NASHVILLE, Tenn.—Singer/songwriter Sara Groves is on a mission—to help audiences gain a deeper understanding of God’s love for his children. And by doing more than just singing songs at her concerts, she is challenging Christians to grow in their walk with Christ.

“When I’m performing concerts, I feel a specific calling to challenge people to take that next step with God, because every single person has a place to go in their walk with Christ,” Groves said.

Sarah Groves

“I’ll discuss different issues and then pose questions like: ‘What are we doing to make an impact on others? Are we being fully devoted followers of Christ? What areas in our lives are we holding back from Christ? If we really applied the gospel at every level of our lives—friendship, marriage, parenting—what would that be like?’ 

“I sometimes feel that God puts harder subjects on my heart, so it’s not a typical concert experience. I want to encourage people to explore God and who he is.”

To encourage people to reach out and make a difference in the lives of others, Groves often shares information about various mission organizations at her concerts.

Her husband, Troy, documented several of their mission trips and relief efforts for the Nomad Show, a reality film series that chronicles the experiences of young missionaries serving around the world.

In April 2009, Groves traveled to Washington, D.C., on behalf of International Justice Mission to advocate for victims of human trafficking, meeting with congressional aides.

As a result of her social advocacy, Groves was selected as a delegate to attend the Lausanne Congress on World Evangelism in Cape Town, South Africa. The goal of the event, founded by Billy Graham and John Stott in Lausanne, Switzerland, in 1974, is to promote unity, humility in service and a call to action for global evangelization.

Desiring to meet needs in Jesus’ name, Groves recently had the opportunity to partner with prison ministries and performed two concerts for more than 1,000 women inmates.

She noted the women there defy stereotypes and do not fit neatly into any single category.

“This is always the biggest surprise for anyone who visits. Our prison populations are made up of a diverse group of men and women who are in desperate need to hear the gospel and have their lives changed,” she said.

“Each experience and mission trip has taught me so much about how many people are hurting around the world and need to hear about Christ’s love.

“I was just a typical soccer mom well into my suburban life when God convicted me that I wasn’t being the Good Samaritan. If anything, I was being like the man on the other side of the road. It was then that I realized I needed to take action, step out of my comfort zone and share Christ’s love with those in need.”

EL PASO—Journey of Faith Community Church in El Paso doesn’t have a building of its own, but that doesn’t stop church members from ministering each year to the families in their area through Vacation Bible School and sports camps.

Last year, 261 children participated in the combination VBS and sports camp. This year, the 106-degree heat and blustery winds lowered that number, but more than 200 children still attended, Pastor Herb Mims said.

Each day, workers arrived about 7 a.m. to set up tents in a park near the school where the church met for services. Since the activities took place in a public park instead of church property, the tents had to be set up and taken down daily.

Each morning kicked off with gathering the children for singing, like many other Vacation Bible schools. After the music, children chose their activity—basketball, soccer, flag football or volleyball. Typically, a child stayed with the same sport each day for the entire week.

Volunteers planned activities especially for preschool children during the sports activity portion of the morning.

“It takes a lot of volunteers from outside our church family,” Mims said. Many of the volunteers are teachers and coaches who are off from their paying jobs during the summer and volunteer to help the congregation of about 50, including its own children.

“This is a cooperative effort between us and the community,” he said.

This marked the seventh year the church has held a Vacation Bible School—all without having a church facility.

The first year, Mims and others distributed 6,000 flyers telling about the VBS that would be held at his home. Twelve children came.

Gayle Hogg, a retired pastor, teaches a Bible lesson to children at an outdoor Vacation Bible School and sports camp sponsored by Journey of Faith Community Church in El Paso. (PHOTOS/Courtesy of Herb Mims)

“We asked ourselves why the children didn’t come. We realized quickly that people don’t send their children to strangers’ homes,” Mims recalled.

The next year, in an effort to attract more children, the church added the sports camp and changed the venue to a public park.

The number of children tripled and  continued to grow until heat slightly withered the crowd this year, Mims noted.

Each year also seems to draw at least one family to the church as well, he said.

