• Dillon International will hold a free adoption meeting at 6 p.m. Sept. 12 at the Buckner Children's Home campus in Dallas. A Dillon representative will give an overview of adoption from China, Korea, Haiti, India and Hong Kong, plus new opportunities in Ghana. A domestic adoption program for Texas families and adoption programs in Russia, Ethiopia and Honduras—available through an affiliation with Buckner International—also will be discussed. For information or a reservation, call (214) 319-3426.

• Hardin-Simmons University will hold a conference to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the King James Version of the Bible Sept. 12-13. "The conference will focus on the world of the King James Version in the context from which it arose and its creation. We will focus on its influence on culture and the church," said Bob Ellis, associate dean for academics at Logsdon Seminary. The Bible collection at HSU, which includes many rare editions, also will be on display. To register for the conference and make reservations for the complimentary meals, visit Logsdon Seminary's website at www.logsdonseminary.org, or call (325) 670-1587.

• The Center for Christianity in Business at Houston Baptist University will hold a networking luncheon for business professionals Sept. 30 at noon. The topic will be "Work/Life Balance: How Shall a Christian Professional Then Live?" Tickets are $25 if purchased by Sept. 15, and seating is limited. For more information or to purchase tickets, go to www.hbu.edu/worklifebalance.

• Dallas Baptist University conferred 195 degrees during its August commencement ceremony. Graduates received 99 bachelor's degrees and 96 master's degrees. Jerry Carlisle, pastor of First Church in Plano, received an honorary doctor of divinity degree.

• Baptist University of the Américas celebrated "Mary Ranjel Day" Aug. 16 in recognition of 35 years of service to the school. She began as a file clerk and has risen to be the first female member of the school's executive council as director of enrollment and student services. Surprised by the proclamation during an assembly for new students, she was doubly surprised when her children and grandchildren entered the chapel bearing flowers. A reception followed that afternoon.

• Nine faculty members have been added at Howard Payne University. New to the school are Danny Brunette-Lopez, Spanish; Elisabeth Greene, music; Samuel Greene, political science; Derek Hatch, Christian studies; Amy Kresta, biology; Paul Lilly, criminal justice; Mickey Sargent, mathematics; Melissa Switzer, social work; and Mike Terrill, athletic training.

• The Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education has awarded the athletic training program at East Texas Baptist University a 10-year accreditation certificate. This is the highest award that is given by the commission. ETBU has 28 students currently enrolled in the program. The program is expecting 40 new students for the fall semester.

Anniversaries

• Dave Wilkerson, fifth, as pastor of Ranchhouse Cowboy?Church in Maypearl, Aug. 4.

• Dale Gore, 60th in ministry, Aug. 5. He has been pastor of Elm Grove Church in Belton 12 years. Previous pastorates include Baggett Creek Church in Comanche County, First Church in Whitewright, First Church in Goldthwaite, Trinity Church in Sherman and First Church in Denison. He also served First churches in Uvalde, Hillsboro and Brownwood as minister of music. He was director of missions for Grayson and Austin associations.

• Corky Holland, 10th, as minister of senior adults and pastoral care at First Church in Amarillo, Aug. 14.

• Blain Craig, fifth, as pastor of Oak Crest Church in Midlothian, Aug. 20.

• Bruce Smilie, fifth, as pastor of Crosspointe Church in Midlothian, Aug. 20.

• Ron Lyles, 30th, as pastor of South Main Church in Pasadena, Aug. 21.

• Michael Dean, 20th, as pastor of Travis Avenue Church in Fort Worth, Sept. 1.

Deaths

• Johnie Mae Sasse, 99, July 6 in Baytown. Her late husband, Brooks Sasse, was pastor of churches in Mount Calm, Florence, Livingston and Baytown during their 43-year marriage. She was a member of First Church in Baytown more than 50 years. She is survived by her daughters, Naomi and Chrissy Sasse.

• James Harrell, 85, July 9 in Ridgeland, Miss. His ministry encompassed more than 60 years. He was a pastor, associational director of missions, staff member of the Mississippi Baptist Convention, and served on the stewardship staff of the Baptist General Convention of Texas 14 years. He also was awarded the Bronze Star as an Army infantryman in the Battle of the Bulge. He was preceded in death by his first wife, Elizabeth; brothers, Redus, Jack and Charles; and sisters, Eleanor Pennington, Elizabeth Harper and Elsie Hughes. He is survived by his wife, Carolyn; daughter, Grace Hopkins; sons, David, Mark and Philip; sister, Peggy Spencer; brother, Benny; eight grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

• Bill Merritt, 85, July 25 in Georgetown. A graduate of Howard Payne University and Southwestern Seminary, he ministered to Baptist churches 64 years. While at HPU, he was pastor of Nix Church in Lampasas County and Naruna Church in Burnet County. He also was pastor of Alexander Church in Erath County, Lake Victor Church in Burnet County, and he served First Church in Bertram while attending seminary. Following graduation, he was pastor of First churches in Jacksboro, Coleman and Denver City. After retirement, he became pastor of Grosvenor Church in Brownwood, where he served another 20 years. He served on the Executive Board of the Baptist General Convention of Texas 18 years and as a trustee of Baptist Memorials Ministries in San Angelo nine years. His records show he baptized 731 people, married 258 couples, conducted 535 funerals and led 45 revivals. He was a member of Crestview Church in Georgetown at the time of his death. He was preceded in death by his brothers, Wayne and Loy; and sister, Faye Swearingen. He is survived by his wife of 67 years, LaDelle; daughter, Karen Jackson; sister, Bobbie Crosby; two grandsons; and six great-grandchildren.

• Bobbie Murray, 78, Aug. 9 in Cedar Hill. She attended Mary Hardin-Baylor College and sang in the choral group there. She was an administrative assistant for the ministers' counseling service of the Baptist General Convention of Texas 16 years, retiring from that position in 1999. She was a member of Hillcrest Church in Cedar Hill. She was preceded in death by her first husband, Don Anthony; son, Paul Murray; and brother, Jim Thorn. She is survived by her husband, John; daughter, Susan Gobert; sons, Steve Anthony and John Murray Jr.; sisters, Nell Lewis and Jeanne Winters; brother, Joe Thorn; and nine granchildren.

• Cecil Ray, 88, Aug. 23 in Georgetown. He was born on Seminary Hill in Fort Worth. He was a graduate of Howard Payne University and Southwestern Seminary. He was ordained as a minister of the gospel in 1940 at Immanuel Church in San Angelo.

