The second and third days of the Ascent Summit featured keynote speakers declaring the importance of joy and hope in the Lord within ministry and everyday living. Amid a full schedule of plenary sessions, forums, breakout session, and affinity roundtable discussions, Ascent also celebrated and honored ministers.

‘All of God’s people are called’

Ed Stetzer, dean at Biola University’s Talbot School of Theology, gave a four-part missiological framework based on John 20:21—multiplication in the way of Jesus, “declergification” as the people of God, diversification in the vision of Revelation, and mobilization for demonstration and proclamation.

“In the same manner that God has sent Jesus, Jesus has sent us into the world. So, this is the call. This is the mission. This is the moment that we have. In the midst of this unique time of tumult and turbulence, it’s a wonderful time for gospel openness,” Stetzer said.

“Putting down markers that say that all of God’s people are called to the ministry, all of God’s people are sent on mission, makes such a difference. … That’ll shape and frame how you do so many things,” Stetzer said.

The unlikely ones

Charlie Dates, senior pastor of Progressive Baptist Church of Chicago and Salem Baptist Church of Chicago, preaching from Luke 10:25-37, challenged listeners to respond, like the good Samaritan, to the needs of others. Jesus often uses the unlikely ones in our world to make a difference, he said.

“I warn you, that Jesus is a sophisticated storyteller. The delicate nuances of his argument are as sophisticated and exquisite as structural Hebrew narratives will allow. He argues that it may be the most unlikely among us who emerge as the heroes and sheroes that save us,” Dates continued.

“This passage promptly and urgently reminds us it is not the people who did the best in seminary, or the people who win the awards, or even the people who lead our highest and best institutions, that are actually the candidates—that emerge as the most likely to save us—but it’s the unlikely people. It’s the forgotten people. It’s the people who do not earn commendation anywhere else,” Dates said.

Joy cultivated

Mia Chang, founder and lead pastor of NextGen Church in Princeton Junction, N.J., told summit gatherers joy must be cultivated during times of solitude spent with Jesus and being led by the Holy Spirit.

Joy is also found amid adversity, Chang added.

“God is nearer to us at such times, as the psalmist says. He is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. To rejoice always is not an idealistic, optimistic yearning. But it’s a posture, purpose, and pursuit of those whose life is surrendered to Christ Jesus,” Chang continued.

“Our time in the lonely places is to tap into the river of joy below the surface. This is a lonely place that Jesus often visited. Jesus intentionally pulled himself away from the crowd, … but God invites us to be still and simply know that God is God,” she said.

‘We’ over ‘me’

Jorge Acevedo, retired pastor of Grace Church in southwest Florida, emphasized community as part of cultivating joy.

“I’ve discovered in my 48th year of apprenticeship to Jesus that his invitation to formation is almost always in the plural. It’s an invitation to communal spirituality,” Acevedo said.

“Much of what passes for spiritual formation in these days is … a very privatized, individualized experience,” he said.

Raphael Anzenberger, president of France Evangelization, CEO of the Global Evangelists Forum, and general secretary of the French-speaking Baptist Union, said regarding John 4:27-35, the disciples were challenged with Jesus’ break from cultural norms.

After finding Jesus talking to a Samaritan woman, the disciples lost their sense of value, lost their sense of time, and lost their sense of people, Anzenberger said.

When the disciples told Jesus to eat something, Jesus told them his food was “to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work” (John 4:34). “Which sandwich feeds you—the bread from above, or the sandwich from below?” Anzenberger asked.

Saying there are two stories in John 4—one being Jesus and the Samaritan woman, two being the disciples’ reaction—Anzenberger asked his listeners which story would be theirs.

Scope of Ascent Movement

More than 500 people participated in person or via the livestream in the inaugural Ascent Summit.

Ascent is a collaborative movement to evangelize North America. The Ascent Movement partners with churches, associations and networks of churches, mission agencies, financial ministries, resource and support organizations, seminaries and theological schools, and other ministries from Baptist, Wesleyan, Pentecostal, Anglican, Anabaptist, and other evangelical faith traditions.

