies develop in their skills to the point that they have,” she said.

Shafer's gift just keeps on giving, Price added.

“You can't keep this kind of thing to yourself. My husband keeps asking me, 'When do we get to keep one?” she said with a smile.

Posted: 3/05/04

Twister wrecks Seymour church gym

A tornado destroyed the gym at First Baptist Church in Seymour shortly after noon March 4. Marion Fonville, director of missions for Salt Fork and Red Fork Baptist associations, said the facility was the only known church damage, although the storm inflicted considerable damage on local businesses. No injuries were reported.

Posted: 3/05/04

Show Christ's love by working to renew
communities, student leaders told

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

SHREVEPORT, La.–Christians can pull the United States out of societal decline by reaching out to their neighbors as Christ would, a community renewal activist told student leaders.

Civilizations rise and fall, and the United States is on the downhill side of its prestige, said Mack McCarter, founder and coordinator of Shreveport-Bossier Community Renewal.

Social injustice is on the rise, life is being devalued, and corporate ethics are fading, he said. Americans increasingly are becoming socially dysfunctional as they become disconnected, he observed. Growing up, he knew everyone on his block, but now people do not know the names of their neighbors.

“We can e-mail our friends in Berlin but don't know who is living and dying three doors down from us,” said McCarter, who recently spoke at a Christian Association of Student Leaders meeting, sponsored by Texas Baptist Leadership Center and the Baptist General Convention of Texas institutional ministries section.

But Christians bring hope of societal renewal, he insisted. Believers can reconnect society one person at a time by showing the love of Christ.

When individuals show that caring spirit, friendships begin to emerge, McCarter said. Through friendship, lines of communication are established, and compassionate relationships develop.

“It isn't Shreveport-Bossier Community Renewal that's the answer,” he said. “It's the love of Christ.”

The Shreveport-Bossier Community Renewal effort uses a three-pronged approach to reconnecting the citizens of Shreveport and Bossier City. About 12,000 people are volunteer members of a “We Care Team.” These individuals sport “We Care” bumper stickers on their cars and pins on their shirt collars that make “caring people” more visible. Team members commit to care for others in their daily lives.

McCarter and his staff also recruited about 500 “Haven Home” leaders, who are committed to making friends in their neighborhoods and teaching others how to build relationships. Volunteers also hold parties in their homes to bring communities together.

A wave of individuals volunteered to move into high-crime, low-income neighborhoods to completely rebuild a caring community.

These Internal Care Unit members work to establish trust with adults by first caring for their children.

The effort is working, McCarter said. Crime dropped 42 percent in the community. Attitudes are changing.

The Shreveport-Bossier Community Renewal effort is one model being studied by the BGCT City Core Initiative.

Individuals are getting trained by community renewal staff and using it across the country. Shreveport-Bossier Community Renewal staff members are using a government grant to demonstrate their model can work nationwide.

Demonstration projects are under way in Austin and in Abilene, where Hardin-Simmons University is involved.

Other demonstrations are taking place in Baton Rouge, La., and Knoxville, Tenn.

McCarter used a recent Christian Association of Student Leaders meeting at Hardin-Simmons University to encourage nearly 200 young people to incorporate community renewal principles into their lives.

The more people that are actively sharing God's love, the greater impact this model will have, McCarter said. Love leads to relationships.

And when a believer has been properly equipped, relationships lead to disciples, he added. Disciples can change the world.

“The ultimate goal is to be faithful to God speaking to us through his Son,” McCarter said.

Posted: 3/05/04

TBM names Smith executive director,
agrees to work with SBTC on disaster relief ministry

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

AQUILLA–Texas Baptist Men's board of directors named an executive director, signed an agreement to work with Southern Baptists of Texas Convention-affiliated disaster relief units and outlined the group's new meeting schedule.

At a Feb. 26-28 board meeting at Latham Springs Baptist Encampment, retired pastor Leo Smith was elected unanimously as executive director. Smith, who has served in various TBM positions for more than 35 years, had been interim executive director since Jim Furgerson retired from the post in spring 2002.

“I am very humbled by your trust and want to pledge to you, and under God, that I will do all I can to hear his voice and lead Texas Baptist Men in a way that glorifies him,” Smith said, fighting back tears.

“You're Texas Baptist Men. You're the guys who do the work. I want to do like Bob (Dixon, longtime TBM director) says–turn you loose to do what God has called you to do.”

Kevin Walker, TBM president, reported Smith was the unanimous nomination of a committee that studied the organization's history and purpose while prayerfully determining the proper candidate.

“We continue to see God's hand at work,” he said.

Smith accepts the position as Texas Baptist Men attempts to work with volunteers from churches affiliated with two conventions–the Baptist General Convention of Texas and the SBTC–while retaining its unique connection to the BGCT.

In recent years, Texas Baptist Men adopted a fraternal relationship with the SBTC that enables cooperation between TBM and men from churches related to the breakaway convention. At the same time, Texas Baptist Men has continually reaffirmed its “unique” relationship with the BGCT, the primary source of the men's group's funding.

During the February meeting, Smith signed an agreement with the SBTC to outline how TBM will work with disaster relief units owned by SBTC-affiliated churches and associations.

Under the agreement, TBM is the organization the Southern Baptist Convention North American Mission Board calls to minister in large disasters. In turn, TBM can call on SBTC-affiliated units to work under direction of TBM leaders.

