BALLINGER—Lake Ivie Baptist Association purchased 10,000 multimedia gospel compact discs to help churches move forward with Texas Hope 2010 in a seven-county area.

The CDs are available for churches to purchase from the association, in turn, to use in individual city and county outreach efforts.

The CD, an evangelism tool promoted by the Texas Hope 2010 campaign to share the gospel with every Texan, includes gospel presentations and a link to download the New Testament in more than 300 languages.

“In our association, there are 17,139 households within seven counties,” said Barry Taylor, director of missions for Lake Ivie Baptist Association. “We have been going county-to-county having meetings with our pastors. We voted to at least have an initial purchase of 10,000 CDs to make available to the churches in our association.”

Taylor already delivered CDs to seven churches that purchased CDs from the association—First Baptist of Brady, First Baptist of Rochelle, Mercury Baptist in Mercury, First Baptist of Santa Anna, First Baptist of Mason and First Baptist of Menard. Their goal is to distribute the gospel to households in Coke, Coleman, Concho, Mason, McCullough, Menard and Runnels counties.

Gregg Fletcher, pastor of First Baptist Church in Brady, distributed CDs to some of his church members recently, telling the congregation to share them with their friends and neighbors.

The church is assembling packets that include the CD, a New Testament, a tract and information on their church. This month, the church plans to launch a door-to-door outreach so all the people in their county will receive a visit.

“There are a lot of churches working together to make sure that our county is covered with the gospel,” Fletcher said. “It's a joint effort. We had a countywide meeting Aug. 10 and had great feedback. It was great to hear that they were excited.”

Bobby Broyles, pastor of First Baptist Church in Ballinger, said his church voted to purchase 1,000 CDs to use in their Texas Hope 2010 efforts.

First Baptist is partnering with Hopewell Baptist Church and Seventh Street Baptist Church, both in Ballinger, to deliver a CD to every home in their area.

The three churches are discussing the best method of delivery and will begin distribution in coming months.

“We're hoping we'll get prospects for church and have evangelism opportunities,” Broyles said. “As we deliver, we’ll ask if they have prayer needs to find ministry opportunities in the area. Then we can help with that.”

Although these churches hope to complete their CD distribution by Easter Sunday 2010, Fletcher insists the delivery should not be rushed.

“It's important that we have a well-planned, meticulous effort so we have a positive influence for Christ,” he said. “It's important that we have clear communication of the gospel.

“If we get into this and realize that we can't get to every home by Easter Sunday, we will make this Texas Hope 2011 or Texas Hope 2012. We will continue on until we finish the task. I just keep telling the church that it is important that we do a good job and properly represent Christ as we go door-to-door and deliver these CDs.”

BROWNWOOD—The simple act of painting walls in a local home provided Howard Payne University students the opportunity to share the gospel.

“The homeowners were amazed that students would want to do something for them, asking for nothing in return,” junior Molly Gore said. “Their questions and eagerness to know what we were about opened doors for us to tell them about our Savior.”

The students were serving through Impact Weekend, organized by Howard Payne’s Baptist Student Ministry. The weekend event’s “Prayer, Care, Share” tied students’ efforts to Texas Hope 2010, BSM Director Katy Blackshear said. Texas Hope 2010 is an Baptist General Convention of Texas-initiative effort to share the gospel with every Texan by Easter 2010 and meet human needs.

More than 100 students participated in Impact weekend activities. Blackshear organized the weekend to include prayerwalking and community service. During an on-campus picnic that launched the weekend, local churches were invited for fellowship and to meet students.

Doug Newton, a student from Howard Payne University, helps a local resident with landscaping.

After the picnic, a student-led worship service emphasized missions. Sophomores Nick Kresge and Caitlin Woodard shared testimonies about their summer experiences through Go Now Missions, and senior LJ McCulloch spoke about living missionally.

On Saturday, students participated in mission projects around Brownwood ranging from painting and landscaping to door-to-door evangelism. The BSM partnered with a new local nonprofit agency, F5K, to find homes in the area where student could meet needs.

The weekend’s activities were concluded on Saturday night with a community street party. Students invited the homeowners they had met and served during the day to join them for a hot dog supper.  At the dinner, HPU student Richard Reed shared the gospel with those in attendance.

Students characterized the event as a great event “where we were able to share the gospel as we cared for people and met their needs,” Blackshear noted.

SAN ANTONIO—Grace House offers women out of prison a chance to break free from their past and transition into society and a relationship with God.

Billy and Jacqueline Thornton, members of First Baptist Church in Boerne, taught weekly Bible classes at Bexar County Jail about 17 years. But they wanted to do more.

“We began to pray that God would send people across our path,” Thornton said. “And he really did.”

Dana Hill, a former Grace House resident who now attends Southwestern Theological Seminary and works in youth camps through the Go Tell Ministries evangelistic organization, prays with a homeless person under a bridge. (PHOTOS/Courtesy of Grace House)

They saw women who had nowhere to go after leaving jail. Some women were released in the middle of the night. These women did not have a foundation to build on, Mrs. Thornton said.