“We always baptize people as a result of this,” he added.

Participants make the connection between the weeklong sports camp and the church that sponsors it.

“The great thing is the park is so close to the school where we meet. We can point and say, ‘That’s where we meet,’” Mims said.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (RNS)— After Auburn University’s football victory over Clemson last season, coach Gene Chizik declared, “It’s a God thing.”

After the national championship game win over the University of Oregon, he told a national TV audience, “God was with us.”

Chizik sees the hand of God working in his life, even in the outcome of college football games.

“The faith part is what’s really important in my life,” Chizik said. “That guides us and keeps us grounded as we navigate this crazy world of college football. If you win, everybody tells you how great you are, and you’re probably not that great. If you lose, everybody tells you how terrible you are, and you’re probably not that terrible.”

Chizik was hired as Auburn’s head coach in 2008 despite a 5-19 record in two seasons at Iowa State. Cam Newton arrived as a quarterback savior for the 2010 season, won the Heisman Trophy and helped Auburn win the national championship.

Chizik describes all of that in a newly released memoir, All In: What It Takes to Be the Best, from Tyndale House.

“All In is a story about football, family and faith,” Chizik said. “Those are three things that are important in my life.”

In the 265-page book, written with sportswriter David Thomas of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Chizik tells how he didn’t expect to get the Auburn job and describes the wrenching emotions of leaving his recruits behind at Iowa State.

“That’s something that just weighed on my heart so much it tore me up,” Chizik said. “The guy you recruited, he’s thinking, ‘You told me you’d be here.’ Everything I told them, I told them with a pure and good heart. At the end of the day, you have to make decisions that are best for you and your family.”

While Chizik was raised a Roman Catholic, his wife, Jonna, was raised a Methodist. While he worked at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, they began attending an evangelical church.

“It’s a big part of who I’ve become,” Chizik said. “One of the things we don’t do, we don’t push anything on our young men when it comes to the message.”

He does, however, try to mold them into morally responsible young men. “I was blessed to have a platform to influence young people.”

Chizik doesn’t spend much time writing about the controversy surrounding Newton’s decision to come to Auburn, although he gives some anecdotes about how he tried to spur Newton into being a better player.

During the championship run, it emerged that Newton’s father, Cecil, a church pastor in Georgia, had tried to shop his son to Mississippi State University, requesting money from boosters for him to sign there.

The NCAA found no evidence of any impropriety in his recruitment to Auburn.

Chizik admits he had no idea how good Newton was going to be, nor how controversy over his recruitment would hang like a fog around the program as it rose to amazing heights.

“You don’t know what a quarterback is going to respond like until you put him out there in front of 90,000 people,” Chizik said. “We knew we had a very talented, athletic quarterback. How he’s going to respond to those circumstances, you don’t know. By game four, we knew what he could do.”

Although Newton had a run-in with the law over a stolen laptop while he was Tim Tebow’s backup at Florida, Chizik said he and his staff researched Newton’s character and came away impressed.

“It became clear to us that this was a great kid,” Chizik said. “If we were all judged based on mistakes we made when we were younger, a lot of us would be looking for work.”

Cam Newton weathered the controversy without missing a game, completed a season for the ages and became the top pick in the NFL draft. Chizik said he remains committed to running a clean program and turning out men of moral character.

“It’s all about educating players,” Chizik said. “Ultimately, these guys have to make the right decisions for the program and their families. We tell them, ‘If you encounter something that doesn’t look right, doesn’t smell right, you need to turn and run.’”

Chizik feels optimistic about defending the title next season.

“I feel good in terms of people,” he said of the team. “We’re into building this foundation for a long time. This is one brick in the foundation.”

And, he added, the pressure to win hasn’t lessened because of the national championship. “The pressure’s always there to win,” he said. “The standards are always high.”

Chizik sums up his philosophy on the final page of his memoir.

“Championship rings are nice, but they are nothing compared to what God promises for those who are all in for him.”

WASHINGTON (RNS)—For Living Faith Lutheran Church, the name change was as much about the future as the past, as the congregation formally bid goodbye to its old name, Crusader Lutheran Church.