Churches and ministries across the 48 contiguous United States, Alaska, Canada, and Cuba partner in Ascent.

Offerings

Two new offerings were introduced during the Ascent Summit. The 2026 Pentecost Offering received April 6 through May 24 will support church planting and pioneering mission in North America. There will also be an Advent offering to support global missions.

Ministry honors

Ascent inaugurated two ministry awards during the Ascent Summit. The Lifetime Fruitfulness Award was given to Rev. Dr. Mary Susan McBride for her four-plus decades of ministry. The Rev. Dr. Mary Susan McBride Scholarship Fund was established in her honor.

Inaugural scholarship recipients are Rev. Dr. Tamiko Jones, Rev. Dr. Patti Duckworth, Rev. Janet Durwachter, Rev. Dr. Mia Chang, and Rev. Lora Gravatt.

Guillermo and Andrea Nuñez received the Perseverance Award for their work in Cuba.

The founding churches of the Ascent Movement were also honored: First Baptist Church in Arlington, Texas; The Woodlands First Baptist Church in The Woodlands, Texas; Saint John Baptist Church in Columbia, Md.; and Columbia Church in Falls Church, Va. Columbia Church hosted the Ascent Summit.

Financial awards

Ascent awarded microgrants to eight recipients and learning stipends to five recipients during the Ascent Summit.

Microgrants of $500 each are awarded “to help churches pilot an idea, launch an initiative, or invest in resources to move toward engagement in Ascent.” Learning stipends of $200 each are awarded “to help individuals participate in training, tools, or leaning experiences through Ascent.

Microgrant recipients are:

• Haowen Ge, International Student Services Association Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
• Ginger Lynch, Living Hope Church, Livingston, Mont.
• Bobbie Bagley, The Blueprint Ministries, Londonderry, N.H.
• Deanna Harvey, Columbia Church, Falls Church, Va.
• Noel Tsoukalas, Sea Change Church, La Jolla, Calif.
• Kendall Ellis, First Baptist Church, Muncie, Ind.
• Brian Miller, Florence Carlton Community Church, Florence, Mont.
• Rachel Jones, First Baptist Church, Plano, Texas.

Learning stipend recipients are:

• Michael Glazier, First Church Williamsport, Williamsport, Penn.
• Edmund Lilley, Colonial Beach Baptist Church, Colonial Beach, Va.
• Anna Machan, Dunwoody Baptist Church, Dunwoody, Ga.
• Tyler Hartford, Evana Network, Goshen, Ind.
• Brad McMullen, Timberlake Church, Lynchburg, Va.

In addition, EverBless Foundation—formerly Virginia Baptist Foundation—awarded five scholarships to undergraduate and graduate students who are members of Baptist General Association of Virginia-affiliated churches or whose church is an EverBless client.

Scholarship recipients are Anna Machan, Peachtree Corners, Ga.; Luke Stehr, Arlington, Texas; Aaron Kilbourn, Sioux Falls, S.D.; Nikisha Diggs, Louisa, Va.; Aaron Miller, Washington, D.C.

Robert Purvey, Texas Baptists NextGen strategist, launched Full Life Church, a new church plant in northern Grand Prairie. Purvey said the church’s journey began with a clear sense of divine timing. “The Lord told me to take nine months to birth the church,” he explained. During that period, the team focused on Tuesday night Bible studies, leadership development, and building a core launch team. The congregation also hosted three preview services in the fall—on the first Sundays of October, November, and December—drawing a combined attendance of around 500 people. By January, a committed group of 52 individuals had joined the launch team. Purvey said the church’s mission centers on supporting families and helping them grow spiritually and practically. Rather than purchasing its own building, Full Life Church has formed a unique partnership with Marshall Drive Baptist Church, a long-established congregation in Grand Prairie. The church now shares the facility with Marshall Drive Baptist and another congregation,Community Fellowship Church, meeting at 717 E. Marshall Drive.

NASHVILLE, Tenn.—Bunni Pounds, a political fundraiser-turned-activist from Texas who lost a 2018 bid for U.S. Congress, was visiting the Museum of the Bible in Washington when she says God spoke to her. 

