WACO—A surprisingly large number of lesser known “B” sides on vintage records of gospel songs championed civil rights, suggesting Christian artists were interested in bettering the here and now as well as proclaiming hope for the hereafter—even though doing so might have been risky for them, according to a Baylor University researcher.

The recent discovery “tells us that the gospel community was much more involved in the civil rights movement than we previously thought—outside of Mahalia Jackson and Dorothy Love Coates, who we knew were very involved,” said Robert Darden, an associate professor of journalism at Baylor and a former gospel editor for Billboard magazine.

In 2005, Darden began a search-and-rescue mission for gospel music on old 78s, 45s and LPs and in various taped formats to be preserved digitally and cataloged at Baylor. Darden—author of People Get Ready! A New History of Black Gospel Music—was concerned that while contemporary gospel was thriving, early gospel by lesser-known artists during the 1940s to the 1970s, the “Golden Age of Gospel Music,” might be lost forever. He now oversees Baylor’s Black Gospel Music Restoration Project.

“The reason we haven’t known about the ‘B’ sides before is that more than third of what we’ve received is not in the lone book that tries to catalog all gospel music,” Darden said. “When we’ve known about a song, it is almost always the hit or ‘A’ side.”

The songs related to civil rights may have escaped notice because few scholars are studying gospel music’s impact on that issue, as well as the fact many of the artists are lesser known or even unknown, other than by a small circle of friends, family members and church members, he said.

The spirited “Where is Freedom?” by The Friendly Four begins with a rousing appeal: “Here’s a freedom song for all you freedom fighters out there everywhere. And when you sing, remember the wonderful ones who lost their dedicated lives for this precious purpose and won’t be allowed to see it through. Now sing—Sing, every one of you!”

The lyrics speak of civil rights marches and demonstrations in Atlanta, Tennessee, Birmingham and Chicago, of violence and snapping police dogs, of integration and equal rights.

The All-Star Gospel Singers recorded “I Believe Martin Luther King Made It Home.” And the somber “Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King” by Franklin Fondel speaks of the civil rights leader whose “voice was his weapon that opened barred doors. … He’s free now forever, like all men should be, regardless of color, religion or creed.”

One of the well-known individuals who sang of civil rights was Della Reese, a gospel singer before she became a pop singer and star of TV’s “Touched by an Angel.” She sang “Simple Song of Freedom.”

–For more information about the project, visit www.baylor.edu/lib/gospel.

Missouri Baptist author George Joslin of Springfield has produced what may be the first American Sign Language-only novel.

ASL novel on DVD

Titled A Deaf Man's Gospel, the novel is only available in American Sign Language (ASL) on DVD, rather than in print format. According to Joslin, his novel may be the first created just for the Deaf in ASL.

"Many stories have been recorded, but not a full-length novel like this," Joslin explained. "Many things have been translated into ASL from English, but this was created in ASL."

The biblical fiction starts with the story of the deaf man Jesus healed in Mark 7:31-35, and adding some incidents from the other gospels.

"The fiction is that the deaf man Jesus healed, named Benjamin, is added to the gospel stories. The book portrays the observations and experiences of this deaf man," he added.

"This is a book created by a deaf man — me, presented in ASL by a deaf man — Tim Bender — for deaf people. We have added voice to the DVD so hearing friends and family can enjoy this book along with the deaf," Joslin said.

The idea formed when Joslin began to ask himself questions as he read the biblical account: Who was this deaf man? Who brought him to Jesus? What was it like to be deaf at the time Jesus was on earth? What happened to this man after he was healed?

The Bible does not provide the man's name, his hometown or the names of those who brought him to Jesus. Because the work is fiction, Joslin chose to name him Benjamin and placed him in Capernaum, near the place where Jesus healed him. Joslin decided Nicodemus and his brother, Abner, Benjamin's father, could have led Benjamin to the Lord.

The author based his assumptions about Benjamin's life on what is common in the Deaf community today and what is known about the way of life in Jesus' time. In the book, Joslin suggests the man met many of the people portrayed in the New Testament, and that he became a follower of Jesus.

Binder serves as pastor of a church for the Deaf in Louisville, Ky. Buddy Burgess, a hearing man and pastor of a Virginia Baptist Deaf church in Richmond, Va., did the voiceover.

