Six months after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Baptists inside the embattled nation and in neighboring countries continue ministry in a war zone and begin preparation for what could be a hard winter.

“The war has become a powerful catalyst for creativity and sacrifice,” the European Baptist Federation stated in a Sept. 7 update. Ukrainian Baptists “continue to sow seeds of hope to those in need,” the report continued.

The federation noted eastern and southern Ukraine remain the areas with “the highest concentration of fighting and the most desperate need.”

“Limited access to food, water, electricity and transit out of occupied regions continues to press the region into a humanitarian crisis. Many fear the consequences of the harsh winter approaching,” the EBF update stated.

At the same time, violence is not limited to occupied areas in the east. Western cities in Ukraine continue to experience “sporadic missile strikes and air raids,” the EBF noted.

“Despite this, many who were internally displaced from the north and central regions have risked returning to rebuild their lives. Baptists continue to serve across every region caring for the physical, mental and spiritual needs of their neighbors.”

Baptists continue to “embrace their opportunity” to meet needs through humanitarian aid projects, and they “delight in the chance to share Christ in the midst of suffering,” the federation noted.

“Churches in the central and eastern regions continue to provide aid, electricity and water to those on the front lines and, when possible, in occupied areas as well,” the EBF update stated. “As people continue to move across the countries, Baptists provide transportation to those seeking safety.”

During the summer, pastor retreats offered ministers times of respite, the federation noted.

Baptists in Ukraine also provided youth camps, a day camp for individuals with special needs and a women’s prayer breakfast that focused on interceding “for those fighting and for those who are displaced.”

Baptists gather for worship, even when it involves great personal risk. The EBF report singled out Nikolaev Baptist Church as a place where worshippers filled the sanctuary in spite of heavy shelling.

“Despite explosions and the difficult situation in the city, these people came to God’s house looking for support, stability and peace,” the EBF update stated.

Looking to the future with hope

While focusing on meeting immediate needs, churches also look to the future, the federation observed. At the dedication service for a new church building in Bilhorod-Dnistrovs’kyi, leaders said: “The consecration of a new house of pray during war means God always has a view of tomorrow. God started something yesterday and is developing it today for tomorrow.”

Baptists in neighboring nations also continue to demonstrate the love of Christ to hurting people, the EBF added.

“In Romania, All4Aid partners have been asked numerous times by locals: ‘Why are you doing this? Why are you still helping?’ Their answer mirrors that of countless churches, leaders and volunteers around the EBF region: We serve because Christ first loved us,” the federation reported.

“In fact, numerous reports from Germany, Romania, Moldova, Poland, Hungary, and, of course, Ukraine have all highlighted the professional, quality care and aid Baptists have been able to provide across the region. Local authorities, international NGOs and aid organizations have all praised the quality work of Baptists. Our brothers and sisters are shining the light of Christ brightly in this dark time.”

The European Baptist Federation hosts a monthly prayer call on the last Wednesday of each month to intercede for Ukrainian Christians and pray for peace. To register for the Zoom call, go to https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZApceGqpz0iEtZGRNIuIMS_Vca4pa54kuCR.  

LAREDO (BP)—A new ministry center will open in Laredo as part of a partnership between Texas Baptists’ River Ministry and Send Relief.

The center will serve Laredo and the wider Rio Grande Valley area by connecting churches to ministry opportunities on the U.S.-Mexico border.

“Send Relief is grateful to be partnering in Laredo with the Texas Baptist River Ministry,” said Josh Benton, vice president of North American ministry at Send Relief.

“Our ministry centers serve in communities all over North America by meeting physical and spiritual needs in Jesus’ name, while also offering compassion ministry training for churches and volunteer mission teams. Because of its proximity to the border, the Laredo ministry center is in a prime location to mobilize churches to serve vulnerable families there.”

Send Relief, a collaborative compassion ministry of the North American Mission Board and the International Mission Board, has opened 19 other ministry centers across North America and Puerto Rico, each designed to meet the specific needs in their local area while training churches to replicate the ministry in their own communities. This will be Send Relief’s first center to open in Texas.

Texas Baptists’ River Ministry has worked along the Rio Grande for 55 years, connecting churches in Texas to projects along the Texas-Mexico border and supporting 15 missionaries who work in cities on both sides of the border.

Laredo is home to one of the oldest border crossings in America’s history and serves as the United States’ largest land-based entry point. In addition to its more than 260,000 residents, the city sees millions of vehicles crossing the Texas-Mexico border each year.

Osvaldo Lerma, a former Texas Baptists’ River Ministry missionary, will lead operations as Send Relief’s Laredo ministry center director. Lerma has deep ministry roots in the area and is excited to see how God will use the center. He emphasized building connections with the local churches and equipping the churches to carry out compassion ministry in their communities.

“We are here to strengthen local churches, encourage local pastors and provide support to the communities in need,” Lerma said. “When we put all of that together, we will be helping churches advance the Great Commission.”

Josue Valerio, director of the Texas Baptists’ Center for Missional Engagement, believes River Ministry’s knowledge and connections in the Valley coupled with Send Relief’s national network and resources will be a powerful tool to reach even more people in the area.

“The goal of this center is to serve families of all shapes and sizes in the Rio Grande Valley. We want to engage the local churches in impactful ministry for their community,” Valerio said. “We are so excited to be working with [Send Relief] on this project. They are bringing a lot of knowledge and expertise.”

Lerma asked for prayer for the ministry center as it launches.

“Pray that this center will have a big impact and that many lives will be touched,” he said.

