DALLAS—There is more than enough food for everyone—if people share.

That’s what Dallas Baptist University staff and faculty members learned during a Texas Baptist Christian Life Commission world hunger simulation.

Staff members were randomly assigned to tables and served different meals—from bowls of rice to unlimited chicken with vegetables and dessert—to represent how people eat around the globe. People were allowed to “beg” others for food and could share as they wished.

Faculty and staff members moved around the room, some asking for food and some giving it. They saw what could happen when resources are shared.

The simulation helps people understand there is plenty of food in the world, but it is not distributed equally, CLC Director Suzii Paynter said. More than 50 percent of the world struggles each day to attain necessities, often feeling the grip of hunger.

Although the event merely provided a glimpse into world hunger, it was a way DBU staff and faculty members could understand the issue better, DBU President Gary Cook said.

“It was a moving experience to host the world hunger luncheon for our faculty and staff at DBU,” he said.

The luncheon is part of Texas Hope 2010, an initiative that encourages Christians to pray for the people around them, care for those in need—especially hungry children—and share the gospel with every Texan by Easter 2010.

The DBU meal is the first time the CLC has undertaken this exercise with the staff of an institution. Paynter said she values the opportunity to influence people who are impacting the next generation.

“We are working with a campus to bring an experience to a group of leaders so they can have a vision for how to support world hunger and world hunger ministries,” she said. “This is really to spark the imagination of this group of leaders and in turn spark the next generation to action.”

Cook was so encouraged by the meal, he wants to hold a similar event for DBU students. It is one of several steps DBU is taking to tackle hunger.

“Soon we will be hosting similar meals with our student body,” he said. “The faculty and staff members at DBU will be able to encourage the students as we partner together with the Christian Life Commission of the Baptist General Convention of Texas and Brother Bill’s Helping Hand to feed the hungry in the name of Jesus.”

Cook urged every Texas Baptist to fight hunger locally, across the state and around the world.

“I would encourage each and every Texas Baptist to take seriously the call to help the poor and feed the hungry by contributing to the Texas Baptist Offering for World Hunger ,” he said.

MARSHALL—Students, faculty and staff of East Texas Baptist University are involved in carrying out the vision of Texas Hope 2010 in presenting the gospel to every Texan by Easter Sunday 2010.

The ETBU office of spiritual development distributed to each faculty and staff member a copy of the “Hope 2010, Call to Prayer” guide.

During a chapel service, students were given a 30-day devotional book, “Pilgrimage: Preparing for the Journey,” written by ETBU faculty and staff.

Vice President of Spiritual Development Alan Huesing noted the devotionals and the Hope 2010 prayer guide are being used to prepare the campus for Spiritual Renewal Week, Nov. 9-13.

ETBU Baptist Student Ministries recently has been involved in reaching out to the community with the gospel.  Student students helped two churches in Gregg Baptist Association by conducting door-to-door surveys and distributing gospel materials.

The ETBU BSM Kid’s Club, a local ministry to four low-income housing developments, will use Mary Hill Davis Offering for Texas Missions funds to provide Thanksgiving baskets to families. The baskets will contain a dinner and the Texas Hope 2010 “What’s Missing” multimedia CD.

DALLAS—Dallas Baptist University officially dedicated the Patty and Bo Pilgrim Chapel Oct. 16.

Maintaining DBU’s colonial architectural style, and modeled after several classic colonial church buildings, the 80,000 square-foot facility seats more than 1,300 students in its sanctuary.

“It has been the dream of so many DBU faculty, staff, trustees, alumni, students, and donors that Dallas Baptist University would build a chapel building,” DBU President Gary Cook said. “I am thrilled that this building has finally been constructed and that we are able to dedicate this building to the Lord. We are grateful to Patty and Bo Pilgrim and to the hundreds of other individuals who have made contributions for this beautiful new building on the DBU campus.”

The service proved to be a special time as donors, trustees, faculty, staff and various other friends of the university came together to pray for God to use the building to further his kingdom. Beginning the service with the university hymn, “To God Be the Glory,” the sanctuary rang with the chorus, “Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!”

Other members of the DBU family came and spoke, and many offered prayers of thanksgiving and dedication. A memorable moment came as Bo Pilgrim, whose generous gift allowed the school to move forward with the building project, offered his remarks on the meaning of the new chapel.

As the service closed, all those gathered sang a final chorus, declaring the chapel was “Holy Ground.”

For decades, prayers have been offered for the construction of a chapel building, and in 1998, the first gift was given for the chapel. Since that time, many supporters have come forward to help make the dream a reality.

“We are grateful beyond expression for the outpouring of gifts we have received from so many for the construction of this beautiful center for spiritual development,” explained Adam Wright, assistant to the president for advancement and coordinator of the chapel campaign. “In the history of DBU, there has never been a building project like Pilgrim Chapel that has received the level of support from so many individuals.”

