HOUSTON—Texas Baptists offered pastors and other church leaders reminders about biblical stewardship, including education in personal and church budgeting, at a one-day Giving Your Money Purpose retreat at Houston Baptist University.

The event, one in a series sponsored by the Baptist General Convention of Texas Center for Ministerial Excellence, was designed to encourage ministers and provide strategies to allay the financial pressures pastors and their families often experience.

The initiative is made possible by the Lilly Endowment, which aims to improve the financial literacy and management skills of pastoral leaders, as well as help develop and strengthen each pastor’s ability to provide fiscal leadership and bolster church members’ knowledge of scriptural giving principles.

Provide for the shepherds

Many pastors lack adequate pay, not to mention benefits like insurance and retirement plans, said Tammy Tijerina, director of the Center for Ministerial Excellence.

“We’re trying to remind people to not neglect pastors and their families. We want them to be financially supported,” she said. “It’s God’s plan that the pastors—shepherds—are provided for. Pastors across the nation are facing economic challenges. We are saying: ‘We hear you. Let’s work together so that Baptist churches are there in the future.’”

Ward Hayes, senior pastor of Valley Grove Baptist Church in Stephenville, who presented workshops at the retreat with Larry Post, a certified public accountant and deacon at Sugar Land Baptist Church, emphasized the significance of talking about financial issues in the church.

“It’s not just about managing funds, but about giving them purpose and making them a strength,” Hayes said.

Presented from a biblical basis

Workshop topics included tithing, savings, Sabbath rest, budgeting, and formulating individual and church resources plans.

“There is disparate financial information out there,” Post said. “We are presenting it from a biblical perspective. There is a biblical basis, and God has a plan.”

That biblical emphasis prompted Joe Theus, pastor of Canaan Missionary First Baptist Church in San Antonio, to make the trip to Houston.

“We came to refocus and get back to the basic principles of church stewardship and discipleship. We want to align ourselves biblically,” he said. “For me, it’s confirmation that we’re going in the right direction.”

‘Help the pastor … help the church’

Theus emphasized his congregation will benefit from his involvement.

“If you help the pastor, you’re going to help the church,” he said.

Graceland Community Church Pastor Rivers Glover likewise said his Missouri City congregation will benefit from the material presented at the retreat.

“It’s something that our church needs retraining on—the things that God has made us accountable for,” he said. “I think the main thing I’ve gotten out of it is wherever you are, be all there. Give God all.”

Additional Giving Your Money Purpose retreats are scheduled May 19 in Plainview, June 2 in San Antonio and Sept. 8 in El Paso. For more information, click here.

WACO—Two Waco churches and the local Baptist association collaborated to reach Hispanic families through a Cinco de Mayo celebration.

Viento Fuerte Church and First Woodway Baptist Church worked with Waco Regional Baptist Association to offer food, face painting, pony rides, games, piñatas and music at the Cinco de Mayo Fiesta Familiar.

Their goal was to build relationships with families in Waco’s Austin Avenue Neighborhood, said Tom Gutierrez, pastor of Viento Fuerte.

René Maciel, who arrived at First Woodway in 2016 after serving as the president of Baptist University of the Americas in San Antonio, initially proposed the idea for the family outreach event.

“I moved here with a real heart to connect with Hispanic families,” Maciel said. “There are a lot of unchurched Hispanic families in Waco.”

Most churches in the association represent one culture or ethnicity, Director of Missions Tim Randolph noted. To enhance relationships between those churches and improve their ability to reach communities of other cultures, the association plans to sponsor more events like Fiesta Familiar, Randolph said.

“Our churches would like to become multicultural, but they do not know how,” he added.

When Maciel talked to Gutierrez and his wife, Elizabeth, about his desire to reach Hispanic families, the couple knew they could bring that idea to fruition.

She serves on the association’s evangelism team, and she immediately recognized the event first would need to appeal to children.

“When you take care of the kids, the families will come back,” she said.

Rather than seeing the fiesta as a one-time event, she viewed it as a long-term investment in the lives the children. When the children grow up, they will remember who cared for them and taught them about God, she noted.

