MARSHALL—Students from East Texas Baptist University crossed cultural and language barriers—not to mention the Texas/Mexico border daily—while serving in recent missions projects along the Rio Grande.

Eighteen ETBU students worked from Primera Iglesia Bautista in Eagle Pass, crossing the border each day to lead Vacation Bible School at Bethesda Iglesia Bautista in Piedras Negras and to minister in two children’s homes.

“Our plans were to work only with the special-needs children’s home that the pastor of Bethesda, Paulino Esquivel, runs,” said ETBU Baptist Student Ministry Director Mark Yates, who accompanied the students with Debra Wainscott, assistant director of international education. “Casa Hogar Bethesda is the only special-needs home in Northern Mexico ministering to residents who have nowhere else to go.”

But God arranged a divine appointment that allowed the students to expand their ministry to a second children’s home, he explained. The student group discovered Casa Hogar Piedras Negras while they were trying to locate Bethesda.

“We were lost and saw their sign, so we stopped for directions. In the process we discovered they did not have anyone working with them for the week, so we did,” Yates explained. “This was a blessing on both ends, since we really had too many to take to Bethesda every afternoon.”

The time spent in Mexico presented challenges to overcome, said Beth Briner, a music education major from Spring.

“The pastor mentioned that many people come and help them build buildings and do outside work,” Briner said. “Very few groups come to interact with the special needs children.

“I had the opportunity for two days to play with a little girl who was in a wheelchair and could not communicate very well. I fed her lunch and picked her up and put her on a swing. She and I sat outside for hours. The smile on her face meant everything to me.”

Sam Buzzard, a religion major from Lake Charles, La., found ministry at the special-needs home particularly challenging.

East Texas Baptist University students, twins Amanda and Ashley Bean of Nederland, pose with two girls who attended Vacation Bible School at Bethesda Iglesia Bautista in Piedras Negras.

“It was real sad seeing those children impaired like they were, but it was very encouraging to see the joy they had by just having us visit and interact with them,” Buzzard said. “I personally learned from this experience the importance of just showing people that you care about them. We tried to show the children of the special-needs home that people do love them.”

Working around the language barrier presented significant challenges, sophomore Amanda Bean of Nederland noted.

“Not knowing how to speak Spanish and trying to communicate with the kids was difficult,” Bean said. “We did have someone with us who knew a little Spanish, and they were a big help to my sister and me.”

Actions spoke louder than words, Briner observed.

“Before VBS would start, we would be outside playing football or jump rope,” said Briner. “I would turn the jump rope and count in Spanish while the kids jumped, and they would laugh and have a great time. We conveyed a bigger message by just hugging and loving on them and smiling. I was conveying a message to them and likewise them to me, which was more powerful than words.”

Doing activities that did not require words helped the group form relationships that had everlasting impact, the students noted. Despite the obstacles the mission group experienced, the students agreed—they saw God at work.

Sophomore psychology major Sara Jeter of Troup was moved by her experience working with the special needs children.

“The children at the special needs home probably won’t remember us, and some of them probably did not recognize us from day to day,” said Jeter. “God used the time I had with those special children to teach me that his love is always going to be present. I really saw God on the faces of the children and adults at the special-needs home. God is always going to love us, even if we forget about him from day to day.”

“I know that God worked in the lives of the children we ministered to, because at the end of VBS, the ladies of the church told us there were six professions of faith made,” said Bean.

“I have never been on a trip with a group that meshed as well as we did,” Buzzard added. “God showed us that he can overcome any barrier. Even though we could not speak the language, people still responded.”

MARSHALL, Texas–A Memorial Day service, “A Time of Remembrance,” was held by East Texas Baptist University on Monday at noon in the Quadrangle on campus. Quinton Rogers of Marshall, a World War II veteran, was the guest speaker for the service that paid honor to those who have died in military service to our country.

Rogers, an alumnus of ETBU, spoke on his experiences serving in the Regular Army and the history of the war. He served as a mail clerk during World War II stationed in such places as England and North Africa.