In addition to hosting chapel services, Pilgrim Chapel is also the new home to the Orville and Esther Beth Rogers Prayer Ministry, the Rogers Baptist Student Ministry offices, as well as the offices of the Gary Cook Graduate School of Leadership, which provides many ministry-related graduate degrees. The facility also houses six classrooms, one seminar room, a 134-seat theater, and Jeannette and Cletys Sadler Hall that holds approximately 250 people for receptions and dinners.

“So much prayer, dedication, and hard work has gone into the planning and construction of this wonderful facility that is dedicated to worship, discipleship and evangelism,” explained Dr. J. Blair Blackburn, DBU executive vice president and project director of Pilgrim Chapel.

“Those who enter the doors of this beautiful facility, view the Christian symbols and verses throughout the building, and step foot in the sanctuary will hopefully be challenged and encouraged in their walk with the Lord. The stained glass windows and the verses that adorn the sanctuary remind us all of the central focus of the Pilgrim Chapel and the university as a whole—that this be a place of worship and that we live our lives in a manner that is pleasing to our Lord.”

Newspaper names BCFS a top workplace. Baptist Child & Family Services recently was named one of the top workplaces in San Antonio by the San Antonio Express-News. BCFS was ranked No. 20 in the top large employers category, 100 to 299 employees. The companies identified as the top workplaces were selected based on comprehensive analysis conducted by Workplace Dynamics. Employees from throughout the region were surveyed anonymously, measuring qualities such as company leadership, compensation, training, workplace flexibility and diversity.

HSU, Baylor music schools recognized. The Baylor University School of Music and the Hardin-Simmons University School of Music have been cited as recommended places of study in the annual “Music-School Guide” published by Strings magazine.

Wayland to explore San Antonio expansion. Wayland Baptist University’s board of trustees has authorized administrators to investigate options for expanding the capacity of the school’s San Antonio campus. In particular, Provost Bobby Hall noted potential for growth in the university’s new School of Nursing in San Antonio. Overall enrollment at Wayland in San Antonio has grown close to 70 percent in 10 years.

Baylor ranks near top in entrepreneurship. From more than 2,300 schools surveyed by Entrepreneur magazine and The Princeton Review, Baylor University’s Hankamer School of Business has been recognized as having one of the top 50 entrepreneurship programs in the country. Baylor ranked No. 4 in the undergraduate category of the survey. The seventh annual ranking reveals the nation’s top 25 undergraduate and top 25 graduate programs for entrepreneurship. Baylor’s ranking can be seen at www.entrepreneur.com/topcolleges .

Baylor regents authorize two doctoral programs. Baylor University regents approved two new doctoral degree programs—a Ph.D. in social work and a doctor of science in occupational therapy. The Ph.D. in social work—the first doctoral program within the Baylor School of Social Work—is a “hybrid” program that includes both on-campus and distance coursework using university-sponsored technology. It will focus on preparing professional social workers in the areas of intergenerational relations, the ethical integration of religious faith and social work theory and practice, and social work in congregations and religiously affiliated organizations. The first class of students will be admitted in fall 2011. The doctor of science in occupational therapy is an affiliated degree program between Baylor and the U.S. Army at the Army Medical Department Center & School and Brooke Army Medical Center at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio. It is an advanced-practice post-professional clinical doctorate designed to meet the professional development and specialty area needs of Army occupational therapists. Graduates will expand the scope of care provided soldiers and military healthcare beneficiaries through the application of evidence-based practice and research. The program will begin this year.

• Mark Borum has resigned as minister of music at First Church in Richmond and is available for interims.

• DeWayne Bush to First Church in Tuscola as pastor.

• Mack Caffey has completed an interim pastorate at First Church in Sinton. He is available for supply and interim preaching at (361) 241-6885.

• Emmanuel Jimenez to First Church in Carrizo Springs as minister of youth.

• Todd Keller to First Church in Merkel as pastor.

• Steve Zornes to Old Moulton Church in Moulton as pastor, where he had been interim.

• The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor is hosting a pair of lectures this week. Marty McMahone will speak at noon Nov. 5 on “Making the Bible Stick” as a part of the College of Christian Studies’ Ministers Forum. He will teach pastors how to give “handles” to sermons that will allow congregations the ability to hold on to what they are taught. Debbie Potts will speak at 11 a.m. Nov. 9 on “Navigating Personal Storms” as a part of the College of Humanities’ lecture series. Both lectures are free to the public.

• Baylor University will hold its second Poverty Summit Nov. 6-8 to discuss issues surrounding poverty. Breakout sessions will seek to stimulate academic thought, raise awareness about poverty, engage students about the issues surrounding poverty and encourage action. There also will be an exhibition of justice initiatives, a world hunger dinner and a film screening. Speakers will include David Johnson, founder of Silent Images; Heidi Curry, co-founder of Ocean Academy in Belize; and Jimmy Dorrell, executive director of Mission Waco. Registration is free for Baylor students, faculty and staff, and $21 for others. The fee includes three meals and a Poverty Summit t-shirt. To register and for other information, go to www.baylor.edu/povertysummit.