Other Baptists also were part of the project. Southern Baptist evangelist Howard Baldwin of Multi-Media Evangelism Inc. handled technical aspects. Let's Sign, owned by Edith Booth of Jackson, Miss., is the distributor.

Joslin is the author of two other novels, A Life After Deafness and A Terp on the Line, and numerous non-fiction books on teaching American Sign Language and interpreting for the Deaf. Individuals interested in the two-DVD A Deaf Man's Gospel may contact Joslin at gjoslin@mchsi.com .

DALLAS—The Baptist General Convention of Texas executive director search committee met for the first time Jan. 24.

Members prayed for God to guide them to the person he is calling to lead the convention's executive board staff, began outlining the values that will guide the search and brainstormed ways to seek input from the diverse Texas Baptist family.

Ron Lyles, the committee’s chairman and pastor of South Main Baptist Church in Pasadena, reported he was pleased with the first meeting. The committee is encouraging Texas Baptists to pray for the search process, particularly in worship services Feb. 27.

“We had an excellent first meeting as we were reminded of our task within the context of God’s empowerment and purpose,” he said.

“We began to build a trustful relationship with each other and prayed for each other. We are unified in our desire to seek God’s direction and are committed to doing that in a confident but humble manner. We are determined not to feel anxious or hurried in our deliberation and decision, but we will be diligent in our work.”

The committee also elected David Lowrie, pastor of First Baptist Church in El Paso, as its vice chairman.

DEL RIO—Cold water swirls around Julio Gonzales’ legs as he stands in the baptistry. He laughs quickly, nervously—and who can blame him? It isn’t everyday a person stands at the intersection of two disparate lives—the one he seeks to leave behind and the new one he feels God calling him to live.

He prays he will find the freedom that has eluded him for 16 years.

Bearing the unmistakable marks of a hard life, former drug smuggler Julio Gonzales talks to young people during a seminar at First Baptist Church in Del Rio, urging them to avoid the kind of bad choices he made that led to time in prison. (PHOTO/John Hall/BGCT)

Gonzales, 32, has spent the last half of his life in and out of the criminal system, including four stints in prison on charges that include conspiracy to murder and smuggling drugs. He carries the outer scars—a plethora of tattoos on his arms, back, chest, face and head—and inner burdens of a hard life.

He is four months from being off parole and out of the criminal justice system for the first time since he was a teenager. He credits his progress to the support of several people, including Jeff Johnson, pastor of First Baptist Church, and Moises Reyes, the church’s missions pastor, who reached out to him with a caring spirit and the hope of Christ. Through a relationship with God, Gonzales sees an opportunity to change his life and be a better father to his 9-year-old daughter.

“It’s a new start, doing something different,” he said in an interview before he was baptized during the Texas Baptist River Ministry Conference at First Baptist Church Jan. 28. “God’s going to pull me and my family through.”

He knows starting anew won’t be easy. He’s reminded of it nearly every day. Federal authorities have given him permission to live across the border from Del Rio in Acuña, so he can care for his wife and daughter. Life there is harder than any other he’s experienced, he said—a significant statement from a man who was stabbed seven times.

Gonzales hasn’t found steady employment since he was released from prison 19 months ago, and has supported his family by picking up occasional day jobs. The water to his home was turned off a couple of weeks ago because he couldn’t pay for it. He recently received the electric bill and cannot afford to pay it. His family is “lucky” to have balogna and milk in his refrigerator, he said.

Julio Gonzales, an ex-convict and former drug smuggler, is baptized at First Baptist Church in Del Rio by missions pastor Moises Reyes. (PHOTO/John Hall/BGCT)

Gonzales faces constant temptation to turn back to his old lifestyle to earn money. He recognizes opportunities to make quick money smuggling drugs, but he knows that’s not the lifestyle God is calling him to lead. God will provide for his family, Gonzales said, not drugs or other criminal activities.

“The money’s good, but you don’t live in peace,” he said. “There’s no peace. Now I’m happy with myself.”

Andrea Huffman, First Baptist Church’s community minister, is working with Gonzales to help him put his skills to use in micro-enterprise to provide self-sustaining income. 

Overcoming temptation marks just one aspect of Gonzales’ new faith. In many ways, he’s like so many other new Christians who struggle to discover what having a relationship with God means in daily life.

“I still have a lot to work on. I ain’t no angel,” said Gonzales, who has the phrase “forgive me for my crazy life” tattooed above his eyebrows and on his collarbone.