She and her husband prayed about the need, and in 2002, they opened Grace House in San Antonio.

“If the Lord was in and wanted it, we would be his hand extended and opened,” she said.

Grace House offers women out of jail or prison a place to go where they can receive room, board, clothes and training to help with everyday life, including spiritual life.

The Thorntons, with volunteers including the Texas Baptist Men Builders, recently completed a $1 million home paid for through contributions. The new Grace House can hold 12 women, and nine women currently live there.

“We live like a family,” Mrs. Thornton said. “We don’t want to turn it into an institution. It’s an intimate setting.”

The women live there from six months to a year, but one woman felt called to stay.

Emily Williams, now 28 and on staff at Grace House, hit rock bottom when she was 23 years old.

She spent time in jail and struggled with a 10-year drug addiction. She also discovered she had a heart condition caused by her drug use.

“I had no hope, no joy, no reason to live,” Williams said.

She almost wanted to go to jail because she thought she would die if she stayed on the streets.

While in jail, a woman visited her and asked if she wanted to change her life.

“I was so sick and tired of that life,” Williams said. “She said a prayer for me, and I’ve never been the same since.”

Residents and recent graduates of Grace House enjoy a July 4 fellowship meal.

Williams read the Bible while in jail, and God refined her, she said. She went to live at Grace House when she was released.

“Before, I was not in Christ, and my life was nothing,” Williams said. “Now that I’m in Christ, my life is full, meaningful (and) purposeful.”

She has been on staff for two years at Grace House, and she works with women who remind her of her past lifestyle.

“I can say that, ‘Look, I know this is hard, but it can be done,’” Williams said. “I can relate to them.”

For the first six months the women stay in the house, the staff pours the word of God into their lives, Williams said.

“We try to get them to see that God’s way is the only way to make it,” she said. “He’s our number one priority in this life. If we don’t get that, we will stumble and fall.”

After six months, the women can look for employment, start a job and save money for an apartment or a car. Going from jail to the real world can be more difficult than most realize, she said.

“The world is very overwhelming and influential,” Williams said. “Grace House gives them the opportunity to transition out and not just be thrown out. … It’s a place for them to receive healing.”

Dana Hill, another former Grace House resident, now attends Southwest-ern Baptist Theological Seminary and works in youth camps through Go Tell Ministries, an evangelistic organization.

Hill travels around the United States and will go to the Dominican Republic later this year, Mrs. Thornton said.

“She felt a call in her life,” Mrs. Thornton said. “She found the Lord Jesus, and it transformed her life, like the Bible said it would. She became a new creation.”

The Thorntons want to help any woman with a problem. Grace House offers nutrition courses, classes on anger management, exercise classes and parenting classes, but all these activities have a focus on God.

“Everything we do is founded on the word of God,” Mrs. Thornton said. “That’s our purpose. That’s what changes lives.”

Out of the 60 women who have lived in the house, only two have gone back to prison.

Six women currently attend college after finishing Grace House’s program, and many receive scholarships through contributions and grants, Thornton said.

“I see them go from darkness to light,” he said.

For more information on Grace House, contact Jacqueline Thornton at (830) 537-4333 or Cathe Graves at (210) 493-7884.

GALVESTON—Pastor Ray Meador never would have wanted a hurricane to strike his church and community. One year after Hurricane Ike, he insists his church is better for it.

Before the hurricane struck Galveston Island, Meador characterized First Baptist Church in Galveston’s outreach to the community as “minimal.” The church had a ministry to students at the University of Texas Medical Branch, assisted in ministering to the homeless through Mission Galveston and conducted picnics in local parks with praise music.

“But that seems like 100 years ago. Since the hurricane, we haven’t done anything like that,” he said.

The hurricane took its toll on the church. The primary building the church uses now was two feet deep in water after the storm. One foot of water filled the sanctuary.

And the equipment room—where all the church’s electrical controls, air conditioning and boilers for heater were located—was five feet below the slab, so it was six feet deep in water. Because of the damage to the equipment in that room, the sanctuary still cannot be used for services, and Meador can’t put a timetable to when it will be available for worship. But it has been used for ministry.

“After the hurricane, people just started sending us things—clothes and a lot of other things,” he said. “For a while we thought, ‘What are we going to do with it all?’”

The church decided to give the supplies to the hurting people of the island. Volunteers placed plywood across the top of the pews, and clothing and other items were spread across them. People took what they needed, and the church’s GraceMart ministry was born.

Three churches and a community ministry occupy the flood-damaged facility of First Baptist Church in Galveston.

Volunteers—including workers from Wilshire Baptist Church in Dallas and First Baptist Church in Nacogdoches—helped with the new GraceMart ministry.

In November, a church in Katy held a toy drive that collected more than 2,000 new toys and brought them to First Baptist Church in Galveston. Volunteers prayed with families who came in need of toys for their children, and then helped them shop for just the right things.

