The East Texas Baptist University hockey team departed Texas for Sweden in December as part of ETBU’s Tiger Athletic Mission Experience. The trip was the 22nd for ETBU athletics under the TAME initiative and the second international mission for the Tiger hockey team, following their 2019 trip to Slovakia. In partnership with the International Sports Federation, Salt Factory Sports and Sport for Life, the team engaged in ministry, service and cultural exchange during the week. Senior Dominic Desjardins reflected on their mission work: “It was exciting to play hockey in Sweden and have the opportunity to share with the players on the opposing team after the game. It’s incredible to see how hockey can be a bridge to sharing the love of Christ and connecting with others.” Team members immersed themselves in Swedish culture—participating in prayerwalks, sharing meals and engaging in youth outreach activities. Junior Tim Ruf emphasized the spiritual impact of the trip, stating: “God works through even the smallest connections. During this trip, I learned how the little things, like offering a listening ear or a simple invitation to church, can have a profound impact on someone’s life.” In addition to their ministry efforts, the team played hockey games against local teams, creating camaraderie and giving the Tigers an opportunity to share the gospel. After one game, opponents joined the ETBU players for pizza and conversations. The ETBU hockey team concluded their time in Sweden with outreach events and a floorball tournament with youth after church before returning to Texas.

The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor announced registration now is open for the spring 2025 semester at the UMHB Arts Academy. Participants of all ages and skill levels in music, theatre, visual arts and dance can discover the joy of the arts at the UMHB Arts Academy. The UMHB Arts Academy exists to provide quality, innovative arts instruction and experiences for all ages within a Christian environment, teaching skills and techniques that will enhance not only the lives of the students, but also the quality of life within the community. Classes include instrumental and vocal lessons, visual art workshops, musical theatre, dance and early childhood groups. With expert instructors, supportive programs and a welcoming environment, the UMHB Arts Academy is a place to build confidence and learn new skills. Enrollment is limited, and classes fill up quickly. Register at Registration-Arts Academy or call 254-295-4686 for more information.

Howard Payne University recently named Emily Attaway, certified public accountant, as chief financial officer and vice president for financial affairs. In her new role, Attaway will oversee the business office, financial affairs, financial aid, human resources, university events and facilities. Attaway graduated from HPU with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree as an accounting major with summa cum laude honors. She went on to earn her Master of Science degree in accounting and information management from the University of Texas at Dallas. She currently is enrolled in the Doctor of Business Administration program at Indiana Wesleyan University. At Howard Payne, she has been director of external reporting and special projects and assistant vice president for finance and administration. She was a member of the strategic planning committee for 2023-2028 and served as the co-chair of the strategic plan implementation committee. Attaway also serves as a volunteer with Hope Home Ministries and is an active member of Coggin Avenue Baptist Church. Her husband Daniel is a 2008 graduate of HPU. They have four children.

The Baylor Center for Developmental Disabilities at Baylor University requests help with a study launched last fall—the Family, Faith and Disability Project. The study is designed to help churches better understand and respond to the experiences and needs of parents of children with disabilities. The center needs to hear from 1,000 families across Texas and currently is about one quarter of the way to this goal. Parents of a child (under 18 years old) with disabilities, who currently attend a church—or have attended church within the last five years—are invited to sign-up for the survey at http://bcdd.soe.baylor.edu/faithfamilies. Spouses are encouraged to participate individually. Baylor University wants to learn from parents: “What has gone well? What could be better? What could churches do to welcome and support families like yours?” Para ver esta página en español, haz clic aquí. Additionally, Waco-area parents of a child with disabilities are invited to join an upcoming panel discussion on disability and the virtue of patience. The event will be held on the Baylor campus in Waco on Jan. 16, from 1:30 to 3 p.m. in the Beckham Room of the Bill Daniel Student Center.

Wayland Baptist University’s Alpha Chi chapter has been recognized as a Notable Chapter for the 2023-2024 academic year, marking the fifth time the chapter has received this designation since 2015. The chapter previously earned this recognition in 2018, 2021, 2022 and 2023. In addition, the Wayland chapter achieved the Star Chapter designation—a higher honor—three times, in 2016, 2017 and 2019. These honors reflect the chapter’s success in promoting scholarship and leadership under the guidance of Rebekah Crowe, dean of the School of Behavioral and Social Sciences and professor of history. In her 10 years as the chapter’s sponsor, Wayland’s Alpha Chi chapter has been recognized eight times. Alpha Chi’s Notable Chapter Award recognizes chapters that demonstrate outstanding service, leadership and commitment to the society’s mission of promoting academic excellence and exemplary character.

Nancy Pearcey, professor of apologetics and scholar in residence at Houston Christian University, saw global recognition for her work grow in 2024. Pearcey delivered a keynote address at the Advance Global Gathering, attended by 500 pastors and other church leaders from 80 churches in 15 countries worldwide. After her presentation, Pearcey spoke with attendees who had read her books, from countries as diverse as the United Kingdom, South Africa, Kenya and Madagascar. Pearcey also delivered keynote addresses at the Culture Shift Conference in Thun, Switzerland. The event was hosted by a consortium of Christian education organizations in Europe, and attended by 300 pastors, church leaders and students, primarily from Switzerland, Germany and Austria. Pearcey gave five presentations based on her books Love Thy Body, Total Truth and Finding Truth, and her latest book, The Toxic War on Masculinity: How Christianity Reconciles the Sexes. Pearcey then spoke for an invitation-only event for the international office of Alliance Defending Freedom in Vienna, Austria, attended by European political and ministry leaders. She was asked to present on her book, Love Thy Body. In recent months, Pearcey’s books have continued to be translated into additional languages, most recently German, Hungarian, Latvian and Vietnamese. Her books have now been translated into 20 languages.