“One of the saddest parts of my duties was bundling the mail of a soldier who had died.” said Rogers. “We would have to mark it ‘return to family, killed in action’.”

Rogers reminded those gathered that the United States had a total 16 million men in arms with over 400,000 killed during World War II. “We are free people today because of the sacrifice by those who have given their all, their life,” said Rogers.

ETBU President Bob E. Riley, who served during the Vietnam War, told the audience gathered, “Today is a day of memory and a day of sadness. Freedom is not free; it has to be paid for with a price, sometimes a very high price.”

During the service, Dr. Riley placed a memorial wreath at the monument located in the Quad dedicated to ETBU students and faculty who lost their lives in World War II. As the wreath was placed, Associate Professor of Music Dr. Doug Lockard played “Taps.” Dr. Virginia Boaz, Associate Professor of Music, sang “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

Marshall Resident Albert Abraham was also recognized for his service during World War II. Abraham is an alumnus of the College of Marshall, the foundational school which later became East Texas Baptist University.

DIBOLL—On Oct. 9, 2007, Pastor Gary Fannon was in one of his favorite places doing one of his favorite things—in a deer blind with bow in hand.

In an instant, though, everything changed. The blind collapsed, and Fannon plunged to the ground. The impact broke four vertebrae and five ribs. A compression fracture of the T-12 vertebrae left him unable to move his legs.

Fannon had expected to spend a couple of relaxing hours in the deer blind and then go home, so he had not told anyone he where he was going. He also was without his cell phone.

His wife thought he probably was working all night at First Baptist Church of Diboll, preparing financial records for an upcoming church business meeting. She expected him to arrive home after she left for work the next morning and sleep most of the day.

But when she returned home from work and found his bed undisturbed, she began calling around. She found out he had not been at church and had not been seen. Looking around the house, she then noticed his bow was missing and realized he must have gone hunting.

She also knew something must be wrong, since he had been out of communication for so long. Friends soon found him lying on the ground at the base of a tree, covered in fire ant bites. He was rushed to a Lufkin hospital and then was flown to East Texas Medical Center in Tyler.

Returned Easter Sunday

Fannon, 44, was able to return to the pulpit of First Baptist Church Easter Sunday.

“It was a good day for me, a great day to come back as a symbol of Christ’s resurrection. The sermon that morning took the resurrection and applied it to my situation—that the resurrection was the symbol of a new beginning,” Fannon said.

Since Easter, he has preached a series titled “The Potter’s Clay,” which can be read at www.fbcdiboll.com.

While he preaches from a wheelchair now instead of standing behind a pulpit, he said the preaching is no different. “It was like riding a bike, once you do it, you can do it,” Fannon said.

He admits, however, that there was a time during his rehabilitation when he wasn’t as sure.

“During my rehab, I was trying to figure out if God had redirected my calling—if he was moving into a different path of ministry,” he said. “I think it’s probably typical when you lose your mobility to question if you can go on and do the things we need to do. But today, compared to six months ago, it’s like night and day. Six months ago, I couldn’t roll over. I couldn’t move.”

Affirmation of ministry

A conversation with Roger Parker of Second Baptist Church in Houston was a turning point for him, he noted.

“I shared with him that I was thinking it might not be fair to the church to stay on as pastor. He pulled his chair up close to me and looked me right in the eye and asked: ‘What can you not do from that chair that you could do standing up? You’ve been called of God to be an example before God’s people and deliver the message he’s given you to deliver. Can you still do that?’ That was a big affirmation to my ministry,” Fannon said.

In some ways, his trial may have made him a better pastor, he said.

“Pastors, we preach about faith all the time, but often our lives are so insulated we don’t really have to live it, but now I have to live it every day. When I talk about enduring and persevering, I’m talking to me, too,” he explained.

