Waylon Arlen White, a Howard Payne University alumnus, longtime coach and Baptist layman, died Oct. 25 in San Angelo. He was 89. He was born on Nov. 29, 1934, in Big Spring to William Jewel White and Elouise Pittman White. After he graduated from Forsan High School, he went on to earn his undergraduate degree at Howard Payne University, where he also played basketball. He later completed a master’s degree at Sul Ross State University. While at Howard Payne, Arlen met and married Dolores Mabry. White served as a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps. His career as a teacher, coach and counselor spanned 1966 to 1994. He coached in Knott, Sands and Crane, accumulating 525 basketball wins and guiding two teams to the state tournament. At age 78, he returned to coaching basketball at Cornerstone Christian School in San Angelo. He coached his last game from a hospital bed via Facetime—and his team won. He was a disaster relief volunteer with Texas Baptist Men, now known as Texans on Mission. In 2009, he established the TBM West Central Texas specialty feeding team, serving as its on-site coordinator. His team ministered to many survivors of national disasters including every major hurricane until 2016, when his health began to decline. His influence extended through numerous community organizations, including the Howard Payne Alumni Association, Texas High School Coaches Association, Crane Noon Lions Club and the Baptist Retirement Community Auxiliary. He also served as a deacon and Sunday school teacher at First Baptist Church in Crane and later at First Baptist Church in San Angelo. He served as Crane County Judge for six years and was recognized as Crane’s Man of the Year in 1987. In 2007, Howard Payne University awarded him its Medal of Service. He was preceded in death by his brother, George Alvin White. He is survived by his wife of 66 years, Dolores; son Kurt White and his wife Kim; daughter Terrye Smith and her husband Rick; son Robert White and his wife Shelley; eight grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren, with two more on the way.

NASHVILLE (BP)—Some Southern Baptists may have heard of M.E. Dodd, the father of the Cooperative Program, but how many actually have heard him? What about longtime Southern Baptist Theological Seminary President Duke McCall or W.A. Criswell, legendary pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas?

Thanks to an ongoing project of the Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives, listeners today can hear them all and many more.

For the past few years, members of the archives staff have been digitizing hundreds of recordings of Baptist radio programs, including the “Baptist Hour” and “Christian Home” series, both of which became popular during the latter part of what’s known as the “Golden Age of Radio.”

“This project captures the voices of distinguished Baptist preachers and leaders,” said Taffey Hall, director of the Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives. “In the 1940s and ’50s, the ‘Christian Home,’ ‘Southern Baptist Evangelistic Hour’ and ‘Baptist Hour’ broadcasts allowed listeners to hear prominent, insightful Southern Baptist preachers and scholars through the radio in the comfort of their own homes.”

To access the digital audio-visual resources and other digitized collections of the Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives, click here.

The Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives took ownership of hundreds of recordings when the Baptist Radio and Television Commission was dissolved in the 1990s. They’ve been in storage in the archives in Nashville ever since.

When the digitization project began in 2021, the first order of business was to find a way to play the recordings, which are on “transcription disks”—basically extra wide record albums.

Hall located a machine at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, but it didn’t work.

A Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives staffer made the two-hour trek north on I-65 to Louisville to get the machine and bring it to Nashville, where a Music City recording technician got it working.

“When people think about an archive, one of the first things that may come to mind is all the paper materials collected and preserved,” Hall said, adding that the historical library and archives has plenty of that.

“But in addition to those paper materials, we also have a lot of special formatted materials, items such as oversize photographs, glass plate negatives, motion picture films and these 16-inch transcription record disks, that need special storage and preservation.

“Our approach to digitization, and as was the case with this project, is for both preservation and access. Digitizing these early recordings of the Southern Baptist Radio Committee/Radio Commission was important from both the standpoint of long-term conservation of the physical items, and for making the material available to a wide audience of current listeners.”

Baptists on the air

Southern Baptists began discussing the use of radio in 1930. In 1934, Dodd, who was Southern Baptist Convention president at the time, was part of a three-man committee tasked with looking into the idea. In 1936, Southern Baptists adopted a resolution calling for “a joint study of radio opportunities for Baptists.”

Then in 1938, Southern Baptists formed a seven-member committee to look into the possibility of using radio to “broadcast our Baptist message,” as it was put in the motion adopted by messengers. By then, most U.S. homes had radios, and Americans had become accustomed to getting news and entertainment from the medium.

The next year, nine additional members were added to the committee, and the group was allotted $1,200 to promote Baptist broadcasts on powerful radio stations.

The “Baptist Hour” was launched in January of 1941 and proved popular immediately, eliciting 17,500 pieces of mail, according to that year’s SBC Annual.

Over the next few years, the committee’s success grew. It was responsible for getting Baptist content on radio stations covering about half of the United States. Southern Baptists appointed a full-time director of the committee in 1942.

At the 1946 annual meeting in Miami, the name of the group was changed to the Radio Commission, and it became an official agency of the SBC. By 1948, the “Baptist Hour” was aired on 120 radio stations from coast to coast.

Episodes of “Baptist Hour” flow a bit like a worship service. In an episode from May 1945, Dodd preaches from John 3:16 and uses the word “gospel” as an acrostic for the verse: God Only Son Perish Everlasting Life.

The episode begins with choral music, “When I Survey the Wonderous Cross” and “Tell Me the Old, Old Story.”

Next, listeners hear a recorded testimony from a traveling salesman who was saved at a church while on business in Knoxville, Tenn. The man tells of hearing a radio broadcast while traveling. The next day, he happened to see the church where the broadcast he’d heard had originated—City Temple Baptist Church.

“Something told me I should go in,” the man says. “So, I went on in and asked for the pastor.” The pastor listened to him, read the Bible with him and led him to faith in Christ.

“Since then I have had a new life and joy of living,” the man says.

After the testimony is a prayer, another choral piece (this one based on John: 3:16), followed by Dodd’s sermon.