“We’re not saying (Crusader) was a bad name,” Pastor Sandra Cox Shaw said. But now, “our name will no longer be a stumbling block for people who want to visit us and get to know us.”

Comments about the church’s “militaristic” and “non-Christian” name reached a “critical mass” last year, said Michael Lidell, a former parish lay leader. Concerned about the church’s reputation, Lidell suggested a name change at an administrative meeting in May 2010.

But the process of renaming the church turned out to be complicated. Few local churches had changed names. So, leaders learned as they went along, hosting town hall-style meetings, learning how to file for a new charter and how to change the website.

After a yearlong process, the 140-member congregation held its “Renaming Celebration” recently.

“We affirm that we go on into the future a newly named entity but with the same mission,” Shaw said.

While Living Faith’s story might be uncommon, it is not unique. The seemingly mundane topic of a church name has become a flashpoint for U.S. congregations, with many renaming themselves in recent years for pragmatic, theological or even cultural reasons.

Some Baptist churches, for example, have removed the “Baptist” from their names, including Two Rivers Baptist Church in Nashville, Tenn., which now attracts 1,000 worshippers each Sunday to the Fellowship at Two Rivers.

It’s not just a megachurch phenomenon; some smaller Baptist churches remain Baptist, even if it’s not in the name.

“It is an epidemic” said Bill Leonard, professor of Baptist Studies at Wake Forest Divinity School in Winston-Salem, N.C., citing the success of nondenominational churches and the lack of Baptist loyalty as driving the trend.

Leonard also noted the Baptist brand has been tarnished by controversial claimants like the anti-gay—and independent—Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kan.

“A number of churches on the left and the right are concerned that people are turned off by the Baptist name,” Leonard said. “They believe that in the public square, Baptists have looked shrill, unwelcoming, sectarian.”

Church name changes also can mark a shift in the outlook or message of a congregation. When the First Reformed Church in Allendale, Ala., voted to change its name to Lighthouse Community Church in 2004, large sections of the congregation resisted.

“It didn’t go over well,” said Steve Demers, who became the church’s pastor shortly after the change. He added the church lost about a third of its congregation over the renaming.

More recently, the Lighthouse congregation decided on yet another change—to break away from the Reformed Church in America, a move that Demers said was tied to the earlier name change.

“We wanted the name to say something. Many people won’t attend (Reformed churches) based on preconceptions of what Reformed means,” Demers said. “The whole stigma of denominations has proven divisive.”

The renaming process at Living Faith Lutheran Church also sparked differing opinions in the pews.

“People felt very passionately on both sides of the issue,” Shaw said. “Some felt tied to the name of the church in which their children were baptized and married … (and some) understood ‘crusade’ as a crusade against poverty and oppression.”

Still, the lure of a new name often wins out. Lidell said Living Faith’s new name “much better reflects what’s happening within our church.”

BELTON—Ministers should “go for the gold,” not settle for peanuts, Paul Powell told the annual conference for Texas Baptist bivocational and small-membership-church ministers and their families.

Powell, dean emeritus of Baylor University’s Truett Theological Seminary, spoke at the conference July 8-10 at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor. He recalled a newspaper article from 1981 detailing a West Texas gold discovery—the “richest gold strike in America” at the time. Previously, the owner of the property had used the land to grow peanuts.

“It occurred to me that there are a lot of churches like that farmer,” Powell noted. “God has given to them and to us a golden opportunity, and in the midst of that golden opportunity, we are raising peanuts. We’re doing precious little considering the possibility of those fields.”

Powell encouraged conference participants to use the opportunities God has given them and work hard for his kingdom through evangelism, discipleship and missions. The fields are ripe with harvest, but the laborers are few.

“As a pastor, your mission—your goal—ought to be to get the maximum yield out of your field,” he said. “We never should be satisfied to raise peanuts. We need to go for the gold.”

To achieve that, Powell said, ministers must be committed to growth, open to change and willing to work hard. Without zeal to see non-Christians converted and willingness to put forth essential effort, the golden opportunity is lost.