Others needed diapers and clothing, while still more who had started moving back into their homes needed dishes, pots and pans, and furniture—all of which had been donated by churches throughout the state.

The church met another pressing community need through Mercy Clinic.

“When you have something like this, all the doctors are displaced. UTMB was totally out of business for a while. People who came back to the island needed refills on their prescriptions and things like that,” Meador explained.

Doctors from the church helped run the church clinic during that critical time with help from medical students, as well as physicians from other Texas communities.

After people started returning to the island to work on their homes, one of their primary needs was a place to shower and wash clothes. Park Cities Baptist Church in Dallas brought a shower and laundry trailer to the church parking lot and left it more than five months. During that time, the unit was able to provide 10,000 showers.

Meador recalled a family who had been living in their car, and the children hadn’t bathed in two weeks. Most of all he recalled the volunteers —professionals, teenagers, medical students, retirees and countless others folding clothes and doing whatever was needed to help.

While the church’s sanctuary is not usable, from the outside it looks fine. Many homes and businesses in Galveston are in similar circumstances.

Students from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston join physicians from First Baptist Church in Galveston in staffing Mercy Clinic.

“The rest of the community is coming back like we are,” Meador said. “Once the flood goes away and you wash away the high water mark, you don’t know if it’s been cleaned up, gutted, fixed up and renovated or if its just been walked away from. You can still find water in some places.

“The salt water is just insidious. After we replace everything the salt water touched, we find something else. About the time you think, ‘OK, we’ve taken this step,’ you find you have to back up and rethink.”

Meador’s wife, Sherry, said the church is looking forward to returning to the sanctuary and getting out of the fellowship hall. She particularly recalled the splendor of the building during the Christmas season.

“They would like to be back in it. It’s very beautiful and they miss the beauty of it. I miss the beauty of it,” she said.

First Baptist in Galveston had a great deal of wind insurance, but since the damage was due to flooding, the insurance only covered $239,000. Just the clean-up cost $314,000, so there is no money for replacing anything.

“But that’s where the blessing comes in,” Meador said.

Wilshire, Park Cities, First Baptist in Nacogdoches, First Baptist in Graham, Southside Baptist Church in Tyler, First Baptist Church in Bryan and other churches throughout the state have blessed the Galveston congregation over and over again, Meador said. They not only have given money, time, manpower and materials, but also have bathed everything in prayer.

He recalled a deacon from First Baptist in Nacogdoches asking about the air conditioning. He told him the estimate was for $91,000 and the church was still paying for the one damaged in the flood because it was only two years old. The technician felt he might be able to get the old one running for $25,000 to $30,000 but it would always be damaged goods.

“After thinking for a minute, he said, ‘Tell them they’re good for $30,000.’ And the next thing you know, somebody knocks on the door and says, ‘We’ve come to fix the sheetrock,’” Meador said.

The blessings First Baptist Galvest received have changed the way the congregation sees ministry, he said.

“I told every pastor I talked to, ‘Whatever you give, we’re going to be a different church, and we’re going to give it back in ministry,’” he said.

For the year since Hurricane Ike struck, Galveston Chinese Church has also has met at the First Baptist facility. Island Community Baptist Church also meets at First Baptist.

Mission Galveston uses the church to minister to the homeless every Monday.

A home school co-op meets at the church every Friday. Christian Women’s Job Corps will soon meet there.

The hurricane and the ministry of so many churches has changed the way First Baptist Church in Galveston views its community, Meador said.

“We see the need we never saw before,” he said.

Members of First Baptist “have learned how to receive and how to give without worrying if the money has been spent right,” Meador added. “They also learned that missions is more than putting a check in the envelope.”

For years, First Baptist was known as the church across from the library.

“After the hurricane, we were the church with the showers,” Meador said.

And, he would add, showers of blessings.

MINNEAPOLIS (RNS)—Former Southern Baptist Convention President Frank Page said he doesn’t expect much to result from the work of advisers to the White House’s office dealing with faith-based and community groups.

“I believe that the policy recommendations that will come forth will be relatively innocuous, good, helpful,” Page, a member of the panel, told the annual meeting of the Religion Newswriters Association. He expects results to be not much more than “low-hanging fruit.”

“There will be good things, but nothing of great substance.”

While Page has publicly disagreed with Obama on some issues, notably abortion, he nonetheless praised the president for his “responsible fatherhood” and poverty initiatives, as well as his commitment not to fund abortion under his proposed health care reforms.

Resident fundamentalist 

The South Carolina pastor called himself the “resident fundamentalist” on the 25-member advisory panel that includes Christians, Jews, Muslims and a Hindu as well as representatives of secular organizations. Despite “some serious disagreements” with Obama, Page said he prays for the president daily and is honored to be a member of the advisory council.

The White House did not immediately comment on Page’s remarks; the director of the faith-based office, Joshua DuBois, had earlier canceled his scheduled appearance at the Minneapolis conference.