“John 3:16 is the greatest verse in the greatest book in the greatest volume on the greatest subject about the greatest Person or the greatest object in all the universe,” preaches Dodd, who was pastor of First Baptist Church of Shreveport, La.

And later: “God loves because the primary essence of His character is love.”

‘Christian Home’ focused on family topics

The “Christian Home” series featured practical messages on family topics as well as dramatizations of family life situations.

An episode from 1956 follows a father, mother and son through the son’s life from babyhood to young adulthood. It depicts the son taking after his father in the worst ways and the tension between mother and father.

Hall says the recordings are an example of Southern Baptists’ desire to stay relevant and to share the gospel by any means possible.

“Many of the sermon titles and broadcast series productions of these recordings addressed the concerns and issues facing Americans during that time period,” she said. “These were topics of everyday and contemporary importance to Southern Baptists—topics of marriage life, family life, home life as well as challenges of wartime.

“The ‘Christian Home’ series in particular captures an image of home life, what Southern Baptists wanted to present, in dealing with home issues, and documents a time of how Baptists viewed family, marriage and raising children. …

“On almost all of the programs, Southern Baptists talked about how the gospel can change people’s lives and make their lives more joyful.”

WASHINGTON (RNS)—Former President Donald Trump’s election to a second term—after campaigning on blocking migration and carrying out record deportations—prompted faith groups that work with migrants and refugees to reaffirm their commitment to continue their work.

“Given President-elect Trump’s record on immigration and promises to suspend refugee resettlement, restrict asylum protections, and carry out mass deportations, we know there are serious challenges ahead for the communities we serve,” said Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, president and CEO of Global Refuge, formerly known as Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service.

On the campaign trail, Trump also promised to end automatic citizenship for immigrants’ children born in the United States; end protected legal status for certain groups, including Haitians and Venezuelans; and reinstate a travel ban for people from certain Muslim-majority areas. 

If Trump carries out his plans, FWD.us, an immigration and criminal justice reform advocacy organization, projects that by the start of 2025, about 1 in 12 U.S. residents, and nearly 1 in 3 Latino residents, could be impacted by the mass deportations either because of their legal status or that of someone in the household.

“If the mass deportation articulated throughout the campaign season is implemented, it would tear families, communities, and the American economy apart,” said Mark Hetfield, president of HIAS, a Jewish nonprofit working with refugees.

“The solution to the disorder at the border is to prioritize comprehensive immigration reform that updates our antiquated immigration laws while protecting people who need refuge.”

His organization stated: “We will continue to speak truth to power in solidarity with refugees and displaced people seeking safety around the world. We will not be intimidated into silence or inaction.”

‘Fear and uncertainty’

Omar Angel Perez, immigrant justice director for Faith in Action, a social justice organization, said, “We recognize the fear and uncertainty many are feeling and pray that we can channel that energy into solidarity and resilience.”

“This moment calls us to take immediate action to protect the communities targeted throughout this campaign and during the prior Trump administration,” Perez said. “We remain committed to providing resources, support, and training to empower people to know their rights and stand firm against attempts to undermine their power.”

Matthew Soerens, vice president of advocacy and policy at World Relief, the humanitarian arm of the National Association of Evangelicals, pointed to polling by Lifeway Research earlier this year that showed 71 percent of evangelicals agree the U.S. “has a moral responsibility to accept refugees.”

“A majority of Christian voters supported President-elect Trump, according to the exit polls, but it’d be an error to presume that means that most Christians align with everything that he’s said in the campaign related to refugees and immigration,” he said.

Soerens explained that when Christians “realize that most refugees resettled to the U.S. in recent years have been fellow Christians, that they’re admitted lawfully after a thorough vetting process overseas and that many were persecuted particularly because of their faith in Jesus, my experience has been that they want to sustain refugee resettlement.”

“We’ll be doing all we can to encourage President-elect Trump, who has positioned himself as a defender of Christians against persecution, to ensure that the U.S. remains a refuge for those fleeing persecution on account of their faith or for other reasons recognized by U.S. law,” he said.

Jesuit Refugee Service said Trump’s 2024 campaign rhetoric and his previous term had harmed “forcibly displaced people.”

Policies in his first term “separated families, set up new hurdles in the asylum process, dramatically reduced the number of refugees the U.S. resettled, introduced a ban on admitting travelers from predominantly Muslim countries, and deprioritized international efforts to address the exploding global refugee population,” the Catholic organization said.

To welcome and serve migrants is “an obligation” for Catholics, the JRS statement said. “How we respond to the tens of millions of people forced to flee their homes is a serious moral, legal, diplomatic, and economic question that impacts all of us,” the organization wrote.

Trump made significant gains among Latinos

Despite the disproportionate impact that Trump’s proposed immigration policies would have on Latino communities, Trump made significant gains among Latinos compared with previous elections, winning Latino American men’s vote by 10 points.

Samuel Rodriguez, president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, attributed Trump’s success to several factors, including a rejection of progressive ideologies, economic concerns and concerns about government overreach.

But the evangelical megachurch pastor also said, “While immigration is a nuanced issue within the Latino community, there is a growing sentiment against open-border policies and the provision of resources to illegal immigrants at the perceived expense of American citizens.”

Karen González, a Guatemalan immigrant and author of several books on Christian responses to immigration, called Trump’s victory in the popular vote “especially crushing” in light of his anti-migrant rhetoric. She attributed Trump’s success with Latinos to white supremacy and misogyny within the community.

“We really aspire to be secondary white people, and we think that aligning ourselves with white supremacy is going to save us, and it’s not,” she said.

González was among the faith leaders who said they had not emotionally reckoned with the possibility of a Trump win before the results were announced.

‘Perception that the system is broken’

Dylan Corbett, executive director of Hope Border Institute, a Catholic organization that supports migrants in El Paso and in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, told RNS, “I was hopeful that we had turned the page because I think (the first Trump term) represents a really challenging time in our country.”

Corbett called for “deep reckoning” in churches and grassroots communities. “There’s the perception that the (immigration) system is broken, and I think the longer we wait to really fix the situation, you open up the door to political extremism. You open up the door to incendiary rhetoric, to cheap solutions,” he said.