“Let me remind you that there’s not only gold out there in that field, there is gold in you, … and you need to put it to use in the kingdom of God,” he said.

The conference featured plenary sessions—including four in Spanish—on topics ranging from biblical interpretation to issues pastors face. Funds from the Mary Hill Davis Offering for Texas Missions helped sponsor the conference and a related student event held concurrently for ministers’ children.

The conference included a banquet celebrating 25 years for the Texas Baptist Bivocational and Smaller Membership Ministers and Spouses Association, an organization connecting more than 3,615 small-membership churches across the state.

Lisa Moser, a student at Truett Theological Seminary, received a $1,000 scholarship from the association to further her education in ministry.

In business, the conference elected its officers: president, Richard Ray, pastor of First Baptist Church in Wink; vice president, David Keith, pastor of Carlton Baptist Church in Carlton; second vice president, Charles Lavine, pastor of Terrace Acres Baptist Church in White Settlement; secretary, Rosalind Ray of Fairy Baptist Church in Fairy; and treasurer, Danny Rogers, pastor of Lebanon Baptist Church in Cleburne.

• Kim Bartel to Herty Church in Lufkin as pastor.

• Roye Blackmon to First Church in Glendale as pastor.

• Jimmy Bryan has been called as minister of missions and adults at First Church in Lewisville.

• Jason Burden to First Church in Nederland as pastor from Dorcas Wills Memorial Church in Trinity.

• Bob Dellinger has resigned as associate pastor of youth at Tabernacle Church in Ennis to start a church in the Austin area.

• Bobby Fortner to Northside Church in Plainview as pastor.

• Rex Harrell to Georgia Camp Church in Crockett as pastor.

• Hector Iracheta has resigned as pastor of Iglesia Nueva Vida in Pearsall.

• Kevin Landis has resigned as pastor of Celina Bible Church in Celina.

• Tim Lyles to Southland Church in San Angelo as minister of music from First Church in San Marcos.

• Joe Maresh to Sherwood Shores First Church in Gordonville as summer youth minister.

• James Moore to Fairview Church in Sherman as pastor.

• Waylan Owens to First Church in Wichita Falls as interim minister of education.

• Dwain Pollard to Carlisle Church in Trinity as pastor.

• Russ Ponder to First Church in Farwell as pastor from First Church in Hamlin, where he was student pastor.

• Jeremy Smith to First Church in Lipan as youth minister.

• Glenn Ward to Paluxy Association as director of missions from Acton Church in Granbury.

Correction: Our original posting incorrectly said Russ Ponder had resigned at First Church in Hamlin to become pastor at First Church in Farwell. He was student pastor in Hamlin, not pastor.

• The Heart of Texas Literature Center at Howard Payne University distributed 3,500 children’s books among the center’s sponsor organizations recently. The literature center reviews children’s books throughout the year in a quarterly journal and the Children’s Literature Comprehensive Database, used nationwide by librarians as a selection tool. At the distribution event, the books received from publishers were passed on to the center’s sponsors. HPU is one of only two universities in the United States that houses this type of children’s literature review center.

• Christy Gandy has been named director of global missions at Dallas Baptist University. She had been DBU’s assistant director of spiritual life. She is a member of Hillcrest Church in Cedar Hill.

• Ellen Fineout-Overholt has been named dean of the East Texas Baptist University department of nursing.

Anniversaries

• Craig Lloyd, fifth, as pastor of Southlake Church in Waxa-hachie, July 1.

• George Solis, 30th, as pastor of Primera Iglesia in Waxahachie, July 4.

• Keith McGee, 15th, as minister of music and worship at First Church in Denton, July 22.

• Greg Allen, fifth, as pastor of Kentuckytown Church in White-wright, Aug. 6.

• Stephen Wilhite, fifth, as minister of music of First Church in Howe, Aug. 6.

• Jerry Henry, 10th, as pastor of Sadler Church in Sadler, Aug. 12.