Peg Chemberlin, president-elect of the National Council of Churches and also a member of the advisory panel, said she thinks the work of the council is more than political expediency for the White House.

Something to offer 

“I don’t think that this is primarily about political cover, but I think this is about affirming that the faith community’s got something to offer,” she said. “The nonprofit community is a huge and important sector in building the common good.”

Asked if they saw any potential common ground being reached on abortion, both Page and Chemberlin expressed hopes that the White House might succeed in its work to reduce the need for abortion.

“That’s probably the only common ground that I can see coming forth on that issue,” Page said.

EL PASO—River Ministry volunteers from around the state and Mexico joined students from the University of Texas at El Paso Baptist Student Ministry to distribute more than 4,400 Texas Hope multimedia compact disks containing gospel presentations and access to the New Testament in more than 300 languages.

These efforts are part of Texas Hope 2010, an attempt to share the gospel with every Texan by Easter 2010 and place Scripture in all 8.8 million Texas homes. Daniel Rangel, director of River Ministry with the Baptist General Convention of Texas, said the event grew out of the groups’ desire to be obedient and share the gospel.

“When you do something like this, you reflect who God is because God loves the whole world and wants everyone to know him,” Rangel said. “You are obedient to God’s word. When you seek God, you seek his will, and you reflect his attributes of love and mercy.”

In an attempt to share their faith and hand out the Texas Hope CDs, Chris Smith, director of the UTEP BSM, noted the university students used a school event as a platform to engage the community.

On Friday night before Labor Day, the BSM hosted a soccer kick at Minerpalooza, a pep rally with food, games and music attended by 22,000 El Paso residents and UTEP students to celebrate the start of school and the first Miner football game of the season.

A member of the Baptist Student Ministy at the University of Texas at El Paso hands out Texas Hope 2010 CDs at Minerpalooza, a city-wide pep rally hosted by the university. The group handed out more than 2,500 CDs at the event. (PHOTOS/Rand Jenkins/BGCT)

“As part of Minerpalooza, we have a booth to try to take opportunities to reach the campus and the community,” Smith said. “Our goal for the BSM is to share the gospel with the students here so that they can hear the truth of God’s word. We want them to be impacted eternally for what is going to happen in their lives.”

While Minerpalooza was taking place, a group of River Ministry volunteers arrived in El Paso and prepared for CD distribution the next morning. A few volunteers arrived early on Friday and began distribution that afternoon. Many volunteers came from various places around Texas and the Valley, but 17 came from the Matamoros area of Mexico as a result of River Ministry partnerships and a vision that began a year ago.

“Last year at our coordinators’ meeting, we were talking about coming to El Paso for Texas Hope 2010, and they all said they would like to come and bring a team from their area so we would have people from Brownsville, from the Weslaco area, from the Eagle Pass area and from Matamoros on the other side of the river,” Rangel said. “We decided on Labor Day because they would have an extra day to travel over here.”

John Roman, co-chair for the El Paso Texas Hope 2010 CD distribution, asked the group to partner with Southwest Cowboy Church, a congregation launched in January. The long-range goal is to deliver CDs to 10,060 homes by Easter 2010 in the predominately Spanish-speaking area of Socorro where the church is located.

During the Labor Day weekend emphasis, the group was able to deliver CDs to 1,900 homes, about 20 percent of the area. Under Roman’s direction, members of Southwest Cowboy Church will take the lead in delivering the remaining CDs over the next six months.

University of Texas at El Paso students look at a Texas Hope 2010 CD given to them by the BSM. The BSM handed out 2,500 CDs at Minerpalooza, a pep rally attended by 22,000 El Pasoans and UTEP students.

“We are participating in the project because we know that the people really need Jesus Christ,” said Gloria de la Pena, a volunteer who drove eight hours from Piedras Negras, Mexico, to help with the effort.

“We came because there is so much need. The people need hope. And we can share with them that we have Jesus in our lives and be able to help them.”

Osvaldo Lerma, pastor at Iglesia Bautista Filadelfia in Brownsville and a River Ministry coordinator, sees the CD distribution as a way to spread the gospel among El Paso area residents, as well as minister to believers who may have experienced repercussions from the violence that has occurred in Juarez, Mexico.

“We hope that the seeds get planted and that a lot of people will get to know Christ through the message on the CD and the visitation of the church who is hosting this group,” Lerma said.

“We came to do this here because we can see that in the churches here, some of the members may have families or relatives who have gone through violence and need some encouragement and support.”

A couple of weeks prior to the Labor Day distribution, Roman and some El Paso churches came together to mail 84,000 Texas Hope CDs to a few areas of El Paso.

“The CDs were mostly mailed in ZIP codes that we weren’t able to recruit a captain or to a ZIP code without a church or one where the residents are scattered,” Roman said.

All 250,000 Texas Hope CDs the BGCT sent to El Paso have been given to the ZIP code captains, Roman said. Now the captains are in the process of partnering with churches and individuals to deliver them to homes in their area.

