CLOUDCROFT, N.M.—Texas smolders in August. Aspendale Mountain Retreat Center does not. Texans on Mission Builders spent much of August in the cooler temperature of the Baptist camp, situated at about 9,000 feet elevation.

The eight-man, five-woman team built two cabins and repaired outdoor stairs on a dormitory facility, as well as making curtains and other items. They arrived in early August, just as summer camps wrapped up.

“The timing was perfect,” said Jim Pettit, center director.

Walnut Ridge Baptist Church in Mansfield built the shell of the cabins in July. Then the Texans on Mission team finished the roof and interior.

Aspendale is in New Mexico, but it’s a camp associated with El Paso Baptist Association. It occupies a high valley with elk grazing during the morning and evening.

“You couldn’t pick a better place weather-wise,” with lows in the 40s and highs in the 70s, said Ralph Stephenson, coordinator of Texans on Mission Cabinet Builders. But the sun is “a little bit more intense with the altitude,” and breathing required some adjusting.

Larry Quinn, coordinator of Texans on Mission Camp Builders, called Aspendale the “westernmost camp that we have. Even though it’s in New Mexico, … we consider it one of our camps.”

Aspendale is a small camp serving the region around El Paso, which is “one of the poorer areas of Texas,” Pettit said. “We don’t have a lot of financial resources to fall back on.”

Impressive attitudes and skills

The cabins the Texans on Mission Builders worked on are 14 feet by 14 feet, providing a bathroom with a shower, kitchenette and sleeping area.

While Texans on Mission men built the cabins and reconstructed the outdoor stairs, the women sewed curtains for the cabins and made bags to be sold in the camp store.

Beverly Quinn said they also made blankets to be given away during Texans on Mission’s Christmas in the Valley program for families in the lower Rio Grande Valley.

The camp director’s introduction to Texans on Mission came last year.

“I was thoroughly impressed with the group that came last year and was excited that they had agreed to come back this year,” Pettit said.

“Everyone has been a blessing—great spirit, great attitude. You can tell there’s just the love to serve Christ in his kingdom work.”

Pettit also was “impressed with the professional work they perform” and with their concern for the finished product.

“I’ve just been totally impressed with the skills and the attitude of men and women that took time out of their schedule to come.”

Commitment to the work

Quinn has a deep spiritual commitment to supporting the work of camps.

“There’s about two places where children make major decisions for their life,” he said. “One of them is Vacation Bible School, and the other is camp.

“And I can’t tell you how many times I have heard from people that I used to know in my workaday world that say, ‘Oh, you’re at a camp that I went to,’ or ‘You’re at a camp where I accepted Jesus as my personal Savior.’”

Quinn said the Camp Builder volunteers “just feel obligated to continue that process. These camps really operate on shoestring budgets. So, it’s important that they have a little help from time to time, and the labor that we provide is free to them.”

Jerry and Ruth Kitts of Fruitvale have been working with Camp Builders for three years. “We were looking for some place to serve in retirement, and this fit our needs very well,” Jerry Kitts said.

“My wife and I serve together, and we want to be together,” he said. There are other ministries where he could work with tools and building, “but very few of them give the opportunity for the wife to participate, and Camp Builders is perfect.”

Since Richard Shaver from Gainesville started working with Texans on Mission Builders in 2004, he has participated in almost 100 jobs.

He said the most rewarding part of the work are the friendships and “going to new parts of the state and the United States.”

He and his wife, Donna, have worked in four or five states other than Texas.

“We really enjoy just moving around with them, being with Christian friends,” he said.

“Everybody’s so friendly. They work with you. … When I started, I was not a builder.”

Others, however, gradually taught Shaver varied building skills. “You just get together, and it just seems like everybody fits.”

Why does he do it? “Well, I do this work to spread the word of our Lord and Savior.”

Willingness to learn

Quinn said some volunteers have construction skills when they begin, but others are new to building.

“Basically, what we ask for is people that are willing to learn, and they get mentored and taught on the job,” he said.

“As a matter of fact, I was one of the ones that didn’t have the opportunity to work in construction during my lifetime, and as a result I had to learn everything on the fly. But it’s a lot of fun, and the people and the guys are really great to do that with you.

“The ladies do the same thing,” he continued. His wife, Beverly, kept telling the other women that she doesn’t sew. “Next thing I knew, I was buying her a sewing machine because she wanted to sew, too.”

Speaking to others who might want to be part of Camp Builders, Quinn said, “Just come pitch in and have a good time with us.”

Stephenson noted the varied Texans on Mission Builders groups “need more people, but whenever we come out, God always seems to bring the project to a successful conclusion, no matter how many people show up.”

WASHINGTON (RNS)—A new Pew Research Center study revealed people around the globe favor leaders who stand up for their constituents with religious beliefs, even if the beliefs are not their own.

This survey was conducted between January and May of this year and reflects the data from nationally representative surveys of more than 53,000 respondents in 35 countries.

Residents of Indonesia, Bangladesh and the Philippines stood out as those who most desire national leaders who stand up for people with religious beliefs. Indonesia had the highest percentage of adults (90 percent) who say it is very/somewhat important.

Indonesians and Filipinos also placed at the top of countries where respondents wanted their leader to have strong religious beliefs of their own, along with Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa.