Cecil Ray

He was pastor at Bennet Church in Llano, Rowena Church in Rowena, Alexander Church in Dublin and Risen Star Church in Sulphur Springs before starting Arnett-Benson Church in Lubbock. In 1956, he resigned from the Lubbock church to become superintendent for missions for San Antonio Association. In 1961, he joined the staff of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, serving as secretary of the Cooperative Program. He later was promoted to director of the stewardship division, and he wrote numerous training materials to assist Texas Baptist churches with their financial stewardship and planning. In 1976, he became the general secretary-treasurer of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, where he served until 1983. He then became national director of Planned Growth in Giving, serving on the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention. Upon retirement at the end of 1988, he moved to Georgetown and taught Sunday school at Crestview Church there until 2004. He was the author of several books, including Living the Responsible Life. He was preceded in death by his wife, Charlene; daughter, Susan Ray; brothers, Truett, Junius, Jessie, Woodie and Henry; and sisters, Mary Ruth Cervenka and Margaret Ray. He is survived by his son, Lanny; sister, Beth Hunsinger; two grandchildren; and one great-granddaughter.

Event

• First Church in Breckenridge honored Cecil Langford, Aug. 21. Born Aug. 24, 1911, he continues to serve as an active deacon, is a member of the Singing Senior Choir, and he and his wife, Nell, provide offertory music on the fiddle and piano regularly.

Ordained

• Ken Barnes, Jeremy Kollaus and Matt Wall as deacons at First Church in La Grange.

DALLAS—A recommendation approved by the Baptist General Convention of Texas Executive Board’s education and finance subcommittees would adjust funding guidelines to “level the playing field” for universities receiving Texas Baptist Cooperative Program funds, said Steve Vernon, associate executive director for the BGCT Executive Board.

The proposal still will need to be considered by the institutional relations committee before the Executive Board takes any action. If approved by the board, messengers to the BGCT annual meeting in Amarillo will consider the matter.

Truett Seminary would receive $1,097,500 in 2012 under the proposal.

If approved, total BGCT financial support for Baylor University will be reduced from about $2.8 million to $1.9 million. The university’s operating budget is more than $428 million this year.

Excluding funding for Baylor’s Truett Theological Seminary—which remains at about $1.1 million—BGCT support for Baylor would decrease from more than $1.72 million in 2011 to $831,175 in 2012 under the proposed guidelines. Baylor would continue to receive scholarship support for undergraduate ministerial education.

Baylor administration officials said they had not yet received formal notification of any proposed change in BGCT support of Baylor University.

“As we have said previously, Baylor cherishes its longstanding and celebrated relationship with the Baptist General Convention of Texas and is seeking ways to strengthen it,” Baylor spokesperson Lori Fogleman said.  

“We continue to honor our historic Baptist heritage and our powerful connection to Texas Baptists through several important programs on our campus, including the Baptist Studies Center for Research, the Texas Baptist Scholars Program, George W. Truett Theological Seminary and a robust scholarship program for the children of Baptist pastors and missionaries. These are but some of the valuable programs at Baylor that are impacting Texas Baptist life through funds graciously and generously provided by the BGCT.”

BGCT-related institutions fall into two categories. Messengers to the BGCT annual meeting elect a majority—currently 75 percent—of the governing boards of what the convention recognizes as “affiliated” institutions.

Others—such as Baylor University and Houston Baptist University—relate to the BGCT through contractual special agreements that allow those institutions more control over the selection of their boards.

Under the current guidelines, universities have received funding for campus religious activities, ministerial scholarships, and minority/ethic scholarships and emphases. The schools also have received a prorated block grant based on student enrollment.

Baylor—with an undergraduate enrollment of more than 12,000 students—has benefited from the block grants on the basis of its size. If the funding proposal passes, neither Baylor nor HBU would receive the prorated grants the affiliated schools will receive.

However, all schools—including Baylor and HBU—will receive a $625,000 base amount. All schools also will receive funding for ministerial education.

All affiliated BGCT schools would benefit to varying degrees from the change in educational funding guidelines.

Houston Baptist University would benefit by more than $250,000 if the funding change proceeds. The university’s Cooperative Program funding never was restored fully after being reduced several years ago when the school became related to the BGCT by special agreement rather than being affiliated.

While HBU would lose its prorated grant under the proposal, it would receive increases in all other areas, amounting to an increase from $424,231 in 2011 to $682,150 in 2012.

“I think this represents an imminently fair approach, and I commend the committee for its work,” said Robert Sloan, president of Houston Baptist University. “I think it is appropriate that that this funding approach gives the same base amount to all the institutions. … At the same time, I think it is perfectly fair to remove the pro rata funding for those of us who relate to the BGCT by special agreement.”

Sloan expressed appreciation to the committee for restoring the base amount to HBU that the BGCT significantly reduced several years ago. He noted increased funding will enable HBU to expand its scholarships to Baptist students, as well increase funding for worship experiences, missions outreach and service activities.

“The BGCT needs Houston, and Houston needs the BGCT,” he said. “Houston needs a strong Baptist witness, and I am proud to represent the BGCT here.”

In recent months, both HBU and Baylor elected the first non-Baptist members of their governing boards. HBU sought and received Executive Board approval last year to revise its special agreement with the BGCT to allow non-Baptists on its board, but messengers to the 2010 BGCT annual meeting rejected it.

At its May meeting, the BGCT Executive Board directed Vernon to invite Baylor University President Ken Starr to develop a process for renegotiating the agreement between the state convention and the university. That action came in response to Baylor’s decision in February to allow non-Baptist Christians on its board of regents.

At that board meeting, a nine-member task force appointed to consider the relationship between the BGCT and Baylor presented its report and recommended a renegotiated agreement.

The task force report noted two items for special consideration:

• Funding—“The BGCT and Baylor should agree on strategic funding that is mutually beneficial for shared interests. Texas Baptists have historically given to the Baptist General Convention of Texas to fund Texas institutions to support ministries of interest to Texas Baptists, of whose interests we bear a responsibility of ongoing stewardship.”

• Representation—“The BGCT and Baylor should revisit the policies and guidelines under which BGCT-elected regents are selected for the Baylor board of regents.”

Any change in funding initiated while an agreement is being renogotiated particularly is untimely, said Randy Wallace, pastor of First Baptist Church in Killeen and an Executive Board member.

“In the middle of shaking hands, you do not poke your friend in the eye. Really bad timing,” Wallace said.

“Absolutely, I believe this is punitive.”

Wallace—who serves on the board’s education subcommittee—expressed concern the proposal was “sent to us, but input from our committee did not shape this decision.”

He predicted a frustrating and divisive Executive Board meeting in September—and if the proposal passes, an even more divisive annual meeting and an anticipated negative reaction from Baylor alumni.

“In these days of shrinking dollars, we do not want to be building enemies within church leadership,” he said.
*********************************************************

Side-by-side Comparison
                                                               2011                      2012 Proposed
Baptist University of the Americas        $812,562                $817,518
Baylor University                                   $1,720,228             $831,175
Truett Seminary                                     $1,116,096             $1,097,500
Dallas Baptist University                       $1,569,042              $1,968,920
East Texas Baptist University                $790,279                $799,981
Hardin-Simmons University                   $825,939                $853,899
Logsdon Seminary                                 $277,056                 $295,750
Houston Baptist University                   $424,231                 $682,150
Howard Payne University                     $879,495                 $925,306    
University of Mary Hardin-Baylor         $947,394                 $962,401
Wayland Baptist University                  $941,509                 $1,018,802

DALLAS—Adopted children from Russia played with other dual-culture children and connected with the birth culture during a Heritage Day event in Dallas, sponsored by Buckner and Dillon International.