GARLAND—Many groups use car washes as fund-raisers. But for members of Garland’s Ethiopian Evangelical Baptist Church, their car wash wasn’t about making money. They wanted to help people have clean cars and clean hearts.

Four consecutive Saturdays, the church hosted the car wash. Through the endeavor, 23 people chose to place their faith in Christ.

“We dedicated the month … to go out and share the gospel with people,” said Pastor Bedilu Yirga. “We did different things like having a car wash for everyone on the road. While their car was being washed, we shared the gospel with the owners.”

“Three years ago, we were praying that God would open the way for us to share the good news to the people around us,” said Mebratu Chefeq, head of evangelism at the church. “And he showed us this way.”

In addition to the car wash, outreach endeavors included handing out 300 Bible MP3 sticks and compact disks including gospel presentations and 1,000 English and Spanish tracts. The church also committed to 40 days of prayer and sharing the gospel wherever they could.

Even though the church ministers primarily in Amharic, an Ethiopian language, and English, the members hope to begin Spanish-speaking Bible studies since the majority of new believers from the car wash speak Spanish. Pastor Yirga currently is looking for Spanish speakers who will partner with the church in this effort.

“I want this church to impact the local community regardless of their language,” Yirga said. “I want this church to serve those who speak English and Spanish with holistic ministry—sharing the gospel, praying with them and assisting them with whatever their needs may be.”

To continue this evangelistic spirit, some members have dedicated the second and fourth Sundays of each month to go to shopping centers, apartments and other place near the church so they can engage people, share the gospel and meet needs.

ROGERS, Ark. — Impending vacancies in the top leadership positions of the Southern Baptist Convention’s two mission boards offer unique opportunities for the denomination as it considers new ways to engage its mission enterprise, says the chair of a task force examining how the SBC should most effectively structure its missionary and funding mechanisms.

The Sept. 16 announcement that Jerry Rankin will retire in July 2010 as president of the International Mission Board — preceded weeks earlier by the resignation of Geoff Hammond as president of the North American Mission Board — could represent a “God moment,” said Ronnie Floyd of Rogers, Ark., chair of the SBC’s Great Commission Resurgence task force.

“We have a unique moment in our history, with both of the boards not having a leader,” said Floyd in an interview the day after Rankin’s announcement. “No one anywhere would have thought that — especially those of us on the GCR task force. All Southern Baptists have to ask ourselves one question — is God saying anything to us in all this? I don’t know that he is. I’m sure he’s speaking to us, but what he’s saying, I don’t know.

“All I can say is that I believe it is a God moment, whatever that might mean,” said Floyd, senior pastor of First Baptist Church of Springdale and the Church at Pinnacle Hills, both in Northwest Arkansas.

Last June, the SBC authorized its president, Johnny Hunt, to appoint a task force to study how the denomination can work “more faithfully and effectively together in serving Christ through the Great Commission.” The 23-member panel, which held its first meeting Aug. 11-12, is to bring a report and any recommendations to the 2010 SBC annual meeting, June 15-16 in Orlando, Fla.

Although task force members have declined to discuss topics raised at their meetings, which are closed to the public, some outside the committee have proposed merging the convention’s mission boards; revamping the SBC’s 85-year-old unified giving plan, the Cooperative Program, to channel more funds to national and international mission; and offering SBC churches greater flexibility in supporting denominational causes.

Floyd said that as IMB president, Rankin has played a pivotal role in creating a “culture” in which greater emphasis can be given to the Great Commission — Jesus’ instructions to spread his teachings to the world, recorded at the end of the Gospel of Matthew.

“Dr. Rankin is a walking Great Commission Resurgence for the Southern Baptist Convention,” said Floyd. “He represents everything that we’re involved in right now, trying to create ways for this convention to develop a new commitment to the Great Commission. So the loss of his leadership is great to this denomination.”

In comments following his retirement announcement, Rankin said encouraging local churches to take greater ownership of their mission task was the most significant accomplishment of his tenure at the IMB. Through a board reorganization in the late-1990s and a more far-reaching one earlier this year, he said he sought to “multiply [SBC] resources and people by mobilizing our churches [and] by personalizing their involvement.”

Floyd’s churches – actually one congregation on two campuses – are themselves characteristic of the more flexible approach to engaging mission that gave impetus to the GCR task force’s appointment. A world mission conference hosted by the congregation Sept. 20-23 will feature almost 60 missionaries representing 29 ministries in Arkansas and the United States and around the globe.

“I have nothing but the highest respect for [Rankin],” said Floyd, “and I believe our group shares that respect. … When he launched the reorganization in the 1990s, that changed things in remarkable ways, especially in his commitment to personalization of missions for churches. And now the newest restructuring is creative and it is right, because we do live in a flat world. That is cutting edge.”

Floyd declined to speculate on a merger of the mission boards or the creation of a new entity to replace them. In a Sept. 16 press conference, Rankin said he likely wouldn’t support a merger, though consideration of a “common mission effort through a new entity that is neither the IMB nor the NAMB” might have merit.