A government agency is securing a van for Fannon to drive, but so far it has not been delivered. In the meantime, he rolls the 1.2 miles each way from his home to the church office in his wheelchair. The local newspaper alluded to that fact, and a local family took notice.

“They are usually here Christmas and Easter, and they were here on Easter when I came back. But they were here the next Sunday and the Sunday after that, too. Usually when people have a change in their attendance patterns, God is doing something special in their lives. So I asked the husband, ‘What is God doing in your life that is bringing you to his house more often?’

“He told me, ‘If you can roll that far each day to work, there’s no reason why my family can’t get up and come to church on Sunday morning,’” Fannon related.

"I'm going to find a way…"

For his part, he’s grown used to not having the use of his legs, he said.

“It’s not that big a deal,” Fannon said. “I laid the bricks for my house, and I laid the concrete for my house. I can’t do that now, but I’m going to get back at it. I’m going to find a way, and I’m going to do it.

“While I’ve had to give a lot of stuff up, it’s not that big a deal because of all I can gain. For the years we live here, so many of us get caught in our own comfort. If this is what God has for me, I think I’ll be richly rewarded if I embrace it,” he said.

“I love climbing mountains, and this is another mountain I can climb. God may heal me in six months, but I have the guarantee that I’ll walk again, and when I do, I’ll walk forever.”

Baylor regents approve budget. Baylor University’s regents at their spring meeting approved a $366 million operating budget for 2008-2009. The budget, which takes effect June 1, reflects an increase of $21.1 million or 6.1 percent over the budget adopted by Baylor regents last year. In other board action, regents elected Howie Batson, pastor of First Baptist Church in Amarillo, to a one-year term as chair. He will succeed Harold Cunningham of Crawford, effective June 1. Donell Teaff of Waco was elected vice chair. Five regents were re-elected to three-year terms: Stan Allcorn of Abilene, Cunningham, Stephen Carmack of Hinton, Okla., Ramiro Peña Jr. of Waco and Dary Stone of Dallas.

Baylor alumni honor Pinson, Vestal. The Baylor Alumni Association presented the George W. Truett Distinguished Church Service Award to Bill Pinson, executive director emeritus of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, and Daniel Vestal, coordinator of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, during spring commencement exercises at Baylor University. More than 1,900 graduates received diplomas at Baylor’s commencement exercises—a record number for the university.

Baylor Health Care receives national awards. Baylor Health Care System was named winner of the 2008 National Quality Forum Healthcare Award. The award recognizes exemplary healthcare organizations that are role models for achieving meaningful, sustainable quality improvement in healthcare delivery. Five hospitals in the Baylor Health Care System also received leadership awards for clinical excellence and superior safety from VHA, a national healthcare alliance. The hospitals were honored for meeting or exceeding national performance standards in specific areas from the third quarter of 2006 to the second quarter of 2007. Clinical excellence honorees were Baylor’s Jack and Jane Hamilton Heart and Vascular Hospital for the treatment of congestive heart failure and prevention of surgical complications and Baylor Medical Center at Garland and Baylor Medical Center at Waxahachie for the prevention of surgical complications. Superior safety awards went to Baylor Specialty Hospital and Our Children’s House at Baylor for the prevention of ventilator-associated pneumonia.

Hardin-Simmons selects consultants for search. Hardin-Simmons University has engaged an executive search firm from Atlanta to help find a successor for Craig Turner, who steps down as HSU president May 31. Jon McRae and Associates will serve as consultants to Hardin-Simmons’ presidential search committee and search advisory committee. Nominations can be sent to Jon McRae & Associates, Inc., 3333 Riverwood Parkway, Suite 310, Atlanta, Ga. 30339; jma@jonmcrae.com; (770) 272-9040.

Foundation funds research on clergy sex abuse. The Ford Foundation gave a $200,000 grant to Baylor University and its School of Social Work to conduct the first national research on clergy sexual abuse of adults. Diana Garland, dean of the Baylor School of Social Work, previously had received $31,000 combined funding for this project from the Baptist General Convention of Texas and the JES Edwards Foundation of Fort Worth.