"My favorite part about today has been meeting all the kids here," said Cassidy Anders, 12, who was adopted from Russia when she was 18 months old.

"This is good for the kids because it lets them know they are a part of a dual culture and that it is not something to be ashamed of," said Whitney McIntire, director of heritage camps for Dillon International, which affiliated with Buckner in 2008. "They see children who have stories similar to theirs, and that helps them embrace both of their cultures."

Children participated in arts and crafts, listened to Russian folk stories and baked Russian tea cookies.

Teenagers participated in arts and crafts and a discussion hour, where they had the opportunity to voice their opinions on adjusting to life in America. They also received advice from two adult adoptees.

"When they hear other people's stories, the kids really see that they are not alone," said Debbie Wynne, director of Buckner Adoption and Maternity Services. "They are able to openly talk about adoption with people who understand."

Irina Shytova, Buckner director of Buckner's Russia adoption program, wears a traditional Russian outfit for Eastern European Heritage Day. (PHOTOS/Diamond Richardson)

Wynne led a parent workshop, where parents received advice on parenting and connecting with their adopted children.

Frank and Melinda Bull of Waco attended with their two adopted daughters—Sarah, 7, and Natalie, 8.

"They really like seeing kids they know," Melinda Bull said.

Kevin and Sarah Dildine from Hughes Springs brought their adopted son, Jasper, 3, home from Russia in May.

"We didn't want him to forget where he came from, and we also wanted to learn more about Russian culture," he said.

Buckner began facilitating Russian adoptions in 1995. Since then, Buckner has helped more than 220 Russian orphans find homes with American families.

Buckner is actively seeking families who are open to adopting older children from Russia. Five children are currently waiting for a "forever family."

To learn more about international adoption through Buckner and Dillon, please visit www.beafamily.org or www.dillonadopt.com.

TAGAROH, Malaysia—Plentiful rainfall and rich soils characterize northeast Sabah, a Malaysian state on the island of Borneo. But the rice farmers there still have difficulty providing adequately for their families.

A local congregation, with the help of another Malaysian church hundreds of miles away and the Baptist World Alliance, is trying to change the situation and help farmers move out of poverty.

Lim "Lloyd" Phang Hong (left) of Straits Baptist Church in Melaka purchases rice.

Texas Baptists are coming alongside these groups to continue the effort. In 2012, $8,120 in funds from the Texas Baptist Offering for World Hunger will go to support the effort.

Word of Life Church is nestled in the lush hills of Tagaroh, a village near the South China Sea at the northern tip of East Malaysia. It is a long way—and not just geographically—from the cosmopolitan capital of the country, Kuala Lumpur, on the Malay Peninsula.

Three shining galvanized steel silos now stand behind the church's building. A portion of the community's next rice crop will be stored in the silos, allowing the farmers to retain enough rice for their own needs and thus avoid buying expensive rice from stores. It is a matter of organizing and planning for the community to meet its nutrition needs because the money saved will help the families raise their standard of living.

This convergence of economic and agricultural principles is rooted in faith commitments by the people involved.

Lim "Lloyd" Phang Hong, of Straits Baptist Church in Melaka, on the peninsula, is providing technical direction for the project. "I always believe it's hard to speak (about Jesus) to another person who is hungry," he said. To help the people of Tagaroh feed themselves is an "exercise of my faith."

Pastor Belunduk Lingungud, who started Word of Life Church and four other congregations in the area, said the people of Tagaroh did not understand the project at first. But Lim explained how the silos could help the farmers retain more of their harvest and save money in the process.

"Suddenly, … we understand," said Lingungud, whose broad smile flashes across his sun-bronzed face. "We come to realize this silo is very important for this church, … for the economy."

Peter Sugara is pastor of Word of Life Church now. It is a congregation of about 300 farming families, but Sugara sees the agriculture project more broadly. The silos are "not the personal property of the church but the property of the community."

And it is a community in need. The rice farmers of Tagaroh are in a "very serious trap that will keep them in poverty," said Lim, who is an agriculture consultant to businesses and universities. "If they do not have their own grain they are really impoverished."

The trap is caused by three factors. First, traditional processes for drying and storing harvested rice resulted in a high percentage of waste and destruction of the crop. Second, the farmers are tempted to sell their crops for cash and thus avoid the loss. And third, the farmers then have to buy back the rice as they need it at three to four times the cost they received for it when it was grown.

By developing a more effective system of drying and storing harvested rise, the farmers will save the crop and eventually their money. That's where the Baptist World Alliance comes in. Through its Baptist World Aid efforts, the world body has supplied necessary funds—about $18,000 to date—to get the silo project started.

The Texas Baptist Offering for World Hunger involvement will help complete the project and expand it. The offering provides about $150,000 for BWAid projects each year, and the Tagaroh effort is one of the 2012 projects.

Word of Life Church has set up a committee to administer the project, and about 30 families are expected to participate.

A family in Tagaroh typically has about two acres of rice, and that will produce about four tons of rice per harvest, Lim said. With the new silos, each family is expected to sell about half its crop to generate the necessary cash for other necessities of life and to store the other half for periodic use until the next harvest.

Each family's contribution to the communal effort will be weighed and their withdrawals will be weighed, as well. Controls are being put in place to regulate the in-flow and out-flow, but Lim said there is a "spirit of sharing" among the farmers.

"Sabah people can work together," he said, referring to the region of East Malaysia where Tagaroh is located.

The first families that will participate are all associated with Word of Life Church, said Pastor Lingungud. There are more than 100 families in the community, and the pastor's hope is that the church will be able to build more silos and grow the effort as a ministry to the whole community. The church families, in essence, are getting it started and then expect to expand it from the savings generated by the project.

But grain storage is not the only aspect of the plan. Most farmers do not own their own "tractors" or cultivation equipment. They either work the land by hand or pay someone to till the rice paddy for them. Mechanized approaches increase yields, Lim said, but most farmers cannot afford it. The church hopes to eventually buy equipment for farmers to use.

The project had its genesis in Straits Baptist Church in Melaka. It sent a survey team to Sabah in 2008 to evaluate the needs. This occurred at a time when the congregation was "going through some tough times," said Ronnie Chiu, senior pastor. Despite the difficulties, it was "trying to be a more missions-minded church."

Missions is a responsibility of the entire church, not just the pastors, Chiu said. "The members need to be involved. The Great Commission … is a commissioning of the church as a whole."

Lloyd Lim, a layperson, is definitely involved. His experience in agriculture is coupled with a "passion to help those who are from less advantaged communities," his pastor said. His experience and passion have driven the project.