The timing of Rankin’s retirement won’t appreciably affect the GCR task force’s work or accelerate its decision-making, Floyd said.

“The fact is, right now everything [occurring in the SBC] affects our work,” he said, adding, “We’re under a June deadline regardless because that is what the SBC has instructed us to do.”

But he repeated that the next nine months offer the denomination a window of opportunity.

“God has given us a moment from now to June,” he said. “When I stand before Jesus and when the convention stands before Christ, what we did with this moment [will be important]. I don’t want to hold my head in shame or the convention to hold its head in shame.”

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Robert Dilday is managing editor of the Religious Herald.

Food Policy Roundtable slated. The Texas Hunger Initiative—a joint venture of the Baptist General Convention of Texas and the Baylor Center for Family & Community Ministries—will sponsor a Food Policy Roundtable Nov. 19 at Baylor University. Participants will seek to develop and implement strategies to end hunger through policy, education and community development. Jeremy Everett, director of the Texas Hunger Initiative, expects about 250 representatives of advocacy groups; federal, state and local governments; nongovernmental organizations; congregations; and social service pro-viders. The first initiative of the roundtable will be to increase participation of Texas children in feeding programs in summer 2010, when many of the state’s 3 million children who participate in the free school lunch program otherwise would go without a meal. Texas has the highest food insecurity rate among children in the nation. For more information about the roundtable or the Texas Health Initiative, contact Jeremy_Everett@baylor.edu or call 254-710-3946.

BCFS awarded grant for abstinence education research. The Federal Office of Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention awarded an $85,000 grant to Baptist Child & Family Services to measure the success of the agency’s Decisions for Life sexual abstinence education program for middle-school students and at-risk youth in San Antonio.

Men’s breakfast benefits Breckenridge. An antique car show, auction and men’s breakfast featuring guest speaker Gene Stallings netted more than $66,000—including a $10,000 gift from the Willingham Foundation—to benefit residents of Breckenridge Village of Tyler. Stallings—former head football coach for the University of Alabama and Texas A&M University, as well as the St. Louis and Phoenix Cardinals after serving as assistant to Dallas Cowboys Coach Tom Landry—told the crowd the greatest accomplishment of his life was being the father of his son, Johnny, who was born with Down Syndrome. Breckenridge Village, a ministry of Baptist Child & Family Services, is a residential community for mentally handicapped adults.

County residents see Baylor favorably. Nearly nine of 10 McLennan County residents view Baylor University favorably, a recently released study reveals. The survey of 1,137 residents of McLennan County—more than half with no connection to Baylor—was conducted by the university’s Center for Community Research and Development late last year. Survey results show a combined 89 percent of respondents rate the university favorably—43 percent say “very favorably” and 46 percent, “somewhat favorably.” Ninety-seven percent say it is important for the community to have opportunities for local students to attend a top-ranked university. Ninety-five percent think a world-class university is important to the community, and it is important to have access to university facilities and programs. University research that improves the local community is important to 94 percent. Opportunities to attend world-class music and cultural events and major collegiate athletic events are important to 92 percent of respondents.

Evangelist writes on Halloween. Evangelist Ken Lovelace of Garland has written a brochure explaining his faith-based opposition to observing Halloween. The six-page brochure traces the history of the holiday and draws on biblical references to warn of dangers associated with Halloween. Lovelace also provides suggestions for alternative celebrations and observances. Copies of the brochure are available from Lovelace by calling (214) 364-5010 or writing him at ken@kenlovelaceministries.com. The ministry’s website is www.KenLovelaceMinistries.com.

• Neal Alexander to Hagerman Church in Sherman as pastor.

• Chuck Carr to First Church in Maud as youth minister/associate pastor.

• James Cotten to First Church in Marshall as minister of families and discipleship.

• Aaron Davis to First Church in Collinsville as music minister.

• Lance Freeman to First Church in Schulenburg as pastor.

• Alex Miller to First Church in Bells as worship leader.

• Jeremy Moore to First Church in Luella as associate pastor in charge of youth and young adults.

• Ty Morris Jr. to Crestview Church in Midland as senior adult pastor, where he recently retired as music minister after 35 years.

• Hal Nedham as pastor of Providence Church in Hamilton.

• Dan Turner to First Church in Canyon as associate pastor of traditional worship.

• Clell Wright to First Church in San Angelo as interim minister of music.

• Leland Ryken will address “The Bible as a Literary Classic” as the third installment of Houston Baptist University’s Dunham Museum lecture series Oct. 1 at 7 p.m.

• “Religion, Politics and Society: The Baptist Contribution” will be the theme of Baylor University’s Pruit Memorial Symposium Oct. 1-3. Topics to be explored include historical Baptist stances on religious liberty, African-American contributions to the Baptist tradition and Baptist contributions to society. Papers will be presented on Baptists’ impact on historical social justice issues such as the temperance movement, the peacemakers’ movement and the social gospel. The opening session will be Thursday at 7:30 p.m. and conclude at noon Saturday. It will be held in the Cashion Academic Center. The event is free for Baylor students and faculty except for a $10 charge for dinner Friday night. Cost for non-Baylor participants is $65 for faculty members and $45 for students. Registration deadline is Sept. 25. For more information, call (254) 710-3362.

