MARSHALL—Samuel W. “Dub” Oliver began his tenure as the 12th president of East Texas Baptist University June 1.

Oliver succeeds Bob E. Riley, who served in the position 17 years.

“It is so very exciting to be at East Texas Baptist University and to begin my service as the president of the university,” Oliver said.

“For almost 100 years, as the College of Marshall, East Texas Baptist College and now ETBU, this institution has stood as a light on the hill.

“It is a privilege to join with faculty and staff colleagues as well as our students, alumni, board of trustees and friends in advancing the mission and vision of ETBU.

“Because of all who have served faithfully before, we have incredible opportunities at ETBU to enhance the learning environment so that our students will be ready for service anywhere in the world.”

A native of San Antonio, Oliver is a graduate of Baylor University with a bachelor’s degree in education. He holds a master’s degree in educational psychology from Texas A&M University, where he also earned his Doctor of Philosophy in educational administration.

He also is a licensed and ordained Baptist minister, having served since October 2003 as pastor of Canaan Baptist Church of Crawford.

At Baylor University, he served as vice president for student life.

He and his wife, Susie, have one daughter, Callie, who will be a senior in high school.

INDEPENDENCE—A lay couple from Wichita Falls received the 2009 Texas Baptist Elder Statesman award in recognition of their “behind-the-scenes” work encouraging Texas Baptist ministry through their local church and the denomination.

W. Leroy and Ramona James Daniel received the award June 7 at Independence Baptist Church, the oldest continuously active Baptist church in Texas.

Bill Pitts of Waco, president of Independence Association, presented the award, given annually since 1959 to individuals who contribute significantly to Texas Baptist causes—particularly Christian education.

“Thank you for coming to our family reunion, because that’s what it feels like today,” Mrs. Daniel told the congregation after she and her husband received the award at the end of the Sunday morning worship service.

She added they accepted the award on behalf of “the many laypersons whose names you will never hear.”

The couple—who will celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary this year—served on numerous Baptist General Convention of Texas committees and boards.

Leroy Daniel, a longtime deacon at First Baptist Church in Wichita Falls, served two terms totaling 18 years on the Baptist Standard board of directors and chaired the BGCT State Missions Commission.

Ramona Daniel is a second-generation Texas Baptist Elder Statesman. Her father, former Baptist Standard Editor E.S. James, was named the fifth recipient of the award in 1963.

Bill Pinson offers a personal tribute to Leroy and Ramona Daniel. He served as their pastor at First Baptist Church in Wichita Falls and worked closely with them during his time as executive director of the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

She served two terms on the BGCT Executive Board and six years on the BGCT Administrative Committee.

The Daniels have been generous supporters of Christian education and Baptist missions, including being part of God’s 200—lead givers in support of the Mission Texas initiative in the 1980s to start at least 2,000 churches in the state.

Guest preacher for the service at Independence Baptist Church, Baptist Standard Editor Emeritus Presnall Wood, described the Daniels as “like family” to him. He spoke of Mrs. Daniel’s brother, Billy, as his best boyhood friend and of her father as his mentor.

Wood was baptized, licensed to the ministry, ordained and married by James, and James also preached the funerals for both of Wood’s parents.

Preaching from the New Testament book of Acts, Wood compared the Daniels to Barnabas, known as the “son of encouragement.”

“It did not bother Barnabas to be in the second seat—to work behind the scenes,” Wood said.

DALLAS—The Baptist General Convention of Texas has partnered with the International Evangelism Association in an effort to train 100,000 disciple-makers to follow up on spiritual decisions made during Texas Hope 2010.

Texas Baptists are involved in Texas Hope 2010, an effort to share the gospel with every Texan by Easter 2010.

But BGCT Executive Director Randel Everett noted Christ commands his followers not only to share the gospel, but also to make disciples.

This partnership with the International Evangelism Associa-tion will strengthen Texas Baptists’ ability to do that in the wake of Texas Hope 2010.

In the fall, the evangelism association will lead its first wave of lay-led quarterly seminars that will be held across the state. During these teaching times, Texas Baptists will be trained to do one-on-one discipleship with new believers.