Dallas Baptist University welcomed a record number of international students from more than 50 countries this fall and helped ease their arrival to a new country with a special event Aug. 25. The university made it easier for international students to set up housekeeping by providing them an assortment of new and gently used items donated by DBU staff, members of the Women’s Auxiliary board, DBU international alumni and other friends of the university. Donated items included furniture including couches, dressers and futons, as well as 24 eight-foot tables covered with household items such as dishes, cookware and towels. “Over 80 students were blessed by these donations and now have new household items that will help them navigate life a little more easily here in the U.S.,” said Susie Cassel, director of international student services. A similar event will be scheduled in the spring semester.

As part of its inaugural graduate residency day, the McLane College of Business at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor recognized Joey Longoria as the first recipient of a graduate program certificate. Longoria completed a concentration in data analytics as part of his Master of Science in Information Systems degree, while also serving as a graduate assistant coach for Cru football. He now is employed by NASA as a recon specialist. The graduate residency day also featured a presentation by Dave Malenfant, executive vice president for the Biotech Supply Management Alliance. He also serves as director and oversees the advisory board for the Center for Supply Chain Innovation at Texas Christian University. The next McLane College of Business graduate residency day is scheduled Oct. 22.

Howard Payne University will combine homecoming, Yellow Jacket Preview and family weekend during Stinger Spectacular on Oct.14-15. The annual alumni banquet is scheduled at 5:45 p.m. on Friday in the Mabee University Center’s Beadel Dining Hall. Cobbler on the Campus will be held from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on the Muse Mall and Plaza. Saturday’s festivities will begin with a breakfast for alumni and families at 8 a.m. in Beadel Dining Hall. The Stinger Spectacular Parade will begin at Brownwood Coliseum at 10 a.m., traveling through downtown Brownwood on Center Avenue and on to Fisk Street, where it will pass through the HPU campus. The HPU Family Picnic will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Muse Mall and Plaza on campus. The HPU Yellow Jacket football team will play Southwestern University at 2 p.m. at Gordon Wood Stadium, with the homecoming court to be announced at halftime. The HPU women’s and men’s soccer teams also have games scheduled at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. respectively at Citizens National Bank Soccer Field against McMurry University. Yellow Jacket Preview will provide prospective students an opportunity to meet faculty and staff, tour the campus and participate in HPU life. Family weekend will allow parents and families of current HPU students to experience a weekend at HPU. For more information about Stinger Spectacular and to register for events, click here. Prospective students interested in attending Yellow Jacket Preview can register here.

Houston Baptist University will observe the grand opening of the Morris Family Center for Law & Liberty on the HBU campus at 10 a.m. on Sept. 15. U.S. District Judge Ed Kinkeade will be keynote speaker. “This beautiful building represents a powerful addition to the campus of HBU,” President Robert Sloan said. Lead donor Stewart Morris Sr. and the Joella and Stewart Morris Foundation will be recognized for their contributions to the complex. “It declares our commitment to teaching the founding principles of American democracy, and it stands as a visible symbol of the inextricable connection between law and liberty. The equality of all under the rule of law provides stability for a civil society and promotes the freedoms that we enjoy as Americans, freedoms that people the world over long for.”

East Texas Baptist University marked its highest recorded student enrollment in the university’s 110-year history with 1,771 total students. For three consecutive fall terms, ETBU’s total enrollment has exceeded 1,688, with two of the three years exceeding 1,700 students. The university has experienced steady growth over the last decade, with this year’s enrollment marking a 36 percent increase since 2014. Part of the growth in the past year can be attributed to an increased focus on the retention of undergraduate students with enhanced academic success services, and the expansion of graduate degree program offerings. ETBU holds an 84 percent undergraduate retention rate. “As we prayed for our enrollment for fall 2022, we worked earnestly to bring the students called by the Lord to study here on the Hill,” ETBU President J. Blair Blackburn said. “Throughout the pandemic, we prayed for God’s provision for physical, financial and spiritual health, and God was gracious to us. We have been showered by his faithfulness and blessed by the diligence of our campus community. East Texas Baptist’s faculty and staff have remained faithful to the Lord’s call on their lives to serve our students and one another, each displaying what it means to live as committed followers of Christ.”

The engineering accreditation commission of the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology accredited University of Mary Hardin-Baylor’s bachelor’s degree program in engineering. “ABET accreditation assures that UMHB’s engineering program meets the quality standards of the engineering profession and is a key milestone in the continued growth of our program,” said Paul Griesemer, UMHB associate professor and engineering department chair. “We are excited about the opportunities our accreditation will open up for our students.” ABET accreditation reviews examine program curricula, faculty, facilities and institutional support. It currently accredits 4,361 programs at 850 colleges and universities in 41 countries and areas.

Anniversary

175th for First Baptist Church in Honey Grove on Nov. 6. A “meet and greet” reception with Pastor Casey Rogers is scheduled at 10 a.m., followed by worship at 11 a.m. and a barbecue lunch at 12 noon. For more information or to make a lunch reservation, call (903) 378-2768 or email fbchoneygrove@gmail.com.

Violence by Islamist groups, mob violence against people accused of blasphemy, identity-based violence and violence targeting worship threaten freedom of religion in Nigeria, a new report from the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom states.

“Poor governance” drives much of the violence, as the government finds itself unable to provide services, security and justice in an equitable manner, according to “Violence and Religious Freedom in Nigeria,” a report and policy update released Sept. 6.

Militant Islamist groups expand their territory

“Nigeria is battling several concurrent security crises,” the report states, noting first the territorial expansion of militant Islamist groups.

“In the northeast and part of the northwest, militant Islamist groups conduct violence in pursuit of political and ideological objectives, often with devastating humanitarian and religious freedom consequences,” the report says.