• Dillon International will present a free adoption information meeting at 6 p.m. Nov. 17 at the Buckner Children’s Home campus in Dallas. An overview of adoption from China, Korea, India, Hong Kong, Ethiopia, Russia, Hon-duras, Ghana and Nepal will be provided. Domestic adoption also will be covered. For more information or to make a reservation to attend, call (214) 319-3426.

• Michael Lindsay, author of Faith in the Halls of Power, will be the keynote speaker for the B.H. Carroll Winter Colloquy to be held Nov. 30-Dec. 1 at First Church in Arlington. The event will begin at 1:45 p.m. Monday with a speech by Lindsay and end at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday. To register, go to nexlearn.bhcti.org/store and click on “Colloquy Series.”

• Dallas Baptist University will launch the master of arts in Christian Ministry program in January. It will be the seventh ministry degree program offered by the university. The degree is designed to prepare students to serve in a variety of church and ministry contexts. For more information, call (214) 333-5506.

• Howard Payne University honored six alumni and friends of the university during homecoming festivities. Richard Jolly was named distinguished alumnus; Wes McGaugh, outstanding young graduate; Joy Ivy and Dan Owen, medals of service; Bernice Porter, coming home queen; and McDonald Held, grand marshal.

• East Texas Baptist University presented several alumni awards during homecoming activities. Jim Teague received the J. Wesley Smith Achievement Award; Barbara Huffman, the W.T. Tardy Development Award; Charles Foxworth and James Sheffield, Alumni Achievement awards; and Lynette Ogletree, Young Alumnus Award. The College of Marshall/Lightkeeper Awards were presented to alumni who graduated 50 or more years ago to William Cornelius, Franklin Dearing, Rita Turner and James Rogers.

• Hardin-Simmons University has recognized Ed Hewett as a senior professor. The professor of mathematics joined the HSU faculty in 1972.

• Some San Marcos Academy seniors have received honors. Maggie Boylan of San Marcos received a perfect score of 800 on the writing portion of the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT). Steven Huang from China received an 800 on the math portion of the test. Anthony Richardson, a senior from Daly City, Calif., was named the “Built Ford Tough” Texas high school player of the week.

Anniversaries

• Carl Shroyer, fifth, as pastor of Elm Grove Church in Lubbock, Nov. 1.

• Chris Seidlitz, 1oth, as pastor of Windsor Park Church in DeSoto, Nov. 1.

Deaths

• Howard Marsh, 83, Sept. 3 in Sulphur Springs. A graduate of East Texas Baptist University, he was a lieutenant colonel in the Army chaplaincy and participated in the Battle of the Bulge. He was a pastor in New Mexico, Arizona and Texas, including churches in Lindale, Cooper, Saltillo and Sulphur Springs. He also served as director of missions for Rehoboth Baptist Association. He was preceded in death by his wife, Mary, in 2006. He is survived by his sons, James and Phillip; and sister, Varina Hagan.

• Robert Culpepper, 55, Sept. 27. A graduate of Hardin-Simmons University and a member of Prestonwood Church in Plano, his father is pastor of First Church in Benjamin. He was preceded in death by his mother. He is survived by his father, Troy; stepmother, Gene; brother, James; stepbrother, Ronnie Jeter; and stepsister, Judy King.

• Doyle Kelley, 78, Oct. 14 in Houston. Kelley attended Hardin-Simmons University on a scholarship to perform with the Cowboy Band. At age 31, Kelley started his own factoring business, a financing firm for struggling oilfield service companies. The business grew until it became the largest independent factoring firm in Texas. He had a number of philanthropic interests, including Hardin-Simmons. After he established an endowment for the business school, it was renamed the Kelley College of Business in his honor. Also in the school’s Skiles Building, the Kelley Hall of Leaders honors former students, graduates, employees and other historical figures of HSU who have distinguished records of achievement. His portrait hangs in the Cowboy Band’s “Wall of Fame.” He also entrusted the university’s Richardson Library with a rare and valuable manuscript, the product of a South Arabian Jewish Scriptorium in the late 17th or early 18th century, which lies in a climate-controlled case. He is a past chairman of the HSU board of trustees, a 1998 recipient of the John J. Keeter Alumni Service Award, and was awarded an honorary Doctor of Law degree from HSU in 2000. He is survived by his wife of almost 59 years, Inez; daughters, Sheridan Jones and Tracey Richmond; sons, Robert and Kerry; sisters, Zelda Williams and Billie Jean Baird; and seven grandchildren.

• June Pemberton, 76, Oct. 17 in Athens. She dedicated her life to supporting her pastor husband and to working in children’s ministries for more than 50 years. They served churches in Texas, Oklahoma and California, including an eight-year tenure in Wichita Falls and five years in Port Neches. At the time of her death, she was a member of First Church in Athens. She is survived by her husband of 57 years, Bill; daughter, Debbie Leather-wood; brother, James White; sister, Sonja Fullen; and two granddaughters.