BGCT leaders are looking for 300 congregations that will serve as lead churches for the effort.

These churches would host the seminars as well as identify three lay leaders who will be trained to lead the sessions.

Finally, host churches are asked to identify 30 additional people who are willing to be trained to be disciple-makers.

“Our Texas Hope 2010 commitment is to share the hope of Christ with every person in Texas within their own language and culture by Resurrection Sunday 2010,” Everett said in a letter to church leaders.

“Our emphasis on prayer and several strategies of evangelism, including a multimedia CD to be put in every home, will result in thousands of folks responding to the hope of Christ. Billie Hanks Jr. and his team have committed to train leaders to follow-up with these decisions.”

Hanks believes training more than 100,000 disciple-makers will have an impact on Texas for years to come. They will be leaders in their congregations and will reach out to share the gospel with those around them.

“For many decades, the BGCT has given strong leadership in visionary evangelism,” Hanks said.

“Now Texas Hope 2010 is using the lead church strategy to mobilize over 100,000 lay leaders across the state to join in Christian witness and disciple-making. We believe that a host of great mission-minded churches will respond to this God-given kingdom-building initiative.”

For more information about becoming a lead church, call Dickie Dunn at (888) 244-9400 or e-mail Dickie.Dunn@bgct.org. For more information about Texas Hope 2010, visit www.texashope2010.com. For more information about the evangelistic association, visit www.ieaom.org.

DALLAS—While many churches to-day recognize the need to provide for ministers’ retirement, that wasn’t always the case.

Ministers and their widows who are trying to make ends meet on Social Security look to the Southern Baptist Convention’s GuideStone Financial Resources to help bridge the gap between their income and their needs through the Mission: Dignity program.

More than 2,100 households received monthly assistance from Mission: Dignity, said John Ambra, overseer of the program. Two-thirds of the recipients are widows of ministers. Currently, 291 of those receiving monthly checks live in Texas.

Funds are provided almost entirely through the gifts of individuals, groups, Sunday school classes and churches. The program once received about $1.5 million each year from the Cooperative Program, but that has not been the case since 2007.

Ambra and his staff do more than mail checks; they visit in the homes of recipients and spend time on the telephone just talking.

“It’s a ministry. … It’s not just about dollars and cents. These people have become family to me, and it transcends just a check being sent. They’ve become very dear friends,” he said.

Norma Friend

Norma Friend

Norma Friend was brought up in church, but her husband, Ed, was not. At age 27, however, he came to saving faith in Jesus Christ, and at age 29 felt a call to be a pastor.

The small churches he served in Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas couldn’t afford to pay him much, and the Friends were able to put little aside for retirement.

When his declining health forced him to retire from the ministry, the Friends settled into a mobile home near Grangerland.

The little bit he received from a small retirement annuity and their Social Security wasn’t paying their expenses. So, his wife encouraged him to check into what was then called the Annuity Board’s Adopt-an-Annuitant program.

“He said that it wasn’t for us. It was for people who didn’t get anything, and we were getting a little bit,” she recalled. After her continued encouragement, he finally applied and initially was declined.

His health continued to worsen, however. One day, another letter came from the Annuity Board.

“I was so excited, I took it out and read it,” she said. “I ran the rest of the way into the house and said, ‘Honey, God is taking care of us.’ And he read it, and he was so excited,” Mrs. Friend remembered.

He died before the first check arrived, but “he had the joy of knowing it was coming,” she said, beaming.

The stipend was a tremendous lift for them, she added.

“It was like this beautiful light shining in the dark night. I think I felt like the wise men felt when they saw the star the night the Lord Jesus was born. It was big and beautiful, and it attracted them and it was magnetic, and it drew them.

“That’s the way I felt about the Annuity Board and the way I feel about GuideStone and the people who donate to the annuitant program,” she said.

“The discouraged and lonely feeling I had experienced was swept away through God’s love flowing through Southern Baptist churches and individuals. It is a part of God’s provision for taking care of me.”