Johnson helps encourage Gonzales in his relationship with God, calling him twice a week to see how he is doing and how the church can help.

“Julio coming to know Christ is a classic example of planting, watering, and God giving the increase,” Johnson said. “From the prison ministry, mission partnerships, advocacy/care, prayer walking to personal evangelism—all God used. We are happy to be part of God’s plan for Julio.”

Despite the temptation that surrounds him, Gonzales believes he’s going to make it—to get off probation and be a better father. He can’t make up for years lost in prison, but can do the best he can to be the man God is calling him to be, he noted. He’s not sure where that will lead, but he hopes God will call him to help young people avoid the pitfalls in which he fell. He’s already trying to help the young men who live around him.

“I know I’m going to make it,” he said. “It’s tough, but I’m going to make it.”

PLAINVIEW—Melanie Vasquez faced a big dilemma in December.

She was set to leave the Balkans and return home to Hobbs, N.M., and Plainview, where she attended Wayland Baptist University. She graduated in May 2010 and continued helping with student ministry in nearby Tulia.

Melanie Vasquez (right) spends time with her friend, Marita, who helps with the English classes and also helps Vasquez brush up on her foreign languages in the process.

Her plan all along was to stay six months, then return to the States. But something wasn’t right. She had unfinished business to do, even though her funding to stay overseas was not guaranteed.

Questions loomed: Should she pack her belongings into storage, come home and hope to return for them later? Or should she leave everything in place and trust that she’d be coming back after a holiday visit with relatives and friends?

Vasquez chose the latter, trusting God to work the details out for her to return to the nation that quickly is becoming her second home.

“I just feel like it’s not over for me here,” she said. “About the third month here, I knew there was so much more to do and what that might mean. I began thinking, ‘How can I leave the people that have become my family and not let them have the opportunity to know me better?’ I just knew I had to come back until it was finished.”

Once she returns, Vasquez will help run a community center and teaching English there. She also hopes to start a master’s degree through Wayland’s Virtual Campus, focusing on education and English as a Second Language.

Wayland graduate Melanie Vasquez of Hobbs, N.M., (back row, third from left) joins a group of Balkan children at a Halloween party held at a community center where she works.

Her work in the Balkans has not been much different than when she first visited several years earlier while on a Wayland-sponsored trip. The focus always has been on building relationships, sharing cultures and providing help and hope for the people there.

“I’ve always known that God loves all people, but not everyone has the chance to know and understand his call for them,” said Vasquez. “When an opportunity came my way, I took it.”

That first opportunity was to Mexico. Then, she visited the Balkans the next summer. Her world was transformed, and she knew where she wanted to go the next time a trip was scheduled. In fact, she was so sure of the seeds being planted there that she opted to spend not only her summer there, but also the following fall semester of 2009.

“I fell in love with the people there and just felt like there was a need there for English education, a need for hope and for the people to see something different and know something different,” she said. “The people need to see that it’s a bigger world.”

After returning to Wayland, she completed her last semester of college and headed back to the Balkans just a few weeks after earning her degree. Her intent was to stay another six months, then return to the High Plains to work and do community development.

A group of Balkan women knitted these bags to provide additional income for their families with help from Melanie Vasquez and an outside organization she hopes will market the handcrafts in America and around the world.

But something told her things weren’t finished, and she plans to head back in February to pick up where she left off. First Baptist Church in Tulia has funded her effort in full, having helped significantly for the last trip, and she’s using her home visit to make some connections that will help an effort she began in the European nation before she left.

In an effort to provide economic development and enrichment for the women, Vasquez started a group that knit various products including doilies and handbags, using brightly colored yarns and knitted floral decorations as well.

Since most women in the Balkans do not work outside the home, many families rely on the husband’s salary alone to survive and it often means financial hardships. By using a skill they already possess—Vasquez said most of the women know how to knit quite well and often create things for themselves—she hoped to find connections with vendors who could sell those handcrafts internationally and provide additional income for the families.

 “Other people like Americans don’t normally do these things. They’d rather buy them instead, and to know they are handmade from these ladies on the other side of the world is great,” Vasquez said. “We are hoping that we can show the women that they do have a skill that can help provide for their families.