Chiu sought outside help to get funding for the project. He contacted Kabi Gangmei, director of Asia-Pacific Baptist Aid, which is connected to BWAid.

The silo project was a "unique experience" for Asia-Pacific Baptist Aid, Gangmei said. He quickly became convinced of the project's viability "because of the involvement of the whole community and church." While they needed outside support and direction, the people in Tagaroh wanted to do the work themselves.

Gangmei, from northeast India, has spent a lifetime in development studies, "thinking night and day about the roots of poverty," he said. "Community development is the building of relationships and trust."

Christians teach a "philosophy of loving one another," he said, citing the biblical stories of the Good Samaritan and Jesus' feeding of the 5,000. But, "I don't believe loving a neighbor is separate from preaching the Word. They are together; they are not separate. They grow from the same root."

Showing love to others "is not a method of evangelism," Gangmei said. "It actually is the practical part of evangelism itself."

Christian love is showing itself in the village of Tagaroh, as Baptists from Malaysia to Texas and many points in between come together to help a people living in poverty to have the food they need.

"Love costs us in time and energy," said Lloyd Lim. But it is a cost worth paying and one that produces great dividends.

KENAI, Alaska—While Texas suffered this summer from the most severe drought since the 1950s, salmon still were running in the streams of Alaska, where Wayland Baptist Student Ministries Director Donnie Brown led a mission team.

The group participated in an annual outreach event coordinated by Brenda Crim, a native Texan serving as a missionary with the Southern Baptist Convention's North American Mission Board.

Wayland Baptist University student Jennifer Rowell of Plainview plays the guitar as the Wayland mission team, including Hannah Brown (right) leads a song for children during their mission trip to Kenai, Alaska. (PHOTO/Wayland Baptist University)

Wayland's eight-member team worked with other teams from various states, meeting the needs of people fishing for salmon on the Kenai Peninsula.

"Each July, for three weeks, the salmon are running," Brown said. "People are allowed to come out to the peninsula and catch their quota of fish for the year."

Only Alaskans are allowed to fish in the area, Brown explained. The head of each household is allotted 25 fish, plus 10 for each dependent. Fishermen lower large nets—about four feet in diameter—into the water, catch some fish, drag them on shore, club them and either go back for more or clean the fish on the spot, tossing them in a cooler. Game wardens strictly monitor the process to make sure Alaska residents are the only people fishing the area during the run.

"We couldn't handle anything that had anything to do with fishing," Brown said. "We couldn't even help them carry their coolers."

So, the mission team met families' needs by serving hot dogs and hot chocolate, providing hand sanitizer, cleaning the beach, directing traffic and leading afternoon worship groups for children who otherwise had nothing to do while waiting for their parents to catch fish.

"It was servant evangelism," Brown said. "We wanted to demonstrate God's love. We were there to serve them, meet some needs and through that show Christ.

"If we had the opportunity to share verbally, we would," he said. "But we just wanted to show that there are people out there who do care. It was a powerful testimony to them."

One man simply couldn't believe the group was there to serve without asking for anything in return, Brown recalled. He continued to talk with people associated with the group and at one point made mention of the Alaska missions hat that Brown's son, Joshua, was wearing. Josh gave him the hat—an act that touched the man's heart.

"That was a seed that was planted. I don't think he will forget what was done for him," Brown said. "Before we went on the trip, the eight of us prayed that God would let us serve and plant seeds."

The trip not only gave the group an opportunity to serve others, but also made an impact on Wayland students, he noted.

"How can we transfer this back to campus?" Brown said. "How can we meet the needs of our fellow students, roommates and classmates? We want to look for those needs and demonstrate the love of Christ to those around us."

NOTE– This article has been revised to correct the salmon fishing limit in Alaska.  The correct amount allotted is 25.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.—"It's not turning. It's coming straight at us!" Donna Deal's husband shouted from the window.

With seconds to spare, four generations of the Deal family crowded into the nearest closet, as the April 27 tornado that obliterated much of Tuscaloosa blazed over them.

"We didn't get the door shut," Deal recalled. "It was right on us."

A deafening rush like a freight train consumed the moment as Deal heard winds rip out the backyard walkway, the carport, the walls—and then the roof above their heads.

But God's hand was there, too, Deal said. A 4-feet-wide, 51-year-old oak tree uprooted and collapsed, collecting tin from the roof and mixed debris as it caved in directly over them.

Ricardo Brambia, pastor of First Baptist Church in San Isidro, preaches to Texas Baptist volunteers serving in Tuscaloosa, Ala. (PHOTOS/Grace Gaddy)

"It was as if the hand of God laid that tree and that debris on top," she noted. "He put it over the top of the closet."

Remains of the home were crushed or torn away, but God's protecting arms—through the limbs of a tree—saved an extended family that day, Deal said, calling it "definitely a miracle."

Her testimony of miraculous protection added to a long list of personal accounts Texas Baptist volunteers heard during a weeklong mission trip to the tornado-ravaged city.

"We came down thinking we were going to be a blessing to the people of Alabama, but the people of Alabama have been a blessing to us," said Keith Mitchell from Bethlehem Baptist Church in Mansfield.

Caroline Myer from First Baptist Church in George West sorts and folds clothes in Tuscaloosa, Ala. At the Forest Lake Baptist Church Disaster Relief Center, Texas Baptists help organize shoes, clothes, toiletries, bedding and assorted household items for tornado victims. (PHOTOS/Grace Gaddy)

More than 117 volunteers from 28 Texas Baptist churches served daily in various relief efforts throughout the city. Mitchell worked alongside other volunteers at Forest Lake Baptist Church Disaster Relief Center, launched from the church's basement a day after the tornado struck. Volunteers helped organize shoes, clothes, toiletries, bedding and other household wares, including furniture for a "Free Furniture Friday" event to benefit tornado victims.

Without the help of the volunteers, that event never could have happened, Director Terri Hibbard said.

Serving side-by-side, trip participants discovered the power of working together in unity "as the body of Christ," several noted. Meaningful relationships blossomed over the course of the week, and hearts were touched, said Quincy Murphy of Indian Creek Baptist Church in Mineral Wells.

Marion Hammett, from The Heights Baptist Church in Richardson, echoed Murphy's sentiment, saying she couldn't wait to go back and tell others about her experience.

Behind the mask, Bob Higginbotham from First Baptist Church in Kirby works on a building project in Tuscaloosa, Ala. (PHOTOS/Grace Gaddy

"What's going to be fun is to explain the whole blessing part of it—not just what we did, but what we received from it," she said.

Area churches provided lodging space for volunteers, along with food, water and other supplies. Volunteers recorded service hours to report back to Tuscaloosa's volunteer reception center for the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

"FEMA reimburses us for all of those hours that we get from our volunteers," said McCarlie Thomas, safety coordinator at the center. "That helps rebuild our city and our county." 