Bud and Pauline Peters

Bud Peters surrendered to a call to ministry at age 35 at a Brotherhood meeting, and he preached his first sermon the next Wednesday night using the pastor’s Bible.

“I didn’t own a Bible—just a piece of the New Testament,” he confessed.

That first sermon came from John 21—“cast your net on the right side of the boat,” Peters recalled. In the next few weeks, he was called on to preach on several occasions, generally with no warning.

“And so my first five sermons were from John 21,” he said with a laugh.

After his call to ministry, the opportunities to share were numerous. “I was preaching somewhere every Sunday. The doors just opened,” Peters recalled from his home outside Chapel Hill in East Texas.

After the pastor at Copeland Baptist Church near Whitehouse was killed in an accident, the congregation—all nine of them—called him to be their pastor. His salary was $10 a week.

His secular job brought in $37.50 a week, so he gave the $10 a week back to the church as his tithe.

“All the churches I pastored have been small churches that have really not been able to afford a pastor,” Peters said.

While he served joyfully, he acknowledges it was financially difficult.

One time, the church could not afford to pay him. So, instead, a deacon invited the family over for a chicken dinner. When Peters asked why they didn’t give him the chicken so he could have had the eggs from it, the deacon told him: “Preacher, you’re poor like the rest of us. You couldn’t have afforded to feed it.”

Needless to say, Peters was not able to set aside much for retirement.

“Without Mis-sion: Dignity, I do not know what we would have done. … It’s really the difference between eating and not eating—having medication and not having medication,” he said.

“The assistance they give us, they give us in the name of Jesus. I know that because it is given in love.”

Ed and Ramona Enriquez

Ed and Ramona Enriquez

Ed Enriquez’s first congregation was his largest—covering about eight miles, he said with a laugh.

Enriquez was enlisted to minister in five camps where Mexican farm workers lived. The Mexicans were hired to work the fields by the U.S. government during World War II. He preached five sermons each Sunday as he was driven to five workers’ camps near Fort Hancock. At the time, he was just a teenager himself, attending the Mexican Baptist Seminary in El Paso and taking the train each week to Fort Hancock.

“The people brought their chairs, and I had a congregation ready made,” he recalled. For those five sermons he preached each week for six years, he received $22 a week.

He preached 60 years, primarily to poor Hispanic immigrants in Texas and New Mexico.

The largest church he served was Primera Iglesia Bautista in San Antonio from 1963 to 1966.

During most of his ministry, he served as a missionary with the Southern Baptist Home Mission Board. All his congregations had a common trait, he said. “They did not have enough money to pay a pastor with sufficient funds.”

While Enriquez remembers those years of ministry with great clarity and emotion, Alzheimer’s disease has robbed him of his recent memories. His wife, Ramona, however, knows just what an asset Mission: Dignity is in their lives.

She recalled one of her husband’s preaching engagements—after his official retirement.

Enriquez had been asked to preach at a church less than 20 miles from his home in Mesquite, but he did not have enough gasoline for a roundtrip. He finally decided he had enough gas to get there, and he would use the honorarium to buy gas to return home. But the church did not give him anything, and he ran out of gas before he made it home.

He sat by the side of the road for a long time praying, and then the car “just made it home on fumes,” she recalled.

A short time later, they were accepted into the Mission: Dignity program. “I knew right away that was for the ministry,” Mrs. Enriquez said. The money was set aside to make sure Enriquez had the gas he needed to travel to preaching points.

Now that his health has deteriorated, the money allows them to pay for medications they could not afford otherwise.

GuideStone has asked churches to support the Mission: Dignity fund with a designated offering June 28. For promotional materials or other information, call (888) 984-8433.

AUSTIN—In what Baptist General Convention of Texas Christian Life Commission staff members deemed a “successful” legislative session, lawmakers defeated efforts to expand gambling, approved a health insurance plan that would cover ministers of small churches, created liaisons between state agencies and faith-based groups and passed legislation against human trafficking.