“This also helps with their self-esteem as they see the team effort and how it will help them all. I tell them that God loves all people, and he expects us to help each other out. No one is above anyone else in the group.”

While the effort has taken time to get under way, Vasquez is confident that a vendor will emerge to help the women sell their wares.

“The challenge is to help them sustain that help for themselves over the long term. If we’re going to make a difference, we want to make one that lasts,” she said. “I’m a problem solver, but I’m learning that I can’t solve everything, and that’s been hard.”

The work, the classes and the other tasks she’s been called upon to do have all opened doors for Vasquez to do her favorite thing—get to know people and a culture so different than her own.

“I’ve made some really good friends and had some great conversations about religion and my own culture. I’ve been able to share my culture and my religion in lots of different ways,” she said. “I’ve always been a people person and get along with everybody. It felt much the same there. They’re just people like me, and I’m interested in knowing about them too. I connect with the people and enjoy just sitting and having coffee with people.”

Through the community center’s programs—which include a coffee house, open-microphone nights, English classes and community development resources for families—Vasquez said the doors are open wide to meeting even more people and forming relationships.

“It’s weird. … It’s like home now. My home is here, but it is there, too. I cannot even fathom not being there and doing what I’m doing,” she said. “It’s always been hard to come back, because America is so different than most cultures. America is such a rich country compared to others, and other countries follow us.”

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (ABP) — The Kentucky Baptist Convention announced job cuts Jan. 31 intended to free up more money for national and international ministries of the Southern Baptist Convention.

Five full-time jobs and 19 part-time jobs are being eliminated. Employees staying on the job will not receive a pay raise next year.

The reductions, which go into effect Sept. 1, are part of a Great Commission Task Force report approved by Kentucky Baptists at their 2010 annual meeting. The report called for splitting allocations of the Cooperative Program unified funding plan evenly between state and national causes within 10 years.

Currently 62 percent of CP gifts are retained by the 2,400-church state convention to fund ministries of the Kentucky Baptist Convention mission board and agencies, while 38 percent are forwarded to the SBC.

Three of the five full-time jobs being eliminated are vacant. The other two will be vacated by retirements scheduled Aug. 31. The 19 part-time jobs being cut are a mixture of filled and unfilled positions. Seven other part-time contract positions will be reduced.

"We regret having to give up these positions and the ministry that takes place through them," said Bill Mackey, executive director of the state convention. "But we will do our best to meet these ministry needs through effective and faithful volunteers and assignments to current personnel."

Mackey retires in May. A search committee currently is seeking his replacement.

EVANSTON, Ill. (ABP) — Morris Ashcraft, a longtime seminary professor and administrator who after retiring helped establish a free-standing seminary for moderates disenfranchised by the "conservative resurgence" in the Southern Baptist Convention, died Jan. 29 after a long illness. He was 88.

An Arkansas native, Ashcraft taught five years at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and 22 years at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary before moving to Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary as a professor and dean in 1981.

Seven years later he resigned his deanship, along with seminary President Randall Lolley and six other administrators, to protest policies adopted by a new conservative majority on the board of trustees intended to ensure the hiring of only professors who affirmed biblical inerrancy.

"It is my belief that too many leaders in the SBC have capitulated to the pressure and agreed with it," Ashcraft said in a statement on Nov. 17, 1987. Ashcraft said his intention in resigning was to say "a clear 'No'" to a movement started in 1979 to purge so-called liberals from the denomination's institutions.

"I will not be party to some of the actions now taking place and injuring persons, nor will I hold the coats of those who do," he concluded.

In 1984 Ashcraft told a group of Baptist educators that Southern Baptist college and seminary degrees offered "ideal preparation" for ministry in Southern Baptist churches. Concerned about the impact of changes at Southeastern Seminary on pulpits in the Carolinas and Virginia, the Alliance of Baptists, a group formed out of the SBC controversy in 1987, decided in 1989 to launch an alternative seminary.

A board of trustees turned to Ashcraft to serve as acting president of Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond, which opened in the fall of 1991. Tasked primarily with raising start-up funds and processing documents needed to get the school accredited, Ashcraft held the post for one year, until the election of the school's first permanent president.

Today BTSR is one of 15 theology schools in partnership with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.

Funeral services are scheduled at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 5, at First Baptist Church of Raleigh, N.C., where Ashcraft was a member for nearly 30 years. Pastor Christopher Chapman, Associate Pastor Mike Morris and Lolley will officiate.