Anniversaries

Jan. 15 will be the 75th anniversary of Maurice Smith’s ordination to the ministry. Smith was ordained by the former Whon Baptist Church in Coleman County while a freshman at Howard Payne College (now University). Smith received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Howard Payne, and a Master of Divinity degree and Ph.D. from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He served nearly 20 years as pastor of churches in Texas, including the Salem-Sayers Baptist Church in San Antonio, First Baptist Church in Santa Anna, First Baptist Church in Freer and Park Forest Baptist Church in Dallas. Smith and his late wife Evelyn served 10 years as Southern Baptist missionaries in Ghana and five years as home missionaries. Maurice also served an additional 10 years on the staff of the former Home Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. He has been an adjunct professor for four seminaries and an adjunct instructor in three Baptist universities. He now lives in New Braunfels and is a member of First Baptist Church in San Antonio.

First Baptist Church in Richardson is celebrating 160 years with the ultimate block party Jan. 11, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Bring the whole family for an afternoon of fun and festivities, including bouncy inflatables for the kids, face painting, games for all ages and prizes.

Retirements

Michael Rodgers, Howard Payne University’s chief financial officer and vice president for finance and administration, retired at the end of 2024. Rodgers served in the position for eight years. During his time as CFO, Rodgers oversaw more than 40 building projects totaling more than $21 million, including the Newbury Family Welcome Center, renovations to the Douglas MacArthur Academy of Freedom, construction on the new Ben and Bertha Mieth Outdoor Pavilion and others. Prior to his role at HPU, Rodgers served as vice president of business and chief financial officer at Criswell College in Dallas. He has held several administrative roles at First Baptist Academy in Dallas and All Saints Episcopal School in Tyler. He and his wife, Jane, have been married 46 years. They have two adult children and two grandchildren.

Ash Creek Baptist Church will recognize the retirement of Wesley Shotwell as pastor on Jan. 26. Shotwell has been in the ministry more than 42 years, serving both Tarrant Baptist Association and with the Baptist General Convention of Texas and as pastor at Ash Creek for more than 27 years. His retirement will be recognized during the morning service at 10:45 a.m., with a reception in his honor at 3 p.m. in the fellowship hall.

Fred Ater, retired Dec. 31, 2024, from his role with the Baptist General Convention of Texas as area four representative. He served with the BGCT about 25 and a half years, as church starting institute director, missional church consultant and area four representative. Prior to joining BGCT staff, Ater and his wife Susan served as International Mission Board missionaries to Brazil for 10 years and Estonia for five years. He also served on staff in churches in Jackson, Miss., and in Texas at Richmond, Denton and Fort Worth. The Aters have two children and five adult grandchildren. They live in San Antonio.

Bob Billups retired Dec. 31, 2024, from GC2 Press at the Baptist General Convention of Texas, where he served as publisher since 2017, when it was known as BaptistWay Press. Billups served as senior associate pastor of First Baptist Church in Denton and at First Baptist Church of Midland for a combined 17 years. He also served in ministry roles at churches in Savoy, Longview, Kingwood and Tyler.

Don Newbury retired from First Baptist Church in Burleson Dec. 31, 2024, where he served as co-director of senior adults for seven years. Newbury served as president of Howard Payne University from 1985 to 1997 and as chancellor afterwards. Prior to HPU, Newbury worked in journalism at several colleges in Texas and served as president of Western Texas College in Snyder. Newbury will continue writing his column “The Idle American,” now in its 23rd year and running in about 150 Texas newspapers, and he will continue to speak at churches and for other assemblies, as he has for the past 60 years.

(RNS)—Richard Hays, a renowned New Testament scholar and former dean of Duke Divinity School known for his influential books on Christian ethics and his change of mind about same-sex marriage, died Jan. 3, at his home in Nashville, Tenn., from pancreatic cancer. Hays was 76.

A former English teacher and pastor, Hays was a graduate of Yale University and Yale Divinity School and earned his doctorate from Emory University in 1981. He then returned to teach New Testament at Yale from 1981 to 1991 and then at Duke Divinity School until his retirement in 2018.

For much of his career, he was perhaps best known for his 1996 book, The Moral Vision of the New Testament, in which he argued same-sex relationships were “one among many tragic signs that we are a broken people, alienated from God’s loving purpose.”

His well-respected scholarly work was cited by Christian leaders who viewed same-sex relationships as sinful and who opposed LGBTQ affirmation in churches.

Last year, Hays publicly changed his mind—in what he described as an act of repentance for the way his work had been used to harm LGBTQ people and to divide Christians—in a new book, The Widening of God’s Mercy: Sexuality Within the Biblical Story, co-authored with his son, Christopher Hays, an Old Testament scholar.

In the book’s introduction, Richard Hays recounts how his brother initially balked at attending their mother’s funeral, because her church, where the service would be held, affirmed same-sex relationships. That prompted him to reflect on the place of LGBTQ Christians in the church.

Since 1996, Hays had been rethinking his interpretation of the biblical texts barring same-sex relations because of his experience of teaching gay students in seminary and seeing the faithful service of gay Christians in local churches, he told Pete Wehner in a New York Times interview last year, including Hays’ own congregation.

 “The present book is, for me, an effort to offer contrition and to set the record straight on where I now stand. … I am deeply sorry,” he told RNS in 2024. “The present book can’t undo past damage, but I pray that it may be of some help.”

The new book was seen as a betrayal by conservatives who agreed with his former book. But Hays told National Public Radio he was at peace with his change of mind, though he knew it would cause controversy.

“So, there’s a sense in which I’m eating some of my own words, and I’m concerned that it will perhaps burn some bridges and break some relationships that I’ve cherished,” he told NPR. “But as I age, I wanted my final word on the subject to be out there. And so there it is.”

Hays initially was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in July 2015 and at the time had been given a dire prognosis. But surgery and chemotherapy put his cancer into remission until 2022, when it returned. Despite more treatment, the cancer had spread by the summer of 2023, and eventually he went into hospice care.

This past fall, he wrote a health update asking for prayer, knowing the cancer would likely soon take his life.

“Over these past nine years, Judy and I have become practiced in looking death in the face,” he wrote. “We continue to trust that we are in the hands of a merciful God who loves us. And we continue to anticipate the power of the resurrection.

“It’s a hard thing to know with some certainty that I will not be here to watch my grandchildren grow up. But as in years before, we remain grateful for each new day in which we can join the Psalmist in proclaiming: ‘This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.’”

Hays is survived by his wife, Judy, and children Christopher and Sarah.