The commission report identifies the Islamist State in West Africa Province as the “largest threat,” but also noted activity by factions of Boko Haram and the al-Qaeda affiliate Ansaru.

“ISWAP, Boko Haram and Ansaru have all stated political objectives to overthrow secular governance in Nigeria and enforce a particular interpretation of Islam,” the report states. “Militant Islamist groups target non-Muslim communities, as well as Muslims who disagree with or oppose their interpretation of Islamic practice and tradition.”

Government investigations blamed ISWAP for a Pentecost Sunday attack on a Catholic church in Ondo State, in which 40 people were killed, the report noted.

Earlier in the year, ISWAP was alleged to be responsible for three deaths when a church in Chibok was burned, as well as another three killed and 19 injured when a bar was bombed in Taraba State in an attempt to target a gathering of “infidel Christians.”

“ISWAP cruelly punishes those it sees as contravening its interpretations of Islam, including amputating the hands of alleged thieves, killing adulterers, and massacring civilians in communities that disobey orders or refuse to pay religious obligation taxes,” the report states.

Mob violence against accused blasphemers

The commission report also points to mob violence against people accused of blasphemy, particularly in the eyes of Islamist militants.

A mob of university students in May stoned a Christian student to death and burned her body in response to a comment she made on social media they considered insulting to Islam.

Mob violence—or the likelihood of it—“creates an atmosphere of fear and insecurity for people with dissenting beliefs and worldviews,” the report states.

“The high risk of mob violence against people who are perceived to insult religion, combined with poor governance and weak justice institutions, constitutes the state’s justification for enforcing blasphemy laws to prevent mob justice and maintain public order,” the report states.

“These laws disproportionately impact individuals with minority or dissenting opinions or religious interpretations.”

Religious and ethnic groups targeted

The report notes instances of violence in which attackers target individuals or groups based on their perceived identification with a particular group.

“In some states, religion, ethnicity and geographic heritage intersect to create in-groups and out-groups against which violent actors mobilize,” the report states. It notes religious communities “have grown increasingly mistrustful of one another and fearful of being targeted on the basis of religion.”

The report also documents instances in which “armed actors target worshippers and religious congregations.”

“In March 2022, alleged bandits reportedly abducted 14 worshippers from a mosque during Isha prayers in Kaduna. In June, two simultaneous attacks on churches in Kaduna State reportedly killed eight people and resulted in 38 abductions,” the report states. “In July, armed actors abducted two priests in Kaduna State, resulting in the death of one.”

‘Poor governance a core driver of violence’

The report states during the commission’s June 2022 visit to Nigeria, “various stakeholders identified poor governance as a core driver of violence in the country and lamented the government’s inability to provide services, security and justice equitably across its population.”

Poverty, corruption and religious scapegoating also contribute to violence and human rights abuses, including violations of religious freedom, the report notes.

“The risk of atrocities for Nigeria is high,” the report states. “In 2021, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Early Warning Project ranked Nigeria’s risk of experiencing a new mass killing event in the coming year as the eighth highest in the world and noted that it had experienced at least one mass killing event the previous year.

“Nigerians also face abduction, torture, inhumane treatment, sexual and gender-based violence, trafficking, and forced or coerced recruitment. Apparent territorial and tactical advancement by powerful armed groups in 2022 heighten atrocity risks still further.

“These atrocities pose risks to religious freedom, among other rights and freedoms, for Nigerians.”

Violence and its impact on religious freedom—as well as elevated risk of atrocities—“warrant significant U.S. government action,” the report concludes.

The commission report calls on the U.S. government to:

• Designate the nation as a priority country for the Atrocity Prevention Task Force or name a special envoy to regions where violence based on religion is particularly high. “Alternatively, Congress passing a high-profile emergency atrocity prevention package could demonstrate a similar show of commitment to protecting freedom of religion or belief and other fundamental rights for all Nigerians.”
• Make financial aid to Nigeria “conditioned on demonstrated, calculable progress on human rights and atrocity prevention indicators by the Nigerian government.”
• Redesignate Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern “for engaging in and tolerating systematic, ongoing and egregious violations of religious freedom.”
• Increase funding to violence reduction programs in Nigeria, particularly programs that support interfaith civil society action to promote religious freedom and give victims of attacks increased access to justice.
• Request the Government Accountability Office investigate the effectiveness of U.S. assistance to Nigeria to achieve U.S. policy objectives there and then adjust policy based on outcomes of the assessment.

Randel Everett, founding president of 21Wilberforce, said the findings in the report are consistent with what his human rights organization discovered several years ago, and he lamented that “violence and the rising risk for atrocity has increased significantly.”

“Six years ago, 21Wilberforce’s executive team traveled to Nigeria to document the impact of violence and marginalization on religious freedom and human rights in northern and central Nigeria, and to listen to and learn from a wide range of actors pointing to approaches that could build reconciliation and reverse trends that threatened to fracture Nigeria along religious fault lines,” said Everett, former executive director of the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

“Our team traveled to multiple sites in four states and met with representatives from seven other states. We traveled past dozens of villages that had been burned to the ground and met with both Christian and Muslim victims of massacres perpetrated by Boko Haram and Fulani militants. Upon our return, we released the report ‘Nigeria: Fractured and Forgotten.’ Since that initial trip in 2016, 21Wilberforce remains actively engaged with local and international partners to seek solutions to the problems that face Nigeria and to help those who are suffering.

“The situation in Nigeria was complex and multi-faceted then and tragically, the violence and rising risk for atrocity has increased significantly.