In addition to making the event fun for children, the organizers also sought to make it attractive to families by providing food.

Maciel pointed out the event raised the churches’ profile in the Hispanic community and let families know they care by bringing the party where the families live rather than expecting them to come to church.

“We want people to see we are here,” he said.

Volunteers from First Woodway and Viento Fuerte teamed up to provide the food, games and entertainment. Near the end of the event, Gutierrez presented the gospel message to everyone in attendance.

Randolph hopes more events like this one occur, as churches of varied backgrounds learn to work together.

“Our strength lies in our diversity, ethnic and cultural diversity,” he said. “A team is not complete if everyone else looks like you.”

WACO—Tom and Elizabeth Gutierrez led worship and children’s ministries as lay members of Mighty Wind Worship Center in Waco. But one night, they both realized God was calling them to full-time ministry.

“God spoke to me tonight,” he told his wife.

“Me, too,” she responded.

So, the couple began a ministry for Spanish speakers in 2003 that soon grew to become Viento Fuerte Church.

Adapt to changes in community

Along the way, the church has adapted to changes in its surrounding community by offering bilingual worship services for families with second- and third-generation Hispanics.

Worship style also has changed, since the congregation includes members from Caribbean, Central American and South American backgrounds who appreciate upbeat music.

Tom, a Waco native, and Elizabeth, who was born in Mexico, have learned the different mannerisms and ways to relate to Hispanics from varied countries of origin.

“Growing up, I spoke Spanish, but it was a Texan Spanish. So, I’ve had to learn the way other church members speak Spanish,” he said. “The church is not of one culture or of one language right now. I don’t want to leave out anybody.”

The Gutierrezes also have learned to relate to African-Americans, who constitute about 40 percent of the neighborhood surrounding the church.

Adapting to changes can help people to stay engaged, he said. The first step to adapt to changes involves listening, he noted.

Learn to accept support

Another important element is learning to accept support, and for Tom, that support has come from Elizabeth.

“I would not be able to pastor without her,” he insisted.

Support also comes from the church, which he describes as a big family, as well as from the larger family in Waco Regional Baptist Association and the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

Three years ago, Viento Fuerte moved to a building formerly owned by North Waco Baptist Church and began refurbishing the facility.

Throughout the remodeling process, the congregation has learned an object lesson, the pastor noted. It must continue to repair old things and bring in new ones, he said.

As God adds new members to the church, and as families within in continue to grow, the church must connect with them and learn from them, he emphasized.

“It’s just being relational,” he said. “As long as I can continue to go with the changes, then I’ll still be a pastor.”

WACO—Regardless of a teenager’s background or future hope, speakers at Congreso 2018 urged students to choose to serve Christ.

Leaders at the event for Texas Baptist Hispanic students—held at the Ferrell Center on the Baylor University campus—selected Philippians 4:8-9 at its theme. In that New Testament passage, the Apostle Paul calls the church at Philippi to pursue whatever is right, good and lovely, and he urged the church to put those virtues in practice for God’s service.

‘Are you going to be desperate enough?’

Often, that pursuit and the call to service begin with a change of plans, said Jason Paredes, pastor of Fielder Church in Arlington. He described how his desire to become a doctor changed when God called him to ministry.

Paredes challenged students to acknowledge how incomplete they are without God.

“Are you going to be desperate enough to pursue whatever God wants you to pursue?” he asked. “Otherwise you will settle for lesser things.”

What people pursue is what controls them, he insisted. Therefore, Christians must pursue God in everything, he said.

Although past experiences can leave wounds and scars, God always is willing to welcome people back when they stray, Paredes said.

“The love of God for us is pursuing, it’s unconditional, and it is relentless,” Paredes said.

Some people may think they are not good enough to serve God, but they need to know what kind of love God offers, Paredes said.

“God’s love can overcome every heart,” he said, adding that to think otherwise is to believe the lies of the devil.

No matter how far some people wander from God’s will, “God’s love is always open to receive them,” he said.

‘A decision that will have an impact’

To pursue God at a young age can have long lasting effects, said Ellis Orozco, pastor of First Baptist Church in Richardson.

“You are making a decision that will have an impact,” Orozco said.