At the time, Pounds told attendees at a recent National Religious Broadcasters convention in Nashville, she’d been thinking about Ezra, the biblical prophet who read the law of Moses aloud to the Israelites as they returned to Jerusalem from exile in Babylon and began rebuilding the city’s walls. 

“I had an encounter with the Lord about Ezra, and it has never left me,” she said. What’s more, Pounds said, the United States needs the same kind of spiritual rebuilding as the ancient Israelites.

That idea led her to organize a week of public Bible reading in the nation’s capital. 

“Wouldn’t it be awesome if our national leaders from all spheres of influence, demographics, and denominations would humble themselves in front of the American people and tell them their dependence is in the Bible?” she said. “And then call the American people back to discipleship and Bible reading.”

Leaders across America set to pray

This spring, from April 18 to 25, a group of pastors, politicians, authors, and other Christian leaders—nearly 500 in all—will read the Bible aloud from cover to cover. Fittingly, the Museum of the Bible will host the readings from 9 in the morning till 9 at night, all of which will be livestreamed. Each reader will recite Scripture for about 10 minutes.

Pounds said it took about a year to recruit readers and assign them Bible passages. Organizers tried to match readers to passages that fit their ministry goals, she said. The project cost about $2.5 million to pull off.

Franklin Graham, head of Samaritan’s Purse, a Christian humanitarian group, will read the story of the Good Samaritan. Leaders from Prison Fellowship will read from the Book of Exodus. 

Mike Huckabee, ambassador to Israel, will read from Genesis 12, which includes a passage about Israel often cited by Christian Zionists: “I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse.”

Secretary of Agriculture Brook Rollins and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo are also scheduled to read.

Senator Ted Cruz and his father, Rafael Cruz, an evangelical pastor, will read from the Book of Ezra, while leaders from Turning Point USA, whose co-founder Charlie Kirk was assassinated last year, will read the Book of Job.

“We’re trying to have really cool people read parts of the Bible that people think are uncool,” she said. “And we want to inspire them that every word of God is precious, and we can’t just cut out these sections of Scripture and not interact with it.”

Among the 475 readers, all of whom will use an easy-read edition of the King James Bible, are Govs. Greg Abbott of Texas, Jim Pillen of Nebraska, Kevin Stitt of Oklahoma, and Sarah Huckabee Sanders of Arkansas, along with former Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and Micah Beckwith, the current lieutenant governor of Indiana, who is also a pastor. 

Three U.S. senators—Cruz, James Lankford, and Jim Banks—and 16 current and former U.S. representatives are also scheduled to take part.

Other readers include Troy Miller, president of the National Religious Broadcasters; author David Barton; pastor and author Mark Batterson; Joel Berry of the conservative Christian satire site Babylon Bee; former U.S. Ambassador Sam Brownback; Carlos Campo, the CEO of the Museum of the Bible; megachurch pastor Matt Chandler; Christian musician John Cooper of Skillet; former Trump lawyer Jenna Ellis; and the Rev. Samuel Rodriguez of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference.

The event will kick off with a service at Washington’s National Community Church, where Batterson is pastor.

Encouraging others to read Bible, get involved 

Pounds, who will read her favorite chapters of the Gospel of John (16 and 17, she said), hopes the event will encourage Americans to pick up the Bible. Pounds also said she hopes to wake up what she called an “apathetic church.” She believes too few Christians pay attention to the Bible outside of church services.

“We’re binge-watching Netflix and Amazon Prime and playing games all the time and not living our calling,” she said.

About 1 in 4 Americans read the Bible at least once a week, according to a 2025 report from the American Bible Society, while 41 percent read the Bible at least three or four times a year. More than half read the Bible twice a year or less, including 39 percent who say they never read the Bible.

Still, Bible sales are booming, with more than 18 million copies sold last year. 

After her failed campaign for Congress, Pounds founded Christians Engaged, a nonprofit that seeks to advocate for “biblical civil responsibility,” according to the group’s website. 