Burial will be private at Seminary Cemetery in Wake Forest, N.C. In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial gifts in his honor to the maintenance endowment fund of Raleigh's First Baptist Church.

Ashcraft is survived by his wife of nearly 66 years, a son and daughter and four grandchildren. Late in life he moved to Evanston, Ill, because of illness. He died with his wife, Bernice. at his side.

ATLANTA (ABP) — The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship announced deep staff cuts Jan. 28, citing lingering financial woes.

According to a news release, 13 positions have been eliminated and one reclassified. Two of the jobs will move to contract positions.

The layoffs will reduce the size of the Atlanta-based Fellowship's staff to 42 full-time positions. That includes three field coordinators in Virginia, Tennessee and Texas that are shared with state CBF organizations and one job shared with the CBF Foundation.

Daniel Vestal

"These have been among the most difficult decisions I've had to make during my tenure at the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship," said Daniel Vestal, the Fellowship's executive coordinator since 1996. "In spite of our previous efforts, with the downturn in the economy and the ongoing financial challenges of the churches and individuals that make up this Fellowship, we had to address the shortfall by reducing the size of our staff."

Vestal declined to discuss specifics of the staff cuts until after he reports the details to the CBF Coordinating Council at the group's next scheduled meeting Feb. 24-25.

The downsizing follows two straight years of contingency spending to cope with budget shortfalls. In 2009 the Fellowship averted layoffs by cutting staff salaries by 1 percent, reducing contributions to employee retirement plans and scaling back funding for CBF partner organizations by 30 percent.

Last summer the CBF adopted a budget of $14.5 million for 2010-2011, down from $16.1 million the previous year. Four months into the current fiscal year, revenue was running 20 percent below that budget.

None of the lost jobs involved CBF missionaries, although field personnel are operating with reduced budgets. Last June Vestal said that unless giving increases to the Fellowship's Global Missions Offering, sooner or later missionaries would have to be recalled.

The Fellowship has not had funds to employ new missionaries since 2008, but has continued to commission field personnel through the AsYouGo affiliate program, in which missionaries are self-supporting but work alongside paid missionaries.

"My heart goes out to the faithful servants of this Fellowship who are now faced with difficult transitions," said CBF Moderator Christy McMillin-Goodwin "They will be in our prayers as they follow God's call to their next phase of ministry."

"All of the CBF staff will need our prayers in the days ahead as we work even more diligently to serve as the presence of Christ around the world," said Goodwin, associate minister for education and missions at Oakland Baptist Church in Rock Hill, S.C. "I am confident we will emerge from these difficult days a stronger Fellowship."

Vestal said staff in the Fellowship's Atlanta Resource Center would reorganize in order to continue to function effectively. "Despite these developments, I remain hopeful about CBF's future," Vestal said.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the CBF, a group of individuals and churches that formed out of the Southern Baptist Convention inerrancy controversy in the 1980s and 1990s. Today about 1,900 churches are affiliated with the group, according to the Fellowship's website.

A 14-member task force appointed last year is currently involved in a two-year study of CBF staffing and funding.

Previous ABP stories:

CBF cuts spending by 20 percent (2/20/2009)

CBF adjusts to budget shortfall (7/1/2009)

CBF adopts $16.1 million budget, but continues reduced spending (7/3/2009)

CBF Coordinating Council recommends reduced budget (2/19/2010)

CBF leader seeks to rally churches to make up mission offering shortfall (5/28/2010)

Vestal says CBF will have to recall missionaries unless funding improves (6/23/2010)

CBF to evaluate structure, funding in two-year study (6/25/2010)

Vestal says CBF will have to recall missionaries unless funding improves (6/23/2010)

CBF 2012 task force begins with listening sessions (10/18/2010)

Jan. 1 not only marked the beginning of a new year, but also saw the first Baby Boomers turn 65 years old. And congregations face the evolving challenge of finding ways to minister with and to them.

Boomers—born between 1946 and 1964—comprise the largest generation in U.S. history at 78 million strong, and they don’t approach growing older in the same way their parents did.

“Boomers were a generation of change,” noted Mark Seanor, minister to experienced adults at First Baptist Church of Huntsville, Ala. “They don’t want what their parents do in ministry.”