As teenagers start to choose who they want to become, Orozco said, they must remember the passion God has given them must be used for his kingdom.

Like the Apostle Paul, Christians today must want “Jesus to be the passion that drives them,” he insisted.

God leads many Christians to pursue careers outside of church ministry, but their passion for Christ should drive them to be the best they can be, he asserted.

“When you put Christ over what you do, that is when you live the life you are meant to live,” Orozco said.

At that point, young people find the “sweet spot” where passion and mission meet, he said.

“God created you exactly the way you are so that you would follow him,” Orozco said. “Live the life God created you to live.”

PORT ARTHUR—During three decades at Procter Baptist Church in Port Arthur, Pastor Rick Erwin has experienced fire and flood—the former figurative and the latter literal.

For Erwin, age 72, a framed image on his office wall says it all: “Grateful, Thankful, Blessed.”

Deeply involved in missions

Erwin, who celebrated his 30^th anniversary at Procter Baptist Church April 29, led the congregation to become deeply involved in missions. The church has sponsored a Spanish-language mission congregation in Alpine, ministered to evacuees from South Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina, provided meals both to homeless and homebound individuals, and met local needs through its We Care home-repair ministry.

Through the years, Erwin grew to realize the generous and supportive spirit of the congregation. Procter Baptist committed to make its facility available to other Christian groups, whether that meant serving as a hub for the Samaritan’s Purse Operation Christmas Child ministry, providing a base of operations for disaster relief volunteers or sharing its building with another congregation.

When First Baptist Church in Port Arthur sold its building and property, Procter Baptist invited its sister congregation to use its facility—at no cost—for worship and Bible study on Sunday and provide office space during the week until First Baptist could relocate to a permanent home. The two congregations shared one building for two and a half years.

Facing challenges

Erwin learned even more about the spirit of his congregation in 2010, when he faced a fiery trial, battling prostate cancer. At the lowest point, when he developed sepsis and spent 40 days in a coma, the congregation rallied. The church provided support for his family, leadership in his absence and prayer for his recovery.

“They prayed me out of it,” Erwin said, his voice choking with emotion.

Last August, Procter Baptist Church faced its greatest challenge, when Hurricane Harvey devastated much of Southeast Texas and flooded the entire church facility with three feet of water.

“It’s been called a 500-year flood,” Erwin said. “The water came up so fast, people were running for their lives.”

When the city’s pumps failed and the water rose, Erwin and his wife, Lynn, feared for the safety of her mother, who was in a Port Arthur nursing home in a flooded area.

“She was in a precarious situation, and we knew she would be scared to death,” he said.

So, Erwin drove his four-wheel-drive pickup truck as close to the affected area as he could, and a volunteer with a boat offered to give him a ride to the nursing home to rescue his mother-in-law.

“On the way, I looked over and saw our church for the first time,” he recalled. “The sign outside was almost underwater, and I could see water inside the church through the windows. That’s when I realized it was total devastation.”

With assistance from volunteers and law enforcement personnel, Erwin moved his mother-in-law in her wheelchair out of the flooded nursing home and into a boat. She stayed at his home in Nederland for three weeks.

“A doctor from our church helped with her care until we could move her to a facility in Beaumont,” he said.

The Erwins faced their own challenges, when about a foot of water swept into their home, causing more than $45,000 damage.

“I consider that nothing compared to the people who lost everything,” Erwin said.

Answered prayer

While he minimized the personal losses, he recognized the magnitude of the loss sustained by Procter Baptist, since the church lacked insurance to cover damage caused by rising water.

“I called the church to prayer,” he said. “Church members asked me, ‘What are we going to do?’ All I could say was: ‘God hasn’t told us yet. Keep praying.’”

The answer arrived when Erwin received an unexpected phone call from a Samaritan’s Purse representative.

“He said Franklin Graham (president of Samaritan’s Purse) remembered when Procter opened its facilities” to relief workers after Hurricane Ike and Hurricane Rita, Erwin said.

The official said he was prepared to send the church a $27,000 check immediately to help start rebuilding, and the organization had approved Procter Baptist for a $100,000 grant it could draw upon as renovations continued—with the understanding more money could be available if necessary.