She told the religious broadcasters in February she was tired of pastors and ministry leaders complaining that not enough Christians were voting in primaries and local elections. The organization asks followers to “pray, vote, and engage.”

The nonprofit has already mobilized a million Christian votes, according to Pounds, who hopes to reach 2 million in 2026. The group produces podcasts and video classes to encourage Christians to get involved in politics and brings young leaders to Washington for training events. “We even have a full campaign school for every Christian to run for office,” she told attendees.

The daughter of a Seventh-day Adventist pastor, Pounds said she had a spiritual awakening as a teenager while attending a concert given by the famed Christian singer Carman, and that she once hoped to be a missionary. Now she sees her calling as helping others to use their faith to impact society. And that includes voting.

“We vote because it’s a powerful and tangible way to love our neighbors,” she told the NRB convention. “We vote in every election to advocate for laws and leaders that will create greater freedom and flourishing for our neighbors and society.”

Hanna Massad, former pastor of Gaza Baptist Church and founding president of the Christian Mission to Gaza, an evangelistic and humanitarian outreach to Christians, refugees, orphans, and widows, shared updates from the region and a recent story of healing. 

In an email update, Massad described the situation in the West Bank as growing in intensity due to the present conflict in Iran.

 “Rockets are frequently flying overhead toward different areas in Israel, which has created a constant sense of anxiety among the population. Fuel and gas are limited, and schools have been closed in many areas. People are waiting and wondering what the coming days will bring,” the email stated. 

Life in Gaza remains difficult. Though Gaza has not been directly involved in the fighting against Israel, goods have become more expensive, and certain items more difficult to find. Reports suggest aid will soon enter the area.

Christian Mission to Gaza is working with families in the region who are seeking places to rent during this time. 

A story of healing 

In an additional update, Massad shared news of the healing of a 39-year-old father named Wissam, who endured stomach pain and breathing issues for years. His illness limited his ability to care for his wife, a native to Gaza, and their three children. 

Doctors finally discovered the cause of his pain: a serious hiatal hernia requiring surgery as a lasting solution. Christian Mission to Gaza helped cover the cost of Wissam’s life-changing surgery with the support of generous donors. 

“We are deeply grateful for the faithful support of Christian Mission to Gaza who continue to be the hands and feet of Christ,” Massad said in the email. 

“As always, we welcome your prayers, messages, and continued connection with our ministry.”

Author and Bible teacher Beth Moore, along with Texas Baptists Executive Director Julio Guarneri and other speakers, kicked off the official launch of Ascent.

Ascent is a mission connection point for a diverse group of churches in North America committed to the goal of sharing the gospel throughout North America and the world.

“This whole thing we call Ascent, like most things, started very small,” Dennis Wiles, pastor of First Baptist Church in Arlington and chair of the Ascent Council, said.

“There were eight of us—June 2016—that met in Belmont University for a day’s worth of conversations. And we wrote down some things like orthodox, centrist, evangelical. And we asked: “What might God do with us? What might God do to us? What might God do through us?”

“You’re a part of the birth of a brand-new movement,” Wiles told Summit attendees, “and what we’ve done is we have modified some of the ways that we relate to each other, but we’re not moderates. We’ve accommodated some of the ways that we engage in missional investments, but we’re not accommodationists,” Wiles said.

“We are deeply committed to the deep truths of what some people refer to as the deep middle of the Christian faith and are completely rooted in the very person of Jesus Christ and his authority,” he said.

Ascent launched with the Ascent Summit at Columbia Baptist Church in Falls Church, Va., March 10-12.

Remember the secrets of the kingdom

Beth Moore, speaking during the opening session, said many believers have “forgotten some of the secrets of the kingdom, things that we’ve once known and somehow lost sight of, some things that we have somehow managed to grow out of, rather than into.”

“Sharing secrets was a hallmark of past camaraderie and friendship in the word of God. … It’s not toxic secrets we’re talking about, but trusted secrets,” Moore said.