• Harry Ball, 80, Oct. 19 in Greenville. He was a pastor 11 years. He was director of missions for Fannin County nine years and served Hunt Association as director of missions 23 years, retiring in 1994. He was president of the State of Texas Director of Missions, 1991-1992. After retirement, he served 12 churches as interim pastor and was pastor of Fairlie Church in Wolfe City more than five years, retiring in 2006. He was a member of Highland Terrace Church in Greenville. He was preceded in death by his first wife, Patricia in 1998; brother, James; and sister, Betty Jean Nichols. He is survived by his wife, Marie; son, Harry; daughters, Judy Kemp and Connie Glenn; stepsons, Wayne and Jerry Henderson; stepdaughter, Cherilyn Kinney; six grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; eight step-grandchildren; and four step-great-grandchildren.

• Paul Meyer, 81, Oct. 25 in Waco. A leading entrepreneur and philanthropist, Meyer was a major supporter of Baylor University and a number of other institutions and causes. Meyer became interested at an early age in the principles of personal development and professional excellence and at 27 had become a noted and successful businessman. A Central Texas civic leader, Meyer began his career in insurance sales before becoming a sales executive for Word Inc., a Waco distributor of religious books and records. Becoming a Baylor University Alumnus By Choice in 1987, Meyer was presented with the W.R. White Meritorious Service Award in 1988 and the Herbert H. Reynolds Service Award in 1996. As a friend and supporter of the university, Meyer was presented with the highest honor bestowed by the institution upon a non-alumni—Baylor’s Alumnus Honoris Causa designation. Meyer and his wife, Jane, were recognized as members of the Baylor University Medallion Fellowship, first with the James Huckins Medallion in 1987, both the Pat Neff and Presidents Medallions in 1988, then were inducted into the Judge R.E.B. Baylor Society of the Fellowship in 1993. The Meyers supported the William M. Hinson Endowed Chair in Christian Scriptures, as well as the Charlie McCleary Endowed Athletic Fund in tennis, the Dr. Delton L. Chesser Passport to Success Accounting Scholarship, the Fast Break Club, both the Men’s and Women’s Basketball Excellence funds and many other areas across the university. In 1988, the Meyers played a tremendous role in providing quality facilities for Baylor’s student-athletes, providing the lead gift for Paul J. Meyer Arena at the Ferrell Center. Meyer was a member of Bear Foundation and 1845 Society. Considered one of the most influential people in the history of the personal achievement industry, Meyer founded the Success Motivation Institute (SMI) and Leadership Management Inc., both founded for the purpose of helping people develop manage ment skills. Together with his wife, Meyer supported more than 30 charities across the United States and around the world. They were also instrumental in founding five charitable foundations to promote education and serve youth, including Passport to Success, which provides post-secondary education to economically disadvantaged youth, and the Paul and Jane Meyer Family Foundation. He was preceded in death by his sister, Elizabeth Meyer, and his granddaughter, Allison Bucy. He is survived by his wife, Jane; sons, Jim, Larry and Billy; daughters, Janna Slechta and Leslie Rhea; brother, Carl; and 15 grandchildren.

Events

• Casa del Alfarero in Houston will celebrate 37 years of service to the community Oct. 31. Antonio Zuno will lead a symposium titled “The Unity of the Faith is Built Upon the Truth.” Leopoldo Mata is pastor.

• Mike Gottfried, former University of Pittsburgh football coach and ESPN college football analyst, and founder of Team Focus, a national ministry organization that mentors fatherless boys, will be the keynote speaker at the opening of the new high school campus of Hyde Park Baptist School in Austin Nov. 14 at 10 a.m. He also will speak at the Field House luncheon that follows.

Ordained

• Curtis Langston, Bobby Joe Morris and Tommy McIntyre as deacons at Peach Creek Church in New Caney.

Revival

• First Church, Lytle; Nov. 15-18; evangelist, Robert Barge; pastor, Grady Summers.

FORT WORTH, Texas (ABP) — Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary has adopted a policy statement that declares men and women equal before God but created for specific roles of headship and submission in the church and home.

Seminary trustees voted Oct. 21 to add the Danvers Statement on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood to the seminary’s policy manual under "Guiding Documents and Statements."

The statement, composed in 1987 in Danvers, Mass., by the then-new Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, responds to "widespread uncertainty and confusion in our culture regarding the complementary differences between masculinity and femininity" and "increasing promotion given to feminist egalitarianism" in church and culture.

Seminary President Paige Patterson was among Christian leaders who drafted the Danvers Statement in 1987.

It affirms, among other things, that "Adam and Eve were created in God's image, equal before God as persons and distinct in their manhood and womanhood," that "distinctions in masculine and feminine roles are ordained by God as part of the created order" and that "Adam's headship in marriage was established by God before the Fall, and was not a result of sin."

"Complementarianism," a conservative theological view that men and women have different roles and responsibilities in marriage and religious leadership, has been gaining ground in the Southern Baptist Convention for 20 years.

Detractors say it is nothing more than Bible-sanctioned male chauvinism. But proponents say that choosing to live by what they interpret as God's design is in reality a form of women's liberation.

The opposing view, known as "egalitarianism," takes a view that values giftedness over gender distinctions. Egalitarians say men and women should share equal authority and responsibility in marriage and have equal leadership opportunities in the church.