Indonesians and Bangladeshis were the most likely to say they want their leaders to share their beliefs. Both countries are majority Muslim.

Swedish adults were the least likely to say it’s vital to have a prime minister with strong religious beliefs, with just 6 percent sharing that view.

In every country, the religiously unaffiliated were the least likely to say that leaders should stand up for people with religious beliefs.

Young and old generally agree

While that may be expected, the survey presented a wrinkle: Though there is often an age gap when it comes to religiosity, younger and older adults largely agreed in Pew’s survey that their president or prime minister should stand up for religious citizens and have a faith of their own.

The exception, said Jonathan Evans, senior researcher at Pew Research Center, is Latin America, where adults under 39 “are consistently less likely to say that each of these traits is important.”

Evans said Pew found the United States stood out among wealthier nations in the findings: 64 percent of U.S. respondents said it is important to have a leader who stands up for religious beliefs, a larger percentage than other industrialized nations. Only 42 percent of respondents in Germany and 25 percent of respondents in France agree.

In the United States, two-thirds of respondents say it is important to have a leader at the national level who stands up for people with religious beliefs. Less than half of respondents believed it is essential for their leader to have strong religious beliefs or have religious beliefs that are the same as their own.

This finding has implications as the U.S. election approaches. Vice President Kamala Harris identifies as a Christian and grew up with a Hindu mother, while her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Timothy Walz, is a Lutheran who grew up in a Catholic home.

Former President Donald Trump identifies as a Christian and has drawn support from evangelical Christian voters. His vice presidential pick, U.S. Sen. JD Vance, is an adult convert to Catholicism.

TYLER (BP)—The National Religious Broadcasters association has joined a complaint alongside two East Texas churches calling for the Johnson Amendment to be declared unconstitutional.

The complaint was filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas in Tyler on Aug. 28.

Sand Springs Church in Athens and First Baptist Church in Waskom joined in the complaint as did Intercessors for America, a national prayer ministry based in Purcellville, Va. First Baptist in Waskom is uniquely aligned with the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention.

Congress approved then-Senator Lyndon Johnson’s amendment to the U.S. tax code in 1954 that prohibited 501(c)(3) organizations such as charities and churches “from engaging in any political campaign activity.” In 1987, Congress added a clarification that the amendment also applies to statements opposing candidates.

According to a National Religious Broadcasters statement, the complaint details how organizations have “engage[d] in electoral activities that are open, obvious and well-known, yet the IRS allows some, but not all, such organizations to do so without penalty.”

The Internal Revenue Service, it continued, routinely “acts in an arbitrary and capricious manner” toward nonprofit organizations “that disfavors conservative organizations and conservative, religious organizations.” Such an unequal enforcement, it determines, constitutes “a denial of both religious freedom and equal protection.”

And as such, the National Religious Broadcasters notes, the amendment itself should be discarded.

“For too long, churches have been instructed to remain silent on pressing matters of conscience and conviction during election season or risk their 501(c)(3) status,” said National Religious Broadcasters President and CEO Troy A. Miller.

“We believe that all nonprofits should have the constitutional right to freely express their point of view on candidates, elections and issues on the ballot. Our challenge to the Johnson Amendment is about securing the future of free expression for all Americans, particularly those standing in the pulpit.”

National Religious Broadcasters General Counsel Michael Farris said the amendment’s history showed a “discriminatory” pattern of respecting only certain groups’ freedom of speech.

“Our intent is to vindicate the right of every church and religious nonprofit to express what their faith teaches on every issue, including political matters, as is their right and their duty,” he said.

NASHVILLE (BP)—A new Taliban law restricting the rights of women even further has led to calls for prayer from Arabic church leaders as well as Afghans who have fled in recent years.

“These women are victims,” said Raid Al Safadi, pastor of Arabic Baptist Church of San Antonio. “Islamic law and Sharia law deal with them as slaves, something that is owned and not as a human being.”

The “Law on the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice” was adopted recently in Afghanistan. Among other things, it mandates women wear clothing that covers their entire bodies, including their faces. It also bans their voices being heard in public and adds more restrictions to moving about without being accompanied by a male relative.

“This makes me very sad,” Al Safadi said. “They have no rights, no freedom to express themselves or have a personality. They are not allowed the choice of how to live.”

Twenty years after its removal by U.S. troops, the Taliban returned to power in August 2021 as America’s military withdrew. That soon brought a return to the previous draconian laws as part of Taliban rule with the few Christians remaining forced to operate under extreme secrecy.

“It is a mess, and a lot of Afghanis came to America. One of our guys, though, told me through tears how much he praised God. His family was here, and there is a chance for his daughters to go to school in America,” Al Safadi said.

‘The Taliban has taken everything’

Another Afghan refugee who asked to remain anonymous told BP the news left him feeling “completely hopeless.”

“The Taliban has taken everything,” he said. “They cannot see people happy. I am very sad and worry about my own family. I am praying to God to show me a way to protect them from Satan.

“As a Christian, prayer is everything for me to share my sadness, and happiness, with God. Prayer has its own power and mine is that God establishes his kingdom in Afghanistan for his people.”

The new law also requires men to grow beards, bans drivers from playing music and restricts media from publishing images of people.