Many Boomers want to keep working past retirement, but in areas of interest and to make a difference. They want to stay young and are searching for productive and meaningful purpose, notes Amy Hanson in Baby Boomers & Beyond: Tapping the Ministry Talents & Passions of Adults Over Fifty.

Boomers often are characterized as people on a personal quest who seek self-actualization and self-discovery throughout life, explained Frank Fain, director of educational services for The Baptist Home system for older adults in Missouri.

Norma Abbott from First Baptist Church in Browning, Mo., shows off a string catfish she caught at Lake Mary.

As older adults, members of this generation are more energetic, healthier and still want to change the world, Fain added. “They want their life to matter. … Older Boomers in particular … don’t want to serve the institution not just for the institution’s sake. They want to serve … to make a difference in the world.”

The differences between Boomers and the generation before them mean churches should rethink the way older adult ministry is done—beginning with the name. Boomers don’t want to be called senior adults, and churches have responded by using terms such as second half, 55-plus, older adult and emerging adult ministry. Some churches are shifting from a SAM—senior adult ministry—focus to BAM—Boomer adult ministry.

But Boomer ministry must be more than simply a name change. Churches must recognize Boomers are distinctively different, Fain said.

Ruth Ann Short, an emeritus missionary to Nigeria, was featured in the Missouri Department of Transportation’s “No MOre Trash” publicity campaign last year. She participates in the Adopt-a-Highway project while she logs an average of 10,000 steps per day. As she picks up trash, she prays for the households and businesses along the roads and for litterbugs.

Boomers still are the “me generation,” Keith Lowry, adult consultant for the Baptist General Convention of Texas, said. “Effective ministry will have to deal with that, but (it) also takes advantage of the tremendous gifts and talents they bring.”

Churches may find they need to divide older adults for some activities and projects. “I realized Boomers are not going to consider themselves as senior adults … and I stopped fighting to merge them,” explained Melissa Fallen, associate pastor for senior adults and pastoral care at Huguenot Road Baptist Church in Richmond, Va.

“I see an opportunity for the church … to help Boomers … make this time meaningful,” she added.

If the church doesn’t, Boomers likely will look elsewhere for meaning. “They want to be involved in specific causes,” noted Ken Kessler of the Baptist General Association of Virginia. “The key word to me is ‘engage.’ Engage them instead of just having them sit back.

“The church has to take the opportunity … to engage them in meaningful ministry … or they are going to flee and find meaningful places to serve.”

As congregations minister to Boomers, they should start by talking with them and with all older adult groups.

Steve Whisler became senior adult minister at Second Baptist Church in Springfield, Mo., last August. He admits he still is formulating how to tackle the Boomer issue without older members feeling abandoned. He believes conversation is the place to start.

Alan Fowler and Dwayne Gibson of Richmond, Va., work on a shed renovated into a clubhouse for ministry partners in Charlotte, N.C.

“Get to know and be known among the senior adult population,” he said. “We did a survey just to see what service people were interested in, and we’re using the survey results as one more listening tool.”

He has talked with nearly every Bible study class teacher and director to understand needs and to hear others’ opinions. “I didn’t know where to begin until I listened and assessed,” he said. “You can’t come in with a plan. How do you know what to do until you listen and assess?”

Education is another key. Educate the church about older adult needs and desires. Help emerging and older adults understand one another.

Allow Boomers to determine their ministry. “It must be grassroots,” Fain explained. “Boomers are saying, ‘This ministry is for us and is going to be done by us.’”

Mark Seanor in Alabama added churches need to develop awareness among members and leaders about the Boomers and their differences. Even though some Boomers have been included in older adult ministry for 10 years—the oldest turned 55 in 2001—“There is still a long way to go,” he said.

The ministry needs to become a priority, Seanor added. “You need to listen to them and work with them and develop ministry from within.”

A conference to address the uniqueness of Boomer ministry will be held at Baylor University next fall.

WIMBERLEY—It may be wood, paint and rebar to some, but to the Carpenter’s Helpers of Wimberley, the crosses they make are statements of faith.

The Carpenter’s Helpers, primarily comprised of men from First Baptist Church in Wimberley but including a few Lutheran, Methodist and Church of Christ men as well, first heard of a church in Michigan that built crosses for members to place in their yards.

Ron Modawell brought the idea to the group. They made seven crosses that day.