Moore pointed to Matthew 13:11-17, Mark 4:26-29, and other passages in telling attendees to remember the secrets contained in the stories about the wheat and tares, the mustard seed, how a seed grows, the feeding of thousands, and others.

Moore suggested the source of our discontent was forgetfulness.

“I think the source of our discontent is in large part that we have forgotten what we once did. Way back when we knew so much less,” Moore said.

“We have the sense that we have lost something precious, and we know it is written somewhere in the Scriptures, but where? And what I would suggest to you … is that it is written in the truest story ever told,” she continued, referring to the Bible.

“I wonder if God brought us here these few days in part so that we might recollect some secrets of the kingdom we’ve forgotten, to recollect what he has already told us, to indeed re-collect the breadcrumbs till we find our way back to gospel beauty,” Moore said.

“Those distracted by shouting no longer hear secrets,” Moore added. “The absurdity that we are literally fighting over whose hate is the holiest. The absurdity of hating our own brother and loving our own sin, … and all the while Jesus is saying: ‘You think this is about you being right? This is about you being made righteous.’”

Moore went on to say Christians are not responsible for the survival of Christianity, but are responsible for faithful witness and reliance on God.

A Kairos moment

Texas Baptists Executive Director Julio Guarneri, during the opening day’s evening session, reflected on his doctoral study of Latin America and missionary work, emphasizing the importance of being in a Kairos moment, a critical period for the church to discern the fertile soil of ministry and evangelism locally and globally.

“As I studied the context into which the mission sending movement from Latin America was birthed, I identified social economic challenges, moments of revolution, political instability, a changing religious landscape, some of it for good, some of it not for good, and a missionary fervor,” Guarneri continued.

“All of that together form fertile ground for a movement to sprout. Leaders and churches at that moment stepped into God’s mission, not because there were many resources. Not because there was peace and tranquility, but because they decided it was God’s time, and they stepped forward in faith,” Guarneri said.

Explaining the Texas Baptists GC2 Strong missional strategy, Guarneri said the church should be mission-driven and focused on multiplying. “GC2 satisfies the Great Commandment and Great Commission. It’s about strengthening a multiplying movement of churches that would live out the Great Commandment [and] Great Commission in Texas and beyond.”

“I’ve said to our Texas Baptists family that we need to remain mission-driven, while others are trying to be issue-driven,” Guarneri continued.

“In every era, and in every generation, there exists a temptation to become fixated on either religious legalism on one side, or religious progressivism that dismisses the Scripture in part or in whole on the other side,” Guarneri said. “When Jesus walked the earth, he had harsh words for the life-sucking legalism of the Pharisees, as well as for the faithless intellectualism of the Sadducees.”

The church should be “a congregation of sent ones,” and the answer to the call for missionary work is the local church, Guarneri concluded.

A Texan whose children attend an Islamic school in Houston sued Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Comptroller Kelly Hancock, alleging schools for Muslim students are being excluded from the state’s new voucher program.

The program, introduced by the state’s legislature in 2025, created a $1 billion fund for private school financial aid. But since Texas Education Freedom Accounts opened for applications on Feb. 4, 2026, none of the state’s accredited private Islamic schools have been listed among those eligible for reimbursement through the program. 

The “blanket exclusion of a group of private schools on the basis of their religious affiliation is a clear violation of the U.S. Constitution,” said Mehdi Cherkaoui, a father of two whose children are enrolled at the Houston Qu’ran Academy Spring, a private and accredited school excluded from the program.

Lawsuit filed 

Cherkaoui, a lawyer who represents himself, filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court on March 1. The suit says the state unjustly targeted these schools, which Cherkaoui noted are “not schools where kids go to memorize the Qu’ran. They learn all subjects … It is done in an Islamic context.” 

In December, after Gov. Greg Abbott designated the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a civil rights group, a “foreign terrorist organization” and a “transnational criminal organization,” Hancock sent a letter to Paxton inquiring about the legality of excluding schools with ties to “foreign terrorist organizations” and “transnational criminal organizations.”

 The attorney general responded by saying his office had full authority to exclude schools from the program.