“We strongly support recommendations presented in USCIRF’s policy update on violence in Nigeria, including a call to redesignate Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern.”

GENEVA (BP)—A United Nations report found China has committed “serious human rights violations” and possibly “crimes against humanity” toward the Uyghur people and other ethnic minorities.

The assessment of the Chinese government’s practices in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region—which two United States administrations declared as genocide—came Aug. 31 in a 48-page report from the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Among its recommendations, the U.N. office called on China’s government to release those “arbitrarily deprived of their liberty” in camps and other detention facilities, to provide the locations to families of individuals who have disappeared at the hands of officials and to investigate allegations of such human rights violations as forced labor, sexual violence and torture in those locations.

The report, issued despite China’s protests, is the second in recent weeks that found human rights violations by China. Tomoya Obokata, the U.N.’s special rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, announced Aug. 16 the release of a report that found it is “reasonable to conclude” forced labor by Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities has taken place in Xinjiang and some of the coercion “may amount to enslavement as a crime against humanity.”

The Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights findings, announced on the final day of Michelle Bachelet’s four-year term as high commissioner, followed news reports in recent years that the Chinese Communist Party has carried out a brutal campaign against the Uyghurs, predominantly Muslims in China’s largest and westernmost region, and other minorities.

According to the reports, China’s actions have included widespread detention in “re-education” camps, forced labor and a coercive population control program of abortion and sterilization.

The Trump administration announced on its last full day in January 2021 its decision that China is guilty of genocide in Xinjiang, and the Biden administration affirmed that determination weeks later.

‘Iron-clad confirmation’ of atrocities

In June 2021, messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting passed a resolution, making the convention the first Christian faith group to denounce China’s campaign against the Uyghurs as genocide.

“We now know exactly why the Chinese government did not want this report published,” said Brent Leatherwood, acting president of the SBC Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission. “It contains ironclad confirmation about their heinous actions and enslavement of the Uyghur people.

“While it did not go as far as it should have, the report still provides more than enough evidence proving the Chinese Communist Party is committed to eradicating Uyghurs and other religious minorities from Chinese society. The SBC was absolutely right to call these atrocities a genocide, and it is past time for the global community to confront China about these gross human rights violations and demand their immediate end.”

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States welcomes a report that “deepens and reaffirms our grave concern regarding the ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity that [Chinese] government authorities are perpetrating against Uyghurs” and other ethnic and religious minorities.

The United States “will continue to hold the [Chinese government] to account” and to urge it to release those confined unjustly, to report on those who have disappeared and to permit an independent investigation in Xinjiang, Blinken said.

Report ‘very hard to refute’

Adrian Zenz, an expert on China, described the U.N. report as “very conservative” but said “its overall cautious and methodical approach makes the report very hard to refute.” Zenz is senior fellow and director in China studies at the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation.

The report fell short in some ways, Zenz and others said. Its sections on coerced labor and population control are “comparatively short and weak,” he said on Twitter. A diplomat reported the portion on forced sterilization “was watered down during the final hours,” Zenz tweeted. The report also was criticized for not describing China’s actions in Xinjiang as genocide.

The Chinese government denounced the U.N. report.

“The so-called ‘assessment’ distorts China’s laws and policies, wantonly smears and slanders China, and interferes in China’s internal affairs, … and also undermines the credibility of the OHCHR,” the government said as part of its 131-page response.

The Chinese government launched an effort to counter terrorism in Xinjiang in 2014, linking the threat to “religious ‘extremism’ and separatism,” according to the U.N. report.

That counter-terrorism effort, however, “has led to interlocking patterns of severe and undue restrictions on a wide range of human rights,” the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights reported. “Allegations of patterns of torture or ill-treatment, including forced medical treatment and adverse conditions of detention, are credible, as are allegations of individual incidents of sexual and gender-based violence.

“The extent of arbitrary and discriminatory detention of members of Uyghur and other predominantly Muslim groups … may constitute international crimes, in particular crimes against humanity.”

Research for the U.N. report included a review of documents, including China’s laws and policies, as well as 40 interviews with Uyghurs and other ethnic minority members with “first-hand knowledge” and a May visit to Xinjiang by Bachelet.

Interviews with the Uyghurs and others, who included 26 who had been detained, showed nearly all the detainees had been forced to receive injections and/or pills administered regularly. Some described sexual violence, including the rape primarily of women, according to the report.

Several women interviewed told the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights they were forced to have abortions or to have intrauterine devices inserted. The information it received “suggests that coercive measures are likely to have accompanied the strict enforcement of family planning policies post-2017 … and to have been a cause for the significant decreases in the birth rates in Xinjiang generally, and especially in predominantly Uyghur-populated areas,” the report said.

As in other regions of China, laws in Xinjiang “regulate religion in a detailed, intrusive and particularly controlling manner,” the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights reported.

“Religious activities are allowed only in government-approved locations, conducted by government-accredited personnel, and on the basis of government-approved teachings and publications.”

The Chinese Communist Party’s oppressive practices in Xinjiang that have been reported by news outlets have included a high-tech surveillance system that has obtained genetic data on many residents. It is estimated more than 1 million Uyghurs, and maybe as many as 3 million, have been detained in “re-education” camps. Life in the camps also has resulted in coercive organ harvesting, according to some reports.

President Biden signed into law in December 2021 the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, ERLC-endorsed legislation that prohibits products made with forced labor in Xinjiang from being introduced into the American market. In June, Leatherwood expressed his “profound concerns” in a letter to Biden that a new White House order could be used to allow into the United States solar cells and modules produced by the Uyghurs under forced-labor conditions.