For the Baptist Standard’s response to Hayes’ book, The Widening of God’s Mercy see: Voices: Response to The Widening of God’s Mercy, Part I; Voices: Response to The Widening of God’s Mercy, Part II; and Voices: Three responses to The Widening of God’s Mercy.

WASHINGTON (BP)—Religious nationalism, mass displacement, authoritarianism, surveillance technology and other trends combine to persecute 300 million Christians globally, International Christian Concern reported in its 2025 Global Persecution Index.

Examining 20 countries, the latest annual report identifies 20 persecution zones, spotlights underlying factors that make each region increasingly unstable, and details the growing persecution Christians are suffering at the hands of government, terrorist organizations and society.

Christian persecution intensified in 2024 in Nicaragua, India, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria and regions throughout Africa’s Sahel region, ICC said in its report. ICC cited increased government hostility in Nicaragua, Hindu nationalism and anti-conversion laws in India, and terrorism and displacement in Africa.

Studying 20 countries in Africa, North Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Southeast Asia, ICC highlighted persecution trends while showcasing the enduring church amid persecution, and calling on the global church to intervene on behalf of the persecuted.

“We show where life is challenging for the millions of Christians who face myriad forms of persecution—murder, imprisonment, torture, rape, attacks, discrimination, isolation, ostracization and more,” ICC said of its report.

“We examine corners of our world where believers can’t publicly identify as Christian or openly recite a Bible verse without severe punishment. We offer updates where extremist leaders and hateful groups actively target Christians and force the church underground.”

In Nicaragua, the national government has weaponized the Ministry of Interior to crack down on hundreds of churches, aid groups and other faith-based organizations, ICC said.

The report cited U.S. State Department data showing Nicaragua revoked the operating licenses of at least 315 faith-based nonprofit organizations in 2023, including 233 associated with evangelical groups, 38 linked to the Catholic church and 41 from other faith-based groups.

In India, extremism, blasphemy and anti-conversion laws, political agendas that restrict religious minorities, and baseless arrests and imprisonments are used to discriminate against Christians and other religious minorities.

Hindu nationalists Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh are making progress in pushing for India to become an entirely Hindu nation, with the influence reaching to the prime minister. Christians comprised 2.3 percent of the population in India at the time of the 2011 census. Muslims, the largest religious minority, also are persecuted.

In Nigeria, the deadliest country for Christians, ICC cited terrorist groups Boko Haram, Islamic State West Africa Province, Fulani Militants and local extremists as those causing the most harm.

Nigeria’s blasphemy and anti-conversion laws, the use of Sharia law in Nigeria’s 12 northern states—although secular courts often overturn rulings—and identity-based politics along ethnic, political and economic lines tend to work against Christians, ICC said.

In the Sahel, civil war pitting the Sudanese Armed Forces against the Rapid Support Forces has sustained discrimination and persecution that began decades ago against the minority Christian population, ICC said.

Additionally, despite Islamic State West Africa Province’s shared ideology with Boko Haram, the two are in a high-stakes territorial war in the Sahel. Churches, religious leaders and communities are often attacked and massacred, often for resources that are limited.

ICC cited the displacement of more than 8 million people from Sudan since the war began in April 2023, as well as the displacement of 3.3 million in 2024 across Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania and Niger, based on United Nations numbers.

WASHINGTON (RNS)—A new Pew Research Center report on the religious composition of the 119th session of Congress reveals the majority of its members identify as Christian and 75 are Baptist.

The “Faith on the Hill” report draws on data gathered by CQ Roll Call, a publication that compiles congressional data and provides legislative tracking. For every new session, the website sends questionnaires to new members and follows up with reelected members on their religious affiliation.

“Christians will make up 87 percent of voting members in the Senate and House of Representatives, combined, in the 2025-27 congressional session,” reads the report.

Though the share of Christian members of Congress slightly decreased since the last session, 88 percent, and from a decade ago, 92 percent, the House and Senate are still significantly more Christian than the American public, which has dropped below two-thirds Christian (62 percent).

Less than 1 percent of Congress members identify as religiously unaffiliated, also called “nones,” though they account for 28 percent of the American population. Three Congress members reported being religiously unaffiliated, two more than in the previous session.

The new session includes 71 non-Christian members—six more than the 118th Congress—including 32 Jews, four Muslims, four Hindus, three Unitarian Universalists, three Buddhists, three unaffiliated and one humanist. All but five of the non-Christian members are Democrats.

More Baptists than any other denomination

The new Congress will have a total of 461 Christian members, including 295 members who identify as Protestant.

As in previous sessions, Baptists are the most represented denomination, with 75 Baptist members, eight more than in the last session. The report doesn’t specify which Baptist group members affiliate with.

The other most represented Protestant denominations are Methodists and Presbyterians, with 26 members each; Episcopalians, with 22 members; and Lutherans, with 19 members.

These four denominations have had dwindling memberships in recent decades and have also seen their share shrink in Congress. The report’s first edition, published in 2011 for the 112th Congress, counted 51 Methodists, 45 Presbyterians, 41 Episcopalians and 26 Lutherans.

The share of Baptists is slightly higher in the House, 15 percent, than in the Senate, 12 percent. Catholics, too, will be more present in the House than in the Senate, respectively 29 percent and 24 percent; whereas, there is a higher percentage of Presbyterians, Episcopalians and Lutherans in the Senate than the House.

Among the 295 Protestant members, 101 didn’t specify which denomination they affiliated with. The report noted that many gave “broad or vague answers” like “Protestant” or “evangelical Protestant.”

Over the last decade, more members of Congress have given similar answers. In 2015, when the 114th session of Congress started, only 58 members reported being “just Christian” without specifying a denomination.

Of the 218 Republican representatives and senators, 98 percent identified as Christians. Only five Republican members are not Christians—three are Jewish, one is religiously unaffiliated and one person responded “refused/don’t know.”

While congressional Christians on either side of the aisle are more likely to be Protestant than Catholic, Democrats have a higher percentage of Catholics (32 percent) than Republicans have (25 percent).

Congressional Democrats are significantly more religiously diverse than Republicans. Though three-quarters are Christian, there are also 29 Jews, three Buddhists, four Muslims, four Hindus, three Unitarian Universalists, one humanist and two unaffiliated. Twenty congressional Democrats responded “refused/don’t know.”