“God gave us the boost we needed,” Erwin said.

Help from near and far

Volunteers from the church tore out damaged drywall, removed water-soaked furniture and disinfected the facility. In four weeks, the church was able to worship in its sanctuary—albeit on bare floors, surrounded by walls with exposed studs and using a portable sound system.

“We had as many attend worship that fourth Sunday as on the Sunday before the flood happened,” Erwin said. “I told the people that every Sunday going forward, they should look for at least one thing God had given us that week.”

The Baptist General Convention of Texas church architecture staff consulted with leaders of the congregation and redesigned the sanctuary to make the best use of available space.

Volunteer teams began to contact the church from as far away as the West Coast and East Coast, asking if they could travel to Port Arthur to help the church. Erwin not only coordinated the volunteer teams, but also worked alongside the visiting teams and his own church members.

“These days, it’s not uncommon to see the pastor covered in sawdust or with a paint roller in hand,” said Tonja Hurt, the pastor’s assistant and the church’s financial secretary. “He has managed to continue the daily workings of the church on top of organizing the repair efforts.”

Erwin succeeded in preaching each Sunday, making hospital visits, conducting funerals and overseeing the reconstruction effort while dealing with another health setback. Several months ago, he had surgery at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston to remove a particularly aggressive skin cancer beneath his left eye.

‘We never stopped doing ministry’

Today, Procter Baptist continues the rebuilding process. About half of the facility has been renovated, but the church continues its full range of programs.

“We never stopped doing ministry,” Erwin said. “There’s an excitement among the members. They can’t wait to see how far we’ve come each week.”

Obviously, the church lost a lot in the flood—pianos, pews, furniture and fixtures. Erwin particularly feels the loss of books that had belonged to his father, who also was a pastor, and files of sermons his father had written.

Even so, he chooses not to dwell on what was lost. Rather, he gives thanks for what the church gained.

“What we lost were just things,” he said. “We found out you’ve got to get beyond things.”

He particularly finds joy in visiting other pastors of churches that are in the midst of hard times to deliver one simple message: “There is hope.”

DALLAS—Joanna Jespersen, minister to children and families at Shiloh Terrace Baptist Church in Dallas, will nominate Jason Burden, pastor of First Baptist Church in Nederland, for first vice president of the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

“I have known Jason and Kristi Burden for several years. They are some of the best of who we are as Texas Baptists,” Jespersen said.

Burden has been pastor of churches of varied sizes and “has led each one with distinction,” Jespersen said. “He is not only a great pastor; he is also a friend to pastors.”

Kristi Burden is an author, blogger, teacher and “fantastic pastor’s wife,” she added, noting together they make “a great team.”

Jespersen particularly singled out Burden for his ministry after Hurricane Harvey hit Southeast Texas.

“His leadership in the Texas Gulf Coast region after Hurricane Harvey was second to none,” she said. “He led FBC Nederland to host the Baptist Men of North Carolina (disaster relief team), and FBC Nederland became a major contributor during this difficult time during our state’s history.”

‘Been so well served by Texas Baptists’

Seeing the ministry Texas Baptists provided to churches, families and individuals along the Gulf Coast after the hurricane hit underscored his commitment to cooperation and his appreciation to other Baptists in the state, Burden said.

“I would be honored to serve Texas Baptists because I have been so well served by Texas Baptists,” he said.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey last year, pastors in Southeast Texas found encouragement in the many expressions of concern shown by Baptists around the state, he said.

“We were the recipients of a lot of grace and kindness,” Burden said. “Our Texas Baptist friends and family reached out, called to check on us and brought resources to us.”

Some members of First Baptist in Nederland still have not been able to move back into their homes, but the church facility escaped serious damage, he said.

So, this summer, the Nederland church will house volunteer rebuilding groups, particularly teams from the BGCT’s Bounce student disaster recovery program.

“We’ll turn our building into Hotel First Baptist Church,” Burden said.

Strength in relationships

If elected, Burden said, he wants to “bear witness to the strength we find in our relationships” and to highlight the good things Texas Baptists are able to achieve through cooperation.