WASHINGTON (RNS)—The U.S. Department of Agriculture has clarified its guidance for religious schools that participate in a free school lunch program.

The clarification says faith-based schools can seek religious exemptions to federal restrictions that include barring discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.

The USDA memo, dated Aug. 12, comes in the wake of controversy involving the National School Lunch Program, a federal initiative that provides meals for tens of millions of children at public and nonprofit private schools nationwide.

This summer, at least one school expressed concern that participating in the food program would make the institution beholden to nondiscrimination provisions that are part of Title IX, a measure passed in 1972 aimed at ensuring equal opportunity at educational institutions.

While the Trump administration narrowly interpreted Title IX to apply only to gender assigned at birth, the Biden administration, much like the Obama administration, uses a broader interpretation of the provision that includes barring discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

Florida school files lawsuit

In July, Grant Park Christian Academy in Tampa, Fla., filed a lawsuit with the aid of the conservative legal group Alliance Defending Freedom, seeking an exemption from the nondiscrimination provisions.

In the lawsuit, the academy claimed it should not be subject to the protections because the school teaches a “biblical worldview about marriage, sexuality and the human person.”

According to ADF, the exemption was granted shortly after the lawsuit was filed. But a USDA official suggested to Religion News Service the legal filing was unnecessary in the first place.

“USDA regulations do not require a religious educational institution to submit a written request for a Title IX exemption in order to claim that exemption. USDA’s recent guidance is meant to clarify this process,” the official stated.

The Catholic News Agency reported the Archdiocese of St. Louis withdrew from the lunch program. The archdiocese said the USDA’s clarification did not change the archdiocese’s position.

“Accepting any federal subsidy would subject archdiocesan schools to federal mandates that could impede a school’s ability to faithfully carry out the teachings of the Catholic Church,” an archdiocesan official told the Catholic News Agency last month.

Broader issue of nondiscrimination policies

The back-and-forth wades into a broader debate over how federal nondiscrimination policies impact religious institutions.

Several religious schools, including Catholic schools, have fired teachers and employees in recent years after they declared their LGBTQ identities or sought to marry a person of the same sex. That includes the Archdiocese of St. Louis, which fired a popular music teacher in 2012 after learning he intended to marry his same-sex partner in another state.

Some administrators at religious schools have resisted pressure from bishops and other religious authorities to remove LGBTQ teachers, and some terminated employees have filed suit claiming wrongful termination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act—a similar but separate provision banning any employer from discrimination based on sex.

In 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Bostock v. Clayton County that Title VII’s prohibition against sex discrimination also protects gay or transgender employees in secular contexts. In his majority opinion, Justice Neil Gorsuch noted while multiple mechanisms for seeking religious exemptions to federal laws exist, precisely how they apply to Title VII was a question “for future cases.”

Although the ruling was focused on a different statute, U.S. officials have suggested it has implications for Title IX. In June, officials at the U.S. Department of Education cited Gorsuch’s Bostock opinion while outlining proposed changes to Title IX regulations that specified efforts to “protect LGBTQI+ students from discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, and sex characteristics.”

“As the Supreme Court wrote in Bostock v. Clayton County … it is ‘impossible to discriminate against a person’ on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity without ‘discriminating against that individual based on sex,’” the officials wrote.

Meanwhile, a USDA official reiterated to RNS on Sept. 1 that schools can seek religious exemptions to Title IX.

“Although this prohibition applies to a wide array of public and private schools at the K-12 and the college/university level, the law includes some exceptions, including one permitting an institution to be exempt on religious grounds if there is a conflict between Title IX and a school’s governing religious tenets,” reads the official’s statement.

WASHINGTON (RNS)—In 2020, attendance was soaring at Emerywood Baptist Church in High Point, N.C. Giving was steady. The church was getting ready to send more than 25 people on a mission trip.

Then came the COVID-19 pandemic.

And then—just as Emerywood had canceled all its plans and adjusted to outdoor worship to slow the spread of the virus—came the murder of George Floyd and the summer’s mass protests against racial violence.

As the Black senior minister of a predominantly white Southern church with an address on Country Club Lane, Timothy Peoples said, he told his congregation, “You can’t call me ‘pastor’ and [a racial slur] at the same time.”

In the middle of it all, the minister said, he had a breakdown.

Surveyed ministers from 20-plus denominations

Peoples isn’t the only minister to face challenges pastoring through the pandemic, according to the results of the #PandemicPastoring report released Sept. 1 by researcher Eileen Campbell-Reed.

Campbell-Reed, visiting associate professor of pastoral theology and care at Union Theological Seminary in New York City and creator of the “Three Minute Ministry Mentor” podcast and video blog, surveyed more than 100 Christian pastors, chaplains, campus ministers and lay leaders from more than 20 denominations between June 2020 and April 2022.

Participants included clergy she had been following for more than a decade as part of the Learning Pastoral Imagination Project, as well as ministry and lay leaders from Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship’s Helping Pastors Thrive initiative.

As the COVID-19 pandemic stretched from that first spring into summer, Campbell-Reed said, she realized its impact on ministry wasn’t going to be short-lived.

At the same time, ministry leaders were steering their congregations through pressing issues of racism, gender inequity and increasing partisan divisions.

Examined impact of ‘multiple pandemics’

She wanted to learn how these “multiple pandemics” were changing the jobs—and lives—of pastors and other ministry leaders.

“I think we have indeed entered into a new era of ministry,” Campbell-Reed said, announcing the findings of her report in a webinar hosted by Good Faith Media.

“I didn’t really know that until I delved deeply into this data.”