• The National Center for Church Architecture will hold a leadership seminar at Dallas Baptist University Oct 17 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. to train church leaders to make wise and timely decisions when developing church property and buildings for ministry. Included will be guidelines for evalating property and facilities, developing a masterplan, working with architects and contractors, budgeting and scheduling projects and other topics. Keith Crouch and Russell Maddox will lead the seminar. The $200 cost includes lunch and syllabus. Before Oct. 2, registration is $150. Special rates for groups of three or more. Class size is limited to 30 people. For more information, call (817) 937-8292.

• East Texas Baptist University will hold a free preview event Oct. 10. For more information or to register, call (800) 804-ETBU.

• Don Williford has been named interim vice president for academic affairs at Hardin-Simmons University. Williford joined the HSU faculty in 1992, and he has been associate provost since 2006. He also has been a professor of New Testament.

• East Texas Baptist University has named eight new faculty members. They include Brenda Allums, instructor of communication; Elijah Brown, assistant professor of religion; Justin Hodges, assistant professor of music and director of choral activities; Marcus Holliday, instructor of kinesiology and associate athletic trainer; Wayne Johnson, professor of criminal justice; Traci Ledford, assistant professor of theater; Kathleen Mays, assistant professor of business administration; and Eric Thomas, assistant professor of music.

• Jeff Levin has accepted a distinguished chair at Baylor University’s Institute for Studies of Religion, where he will serve as professor of epidemiology and population health. He also will serve as professor of medical humanities.

Anniversaries

• Leonardo Cantu, 25th, as pastor of Templo Emmanuel in Pawnee, Aug. 8.

• Jorge Ramirez, fifth, as pastor of Primera Iglesia in Gregory, Sept. 1.

• Calvary Church in Mineral Wells, 100th, Sept. 20. David Montoya is pastor.

• Rusty Maddox, 20th, as pastor of Harbor View Chapel in Corpus Christi.

• Ines Ramon Jr., 15th, as pastor of Northwest Church in Corpus Christi.

• Ann Ramon, 15th, as music minister of Northwest Church in Corpus Christi.

• Richard Ray, fifth, as pastor of First Church in Wink, Oct. 4.

Deaths

• William Cooksey, 100, Aug. 28 in Shreveport, La. As a young man, he was ordained as a deacon at Bethel Church in Houston and was a Texas schoolteacher 33 years. He served in the Army during World War II until battlefield injuries led to his being transferred to the Air Force, where he eventually became an assistant chaplain. He was awarded four Bronze Stars, a Purple Heart and a World War II Victory Medal. After returning home, he earned a music degree and then attended Southwestern Seminary. After graduation, he served as minister of music and education at First Church in Harlingen and then at First Church in Lufkin. In recent years, he has been a member of the senior and bell choirs of Broadmoor Church in Shreve-port. He was preceded in death by his first wife, Robbie. He is survived by his wife, Louise; sister, Lucille Hudson; stepson, Richard Bell; and three step-grandchildren.

• Wesley Coffman, 82, Sept. 13 in Dallas. A music educator, he taught at Dallas Baptist University from 1968 to 1981. In 1981, he moved to Hardin-Simmons University, where he served from 1981 to 1995. He completed his service at HSU as dean of the School of Music. As part of his duties, he formulated the plans for a new music building and the complete renovation of an existing building. He retired before the project was complete, but was on hand for the opening of both buildings. He also began a foundation to support the School of Music. He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Elaine; son, Russell; daughters, Cathy Pulham and Rebecca Coffman; two grandchildren; and a great-grandson.

Events

• Lake Pointe Church in Rockwall will hold “Unleashing the Power, A Conference for Mobilizing Your Church Through Prayer and Missions” Oct. 28. The conference will begin at 8 a.m. and continue until 8:30 p.m. Pastor Steve Stroope and Executive Pastor Carter Shotwell are the keynote speakers. Participants will have the opportunity to experience an interactive prayer room, a mission fair of more than 50 display booths and a small group leadership event. The cost is $39 before Oct. 1 and $49 thereafter. For more information, see www.lakepointe.org.

• First Church in Wylie will host members of the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team as they present a “Sharing Hope in Crisis Seminar” from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Oct. 3. The seminar is designed to equip participants to respond effectively and appropriately to hurting people. The $25 registration fee includes materials and a box lunch. To register, e-mail Debra Tobolka at debra@fbcwylie.org.

Ordained

• Jack Shuford to the ministry at Leesville Church in Leesville.

• Mike Alexander, Shannon Barry, Rob Chennault, Mike Collins, Josh Gentry, Darrin Hunt, Jason Jennings, Brandon Jones, Bert McJimsey, Brad Merritt, Alan Pigg, Clinton Pruitt, Mel Renfro, Todd Robertson and Chris Stewart as deacons at Green Acres Church in Tyler.