“We prayed over those crosses and asked God’s blessing to be upon them, wherever they might end up,” Modawell said.

They have constructed more than 1,000 crosses that now stretch far beyond the confines of Wimberley.

Their crosses can be seen throughout the Hill Country, as well as in Dallas, Corpus Christi, Victoria and even in Georgia and Missouri.

The men meet most Monday mornings for prayer and then work four or five hours to make about 100 crosses.

Larry Edwards from First Baptist Church in Wimberley uses a router on a cross. (PHOTOS/George Henson)

 “No sooner do we get them built than we have requests from people who would like to have them,” Modawell said.

Builders make the crosses from 8-foot untreated pine 2 x 4s that are trimmed for length and routered on the edges.

After notching the boards, they assemble the two pieces. Two screws secure the arms to the upright. A hole is drilled in the bottom for a rebar base and a hole in the side for the installation of an American flag. Then they sand and paint the crosses.

A few larger crosses have been made for people whose properties line highways, and a few varnished crosses have been made for businesses to place indoors.

Eagle Mountain Flag of Wimberley has donated all the flags for the project. Ace Hardware donated many gallons of paint and brushes, and McCoy’s Lumber has given the men a discounted price on lumber that the store has not donated to the project outright, said Maurice Armstrong, one of the group’s volunteers.

The Carpenter’s Helpers from First Baptist Church in Wimberley have built more than 1,000 crosses that can be spotted throughout the Texas Hill Country and beyond. (PHOTOS/George Henson)

While not everyone attends each week, about 35 people participate at least part of the time in making the crosses, said Jack Burkland, on whose property the crosses are constructed. Women from the church help with some of the painting.

The group also constructed a website, www.makeacross.com, to help others. The website not only lists step-by-step instructions, but also provides tips gained from the group’s experience.

“It’s really been a blessing for all us men to be able to be a part of this,” Modawell said.

“This is a ministry that God is blessing, and we just want to keep on as long as he’ll use us to bring honor and glory to his name.”

DALLAS—The Texas Baptist Historical Collection is displaying iconic preacher George Whitefield’s elevated pulpit, one of the top five artifacts of American Christianity and a key tool that helped unite the colonies as well as lay the foundation of the revolution against England, in the estimation of Alan Lefever, director of the collection.

Whitefield was one of the key preachers in the First Great Awakening, a spiritual revival that swept across the colonies and Britain in the 1730s and 1740s. He traveled the colonies with this pulpit and preached in open areas to crowds as large as 30,000 people. Some historians call Whitefield the colonies’ first celebrity.

As Whitefield traveled, newspapers covered his speaking engagements extensively, sharing information with each other about where he had been and where he was going. That exchange of knowledge helped create an information network that brought the colonies together and changed the way the way they thought of themselves, Lefever said.

Whitefield’s preaching also helped encourage the notion of a personal faith, one in which individuals were free and responsible for making their own decisions about God. This idea flourished throughout the history of the nation, he said.

“When you look at the pulpit, you’re not just looking at a piece of furniture that had to do with the spreading of the gospel, which is significant in and of itself. You’re looking at a piece of furniture that helped with the formation of the United States of America,” said Lefever, who recently received the piece when the American Tract Society gave its archives to the historical collection.

This pulpit has been called one of the top five artifacts of American Christianity and a key tool that helped unite the colonies, as well as lay the foundation of the revolution against England.

“Before Whitefield, the colonies all saw themselves as independents who answered to Britain. After Whitefield, they began to see each as together. They began coming together and seeing themselves as a group who had something to offer.”

The pulpit is being displayed in the historical collection’s offices temporarily, but eventually will be moved to the Dallas offices of the Baptist General Convention of Texas. The display coincides with the launch of the convention’s Hope 1:8 efforts that encourage churches to share the Christian message locally, across the state, throughout the nation and around the world.

Lefever said the pulpit serves as an inspiration to Texas Baptists, reminding them God has moved in mighty ways in the past to bring large numbers of people to him. During the First Great Awakening, roughly one-sixth of the colonies’ population made of profession of faith in Christ. Such spiritual expansion can happen again as a result of Texas Baptists being willing to live out God’s calling in their lives, he said.