But in order to rebuild, sometimes people have to tear down, trip participants learned. One woman needed her house to be demolished. Texas Baptist volunteers ripped off shingles, shattered windows, smashed in walls and tore down her house, board by board. One volunteer found a beautiful diamond ring buried in the rubble, reclaimed so it could be returned to its owner.

Other projects included loading and unloading trucks for the Red Cross, rebuilding homes with Habitat for Humanity, sorting food and household items in distribution warehouses, clearing debris, and sawing fallen trees into chunks to be hauled away. Three arborists from North Texas took off work for the week to offer their professional skills in the ministry of restoration, salvaging twisted and fractures trees.  

"It was in our heart for us to be here," said Daniel Record, who owns a tree service in Texas.

Daniel Tamez from First Baptist Church in Pettus removes damaged shingles from a house in Tuscaloosa, Ala. (PHOTOS/Grace Gaddy)

Encouraging volunteers during a midweek worship service, Ricardo Brambila, pastor of First Baptist Church in San Isidro, reminded listeners of Jesus' words in John 16:33, that "in the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." 

Brambila emphasized that Christ gives peace in all of life's situations, as the "God of all comfort."

"God says to you today, in all the devastation, I am with you, and I'm with them, and everything's going to be all right," he said.

Following the service, volunteers recounted testimonies they had come across from local residents—like Donna Deal's.

"Before the tornado, I never stopped to think what all went into a tornado and the recovery, and what all is needed," Deal said. But the fact that "so many people have come" shows God's love as the body of Christ in action, she added.

"Whether you picked up a nail or slung a hammer or just hugged somebody's neck or listened to somebody's story, it's so important. We appreciate it so much."

Trip participants only echoed Deal's appreciation. While hoping to lift up residents of Tuscaloosa, volunteers testified to taking home a blessing themselves—the one that comes by serving with the hands and heart of Christ.

Robin Renfrew, with First Baptist Church in Seminole, wrote about her experience, "A piece of me will always be with the people here in Alabama. … God is always faithful and he is at work all around us. We just have to be open to letting him use us to carry out his perfect plan."

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP) – About the same time the Southern Baptist Convention passed a resolution denouncing one new Bible translation, another rolled off the presses that is being billed as “built on common ground.”

The Common English Bible debuted in June and the paperback format was introduced July 13 at the International Christian Retail Show in Atlanta.

Sponsored by an alliance of five mainline denominations, the contemporary English translation from the original Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic texts is the work of 120 biblical scholars in 24 different denominations. They represent various ethnic groups and theology schools ranging the spectrum from the conservative Wheaton College and Denver Seminary to the liberal Princeton and Yale.

Scott Spencer, professor of preaching and New Testament at Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond and one of 17 Baptists included, called it  “one of the highlights of my academic and ministerial vocation.”

Paul Franklyn, associate publisher for the Common English Bible, described the four-year project as “collaboration between opposites.” That includes not only liberals and conservatives, but also scholars working with general readers, teens with senior adults, men, women and different ethnicities all working toward a goal of a “denomination-neutral” Bible for the 21st century.

Translators set out to combine scholarly accuracy with vivid everyday language. It is written in common language, similar to USA Today style, and the first Bible translation to widely use contractions where the text is in conversational style, as opposed to poetic or divine pronouncement. It uses detailed color maps from National Geographic, well known for accuracy.

More than 500 readers in 77 groups field tested the translation, reading every verse aloud and reporting to translators possibly confusing passages.

“This fresh translation that stresses readability seems to have scored a hit,” said James Nogalski, professor and director of graduate studies in religion at Baylor University and a member of the translation team. “A former colleague of mine called to say that his teenage daughter had actually told him about it because it got her interested in reading the Bible for herself.”

Messengers to this year’s SBC annual meeting in June passed a resolution alleging “translation errors” in the 2011 New International Version published by Zondervan. The resolution expressed “profound disappointment” the new NIV retained much of the gender-neutral language that Southern Baptists criticized previously in 1997.

The Common English Bible is also translated to be gender-inclusive. Rather than referring only to “brothers” in the Bible when the context includes both genders, the Common English Bible says “brothers and sisters.”

“The Common English Bible contains unbiased gender language because the Bible message itself teaches that God's love and grace must be clearly available to every woman, man, and child,” says an FAQ page on the publisher’s website. “Pronouns can be translated inclusively, accurately and smoothly without changing the meaning of the source language with respect to general human beings.”

Pronouns for God, Lord, Jesus, or the Holy Spirit, meanwhile, are translated as he, his, or him.

WICHITA FALLS—Church musicians from First Church in Wichita Falls recently orchestrated the first Christian Fine Arts Festival on the island nation of St. Kitts.

More than 50 members of the church's choir and orchestra traveled to the Eastern Caribbean to conduct the festival and related music missions projects.

A plea from Michael Penny, a St. Kitts native who attended First Baptist while a student at Midwestern State University, sparked their involvement.

Now a national security officer in St. Kitts, Penny lamented the growth of gangs and a rise in crime among young people, and he longed for a way to involve youth in more worthwhile pursuits. He asked Minister of Music Michael Smith to consider at trip to his homeland to start a youth orchestra.

Penny already had contacted the pastor at Antioch Baptist Church in Basseterre, St. Kitts, and that congregation was ready to participate in the venture.

A week later, Pastor Bob McCartney at First Baptist received an e-mail from the mother of a current Midwestern student asking McCartney to consider a trip to the island to preach and lead a sports camp.

Elton Milford (center) and Kim Farris (left) offer beginning trumpet instruction to young people on St. Kitts.

Contact by two people about two separate ministries for the same place got the attention of McCartney and Smith.

"When we shared that with each other, it became a point of prayer and consideration of doing something that perhaps God had initiated," Smith said.

In consultation with Pastor Lincoln Connor of the St. Kitts church, leaders at First Baptist developed a plan and strategy.

"Not only would we simply send them some instruments, but we would have several tracks going at the same time," Smith said. "We added a complete palette of offerings and teaching opportunities, combined with national visibility, to help break down barriers and open doors for Antioch Baptist Church."

Maddison Baird from First Baptist Church in Wichita Falls teaches techniques to praise dancers on St. Kitts. (PHOTOS/Courtesy of First Baptist Church in Wichita Falls)

Organizers scheduled the fine arts festival and related events to coincide with the church's Vacation Bible School, a highlight for the island each summer that attracts about 500 children.

The Texas church collected 40 band instruments—from bass drums to flutes—to ship to St. Kitts, along with orchestrations and music stands.

In addition, Dean Savage, associate minister of music at First Baptist Church, organized a clinic for the St. Kitts and Nevis Defense Force Band, the nation's only orchestra.

The Texans also led classes to teach new musicians of all ages how to play their instruments, "some of whom had never seen some of these instruments up close before," Smith said.

Tracy Duff, a member of the choir at First Baptist Church in Wichita Falls, enjoys time with children of St. Kitts during a recent music missions trip to the island nation.