Each group can determine if it wants to participate in a particular relief effort.

“The purpose of the document is to grow the kingdom,” said Gibbie McMillan, liaison between the SBTC and Texas Baptist Men. “It is not about names.”

In addition to the agreement with the SBTC, the board voted to explore partnerships with South Africa, England and “cowboy churches” in Texas. The group also is continuing efforts in China, North Korea, Canada and Nicaragua.

The board of directors also responded to a requested study of when TBM should meet by outlining a new meeting format. The TBM board voted to have only one board of directors meeting a year, tentatively to be held in the spring.

TBM will hold seven additional events around the state, including rallies at the BGCT and SBTC annual meetings.

TBM will continue having a booth at both meetings and will participate in breakout sessions as asked. Smith said the changes will give TBM more visibility around the state.

“The direction I sense the Lord moving is getting us out to the churches,” Smith said.

The organization will continue following its current meeting schedule of one yearly convention and board of directors gathering in conjunction with the fall BGCT annual meeting and a spring board of directors meeting until 2005.

In other business, the board of directors voted to hire Don Gibson to serve as men's ministry director on a contract basis as the personnel committee continues looking at the position.

The group also is petitioning the SBC International Mission Board for a missionary to direct TBM work with Hispanic churches.

Posted: 3/05/04

Texas Tidbits

Dennehy case against Baylor dismissed. McLennan County's 19th Judicial District Court entered an order dismissing all claims against Baylor University by Patrick Dennehy Sr. individually and as a representative of the estate of his son, a former Baylor basketball player. Baylor University issued a public statement saying: "The court's ruling followed well-established law that a university has no legal duty to prevent one of its students from committing a criminal act while off the premises at an event not sponsored by the university. Baylor deeply regrets the tragic and untimely death of Patrick Dennehy Jr. but is gratified that the court has clearly ruled that neither Baylor nor its representatives were responsible for this unfortunate event."

Hardin-Simmons receives foundation grants. The Shelton Foundation of Abilene has awarded Hardin-Simmons University $900,000 for two projects. The university received a $450,000 grant to help establish and fund a Neighborhood Enhancement Center for four years. The center will be responsible for the oversight of programs aimed at improving the overall appearance and quality of life in the neighborhood near the campus. It will include Habitat for Humanity projects, a literacy program, a volunteer program for teenagers and establishment of a Friendship House aimed at community renewal. Another $450,000 grant will enable the school to build an effluent water pipeline and use the reclaimed water for irrigation on the campus.

ETBU names student life director. Tony Davis has been named director of student life at East Texas Baptist University. He succeeds David Brooks, who was promoted to vice president for student services. As director of student life, Davis will be responsible for supervising resident directors of student housing, enforcing university disciplinary policies and overseeing the school's computer identification access system. Davis served previously as manager of technical services with ETBU physical facilities.

HPU teacher named educator of the year. The Texas Educational Theatre Association recently named Nancy Jo Humfeld of Howard Payne University 2004 educator of the year for colleges and universities. She is the chair of the department of communication and theatre at HPU, where she has taught since 1986. Humfeld has been listed in "Who's Who Among Teachers In American Colleges and Universities" four times, nominated as a Piper Professor at HPU in 2001-02, and designated as the Distinguished Alumni Ambassador from East Texas State University in 1995.

ETBU sets nursing conference. "Celebrating the Spirit of Nursing" is the theme of an April 16-17 conference at East Texas Baptist University for licensed nurses and nursing students. Eileen Zungolo, dean of the Duquesne University School of Nursing in Pittsburgh, Pa., will deliver the keynote address. The conference marks the 10th anniversary of the first graduating class from the ETBU nursing department, and it concludes with a reunion barbeque for graduates of the nursing program. For more information, call (903) 923-2210.

Drumwright lecture held at Truett. Margaret Mitchell, associate professor of New Testatment at the University of Chicago Divinity School, was the featured speaker at the inaugural lecture for the Minette and Huber Drumwright endowed colloquium in New Testament studies. The lecture, co-sponsored by the Baylor University religion department and Truett Theological Seminary, was held March 4 at Truett Seminary's Piper Great Hall.

DBU academic counselor honored. John Humphreys, academic counselor in Dallas Baptist University's College of Adult Education, received the Advisor of the Year award. Students nominate advisors for this award by writing a short essay about their advisor, explaining why he or she should be honored. Students submitted nearly 200 nominations.

HSU receives historic preservation award. Hardin-Simmons University earned the Historic Rehabilitation Award from Preservation Texas for its Caldwell Fine Arts Building. The building, constructed in 1923, underwent a three-year renovation and restoration.

Newport Foundation conference set. The John P. Newport Foundation will hold the Ultimate Questions National Leadership Conference April 29-30 at First Baptist Church in Arlington. More than 40 speakers, including Frank Newport, editor-in-chief of the Gallup Organization, and Russell Dilday, former president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, will explore contemporary theological, ethical and philosophical questions. For more information, call (210) 846-4192 or visit www.newportfoundation.com.