The Southern Baptist Convention chose sides in the debate in 1998. That year, the group inserted a family article into its Baptist Faith and Message confessional statement that says the husband "has the God-given responsibility to provide for, to protect, and to lead his family," while a wife "is to submit herself graciously to the servant leadership of her husband."

Two years later the convention again amended the confession of faith to add, "While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture."

Mimi Haddad, president of the Minneapolis-based Christians for Biblical Equality, said it is illogical to say on the one hand that men and women are equal but different in their access to authority.

Mimi Haddad of Christians for Biblical Authority says God's Spirit is not limited by gender distinctions.

"To claim that men and women have equal access to salvation and equal access to the spiritual gifts is to suggest that the Holy Spirit may provide individuals with gifts not according to human prejudice, but according to God's pleasure, as we clearly note throughout Scripture especially in the New Testament," she said.

Haddad, who has a Ph.D. in historical theology, said a good example of that principle is Lottie Moon, a famous Southern Baptist missionary to China in the 19th century whose unconventional ministry was so influential that an offering named in her honor is collected yearly in SBC churches to this day.

The Baptist Faith and Message remains Southwestern Seminary's only confessional document, meaning professors are required to teach within its confines. The additional statement, seminary President Paige Patterson said in a news release, will be used to establish "the general posture of the school" regarding gender roles.

Patterson, who had a hand in drafting the Danvers Statement, said it will serve as a guide in hiring and evaluation processes. In 2006 Patterson terminated Sheri Klouda, an Old Testament professor hired by his predecessor in 2002, saying he did not believe I Tim. 2:12-14 permitted a woman to teach the Bible to male students in a seminary classroom.

Klouda sued the seminary for gender discrimination in 2007, but a judge dismissed the case the following year. He said the dispute was over a religious matter protected by the First Amendment.

Klouda, now associate professor of Old Testament at Taylor University in Upland, Ind., said the Danvers Statement "makes a break with the realities of a fallen world" in its idealized view of family relationships.

She said the statement assumes that all Christian husbands exemplify superior biblical leadership in a marriage, which may be desirable but is not always the case. She said it also reinforces the notion that spousal abuse by husbands is in some way the fault of the wife — and it fails to address a course of action for wives who must work outside the home to support their family for reasons of illness, disability or death of a husband.

Sheri Klouda now lives in Indiana and teaches at Taylor University.

"There are no allowances for the stuff of real life," Klouda said. "I have experienced several of these situations, and the church failed me consistently."

Also in 2007, Patterson announced the seminary would begin offering a new bachelor's degree with a concentration in homemaking. Parodied by one popular Baptist blogger as the "Mrs. Degree," Patterson said the program was a way of "moving against the tide in order to establish family and gender roles as described in God's Word for the home and the family."

In April Southwestern Seminary dedicated the Sarah Horner Homemaking House, an educational building equipped with a teaching kitchen, clothing and textiles lab, formal dining room and parlor in addition to library and classrooms. It is home to Southwestern students working toward a B.A. in humanities with a concentration in homemaking.

The concentration requires 22 hours of instruction in a wide range of homemaking skills like meal preparation and clothing construction out of a total 127 hours to earn a bachelor's degree.

Haddad said she doesn't know of another seminary or theological school that has adopted the Danvers Statement as institutional policy. But about 200 egalitarian organizations, churches or individuals have requested permission to use her organization's Statement on Men, Women and Biblical Equality in developing gender policies for work or worship.

The Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood has offices on the campus of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky. The group's president, Randy Stinson, declined to comment for this story. 

–Bob Allen is senior writer for Associated Baptist Press. 

WACO—Baylor University has withdrawn its proposal to the Baylor Alumni Association, citing lack of a positive response to a request that the group  give up its independent nonprofit status and come under the authority of Baylor administration.

Baylor President David Garland and Regents Chair Dary Stone sent a letter Oct. 27 to Baylor Alumni Association President David Lacy and Executive Director Jeff Kilgore formally withdrawing the offer.

“Regrettably, to date we have had no formal response of any kind” from the alumni association, the letter said. “Instead, we have seen opinion articles from your president and executive vice president criticizing our proposal, the university and its governing bodies. We have not seen a single instance in which you have publicly discussed the merits of the proposal directly and the impact it could have enhancing national alumni relations at Baylor.”

In an interview five weeks before the offer was withdrawn, Stone had said regarding the proposal to the alumni association: “There is not a timeline established. There’s no deadline. They can take as long as they need to consider the offer.”

But from the perspective of Baylor’s administration and regents, the alumni association failed to demonstrate they were considering the offer. In their letter to the alumni association, Garland and Stone particularly noted the association had—at its recent Baylor Homecoming meeting—publicly launched a five-year plan built on the premise of the association’s independence from the school.

“All of these activities present a clear message that our proposal, though made in good faith, is effectively and de facto declined by the BAA,” the letter stated. “Therefore, out of respect for your desire to be independent and separate from the university, we believe it is in the best interest of Baylor that we formally withdraw our proposal.”