The 119th session includes 150 Catholics and six Orthodox Christians. It also includes nine members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and one Republican member who identifies as a Messianic Jew.

The religious affiliation of 21 members remains unknown, as they either declined to disclose it or couldn’t be reached.

The analysis didn’t take into consideration Ohio Senator JD Vance, who will become vice president on Jan. 20, Representative Matt Gaetz, who resigned amid sexual misconduct allegations, and Representative Michael Waltz, who announced he would resign on Jan. 20 to serve in the Trump administration as a national security adviser. They all reported being Christians.

Anansi Flaherty, a backup fullback on Katy High School’s 2000 State Championship team, gave his life to Christ in prison. On Dec. 19, 2024, he was baptized—“raised to walk in new life”—outside those walls.

In the presence of the First Baptist Church in Burleson’s Primetimers senior adult ministry and Don Newbury, retired HPU president and retiring co-director of senior adults at the church, Flaherty participated in the luncheon program—featuring his faithful coach and him. Then he climbed into a metal trough to make his faith commitment clear.

Flaherty’s high school coach, Jeff Dixon—who has provided support and familial care since first seeing reports of the terrible crime that led to Flaherty’s incarceration—knelt beside the trough. Jack Crane, pastor of Truevine Missionary Baptist Church in Fort Worth, dipped Flaherty beneath the water.

“God is at work here,” Dixon noted at multiple points in his presentation leading up to the celebrated redemption symbol. Those who could stood and clapped after the baptism.

Many in the room, Newbury noted, had followed Flaherty and Dixon’s story along with him, praying and supporting the young man whose life had taken such a tragic turn, now bearing witness to his redemption this Christmas season.

It was in the Christmas season of 2002 when the Fort Bend County sheriff’s department received a call about a “suspicious male walking down the street.” A witness described large amounts of blood on this clothing and body, a 2003 article reported.

That day was not discussed in the Primetimers’ luncheon program, apart from the handout, and little about it is publicly available or clear. According to several reports, Flaherty remembers few details of that day.

Reports say he recalled being high on drugs, and when he was approached by officers, the 19-year-old said he had killed his mother.

In a plea deal, Flaherty was sentenced to 40 years for first-degree murder, eligible for parole in 2022.

The hero of the story

“God’s the hero of every story,” Dixon began his message to the Primetimers’ luncheon. “And he is most certainly the hero of this one.”

Dixon—whom Newbury described along with his wife Mandy as being among the most notable Howard Payne graduates—explained in his early coaching career, he was “in hot pursuit of me,” rather than attuned to God’s leading.

His early years as an assistant coach, under Bob Ledbetter at Southlake Carroll, led to assisting Coach Mike Johnston in his hometown of Katy. Then he moved to Ennis, where he and his family intended to stay.

In Ennis, the Dixon family lived within walking distance of the church, and, Dixon noted, he and Mandy became more serious about prayerfully listening to God.

When Johnston called him about returning to Katy to assist, which, Dixon explained, would have been seen as a coveted opportunity under a highly respected and successful coach, he initially turned Johnston down.

The family loved Ennis, and Dixon loved to teach. The position in Katy was for P.E. and assistant football coach, but Dixon taught math and didn’t want to give that up, he said.

Johnston understood but “asked me to remain in prayer over it,” so Dixon and his wife did.

Johnston called back just before the end of the year to explain a math teacher unexpectedly was leaving, so if Dixon came to Katy, he’d be able to coach and teach.

“We were convinced because of prayer that God called us to Katy,” Dixon said, noting when “you find yourself in God’s will, he turns you to where he wants you to be.”

They still cried when they pulled away from Ennis, the little town they’d loved so much, but “God was at work,” he said.

Back in Katy, Flaherty played a position Dixon coached, fullback. He recalled Flaherty being a kid everyone liked. Even during disciplinary-type drills designed to “get your attention,” Flaherty kept smiling when anyone else would have been miserable, Dixon said.

Dixon explained assistant coaches were held responsible for the eligibility of the players in their position. Flaherty struggled with math, so he spent many days in Dixon’s office for tutoring. At this time, Flaherty lived by himself in an apartment near the school.

His family would come to check on him often. But at 16 years old and recently released from juvenile detention, he was essentially on his own. Dixon noted if it wasn’t for football, Flaherty would have been in a lot of trouble, musing, “Can you imagine being by yourself like that?”

Sometimes coaches would buy him groceries. Weekly, the Dixon family hosted a meal for running backs at their home. The family got to know Flaherty and care about him, Dixon recalled.

When he graduated, Flaherty went to Texas A&M in Kingsville to continue playing football but came home for Christmas break in 2002. Dixon and his wife, on break themselves, turned on the news—where in the mugshot accompanying a tragic story, they saw a familiar face, Dixon said.

The impact of faithful friendship

Dixon went to see Flaherty in the Fort Bend County jail and continued to visit him weekly for a year. Dixon noted he was present in the courtroom when Flaherty was sentenced to 40 years.

Then the Dixon family went to work praying for Flaherty. Flaherty refers to his time in the penitentiary as being “in the belly of the fish” in a reference to Jonah. All during Flaherty’s incarceration the two men exchanged letters.

Dixon often traveled to visit Flaherty, as he was moved around the state to various penitentiaries. For 22 years, the men stayed in touch, and Flaherty shared in his letters how God was working in his life, signing the letters with “In His grip” and “Your Second Son, Anansi.”

When Dixon asked Flaherty whose grip that was, his answer was, “Yahweh’s.”

For 22 years, Dixon said his conversations with Anansi were through thick glass by a phone with a bad connection.

When he got word in November of Flaherty’s parole and that he was being released to a halfway house in Houston, the family headed there, not realizing there still were restrictions that normally would prevent them from seeing him.

When they arrived, they were permitted to see him and hug him. God was at work there, too, Dixon said, because the parole officer happened to be there and explain Flaherty needed a plan for when his remaining 20 days in the halfway house concluded.

They made a plan, and Flaherty now lives in the Fort Worth area.