While President Joe Biden’s administration had begun with “some really aspirational rhetoric,” it “left a mixed legacy on immigration,” opening the door to Trump’s “dangerous politics.”

“Faith leaders in particular are going to have to assume a very public voice in defense of the human rights of now a very vulnerable part of our community,” he said.

Corbett expressed concern that Trump might mirror Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s tactics in Operation Lone Star in his push for massive deportations, citing deaths due to high-speed chases on highways and record migrant deaths.

“It’s going to fall to border communities like El Paso to deal with the fallout of what we can expect will be some very broken policies and some very dangerous rhetoric,” Corbett said. “And so I think we have to prepare for that. And that means turning back to our faith, going back to the Gospels, going back to the witness of Jesus, the witness of the saints, martyrs,” he said.

‘Our role … is to help those in need’

In Global Refuge’s statement, the organization encouraged Americans to support immigrants and refugees, “emphasizing the importance of family unity, humanitarian leadership, and the long-standing benefits of immigrant and refugee contributions to U.S. communities and economies.”

Vignarajah added, “In uncertain times, it is vital to remember that our role as Americans is to help those in need, and in doing so, we advance our own interests as well.”

Perez told RNS before the election Faith in Action had prepared for a potential Trump win and the organization would draw on its experience “responding to the attacks on the immigrant community” and mounting protection defense campaigns to prevent deportations.

González recalled working in a legal clinic after Trump’s 2016 election and helping migrants process citizenship and sponsorship applications before he took office. “This is really the time for that sort of practical action of how we can serve our neighbors,” she said.

“Together, we will transform our grief into a force for change that will build a more just, equitable society that respects the dignity of all people,” Perez said.

WASHINGTON (RNS)—The support of white Christians once again proved key to Donald Trump’s election victory.

While the United States has become more religiously diverse in recent decades, white Christians remain the largest religious segment of the country, making up about 42 percent of the population, according to data from the Public Religion Research Institute.

Exit poll data from CNN and other news outlets reported 72 percent of white Protestants and 61 percent of white Catholics said they voted for Trump.

Among white voters, 81 percent of those identified as born-again or evangelical supported Trump, up from 76 percent in 2020 and similar to the 80 percent of support Trump received in 2016.

Ryan Burge, associate professor of political science at Eastern Illinois University, said that kind of support is hard to overcome, especially in the Rust Belt swing states that helped seal Trump’s victory.

“It’s hard to overcome the white God gap in a place like Pennsylvania, or Michigan and Wisconsin,” he said.

But Trump also won the Christian vote overall. Early exit polls indicated 58 percent of all Catholics voted for him and 63 percent of Protestants. If the poll numbers hold steady, that will prove to be a jump in Catholic support for Trump compared with 2020, when 50 percent of Catholics voted for him.

Increased Trump support among Hispanics

Some of that may have to do with an increase in Trump support among Hispanic voters. Almost two-thirds of Hispanic Protestant (64 percent) and just over half of Hispanic Catholic voters (53 percent) also supported Trump, according to initial CNN exit polls. In the 2020 election, only about a third of Hispanic Catholics voted for Trump.

Jews (78 percent), other non-Christians (59 percent) and those with no religious affiliation (71 percent) supported Kamala Harris, according to the CNN exit poll.

Robert Jones, president of Public Religion Research Institute, said more data is needed to understand the Hispanic vote in the 2024 election. But he wonders whether economics played a major role in Hispanic support for Trump, more than religion.

“They don’t feel like their situation has improved over the past four years,” he said.

Jones said Trump was able to send two distinct messages during the campaign—one about being tough on immigration and crime, which appealed to white Christians, and the other about the economy, which appealed to Hispanic Christians.

Burge suspects Hispanic Catholics and Protestants are more conservative on social issues, such as abortion and LGBTQ rights, which also may have played a role in the election.

He wonders if the Harris campaign’s support for abortion rights, in particular, may have backfired with Hispanic Christians.

“That’s a hard message for a moderate Hispanic voter,” he said, adding that while voters in a number of states supported abortion rights, that did not carry over to overall support for Harris.

Burge also wonders if inflation and other issues about the economy swung the elections. While Trump is known for causing controversy online, Burge said, many voters are paying more attention to day-to-day concerns.

“All they are thinking is, gas is expensive, bread is expensive, milk is expensive,” he said. “Let’s try something else. That’s the story.”

Concerns about decline of religion in culture

Both white and Hispanic Christians may also be worried about the changing nature of America and the decline of religion’s power in the culture. While few Americans want the nation to have an official Christian religion, many do see Christianity as important or feel a nostalgia for God and country patriotism, rather than a culture where secular values dominate.

And the swing states that decided the election, such as Wisconsin, are places where white Christians—especially white mainline Protestants and white Catholics who supported Trump—are found in large numbers.

Samuel Perry, a University of Oklahoma sociologist who studies Christian nationalism and other religious trends, wonders if the growth of nondenominational and Pentecostal churches in the United States may have played a role in the 2024 races.

Those churches are often multiethnic, he said, but not because white Christians are joining predominantly Black or Hispanic Christians. Instead, he said, Christians of color are joining majority-white churches that often lean Republican. That can affect their voting patterns, he said.

“Their allegiance is not to their ethnic group, who tend to vote Democrat,” he said. “It’s going to be more of a multiethnic conservative, white-dominated Christianity that unequivocally votes Republican.”

Jones said the 2024 election once again shows the close allegiance between white Christians and the Republican Party and the divided nature of religion in America.

Most faith categories in America—Jews, Muslims, Black Protestants, nonreligious Americans and, until 2024, Hispanic Catholics—have supported the Democratic Party. White Christians, on the other hand, remained tied to Republicans.

“They have not moved a centimeter,” said Jones. “And they get out and vote.”

Myanmar—historically known as Burma—is “a disintegrating nation” where leaders of religious minorities continue to be targeted by the military, a report from the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom stated.