The correspondence added that if the alumni association decides in the future “to explore the possibility of becoming part of a robust, in-house alumni relations program within the university, we will be pleased to consider that possibility at your request.”

In an interview, Garland said he was “disappointed” by the alumni association’s actions after the offer was made in mid-September. The combined impact of the alumni association’s failure to respond directly, actions taken at the group’s annual meeting and public comments by the association’s officers—rather than any single action—prompted the university to rescind the proposal, he said.

Withdrawal of the proposal came as “welcome news for many alumni,” said Jeff Kilgore, chief executive officer and executive vice president of the Baylor Alumni Association.

“This decision is certainly in the best interest of doing what’s best for Baylor. This allows everyone to focus on the important work that needs to be done moving forward, and not on unnecessary distractions,” he said.

Given “the clear and strong voice of alumni” who reacted negatively to the proposal of bringing the alumni association under university administration, the withdrawal “probably shouldn’t come as a surprise,” Kilgore said.

Still, alumni association officials disagreed with the rationale offered by the administration and regents for withdrawing the proposal.

The association had not formally responded to the offer because it was “deep into the process of gathering feedback” from its members and putting together a committee to study the matter, Kilgore noted.

On its website, the Baylor Alumni Association had invited members to comment on the proposal that the association give up its independent status and become part of Baylor’s administrative operations within its development division. The association posted responses under three categories—in support of the Baylor Alumni Association’s independence, in support of Baylor University’s proposal and “mixed responses.”

“As of Oct. 27, 88 percent of the responses received are in support of the BAA’s independence, while 7 percent support Baylor’s proposal and 5 percent are mixed,” the website stated.

The alumni association wanted to give the university’s proposal “the due diligence it needed before a response was given,” Baylor Alumni Association President David Lacy said.

“We have worked non-stop since Sept. 19 gathering feedback from the members we represent. Given the fact that we were taken by surprise when presented the proposal, the BAA did not take it lightly,” Lacy said.

The alumni association had wanted to conduct its study quietly and respond in due time, Kilgore insisted. But the officers of the organization felt compelled to speak publicly once the university launched “a massive public relations campaign” two days after presenting its proposal, seeking endorsements of its offer and offering criticisms of the alumni association.

“We were compelled to respond in kind,” Kilgore said. “It was not our intention to criticize but only to restore a balance of context and fact to the conversation.”

Regarding the alumni association’s five-year plan, Kilgore noted the organization began work on it a year ago, and the issue of the Baylor Line—the association’s magazine—that presented the plan already was far along in the production and printing cycle before the university presented its September proposal.

Garland said in an interview the university will honor the alumni association’s desire for independence and relate to the organization “as we would relate to any other independent organization.” At the same time, Baylor will continue to strengthen its own alumni relations initiatives, he said.

Alumni association officials expressed their desire to move on and work with the university.

“For the sake of peace and unity for all of the Baylor family, we will put this issue behind us, focus on our job and get back to work serving alumni and supporting our alma mater,” Lacy said.

Kilgore echoed that sentiment, stressing the importance of improved communication between the alumni association and the university.

“It is important to the Baylor Alumni Association that we continue to find ways in which to work together with the board of regents and university administration in the areas of fundraising, communications and external programs and continue to express a desire to do so,” he said.

“In return, we hope that the university will also renew its own commitment to the Baylor Alumni Association in allowing us to serve our own mission and purpose unimpeded by recent efforts.”

The task of relating to Baylor alumni and seeking the best interests of the university is a big job “that will take all of us,” Kilgore added. “I hope the Baylor tent is big enough for everyone.”

KERENS—Fire burned down most of the facilities of First Baptist Church in Kerens Oct. 18.

The blaze incinerated the sanctuary, children’s area, nursery, office and library. Only the youth and education building remains standing.

“Everything was completely destroyed,” Pastor Wes Johnson said of the burned buildings.

The congregation gathered for worship the next day at the Kerens Ex-Students Association building, ending the service by driving to the church campus and circling in prayer.

“The spirit is great,” Johnson said about the congregation. “We had a wonderful service Sunday. We had three more additions to our fellowship Sunday.”

The church is a group of Christians who come together, not the building they meet in, Johnson stressed.

“The church here is doing great,” he said. “It’s the building that’s not in such great shape.”

Most of the buildings are insured, and other groups already are pitching in to help the congregation. A Methodist church donated 150 Baptist hymnals and people in the community have brought by microphones they can use.

Texas Baptists have given the congregation $5,000 in the form of a disaster relief church building recovery grant from the Baptist General Convention of Texas church architecture office, with $1,000 designated to replace the pastor's reference library that was destroyed in the fire.

BGCT Congregational Strategist Bill Claiborne, who is connecting the congregation with convention resources, praised First Baptist Church for the way it is handling the situation.

“These are people who are already moving ahead,” he said. “They are not dwelling on the loss. They are looking to the future. They are very appreciative of the outpouring of concern and assistance that has come their way.”

The church will continue holding services at the Kerens Ex-Students Association building and all Sunday school classes have been moved into various locations across the city, including homes and a restaurant.