Crane, who baptized him, has been handling Flaherty’s transportation to weekly Bible studies at Truevine, until Dixon teaches him how to drive his first car, a standard transmission, gifted to him through a ministry that provides cars to parolees.

Dixon sees that story too as proof “God is at work here.”

In the question and answer with Dixon, Flaherty explained he began to understand the power of forgiveness as an adult in prison.

Flaherty noted in his youth he had anger issues, believing he had to fight back against “the man” and racial injustice. But he learned in prison if he could “let it slide” when a guard upset him, that guard might stick up for him when he needed it.

“You know when someone is really for you,” Flaherty said, when Dixon asked him about friendship. True friendship should be unconditional, not circumstantial, Flaherty asserted.

Just before the baptism Flaherty asked, “Can I leave with an acrostic? G-O-S-P-E-L—God’s Obedient Son Providing Eternal Life.”

Robert Owen Rachuig, Texas Baptist pastor and home missionary, died Dec. 19 in Garland. He was 85. He was born Feb. 24, 1939, in Clifton to A.W. and Lurlyne Coker Rachuig and spent his early years in Fairy on the Duncan ranch, where his father served as manager. After he graduated from Fairy High School, he began preparing for ministry by attending the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor before transferring to Howard Payne University, where he met Joyce Ruth Pesnell. The two married on Aug. 7, 1959. He became pastor of Mosheim Baptist Church while continuing his education at Baylor University and working as manager of a grocery store. In 1982, the Rachuigs were appointed as missionaries with the Southern Baptist Convention Home Mission Board. He helped establish churches in Bullhead City, Ariz., and Elephant Butte, N.M., and also was a pastor in Oberlin, Kan., and at Westwood Baptist Church in Palestine. In his later years, he lived at Abba Care Assisted Living in Garland, where he preached regularly and ministered to other residents. He was a member of South Garland Baptist Church. He is survived by his wife of 65 years, Joyce Rachuig; daughter Sheri Hein and her husband Layton of WaKeeney, Kan.; son Russell Rachuig and his wife Missy of Dallas; daughter Dawn Bowers and her husband Rick of Rowlett; seven grandchildren; 12 great-grandchildren; one great-great-granddaughter; and a sister, Gale Hicks. Memorial gifts may be made to Abba Care Assisted Living at 1201 High Grove Dr., Garland, TX 75041.

NEW ORLEANS (BP)—In an eclectic New Orleans ministerial mix, a second line jazz band belted gospel favorites in the footsteps of pastors prayerwalking Bourbon Street hours after the carnage of a New Year’s Day terrorist attack was cleared.

Southern Baptist pastors and chaplaincy leaders were among clergy who joined city elected officials in the 10-block procession at noon Jan. 2, praying for New Orleans after an attacker drove a truck past barricades and into a crowd of predawn New Year’s celebrants, killing 14, injuring at least 30, and himself dying from police gunfire.

Vieux Carre’ Baptist Church, meeting at 433 Dauphine St., was one block over from the attacker’s path and perhaps only yards from where the truck came to rest after it barreled three blocks down Bourbon Street, an area packed with revelers in the city known for its ability to host large parties.

Police identified the attacker, now deceased, as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a 42-year-old U.S. citizen from Texas who served in the military and praised ISIS in advance of the attack.

Vieux Carre’ Baptist Church Pastor Alex Brian, who participated in the prayerwalk, was awaiting the opportunity to check on his church’s meeting location when he spoke with Baptist Press Jan. 2.

There’s no indication members of Vieux Carre’ were injured in the attack, Brian said of the congregation that serves the community that spans the homeless and the wealthy, but that could change.

“Thus far, no one in the ministry of the church has been affected, although our church has historically been deeply involved in work in the homeless community, and word there travels more slowly,” he said.

“And we’re trying to figure out who if anybody connected to the ministry of the church was affected by the attack, and of course praying and mourning for all those who were affected, even if they weren’t connected to the church.”

Supporting the ministry of chaplains

Brian is praying for and supporting chaplains in the locked-down area around the scene of the attack. They include those under the command of Col. Page Brooks, state command chaplain for the Louisiana National Guard and pastor of Canal Street Mosaic Community Church, a Southern Baptist congregation that collaborates with Brian on various ministry outreaches.

The National Guard deployed 100 soldiers and two chaplains in response to the attack, said Brian, who was walking the streets of the French Quarter to provide counseling and check on soldiers and first responders.

“It’s been tragic for them,” Brooks said. “Many of them live here in the New Orleans area, and so I think it’s the shock having an incident happen like this in New Orleans. We’re so focused on Mardi Gras and tourism … you wouldn’t think anything would happen like a terrorist event down here in the French Quarter. That’s been a lot of my conversation.”

Much of the chaplaincy ministry has been focused on the soldiers and police who have responded to the scene, he said.

“Most everyone kind of in the area is still in shock,” Brooks said. “I think people feel secure because there’s a lot of police presence down here, but I think people are still just in shock at what has happened.

“I try to tell them that God is still in control,” he said. “And, of course, none of this took him by surprise.”

Still, Brooks expressed surprise at the many tourists who still crowd the parts of the Quarter that remained open to traffic in advance of the Sugar Bowl, postponed until 3 p.m. Thursday from an original game time of 7:45 p.m. Jan. 1.

Brooks and Brian will hold a joint service Sunday at 10 a.m. at Canal Street Mosaic Church dedicated to healing in the aftermath of the tragedy.

Former Southern Baptist Convention President Fred Luter was among prayerwalkers, pleading for the peace of God to permeate the city.

 “We did not have any members directly impacted by this tragedy,” said Luter, senior pastor of Franklin Avenue Baptist Church. “However, our entire city has been impacted because of this terrorist attack.

“New Orleans is used to hosting major events like the Super Bowl, Sugar Bowl and Mardi Gras, all without incident,” Luter said, lamenting the attack “where a number of people have been killed and injured. Therefore, prayers for our city and the families who lost loved ones are truly needed.

“This incident will only draw our public officials and citizens together to continue to make New Orleans a popular tourist destination for people from around the world.”

Brooks also participated in the prayerwalk, which together with the second line created a vibe he described as unique to New Orleans.