“In 2024, the escalating conflict in Burma continued to negatively affect conditions for freedom of religion or belief,” an update from the commission released Oct. 31 stated.

“Since the February 2021 coup, the Burmese military and its State Administration Council (SAC) have pursued an aggressive military campaign to maintain authority, which has included targeting religious leaders, communities, and sites and has exacerbated social tensions between ethnoreligious communities.”

More than 3 million people displaced

Because of the violence in Myanmar, more than 3 million people continue to be internally displaced within the nation’s border or living as refugees away from their homeland, the update noted.

In March, independent experts assessed the Burmese military and its State Administration Council lacked stable control of 86 percent of Myanmar’s territory and 67 percent of the population. In the months that followed, it continued to lose ground, the commission update reported.

In the past year, resistance groups—including ethnic armed organizations—consolidated control in some regions, including border crossings, the commission update noted.

“The instability in the Kachin State has heightened vulnerabilities for Christian minority communities and members of the Buddhist majority in the region whose communities, houses of worship, and religious leaders the Burmese military may target for their support of the resistance,” the report stated.

Leaders of religious and ethnic minorities targeted

The commission update also points to examples of the Burmese military targeting the leaders of ethnoreligious minorities, such as Hkalam Samson, former president and general secretary of the Kachin Baptist Convention.

In April, he was released briefly after 16 months in prison but was then taken into custody again for questioning. Samson eventually was released from detention in July.

The report also noted the violent death in March of Nammye Hkun Jaw Li, a Baptist minister in Kachin State’s Magaung township, as well as the shooting of a Catholic priest while he was conducting Mass in Mohnyin village.

The military has targeted churches and other religious sites, including both a Baptist church and a Catholic church in mid-May in Tonzang Township in Chin State, the commission update reported.

Tera Kouba, minister of international/Asian ministries at First Baptist Church in San Antonio, confirmed the targeting of religious institutions.

Young people forcibly conscripted into military

Kouba, who grew up in Myanmar as the daughter of a Karen Baptist pastor, still has family and friends in her homeland. From them, she learned about a Bible school in Karen State that had to relocate from an urban area to a remote location.

“They had to move the school to a safe place in the jungle,” she said.

The Burmese military has experienced significant personnel losses in the past four years. So, in February, a conscription law went into effect to replenish its depleted ranks, the commission report noted. It makes men ages 18 to 35 and women ages 18 to 27 subject to being drafted into military service.

As a result, many churches in Myanmar have lost a generation who either fled the country, were arrested or involuntarily were pressed into military service, Kouba said.

From family and friends in Myanmar, she has heard reports of young people being taken from their homes in the middle of the night—either to be forced into military service or placed under arrest.

“It happens all the time,” Kouba said.

Recently, she met with a group of about a dozen Burmese students at San Angelo State University who expressed gratitude for the opportunity to leave their homeland to study in the United States.

“They say they are not safe there. They have no freedom. They have no choices,” Kouba said.

Refugee crisis continues

The already-existing refugee crisis continued in recent months, with “new waves of refugees, including from other ethnic and religious minority communities such as Chin, Kachin, and Karenni communities,” the commission update stated.

More than 958,000 Rohingya refugees fled from Myanmar to Bangladesh several years ago, and India has received about 53,000 Burmese nationals—mostly from Chin and Zomi Christian communities.

“Beside Bangladesh and India, the largest concentrations of those who sought refuge or asylum from Burma are in Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia,” the commission update states.

In the October update, the commission recommended the U.S. government to engage the pro-democracy National Unity Government in Myanmar, as well as ethnic armed organizations in the country, to prioritize religious freedom issues as a prerequisite for official recognition and substantial engagement.

The commission also recommended the U.S. government work with regional governments in Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand to assist Burmese refugee communities.

The commission in its 2024 Annual Report called on the U.S. Department of State to designate Burma as a Country of Particular Concern, citing its “systemic, ongoing and egregious violations of religious freedom.”

In an effort to foster collaboration and address economic challenges in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, Buckner recently hosted a roundtable discussion at the Buckner Family Hope Center at Bachman Lake. The roundtable brought together U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey and U.S. Rep. Beth Van Duyne, along with Buckner International leadership and North Texas nonprofits, organizations and employers. Roundtable participants included Dallas Community College, DFW Airport, TexCap Insurance, Watermark Community Development Corporation, Behind Every Door, Impact Institute and a representative from the office of Gov. Greg Abbott. The discussion included insights into the representatives’ efforts in Congress to provide economic opportunities and empower vulnerable households. Participants shared challenges and successes they face around employment, as well as ways the federal government can collaborate with stakeholders to serve the community.

Stark College & Seminary will host its annual Hand & Dove Scholarship Banquet Nov. 7, at 7 p.m. The college is honoring Joanna Berry of South Texas Children’s Home Ministries for her dedication to serving vulnerable families and children in the Coastal Bend and beyond. Julio Guarneri, executive director of Texas Baptists, will be the keynote speaker. The banquet will be hosted at Corpus Christi Christian Fellowship, 6602 S. Staples St., Corpus Christi. The Hand & Dove Scholarship Banquet, a key event in supporting student scholarships, provides an important opportunity for Stark to continue its mission of preparing students for ministry and community impact. Funds raised through the event will go directly to scholarships for students who demonstrate a passion for ministry and service. For more information, visit stark.edu/about/hand-and-dove-scholarship-banquet/.

A Wayland Baptist University student has received recognition for tuberculosis research breakthroughs she and a fellow Pioneer achieved as part of the Welch Summer Research Program. Haley Fossett was recognized at the Welch Conference, where she placed second in the undergraduate poster competition—competing against students from larger institutions including Baylor University, which won first place, and Rice University, which finished third. The achievements come after years of dedicated effort by Wayland students and faculty. Research began at Wayland in 2012, focusing on a DNA repair protein known as RecA, which is implicated in drug-resistant mutations of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), the bacteria responsible for tuberculosis. The goal was to determine if the protein played a direct role in these mutations through a process the group later coined “unfaithful repair.” After more than a decade of incremental progress, fellow Wayland student Dylan Dodd and Fossett each achieved key milestones this summer in the ongoing research.