In a society characterized by “a lack of civility,” Texas Baptists have the opportunity to model how diverse people can work together in harmony to achieve “a God-sized mission,” he said.

Burden, who grew up in Hico, earned his undergraduate degree from Tarleton State University and both a Master of Divinity degree and a Doctor of Ministry degree from Baylor University’s Truett Theological Seminary.

He has been pastor at First Baptist Church in Nederland since 2011. His previous pastorates include Dorcas Wills Memorial Baptist Church in Trinity and First Baptist Church in Chilton. His first ministry experience was as volunteer youth pastor at First Baptist Church in Iredell.

He has served as moderator both in Golden Triangle Baptist Association and Falls Baptist Association. He also served on the BGCT Committee to Nominate Executive Board Directors and on the Committee on the Annual Meeting.

He and his wife Kristi have three children—Hayden, 21; Hallie, 17; and Rylie, 12.

PLANO—First Baptist Church in Plano is mourning the loss of a couple killed in an April 23 car accident and seeking to minister to seven children left without their parents.

Michael Scott Owen, 52, and Jennifer Owen, 47, were returning home from a camping trip with six of their children when the wreck took place near Sulphur Springs.

The husband and wife were transported to a hospital in Tyler, where both died from their injuries.

Michaela Owen, 15, and Dalton Owen, 10, were transported to a Dallas hospital, where they remain in critical but stable condition.

Four other children—Mitchell, 13, Alysa, 11, Samantha, 7, and Liam, 5—were treated at a Sulphur Springs hospital and released.

The eldest son, Ethan Owen, 23, was not in the car. He now “carries the responsibility of hourly decisions that must be made regarding his two critically injured siblings and the other surviving four,” a statement from First Baptist Church said.

“Scott and Jennifer Owen were faithful leaders in our church and in the community. They had servant hearts, and they were very family-oriented,” Pastor Craig Curry said.

“We are heartbroken. This family is precious to us, and we will do everything we can to help the Owen children now and in the future.”

First Baptist Church of Plano is directing any contributions made to its local benevolence fund toward the Owen children.

WACO (RNS)—A dozen pastors known for their consistently stellar performances in the pulpit made Baylor University’s list of the most effective preachers in the English-speaking world.

Baylor released the list of 11 men and one woman, chosen by scholars of homiletics—the art of preaching—May 1.

“In a world where talk is cheap and there seems to be no end to it, the preacher has to recover the priority and power of the word,” said Hulitt Gloer, director of the Kyle Lake Center for Effective Preaching at Baylor’s Truett Seminary.

“Words are the tools of the preacher and that gives them incredible power,” Gloer added.

The dozen preachers in the top 12—academics, pastors and authors—were picked from nearly 800 nominees.

Preaching experts in the Academy of Homiletics and the Evangelical Homiletics Society judged how much nominees’ preaching matched criteria that included their selection of biblical texts, the relevance of their sermons and their ability to deliver them in language people can understand.

It’s been 22 years since Baylor last produced such a survey. The Baylor preaching center sent the 1996 criteria to more than 500 homiletics professors for their input on criteria for the new survey. Members of the two homiletics societies were then asked to nominate as many as five people who met the new criteria. A total of 179 members—more than 30 percent of the membership of those two societies—submitted names. The final choices were narrowed down from 39 individuals who received the largest number of nominations.

Here are the 12 most effective preachers they selected:

Alistair Begg has been senior pastor at Parkside Church in Cleveland since 1983. He also is the Bible teacher on the radio and online program “Truth For Life.” A member of the council of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals, Begg has written numerous books.

Tony Evans is the founding pastor of Dallas’ Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship, which began in his home in 1976 and has grown to a membership of almost 10,000. Evans is the first African-American to earn a doctorate in theology from Dallas Theological Seminary. The radio and television broadcaster has been the chaplain 30 years for the Dallas Mavericks basketball team.

Joel Gregory is the George W. Truett Endowed Chair in Preaching and Evangelism at Baylor University’s Truett Theological Seminary. A preacher for 50 years, he gave the concluding message at the 2017 Baptist World Congress in Durban, South Africa. He is a member of the Baptist World Alliance Commission on Worship and Spirituality and edited Baptist Preaching: A Global Anthology.