More than 79 gambling-related bills were introduced during the legislative session. Only five passed, each of which tightened gambling laws. Legislators voted down efforts to expand eight-liners, video lottery terminals, poker and Indian casinos.

Suzii Paynter

The CLC, working with other members of an anti-gambling coalition, managed to defeat the more than 200 lobbyists at the capital who believed they could get legislation changed to allow casinos across the state.

“They went from thinking they were going to get full-blown casinos to passing a resolution,” CLC Legislative Counsel Stephen Reeves said.

The CLC helped advocate for the passage of a bill that provides small business owners and nonprofit organizations such as churches access to affordable health insurance through a public-private partnership with the state. The program is called the Healthy Texas Plan, and $35 million is allocated for it.

“The benefit is small-church staffs could have meaningful, affordable insurance,” said CLC Director Suzii Paynter. “It’s really a tremendous new development for the state of Texas.”

Through legislation the CLC has encouraged for years, Texas lawmakers created liaisons for state agencies specifically to work with faith-based groups. Those liaisons will come together regularly to meet as a council so the state can be more informed as to what outreach efforts are taking place across the state. The bill also creates a pool of funds to help train nonprofit leaders how to expand their efforts.

Lawmakers also created an advisory group of faith-based ministries and bodies that can inform the state of what is working and what is needed.

“The advisory committee of faith-based groups is a place where faith-based groups can inform the state, especially when there is no fiscal relationship between the group and the state,” Paynter said. “That is the proper role of separation of church and state—where the state and faith groups can talk without being connected financially.”

Another bill also advocated by the CLC that passed allows human trafficking victims to file civil lawsuits against those who traffic them. Prior to this legislation, victims were unable to do that. House Bill 1372 allows human trafficking victims to be eligible for benefits and protections under the Victims’ Bill of Rights and the Crime Victims’ Compensation Act.

The CLC also successfully advocated for the passing of legislation to create a statewide human trafficking task force, increase funds for non-profit agencies that provide assistance for human trafficking victims and increase human trafficking training for law enforcement.

“After this session, we now have a comprehensive statewide strategy to combat human trafficking through a task force, increased funding for direct service organizations, law enforcement training and victim assistance,” Reeves said.

SAN ANTONIO—Jose Jimenez realized his dream on the professional golf tour. Victor Gonzales was denied his dream of a theological education.

But because Jimenez married Gonzales’ daughter Lydia, those two dreams melded at Baptist University of the Americas in a gift of $100,000—the largest contribution from a Latino family in the school’s 62-year history, and the fourth-largest overall.

“The bequest was as unexpected as it was welcomed,” BUA President Rene Maciel, noted in announcing the gift. “But the history behind it explains everything. Even the directions to use the money ‘the best way you deem fit’ matched the quiet, servant attitude of these two men.”

Appropriately, BUA will inaugurate the Jose Jimenez Texas Baptist Golf Fellowship Sept. 25 for church staff members and friends. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the university’s mission society projects.

Jimenez, who died in August 2007 just two months after his wife’s death, was one of the Hispanic pioneers in professional golf, along with his good friends Lee Trevino and Chi Chi Rodriguez. He qualified for the U.S. Open and PGA Championship six times and the British Open once.

He is remembered best for becoming the youngest player to shoot his age or lower in a PGA tournament at the 1991 GTE Northwest Classic when the 65-year-old turned in a 63. That mark was later broken, but he still holds the record for scoring the most-strokes-below-age, a 62 at the 1995 Ameritech Senior Open when he was 69.

His wife grew up in a pastor’s home that emphasized assisting students at what was originally called the Mexican Baptist Training School.

“Our dad was self-educated, and when he was called to preach, he felt a deep need for more training,” Sarah Vallejo, her sister, told BUA students at the chapel announcing the gift. “But there was no place to go that would accept him. When we moved to San Antonio, he met other pastors dreaming of a seminary to train pastors and missionaries for Spanish-speaking churches.

“He was one of the first trustees when the school was organized in 1947 and was so happy. His favorite saying was, ‘We need to prepare them to go and preach the gospel and do it well, the way God intended.’ And he did everything he could to help students get in school and stay in school.”