UMHB seeks provost. The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor has formed a search committee to fill the position of provost and vice president for academic affairs. Clarence Ham, retired dean of the education school and acting vice president for academic affairs, is chair of the search committee, which hopes to fill the office no later than July 1. The provost will be responsible for the academic leadership of the university, including coordination of the work of schools, deans and related academic departments on both undergraduate and graduate levels; curriculum and program development; development of an academic budget; developing applications for appropriate external funding for academic programs; and faculty development in both teaching excellence and scholarship. The provost will participate in strategic planning for the university, serve as liaison with academic accrediting agencies and function as the chief administrative officer in the absence of the president. For more information see umhb.edu/employment.

DBU receives grant. Dallas Baptist University recently received a $100,000 grant from the Hoblitzelle Foundation to help fund the Ebby Halliday Center on the DBU campus. This building will serve as a multi-purpose meeting facility located at DBU's new Colonial Village apartment complex. Incorporated in the 1950s, the Hoblitzelle Foundation was established as a charitable trust in 1942. Since its inception, the directors have been able to approve more than 2,200 grants, investing millions in social service, cultural, educational, medical, preservation and civic organizations of Texas.

HPU to host genealogy workshop. Howard Payne University's Douglas MacArthur Academy of Freedom will host a genealogy workshop March 27, exploring topics ranging from genealogy research and oral history to document and photo preservation. The workshop will feature Shelly Henley Kelly, archivist at the University of Houston-Clear Lake, home of the Johnson Space Center History Collection, and genealogy expert Marilyn Maniscalco Henley from Austin. The workshop is sponsored by the Walter M. and Evalynn Burress Chair of Genealogy and American History. The event is open to the public. For more information, call (325) 649-8700.

Hardin-Simmons recognizes couple. George and Fay Van Devender were honored by the Hardin-Simmons University Former Faculty, Staff, Administration Fellowship. He received the former faculty member of the year award, and she was honored posthumously as former staff member of the year. Van Devender taught for 17 years in the English department before retiring in 1992. Mrs. Van Devender was on staff for 16 years as executive secretary.

Family endows UMHB scholarships. Two presidential scholarships were endowed recently at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor. Paul and Lucia Tipton established a scholarship in memory of their son, Troy McClure Tipton. The other was established by the estate of Shelley Ann McClure, sister of Lucia Tipton and Alan McClure. The Troy McClure Tipton Presidential Endowed Scholarship will benefit students majoring in exercise and sports science who plan careers in coaching. The Michele (Shelley) Ann McClure Presidential Endowed Scholarship will benefit communications and performance studies majors.

ETBU brochure wins award. East Texas Baptist University received a Silver Addy award from the East Texas Advertising Federation for its brochure promoting Tiger Day, an event where prospective students and their families are invited to tour the ETBU campus.

UMHB wins advertising award. The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor received a bronze award in the 19th annual Admissions Advertising Awards competition. The university received a bronze medal in the outdoor ad competition for its billboard on Interstate 35, north of Belton. UMHB was competing against other colleges and universities nationwide with an enrollment of 2,000–4,999 students. J.B. Herrmann Co. of Temple designed the award-winning billboard for UMHB.

UMHB prof joins international board. Diane Howard, performance studies and communication professor at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, has been invited to join the international board of directors of the National Association of African American Studies and its affiliates: the National Association of Hispanic and Latino Studies, the National Association of Native American Studies and the International Association of Asian Studies.

Hit band headlines Wayland concert. Contemporary Christian band Casting Crowns, best known for their hit song, "If We Are the Body," will headline a concert at Wayland Baptist University March 26. The concert at 7:30 p.m. also will feature Jeff Deyo, former lead singer for Sonicflood. Casting Crowns recently was nominated for four Dove Awards by the Gospel Music Association. Tickets to the concert are $10 each, available at the Wayland bookstore, in Lubbock at Mardel and Family Christian Stores, and in Amarillo at LifeWay and Family stores. The concert is scheduled in conjunction with Wayland's Big Weekend, the annual college preview event for high school juniors, seniors and college transfers. Cost is $20, which includes a concert ticket and meals for the weekend. For more information, call (806) 291-3500.

BGCT staff member honored. The Christian Stewardship Association named Terry Austin stewardship professional of the year. He serves as director of the Baptist General Convention of Texas personal stewardship office. The 1,800-member interdenominational group based in Indianapolis honored Austin for his work promoting biblical stewardship through education during the past year, according to Scott Prissler, CSA president. Austin, a graduate of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and Wayland Baptist University, has helped author numerous stewardship materials, led seminars and assisted Texas Baptist churches with building campaigns. He also was pastor at First Baptist Church in Morse. He and his wife, Sharon, are members of First Baptist Church in Keller. They have three children–Jeremy, Matthew and Andrew.

Posted: 3/05/04

TOGETHER:
BGCT will honor churches' decisions

Since New Testament times, churches have met human needs and responded to missions challenges through cooperation. This principle has been imbedded in the heart of churches since the Apostle Paul gathered offerings to help the Jerusalem church through days of persecution and hunger.

Baptist churches in America, however, were so committed to local-church autonomy that they were slow to see how they could combine resources to accomplish more for God than they could do alone. Slowly but surely, Baptists began to see how they could pool their mission offerings and do together something necessary and good for God's work.

The Cooperative Program came into existence as state conventions agreed to work with the Southern Baptist Convention in raising funds for missions, evangelism, Christian education and benevolence. Since 1925, the Baptist General Convention of Texas has been a generous contributor–often the most generous of any state convention–to Southern Baptist ministries across the nation and world.