“As we talk about Hope 1:8 and try to share the gospel with all these people in Texas, sometimes we think this is such a daunting task,” Lefever said. “This pulpit is a reminder it’s been done before. One short, balding man sharing the gospel tied together the colonies. Imagine what God can do if a host of Texas Baptists are willing to be obedient like George Whitefield.”

Individuals and groups wanting to see the pulpit and the rest of the historical collection must make an appointment. Church groups already are calling to see the pulpit.

The historical collection’s offices are open, and the pulpit will be on display Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m., and there is no charge to see the pulpit. To schedule an appointment, call the historical collection at (972) 331-2235.

DALLAS—After seven years as Texas Baptist Men executive director and more than four decades holding various leadership posts in the missions organization, Leo Smith has announced plans to retire effective Feb. 28.

Smith, 72, has informed members of the TBM board of his decision but also told them he will be available to serve in some capacity at their discretion during a transitional period as they seek a new staff leader.

Texas Baptist Men Executive Director Leo Smith reported on missions progress to the TBM rally in McAllen, held in conjunction with the 2010 Baptist General Convention of Texas annual meeting. Smith has announced his retirement from the TBM executive post.

“God has blessed Texas Baptist Men, and it is time for fresh leadership to take the organization to greater heights,” he said. “God is not through with Texas Baptist Men.”

Smith first became involved with the missions organization before it even was Texas Baptist Men—working with the Royal Ambassadors program for boys in the mid-1960s through the Baptist General Convention of Texas Brotherhood Department.

A couple of years later, Texas Baptist Men became a self-governing organization. In the decades that followed, Smith was a vice president of various TBM programs on numerous occasions, served on multiple committees and was elected TBM president in 2001.

When Jim Furgerson stepped down as TBM executive director the following year, Smith served as acting interim for several months before the board officially named him interim executive director in November 2002. He was elected executive director in February 2004.

When Smith became executive director, TBM had a $900,000 annual budget, based entirely on funding from the Baptist General Convention of Texas. TBM now administers $3.2 million annually, including disaster relief funds, even though funding through the BGCT Cooperative Program has dropped to less than $500,000 a year.

“We’ve tried to be a good partner with the BGCT, and the BGCT has been a good partner with us,” Smith said. That partnership in doing God’s work transcends financial support, he observed.

“It’s not about money. It’s about obedience. I’ve learned that when you obey, God provides,” he said.

During a tense time in Baptist life, Smith sought to help TBM walk a tightrope between two state conventions. While the BGCT no longer provides the bulk of TBM’s annual budget, the missions organization maintains its historic affiliation with the BGCT and works closely with its leaders.

TBM receives no financial support from the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention. However, much of its money and manpower comes from SBTC-affiliated churches.

Nationally and internationally, TBM works closely with the Southern Baptist North American Mission Board in disaster relief and continues its close relationship with the Southern Baptist International Mission Board.

At the same time, TBM works on projects with the Baptist World Alliance—the international body from which the Southern Baptist Convention withdrew in 2004—and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.

“The most gratifying thing personally has been seeing the activity of God every day,” he said.

Seven years ago, TBM had eight full-time staff. Now, in addition to 10 full-time staff, there are four who work part-time and seven who serve on a volunteer basis.

Two programs—Victim Relief Ministries and Inmate Discipler Fellowship—that were birthed by TBM have become independent, but still affiliated, ministries.

While TBM is approaching the 10,000 mark in its roster of trained disaster relief volunteers, water purification has become the fastest-growing ministry—and the one Smith believes holds the greatest potential for international missions service.

“The water-purification ministry is growing by leaps and bounds. Pure water is a need that’s present every day. Disaster relief is seasonal,” he said.

Even so, during Smith’s time as executive director, TBM has expanded its missions equipping center in east Dallas to house a continually growing fleet of disaster relief vehicles and equipment.

Born in Ysleta, near El Paso, Smith became a Christian and surrendered to the gospel ministry at Baptist Temple in San Antonio. He earned a degree from the University of Corpus Christi and served more than 49 years as a pastor—the last 25 at Highlands Baptist Church in LaMarque. He and his wife of 51 years, Cordelia, have five children and nine grandchildren.

While Smith looks forward to spending more time with family in retirement, he insists his enthusiasm for TBM and his belief in the organization’s future remains greater than ever.

“I’m getting to the point where I’m growing weary in what I’m doing, but I’m not weary of what I’m doing,” he said. “This has been the most fun I’ve ever had in my life.”