His family frequently was instructed that, “if I have any money when I die, give it to the school.”

Meanwhile, Mrs. Jimenez had mentioned that she and Jimenez were putting aside funds for three favorite causes, including BUA. “I don’t want to tell you your business, but you should give the most to the university,” Vallejo told her. “They did—but we still all were surprised at the amount.”

• An orchestra camp for top junior high and high school musicians on the Hardin-Simmons University campus will end with four concerts free to the public. The faculty concert will be held June 24 at 7 p.m. in the Woodward-Dellis Recital Hall. The music ensemble concert will be June 25th at 7 p.m. at the Elks Art Center. The student chamber music concert will be June 26 at 7 p.m. at the Woodward-Dellis Recital Hall. The finale concert will be June 27 at 3 p.m. in Behrens Auditorium.

• A reunion for the alumni of the three decades of the Family Care program at Texas Baptist Children’s Home will be held July 25 on the Round Rock campus. The reunion will start at 10 a.m. with cottage tours. A free lunch in the activity center begins at 11:30 a.m. The after-lunch program will include door prizes, presentation of special awards and a testimony from a recent graduate. A group photo also will be taken. Other activities include face painting, inflatables and other family-oriented activities. For more information, call (512) 255-3682.

• The Baptist General Convention of Texas has partnered with D6 Family to a Sept. 23-25 conference designed to help parents in discipling their children. The conference will be held at the Frisco Convention Center in Frisco. Participants who sign up by July 1 and use the registration code “BGCT” will receive a $25 discount on the conference fee. For more information and to register, go to www.d6conference.com.

• Four Howard Payne University students have been selected to receive the Hatton W. Summers Foundation Scholarship. Elizabeth Barkley of Belton, Brittany Lunsford of Lewisville, Christina Todo of Little Elm and Joshua Muse of Waxahachie will receive a two-year scholarship of $5,500 per semester. In addition to scholarships, the foundation provides lectures and seminars that students attend throughout their two years as scholars.

Anniversaries

• Matt Arnold, fifth, as minister of music at Brookston Church in Brookston, June 1.

• Clark Dunlap, 10th, as pastor of First Church in Smithfield, June 6.

• Charles Wisdom, fifth, as pastor of Waller Church in Waller, June 7.

• Jack Graham, 20th, as pastor of Prestonwood Church in Plano, June 7.

Seven golden shovels were used during the groundbreaking ceremony held at Anderson Church in Anderson. The project will include a 5,000-square-foot education building and fellowship hall. The project will coincide with the restoration of the sanctuary, constructed in 1855. This is the first new construction done on the church property in 154 years. Participating in the ceremony were (left to right) John Bonner, chairman of deacons; Paul Mudgett, chairman of the building committee; Ken Parker, contractor; Kyle Childress, pastor; Gail Sowell, mayor; Moppy Davis, Anderson Baptist Foundation chairman; and Stephen Holcombe, director of missions for Creath Brazos Association.

• Howard Chapman, 40th, as minister of pastoral care at First Church in Wichita Falls, June 7. Chapman began his years of service to the church as minister of recreation, and he later also served as minister of senior adults before moving to his current responsibilities.

• Pearl Church in Gatesville, 125th, June 7. Cory Schibler is pastor.

• Brian Dodridge, 10th, as executive pastor at First Church in Lewisville, June 14.

• John Tunnell, 10th, as pastor of Fairview Church in Mineral Wells, June 18.

• Danny Naron, 10th, as minister of music at First Church in Blossom, June 27.

• First Church in Beasley, 100th, July 26. Guests will include the a capella musical group The Sterlings. Lunch will be served followed by an afternoon of fellowship. Gerald Ford is pastor.

Retiring

• Ann Phinney, as church secretary of Eisenhauer Road Church in San Antonio after 32 years to the church and 50 years serving churches in San Antonio and Corpus Christi, July 3.