Al Safadi, who is from Jordan, tells of his own experiences in returning to remote villages that have a Christian presence because individuals have seen healings and been visited by Jesus in their dreams.

“It opens people’s eyes to something bigger than Islam,” he said. “I received many calls from those wanting to know more about Jesus.

“We can reach Afghanistan by reaching Afghani people in America. They are a big field and ready. Share the gospel with them to help them understand Christianity. When they become Christians, it becomes a great opportunity to become a ministry in Afghanistan for the future.”

There is a reason for the Taliban to want to limit exposure to technology. Al Safadi told how sites like YouTube can be crucial not only for Afghans to learn English, but also to be exposed to and learn about Christ.

“We need to work to empower and make disciples of Afghani people in America so we can send them all over the world,” he said. “They are in America, but their dream is to return to Afghanistan. When they become disciples, they can do something.”

(RNS)—Let me take you down to Strawberry Fields. No, not the memorial in New York’s Central Park to the former Beatle John Lennon, who was slain in Manhattan in 1980.

Instead, go to the place that inspired his song—where the Salvation Army is conducting an experiment in mixing tourism with faith and social action.

The original Strawberry Field was a children’s home in Liverpool, just around the corner from John Lennon’s childhood home.

It inspired the Beatles’ 1966 track “Strawberry Fields Forever”—penned by Lennon, who added an “s” to its name. It also may be one of the most innovative projects undertaken by the Salvation Army, the Christian anti-poverty movement founded in mid-1800s London.

Strawberry Field is known for its red gates festooned with strawberry motifs, which are often thronged with tourists taking selfies and some adding to the graffiti on the gates’ stone pillars.

But the Salvation Army has deployed the site’s connection to the Beatles to draw more visitors to fund its mission and encourage people who never would consider stepping inside a church to find out about Christianity.

Innovative spaces

The children’s home, closed in 2005, has been demolished. In its place is a new structure that contains a prayer space, a café and an exhibition about Lennon and the Beatles that includes one of Lennon’s pianos.

The building also houses a training project to help young people with special needs get into work.

Stymied by COVID-19 pandemic closures when it first opened in September 2019, it is at last coming into its own. Last year, Strawberry Field welcomed 120,000 paying visitors.

This year the Salvation Army expects even more. International Beatles Week, which started Aug. 22, will put it on the tourist trail that includes the nearby childhood homes of Paul McCartney and Lennon, local Beatles museums and other landmarks.

But none of the rest combine religion with Beatles tourism.

The Strawberry Field project is the result of years of discussion and prayer by the Salvation Army after it closed the children’s home.

The worldwide movement, founded by William and Catherine Booth to work in urban slums, became known as the Salvation Army in 1878.

It adopted a quasi-military structure, with officers rather than clergy leading it and members wearing uniform. Its membership across the world of 1.5 million still focuses on social action, and its officers—like Strawberry Field’s mission director, Kathy Versfeld—still wear the uniform.

Lennon is not a natural icon for a Christian organization. In 1966, he told an interviewer his band was “bigger than Jesus,” and opined: “Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink.”

In the uproar that followed, more than 30 United States radio stations banned Beatles’ tracks, and young people were urged to burn their Beatles records and memorabilia.

In August 1966, as the Beatles launched a U.S. tour, Lennon said at a press conference: “I’m not anti-God, anti-Christ, or anti-religion. I was not knocking it. I was not saying we are greater or better.”

Rather than comparing himself to Christ, he said, he was trying to explain the decline of Christianity in the U.K.—which has seen more prosperous days.

Considering this history, honoring Lennon took more than a leap of faith, according to Versfeld.

Invite tourists to become seekers

“The Salvation Army through its research discovered a surprising fact, and that was that every year 60,000 John Lennon fans and Beatles fans were bringing themselves uninvited to the red gates, and many came not knowing what Strawberry Field was,” she said.

“The Salvation Army realized there was the potential not just for a commercial operation here,” she added, “but an opportunity for engagement with those individuals who would not quickly come through the doors of a Salvation Army church or center.”

The refrain of Lennon’s song—“Let me take you down, to Strawberry Fields”—is reflected in the Salvation Army’s invitation to explore its site, including the gardens where Lennon used to play. He later remembered visiting the home’s annual summer fete with his Aunt Mimi.

Paul McCartney—who wrote his song “Penny Lane” about his own childhood memories of Liverpool, in response to Lennon’s memories of Strawberry Field—has said the Salvation Army home and gardens were a utopia for the young Lennon.

“The bit he went into was a secret garden … and he thought of it like that. It was a little hideaway for him … living his dreams a little, a getaway. It was an escape,” McCartney says in Craig Brown’s biography of The Beatles, One, Two, Three, Four.

The Salvation Army said it wants visitors to Strawberry Field to be able to “find out more about what it means to explore spirituality and faith” and that the Army strives to be “an inclusive community with God at the center … but you do not have to belong to a Christian church—or any religious tradition at all to take part in what’s on offer here.”

‘To open the gates and do good’

Versfeld and her team want to challenge people who visit the center: “Strawberry Fields Forever—but what does last forever?” she asked. “What does abundance look like and what does it mean for us to open the gates and to do good?”

Lennon’s song “Imagine” is highlighted at Strawberry Field as an anthem for peace, its words carved in stone in the garden.