• Don Poenisch as a deacon at First Church in Taft.

Revival

• First Church, Jonestown; Sept. 27-30; evangelist, Robert Barge; pastor, O.B. Ramsey.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla—Jerry Rankin, who has served 17 years as president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s International Mission Board, has announced plans to retire next summer. Rankin, who will be 68 when he retires July 31, 2010, told the mission board’s trustees at their Sept. 15-16 meeting in Jacksonville, Fla.

Jimmy Pritchard, pastor of First Baptist Church in Forney, will chair the search committee to seek Rankin’s successor. The Forney church is dually aligned with the Baptist General Convention of Texas and the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention.

Nathan Lino, pastor of Northeast Houston Baptist Church in Humble, which is uniquely aligned with the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention, also will serve on the search committee. Norman Coe, associate pastor of Highview Baptist Church in Louisville, Ky, will be vice chair.

Others on the search committee are Stuart Bell, pastor of First Baptist Church in Centerton, Ark.; Joe Hewgley of Pleasant Hill Baptist Church in Rogers, Ark.; Jana Brown from Peavine Baptist Church in Fort Oglethorpe, Ga.; Charles Allen Fowler from West Jackson Baptist Church in Jackson, Tenn.; Robert Jackson, pastor of Peninsula Baptist Church in Troutman, N.C.; Mike Penry from First Baptist Church in Garner, N.C., Tim Locher from First Baptist Church in Hendersonville, N.C.; Dick Landry from Trinity Baptist Church in Lake Charles, La.; Kathy Towns from First Baptist Church in Arcadia, La.; Ray Jones, pastor of Ridgecrest Baptist Church in Dothan, Ala.; Richard Powell, pastor of McGregor Baptist Church in Fort Myers, Fla; and Paul Chitwood, pastor of First Baptist Church in Mount Washington, Ky.

Increased reliance on local churches to carry out the mission task is one of the most significant accomplishments of his tenure, Rankin told reporters in a conference call the day after he announced his retirement plans.

He has encouraged the IMB to make “an intentional effort not to do mission on behalf of Southern Baptists but seeking to multiply the resources and the people by mobilizing our churches, by personalizing their involvement, and getting churches, associations and state conventions to truly partner with us in the task of global missions,” he said.

Currently, as many as 8,000 Southern Baptist churches are engaged in direct, long-term mission partnerships overseas, Rankin said —a dramatic strategic shift in a denomination that traditionally relied exclusively on a large force of full-time missionaries to carry out that task.

The strategic shift has had the practical effect of enabling Southern Baptists to maintain mission involvement in the midst of an economic crisis, Rankin said.

Earlier this year, revenue shortfalls led IMB trustees to place a cap on the number of missionaries they could appoint and forced them to consider a long-term restriction if contributions remained low. Currently the IMB employs about 5,600 missionaries.

“Already the role of the missionary has significantly changed,” he said.

“Their role now is engagement in discipleship and leadership training. They’re not the primary church planter doing the work. It’s what they do in partnership with national believers and churches and conventions. That’s going to be even more part of the strategy in the future.”

That approach could be enhanced as a result of an intensive self-examination undertaken by the SBC, said Rankin. Last June the SBC appointed a Great Commis-sion task force to study its organizational and funding mechanisms.

Rankin expressed little enthusiasm for one proposal being given wide currency—that the mission priority could be accomplished more effectively through a merger of the IMB and the North American Mission Board, whose top executive recently resigned.

“Certainly in terms of our denominational structure and the way things are done, I personally would not see this as advisable or desirable,” he said.

“Most people do not comprehend how radically different the two boards are. The only thing we have in common are the words ‘mission’ and ‘board’ in our names. Our focus, our structure, our nature—there’s no similarity whatever. To try to merge two entities with such a different focus would create an even greater bureaucracy that would dilute any effectiveness we have with the IMB and NAMB in their unique assignments.”

Any merger that simply combined all responsibilities currently assigned to both the IMB and NAMB would be cumbersome, said Rankin.

In the meantime, Rankin said he hopes a new president of the IMB will have vision, focus and passion.

“We’ve got to have a leader who is a visionary, who can see the future, what can be, what is beyond the current reality, where we need to go to complete the Great Commis-sion and reach all people with the gospel,” he said.

“But we also need a leader who has the discipline to stay focused and keep the organization focused. There is a natural tendency to become too broad and lose focus on the goal. And the leader has to have a heart and a passion for the task. There can’t be a pretense in this. Passion communicates to and influences others that you are seeking to lead.”

Rankin said the president will benefit from a board of trustees that “has never been more unified.”

His disagreements with trustees—which culminated in policy and personnel changes that some observers saw as direct slaps at Rankin—have tempered, he said.

“I have never felt more unity and support,” he said. “That’s a good time to relinquish the role, when you’re riding the wave.”