The comptroller’s letter raised concerns that a private school that had hosted a Council on American-Islamic Relations event might benefit from the voucher program. His letter, posted on X, also expressed alarm over the possible inclusion of schools with ties to the communist Chinese government.

“These circumstances appear to implicate newly enacted laws restricting property ownership, control, and financial influence by foreign adversary entities in Texas,” the letter read.

Paxton justifies TEFA exclusion

In his response to Hancock, Paxton argued the comptroller’s office had “full, exclusive statutory authority” to “prohibit schools from TEFA participation.”

“Let me be crystal clear: Texans’ tax dollars should never fund Islamic terrorists or America’s enemies,” Paxton wrote in the opinion released in late January. “There is no question that the Comptroller’s Office is statutorily charged with ensuring our school choice program is protected from abuse by terrorists or the Chinese Communist Party.”

Neither Paxton nor Hancock returned requests for comments in time for publication.

In January, Hancock announced, “no schools or organizations with ties to the Council on American-Islamic Relations” would receive “Texas tax dollars” through the TEFA program. “Texas tax dollars should never be used to support terrorists or foreign adversaries,” Hancock wrote. 

Hancock has not offered any evidence that all Islamic schools excluded from the TEFA program have ties to CAIR.

The dispute over the TEFA program comes amid growing hostility from Republican elected officials in Texas toward the state’s Muslim residents and community leaders, which became a focal point in the state’s Republican primaries. Abbott has also designated the Muslim Brotherhood as a foreign terrorist and criminal organization, which subjects the group to criminal penalties and allows the state’s attorney general to prompt legal actions to shut the group down.

In his complaint, Cherkaoui writes that Hancock’s decision constitutes religious discrimination and violates the First Amendment’s free exercise, establishment, and equal protection clauses as well as the 14th Amendment’s due process clause. 

Cherkaoui is seeking “a temporary restraining order and a preliminary and permanent injunctive relief” to stop what he describes as religious discrimination before the March 17 application deadline. 

The program, which grants up to $10,474 per student, would have covered the Cherkaoui family’s nearly $18,000 in tuition for their two children. 

Lack of Islamic schools under program

Though opposed to the voucher program for its diversion of public funds to private institutions, Texas state Rep. Salman Bhojani, a Democrat representing several Dallas suburbs, said he is surprised at the lack of Islamic schools on the program’s eligibility list: 

“I didn’t have the intuition, or even the feeling they would exclude Muslim schools,” he said. “I’m an attorney. I thought, ‘How could anybody, and especially lawmakers, blatantly violate our Constitution?’”

Bhojani, the first Muslim and South Asian to serve in Texas’ House of Representatives, called it the latest example of Texas Republicans’ leaning “further conservative and further Islamophobic” as the U.S. midterm elections approach.

Across the state, repeated attacks against Islam have heightened fears among Muslim Texans, he said, adding Muslim constituents reach out to his office to report intimidation.

“They feel like they’re treated like second-class citizens,” he said. “They’re really disheartened by what’s happening.”

Recently, he joined a group of Texas Democratic lawmakers in condemning the treatment of Islamic schools under the Texas Education Freedom Account program. The group argues it threatens to make the state legally liable and imposes an unfair burden on Muslims. Bhojani said he expects other suits challenging the exclusion to be filed in the coming weeks. 

“The [Texas] Legislature did not create this program to be implemented through opaque, one-sided standards or shifting goalposts. … The resulting patterns risk producing a program that is exclusionary and discriminatory in effect, with Muslim schools disproportionately bearing that burden,” the Democrats’ letter read. 

The document noted some schools had previously been approved and later removed without “clear, school-specific notice or articulated actual findings.” On Feb. 4, when applications opened, three Islamic schools were included out of the more than 1,500 schools approved.

The schools—Bayaan Academy, Ameen Academy, and ILM Academy—have since been removed. 

A coalition of organizations across Texas urged families to reject Senate Bill 11, a law allowing school boards to authorize a daily, voluntary period for students and employees to pray or read religious texts. The law was passed during the 2025 legislative session. 