“We had a second line band behind us, that as we were praying they were singing, ‘I’ll Fly Away’ and ‘When the Saints (Go Marching In),’” he said. “In New Orleans, it’s that weird mixture of lament, but also joy in the middle of things like this.

“It’s the lament of the death that’s happened and the people that have passed. But it’s also the strength of coming together as a city that is symbolized in that very act of” prayer accompanied by a second line.

“This is part of the rhythm of New Orleans.”

THE COLONY—Since launching a new Texas Baptist church plant in September and holding worship services inside a state-of-the-art office and meeting space area, Jamael Graves, lead pastor of Cultivate Church in The Colony, realizes the mission field surrounding his congregation.

“When I realized that 40,000 people come to Grandscape and walk through this destination each day, I realized that it’s a mission field and thought about Matthew 9:38, ‘Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field,’” Graves said. “We are believing God for the laborers.’”

The church plant is strategically placed inside Grandscape—a distinctive outdoor entertainment, dining and shopping destination that includes world-class restaurants, family-friendly experiences and technology-driven entertainment and events.

“We didn’t choose Grandscape for our location. Grandscape chose us,” Graves said. “We thought we’d be in the Galleria square and called to find out how we could host an interest meeting. That’s when their leadership asked us if we’d be interested in using the Grandscape facility.

“We never thought we’d be able to afford it, but they took a drastic decrease off the rent to negotiate with us. That’s a God-thing right there.”

Since feeling called to establish Cultivate Church, Graves notes how God’s hand was guiding and providing in preparation for the new church plant.

Word to the wise: ‘Don’t give up’

However, he acknowledges the journey of planting a church certainly hasn’t been easy. Graves said if he could offer church planters a piece of advice, it would be: “Don’t give up.”

Throughout the church-planting process, Graves noted he often felt inadequate for the task at hand, and some situations seemed impossible. But that is when Graves said God showed up the most.

Graves said church planting has been on his heart for some time, but the timing hadn’t been right—until now.

“Nine years ago, my mom died from HIV because of drug abuse. And the week that she died, I met my father and discovered the reason she never wanted him to be around me was because of his drug addiction,” Graves said.

“I was a school principal, and my dad that I had just met suffered a relapse and was back on drugs. Even though I was sensing that the Lord was calling me to start a church back then, I remember being filled with so many questions, doubts and uncertainties surrounding my life.

“I remember asking the Lord: ‘How am I supposed to lead? Why do you want me to do this?’ I’m coming from a dysfunctional family, and I felt disqualified to plant a church. I felt like I was going through a midlife crisis. So, I needed some time away from the idea of planting a church.”

God gave a new vision

Over the past year, Graves sensed God was stirring in his heart and giving him a new vision.

“I was at a conference and texted my wife that I felt called to plant a church,” Graves recalled. “I didn’t hear anything back from her. So, I assumed she thought I was crazy.”

Later, he discovered the Lord had already been working on his wife’s heart and preparing her for this moment.

“My wife said: ‘God already told me that he called you to this, but I knew you were too hard-headed. So, I didn’t say anything to you. I was just waiting for you to realize when the time was right.’”

Last February, Graves took a giant leap of faith as he quit his job and started putting the plans into motion to launch the church.

By sharing his testimony and life experiences, Graves hopes it will help connect with people from all walks of life and remind those who are hurting about God’s redemption story.

“I’ve learned to trust God and trust the process,” Graves said. “This is God’s plan, not ours. You know it’s from God when it seems impossible. That’s when it shows his power and his plans that are not our own.”

The church takes the inspiration for its name from 1 Corinthians 3:6-9, where the Apostle Paul wrote: “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow.  So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.”

“We want to see hearts turn back to God,” Graves said. “Through the storms and pain of life, God has been faithful every step of the way. There have been so many hard times, but without a doubt, I know this is what God has called me to do.”

 “We are believing God for the laborers.”

EuGene “Gene” Euell McLain of Plainview, Baptist deacon and former trustee of Wayland Baptist University, died Dec. 25, 2024. He was 89. He was born July 25, 1935, in Fox, Okla., to Woodie Albert and Blanche Shrader McLain. While growing up, his family moved between Oklahoma, Texas and California. He made his profession of faith in Jesus Christ during a tent revival in Bakersfield, Calif., and was baptized in a nearby irrigation canal. He graduated from Chillicothe (Texas) High School in 1956. He and classmate LaNeta Morris married April 19, 1957. After a brief time in Dalhart working at a Ford dealership, the couple moved to Plainview in 1962 to join LaNeta’s brother Ronald in the cottonseed delinting business. The McLains eventually owned Plainview Acid Delinting, where he was president of the business until they retired and closed the operation in 2007. They continued to warehouse the seed for farmers for another decade. The McLains were members of College Heights Baptist Church in Plainview, where he was the most longstanding member of record and a deacon. For decades, he also was the church treasurer, served on numerous committees and taught Sunday school. He served four terms as a trustee of Wayland Baptist University from 1981 to 1989, including a term as secretary of the board. “Gene McLain was a man of exceptional faith, integrity and humility,” said Wayland President Donna Hedgepath. “He brought a quiet strength to the board of trustees and an abiding dedication to advancing Wayland’s mission of Christian higher education. His impact is woven into the fabric of this institution, and his legacy of service will continue to inspire us all.” He was preceded in death by his wife of 65 years, LaNeta Morris McLain; and brothers Caril Andrew, Larry Earl and Waylan Alvin McLain. He is survived by son Jeffery; son Kevin and his wife Lana; daughter LaGena Horak and her husband Paul; five granddaughters; six great-grandchildren; and one great-great-granddaughter. Memorial gifts may be made to the Gene and LaNeta McLain Scholarship at Wayland Baptist University. Contributions can be sent to 1900 W. 7th Street, CMB 1295, Plainview, TX 79072, or online at give.wbu.edu.

Texans on Mission volunteers served more than 80,000 meals in Israel in 2024.

The Texas-based missions organization works in partnership with Israel’s Emergency Volunteer Project, which provided more than 800,000 using equipment and facilities Texans on Mission helped develop.

“We now have 10 feeding trailers/units, each with a generator, that can be deployed anywhere,” said John Travis Smith, Texans on Mission associate executive director. “We can house 40 volunteers in Israel and expand that number if we need to.”