Some have suggested the BGCT no longer “pass through” contributions from our churches to the SBC. This suggestion has been made often through the years, even before I became executive director, but it has never gained wide support from our leaders or our churches.

I would not be in favor of such a decision. I believe that how the local church wants to contribute its Cooperative Program mission dollars is up to the local church. If a Texas Baptist church wants to give through the Texas Adopted Budget plan, 79 percent of its Cooperative Program dollars will be used to fund BGCT ministries, missions and institutions, and 21 percent will be used for worldwide programs as the local church directs. The BGCT is bound to honor the local church's decision.

If a local church wants to direct Cooperative Program dollars by another percentage distribution between Texas Baptist causes and the SBC or the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, or if it chooses to increase contributions to BGCT worldwide mission causes, it is free to make that determination, as well.

Some faithful Texas Baptists have suggested the BGCT stop processing worldwide missions gifts because they are distressed over decisions made by the SBC. They are hurt when the SBC dismisses seminary faculty and leaders without finding them guilty of heresy, releases missionaries because they will not sign a creed presented to them, refuses to endorse chaplains because they are women and falsely charges the Baptist World Alliance with “aberrant theology” and “anti-Americanism” as an excuse to pull away from the world Baptist family which we helped to found 99 years ago.

Increasing numbers of Texas Baptist churches are making the decision to channel their missions giving away from the SBC. But many churches want to continue supporting Southern Baptist ministries and missions. I doubt even Solomon could figure out a plan for cooperative giving that would satisfy all our Texas Baptist churches. Perhaps in the future we will again be able to gain a consensus that will satisfy almost all of our churches. Until then, the right thing to do is to give churches the freedom to find prayerfully and together the best way for them to give.

The BGCT has stood consistently on the side of local churches. We will honor your decisions. We will send your mission dollars exactly where you instruct us to send them. We will try to give you information and options so you can make the best decision possible, but we serve you and will help you do what you believe is right.

We are loved.

Posted: 3/05/04

Truett conference speakers issue wake-up call to Christians

By Marv Knox

Editor

WACO–Ministers can continue to serve God only because of the divine call upon their lives, David Garland told parti-cipants at the second annual pastors' and laymen's conference at George W. Truett Theological Seminary.

More than a dozen conference speakers led a three-day marathon of preaching, testimonies, Bible studies and singing on the Baylor University campus in Waco.

Garland, associate dean and professor of Christian Scriptures at Truett, heard his call from God while he was a seasick U.S. Naval Academy midshipman standing watch on a guided-missile frigate.

Jesus “comes in the midst of life when you least expect it,” Garland observed. “The Lord asked me, 'Now, are you willing to listen to my call to go into the ministry?' And then I was.”

He contrasted his own call to ministry to Jesus' invitation to four disciples, as recorded in the Gospel of Mark.

“Jesus didn't wait for the disciples to sign up. … He didn't give an IQ test,” Garland said. “There's no special preparation whatsoever. And the amazing thing is they follow–no questions asked. Why did they do this? …

“It is the force of Jesus' call alone that propels them. When Jesus speaks, 'Come,' they follow.”

Ever since then, ministers “have been strangely warmed and even possessed by that call” to follow Jesus, he added.

Garland illustrated from his own family history.

His grandfather, a Methodist missionary, raised money to travel to India to lead a boarding school. When he arrived, he learned he had been swindled–no boarding school, no job, no money.

But he stayed because God had called him, Garland reported. And he reached people for Jesus. The Methodists brought him under their auspices, and he served 33 years. He had six children in India, and three died there.

Garland's own father went to India as a missionary. He watched his sister die there. He suffered many diseases and endured hardships.

“I was never old enough to ask my grandfather, 'Why did you do it?' But I know now,” Garland said. “I never asked my dad, 'Why did you do it?' but I know now. …

“When the going gets hard, we keep going because of the call.”

That call to ministry transcends place and circumstance and grips faithful ministers, he insisted. “This is not a job. When trouble comes and you experience grief upon grief, what keeps you in ministry?

“When your congregation says no and breaks its promises, what keeps you in ministry?

“When they come to you and tell you it's time to move, what keeps you in ministry?

“It's the power of the One who calls us and will not let us go. And we cannot help but obey.”

Paul Powell, Truett Seminary's dean, noted all the speakers for the conference are Texas Baptists. Throughout the event, participants heard a verse-by-verse study of the book of Galatians by retired New Testament professor Jack MacGorman from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth.

Addressing a broad range of topics, other speakers illustrated the conference theme, “The Church Awake”:

Personal evangelism is the only kind, declared Richard Jackson, head of the Richard Jackson Center for Evangelism in Brownwood.

But Christians who are intimidated by personally sharing their faith need to remember Jesus is involved in the process, Jackson emphasized. “You and I are never in this alone. It is always the work of Jesus. …

“I take it for granted that people who know Jesus want everybody else to know Jesus,” he said. “But sometimes we just don't know how to share the gospel. Why? We've been convinced that to be witnesses for Jesus Christ we have to be so well versed in Scripture and theology that by our intellect we can convince people to follow Jesus.

“Well, nobody's going to believe in Jesus because you're that smart. They're going to believe because of the power of the gospel.”

Some Christians also back off from evangelism because they think it involves confronting people about their lifestyles, Jackson added.