The upright Steinway piano, on which he composed the song, is on loan to the site from the estate of the late British singer-songwriter George Michael, who bought it at auction in 2000.

According to Allister Versfeld, Kathy’s husband and development director of Strawberry Field, it was the Salvation Army’s mission that convinced Michael’s representatives to lend the piano.

“They spent the day here. It was the work done here that convinced them it should come here,” he said.

Visitors today are invited to assist in Strawberry Field’s employment and training programs, Steps to Work, which are supported in part by the £11.20 admission fee—about $15—for the Beatles interactive display, together with spending in the café and the gift shop.

A ukulele band is among those who volunteer their time. On a recent day their version of the Beatles’ “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da” filled the café. In the garden, there is space for people to spend time in contemplation—while at a far end is a giant bandstand shaped like a Salvation Army drum.

“This drum is on its side because in our early days people would see the band marching down the high street, and the drum would be used as a place of prayer,” explained Versfeld.

The doors are open seven days a week for tourists and local people alike. When the Versfelds arrived, the famous strawberry gates had been shut for years, but now, says Kathy, “The gates are open for good.”

WACO—Baylor University’s Truett Theological Seminary returned to its birthplace at First Baptist Church in Waco for an Aug. 27 convocation marking 30 years of spiritual formation and preparing students for ministry.

“In 1994, in this very room, a handful of Truett Seminary administrators, faculty and staff, along with 51 students and a goodly number of stalwart supporters, began the story of which we are now a part, started the stream in which we now stand, sang the song we now sing,” Dean Todd Still said.

Truett Seminary classes met in the facility of First Baptist Church in Waco until 2002, when the seminary moved to its Baugh Reynolds Campus on the grounds of Baylor University.

Seminary ‘still on mission’

Brad Creed, the seminary’s second dean, reflected on the days preceding the seminary’s birth.

“I was there when Truett Seminary was a concept, a hope and a dream,” said Creed, now president of Campbell University in Buies Creek, N.C.

“I was there when it was two people, a legal pad and a pencil for sketching out those hopes and dreams. And look at you now, making those compelling ideas incarnate on a continuing basis.”

The seminary launched during a “time of denominational turmoil and unrest” in Baptist life, he acknowledged. While some other institutions created at that time did not survive, Truett Seminary persevered.

“Truett Seminary is visible. It is virile. It is viable. It is vibrant and still on mission to ‘equip God-called people for gospel ministry in and alongside Christ’s church by the power of the Holy Spirit,’” he said.

Creed offered thanks for the vision of the late former Baylor President Herbert Reynolds and former provost Donald Schmeltekopf and for the support of founding dean—and later university president—Robert Sloan, early faculty and donors who made Truett Seminary possible.

Pro Ecclesia, Pro Texana, Pro Mundo

Since its founding, Truett Seminary has exemplified Baylor University’s recently expanded motto, Pro Ecclesia, Pro Texana, Pro Mundo—“for the church, for Texas, for the world,” Baylor President Linda Livingstone said.

She particularly noted the partnerships Truett Seminary and Baylor University have with the Baptist General Convention of Texas and the Baptist World Alliance.

“Truett celebrates the diversity of the BGCT while also contributing to that diversity,” Livingstone said. “This includes racial diversity, with students from all backgrounds and walks of life, and it includes gender diversity.

“Truett plays an important role in fully affirming women in their call to ministry. And in this increasingly polarized theological landscape, Truett’s affirmation of women in ministry is more important than ever.”

After looking at Truett’s past and present, Still raised the question, “Where do we go from here?”

Truett Seminary will continue to embrace its identity as “an orthodox, evangelical multidenominational school in the historic Baptist tradition embedded in a Christian R1 university,” he said.

The seminary will seek to train “thoughtful, faithful Christian ministers for a 21st century church and world” by providing “quality theological education that is accessible, affordable and achievable,” he added.

“More than lofty—much less, empty—rhetoric, these are erstwhile commitments that ground us and guide us day in and day out, week in and week out, year in and year out. … We are all in—committed to being both humble and hungry, gritty and graceful, resolutely refusing to rest on our self-fashioned laurels,” Still said.

At a luncheon following the convocation, Truett Seminary announced church historian Alan Lefever as the inaugural Russell H. Dilday Endowed Visiting Professor in Baptist Life and Leadership.

Lefever, director of the Texas Baptist Historical Collection, has taught as an adjunct at Truett Seminary for 25 years. He expressed appreciation for the opportunity to serve at a seminary that “takes academics seriously,” while also creating a “culture of fellowship” and a “community of joy.”

Aaron Pardue to NorthSide Baptist Church in Weatherford, as discipleship pastor, from Northway Baptist Church in Angleton, where he was lead pastor.

BRAZORIA—Texans on Mission Disaster Relief volunteers completed their six-week deployment in the aftermath of Hurricane Beryl, which struck the Houston area July 8.

Texans on Mission initially responded to the hurricane by providing mass meals for thousands of residents who lost power for an extended period.

Then, the bulk of the effort shifted to Brazoria, south of Houston, where a resident said “thousands of trees” had been uprooted. In that area, chainsaw teams from throughout the state and beyond cut trees and limbs for removal shortly after the storm.

Texans on Mission volunteers and others contributed 1,815 days and 15,532 hours in service to people in need in Brazoria alone, said David Wells, Texans on Mission state disaster relief director.