Texans on Mission organizes disaster relief training trips to Israel throughout the year, and it deployed teams a year ago after Hamas attacked Israel. It held its last 2024 training session in November.

“We now have 165 people trained in kosher protocols” required for food service in Israel, said Gary Finley, Texans on Mission Israel volunteer coordinator. “This would staff all 10 kitchens for two weeks. We are continuing training in 2025.”

More trained volunteers are still needed, Finley added.

“If there were a major disaster, we would run short of trained volunteers. So we need more,” he said.

A ‘roller coaster year’ in Israel

Finley called 2024 a “roller coaster year” in Israel. The year began with the emergency response when multiple Texans on Mission teams served, which was followed by regular training trips, and then the entire team was placed on standby when the conflict in Lebanon escalated.

In a Dec. 18 email to trained volunteers he said: “For now we will remain on alert. I ask that you continue to pray for peace and safety for our partners over there.”

Monthly training trips will resume in March 2025 and then skip April as Jews worldwide observe Passover.

In November, the last training of 2024, Texans on Mission volunteer trainees prepared, cooked and served more than 3,000 meals alongside EVP workers. They trained to cook kosher meals to prepare for any future deployments to deliver relief when needed.

Texans on Mission volunteers said they also found the work in Israel inspiring.

It was “very humbling for me to serve a people who are fighting for their very existence,” said Texans on Mission volunteer Cheryl Terry.

“I absolutely feel that I receive a blessing each time I serve. Everyone that can physically go would see and experience the people of Israel and the resilience of spirit. They have been an inspiration to me personally.”

Volunteers also had opportunities to explore historic sites. “To be able to possibly walk where Jesus did is just inspiring to me,” said Texans on Mission volunteer Jerry Ickes.

Texans on Mission volunteer Kelton Gunter said: “You just have to see it and live it a bit to get any sense of it. I highly recommend people take this opportunity, not only to help during the training mission, but to be qualified to serve when the next emergency happens.”

The training efforts did not go unnoticed by the people of Israel. “When they see us working very hard, … they know we have traveled thousands of miles to help them and prove that we care,” Gunter said.

Taryn Johnson, Texans on Mission social media strategist, said it was a blessing to see “such humble servants eager to help those in need. A trip to Israel is one that requires flexibility and determination, and every volunteer exuded these traits with a smile. They highly recommended others volunteer for mass feeding in Israel, and for that we are grateful.”

A new registration process for Israel training trips has been implemented. Visit the Texans on Mission webpage, TexansOnMission.org/Israel, to learn more details about the trips and to register.

An airstrike on a Baptist church in Sudan less than a week before Christmas killed at least 11 people, including eight children, an organization focused on international religious freedom reported.

The Sudan Armed Forces airstrike hit Al Ezba Baptist Church in Khartoum North on Dec. 20. It damaged the worship facility, the church’s nursery—which was occupied at the time—and several residential buildings, Christian Solidarity Worldwide reported.

Less than a week after the airstrike on the mosque, more than 100 civilians were killed when the Sudan Armed Forces hit a crowded marketplace in Kabkabiya in western Darfur.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom reported in April more than 150 churches had been damaged since the war in Sudan began in 2023.

“We pray for God to give the two warring parties the wisdom to stop the war. The longer it continues, the more innocent children and civilians will die,” Pastor Philemon Hassan of Al Ezba Baptist Church said.

“In Al Ezba area, people are dying either in this way or for the lack of basic humanitarian needs. Some can’t afford to leave the area, and those who can, are afraid to leave because they could be arrested for falsely being affiliated with the RSF.”

In October, more than 100 members of the Sudanese Church of Christ moved from Al Ezba to Shendi in River Nile State, seeking to escape the violence. In Shendi, 26 men were arrested by the Sudan Armed Forces Military Intelligence Unit and accused of being affiliated with the Rapid Support Forces.

Khataza Gondwe, advocacy director for CSW, expressed condolences to the families of those killed and injured in the Dec. 20 airstrike.

“It is particularly deplorable that most of the fatalities were children who died in a place where they should have been safe. The high number of child casualties illustrates the continuing disregard for civilian lives by both warring parties throughout this conflict,” he said.

“In addition, the persistent targeting of places of worship violates international humanitarian and human rights law egregiously, and may constitute a war crime, especially when these premises are being used to meet the sharp rise in humanitarian needs generated by the ongoing conflict.

“CSW continues to call on both the SAF and the RSF to agree to an immediate and unconditional ceasefire, to ensure the protection of civilians, and to bring an end to the severe human rights and humanitarian crises in the country.”

EDITOR’S NOTE: Attacks on houses of worship continued after Christmas.  On Dec. 30, Sudan Rapid Support Forces attacked a Sudanese Church of Christ in Al Hasaheisa, Gezira State, during a prayer service, forcing the 177 Christians who had gathered to leave, CSW reported. At least 14 people were assaulted and insured.

WASHINGTON (RNS)—Prior to Christmas, President Joe Biden commuted the sentences of all but three people on federal death row, converting their sentences to life in prison.

It represented a victory for religious advocates who have pressured the president to make the move during his final days in office—even as they call on him to “finish the job” by commuting the remaining three.

Biden, who campaigned on the promise of abolishing the federal death penalty, announced the move Dec 23. He framed the action partially as a response to remarks by President-elect Donald Trump, who has pledged to restart executions upon assuming office.

“Guided by my conscience and my experience as a public defender, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, vice president and now president, I am more convinced than ever that we must stop the use of the death penalty at the federal level,” Biden stated. “In good conscience, I cannot stand back and let a new administration resume executions that I halted.”

The news comes 10 days after Biden announced he would commute the sentences of roughly 1,500 people who were released from prison and placed on home confinement during the pandemic, as well as pardoning 39 people convicted of nonviolent crimes—the largest single-day act of clemency in modern history.

The White House explained Biden believes “America must stop the use of the death penalty at the federal level, except in cases of terrorism and hate-motivated mass murder—which is why today’s actions apply to all but those cases.”