Singers from all over the island were invited to join a choral festival, and 115 local singers participated in a mass choir with the Texans. The Wichita Falls team donated new choir folders and anthems to the Antioch church.

The group organized a children's chorus under the direction of Stasha Savage, First Baptist's Kid Praise coordinator.

First Baptist Church donated a four-octave set of handbells to Antioch Church, and Casey Oliver conducted a clinic in which he taught 25 local people handbell-ringing techniques.

The church group also helped organize the nation's first ballet troupe. Volunteers offered free ballet lessons to children all over the island and gave more than 200 free tutus to girls who participated.

Ninety people also participated in a praise dance clinic for dancers at Antioch and other churches.

In addition to the fine arts, the church group also practiced the art of service.

"While all the other tracks were taking place, choir members and a painting crew was organized to paint the courtyard of the William Connor Primary School, not far from Antioch Baptist Church as a gesture to the community that 'Antioch cares … God cares,'" Smith said.

The Texas church had shipped the paint and supplies to the island, and the painting continued even after the First Baptist team returned home. This was the first paint the school had received in more than 20 years, Smith said.

Linda Cassidy from First Baptist Church in Wichita Falls teaches a girl from St. Kitts the basics of playing a flute.

The school was the site of Rock St. Kitts, a concert aimed at reaching the youth of the island through Christian music and a gospel message.

The Texas team also helped organized a sports camp to teach basketball, soccer and rodeo roping. Volunteers also installed metal basketball nets for the school.

A contemporary concert in a park also was held to reach out the community.

The week culminated with the first national Christian arts festival, held on the lawn of the Government House, the chief seat of government for the nation, with the governor, the prime minister and more than 1,000 others present as the newly formed orchestra, handbells, choirs and dancers performed.

"The experience changed the lives of our people who attended, gave heart to the music we learn each week to lead our people in worship, created a partnership that will continue, and, hopefully, changed the direction of some of the residents of the nation of St. Kitts and Nevis," Smith said.

ORLANDO, Fla.—The number of slaves worldwide never has been greater than today, a Houston-area missionary told participants at Blume, a missions event for teenaged girls sponsored by national Woman's Missionary Union.

Acteens from Hyde Park Baptist Church in Austin—(left to right) Ruth Stephens, Kathy Hutton, Rebekah Caldwell, and Marta Herrera—noted one of their favorite experiences at Blume was taking part an interactive cultural experience at Epcot. (WMU PHOTO)

"The No. 1 age group that gets trafficked is 12- to 17-year-olds," said Ginger Smith, executive director of the Mission Centers of Houston. "Your peers need to hear this. It's not just kids from Mexico or Chicago. It moves so fast. …

"We are hearing how you can get a girl for $2 at the corner cantina. But this is not just in the large cities," she continued. "It's in your town."

Human trafficking, a $32 billion industry, is the second-largest criminal commercial activity in the United States, behind drug trafficking and ahead of the sale of illegal weapons. But while drugs and weapons are sold or used once, a human can be sold 15 to 30 times a day, said Kay Bennett, director of the Baptist Friendship House in New Orleans.

Up to 2.8 million children and teens leave home and live on the streets, Bennett noted. Within 48 hours of leaving home, one-third of them will be sold into prostitution. In New Orleans where Bennett serves, a local study revealed that of 157 teens in a local shelter, 57 percent had been trafficked.

Ginger Smith, executive director of Mission Centers of Houston, describes the realities of human trafficking and tells teenaged girls what they can do to help during a general session and breakout conference at Blume, a missions event for teen girls sponsored by national Woman's Missionary Union. (WMU PHOTO)

Rachel Hudspeth, a 7th grader from FBC South Houston, helps sort donated hygiene items. Participants at Blume donated more than 24,000 donated items, enough to assemble 3,000 hygiene kits given to Greater Orlando Baptist Association. Additional clothing and household items the girls brought, along with nearly $1,500 in discount center gift cards they donated, went to the Osceola Christian Ministry Center, a ministry to the homeless and underemployed operated by First Baptist Church of Kissimmee, Fla. (WMU PHOTO)

Smith, Bennett and others are focused on helping young people who are victims of human trafficking or at risk along the I-10 corridor, which runs from Jacksonville, Fla. to Santa Monica, Calif. One of the ways they are reaching out is by placing flyers in truck stop restrooms with the national hotline number to call for help.

Smith urged the girls to call the national hotline at (888) 373-7888 if they suspect a problem, but she also presented other ways to help tackle sex trafficking and labor trafficking.

She encouraged the teenagers to pray for direction and wisdom, educate themselves about the issue, be more aware of potential red flags in their communities and be an advocate by speaking up and educating others.

"You will leave knowing more about human trafficking than most in your church and your community. So, go back and tell them about it and educate them," Smith said. "Check on laws in your state and be an advocate."

Smith also underscored the importance of working with law enforcement. She told about a time when a member of her staff was asked if he would like to buy a girl for $10.

"We reported it, but my immediate reaction was to be a vigilante, to go help her," Smith confessed. "But we must work with law enforcement. When I've told this story before, some have asked, 'Why didn't you pay the $10 and at least save that one girl?' But if I had done that, I would be guilty of criminal activity.

Acteens from First Baptist Church in Amarillo worship during the opening session of Blume. (WMU PHOTO)

"Many faith-based groups with good intentions disrupt or hamper investigations, but our job is to be the eyes and ears of law enforcement."

While Houston is one of the frontrunners in addressing human trafficking, the city has 220 police officers assigned to narcotics and just four assigned to human trafficking, Smith noted.

Additional ways to get involved include partnering with an existing local organization or coalition; developing resources for the faith-based community; and providing resources for law enforcement and rescue organizations such as clothes, furniture and food, Smith noted.

"They (victims) are often wearing what they had on when they were sold, so we provide police officers with clothes to give to them," she said. "We also collect crackers and snack items to give them. We may never see the person we are helping to free, and that's OK. As Christians, it's important that we never exploit victims or dramatize their stories for our benefit."

BATON ROUGE, La. (ABP) – A new book challenges the familiar story of Lottie Moon, a Southern Baptist missionary martyr who supposedly gave away all her money and starved to death to protest the Foreign Mission Board’s lack of funding for missionaries. 

"Lottie Moon: A Southern Baptist Missionary to China in History and Legend" is published by Louisiana State University Press.

In Lottie Moon: A Southern Baptist Missionary to China in History and Legend, historian Regina Sullivan says Moon deserves credit for her work as a pioneering single female missionary and strong advocate for the formation of Woman’s Missionary Union. The romanticized account of Moon’s death aboard a ship in a Japanese harbor on Christmas Eve in 1912, however, isn’t supported by primary documents, Sullivan claims.