Howard Payne University recently named Mary Agboola as the new coordinator of graduate studies and special projects in academic affairs. Agboola will oversee HPU’s newly created office of graduate studies. This office offers a consolidated contact point for HPU’s four graduate programs. Previously, Agboola was an associate professor of economics at Dar Al Uloom University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where she served for nine years. She holds a Master of Science degree and Doctor of Philosophy in economics from Eastern Mediterranean University Northern Cyprus. Agboola and her husband, Philips Agboola, a professor of engineering at HPU, have two children.

Baylor University’s Truett Theological Seminary will host its annual pastors conference Feb. 24-25, 2025. Pastor, author and theologian Glenn Packiam will explain how pastors can become resilient and re-establish credibility in ministry amid a changing world. Truett’s Pastors Conference is for anyone engaged in Christian ministry. Scholarships are available to cover some fees. Register here or contact Julie_Covington@baylor.edu or Jack_Bodenhamer@baylor.edu for further information.

On Nov. 1, Houston Christian University organist John Kirk presented “Creation to Resurrection: Music and Readings for All Saints’ Day.” The program paired readings of Scripture, poetry and hymns with organ music to explore the themes of All Saints’ Day. HCU professors David Kirkwood, Lou Markos and Micah Snell read, and Kirk played organ music by Bach, Harrison Oxley, Calvin Hampton, Henry Purcell and others. Among the approximately 60 attendees were HCU’s president and first lady—Robert and Sue Sloan—as well as Sherry and Jim Smith, who donated HCU’s organ in 2009. Through the couple’s gift, generations of students, faculty, staff, alumni and university friends will celebrate God’s love and grace through organ music.

Dallas Baptist University’s Nexus Ministry Leadership Conference will be held Feb. 10, 2025, at Pilgrim Chapel on the DBU campus. Tod Bolsinger will provide the keynote address. Bolsinger is author of the best-selling book Canoeing the Mountains: Christian Leadership in Uncharted Territory. He is a former pastor who currently serves as co-founder and principal of AE Sloan Leadership, as well as executive director of the De Pree Center Church Leadership Institute at Fuller Seminary. Additionally, the conference will include a roundtable discussion with ministry leaders, as well as breakout sessions that will explore contemporary leadership struggles. Topics will include: the dangers of toxic leadership, identifying the generational gaps in leadership, self-care and the leader, and leading in times of transition. Registration is now open here. Early bird registration is $8 per person. Regular registration will be $15 per person. Group discounts are available for ministries bringing 5 or more. Current DBU students and Minister Fellowship Program partners receive a special discount for the conference.

Bobby Don Van Dyke, a longtime Texas Baptist pastor, died Oct. 22 in Gatesville after a lengthy illness. He was 82. He was born Sept. 22, 1941, in Belton to Anderson Mart Van Dyke and Frances ElMyra Safley Van Dyke. He was pastor of Candlestick Baptist Church in Spring and Eagle Spring Baptist Church in McGregor. In addition to caring deeply for the congregations and communities he served, he also enjoyed taking care of his beloved horses. He is survived by his wife Carolyn Ruth (Warren) Van Dyke; his sons Jeffrey Mart Van Dyke of Spring Branch, Joe Allan Van Dyke of Blanco, Jeremy Don Van Dyke of Doss and Joshua Warren Van Dyke of Gatesville; eight grandchildren, 12 great-grandchildren; his brother Richard Mart Van Dyke; and his sisters, Gloria Sue Hall, Debra Elaine Bingham and Joyce Ann Baker.

NASHVILLE (BP)—A defamation trial involving the Southern Baptist Convention that was supposed to begin next week has been delayed indefinitely, while another is set for 2026.

Johnny M. Hunt v. Southern Baptist Convention, et. al., has been ongoing since March 2023, when former SBC president Johnny Hunt sued the SBC, the SBC Executive Committee and Guidepost Solutions for defamation

Hunt claimed Guidepost and the other parties used him as a “scapegoat” in an investigation of alleged mishandling of sexual abuse claims by the SBC Executive Committee.

Parties failed to reach a settlement in September, and the case had been scheduled to go to trial Nov. 12.

But in a court-sponsored teleconference Oct. 31, the parties agreed to meet “after the beginning of May 2025” to “confer about trial dates.” At issue is a disagreement over whether to reopen discovery in the case.

The May 2022 report from Guidepost’s investigation included allegations from an unidentified woman who claims Hunt sexually abused her in 2010, shortly after his two-year stint as SBC president.

Hunt resigned from his position as senior vice president of evangelism at the North American Mission Board, a position he’d held since 2018, days before the Guidepost report became public.

The lawsuit has been a major contributor to the dire financial situation of the SBC Executive Committee, which has spent more than $12 million in three years on legal fees.

The contract governing Guidepost’s initial investigation stipulates Guidepost would have indemnity in any lawsuit resulting from the investigation, and the Executive Committee would foot its legal bills.

Sills suit set to go to jury in February 2026

The other trial—former Southern Baptist Theological Seminary professor David Sills’ defamation lawsuit against the SBC—will go before a jury Feb. 10, 2026, in Nashville.

An order from Chief U.S. District Judge William L. Campbell Jr. announced that counsel for all parties will meet on Feb. 2, 2026, for a pretrial conference to discuss the case’s undisputed facts, expert witnesses, proposed testimony, jury instruction and other issues. Campbell is the same judge presiding over the lawsuit Hunt filed against the SBC.

Sills filed suit in November 2022 alleging “defamation, conspiracy, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence, and wantonness concerning untrue claims of sexual abuse.”

Sills carried on a long-term sexual relationship with a former student, Jennifer Lyell. Lyell alleges the relationship was abusive. Sills claims it was consensual.