• Oak Grove Church in Burleson, 100th, Aug. 12-14. A dinner will be held at 6 p.m. Friday, along with children’s activities, singing and words from James Leo Garrett. A meal also will kick off the activities at noon on Saturday. The Cooks will lead a gospel sing-along, and Skip McNeal will speak. Sunday morning, Bruce Corley will preach, and Jimmy Nelson also will participate in the service, along with Rebekah Naylor and Bruce Troy. Steve Beckwith is pastor.

• First Church in Plains, 100th, Aug. 14. A breakfast will be held from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. A meal will follow the celebration service that morning. Patrick Hamilton is pastor.

• Wilshire Church in Dallas, 60th, Aug. 28. Copies of a book recounting the church’s history will be sold that day. Baptist historian Bill Leonard will preach. A reception will follow the evening service. A historical display featuring still images, video and audio will be available. A reunion of the sanctuary choir will be constituted for the morning service. A reunion of former youth choir members and orchestra members will perform in the evening service. George Mason is pastor.

Retiring

• Wayne Ford, as pastor of Allison Church in Allison, June 26. He served the church 32 years. During his 54 years of ministry, he also served as pastor of Shiloh Church near Richland Springs, Patillo Church in Lipan and Cross Cut Church in Callahan County. He served as interim pastor at Rocky Creek Church in Brownwood, First Church in Lipan, Huckabay Church in Stephenville and Morgan Mill Church in Morgan Mill.

Death

• Moveta McLaughlin, 84, June 29 in Garland. A graduate of Hardin-Simmons University, she was a teacher and counselor in Dallas 30 years. She and her husband, John, conducted marriage enrichment retreats many years. He was employed by the Baptist General Convention of Texas as an ethnic work consultant in the church training division. She taught Sunday school more than 30 years at First Church in Rockwall, but most recently was a member of Wilshire Church in Dallas. She is survived by her husband of 64 years; sons, Weldon and Travis; daughter, Kellye Magee-Brim; brother, Bill Wallace; 11 grandchildren; and 11 great-grandchildren.

Event

• First Church in Paducah held a retirement reception  June 26 to honor Ilene Robertson for playing the church’s piano and organ more than 80 years.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)—Richard Land and Jim Wallis discuss the national debt and possible solutions in a new online video tackling military spending, taxes, welfare programs and entitlements.

Land, president of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission , and Wallis, president and CEO of Sojourners , agreed in the video on Bloggingheads.tv that the national debt, which has reached more than $14 trillion, is a moral issue. But they differed on how to solve it.

Bloggingheads.tv is a website filled with split-screen video entries of two people from remote locations dialoguing about the issues of the day—also known as "diavlogs."

Wallis, who is part of an effort called the Circle of Protection that aims to preserve government programs for the poor, called for cuts in military spending and higher taxes for the rich.

"Half the deficit is because of tax cuts for the wealthy and two wars financed off the books," Wallis said.

Land said entitlements are one of the major reasons for the deficit, stating that $700 billion was spent in 2010 on welfare and aid programs. Absent fathers and single parenthood, he said, are the main cause of poverty. Getting rid of no-fault divorce laws, he said, "would help."

"Single parenthood is the largest cause of poverty in the United States," Land said. "Children who grow up with two parents have enormous advantages in our culture and unfortunately they are now a minority."

Wallis interrupted to remind Land, "You and I are both for marriage."

Land continued to speak on the importance of parenthood: "It's a moral and an economic issue, Jim—$700 billion dollars a year in means-tested welfare services mainly to replace absent fathers and what they would provide for their families."

Land said entitlements "are at an unsustainable level" and are another large part of the reason for the deficit.

"We have one-size fits all entitlements and we can no longer afford those," Land said. "We're going to have to find a way to—I don't know whether you want to call it means test or whether you want to call it taxing the benefits of those who are wealthier—but people who have other retirement that they've gotten through their companies or through IRAs, people who have other retirement income are going to have to get less from Social Security."

Both men agreed waste must be cut from spending. Wallis called out the Pentagon as "the biggest waste" when it comes to spending, while Land challenged all government departments to examine and reduce their budgets.