“That’s equivalent to almost five years of work for one person.”

Another 407 volunteer days were worked in the Houston mass feeding operation.

The teams also reported 14 professions of faith in Christ and 401 ministry contacts in the two locations.

Brazoria First Baptist Church and its pastor, Greg Smith, were “very good to us,” Wells said. “It was a very strong relationship.”

The congregation provided its building for meals and sleeping quarters for the volunteers. “They have a powerful ministry and powerful opportunity” in their community, Wells continued.

Seven chainsaw work orders remained when Texans on Mission pulled out, Wells said. Those were handed off to Brazoria First Baptist to be completed through their ministry.

Thinking more broadly of the Texans on Mission response to Hurricane Beryl, Wells said it “has been challenging, and yet our volunteers responded above and beyond normal expectations.

“They just kept at it, working to feed people, remove trees and share the love of Jesus in very practical ways.”

Because of Texans on Mission’s large network of volunteers and outside collaborators, it was able to coordinate deployment of volunteers and then rotate in new teams, he said.

“It requires a lot of logistical work, but we have both volunteers and staff who know how to operate this system in an effective manner.”

Every disaster is different and requires Texans on Mission to work with government entities in determining how best to respond.

“The level of complexity is high, but we have great people who have planned well and are also flexible in responding to each unique situation,” Wells stated.

The City of Brazoria issued a proclamation of appreciation for all organizations that helped respond, specifically noting Texans on Mission’s work providing free laundry to residents and assisting with tree removal.

“We, the City Council of Brazoria, Texas, wish to extend our sincerest gratitude and thanks to the countless people who helped during and after the storm,” the proclamation read.

PLAINVIEW—“Let’s clean up the kitchen so we can start cooking,” said Wayland Baptist University President Donna Hedgepath, quoting her grandmother as she addressed the Wayland family during Convocation 2024.

“We can and we will accomplish great things together,” the 14th president of the university said.

Referencing Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 and the strength of a cord with three strands, she continued, “With God as that third strand, nothing is impossible.”

Noting her theme, the new president said, “I want to share that success with you, my new Wayland family,” because we are “Better Together.”

“This academic year, you can expect updated technology in all the computer labs and most of the classrooms on the Plainview campus,” she said. “In addition, Wayland has received a generous donation to fully equip and update our media arts programs. This upgrade will make us competitive with any other programs in this area.”

She noted her husband, Pete, is taking the lead on remodeling Pete’s Place, an underutilized patio area originally designed as a student hang out.

“It’s so beautiful, it has so much potential, and we know that the students will love using it if we really make it a great place.”

She said utilitarian updates such as heating and cooling systems, plumbing, roofing and furniture replacement are “occurring as we speak. God is providing and we are taking care of business. The plan is to start a renewal of beauty.”

Hedgepath said Wayland will begin the development of a new strategic plan this year, “a plan that hits the big dreams, as well as continued needs for facilities, technology and programs.”

She expressed a need to focus on increasing retention and graduation rates: “That huge group of freshmen who stood earlier, just made my heart race. I want them all to stay. I want you to come back. I want you to graduate.”

She said her vision is on “increasing the reach of our mission—ways to elevate Wayland in a way that continues to glorify God in every endeavor we pursue.”

Sharing her background

The president’s remarks were often personal.

“Once you get to know us, you will see quickly that my husband and I are very different,” she said. “We have different interests and experiences. We have a very strong, loving marriage that doesn’t focus on the differences but on what we do have in common—faith, family and food.

“Those are important, but at the center it has always been Jesus. We plan and hope to share more of our life journeys and testimonies over the coming years, and I look forward to hearing about yours as well.”

Hedgepath said getting to this point in her life “did not magically happen, nor was it easy.”

“As the daughter of parents from far western Kentucky, I grew up on the Mississippi River. I mean, right on the river. We were called river rats,” she said.

“I guess you could say I was raised right, meaning my parents expected me to listen, show respect, do my part, go to church, make good grades in school, stay out of trouble, choose a good friend group, go to college, and so on.

“I was introduced to Jesus by my parents and through my church from Day 1. I learned early that true joy comes from my relationship with Christ.”

“We didn’t have a lot of material things,” she confided. “I guess you could say we were socio-economically challenged, but the beauty was that I didn’t really know it. We did not have what you would call a nice home, but I thought it was perfect.

“We took pride in what we did have. I always felt it was my responsibility to find my own way. I witnessed my mom and dad work so hard to make ends meet, something I carry with me to this day. I stand on the premise that a strong work ethic will take me farther than those who settle for doing the minimum. Your work ethic is something no one can take from you.”

Grit’s role in getting here

The president said she’s been told she has grit.

“I like the word grit. It’s a close cousin to tough,” she said. “Part of the constant dialogue in my head comes from my dad, saying, ‘You need to be tough.’ At the time, it annoyed me, but looking back, I see how he was setting me up for my future in higher education leadership.”

She said her late father wanted his daughter to fly, “to have dreams and pursue them.”

“He often told me not to settle, whether it was a career choice or a relationship, and he was always very honest with me about my choices,” she said. “You know, I really miss my dad, so you’ll hear me referring to him often. His dialogue continues in my head.”