“It's not our job to change people's lifestyle,” he said. “The Holy Spirit does that. We're just supposed to tell them” about Jesus' love for them.

Unfortunately, a very different message has been programmed into many people, Jackson acknowledged.

Because they have been told God is wholly good and they're not, “religion has helped people conclude God is mad at them,” he explained. But Christians' responsibility is to help people understand Jesus loves them, just as they are.

And that task never should intimidate Christians, he stressed. “Just think: We get to go to a bunch of folks who think God is mad at them, and we get to tell them God loves them.”

Authentic ministry involves a great deal of “leaning,” said Buckner Fanning, retired pastor of Trinity Baptist Church in San Antonio.

Fanning told about an 18-year-old girl who lived in Alpha Home, Trinity's facility for alcoholic women. In a counseling session, Fanning advised her to lean on Jesus, but she lashed out in anger and vowed she could not do it.

Then, “in one of the best sermons I ever heard,” he said, a woman who worked in Alpha Home hugged the girl and told her, “You just lean on me, and I'll lean on Jesus.”

In time, that woman's love coaxed the girl closer and closer to Jesus, until she made him her Savior, Fanning said.

“Let 'em lean on you,” Fanning urged the ministers regarding the people they serve. “We need people to lean on us. Your spirit will rub off on them. Jesus is contagious.”

Former Baptist General Convention of Texas President Phil Lineberger said Christians should expect God to work in unexpected places.

He told how his family of seven children was “starved out” of a tenant farm in East Texas and wound up in a Texarkana housing project.

One day, a widow named Mrs. Long took 10-year-old Phil to hear a young evangelist named Freddie Gage, and that boy committed his life to Christ.

That relationship with Jesus, combined with his mother's admonition, “Always pray, and never give up,” propelled him to the University of Arkansas, where he attended on an athletic scholarship, and later guided him into the ministry.

Now, he's been a pastor 37 years and currently serves Williams Trace Baptist Church in Sugar Land.

“Don't ever overlook those little kids in your church and kids not from prominent families,” Lineberger said. “You never know what God's going to do.”

Worship is designed for Christians, and ministers need to remember it's linked to work, reported Bobby Dagnel, pastor of First Baptist Church in Lubbock.

“Worship is for the community of faith, the people of God,” Dagnel said, noting, “God's initiative provokes a response, and that response is worship. …

“The highest form of worship is a life devoted, consecrated, committed to a living sacrifice to God. True worship has to do with giving our very best to the Father.”

Consequently, worship requires “an activated life,” he said.

“True worship has to do not only with knowing the right things, but also doing the right things. Is our life really the embodiment of everything we teach and preach from the pulpit? Engage in the work of (God's) kingdom.”

Unfortunately, many people perceive ministers are lazy, he said, urging, “We need to be professional, but we need a blue-collar work ethic. Our people need to see us working hard. … We need to be busy about the work of the kingdom, doing something.”

God still works miracles, testified John Nguyen, pastor of Vietnamese Baptist Church in Garland and president of the Vietnamese Baptist Institute.

God performed three miracles to enable Nguyen to preach the gospel to Vietnamese in Texas today, he said, recounting how he arrived in Saigon, South Vietnam, on the last U.S. military plane out of Danang, how a miracle of timing resulted in his journey to the United States, and how a miracle of bureaucratic missteps placed him in Fort Chafee, Ark., where he reunited with the missionary who had led him to faith in Christ in Vietnam.

Thanks to those miracles, “I'm so grateful to be in this country, to be able to witness to my countrymen,” he said.

Churches must embody righteousness, stressed Ellis Orozco, pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in McAllen.

“Here is a righteous church: Christ in you, touching the world,” Orozco said.

Despite popular opinion, righteousness is not found on a list of dos and don'ts, he added.

“Righteousness is incarnation; it's relationship,” he said. To illustrate, he cited the parable of the Good Samaritan, who was very different than the victim he aided, and far unlike the religious professionals who avoided the victim. Still, the Samaritan embodied righteousness because he acted out God's goodness and care.

Churches ought to be bastions of righteousness, like the New Testament example of “a city set on a hill” that glows in the darkness, he said, explaining those cities were places of refuge, where people fled for safety.

Churches ought to serve that function for people today, so they say, “If I can just make it there, everything will be all right,” he said.

God's grace and love transform lives from even the most unexpected corners of the world, reported Liz Ngan, an Old Testament professor at Truett Seminary.

“I am born of a people late coming to the gospel,” she said, explaining she was raised in a devout Buddhist family in China.

As a young girl, she attended a Catholic school and began to realize other gods were not real, only Jesus was real, but her mother insisted the family was Buddhist, she said.

Several years later, when she was almost ready to come to the United States for college, she attended a church summer camp, just to be with her friends one last time.

“That was the first time I realized how much Jesus loved me,” Ngan said. She felt she did not deserve Jesus' love and told him to go away.

“But the love of Jesus will not let me go,” she said. “Jesus has loved me from the beginning. I don't understand it. I don't need to understand it. … Jesus loves me; Jesus loves you. I pray you will see how powerful and healing this love is.”

Christians need to remember they have a “soul phone,” and its signal transmits directly God, Bruce Webb said in a sermon on prayer.

Webb, pastor of Central Baptist Church in Jacksonville, described prayer using his cell phone, which transmits a beam off a satellite directly to the phone of the person he calls.