By March 1, school districts were required to vote on whether to adopt these periods of prayer and religious study. 

The coalition encouraged school boards to uphold the separation of religion and government. Nearly all of Texas’ 1,200 school districts rejected S.B. 11, including those who adopted an alternative resolution to uphold existing religious freedoms in public schools. 

“We have had a spate of bad legislation coming out of the last two legislative sessions in Texas that violates the religious liberty not only of our children in public schools, but all of us,” Charles Foster Johnson, Pastors for Texas Children executive director, said.

“None of it is necessary. All of it is crassly and cynically political. It is designed to distract us while billionaire-bought legislators starve our neighborhood schools and privatize them through vouchers,” Johnson continued. 

“This bill fits into a pattern of advancing a certain narrow brand of Christianity at the expense of everyone else. That is why districts overwhelmingly have decided not to adopt it. Texas politicians need to put all this religious posturing in public schools to a full stop, and start doing their sworn duty to fund our free public schools.”

The following organizations partnered in this effort: RAC-TX, Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, Christians Against Christian Nationalism, American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, American Federation of Teachers-Texas, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Students Engaged in Advancing Texas, National Council of Jewish Women Dallas, Texas Freedom Network, Texas Impact, Pastors for Texas Children, Faith Commons, and Freedom From Religion Foundation. 

Letter: GOP leadership downplays anti-Muslim hate

Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn) recently posted on social media: “Muslims don’t belong in American society.”

Similarly, in February, Rep. Randy Fine (R-Fla.) wrote on X: “If they force us to choose, the choice between dogs and Muslims is not a difficult one.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has declined to condemn these comments, asserting, “I’ve spoken to those members and all members, as I always do, about our tone and our message and what we say.”

Anti-Arab racism receives little pushback in our country. Imagine the furor if the word “Jews” was substituted for “Muslims” in these statements.

Bigotry against any faith community undermines the principles our nation claims to uphold. History shows where such dehumanization leads. Both citizens and elected leaders must insist dignity and equality belong to all Americans, without exception.

Terry Hansen
Grafton, Wisc.

I would add, bigotry against any faith community undermines the command our Lord gave us to love our neighbors as ourselves and the commission Lord gave us to communicate the gospel to all people wherever they are.

DALLAS—The Baptist General Convention of Texas and national marriage ministry Communio are announcing a new statewide partnership aimed at helping churches care for marriages, support pastors and church leaders, and reach families across Texas with the love and truth of Jesus Christ. 

“At a time when many couples and families are under growing strain, the local church is best positioned to respond not only by preaching the gospel, but by walking alongside people in their most important relationships. This partnership with Communio is timely,” BGCT Executive Director Julio Guarneri said.

Communio is a nonprofit Christian ministry that helps churches strengthen marriages and relationships as a way to share the gospel and build healthy congregations. 

Through data-informed tools, coaching, and relationship ministry programs, Communio helps churches to reduce divorce, renew families, and advance the mission of Jesus Christ. 

According to some research, 54 percent of Texas children are raised by their married, biological parents, meaning nearly half are growing up outside a married home. Additionally, 42.1 percent of all children born in Texas are born to unmarried parents. 

Texas also reports 5.8 marriages per 1,000 residents and 2.1 divorces per 1,000 residents, indicating both continued marriage formation and ongoing marital breakdown. 

Transformation evident

“We have already seen tremendous transformation coming from our partnering Baptist churches in Texas with double-digit increases in church attendance, hundreds of first-time guests, and a number of marriages saved,” JP De Gance, Communio founder and president, said.  

“I am thrilled that this new partnership with the Texas Baptists will give thousands of pastors easier access to our ministry support services. This means many more people meeting Jesus and many more thriving Christian marriages,” De Gance continued.

Ronny Marriott, senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Richardson and past BGCT president, has seen his church and community transformed by partnering with Communio in two different churches he’s led. 

“Engaging Communio as a ministry partner is like adding another staff member with tons of resources, experience, and ideas,” Marriott said.