Campbell-Reed was joined in the webinar by Peoples and other clergy from the CBF, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), African Methodist Episcopal Church and Presbyterian Church (USA). None of the clergy in the webinar were participants in the #PandemicPastoring report’s surveys and interviews.

They shared their experiences of pastoring in a pandemic—like Sarah McClelland-Brown, now pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Warner Robins, Ga.

McClelland-Brown said she left her small, rural Disciples of Christ congregation in 2020 when members wanted her to return to preaching in person. She was pregnant with her second child at the time.

Ministers identify challenges

Among some of the challenges clergy identified in the #PandemicPastoring report were relationships and leadership concerns like burnout, figuring out how to lead in unprecedented times and minimizing harm to others.

Other concerns evolved as the pandemic wore on, Campbell-Reed noted. In summer 2020, it was about adapting quickly to online or outdoor worship and speaking out on racial justice issues. By the next summer and fall, it was coping with grief and managing conflict within their congregations.

The last few years brought moments of surprise and delight, too. Some clergy named stronger relationships—both with other people and with God. Some pointed out their congregations’ creativity and ability to adapt to new ways of worshipping together.

Pastors demonstrate resiliency

Most surprising to Campbell-Brown was the resiliency of pastors, she said.

While the difficulties of the pandemic drove Peoples to a breakdown, members of his congregation picked him back up again. They gave him some time off, then gathered around his desk when he returned and told him this was work they had to do together, not work he had to do alone.

“I’ve said over and over. The pandemic shutdown was actually really good for us,” he said.

While it led some to leave his church, it created space for others to be vulnerable, to share their experiences, to confront their privileges and to take action.

“We finally took on hard discussions and challenges that we had been putting off for so long,” Peoples said.

Reason for hope

The #PandemicPastoring report isn’t the only recent research to find reason to hope after years of pandemic.

Several surveys by the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability show that some church leaders saw growth in their congregations despite the prevalence of COVID-19.

A survey earlier this year by ECFA of 1,710 North American founding pastors and church leaders concluded that while only 7 percent of new churches drew 200 or more people on their launch day in 2020, that number rebounded to 20 percent in 2021. That compared with 12 percent in 2019 and 19 percent in 2018.

A separate survey of 151 multisite directors or campus pastors shows that about two-thirds, or 64 percent, said they were part of a congregation that launched a new campus between 2019 and 2022.

“I’m part of a church that did that,” said Warren Bird, ECFA senior vice president of research, at a separate webinar on church planting in the COVID-19 era on Tuesday.

“It was exciting. It was one more way to reach out during the pandemic and to see spiritual fruit happen.”

A Howard Payne University alumni couple contributed to their alma mater this summer by sharing their passion for astronomy with several of the university’s youngest students.

Brad Riza, a retired U.S. Air Force chaplain, and his wife Joy, a retired science teacher, participated in the university’s Summer Scholars program for students entering fourth, fifth and sixth grades.

The couple brought special solar telescopes, allowing the students a rare view of the sun’s surface. Brad Riza, formerly director of missions for Paluxy Baptist Association and associate director of chaplaincy relations for Texas Baptists, now serves as resident astronomer for Badlands National Park in South Dakota.

HPU’s Summer Scholars and Young Scholars programs are held each summer on the university campus. The Young Scholars program is open to students entering first through third grades.

Julie Welker, professor and communication department chair at HPU, directs the programs each year.

“The Rizas’ presentation was a great way to kick off the weeklong camp and get the kids excited for learning,” she said. “We’re extremely grateful to alumni and other community members who invest in our students each year.”

Young Scholars teachers included Tasha Carter, art teacher at Early High School; Dalton Hutchins, assistant tennis coach with the Brownwood Independent School District; Sarah Langford, instructor of mathematics at HPU; and Nancy Romig, associate professor of English at HPU.

Teachers in the Summer Scholars program included Dalton Hutchins; Tami Hull, science teacher and robotics coach at Early Middle School; Kristen Hutchins, professor of biology and chair of HPU’s biological sciences department; and Frank Ritter, engineering, chemistry and robotics teacher at Early High School.

 “I am grateful for these teachers who devote their expertise to our summer camp each year,” Welker said. “Our students love the hands-on activities and getting to learn in a university environment.”

The Baptist General Convention of Texas executive director search committee is asking Texas Baptists to pray daily for their work in the months ahead.

The committee also is encouraging Texas Baptist churches to participate in web-based regional listening sessions in November to help shape an executive director position profile.

The search committee held its first online meeting Aug. 28 to get acquainted, discuss its assignment and develop a general timeline for the search process, said David Mahfouz, chair of the search committee and pastor of First Baptist Church in Warren.

The committee is “in a season of prayer” and will meet in person for the first time Oct. 17-18 in Dallas, he said.

“We are in no rush to fill the role,” he added, noting David Hardage has committed to continue as executive director through the end of the year. “We will follow a very deliberate process to find the individual God is leading us to.”

Gary Cook, chancellor of Dallas Baptist University, delivered the devotional to the Aug. 28 online meeting. Cook described how DBU benefitted from enlisting individuals to pray daily for the university early in his time as its president, Mahfouz recalled.

“We are asking Texas Baptists to pray for us,” he said. “We are asking all Texas Baptists to enter into this season of prayer for the executive director search process.”

At its October meeting, the committee plans to look at data to learn more about who Texas Baptists are and to consider projections about the state’s future, Mahfouz said.

Scheduling listening sessions in November

In November, the committee will schedule a series of regional webinar-style listening sessions to “gather information from Texas Baptists that will assist the committee to develop a position profile,” he said.

The current position profile is more than a decade old and needs to be updated, he noted.