Recalling her first day as a freshman at Campbellsville College, she spoke of how scared she was when her parents dropped her off.

“They left me with no car, I didn’t have a checking account, I didn’t have any friends, I didn’t even know anyone,” she said. “I still look back on that day as one of the toughest days of my concluding childhood. I remember it vividly, leaving home and family and making a completely new start.

“I think I cried most of the rest of that day, but I was that kid that wasn’t afraid to ask questions. So, I managed to get a class schedule, books and find the dining hall. I guess you could say the rest is history. A small Christian college changed my life.”

“How to respond to the bad times will prove to be our biggest opportunity to testify and display Christ’s love and presence in our lives,” she said. “I would never in a million years wish things like poverty or racism or gender bias or childhood trauma, … the list could go on and on. I would never wish that on anyone.

“But if and when you do experience them, lean on God’s wisdom and love to respond and persevere. If you take anything away from my words today, I pray you understand and claim the fact that you are made for more. Wayland is made for more.”

Houston Christian University’s bachelor’s degree programs in Cyber Engineering and Electrical Engineering have been accredited by the engineering accreditation commission of the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, and its bachelor’s degree in Computer Science has been accredited by the computing accreditation commission of ABET. ABET is the global accreditor of college and university programs in applied and natural science, computing, engineering and engineering technology. ABET accreditation reviews look at program curricula, faculty, facilities and institutional support and are conducted by teams of highly skilled professionals from industry, academia and government, with expertise in the ABET disciplines. “HCU now has the only ABET-accredited Cyber Engineering degree in the state of Texas,” said Katie Evans, dean of HCU’s College of Science and Engineering.

Construction has begun on the Howard Payne University campus for a new 8,700-square-foot outdoor pavilion and three sand volleyball courts. The $1.8 million project is located between Veda Hodge Hall and the J. Howard Hodge Bell Towers. This initiative seeks to improve student experience, attract and retain students and provide additional community spaces for both the HPU family and the Brown County area. Brasher & Co., a local outdoor specialist company, will complete the project. Key features of the new pavilion include space for 250 to 300 people; state-of-the-art technology with 10 outdoor televisions and a 12×16-foot video wall; commercial grade kitchen with a gas grill, sinks and refrigerators; storage and restrooms; and a serving area for food. The video package will allow student and community groups to host movie nights, stream HPU athletic competitions and host large watch parties. The three NCAA-regulation beach volleyball courts will be used to launch beach volleyball at HPU in the fall of 2025, with competition beginning in the spring of 2026. The courts also will be available for intramurals, student events and community gatherings. This project is one of several campus improvements planned for the upcoming academic year. Recently completed campus projects include renovations to a microbiology lab, new seating in the HPU Theatre, several classroom renovations in the Newman Academic Building and the new Bob Carter Athletic Park for intramurals.

After a summer filled with work, travel and service, students returned to the Hill at East Texas Baptist University for the August mini-term, move-in day, Tiger Camp and the official start of the 2024-2025 academic year on Aug. 19. Continuing with tradition, the entire ETBU community, including faculty, staff and students, gathered outside campus residence halls on move-in day to lend a hand to incoming freshmen and new transfer students. Their assistance in transporting moving boxes, mini-fridges and dorm essentials ensured a smooth and welcoming transition for new students and their families. Once first-year Tigers settled into their new campus homes, they dove into the vibrant life at ETBU during Tiger Camp, the university’s annual welcome week tradition. The three-day event, filled with outdoor games, fellowship and informative sessions, helps students connect with their new living and learning community—making the transition to college life fun and engaging. The campus community gathered Sunday evening for fellowship and ice cream at the annual “Chill on the Hill.” On Monday morning, ETBU alumnus and pastor of First Baptist Church in Haughton, La., Gevan Spinney challenged the campus community to: “Let go of your past. Because of God’s grace, we can all have a seat at the king’s table,” at the first chapel service of the semester.

Donna Hedgepath, president of Wayland Baptist University, brought her “Better Together” message to the quarterly meeting of the Lubbock Area Baptist Association, Aug. 26. Hedgepath, the first female to serve as president of a university in the South Plains/Panhandle region, hosted the gathering of primarily Baptist ministers in United Supermarkets Conference Center on Wayland’s Lubbock campus. Noting there has been a “whirlwind of activity” since her arrival in July, the new president detailed how God’s hand was at work to bring her from Campbellsville University in Kentucky to Wayland. Hedgepath noted the needs of Wayland: “In order to really tackle that financially, and just logistically, we’ve got to rally and unify,” she said. “And the only way we can do that is to have folks come together.” The president spoke of Wayland’s future, noting the largest resident class at the Plainview campus since 2018 and the excitement she witnessed while going through Wayland’s Koinonia new student orientation as “a freshman this year.” Noting that 23 of Wayland’s football players have given their lives to Christ in recent days, she said, “I’m going to end by asking you to pray for our students, because one thing that Pete and I love is students.”

Retirements

Michael Monhollon, associate provost and chief data officer at Hardin-Simmons University has announced his retirement, effective May 31, 2025, after more than four decades of distinguished service as a lawyer, professor and academic leader. Monhollon has been with HSU since 1988. After retirement, Monhollon plans to focus on his writing career and spend more time with family in Palmetto, Fla.