"There's no budget that's ever been conceived that can't take a five percent across-the-board cut," Land said. "I guarantee you there's five percent waste in every program that the government is using, and we can start by a five percent cut … and I believe they could do so without any serious problem in delivery."

Wallis agreed that entitlements needed to be addressed and proposed raising Social Security taxes on the wealthy. He also pointed to mortgage tax deductions for the wealthy as a potential source of revenue.

"$8.5 billion in low-income housing is on the cutting block," Wallis said. "$8.4 billion — same amount of money — is being kept for mortgage deductions on second vacation homes for the wealthy. That's a choice. What choice should we make there?"

Land said he "certainly would be against" mortgage tax deductions for second vacation homes.

While Congress continues to debate over how to solve the national debt crisis, Land and Wallis agree that something must be done soon to stop the government's borrowing trend.

"We're borrowing 42 cents of every dollar that our federal government spends," Land said. "We're stealing our children and our grandchildren's future by that level of borrowing…. They'll spend most of their productive lives paying off our debts unless we get this debt monster under control and get federal spending under control and do so quickly."

Whitney Jones is a student at Union University in Jackson, Tenn., and an intern with Baptist Press.

LUBBOCK—Every person will face storms in life—financial, spiritual, relational or personal. Navigating tough times requires faith in the proper Captain, preachers said during the annual meeting of the African-American Fellowship of Texas in Lubbock

When the storms of life inevitably arise, Christians must cling to the assurance of Christ's abiding presence, said fellowship President Michael Bell, pastor of Greater St. Stephen First Baptist Church in Fort Worth and incumbent president of the African-American Fellowship of Texas. (PHOTO/Grace Gaddy /Communications Intern)

When storms arose as the disciples and Jesus were on the Sea of Galilee, the disciples became fearful, said Eddie Jenkins, pastor of New Hope Baptist Church in Michigan City, Ind. They forgot who they were with and the power God has over the world.

Individuals today—even Christians—often do the same, Jenkins said. When trials strike, they forget who has the strength to pull them through. They panic and worry instead of relying on the power and guidance of God.

“If you’re with Jesus, know the one you’re with,” Jenkins said. “Know the one who can quiet the storm.”

In times of trial, Christians must cling to the assurance Christ always is with them no matter how difficult their journey is, said fellowship President Michael Bell, pastor of Greater St. Stephen First Baptist Church in Fort Worth. When the disciples became alarmed, Christ calmed the storm and brought them to safety on the other side of the sea.

“Jesus doesn’t send them across the lake,” Bell said. “He says, ‘Let us cross to the other side.’”

Relying on Christ doesn’t mean Christians will avoid all life’s storms, preachers noted. Individuals may encounter financial struggles, difficulties with family members or hardships with other people.

“None of us will live without encountering a storm,” Bell said. “The sooner we realize that, the better off we are.”

Officers elected at the African-American Fellowship of Texas meeting in Lubbock are: (left to right) Vice President Oscar Epps, pastor of Community Missionary Baptist Church in DeSoto; Assistant Secretary Gleen Samuels, pastor of New Millenium Baptist Church in Lubbock; President Michael Evans, pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Mansfield; Secretary Ponce Brown, pastor of Shiloh Baptist Church in El Paso; and Treasurer Marvin Delaney, pastor of South Park Baptist Church in Houston. (PHOTO/Grace Gaddy/Communications Intern)

Storms may be part of how God shapes and develops a Christian, Jenkins said. They are teaching opportunities and chances for people to rely heavily on God and see him work. Going through that process may not be easy, but it’s what may be needed for growth.

“Most people are under the impression that once they give their hand to the preacher, their work is over,” Jenkins said. “I disagree. You’re work has just begun.”

To make it through the trials, people must abandon empty promises made to God, leave behind all excuses and see the shortfalls of limited faith—all mistakes the disciples made, said Reginald DeVaughn, pastor of Silverlake Church in Pearland. If people completely embrace the fullness of Christ, they will discover fullness in life.

“When you give your life to him, he will turn your life around and make it something beautiful,” DeVaughn said.