“We want to give every church possible the opportunity to provide feedback,” Mahfouz said. “We want to hear from everyone. We want to hear their hearts.”

An in-person listening session also may be held in conjunction with the BGCT annual meeting, and the committee will consider additional sessions if needed, he added.

After receiving input through the listening sessions, the committee will work through the end of the year to develop the executive director position profile, he explained.

“We plan to release the position profile for the next executive director and to then start receiving resumes in January,” he said. “We will then enter into a time of evaluating resumes and interviewing potential candidates who fit the job profile.”

Since Hardage will retire at the end of the year, and the committee will not begin receiving resumes until January, the BGCT Executive Board will consider a recommendation at its Sept. 19-20 meeting regarding leadership during the interim period, Mahfouz said.

Once the search committee selects its nominee for executive director, that person will be presented to the BGCT Executive Board for election.

“For now, we ask Texas Baptists to pray daily—for our committee, for our convention, and for revival to come to our state,” Mahfouz said.

In July, officers of the BGCT and its executive board named the search committee. The BGCT Executive Board chair and vice chair selected seven members of the board to serve on the committee, and the BGCT president and vice presidents chose eight at-large members of the search committee.

Yesenia Brunette, a graduate of Bangs High School, and Aishwarya Nigalye, a senior at Brownwood High School, participated in a four-week Summer Research Symposium at Howard Payne University. The students performed research with physical science department faculty and concluded their studies with a presentation to their families and HPU faculty, “Investigation into the Leaching of Microplastics from Food Containers.” Their project focused on determining if food containers could contaminate foodstuffs through routine usage.

The strength and conditioning education program at University of Mary Hardin-Baylor is the first in the country to receive accreditation from the Council of Accreditation of Strength and Conditioning. UMHB’s program is a concentration within the exercise physiology major. UMHB’s exercise physiology major follows the guidelines established by the National Strength and Conditioning Association, the leading membership organization for thousands of elite strength coaches, personal trainers, and dedicated researchers and educators worldwide. Accreditation indicates compliance with the professional standards and guidelines of the Council of Accreditation of Strength and Conditioning. According to the official letter from the council, “By achieving initial accreditation, the program has put itself through a rigorous peer review process and demonstrated its commitment to offering a measurable, accountable program, and of the highest quality in preparation for students pursuing careers in strength and conditioning.”

The Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty named Caitlin Childers Brown, who earned her Master of Divinity degree from Baylor University’s Truett Theological Seminary, to its BJC Fellows Class of 2022. She is associate pastor of Freemason Street Baptist Church in Norfolk, Va. BJC Fellows are young professionals united by a call to defend religious liberty. The 10-member 2022 cohort recently completed an intensive, five-day training seminar in Colonial Williamsburg, Va., designed to equip them in advocacy to protect faith freedom for all. The seminar explored the historical, legal and theological underpinnings of religious liberty.

Anniversary

130th for Caprock Plains Baptist Association. The association will observe the anniversary at its annual meeting, Oct. 23, at Wayland Baptist University in Plainview. Featured speakers are Victor Harkins, pastor of Shady Grove Baptist Church in Bessemer, Ala., and Gus Reyes, director of Hispanic partnerships at Dallas Baptist University.

Retirement

Glenn Ward from Paluxy Baptist Association after 11 years as director of missions, effective Oct. 24. He previously was pastor 45 years, including 37 years at Acton Baptist Church, near Granbury.

RICHARDSON—More than 50 years ago, members of First Baptist Church in Richardson decided to make a global impact without leaving home. They committed to befriend internationals in their community and help them learn English.

The International Friends ministry began Nov. 13, 1969, under the direction of Mary Dickson, offering its first English-as-a-Second-Language classes with 11 teachers and 11 students.

In the decades since then, students from more than 75 countries—including some closed to traditional missions outreach—have benefitted from the services International Friends provides.

Through the years, more than 400 volunteers have offered instruction in conversational English, grammar, vocabulary, writing, current events and citizenship.

‘It brought the world to us’

Jo Hamner began working as a volunteer with International Friends soon after the program launched. After taking several years off to concentrate on her work as an elementary school ESL teacher, she returned to International Friends and has continued as a volunteer ever since then.

At age 9, she felt God calling her to missions, and she eventually went to Baylor University with the intention of preparing for missionary service. Hamner’s life took a different turn when she married and raised two children, but the International Friends ministry rekindled her early sense of calling to missions.

“When this started, it brought the world to us,” she said. “I can honestly say it is the thing I have enjoyed most in my Christian walk.”

Some International Friends students are Christians. Others come from Muslim, Buddhist or nonbelieving backgrounds.

“We never proselytize,” Hamner explained. However, when asked why they volunteer their time, teachers freely talk about how their love for God and God’s love for all people motivates them to serve.

Often, students involved in International Friends are most effective when it comes to sharing their faith with friends and family—both in the Richardson area and in their homelands.

A student at the nearby University of Texas at Dallas became a Christian through her involvement in International Friends. On the day she was baptized at First Baptist Church, several of her family and friends attended the worship service.

When her teacher asked if they also were Christians, the student smiled and said, “Not yet.”

Hamner recalled a student from a predominantly Muslim country in the Middle East who introduced her to her niece when the younger woman expressed an interest in Christianity. The student’s niece accepted Christ as her Lord and Savior, and she was baptized at First Baptist Church in Richardson, where she still is an active member.

The International Friends ministry makes available at no cost a Bible to students—either exclusively in their own language or printed alongside an English version of Scripture.