Event

• First Church in Saginaw has added 17,000 square feet to its education facilities. The space is made up of adult Sunday school classes, a large youth area and specialized classrooms for preschoolers. In conjunction with the new space, the church will begin a weekday early education program. For more information, call (817) 232-0560, ext.104. Danny Howe is pastor.

Revivals

• College View Church, Abilene; June 21-24; evangelist, Herman Cramer; music, Ernie Overstreet; pastor, David Leyerle.

• Cherry Heights Church, Clyde; June 28-July 1; evangelist, Herman Cramer; music, Ernie Overstreet; pastor, Michael Terrill.

Estate gift establishes Baylor business scholarship. A gift to Baylor University from the estate of Lee and Millie Harris of Bartlesville, Okla., established an endowed scholarship in the Hankamer School of Business. The scholarship honors the couple’s three granddaughters who each earned degrees from Baylor’s business school—Stacy Lessman of Yukon, Okla., Lori Rodgers of Frisco and Kristi Blauser of Rockwall. The endowed scholarship provides significant support for students pursuing a Baylor business degree who are Christians and have demonstrated high ethical standards. The Harrises were members of the First Baptist Church of Oklahoma City before they moved to Bartlesville a few years ago. She died in February, and he died just one month later. They would have celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary this year.

Communications interns on the job. Crystal Donahue, a senior at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, and Lauren Heartsill, a senior at the University of Alabama, are serving as Texas Baptist communications interns 10 weeks this summer in a cooperative venture involving the Baptist Standard and the Baptist General Convention of Texas communications office. Donahue is pursuing a double major in communications/journalism and Spanish at UMHB, where she has served three years on the campus newspaper, The Bells, including a stint as editor-in-chief. Heartsill is working on a major in journalism and a minor in music, and she has served as a contributing writer to the University of Alabama Internet magazine, The Missing Link, and to The Tuscaloosa Sun in Northport, Ala. 

DBU receives foundation gift. Dallas Baptist University has received $100,000 from the Stemmons Foundation, to be applied toward construction of the Patty and Bo Pilgrim Chapel, scheduled for completion later this summer. John M. Stemmons, a Dallas business leader who gave the initial gift of 100 acres upon which the DBU campus was established, was honored in 1988 as the recipient of the Russell H. Perry Free Enterprise Award at the first annual banquet aimed at providing scholarship funds for DBU students. The Stemmons Foundation has provided aid for significant building projects on campus, including the Tom and Alicia Landry Welcome Center and Spence Hall.

Foundation awards scholarships in San Antonio. Baptist Health Foundation of San Antonio provided $153,513 to the Baptist Health System School of Health Professions for 125 summer term scholarships. These scholarships were awarded to students enrolled in the school’s nursing and allied health educational programs. Earlier this year, the foundation awarded 163 scholarships for spring semester students totaling $138,240.

Student missionaries on the field. This year, 333 Go Now missionaries are serving in 30 countries and 16 U.S. states through Go Now Missions, the Baptist General Convention of Texas student missions program. Of these, 232 started serving May 15 and will return Aug. 1. Dallas Baptist University hosted a recent orientation attended by 170 students.

• Randy Biddlecome to First Church in Bryan as minister of youth.

• George Carter to Dixie Frontier Church in Whitesboro as associate pastor.

• Brian Crump to First Church in Bryan as minister of missions and assimilation, where he was minister of youth.

• Don Gallatin to Second Church in Marshall as pastor.

• Evan Henson to First Church in Richardson as summer youth intern.

• Ryan Heritage to First Church in Clinton, Tenn., as minister of music from Wilshire Church in Dallas, where he was a music ministry resident.

• Ernest Jarrell to Cave Springs Church in Marshall as pastor.

• Bill Lindley has completed an interim pastorate at First Church in Gregory.

• Robert Lynch to First Church in Gregory as pastor.

• Julie Merritt to Providence Church in Hendersonville, N.C., as pastor from Wilshire Church in Dallas, where she was a pastoral resident.

• Mark Moeller to First Church in Knoxville, Tenn., as associate pastor of administration from First Church in San Angelo, where he was minister of worship and finance.