After 21 years of service at Heart of Texas Baptist Camp, Tom Dunn will retire as maintenance and facilities director. He and his wife, Mary, will move back to their home in Cross Plains, where they have many friends. Reportedly, helikes to say he has been “the shepherd of over 100 toilets.” His presence at Heart of Texas will be missed. A “come-and-go” retirement party will take place at the camp, Aug. 31 from 2-4 p.m., or join the virtual retirement party on Facebook here.  The virtual event runs until Aug. 31, where comments expressing gratitude for his service may be shared.

NASHVILLE (BP)—When he was only 19 years old, Steven Curtis Chapman decided to impersonate George Jones.

There was no better place to mimic the country legend’s voice and mannerisms than as part of Chapman’s job at Opryland USA.

He did it so well, it brought an invite for the teenager to perform across the parking lot at the Grand Ole Opry.

“I stepped onto the famous stage, and the band hit the first chord as though we had rehearsed it a thousand times,” he recounted in his 2017 book Between Heaven and the Real World: My Story. “Wow, this really is the big-time! I thought.

“I stepped up to the microphone and launched into my best imitation of [‘He Stopped Loving Her Today’]. …I finished the first verse, then sang the chorus, nailing them both.

“I went on to the second verse, and my mind raced as the words came to me. I finished by hitting and holding the high note in the chorus: ‘He stopped loving herrr … today.’”

The crowd erupted with a standing ovation. Legendary country star Roy Acuff, who had introduced Chapman moments earlier, was so impressed he asked for another chorus of the song.

Thrown off guard, Chapman drew a total blank on the lyrics as the band began to play. Trying to help him out, they played through the opening again … and again … and again. A few of the musicians even began to shout some of the words in his direction, all of this in front of the crowd that had just moments before thundered their approval and Chapman’s family, whose previously beaming faces were now something else entirely.

He finally got his bearings and finished the chorus. Acuff couldn’t help but comment after he made his way back to Chapman on the stage, noting that some words were left out and asking what went wrong.

Although Jones was then at the peak of his career, his drinking had—more than a few times—affected his performances, whether by causing him to fall off the stage or forget his lines or even not show up at all.

Chapman noted in his book that there is nothing funny about such issues with alcohol. But as he stood there on the Opry stage he needed a response, and quick.

“Oh, I just wanted to do it like George does it these days,” he told Acuff.

“The crowd howled with laughter, and they began applauding again,” Chapman wrote.

Peaks and valleys along the way

The applause never has died for Chapman, but the 37 years since his first album have brought a lot of chapters for a career now in its fifth decade. There have been goals met, and there have been curveballs.

There have been mountains, but there have also been very deep valleys, such as the 2008 death of his 5-year-old daughter Maria Sue.

There have been his roles as musician, husband, father, friend, son, business partner and international ministry leader, all under the umbrella of one guy with a guitar who just wants to sing songs that tell people about Jesus.

On July 27, the Opry stage served as another moment for Chapman as friend Ricky Skaggs officially extended the invitation to become its newest member.

“My dad didn’t listen to music in the car very much, but I remember as a kid riding along with him and my older brother,” Chapman told me recently. “One night he turned on the radio, and I heard a bunch of static, and then this music came through the speakers.

“‘Hey boys, that’s the Grand Ole Opry,’ he said. ‘That’s as good as music gets.’ Something told me this was special, magical, even.”

After hearing repeatedly that he was a fine songwriter whose voice just wasn’t strong enough to be a recording artist, Chapman finally broke through with his first album in 1987’s “First Hand.”

The next five years brought a meteoric rise and honors alongside the genre’s most glorious mullet. 1992’s “The Great Adventure” brought an end to the latter but sent Chapman to stadium-level success.

Career achievements and personal challenges

His career achievements now include 59 Dove Awards, five Grammys and 16 million albums sold, ten of those reaching Gold or Platinum. In 2023 Chapman’s name became the first and only on the list of Contemporary Christian Music artists to have 50 No. 1 songs.

It could’ve been different. Throughout his career Chapman struggled with his success and the time it took him away from home, the stress it placed on his wife Mary Beth to raise six kids while he was in a different city. Many times, he sought counsel and considered stepping away.

“I really did try to think through if it were possible,” he said. “Even here, at this place in my life right now my wife throws around the R-word of retirement.”

Taking a different route early on could have led to a standard work week, he said, while still serving in a local church, perhaps as a worship leader. Something with music would certainly have been in his life such as giving lessons, as his 85-year-old dad still does at Chapman Music in Paducah, Ky.

“I believe somewhere I would’ve ended up in ministry on some level,” he said. “But I also feel very much like this is what God made me to do.”

He and his wife Mary Beth are considering writing a book about their marriage. On Oct. 13 they’ll celebrate 40 years.

“We’ve had people tell us that we should share our story,” he said. “We’ve resisted, because we’ve both said very clearly in our books that we don’t have it figured out. By the grace of God and trial and error, we’ll go three steps forward and 40 steps back, then 40 steps forward and two steps back.

“Yet, by his grace, we’re still together and realizing there are some things that we can share that could really encourage people from our journey.”

The “R-word” doesn’t appear to be in Chapman’s near future. Music remains very much in his life, but his favorite audience knows him as PopPops and are happy to be part of an Instagram reel.