Charles Lake—who coordinates the Bible distribution—and his wife Joyce began working with International Friends in 2004 after being enlisted by former director Laura Ritchey.

“We were invited by the kind of person that nobody could say ‘no’ to,” he recalled.

Lake keeps careful inventory of Bibles and New Testaments in more than 50 languages. When International Friends was at its pre-pandemic peak, the ministry distributed about 100 copies of Scripture a year, he said.

Adapting to changing circumstances

Starla Willis has been involved with International Friends about two decades and became director in 2020. So, adapting the ministry in response to the COVID-19 pandemic consumed the early part of her tenure as its leader.

“COVID was definitely a challenge for us,” Willis said.

After about five decades of teaching and ministering essentially the same way, International Friends had to shift rapidly to online delivery of lessons, she noted.

After an extended period of online-only instruction, International Friends now offers in-person, online and hybrid classes. The online classes not only serve students in the Dallas area, but also have involved students from as far away as Brazil and China.

“COVID opened doors we didn’t even realize could open,” Willis said.

Ron Evans, missions pastor at First Baptist Church in Richardson, hopes to see additional doors open beyond the weekly International Friends classes at the church facility and even its online outreach.

“ESL is a fantastic tool to take the gospel to the nations,” he said.

Evans sees International Friends—which he calls “a longtime, staple, cornerstone ministry of the church”—as one of many ways the church can fulfill its vision: “to be a people who bring healing and wholeness to our community and beyond as we are being transformed by Jesus.”

Vision continues to expand

This summer, First Baptist Church sent missions team to the Rio Grande Valley to work with Vanessa Lerma, a Texas Baptists’ River Ministry missionary in the area, and area churches. Volunteers led backyard Bible clubs for children and youth and to minister to the children’s parents.

“We can begin to build relationships and earn the right to speak into their lives. At that point, sharing the gospel is a natural part of the conversation,” he said.

In time, Evans hopes First Baptist Church can help churches in the Rio Grande Valley develop ESL programs similar to International Friends.

In its 50-plus-year history, First Baptist’s International Friends ministry has provided classes that served international students at area colleges and skilled high-tech workers drawn to Richardson’s Telecom Corridor. International Friends also has ministered to refugees who resettled in the Dallas area—notably the Vietnamese “boat people” who fled Vietnam beginning in the mid-1970s.

But Evans wants to see First Baptist minister even more effectively to refugees who are resettling in the region by developing apartment-based ESL ministries.

“For some, entering the church building is a barrier. I’d like to see us move beyond the four walls of the church, in addition to what we do through International Friends,” he said.

At this point, First Baptist is seeking to develop relationships and train teams who can take what the church has learned through its longstanding International Friends ministry and minister where many newly arrived internationals live.

“We hope to go out into the community and do ESL in a different way,” he said. “We want to build off of our 50-plus-year experience and add to what we do through International Friends.”

This article originally appeared in the summer 2022 issue of CommonCall magazine. 

Kerfoot Pollock Walker Jr. of Tyler, Christian physician and international missions volunteer, died Aug. 21. He was 92. He was born Jan. 27, 1930, in Huntington to Kerfoot and Nell Walker. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in biology from Hardin-Simmons University in 1951. He earned his Doctorate of Medicine from Southwestern Medical School in Dallas in 1955. His post-graduate internship was at the University of Alabama Medical School and at the Hillman Clinics in Birmingham, Ala. He served as a doctor in the U.S. Navy Reserve from 1956 to 1962. He and Marietta Crowder married on June 29, 1957. The Walkers both finished their internal medicine specialty residencies at Dallas Veterans Hospital. They moved to Tyler in 1960, where he began his private internal medicine practice. He retired from private practice in 1978 to become medical director of the Tyler-Smith County Public Health Department, where he served until 1996. The Walkers applied to the Southern Baptist Foreign Mission Board in their early 30s, only to be turned down because they were “too old.” Thus began a lifetime of volunteer Christian mission service. In 1960, the Walkers joined Green Acres Baptist Church, where he taught high school Sunday school, served as a deacon and sang in the choir for more than half a century. He planned the church’s first youth mission trip and led many others. He developed the church’s Belize evangelism plan. The Walkers taught Vacation Bible School, provided free medical service, cared for refugees and provided pastors to train other pastors for more than 50 years in more than 30 countries. Beginning with a trip to what is now Belize in 1969, Walker worked with missionaries and fell in love with the Mayan people in the Toledo District. For the next five decades, the Walkers journeyed to the region two to four times a year to provide free medical treatment in remote jungle villages. In 1991, the couple served with Texas Baptist Men at a Kurdish refugee camp in northern Iraq. He also served in Bosnia, Albania and Lebanon. Walker opened The Way of Life, which includes several halfway houses that care for men who are ex-convicts and those struggling with various addictions, helping them to get clean, stay clean, get jobs and change their lives for the better. The original location in Tyler—the Walker House—is named for him. He served as an advisor to YWAM, Calvary Commission, Global Outreach, Chief Cornerstone, Way of Life, Belize missions, Grace Community Church, Living Alternatives and Amigos Internacionales. He was preceded in death by his wife Marietta in 2015. He is survived by son Pete and wife Vicki, daughter Amy and husband James, and son Chris and wife Tracy, all of Tyler; 11 grandchildren: three great-grandchildren; and a sister, Hestermae Nixon of Bullard. The family suggests memorial donations may be made to Bethesda Health Clinic, 409 W Ferguson St., Tyler, TX 75702; Living Alternatives, PO Box 131466, Tyler, TX 75713-1466; Chief Cornerstone, Inc., 8612 Auburn Drive, Tyler, TX 75703, or to another charity.