• Tim Owens to First Church in Grandfield, Okla., as pastor from First Church in Bryan.

• Jason Sidler has resigned as pastor of First Church in Justin.

• David Silva to First Church in Pettus as interim pastor.

• Anthony Sisemore to The Woods Church in Tyler as pastor from First Church in Floydada.

• Jimmy Smith has resigned as minister to students at First Church in Allen.

• C.B. Sutton to First Church in Stamford as student minister from First Church in Richardson, where he was student ministry intern.

• Jack Washington to Ida Church in Sherman as interim pastor.

• Jeremy Woods has resigned as minister of education at Fairview Church in Sherman.

TILDEN—A dozen teenagers from Tilden Baptist Church who want to help change the world this summer decided to start close to home by rebuilding an elderly neighbor’s front porch.

Twenty youth who attend Tilden Baptist Church—a 30-member congregation in a community of 500 about 90 miles south of San Antonio—will serve this summer with World Changers, a Southern Baptist program to involve young people in hands-on missions service throughout the country.

But before they left for their summer assignment in Wyoming, 12 of the teenagers and at least an equal number of adult sponsors spent part of Memorial Day weekend replacing the front porch on the home of Charles Goff, an 83-year-old World War II veteran.

Before they could begin construction, the youth group dismantled the home’s old porch, removed trees and brush, and hauled away four trailer loads of refuse. The teenagers worked from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., and at the end of the day, Goff’s home had a new porch.

“Wow! I didn’t think they could do it,” Goff said as he stood on his new porch.

“They couldn't. Just as God stretched the three fish and five loaves to feed the 5,000, he took the commitment and hard, hot work of these young people and their leaders and multiplied their efforts,” said Jim Furgerson, pastor of Tilden Baptist Church.

“For many, it was the first time they had experienced the church being the church, reaching out to help and in a tangible way expressing Christian love.”

Young people in Tilden first began to catch a vision for serving God during a Disciple Now weekend in the spring led by a youth ministry team from Howard Payne University, he explained. The event drew 26 participants from a school district that has 62 students in junior high and high school.

The small congregation did not have regularly scheduled Wednesday evening activities, but the students initiated a mid-week Bible study that attracted about one-third of the school’s student body.

“God is using Tilden Baptist Church to change the culture in McMullen County, and it’s starting by changing the kids,” he said. “We’re a little town where the kids are turning it upside down.”

DALLAS—Even though Texas Baptists’ state Bible Drill finals had to be rescheduled because of a swine flu outbreak, only one student out of 82 possible participants was unable to attend because of the change in date.

The swine flu scare had prompted some school districts around the state to dismiss classes and the University Interscholastic League to cancel or reschedule extracurricular events.

“When they shut everything down for two weeks, that’s a big deal,” said Dickie Dunn, Baptist General Convention of Texas discipleship specialist.

Youth were separated into three divisions—junior and senior high school Bible Drill and senior high school speakers.

Drills helped the youth find systematic ways to memorize Scripture, learn Baptist doctrine and become more comfortable with public speaking, Dunn said.

Of the 81 students who competed, 39 made a perfect score. Students learn key passages and how to identify verses.

Ellen Battles, who has worked with Bible Drills for 30 years, said the difficulty level grows as students get older.

“They not only memorize (a verse); they have to find it,” Battles said.

Overall, the number of Bible Drill participants has declined somewhat, which Battles attributed to busy student schedules. But some churches and parents continue to give the program priority.

“It’s a very serious commitment for everyone involved,” Battles said. “These kids are our future leaders of our church.”

The finals also served as an outlet to tell people about Texas Hope 2010, Dunn said. Texas Hope 2010 banners were displayed at regional events, and people gathered at the events were urged to sign them if they wanted to be involved with the statewide effort to share the gospel with every person in Texas by Easter 2010.

Desiree Magnus from West Maine Baptist Church in Alice placed first in the junior high school Bible Drill finals. Mason Whitley from West Maine Baptist in Alice tied with Kelly Woytkewicz from First Baptist Church in Lockhart for second place in the junior high category.