Sills was named in a May 2022 report from Guidepost Solutions based on its investigation of alleged mishandling of sexual abuse claims by the SBC Executive Committee.

Guidepost is also named as a defendant in the suit, as are Lyell, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and its president Al Mohler, former SBC presidents Ed Litton and Bart Barber, and former SBC Executive Committee representatives Willie McLaurin and Rolland Slade.

“Can God trust you?” if you are called upon to pay a social or financial price for following Jesus, an American pastor who spent two years imprisoned in Turkey asked students and faculty at Dallas Baptist University.

Andrew Brunson spoke in chapel at DBU as part of a global gathering to pray for persecuted religious minorities, Oct. 25.

Brunson and his wife Norine spent 23 years in Turkey, starting churches, aiding refugees and providing religious training. An evangelical Presbyterian, he served as pastor of Resurrection Church in Izmir, Turkey, until he was falsely accused of terrorism in October 2016.

Preparation for persecution

Almost 10 years prior to his imprisonment, Brunson said he felt compelled to begin praying for God to draw him so close to God’s heart he could “make waves.” So, he began to pray in a different way than he had before.

He and his wife had a relationship with God for years, he explained, but they became much more focused on pursuing his presence and his heart.

“God, I don’t love you with all my heart, with all my heart, soul, mind and strength, but I want to. Help me to love you more,” he prayed.

Brunson noted he wanted to pant for God like the psalmist said the deer pants for water, “but I don’t.” So, in 2007 he began to pray: “Make me thirsty. Make me hungry for you.”

As he and his wife prayed, they became hungry for more of God, and they started to long for his presence.

“And this pursuit of God began to change us,” he said. “It’s the pursuit that forms us, that shapes us. And it also positions us to receive assignments from God, including the prison assignment.”

He noted he does not believe God put him in prison, but rather that God was fully involved and intended to use the “assignment” for his purposes.

Brunson said his first year in prison he “broke emotionally, physically and spiritually.”

He noted he almost didn’t survive imprisonment, spiritually or physically. The second year was also very difficult, but in the second year, “God rebuilt my heart.”

God knew how difficult imprisonment would be for Brunson, he noted. God knew how he would break, how much he would suffer, and how close he would come to failure, yet he still went to prison.

When he was in prison, Brunson questioned why God allowed it to happen. It was after his release Brunson was able to come to view his time in prison as God trusting him with a difficult assignment.

“And that changed the way I evaluated my prison experience,” he said.

Brunson recalled thinking when he was in prison: “God, people say you don’t make mistakes, but in this case, you really did make a mistake. You chose the wrong man for this, because I can’t handle this.”

But he came to believe God knew that in his darkest, most difficult times, Brunson would turn toward God, not away from him. He believes God trusted him with this assignment because the love and intimacy they had built up would be sustained, “because love doesn’t quit.”

When Brunson initially was imprisoned, his wife was jailed, too. She was released after two weeks, at which time pastors in the United States urged her to return to the safety of the states. But she said, “I’m not leaving my husband.”

He pointed out she stayed because she loves him. Norine was the only one allowed to visit during his imprisonment. “She put herself at risk because of her love for me … So yes, a lover is willing to suffer for the one she loves. An admirer may not be so willing.”

God has many admirers and servants, but few lovers, Brunson said. “So I want to encourage you today to determine that you will be a lover of God—that you will run after his heart.”

Love fueled faithfulness

Brunson provided examples of how his love for God fueled his faithfulness in prison.

He had a Bible while he was imprisoned and noted Philippians 2:4—which refers to not looking to one’s own interests—spoke to him.

He realized he was looking to his own interests—wanting to get back to his wife and children—when he began to question whether God’s interests might be best served if he remained in prison, he said.

So, while it was a daily struggle to put the interests of Jesus above his own, Brunson made doing so his mission.

When Brunson was moved to a high security prison, his “heart was wounded toward God,” because he wasn’t seeing God’s faithfulness in prison. He didn’t feel like singing, but Brunson said he made it a daily discipline to worship God through singing despite how he felt.

“It was very precious to God,” he asserted, because the worship was an act of love toward God during Brunson’s “dark night of the soul.”

Because Christians are commanded to rejoice, Brunson also began to dance as a spiritual discipline, which he admitted was somewhat strange. But, it served as a helpful act of obedience and love for him to dance when he least felt like dancing.

Brunson said though he prayed for God’s presence, he didn’t feel it when he was imprisoned. It’s harder to find feelings of love when the sense of God’s presence is missing, he noted.

His love for God was “severely tested,” but he determined to “lay aside all the conditions” and respond even to God’s silence with simple love and devotion.

When he was placed in a solitary cell, Brunson felt he was starting to break again. But when he opened his mouth to question, “Where are you, God?” the words, “I love you, Jesus,” spilled out instead.

Then Brunson knew he had passed “the test of silence,” he said. He had passed “the test of the wounded heart.” There’s an intimacy that only comes with testing, he said.

Brunson asserted the most important thing Christians can do is love God. And they can begin to build this into their lives right now by spending time with him.

Despite how difficult his imprisonment was, Brunson noted he misses the Turkish prison conditions because “they taught him what was really important.” He said, “I miss the desperation with which I ran after him.”

“You don’t have to be unprepared,” to face persecution, Brunson noted.

Daniel 11:32 says the one who knows God will stand and take action. Get to know God well now to be ready for any future test, Brunson urged.

Brunson’s release came after two years with intense pressure and sanctions from the United States. Many around the world prayed for his release. Upon his release, he and Norine returned to the states where they run the ministry WaveStarters.

DALLAS (RNS)—Four elders at Gateway Church, whose senior pastor stepped down earlier this year, have been removed after the results of a law firm’s investigation of sexual abuse allegations against the pastor were announced in a sermon Nov. 3.

The removals are the latest responses by one of the country’s largest evangelical Christian churches to allegations brought by Cindy Clemishire in June that Gateway’s founding pastor, Robert Morris, 63, had molested her in the 1980s, when Morris was in his 20s and she was 12.