 “Communio got to know our church, assessed our needs, and developed a fresh approach for us to accomplish our goals. They helped us move this part of our vision farther and faster than we could have on our own,” Marriott added.

Through this joint agreement, Texas Baptists churches will have direct access to Communio’s ministry experts, coaching, and tools.

Martin Knox to First Baptist Church in Vernon as senior pastor.

Houston Christian University faculty members Leigh Kent and Traci Whittenberg have founded the Houston Association of School Psychologists and recently hosted its first-ever Midwinter Conference. During the two days of virtual professional development and collaboration, over 130 licensed specialist school psychologists participated to explore emerging issues and strengthen the school psychology profession’s shared commitment to serving students and school communities with excellence. Workshops and breakout sessions included discussions of current issues facing Middle Eastern and Hispanic immigrant populations, the ethics of complex professional dilemmas in school psychology practice, and updates on artificial intelligence for licensed professionals in school psychology.

Howard Payne University’s Student Speaker Bureau speech and debate team recently competed at the Texas Intercollegiate Forensics Association Spring Championship at Texas State University in San Marcos, facing 14 schools from Texas and Louisiana. HPU was the only private Christian university in the debate division. Student results included:

• Adriaan Lafferty, a freshman from Elgin, was a quarterfinalist in the International Public Debate Association open debate and the ninth-place speaker overall. He also was part of the top novice National Parliamentary Debate Associationparliamentary debate team.
• Solomon Sabo, a Guy D. Newman Honors Academy student from Melissa majoring in public policy and Christian studies, advanced to the octofinals in IPDA open debate and earned second-place IPDA speaker. He also was an NPDA team debate semifinalist and the second-place NPDA speaker.
• Rylie Burden, a Guy D. Newman Honors Academy student from Lubbock majoring in social science jurisprudence, was an NPDA parliamentary debate semifinalist and the fourth-place speaker.
• Chloe Jones, a freshman psychology major from Schertz, was part of the top novice NPDA parliamentary debate team.
• Katie Richards, a theatre and strategic communication major from Brownfield, earned 10th-place IPDA speaker in her first debate tournament.
• Adrielle Sloan, a senior team captain and strategic communication major from Blue Oak, competed in the tournament.
• Jailyn Chavez, a freshman social work major from Spicewood, also competed in the tournament.

The team will compete next at the National Christian College Forensics Association national tournament at Whitworth University in Spokane, Wash., in March.

(BIRMINGHAM, Ala.)––Connie Dixon, president of Woman’s Missionary Union of the Southern Baptist Convention, has formed a search committee to seek the organization’s next executive director-treasurer following Sandy Wisdom-Martin’s announcement on Dec. 10 of her intentions to retire by January 2027. 

Wisdom-Martin has devoted more than 35 years serving in Southern Baptist leadership roles, with the past nine and a half leading national WMU.

Candace McIntosh, executive director of Alabama WMU, will serve as chair of the search committee.

Serving along with McIntosh and Dixon are Linda Cooper, president of Kentucky WMU and president emerita of WMU, SBC; Sandra Hughes, president of California WMU; Phyllis Rodgers, president of Louisiana WMU; and Odelle Cadwell, former president of WMU of Michigan.

“After a season of prayer and fasting, I am very excited about the group God led me to appoint to this committee,” Dixon said. “Each has already been praying about this process and the leadership of WMU.”

“At times this task has seemed overwhelming, but we serve an awesome and faithful God who I know is already preparing the next executive director. Please be in prayer for this committee and the task before us,” she continued.

McIntosh joins Dixon in asking Southern Baptists to pray for the next executive director.

“We deeply covet your prayers as we move forward in dependence on the Lord,” McIntosh said. 

The search committee is refining a profile of characteristics, skills, and experience desired for the position of executive director-treasurer and is seeking further input from various audiences. A job description is posted at wmu.com/employment. 

Resumes and recommendations may be sent in March and April to WMUSBCSearch@gmail.com.

McIntosh said there is not a specific timeline to present a candidate to the executive board of WMU, SBC, and that the committee is committed to prayerfully following the Lord’s leading and timing.