Timothy Keller is the founding pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City. He also chairs Redeemer City to City, a leadership development organization that starts new churches in urban centers worldwide. Keller is the author of several books, some listed among The New York Times bestsellers.

Thomas G. Long is an emeritus preaching professor and director of the Early Career Pastoral Leadership Program at Emory University’s Candler School of Theology in Atlanta. His textbook The Witness of Preaching is used in theological schools across the globe. He also was named one of the 12 most effective preachers in Baylor University’s 1996 survey.

Otis Moss III is the senior pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago. The activist, author and filmmaker is an ordained minister in the Progressive National Baptist Convention and the United Church of Christ. He is on the board of The Christian Century magazine and is a chaplain of the Children’s Defense Fund’s Samuel DeWitt Proctor Institute for Child Advocacy Ministry.

John Piper is chancellor of Bethlehem College and Seminary in Minneapolis. The leader of desiringGod.org has served as pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis 33 years. He is the author of more than 50 books.

Haddon Robinson was the former president and Harold John Ockenga Distinguished Professor of Preaching at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Boston. His book Biblical Preaching remains in use in Bible colleges and seminaries worldwide. Robinson, who died July 22, 2017, was named one of the 12 most effective preachers in Baylor’s 1996 survey.

Andy Stanley is the senior pastor of an Atlanta suburban mega-church with six locations. He also is the founder of North Point Ministries, a global network of more than 30 churches. A 2010 survey of U.S. pastors by Outreach Magazine identified Stanley as one of the top 10 most influential living pastors in America.

Charles Swindoll is the senior pastor at Stonebriar Community Church in Frisco. The radio preacher is the author of more than 70 books. He was named one of the 12 most effective preachers in Baylor’s 1996 survey.

Barbara Brown Taylor, an Episcopal priest, author and theologian, has served as a faculty member at institutions including Mercer University’s McAfee School of Theology and the Certificate in Theological Studies program at Arrendale State Prison for Women in Alto, Ga. In 2014, she was named to Time magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people in the world. She was named one of the 12 most effective preachers in Baylor’s 1996 survey.

Ralph Douglas West is founder and senior pastor of The Church Without Walls in Houston, which has grown from 32 members to more than 24,000 families. He is an adjunct professor of preaching at Truett Seminary. The radio broadcaster is the author of several books.

LUBBOCK—Daniel “Tiny” Dominguez, pastor of Community Heights Church in Lubbock, plans to nominate a fellow Lubbock pastor, Jason Atchley from Bacon Heights Baptist Church, for second vice president of the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

‘A heart to see the kingdom of God advance’

“Jason loves our Texas Baptist churches and institutions, and he has a heart to see the kingdom of God advance,” Dominguez said.

Atchley can relate to leaders of churches across Texas Baptist life because he has served in a variety of ministry roles in congregations and communities of various sizes, he added.

Dominguez noted his congregation and Bacon Heights have served together on mission endeavors and worshipped together in Christmas Eve services in a “true partnership” of equals.

“One of the things I love about him is the fact that he can relate across generations,” Dominguez said. “He has a great respect for silver-haired leaders and a heart for young leaders. He cares about Millennials and wants to see them take ownership of opportunities to advance the gospel.”

Encourage young pastors

Atchley, 42, said he agreed to allow his nomination in part because he wants to affirm young leaders in Texas Baptist churches and challenge them to increase their involvement in the BGCT.

“I hope to encourage the next generation of young pastors to step out and step up into leadership roles in Texas Baptist life—not out of any desire to advance their careers but to expand the kingdom,” he said.

Atchley expressed appreciation for the leadership current BGCT officers have provided and for the work of BGCT Executive Director David Hardage.

“I hope we can help our churches maintain a spirit of unity, and for those that are not giving to the Cooperative Program, that we can encourage them to become more involved in our convention’s work overall,” he said.

‘Learn to listen’

Atchley noted he benefited from the example of good mentors in ministry who taught him the discipline of listening.