Johnson hopes the classes outside the church facilities will create opportunities for church members to share their faith with people who are not part of a church.

“It’ll give us a chance to be witnesses outside the traditional walls of the church,” he said.

TYLER—Three Breckenridge Village of Tyler residents recently delivered 175 knitted caps to Children’s Emergency Relief International to be given to orphans in Eastern Europe during the organization’s Operation Cross the River Christmas mission.

Breckenridge Village is a faith-based residential community for adults with mild to moderate cognitive or developmental disorders.

Eight residents began knitting the winter hats in January under the direction of Diane Stone. The three residents who knitted the most hats delivered their handiwork to CERI staff in Houston.

Both Breckenridge Village and CERI are ministries of Baptist Child & Family Services.

“It made my heart feel so good to send a little piece of love to someone in need,” said Anne Marie, who helped deliver the winter hats.

Parents and members of the Breckenridge Village Women’s Auxiliary donated money, yarn and knitting looms to make the project possible. Although it was the residents’ first year to contribute to the mission, program directors at Breckenridge Village expect it to become an annual project.

“The women would ask every day when we could get back to knitting. They loved doing something for others,” Stone said.

Each December, CERI alternates between the two Eastern European countries of Moldova and Transniestria to lead mission teams that distribute warm winter shoes, socks, hats and scarves to orphans. This year, Operation Cross the River will take place December 4-20 and will involve 10 volunteers from churches in Texas, West Virginia, Alabama and Virginia.

CERI has ordered 2,700 pairs of winter boots for this year’s mission. Volunteers across the country have been working since January to ensure that each child receives new boots and socks along with knit caps and scarves.

Shoe missions to Moldova began in 1999 among orphans throughout the country. Since then, CERI has provided more than 80,000 new winter boots and socks to protect the country’s most vulnerable.

PLAINVIEW—A cold and damp Saturday might not have been the ideal weather conditions for a community workday. But about 250 students and employees of Wayland Baptist University pressed on despite foggy, chilly temperatures to serve city organizations in the fourth annual Degree of Difference Day held for the university.

Organized through the offices of public relations and student activities, the day included morning work projects in a variety of locations. Students worked alongside faculty and staff doing everything from hanging drywall and painting to roofing and cleaning.

Two large groups worked at Habitat for Humanity’s newest home on West 28th Street, where a crew roofed one home, and the Wee Care Child Care Center, where workers helped with sheetrock, cleaning away construction debris and painting the new facility being overseen by David Wilder.

“This just shows you what a lot of people can do as opposed to just five or six,” said Wilder as students hauled sheetrock, insulated and painted all over the large facility. “They definitely got a lot done today.”

Cleaning and organizing was the order of the day at a warehouse and office owned by Producing Warriors for God, a new ministry in town; Compassionate Care Pregnancy Center, which ministers to women going through crisis pregnancies; and Happy Union Baptist Church.

A crew painted the former College Hill Daycare in appreciation for longtime owners and operators J.D. and Frances Sams, who retired after more than 40 years of service to Plainview through the daycare.

Wayland Baptist University students Laura Higgs and Carmen Guzman helped paint several areas in the new facility at Wee Care Child Care Center during Wayland’s Degree of Difference Day. (PHOTOS/Wayland Baptist University)

A new service organization, Sigma Phi Lambda, worked together to sort donations at the Crisis Center of the Plains’ Broadway Treasures store.

Two crews tackled yard work and gardening at La Mesa Elementary and Plainview Christian Academy, and another crew of student workers conducted a sweep through the Plainview Cemetery for trash.

Wayland students and the Plainview High junior Navy ROTC participants picked up trash around Plainview High School. Ovens were doing overtime as well as one crew made cookies and bagged them for Meals on Wheels clients and patients of Area Community Hospice. The girls of Alpha Delta Kappa spent their afternoon bowling with and encouraging Plainview’s Special Olympians in their winter sport.

Wayland’s Pioneer Marching Band resumed their traditional post on the workday as hosts and organizers of the Plainview Pioneer Marching Festival held at Greg Sherwood Memorial Bulldog Stadium for area schools. The annual festival provides one final practice for schools before UIL marching competition and judges are able to provide good feedback for band directors and groups attending the event.

A new dimension to the 2009 event was the addition of a Friday night meal organized by the Baptist Student Ministries, focusing on the plight of world hunger and the disparity of food sources worldwide.

Wayland Baptist University professor Estelle Owens (seated at back), student Russell Daniel, and staff members Tammy Coleman and Penny Poole remove weeds and debris from the flower beds at La Mesa Elementary in preparation for laying down protective material and decorative bark. (PHOTOS/Wayland Baptist University)

Students ate meals depending on which “class” they fell into, drawn at random, based on percentages of the world’s population at various income levels. Out of the group of around 50, only 5 were treated to a four-course meal, others received rice and beans, and the majority ate only rice, representing the large number of the world’s population who live in abject poverty.

Following the meal, students helped distribute flyers to neighborhoods surrounding three block parties held Saturday afternoon.  The students were encouraged to prayerwalk the neighborhoods during their time, and they gathered back at WBU for a worship time.