After graduating from Ouachita Baptist University, Sullivan lived two years as an exchange student in Japan. The experience led her to Yale Divinity School, where she earned a master’s degree in religion. While at Yale she became interested in education in disadvantaged schools and decided to go to graduate school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Needing a research topic and having lived abroad, she was interested in women missionaries, who in the 1800s had more opportunities than those in the United States. During background research, she came across a quote from a letter by Moon to a male denominational authority: “It is a small thing to be judged of man’s judgment. It is good to know that we are judged by God.”

Sullivan found such open defiance intriguing and at odds with the Lottie Moon she learned about while growing up Southern Baptist in Benton, Ark. While several books and multiple articles have told Moon’s story from the denominational perspective, Sullivan says hers is the first critical study of her life by a historian of American history and religion.

Sullivan, who has since left the denomination, says that throughout the 20th century SBC accounts of Moon’s life remained close to the historical record except in details of her death. The basic story line goes that overwhelmed by the Foreign Mission Board’s indebtedness and inability to help with relief during a Chinese famine, Moon stopped eating as a protest and gave her money to those who were suffering.

She says Una Roberts Lawrence’s 1927 biography first put the story into wide circulation, but it did not become a standard part of the official “Lottie Moon story” until the 1960s and 1970s.

“She unselfishly gave all her savings and salary for relief to the Chinese people, because the Foreign Mission Board was badly in debt and couldn't help at that time,” a Baptist Press article promoting the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering reported in 1973. “If the people were starving, Miss Moon felt she should not eat either.”

A 1982 BP story said Moon “literally worked herself to death. During the great famine, she worked alongside her beloved Chinese in Tengchow until she grew too weak to continue. On the journey home to recuperate, she died aboard ship in the Kobe, Japan, harbor.

The message “Lottie Moon is starving again” was used to promote the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering during the WMU centennial year in 1988. “Almost 76 years ago, Southern Baptist foreign missionary Lottie Moon literally starved to death,” a Baptist Press article began. “Today, the same thing that happened to Lottie Moon could happen to foreign missions if Southern Baptists do not do something about it.”

Regina Sullivan

Sullivan says the legend of Moon’s martyrdom started with missionary nurse Cynthia Miller, who accompanied her alone in her final days. Miller spoke to a former classmate, who wrote a full-page remembrance in the March 6, 1913, edition of the Religious Herald, the Virginia Baptist newspaper, titled “Lottie Moon: She Being Dead, Yet Speaketh.”

Sullivan said the story might have been forgotten if WMU had not made the annual Christmas offering first collected at Moon’s urging in 1888 a tribute to her memory in 1918.

Sullivan says a missionary doctor and his wife who visited Moon, and spent a few days in her home in September 1912, found her physically well. Soon after, co-workers became concerned about her erratic behavior. One missionary summoned to her home reported finding her in a “troubled state of mind.” She told the missionary she had overdrawn her bank account. He checked and found she had funds to her credit. Unable to convince her, he offered to loan her money.

Other visitors realized Moon was not herself. A missionary couple found her unable to care for herself properly and called a missionary nurse. She was thin and weak, and a large boil was found eating the flesh on Moon’s neck behind her ear.

The doctor who had seen Moon in September returned two months later and was shocked to see how dramatically she had declined. He found her delusional with paranoia fixed on money. She insisted she was out of money and afraid the Foreign Mission Board would run out of money and the missionaries would starve alongside the Chinese people.

The doctor treated the boil and theorized it injured her spinal cord, causing her dementia. The decision was made to send her to the United States for medical treatment. Some friends believed she would have preferred to die and be laid to rest in China.

Her doctor did not believe she would survive the journey. He put her on a liquid diet, because she had refused solid food for some time. At her death the ship’s captain didn’t want to bury her at sea, because it did not befit the dignity of a missionary. He was unsure if her embalmed body would be allowed in a U.S. port of entry, so the decision was made to cremate and inter her ashes next to her brother in Crewe, Va.

Sullivan noted with interest that the story of Moon’s death, while a powerful fund-raising tool, has largely overshadowed her life. She says Moon’s advocacy for female equality and support for female organization in the male-dominated Southern Baptist Convention moves her into the realm of “activist and advocate.”

“An actually remembered Moon would be a female activist who preached, argued for female equality and helped bring the WMU into existence,” Sullivan wrote. Such activities, however, “conflict with the traditional understanding” of the Southern Baptist view of women’s roles, Sullivan says, so Moon “remains a female saint.”

“Symbolically, Moon has been remade into a female Christ-figure, giving of herself so that others might live,” Sullivan wrote. “That this story of sacrifice is not true has not prevented it from achieving a deep resonance for Southern Baptists over nearly a century.”

Visit the book website

GRAND SALINE—For Orville Scott, a 136-page self-published book of original poems represents a lifetime of precious memories, a testimony to God's goodness and a labor of love.

Autumn at the Lake and Other Poems features about 60 poems ranging from serious religious themes to whimsical verse.

Orville and Emma Jean Scott enjoy the family stories behind many of the poems and photos in Autumn at the Lake and Other Poems. (PHOTOS/Ken Camp)

Scott served four decades as a Baptist journalist, including a lengthy tenure as news director for the Baptist General Convention of Texas. But long before he learned how to write a news story or human-interest feature, he developed an affinity for poetry.

"My mother loved poetry," he recalled. "She had the best scrapbook I ever saw, filled with poems she had clipped from newspapers all the way back to 1900."

As a child, he memorized poetry—often reading or reciting it to his younger brothers and sisters at bedtime. Teachers—first at his hometown of Carthage and later at Panola Junior College and the University of Texas—encouraged his love for the lyrical quality of language.

"It seems like every time in my life I came to a fork in the road, God put somebody there to help guide and encourage me," Scott said.

After he graduated with his journalism degree, Scott became managing editor of a trade journal. But he told a mentor, UT journalism professor DeWitt Reddick, he felt he was failing to fulfill God's purpose for his life.

Reddick told him he had just received a request from Lloyd Wright, public relations director for the BGCT, asking if he could recommend anyone as a press representative for the Baptist state convention. Reddick's recommendation subsequently led to Scott's long career in denominational communications.

Along the way, he wrote poems—often for family, friends and coworkers on special occasions, and sometimes simply because a particular scene or experience struck a chord that just seemed to call for a rhyme. Frequently, the printed program for the annual Texas Baptist Evangelism Conference featured a poem about that year's theme, each simply signed "O. Scott."

Before and after his retirement in 1996, friends told Scott he should publish a book of his poetry. While he dreamed of seeing his poems in a book, he questioned whether a publisher would find it commercially viable.

"A lot of people think rhyming poetry is passé—that it died with Longfellow," he said.

But Bill Pinson, BGCT executive director emeritus, and his longtime executive assistant, Doris Tinker, convinced him and his wife, Emma Jean, they should not allow the dream to go unfulfilled.

The Scotts determined the book of poetry would be published, even if they had to finance it themselves. Realizing they needed help, Scott contacted a former coworker from the Baptist Building, Debbie Sheppard, now a freelance graphic designer.