“If our cell phones can find each other all over the United States, how much better can our soul phones go directly to God?” he asked.

Christians, and especially ministers, sometimes get discouraged, he conceded, advising, “Sometimes it seems like God is a long way off, but he's only a soul phone call away.”

Joseph Parker, pastor of David Chapel Missionary Baptist Church in Austin, compared his own near-death experience to the church's task.

Last summer, Parker suffered a heart attack and collapsed in Austin.

The emergency-call tape of the incident records a police officer who helped him saying he did not have a pulse and was not breathing. It picks up the voices of nurses who passed by saying he was dead.

Still, Parker stood before the Truett Seminary conference crowd to tell the tale. “The doctors say it's nothing but a miracle,” he said. “God can do that in a spiritual life.”

And churches must not be afraid to work amid spiritual death, he admonished.

“A church that is awake must have its nostrils open–sensitive to the aroma of death,” he said. “The church sometimes goes about with a clogged-up nose, unwilling to smell the zombies … the living dead among them.

“When the church opens up its nostrils to smell death, some things will happen to help the church stay awake. When we venture with Jesus into a dirty and decaying place, the church will stay awake.”

Jimmy Dorrell, director of Mission Waco and pastor of The Church Under the Bridge, echoed Parker's theme.

“To follow Jesus means to move into the middle of the pain,” he said, calling on churches to minister to hurting people.

“Half the world lives in cities, but 80 percent of city churches have abandoned the city for the suburbs,” he noted, claiming a significant reason for that is “spiritual leprosy–a numbness of the heart.”

Churches must have compassion not only for people in U.S. cities, but also people who suffer in other places, Dorrell insisted, calling for Christians to overcome the temptation to be “pain avoiders.”

Christians never should allow their shortcomings and weaknesses to prevent them from serving God, said Roy Thoene, pastor of First Baptist Church of Gresham.

Thoene described his life before he became a Christian–a fast-living, chain-smoking, hard-drinking wild man who had quit school at age 14.

Shortly after he became a Christian, he began to sense God wanted him to preach, he recalled. He couldn't believe it until he sensed God telling him, “I didn't call you to be Billy Graham.”

Thoene's life changed so rapidly that his unbelieving family couldn't accept it. His brother tried to have him committed to a mental-health facility when he said he was called to preach.

But God enabled him to do the task, and he has been pastor of the Gresham church for more than 30 years.

“God can take an ol' country boy–foul-mouthed and a drunkard–and put him on a solid road,” he testified. “I'm a child of Jesus Christ; without him, I could do nothing.

“I don't care what God has called you to do, he'll equip you to do it.”

Joel Gregory, a magazine publisher from Fort Worth and former pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas, closed the conference by asking the participants, “Do you smell like a preacher?”

Referencing the Apostle Paul's metaphor of ministers being “the aroma of Christ,” Gregory talked about how people “smell like a preacher.”

“You smell like a preacher if your life is constantly being conquered again by Christ Jesus,” he said, describing how Jesus led Paul and other faithful servants in a “pageant of triumph,” even when life's circumstances caused them to look like failures.

He told about preachers through history who had faced daunting circumstances but whose ministries were redeemed by Christ. “We look like dead men walking to some, but to others, we have the smell of life about us.”

“If you smell like a preacher, you won't peddle the word of God, you won't diminish or dilute the word of God,” he added.

He told about a pharmacist convicted for diluting chemotherapy medicine to 2 percent of its intended strength and how the judge declared, “This is an unthinkable crime.”

“I want to tell you something more unthinkable–diluting the word of life, watering it down, trivializing, thinning out the word of God,” Gregory said.

The other scent of a preacher is “changed lives rather than some other certificate,” he added.

“The ultimate credential that matters in ministry is that lives were changed,” he insisted. “When your day's done and your race is run, what matters is that lives were changed because you were there.”

Posted: 3/05/04

Leaders say drastic shift in youth
ministry needed for the 21st century needs

By Brent Thompson

Southwestern Seminary

FORT WORTH, Texas (BP)–Concerned that the late-20th century model of youth ministry is flawed, a group of prominent youth leaders has issued a call for a new model that could lead to a “seismic shift” in church youth ministry philosophy, training and leadership.

“For around 60 years, student ministry has focused almost exclusively on teenagers,” said Richard Ross, professor of youth and student ministry at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth.

In a letter sent to youth ministry leaders around the nation last year, Ross pointed out an increasing number of youth leaders are coming to believe that model falls short.

“We now have enough history to know that the majority of students who stay on mission for a lifetime are those from emotionally and spiritually vibrant homes,” Ross wrote.

Author Josh McDowell added, “The most powerful impact upon a child's ethical, moral and spiritual development is the relationship with the parents. It is 300 times greater than the church.”

The question of how to turn student ministries more toward impacting parents and families brought together a group of 22 well-known youth leaders at the National Network of Youth Ministries Forum in Glorieta, N.M., in January.

Although these leaders represented a variety of evangelical denominations and para-church ministries, they were unified around the issue of the need for a more intergenerational approach to youth ministry, organizers noted.

The conference resulted in a document titled “The Call to Youth Ministers and the Church.”

The first part of the document contains resolutions drawn directly from Scripture. The second part contains affirmations reflecting a distinct intentionality to draw youth and parents together as much as possible in youth ministry programs.