Saturday block parties included partnerships with several local churches to provide a safe, fun time of family entertainment and share the love of God with families around Plainview.

But some were affected pretty deeply themselves.

“The whole time I was cleaning, all I could think about was how even though we didn’t get to work with the girls directly, everything we were doing would impact them, even if they don’t really notice,” said Melissa Wilkinson, who was part of the crew at Compassionate Care.

Drew Marquez, who worked with the Wee Care crew, said he appreciated the chance to help the children of Plainview behind the scenes by helping with the facility.

“It gave me a chance to be near to God,” said Amanda Allen, who worked at Producing Warriors for God with organizer Gloria Turner. “It was a worship experience for me, and it is amazing that I could experience the glory of God by sweeping.”

ROUND ROCK—Melinda McElhaney’s life hasn’t been filled with a lot of celebration. Much of it has been fraught with strife and struggle. At least it was until Bill and Margo Harrison came into it.

“They are like the parents I never had,” she said. “They are angels on earth.”

Bill Harrison has been a trustee more than 30 years with Children at Heart Ministries and Texas Baptist Children’s Home. During that time, he and his wife had heard many success stories surrounding the single mothers in the children home’s Family Care program in Round Rock.

But until he met McElhaney, he hadn’t been exposed to the raw reality of life as an abused, poverty-stricken wife and mother.

“Since my wife and I have been involved in Melinda’s journey, I have a whole new perspective and a new sense of empathy for Family Care moms,” said Bill. “I’ve learned that there are many people involved in helping a woman get out of that kind of situation.”

Like many single mothers who enter Family Care’s residential program, McElhaney spent most of her years struggling. The product of an unhealthy home environment, she became pregnant with her first child when she was just 13. Two years later, another child was born. By the time she was 19, she was the mother of four.

“I couldn’t pay my bills; I was just making $90 a week. So, I started searching for what I could do different with my life,” she said. “That’s when I started going back to church.”

McElhaney’s first encounter with church was Vacation Bible School as a child at First Baptist Church of Eagle Lake. Years later, she got to know Lyle and Dana Anderson, directors of the Lighthouse, a nonprofit, nondenominational after-school program. They helped her begin her Christian walk, mentoring and encouraging her to break away from the only life she knew.

At the time Melinda returned to church, she was in an abusive relationship and afraid to leave. But with the encouragement of the Andersons and the efforts of the Harrisons, longtime members at Eagle Lake, she agreed to come to Family Care.

Fearing last-minute pressure to back out and not sure McElhaney’s old van would make it all the way to Round Rock from Eagle Lake, Bill Harrison led the way while his wife and Dana Anderson rode with McElhaney and her family, reassuring her that this was the right thing to do.

“She’s kind of become like a daughter to us,” Mrs. Harrison said.

Through the Harrisons’ regular contact and encouragement through letters and phone calls, McElhaney found the strength to pick up where she left off in high school. She is preparing to take her test for a GED and hopes to pursue her education further.

Although she was just a new Christian when she arrived at Family Care, McElhaney was committed to attending church. On her first Sunday, she and her children walked in 100-degree summer heat to a nearby YMCA to attend a church service there.

“She didn’t know anybody,” Mrs. Harrison said. “But she put her baby in the stroller and walked with the other three just to go to church and nurture her relationship with God. That says a lot.”

As they watched McElhaney’s progression in her new life, the evidence of newfound hope began to show all over her face.

“I took a picture of her when we first arrived (at Family Care) and there was this look of such despair on her face,” Mrs. Harrison said. “I came back to visit a couple of weeks later and took another picture, and this time her face was glowing. She was finally content in a way she had never been before.”

That contentment and commitment alone was reason enough to celebrate. Still, as her 21st birthday approached, McElhaney didn’t expect much of anything.

“I think I’ve had about three birthday parties in my life,” she said. “So, I didn’t think anybody would even notice it was my birthday.”

But, notice they did. The Harrisons, along with their church family, pitched in to throw her a 21st birthday party, complete with a huge vanilla and chocolate cake. More than 20 people, including Children at Heart President Jerry Bradley and his wife, Linda, watched and cheered as she blew out her candles.

“I was speechless,” McElhaney said. “It was the best birthday ever.”

Church members prepared enough food for two days, which she and her children gladly shared with everyone. But the best surprise of all was when her 16-year-old brother walked through the door.

“I was so happy I cried,” McElhaney said. “He’s been struggling with his addictions for a while and it was good for him to see the encouraging environment I was in.”

As McElhaney continues to run the sometimes-exhausting race of her life, she sees now that she finally has a pretty loud cheering section.

“She’s a sharp gal,” Harrison said. “I’ve been extremely impressed with her commitment to improve herself so she can better provide for her family.”

His wife echoes those sentiments.

“There have been times when she’s been tempted to give up, but we are right here to encourage her because we know God has a plan for her life,” she said. “We know she has the ability to turn her life around.”

For McElhaney, knowing that is something to celebrate.