"When we talked with Debbie about the job, she said, 'I'll take it.' We told her, 'We're going to pay you.' But she said: 'No way. This is a labor of love,'" Scott recalled.

Sheppard not only designed the book, filled mostly with original photos from the Scotts' family collection, but also helped them work with Christian Book Services/Carpenter's Son Publishing.

"We went through a file drawer with 50 years worth of material," Mrs. Scott said.

As Autumn at the Lake and Other Poems began to take shape, the Scotts tried to group the poems thematically and find photos—with Sheppard's guidance—to match the themes. Many of the poems and the accompanying photos have family stories behind them, Mrs. Scott noted, but they also tried to make them universally applicable.

"Where the poems were personal in nature, we tried to select ones that were adaptable—where anyone could put someone else's name in it and still find it meaningful," she said. "But there did come a point where we had to try to make sure each family member was represented and each grandchild was pictured the same number of times."

The manager of one local store has expressed his desire to see Scott's book distributed not only at his business, but also throughout the chain of which it is a part if the corporate headquarters agrees. Beyond that, Scott hopes a few ministries close to his heart might be able to use the books in some way, whether they are sold or given away.

Mostly, Scott hopes the collected edition of his poems succeeds in doing what the ones he has given to so many people through the years have done—bring a bit of the joy of God's love into lives.

In the book's foreword, Pinson wrote: "Outstanding qualities of Orville's life, such as compassion, warmth and sincerity, have attracted a host of appreciative friends. He wrote in poetic terms that of all the works of the Master's art, 'the greatest to me is a caring heart.' Orville is indeed an example of the Master's art."

Autumn at the Lake and Other Poems by Orville Lindsey Scott is available through Amazon.com, from most booksellers or directly from the author at scott@grandsaline.com.

Call it a buzz word, a euphemism for the emergent movement or a description of profound shifts in ecclesiology, the term "missional" is entrenched in the vocabulary of 21st century Christianity.

Although the concept is subject to wide-ranging and at times conflicting definitions, its adherents generally circle around a fierce commitment to God's mission or missio dei, an aggressive engagement with secular society and a determination to contextualize the Christian message in specific cultures.

As congregations grope to adapt to the implications of what some call a paradigm shift, the seminaries and divinity schools to whom they traditionally turn for trained ministers have not been far behind.

"Methods of theological education rooted in Christendom systems of coercive power are not designed to equip missional leaders," says JR Rozko, who blogs at lifeasmission.com/ blog/ about missional life.

"A missional vision of theological education is one rooted in community that emphasizes the formation of Christian character marked by kingdom convictions" and which "seeks to train leaders contextually," he wrote in a recent post. "A missional vision of the church carries with it an inherent need for leaders who serve as cultural pioneers, which means we need a vision of theological education capable of equipping men and women for this task."

Rozko, an administrator at Northern Baptist Theological Seminary in suburban Chicago, worked closely last year with the American Baptist-related school to develop its doctor of ministry in missional leadership degree. Next fall, Northern will collaborate with the John Leland Center for Theological Studies in suburban Washington, D.C., to offer doctor of ministry degree classes in Virginia.

Northern and Central Baptist Theological Seminary, just outside Kansas City, Mo., are among a handful of theological institutions that have developed degree plans with an intentional missional focus. But few seminaries have been untouched by the move to reshape traditional educational approaches in missional ways.

For many institutions, contextualization and community rootedness are the stackpoles around which changes are made. And driving that change in part is a recognition that Christianity no longer is predominantly a Western religion.

"Most Christians today come from the global South," said Caleb Oladipo, professor of Christian mission and world Christianity at Virginia's Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond. "Christianity has been de-Westernized."

Since 2002, Wilshire Baptist Church in Dallas has maintained a two-year pastoral residency program that has graduated more than a dozen ministers such as Tasha Gibson, pictured here as she works in Vacation Bible School.

That new reality confronts Christians in Europe and North America with a stark choice, Oladipo said.

"The challenge for us is whether we are going to accept the leadership of Christians in the non-Western world to lead the new church that is emerging, or whether we are going to hold onto the old categories," he said.

In response, BTSR's curriculum centers on what Oladipo calls "a fundamental pillar"—a requirement that every student spend a year immersed in an unfamiliar culture, either abroad or in the United States. The seminary supports its Mission Immersion Experience through an endowed fund.

"BTSR takes the paradigm shift seriously enough that it sends its own students to other parts of the world so that they become familiar with what God is doing among those Christians in a totally different culture," Oladipo said.

Logsdon Seminaryat Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene also takes contextualization seriously, said James Stone, the seminary's director of ministry placement and congregational resourcing.

"Our approach is in a globalized context," Stone said. "We recognize we live in a complex and interconnected world, and that it's paramount that students who engage theological education understand the connectivity of the church to their communities, to the larger social and political frameworks, and to the economics of the global marketplace. We strive to give our students that perspective."

But the global context is paired with an emphasis on rootedness in a specific community of faith—where significant practical, theological and spiritual formation occurs for seminary students—and in the social context in which that faith community lives, Stone said.

"The health of both the church and the community define us," he said of Logsdon, noting that four of the seminary's professors have doctorates in ethics. "With that ethical mindset, we are able to help our students understand that the health of the church is important not just in words, but also actions, and a healthy church contributes to a healthy community."

A profound emphasis on that community of faith for developing Christian leaders is essential to a missional approach to theological education, Rozko contended.

"If helping people learn to make decisions, live their lives and find their identity not on their own but in the community of the body of Christ is central to the task of Christian leaders, then their training must take place in that same context," he wrote recently. "This has implications for how we identify potential leaders, how we commit to and support them, the nature and structure of how we train them and for what follows the completion of their training."

George Mason, a Texas pastor who is completing a book on the congregation's role in training clergy, agrees churches play an essential role in the new theological education paradigm.

"Location has a tremendous amount to do with the mode of learning," said Mason, pastor of Wilshire Baptist Church in Dallas. "What the seminary can do extremely well, the church cannot do as well—teach things that have more to do with information than formation. … But there are practices of ministry that are best learned in the church. You can learn only so much in theory in class; you can learn so much more by digging it out of direct practice and reflecting on it with colleagues."

Since 2002, Wilshire has maintained a two-year pastoral residency program that has graduated more than a dozen ministers. Funded in part by the Lilly Foundation, Wilshire's program mentors four potential pastors at a time. Each receives a salary plus benefits. The aim to provide confidence and skills necessary to enable the residents to become effective pastors.

But ministerial formation can't be neatly divided between the church and the academy, or practice and theory, said Mason, who serves on the board of directors of the Baptist House at Duke Divinity School in Durham, N.C.

"I don't criticize the seminaries in the way that some people do when they claim they're not training students to be ministers," he said. "The churches aren't teaching Greek, are they? You want a learned clergy? Part of that is only what a seminary can do. You want a well-trained capable minister? Some of that is only what a church can do. This is a partnership."