Soon afterward, also in June, the church retained law firm Haynes and Boone to investigate. Church elder Tra Willbanks announced on Sunday the attorneys discovered all but three elders had been aware of Morris’ history with Clemishire, now 54, and her age at the time of the alleged abuse.

“We now know that there were elders and employees at Gateway who knew before June 14, 2024, that Cindy was 12 at the time of the abuse,” church elder Tra Willbanks said. “Both groups are fundamentally wrong and simply cannot and will not be tolerated at Gateway Church.”

While Willbanks declined to identify the elders who were removed, the names of elders Jeremy Carrasco, Kevin Grove, Gayland Lawshe and Thomas Miller no longer appear on the church website, according to multiple news accounts.

‘Heartbreaking and vile’ abuse

Morris publicly acknowledged his involvement with a young woman two days after Clemishire made her accusations, and Gateway leaders acknowledged in a statement that he had confessed to “a moral failure he had over 35 years ago,” but initially said they had no idea the person involved was a child.

Clemishire has disputed that claim, saying a church leader responded to an email she sent in 2005 informing them of her age. A transcript later came to light in which Morris discussed making a payment to Clemishire in restitution.

On Sunday, Willbanks forcefully said church leaders support Clemishire.

“What happened to Cindy Clemishire was heartbreaking and vile,” he said. “We denounce sexual abuse in all of its forms, and we feel deep sorrow for those who have been victimized by such despicable actions,” he added.

The investigation’s results also prompted reforms to Gateway’s leadership structure and bylaws. Church staff will no longer serve as elders, Willbanks said.

“We must bring this level of independence and objectivity to our eldership, and it has been lacking in the years past,” he said.

In early October, some members filed a lawsuit claiming financial misconduct at the church. On Sunday, Willbanks said the church is cooperating with a criminal investigation into the claims as well, but said the church is not the subject of the investigation. He also reported Morris had made financial demands, which the church plans to reject.

Significant drop in attendance at main campus

Last year, Lifeway Research, in conjunction with the Hartford Institute for Religion Research, listed Gateway, which Morris founded in 2000, as the ninth largest church in the United States and one of the fastest growing, with about 25,000 worshippers attending every Sunday.

On Nov. 1, however, the Dallas Morning News reported attendance is down by 40 percent at the main campus in Southlake.

Morris was a member of Donald Trump’s evangelical advisory board during his 2016 presidential campaign, and in 2021 took part in an initiative to energize conservatives ahead of Trump’s 2024 run for president. Trump visited the church in 2020 during his failed reelection bid.

In 2017, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott enlisted Morris to support his push for a bill restricting access to bathrooms for transgender children.

The summer’s allegations prompted state legislators to call for changing the statute of limitations for sexual assault, harsher penalties for mandatory reporters who fail to follow up on accusations and reforming nondisclosure agreements for sexual abuse survivors.

Secular and religious advocacy organizations have been pushing for such reforms, as well as the elimination of the use of nondisclosure agreements in sexual assault cases.

State Rep. Jeff Leach, a conservative Christian who chairs the powerful Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence Committee, told a local NBC affiliate he plans to use his pulpit to change laws to benefit survivors of sexual assault.

“As a born-again believer, I love the bride of Christ. I want to protect the church. But the church in many cases, like in the case of the pulpit at Gateway, has been defiled,” he said. “We ought to be stepping up and turning over tables and protecting victims.”

In spite of the challenges some humanitarian aid groups have encountered, Christian Mission to Gaza recently has provided food and clean drinking water to more than 4,000 people in the war-torn country, the former pastor of Gaza Baptist Church reported.

They include residents of Jabalia, 2.5 miles north of Gaza City, which has been under prolonged siege, Hanna Massad, founding director of Christian Mission to Gaza, stated in a Nov. 1 email to supporters of his ministry.

“These efforts are carried out under the care of Gaza Baptist Church, which continues to be a beacon of hope,” Massad wrote.

The Israeli Defense Forces announced Nov. 2 the ongoing military operation in the Jabalia area resulted in the deaths of 900 terror operatives in the past month. The following day, UNICEF reported Israeli bombs killed more than 50 children in the refugee camp adjacent to Jabalia in the previous 48 hours.

‘God’s provision shines through’

In the email report, Massad said a child who received rice told him he and his family had been eating nothing but canned food for a month.

“Our stomachs are ruined from it,” he said.

Massad wrote about an encounter with an elderly woman who asked if the rice the ministry was distributing was for everyone in the camp. When he told her it was, she asked who was providing it. He explained it was offered through Gaza Baptist Church.

“May God bless them, provide for them, and grant success in all their work,” the woman reportedly told Massad.

She explained she had been a resident of Beit Hanoun in northeastern Gaza, the site of a fierce battle one year ago.

“I left behind 20 dunams [5 acres] of land where we planted strawberries every year,” she continued. “Two of my buildings were destroyed in the bombings. My children were murdered, and my husband had a stroke. I am now caring for him, and the situation is truly tragic and extremely difficult.”

Massad said she added, “Glory be to the changer of conditions, and praise be to God for everything.”

Christian Mission to Gaza has provided financial support to 278 families who have been sheltering in churches in the region, Massad stated.

“Amid challenging circumstances, God’s provision shines through, and it is with grateful hearts that we thank each of you,” he wrote to supporters of his ministry.

Dallas Baptist University’s Institute for Global Engagement hosted a global gathering to pray for all persecuted religious minorities, Oct. 24-25.

DBU offered the event in cooperation with Pepperdine University’s Program on Global Faith & Inclusive Societies, Christians Against all Persecution and Templeton Religious Trust.

Featured speakers who addressed the importance of working for religious freedom for all included Elijah Brown, general secretary and chief executive officer of the Baptist World Alliance; Knox Thames, author, lawyer and Capitol Hill advocate for global religious freedom; and Sam Brownback, former ambassador at large for international religious freedom.