Nov. 1 will bring his official induction to the Grand Ole Opry. His sons, Caleb and Will Franklin, will join him onstage alongside his dad, Herb Sr.

“It’s how I’ve always processed life,” he told me on music’s role. “The pain, joy, confusion, you know, trying to understand the mystery of God and his word and how to apply that to my life. With my family and marriage, those are the places where God is the most real, where I’m most aware of my need for him, his truth and his wisdom.

“As long as I’m breathing and able to have a thought in my head, I’m probably going to be writing songs.”

At a time when some evangelicals see voting for a Democrat as incompatible with being a Christian, Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin, asserts his Christian faith leads him to support the Democratic Party and its presidential nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris.

Talarico, who serves in the Texas House of Representatives, is convinced Harris’ policy positions on issues ranging from expanded health care to immigration reflect a compassionate approach to “how we treat our neighbors.”

That belief—along with deep concern about the rise of Christian nationalism—prompted Talarico to endorse Evangelicals for Harris and to oppose former President Donald Trump.

“When you look at Donald Trump, his character, his actions and his policies are antithetical to the teachings of Jesus Christ,” Talarico insisted.

Pastor Jack Graham of Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano voiced a dramatically different perspective during a June conference call with Trump and a group of conservative Christians.

Graham, a former president of the Southern Baptist Convention, joined an “emergency prayer call” hosted by televangelist Paula White-Cain’s National Faith Advisory Board, voicing support for Trump prior to his televised debate with President Joe Biden.

“He is a warrior for us,” Graham said. “He’s standing for us and always has been representing the principles and precepts of God’s word that we strongly believe.”

Calling ‘bigger than politics’

Some have questioned why Talarico has identified with “evangelicals” who support Harris for president.

As the grandson of a Baptist pastor in Laredo, Talarico said he feels an affinity toward evangelical traditions, even though he identified both the church where he worships and the seminary where he studies as “mainline Protestant institutions.”

He is a longtime member of St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Austin—an LGBTQ-affirming congregation affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). He also is a student at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary and hopes eventually to serve in a pastoral role.

Talarico sees both his church and the seminary as “having an evangelical calling—to share the Good News with everyone and take Jesus’ teachings into the world.”

He views that calling as “bigger than politics,” but also as influencing how Christians should view issues dealing with poverty, immigration, public education and care for the environment.

Talarico believes many evangelical Christians have felt excluded from the Democratic Party, but he also thinks the Republican Party has “taken Christians’ votes for granted.”

“We just want to extend a hand to evangelicals to let them know they have a place in our party,” he said.

Of course, some evangelicals view the issue altogether differently.

Landon Schott, senior pastor of Mercy Culture Church—a multi-site congregation with campuses in Fort Worth, Dallas and Waco—made his views clear in a recent Instagram post in which he wrote: “YOU ARE NOT A BIBLE BELIEVING, JESUS FOLLOWING CHRISTIAN IF YOU SUPPORT THE GODLESS ROMANS 1 EVIL OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY!”

He went on to write: “When godless world leaders, wicked politicians and woke false teachers all support the same political party/candidate, YOU ARE NOT ON THE LORD’S SIDE!”

Highlighting the dangers of Christian nationalism

During his time in the Texas House, Talarico, has voiced opposition to what he sees as Christian nationalism.

“Christian nationalism represents the most dangerous form of government—theocracy,” he said. “It is a form of tyranny, and it is most dangerous because the tyrant thinks he is on a mission for God.”

He views Christian nationalism as an unhealthy merger of religious and American identities that seeks special privileges for Christianity.

Talarico—who taught at a low-income public school in San Antonio—sees examples of Christian nationalism in legislation mandating the Ten Commandments be posted in every classroom, allowing school districts to hire Christian chaplains and incorporating Bible stories into elementary school reading curriculum.

He also sees it at the heart of Gov. Greg Abbott’s campaign to grant parents “school choice” through educational savings accounts—essentially a school voucher plan to divert public money to private schools, including religious schools.

“Jesus didn’t come to establish a Christian nation. He came to reveal the ultimate reality—the kingdom of God that is within us and around us,” he said. “The kingdom of God is so much bigger than any political party.”

Ads generate controversy

Evangelicals for Harris have created some controversy with ads they have produced—particularly one that includes an archival clip of evangelist Billy Graham issuing a call to repentance, contrasted with a clip of Trump saying he never felt the need to ask God for forgiveness.

Franklin Graham, president of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Samaritan’s Purse, criticized the group for using his father’s image.

“They are trying to mislead people,” he tweeted on social media. “Maybe they don’t know that my father appreciated the conservative values and policies of President @realDonaldTrump in 2016, and if he were alive today, my father’s views would not have changed.”

One ad produced by Evangelicals for Harris includes clips of Trump’s rhetoric and urges voters: “Read 1 John 4. Choose Christ’s Love. Let our Witness be Good News.” Another ad includes clips from speeches by Harris and Gov. Tim Walz and references the “fruit of the Spirit” in Galatians 5:22-24.

Talarico sees that use of the Bible as significantly different than those who see Trump as “the chosen one” or a Messiah-like figure anointed by God.

“The key difference is we’re not worshipping Kamala Harris. We’re just voting for her,” he said.