For example, the document asks youth ministers to “acknowledge parents as the primary spiritual leaders of their children” and to “consistently … involve parents with leaders and resources that equip parents for biblical parenting and primary discipling of their children.”

The document also asks youth ministers to “include events and experiences that bring parents and teenagers together when it best achieves ministry purposes.”

Churches are called to “encourage existing youth ministers to make a transition toward parent ministry.”

“The team writing 'The Call' spent an unusually long time in prayer,” Ross said.

“We knew this effort would matter little without God's direction in writing and his empowering any future impact. At least twice as we wrote, the group fell into reverential silence as we sensed God's direct hand in giving us the words to place on paper.”

Rick Lawrence, executive editor of GROUP magazine, was present and helped draft the document.

“More than any other factor, parents are responsible for helping their teenagers grow deeply in Christ,” Lawrence said. “It's just as important for us to invest in parents' spiritual growth as it is to invest in our youth group members' spiritual growth.

“If we can get parents to see themselves as the primary catalysts for faith growth in their kids' lives, our ministries will explode. I think this is the crucial turning-point issue for today's youth ministers.”

“I am honored to be part of the group of people that are helping put this into expression,” said Sue McAllister, a long-time youth minister from Tupelo, Miss., and southeastern regional coordinator of the National Network of Youth Ministries.

“As you work with parents, there is a maturing that comes for the youth pastor as well as for the students. There is a trust factor that is built. I am looking forward to the fruitfulness of intergenerational youth ministry as we encourage youth pastors to do this.”

More than 180 people already have signed 'The Call' document, Ross said, including one youth leader from Nigeria.

The document's text, along with a list of denominational, organizational and local church leaders who have signed it, can be found at http://youthworkers.net/parents.

Ross began championing such a shift in youth ministry about two decades ago. His 1984 book “Ministry with Youth and Their Parents” was one of the first to lay out what this approach to ministry might look like.

Anecdotal evidence and some small-scale studies have indicated that not only is religion an important influence in the lives of American youth, but that the church has not been doing a good job of cultivating their spiritual lives.

Obviously, there are situations where children from troubled homes stay strong in their faith for a lifetime, Ross said. “These are wonderful, but, sadly, rare.”

Studies have shown a correlation between the spiritual health of a young person and the quality of that young person's family life.

In August 2001, the National Study of Youth and Religion was initiated to study the religious lives of American teenagers. Conducted at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill under the direction of Christian Smith, this four-year project is funded by a grant from the Lilly Endowment, Inc.

“Any broad design for student ministry for the future must include a powerful focus on parents and families,” Ross said.

Posted: 2/27/04

BGCT begins effort to craft vision for the future

By Ferrell Foster

Texas Baptist Communications

DALLAS—The Baptist General Convention of Texas has launched a process of “revisioning” that is expected to lead to reorganization of the convention’s work.

BGCT Executive Director Charles Wade announced the formation of four “revisioning teams” that will help shape a new vision for the BGCT.

He created four teams of 10 to 13 people each. Two groups consist of pastors, one younger and one older; one is comprised of laypeople; and another includes Executive Board staff members.

“I wanted to bring together a broad variety of our Texas Baptist people to seek God’s vision for our future,” Wade said. “Three years ago, we made some changes in our organizational structure, and we have seen welcome improvements. The time is right for us to look at what the role of our convention will be in the years ahead.”

Wade expressed appreciation to BGCT President Ken Hall and other officers for “their encouragement in seeing that the convention move forward aggressively in responding to the challenges presented by a changing Texas and by a world in desperate need of the gospel.”

“The officers and I desire the best Texas Baptists can do,” he said.

The revisioning teams will identify critical issues facing the convention and churches, provide opinions regarding priorities and suggest “possible models for organization,” said Chris Liebrum, director of human resources.

“We need a clearer vision that we can build toward, a vision that is so clear, so compelling it will communicate to all Texas Baptists a positive direction for the future,” he said.

Each team will meet the week of March 1-5 and hold three meetings by the middle of April, Wade said.

“The results of their work will flow to the executive director’s office, where we will develop a strategic plan and begin to work on structure and organizational solutions that will move us forward in achieving the vision God sets before us,” he said.

The BGCT Executive Board will receive reports on the revisioning process at its May and September meetings.

Sherrill Spies, a member of First Baptist Church in The Woodlands with experience in strategic planning and organizational design, will guide the process, Liebrum said, noting, “Not only does she know organizations, she knows Texas Baptists.”

All regions of the state are represented in the revisioning process, Liebrum said. The teams also have ethnic and gender diversity.

“Dr. Wade has spent a lot of time in prayer and in consultation with Texas Baptists in order to find the right people,” he said.

“Most of all,” Wade said, “we looked for people who believe God has given them a calling to do what they do. They each have a desire for the BGCT to be the most effective force for God and good it can possibly be as it serves the local churches and collaborates with our institutions and associations.

“Ultimately, all that the BGCT does should point toward salvation of the lost and growth of the churches unto the glory of God. Each of these team members shares that desire.”

The revisioning teams will address various questions, Wade said. They include:

“How can the BGCT be used of God to encourage in churches the most effective advances in evangelism, missions, Christian education and benevolent ministries?”

“How can we provide a vision of Christ and Baptist identity that stirs up a zeal for what God wants to do with us as we work together?”