“If we want to deepen our fellowship as Texas Baptists, we really need to learn to listen to each other,” he said.

Given the foster care crisis in Texas and the changing dynamics of families, Atchley also expressed his desire to see the BGCT provide resources to help churches meet families’ needs—particularly in equipping parents to become “biblical mentors for their children.”

Atchley, a native Texan who grew up in Midland, has been pastor at Bacon Heights Baptist Church in Lubbock three years, and he is a part-time adjunct faculty member at Howard Payne University.

Previously, he served First Baptist Church in Decatur two years as pastor of adult and family ministries. He served 18 years as pastor to students at Jonesboro Baptist Church, between Gatesville and Hamilton; First Baptist Church in Hamlin; First Baptist Church in Canyon; and First Baptist Church in Round Rock.

Atchley earned his undergraduate degree from Howard Payne University, and he holds both a Master of Divinity degree and Doctor of Ministry degree from Hardin-Simmons University’s Logsdon Seminary.

He serves on the BGCT Committee on Nominations for Boards of Affiliated Ministries.

He and his wife Heather have been married 24 years and have two daughters, Hallee and Chloe.

FORT WORTH—A Fort Worth congregation opened its doors to the Mexican Consulate to help Mexican citizens in North Texas obtain proper identification to avoid legal problems.

Azle Avenue Baptist Church made its facilities available to the Dallas-based Mexican Consulate General and its “consulate-on-wheels” service, to enable Fort Worth-area Mexican citizens obtain birth certificates, consular identification cards and passports.

“People need to have a valid form of identification in case they have any interaction with police officers,” said Fernando Rojas, pastor of Azle Avenue Baptist Church. He noted the church offered the service in response to SB4, the so-called “show me your papers” law, which Gov. Greg Abbott signed one year ago.

“Having an ID could be the difference between receiving a ticket, or a warning and being sent to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement,” Rojas explained.

The consulate is located 35 miles west of Azle Avenue Baptist, on the other side of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.

Rafael Solis, director of the church’s Vida Nueva Immigration Service and the congregation’s former pastor, recognized working people would have difficulty taking time away from their jobs to make the drive to the Dallas consulate office.

So, he contacted the Mexican Consulate to see what services could be offered in Fort Worth, and he learned about the “consulate-on-wheels” program that serves communities within 70 miles of the consulate office.

Azle Avenue Baptist subsequently invited the “consulate-on-wheels” program to its facility, and the program began taking appointments April 19. Within two days, more than 700 people had scheduled a time to process their documents.

“We want to impact our community and extend out our arms, like the arms of Christ,” Solis said.

Azle Avenue church members volunteered to assist visitors with parking, organizing waiting lines, and guiding people where they needed to go. The church also provided food and drinks for the consulate staff.

“A church must be generous with its time and its building,” Rojas said. “We want our guests to feel comfortable here.”

Azle Avenue wants to serve its neighbors and to let the surround community know it cares, Rojas said.

“People have needs, and God has given us the opportunity to respond to those needs,” he said. “We believe God loves our community, and we, then, must show that love.”

SAN ANTONIO—Motivated by belief Texas Baptists needed a seminary in the United States’ seventh-largest city, Hardin-Simmons University’s Logsdon Seminary dedicated its campus at Trinity Baptist Church in San Antonio April 22.

Logsdon has offered classes at Trinity Baptist since 2011, and under Pastor Leslie Hollon’s guidance, the church began last year to prepare a 3,500-square-foot designated area for the seminary.

“Here we knew we could serve an underserved population,” said Don Williford, Logsdon’s former dean.

Extend seminary’s influence

Current Dean Bob Ellis noted the seminary could not respond to the need for theological education by staying in Abilene exclusively.

So, it began to offer extension classes in Corpus Christi in 1997, later adding extensions in San Antonio, Dallas-Fort Worth, Lubbock and McAllen.

The San Antonio campus has the largest enrollment number of Logsdon’s extension campuses, and it continues to grow.

“Every year, we have had a new record of enrollment,” Ellis said, noting the San Antonio seminary extension has 61 students enrolled this semester.