Praised as an ‘act of mercy’

Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, celebrated the move as an “act of mercy” that brings the country “a step closer to building a culture of life.” He also called on lawmakers to eliminate the death penalty entirely.

“My brother bishops and I unite in expressing our gratitude that President Biden has commuted the federal death sentences of 37 men,” Broglio stated. “The bishops’ conference has long called for an end to the use of the death penalty. This action by the president is a significant step in advancing the cause of human dignity in our nation.”

Similarly, Gabe Salguero, head of the National Latino Evangelical Coalition, noted while he and other Latino evangelicals “grieve for the victims and unequivocally condemn these murders,” he nonetheless welcomed the news.

“Today’s Advent season decision by President Biden to commute the death sentences of 37 federal inmates is a reminder that as a nation we must still grapple with the inequities that plague this system,” Salguero said, noting NALEC became the first national evangelical group to call for an end to the death penalty in 2015.

The Catholic Mobilizing Network also celebrated the decision as “unparalleled.”

“Today’s historic decision by President Biden advances the cause of human dignity and underscores the sacred value of every human life,” read a statement from the group. “Praise God!”

’37 is good, but 40 is better’

But some of the advocates, including Shane Claiborne, a Christian activist who has spent years protesting the death penalty, noted that while the announcement allows 37 people facing capital punishment to instead serve life in prison, three men will remain on death row.

They are Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, convicted in the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing; Robert Bowers, convicted in the 2018 Tree of Life Synagogue attack in Pittsburgh, Penn.; and Dylann Roof, who killed nine Black worshippers in 2015 at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C.

“The death penalty does not heal the wounds of violence, it just creates new wounds,” Claiborne said in a text message to Religion News Service. “We can honor the victims of violence without killing more people. It’s time to stop killing to try to show that killing is wrong.”

He added: “37 is good but 40 is better. No one—not even Dylann Roof—is beyond redemption.”

Claiborne was echoed by fellow advocate Sharon Risher, whose cousins and mother, Ethel Lance, were among the nine church members killed in the 2015 shooting at Mother Emanuel Church.

“Every time this case comes up, I am brought back to the day my mother and cousins were murdered, and I need that to stop,” Risher said.

“Politics has gotten in the way of mercy. You can’t rank victims, Mr. President. I am begging you to finish the job, not only with the three men left on federal death row, but also with those on the military death row. There’s still time. Finish the job.”

Anti-death penalty activist Jeff Hood did not consider commuting the death sentences of 93 percent of the inmates on federal death row a passing grade.

“Just when I thought Joe Biden was going to give our nation some ethical clarity, he has presented us with a new nightmare—the ranking of murder victims. Either Biden finishes the job and commutes all federal death sentences or we are left in the same place we were before—a moral abyss of federal sentencing that only pursues death sentences in rare cases, prioritizing some murder victims above all others,” Hood wrote on social media.

“This is not time for celebration. We are in the same moral abyss we were in before. Regardless of how many death sentences President Biden just commuted, by not commuting them all he has made sure that the killing will continue.”

Urged to act by faith leaders

Biden’s announcement comes after a blitz of public and private advocacy by faith leaders and activists.

In mid-December, a group of religious leaders, activists and law enforcement officials traveled to Washington to stage a day of advocacy around the issue. Members of the group held a vigil outside the White House and spoke at a hearing on Capitol Hill alongside lawmakers such as U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., who has cited her own Christian faith as part of the inspiration for her involvement.

The effort also got a high-profile boost from Pope Francis—who changed the catechism of the Catholic Church in 2018 to declare the death penalty “inadmissible”—when he devoted a section of a homily earlier this month to the subject. He asked Catholics to pray that Biden, a Catholic, would commute the death sentences of those on death row.

“Think of these brothers and sisters of ours and ask the Lord for the grace to save them from death,” Francis said.

In a letter sent to Biden last week, Risher, who also serves as chair of Death Penalty Action, expressed concern Trump would restart federal executions upon taking office next month.

“It is vital that you deny him that opportunity by commuting every death sentence remaining on federal and military death rows,” Risher wrote.

‘All lives are sacred’

Marshall Dayan, a retired federal public defender living in Pittsburgh and cochair of the board of Pennsylvanians Against the Death Penalty, said he was pleased with Biden’s 37 commutations but disappointed he didn’t commute all 40 death-row inmates.

“All lives are sacred. We’re all created with ‘t’zelem elohim,’ in the image of God. And yet, the message this sends is that there’s a hierarchy of values,” he said. “I don’t think the president believes that. But it is the message that he sends by saying, ‘I’m going to treat these three people differently.’”

But Dayan said he was aware that many in the Pittsburgh community did not want the sentence of Robert Bowers commuted, as views regarding the death penalty for the three men left on death row are not uniform.

Last year, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro explained his own opposition to the death penalty by citing conversations he had with the families of those killed in the Tree of Life shooting and members of the worship community, indicating several do not support capital punishment.

Even so, seven of the nine families involved have previously indicated support for the death penalty, and the sons of Joyce Fienberg, who was killed in the shooting, sent a letter to Biden this month asking the president not to commute Bowers’ sentence, arguing the shooter did not show remorse.

“In Judaism, T’shuvah—repentance, or a return to righteousness—requires confession, regret, and seeking to right the wrongs committed,” read the letter, signed by Anthony and Howard Fienberg. “Absent that, forgiveness is not even possible.”

Similarly, some parents of children who were killed and wounded during the Boston bombing publicly voiced opposition to the death penalty in the case, but others have suggested support for it.

Biden declared his desire to abolish the federal death penalty while campaigning in 2019, and placed a moratorium on federal executions in 2021. But he did not ultimately eliminate the death penalty, nor did he stop the Department of Justice from prosecuting capital punishment cases during his tenure, frustrating many advocates.

But religious activists who oppose the death penalty say they will continue to pressure Biden to commute the sentences of those still on death row, arguing their cause is ultimately a matter of faith.

“Rather than asking, ‘Do they deserve to die,’ we should be asking ‘Do we deserve to kill?’” Claiborne said. “As Jesus said, ‘Let the one without sin cast the first stone.’”

With additional reporting by Bob Smietana of RNS and Baptist Standard Managing Editor Ken Camp.