“If the BGCT could be whatever God needs us to be, what kind of difference could we make in churches, in Texas and in the world unto the glory of God?”

“How can we help Texas Baptists work together in the most spiritually powerful and effective manner possible?”

For the laity team, Wade sought lay leaders with “extensive experience in business,” people who have “demonstrated skills in organizing business structures for the most efficient and effective use of resources in achieving goals,” he said.

The work of churches and the convention is more than a business, but “things good business minds have learned can be beneficial to us in the work of our convention,” he said. “Where there are better ways to do what we do, we want to know about it.”

The two teams of ministerial leaders will bring a pastoral perspective, he added.

“One group is a bit older, and the other a bit younger,” Wade said. “We wanted to gain input from pastors who have spent a lifetime learning and leading in local churches, and we also wanted input from younger ministers who have a deep sense of calling to the future God holds out before us.”

Executive Board staff members comprise the fourth group. “These men and women know our Baptist work from the inside out,” Wade said. “I have found they have some of the most creative ideas regarding the opportunities before our churches and convention. We want to have the benefit of their best thinking.”

Wade also will seek input from associational directors of missions, presidents of BGCT-affiliated institutions and seminary students.

“I pray daily God will use us to help Texas Baptist churches be all that God wants them to be and to empower us in advancing all the interests of the Redeemer’s kingdom,” Wade said. “My deepest desire is that we help one another so that our churches know themselves to be the presence of Christ in the world.”

Revisioning and reorganization are a never-ending process, Liebrum said, noting, “We will continue to monitor and evaluate.”

Team members are:

Laity team—Jim Adams, Trinity Baptist Church, San Antonio; Ed Alvarado, First Baptist Church, Donna; Mike Caraway, Southland Baptist Church, San Angelo; Bob Fowler, South Main Baptist Church, Houston; John Hicks, First Baptist Church, Amarillo; Dale Jones, Park Cities Baptist Church, Dallas; Clifford Martin, Bethlehem Baptist Church, Mansfield; Camille Miller, First Baptist Church, Austin; and Margarita Treviño, First Baptist Church, Keller.

Pastors team 1—Mario Gonzalez, Iglesia Primera Bautista, El Paso; Stephen Hatfield, First Baptist Church, Lewisville; Travis Hart, First Baptist Church, Plainview; Don Higginbotham, First Baptist Church, Harlingen; Carl Hudson, Little River Baptist Church, Rockdale; Charles Johnson, Trinity Baptist Church, San Antonio; Peter Leong, Southwest Chinese Baptist Fellowship, Stafford; Phil Lineberger, Williams Trace Baptist Church, Sugar Land; David Mahfouz, First Baptist Church, Port Neches; Rodney McGlothlin, First Baptist Church, College Station; Joseph Parker, David Chapel Missionary Baptist Church, Austin; Randall Scott, Immanuel Baptist Church, Paris; and Candy Smith, First Baptist Church, Richardson.

Pastors team 2—Carlos Alsina, Iglesia Primera Bautista, Austin; Ann Bell, Wilshire Baptist Church, Dallas; Ken Blake, Westside Baptist Church, Lewisville; Tony Celelli, Second Baptist Church, Corpus Christi; Russell Diwa, Biblical Community Church, Garland; John Durham, First Baptist Church, Irving; Lance Freeman, LifePointe Baptist Church, The Woodlands; Kevin Hall, First Baptist Church, Haskell; Kyle Henderson, First Baptist Church, Athens; Mark Newton, First Baptist Church, San Marcos; John Petty, Trinity Baptist Church, Kerrville; and Bruce Webb, Central Baptist Church, Jacksonville.

Staff team—Carol Bowman, Colleen Brooks, Keith Crouch, Jan Daehnert, Michael Evans, David Guel, Ron Gunter, Patty Lane, Milfred Minatrea, Andre Punch, Gus Reyes, Tom Ruane and Rhonda Walden.

Posted: 3/01/04

Texas Baptist leader dies in car crash

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

Billy Ray Parmer, president of Gloria al Padre and former two-time Baptist General Convention of Texas second vice president, died Feb. 28 in a car crash outside Abernathy.

Parmer, 78, pulled his sports utility vehicle around two stopped cars at an intersection near Abernathy when a truck towing an 8-foot trailer hit the driver's side of Parmer's automobile, according to a Texas Department of Safety spokeswoman.

He and his wife, Joan, were airlifted to a Lubbock hospital where he died. She was in serious condition March 1.

Parmer served as pastor of churches in San Gabriel, Golinda, and Valley Mills for 38 years. He was honored as rural pastor of the year four times and received the 1995 George W. Truett Churchman of the Year award, presented by the Baylor University Alumni Association.

He served in many capacities in the BGCT besides the second vice presidency, including many committee positions. He also was co-chairman of Texas Baptists Committed.

Parmer was passionate about mission work in Mexico, friends said, and until his death served as president of Gloria al Padre, an organization that seeks to link volunteers with needs throughout the Americas in an effort to spread the gospel.

"He was very committed," said David Currie, executive director of Texas Baptists Committed. "You could always count on Billy Ray. When he said he would do something it would get done."

A service is set for March 3 at 3 p.m. at First Baptist Church in Lorenzo. Another service is scheduled for March 4 at 2 p.m. at First Baptist Church in Valley Mills.

He is survived by his wife, their five children and 12 grandchildren.