Making Logsdon’s San Antonio extension successful demanded more than the efforts of university and seminary faculty, said Wally Goodman, director of Logsdon in San Antonio.

“People who love the Lord, people who serve the Lord, and people who love people, many of them without seminary training, are part of the group that has made this possible,” Goodman said.

Multi-cultural and diverse

Located in one of the largest metropolitan areas with a Hispanic population majority, a third of the Logsdon’s student population in San Antonio is Hispanic. Many enter the seminary program after graduating from Baptist University of the Américas, also located in San Antonio.

Before coming to direct the San Antonio extension in 2010, Goodman was assistant professor of New Testament and director of institutional effectiveness and quality enhancement at BUA.

Logsdon in San Antonio’s goal is to be “the next stop for BUA students,” Ellis said.

To do so, Goodman wants to continue to open the space for diversity in terms of the student and faculty population of Logsdon in San Antonio, providing theological education that is culturally contextual and has a multicultural vision.

“‘Seminary’ comes from the word seed, and that’s what we want to be here—a garden bed for those seeds,” Ellis said.

ARLINGTON—Dennis Wiles, pastor of First Baptist Church in Arlington, plans to nominate Michael Evans, pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church in neighboring Mansfield, as president of the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

‘The best of who Texas Baptists are’

Wiles will nominate Evans at the BGCT annual meeting in Arlington, part of Texas Baptists’ Family Gathering, July 29-31. The meeting will be held in conjunction with the African American Fellowship Conference and the Hispanic Baptist Convention of Texas.

Wiles praised Evans as “a champion of the gospel, an incredibly gifted preacher, a proven leader, an outstanding pastor and a servant in the community.”

“I think Texas Baptists are poised right now, more than ever, to provide leadership at the national level for Baptists, and Michael Evans represents the kind of leadership that can make that a reality,” he said. “He represents the best of who Texas Baptists are.”

Wiles pointed to Evans as a recognized civic leader who is deeply involved in his community, as well as pastor of a dynamic church.

“He is a great role model for young pastors,” said Wiles, who spoke of Evans as a close friend whom he loves and respects. “I consider it an honor to nominate him. … He is one of our finest.”

‘Ambassador’ for Christ and the BGCT

Evans agreed to allow his nomination because he wants to help people outside the BGCT to “understand who we really are as Texas Baptists.”

“As (former Executive Director) Charles Wade used to remind us, we are the presence of Christ to others. As the Scripture tells us, we are ambassadors for Christ,” he said. “I would look forward to the opportunity to be not only an ambassador for our Lord, but also for our convention.”

Texas Baptists want to introduce people to Jesus as Lord, he emphasized.

“We are about the business of saving souls,” he said. “It’s who we are. It’s what we do.”

‘A bridge builder’

If elected, Evans wants to encourage Texas Baptists to be intentional about building relationships across cultural and generational divisions.

“I want to be a bridge builder,” he said. “We are one family. I want us to build bridges and promote that oneness.”

Evans, 51, is a Houston native who served nine years in the U.S. Navy as a reserve chaplain, and also worked in chaplaincy at Dallas Children’s Hospital. He has led Bethlehem Baptist Church in Mansfield more than two and a half decades as senior pastor.

He worked on the BGCT Executive Board staff as director of African-American ministries from 2001 to 2006 while continuing to serve the Mansfield congregation.

Evans earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Texas at Arlington, his Master of Divinity degree from Texas Christian University’s Brite Divinity School and his Doctor of Ministry degree from Baylor University’s Truett Theological Seminary. He also participated in doctoral studies at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and Southern Methodist University’s Perkins School of Theology.

He is the author of Leadership in the Black Church: Guidance in the Midst of Changing Demographics.

Involved in community

Evans has served as an administrator with the Tarrant County College District and as president of the board of trustees of the Mansfield Independent School District.

He is the founder of several community service organizations—the BBC Educational Enrichment Corporation, the Hope House Community Service Network and the Historic West Mansfield Texas Community Development Corporation.

He also is director of Life Touch Cottage Ministries, a Christian education and evangelism organization that serves children and youth in West Africa.

Evans and his wife, Lisa, have been married more than 30 years and have two adult children.