In business, the fellowship elected new officers: President Michael Evans, pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Mansfield; Vice President Oscar Epps, pastor of Community Missionary Baptist Church in DeSoto; Secretary Ponce Brown, pastor of Shiloh Baptist Church in El Paso; Assistant Secretary Gleen Samuels, pastor of New Millenium Baptist Church in Lubbock; and Treasurer Marvin Delaney, pastor of South Park Baptist Church in Houston.

LUBBOCK—Church leaders need to take spiritual inventory of both their lives and leadership styles in order to grow and be most effective, speakers emphasized during plenary sessions of African-American Fellowship annual meeting in Lubbock.

Michael Evans, who was elected president of the fellowship and serves as pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Mansfield, led a workshop examining church leadership against a backdrop of changing times and cultural transition.

“There’s a challenge to traditional leadership models,” Evans noted. “The question becomes: ‘Can you do it like you used to? Or can you do it like your father did?”

Statistics show marked changes and great diversity in the socio-economic and demographic composition of the African-American population, he pointed out. These factors contribute to unexplored church and community needs, which in turn affect—and demand—greater leadership responsibilities.

“What are the needs where you are? They will be different,” he said.

Evans encouraged ministers to engage the culture and close generational gaps. For example, some may use social media or sponsor a neighborhood block party to draw members of the younger generation into the church. Others may discover a need to sponsor foreign language classes to reach an ethnically diverse neighborhood.

The most important thing is to be obedient to whatever vision God bequeaths, even if it means having to “re-tradition tradition,” Evans said.

He offered the example of a fellow minister who started preaching on a secular hip-hop radio station.

“Where do you go when you’re fishing?” he asked. “You go where the fish are.”

But churches should first determine a set of biblically based “non-negotiables” before embarking on a new mission or ministry, he added.

“Make clear your mission, vision and values,” he said.

Evans also noted a sizeable benefit that comes from partnering with other churches. Increased exposure leads to greater support and collaboration—and a greater impact as the body of Christ. The goal, he emphasized, is to bring the most people into the kingdom of God as possible.

ROUND ROCK—Todd Roberson, president of South Texas Children’s Home Ministries, has been named to succeed Jerry T. Bradley as president of Children At Heart Ministries. Bradley is retiring after 21 years in the position.

Todd L. Roberson

Roberson has headed South Texas Children’s Home Ministries, based in Beeville, since 2007. He previously served the children’s home as chief operating officer, vice president for development and vice president of business administration.

“Todd Roberson comes to Children at Heart Ministries with the essential tools, credentials and reputation,” said Bill Harrison, chair of the Round Rock-based ministries’ board of trustees. “He also comes with attributes important to lead this ministry—a man who listens to God, a man who loves and involves his family in major life decisions, and a man who has compassion for hurting children and families.

Linda Beebe, chair of the president search committee for Children at Heart Ministries, added, “His experience in the child care field, along with his management style and warm rapport, will be a good fit for this critically important position.”

Bradley, who announced in March his Dec. 31 retirement, expressed confidence in his successor.

“Without a doubt, I feel that Todd Roberson is the person to which I can transfer my responsibility and know that under God’s direction, Todd will be the servant that will continue this great ministry as it serves children and strengthens families,” he said.

Roberson noted the mixed emotions he and his family feel about moving from South Texas Children’s Home Ministries.

“After 19 years, we are seriously invested in the children, staff and programs of STCHM. However, it is with a great sense of God’s moving in our hearts and lives that we believe God has called us to this point and we step forward by faith to this new point of service,” he said.

John Weber, chairman of the South Texas Children’s Home Ministries board, commended Roberson for his 19 years service to the child care ministry in multiple executive roles.

“In each position, he has poured his entire heart, soul and considerable talents into the task. He has exuded confidence and compassion, understanding and discernment. He has led us through tragic events and happy times with the same steadiness that we have come to expect,” Weber said.