In the senior high school division, John LaGesse from West Maine Baptist in Alice and Branson Thompson from Mount Hebron Baptist Church in Garland tied for first place.

In the speakers’ tournament, Kyle Rainey from Cornerstone Baptist Church in Cleveland placed first and Jamie Lorenz from Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano took second place honors.

ARLINGTON, Texas (ABP) — A prominent African-American pastor is urging the Southern Baptist Convention to adopt a resolution celebrating the election of President Obama when it meets June 23-24 in Louisville, Ky.

A resolution submitted for consideration by Dwight McKissic, pastor of Cornerstone Baptist Church in Arlington, Texas, acknowledges policy differences with the Democratic president but terms election of America's first African-American president "a tremendous moment in our nation's history."

McKissic's resolution, referred to a committee that will decide whether to bring any or all of it to the convention floor, "celebrates the historic nature of the election of President Barack Hussein Obama as a significant contribution to the ongoing cause of racial reconciliation in the United States."

It asks Southern Baptists to pray the president "will use the constitutional authority assigned to his office to promote liberty and justice for all people, including the unborn" and pledges to join hands with Obama to "advance causes of racial justice insofar as those efforts are consistent with biblical principles of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

"I certainly want Southern Baptists to have an opportunity to affirm and celebrate, along with the rest of America, this major milestone in our history," McKissic said in a telephone interview June 4.

McKissic said he doesn't expect any major opposition to the resolution. "Believing that Southern Baptists are good people at heart, I can't think of a good reason that the vast majority would have a problem with this resolution," he said.

During the last eight years the Southern Baptist Convention as a group was among the staunchest supporters of President George W. Bush. Before that it was one of the harshest critics of President Clinton, despite the fact that he, unlike Bush, was a member of a Southern Baptist church.

McKissic, who said on his blog in 2008 that he was supporting Mike Huckabee for president, said his proposed resolution has nothing to do with politics. He said it is consistent with a 1995 SBC resolution pledging to "eradicate racism in all its forms from Southern Baptist life."

Formed in 1845 to defend the rights of Southern Baptists to hold slaves, the SBC marked its 150th anniversary with a resolution apologizing to African-Americans for perpetuating racist structures and repenting of "any racism of which we have been guilty, whether consciously or unconsciously."

Acknowledging "that our own healing is at stake" the 1995 resolution sought forgiveness from African-Americans and pledged to pursue "racial reconciliation in all our relationships, especially with our brothers and sisters in Christ."

McKissic knows from experience that promoting understanding between races can be easier said than done. Soon after his election as a trustee of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in 2005, McKissic said in a sermon in the seminary's chapel that he disagreed with a policy adopted by the SBC International Mission Board to no longer appoint missionaries using a "private prayer language" in their devotional life.

McKissic said in fact that he follows the practice, viewed by some as a form of speaking in tongues, and the first time he experienced it was while he was a student at Southwestern Seminary in 1981.

That sparked months of controversy, during which the seminary's board of trustees adopted a statement, over McKissic's lone dissent, putting the school on record against use of a private prayer language. McKissic wound up resigning from the board, comparing the ordeal to "a 21st-century lynching."

McKissic later apologized for the choice of words, explaining that he was trying to say that the practice is much less controversial and more common in African-American than in conservative white churches, and he did not mean to imply that trustees opposed him because of his race.

McKissic told Associated Baptist Press he views all that as history, but he added he does find it "extremely problematic" that some leaders in the same denomination that did not question whether slaveholders were Christians would today be skeptical about the validity of Barack Obama's profession of faith.

McKissic said a prayer for Obama's salvation was spoken at Southwestern Seminary, and it "was very insulting to the black students."

McKissic's resolution faults Obama for "numerous social, political and economic policies that are in fundamental opposition to the values for which our convention and our churches have stood." It commends the president, however, for including the perspective of Southern Baptists by naming former SBC President Frank Page to the President's Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Community Partnerships. 

–Bob Allen is senior writer for Associated Baptist Press.