‘Speak freedom with courage’

“Will the international community raise their voice for the victim?” Brown said a Baptist New Testament professor in Myanmar asked through tears, when she escaped soldiers who were going door-to-door in search of her for denouncing the military.

Religious freedom is under threat globally. People of all faiths are facing growing harassment. In Myanmar, both the growing Baptist population and Rohingya Muslims have experienced grave persecution and violence, but “we can make a difference when we speak freedom with courage,” Brown asserted.

Preaching from John 11, Brown pointed out insights into standing with the oppressed that can be gained through Jesus’ interactions with the apostles.

This story of the apostles’ apprehension about Jesus returning to Judea to raise Lazarus, under threat of stoning, shows Jesus calls his followers to go with him into the context of suffering, even when there is real risk.

The text also shows Christians are to mobilize others in standing with the oppressed. It was Thomas in John 11:16, not Jesus, who convinced the other disciples to follow Jesus toward risk.

For Christians privileged to live in places with a great deal of religious freedom, mobilizing can look like praying for the persecuted or contacting representatives, urging them to make religious freedom a priority.

Brown cited statistics showing 10 constituents emphasizing a concern is enough for a representative to view that issue as a priority.

Finally, Jesus calls us to self-sacrifice. Christians are to live, not with closed hands or open hands, but with crucified hands, Brown asserted. Approximately 20 people are killed for their faith every day.

But, Brown said, every person can take steps to aid the cause of religious freedom for all. Step one is to become more aware, such as by signing up for a monthly email update from 21Wilberforce, a human rights organization focused on international religious freedom.

Additionally, every person can pray courageously, speak out for persecuted people and give generously to support religious freedom.

Called to ‘love our neighbors’

Thames explained 2 out of 3 people live in places where religious freedom is very limited. “There’s this community of suffering, and Christians are a part of it,” he said.

 Thames agreed with Brown that Christians’ first response to religious freedom violations ought to be becoming more informed about religious freedom concerns.

He acknowledged the natural tendency to think of oneself first. But Scripture—John 3:16, the 400-plus times justice is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, the parable of the Good Samaritan, and Micah 6:8—demonstrate the mandate to “love our neighbors, frankly, is more than a challenge; it’s a calling,” Thames said.

The Great Commission and the Great Commandment are not either/or, Thames reminded the audience. Rather, “we’re more effective at each when we do both.”

But, “in the religious freedom space, I think we’ve got work to do,” in serving the least of these, Thames said.

He urged Christians to be mindful of religious persecution of all faiths, not just Christians. Failure to work for religious freedom for all tarnishes the gospel message and undercuts Great Commission efforts, Thames pointed out.

Future of the religious freedom movement

Brownback spoke about the future of the religious freedom movement. When the first Religious Freedom Act was passed under Bill Clinton, Brownback said there was “a real question whether or not he was even going to sign the bill.”

Religious people tend to be troublesome, difficult to negotiate with, and have base principles “you just can’t move them off of” he said. So, it took some nudging from Madeline Albright for the State Department to include religious freedom as a focus.

The plan was to have an emphasis inside the State Department, but also a pure entity outside the state department—United States Commission on International Religious Freedom—that would be more difficult to manipulate for political purposes.

These offices were minimally effective, in Brownback’s opinion, until the Trump administration, when Thames, Brownback and other religious freedom advocates in the State Department took advantage of an opportunity to host the “biggest religious freedom summits the State Department had ever held.”

“Those were a huge success,” Brownback said. “And, to me, that kind of launched the whole movement.” More religious freedom ambassadors were being appointed, though the U.S. State Department still had “more religious freedom staff than the whole rest of the world combined.”

But the movement picked up steam, and the organization of the International Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance saw more countries become interested, Brownback explained.

Parliamentarians have become a “great way” for countries to become involved because parliamentarians can be involved as individuals, not as representative of the entire country they serve.

At first it was only the religious groups who were involved in the religious freedom movement, Brownback said. But now, democracy groups have started to realize religious groups are likely one of the best ways to get into places and work toward other democratization efforts.

The democracy groups realize, “If we can get religious freedom, we’ve got a chance at being able to build some of the rest of this stuff. And often times in these countries, the only people left that would stand up to a government are the religious people. Everybody else has left or been driven out or killed or put in prison.”

So the groups left, who can’t get out, are minority Baha’i, Muslims or Christians. These people of faith will stand up to fight back against the persecution and are good to have on the side of democracy, Brownback said.

The United States’ role in the religious freedom movement is, “we should be an organizer; we should be a facilitator; we should be putting information out; we should be an agitator pushing all these things forward; and our fingerprints shouldn’t be on everything, but we should be engaged in all of it one way or another,” Brownback said.

However, he noted, much of the time it would be better if U.S. involvement was more behind the scenes than visible.

“This is the only human rights movement (from the U.N. Declaration of Human Rights) in the world right now that’s got any juice,” Brownback noted. “Eighty percent of the world’s population is religious. Everybody’s persecuted somewhere, not everywhere, but somewhere.”

And with the global rise of authoritarianism, it has become a governmental strategy to either control/exploit religious people for the authoritarian’s purposes or to eradicate religious people altogether, he continued.

Most people aren’t activists, Brownback pointed out. It’s “pretty normal” for a movement to be limited to about 20 percent of a population. With technology available right now, it’s possible for authoritarians to identify and work to silence that 20 percent who would oppose them.

“The ability to control what people get information-wise is growing rapidly,” he noted. And the ability to deceive through technology is already becoming so difficult to detect, “if you don’t know where you sit now, you’re going to be deceived” with this technology in the hands of malevolent actors, Brownback asserted.

He repeated the urgency of getting behind “religious freedom for everybody, everywhere, all the time,” when it’s the human rights movement “that’s got juice.”

Participants at the gathering also heard from several organizations engaged in global religious freedom initiatives, persecuted Christians and from Baha’i, Yezidi, Uyghur and Latter-day Saints practitioners about persecution faced by each of their faith communities. Then, they were led in praying for all the persecuted.