“As much as I would like to tell him that he cannot leave, I have told him that it has been my privilege and pleasure to serve as his board chair, that I appreciate everything he has done for South Texas Children’s Home Ministries and the extended STCHM family, and that I will miss him and his family as they move into the next ministry the Lord has for them.”

Weber noted he planned to bring together the board’s executive committee as soon as possible to discuss formation of a search committee.

“Our first priority will be to name an interim president to serve STCHM until we find a president and CEO,” he said.

Roberson, a native of Lubbock who grew up in Lubbock and Houston, holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Baylor University and a master of arts in religious education from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

He and his wife, Jill, have two children, daughter Lindsey, 16, and son Parker, 14. They attend First Baptist Church in Beeville, where Roberson is chairman of deacons and has held other leadership roles.

Children At Heart Ministries includes Texas Baptist Children’s Home in Round Rock, Gracewood in Houston, Miracle Farm in Brenham and STARRY in Round Rock.

South Texas Children’s Home Ministries includes two residential child care programs, near Beeville and near Goliad, family counseling programs in Victoria and Goliad, a Christian Women’s Job Corp program in Corpus Christi and an international mission ministry in the Dominican Republic.

Both South Texas Children’s Home Ministries, established in 1952, and Children At Heart Ministries, established in 1950, are affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

–Compiled from reports by Children at Heart Ministries and South Texas Children’s Home Ministries

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (ABP) – A Baptist leader who helped broker peace among rival factions in the northeast Indian state of Nagaland accepted the 2011 Baptist World Alliance Denton and Janice Lotz Human Rights Award July 9.

Wati Aier, principal of the Oriental Theological Seminary in Dimapur, convened the Forum for Naga Reconciliation in 2008. Last September the forum brought together leaders of three armed nationalist groups bringing about a historic pledge to end hostilities that have beset the region for decades.

Janice Lotz, who is married to former BWA General Secretary Denton Lotz, presented the annual award that recognizes individuals “engaged in significant and effective activities to secure, protect, restore or preserve human rights.”

Aier accepted the award, accompanied on stage by his wife, Alongla Aier, a professor at Oriental Theological Seminary and a keynote speaker at last year’s Baptist World Congress in Honolulu.

Aier, a former vice president of the Asia Pacific Baptist Federation and current member of the BWA Commission on Peace, credited the Baptist World Alliance and other Baptist bodies for helping to broker peace "in one of the longest, lasting conflicts in recent history.”

More than 2,330 insurgency-related fatalities were recorded in Nagaland between 1992 and 2009. Tight security in the area has curtailed travel in an era in which Aier said the Naga people longed "to live in peace."

BWA President John Upton, executive director of the Baptist General Association of Virginia said what Aier did, "he did for Christ and for his people."

In other business, the BWA accepted four African organizations into its membership during the General Council meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The BWA now has 222 member bodies in 120 countries.

Two Baptist bodies in the Democratic Republic of Congo became BWA members. The Association of Evangelical Baptist Churches in Congo includes 3,021 members in 36 churches, with offices in Goma, in the eastern part of the nation. The Baptist Churches Union Community of Congo, formed in 1964, includes 46,321 members in 372 churches and has offices in Kikwit in the southwestern part of the country.

Joel Gregory (right), professor at Truett Theological Seminary, presented a report on “Global Baptist Preaching” to the Baptist World Alliance meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. BWA President John Upton (left) praised the report as “of great value for Baptist world preaching.”

The groups bring to 10 the number of member bodies in the Democratic Republic of Congo, one of Africa’s largest countries.

Another new BWA member, the Baptist Convention of Sudan, started in refugee camps in Kakuma, Kenya, in 1996, and includes 18 churches and another 32 in the process of being established. The convention has more than 13,500 members, with offices in Malakal in South Sudan.

The Free Evangelical Baptist Church of the Central African Republic joins three other BWA member bodies in the French-speaking African nation. It has 57,000 members in 250 churches, with offices in Berbérati.

The BWA General Council also accepted the Council of Baptist Churches in Northeast India into associate membership. It includes several church bodies in Northeast Indian states, some of which hold full membership in the BWA, and it represents more than 1 million members.