• James Burkhart to Clearfork Church in Hawley as associate pastor and music pastor.

• Pat Cole to First Church in Granger as pastor.

• Phill Colquitt to Latham Springs Camp in Aquilla as camp director from Aspendale Mountain Retreat Center in Cloudcroft, N.M., where he was administrator.

• Rick Ergle has resigned as pastor for First Church in Petrolia.

• Mike Hurt to Parkway Church in Victoria as pastor.

• Stephen Jones to First Church in La Grange as summer student ministries intern.

• Marcus McFaul to Highland Park Church in Austin as pastor from First Church in Lawrence, Kan.

• Randy Moore to Lake Victor Church in Lampasas as pastor.

• Robby Partain to Bluebonnet Association as associate director of missions.

• Jim Sherwin to First Church in Celeste as pastor from Everett Church in Hooks.

• James Shields to First Church in Baird as interim pastor.

• Ben Sigmundik to Flatonia Church in Flatonia as summer youth worker.

• Matt Ward has resigned as minister of music at First Church in Godley.

DALLAS—The newly relaunched Baptist Standard website represents more than just the same content in a more attractive format, according to Editor Marv Knox.

“Our redesigned website provides a platform for the Baptist Standard to fulfill our charter and mission in the 21st century,” Knox said.

The Standard’s charter mandates the organization “to aid and support the Baptist General Convention of Texas and interpret events and movements that affect the welfare of the people of God.” The newspaper’s mission is to “inform, inspire, equip and empower people to follow Christ and expand the kingdom of God.”

“To fulfill these lofty ideals, we must transcend the printed page and intensively expand the breadth and depth of products and services we offer on the Internet,” Knox explained.

The relaunched website at baptiststandard.com offers readers large-print “easy-on-the-eyes” viewing options, the chance to interact with writers, and expanded photo, video and audio features, as well as a blog by the editor.

The redesigned website also provides the Baptist Standard the capacity to offer readers additional downloadable resources beyond news and feature articles.

The Baptist Standard board of directors has created a strategic planning team composed of board members and newspaper staff to explore electronic delivery’s potential uses. The group will work with advisers to develop a plan for making the best use of the technology and for expanding the products and services the Standard offers.

Readers who have suggestions are invited to contact the editor at P.O. Box 660267, Dallas 75266-0267 or marvknox@baptiststandard.com.

BROWNWOOD—The first graduates of Howard Payne University’s master of arts in youth ministry program say the practicality of their studies has given them a good foundation for a lifetime of ministry.

“It’s the most practical degree I can imagine being out there,” said James Cotton, youth minister at First Baptist Church in Stephenville. “I did some master’s-level work at another institution before starting the program, but I didn’t find it as practical.”

At 35, Cotton said, he was a little older than most students in the program. He believes it would be even more beneficial for students just starting out in ministry.

“For especially the younger students, there are so many things I would have loved to have had my hands on at their age,” Cotton said.

Unlike traditional ministry degrees, students don’t attend classes on a daily basis. The HPU master’s program is a 42-hour degree with classes offered in a modular format.

“Our real dream was to target youth ministers who are already out there serving but haven’t had the opportunity to earn that master’s degree,” said Gary Gramling, director of the program.

After students register for a course, they are e-mailed assignments to be completed before coming to class. They then come together for four days of classroom instruction and discussion. They also often have a follow-up assignment. Generally, students are on the Brownwood campus only four days every four to six weeks.

Dana Tye, director of children’s and youth ministry at Calvary Baptist Church in Brownwood, said that schedule worked well with her duties at church.

“I knew when the classes were, and I could plan accordingly,” she said. “I just made sure that big events did not coincide with my class schedule and was able to prepare the volunteer workers for those times I would be out.”

The program’s format also was helpful to a minister with a family like himself, Cotton said.

“It was a big calling card to have the modular format,” he said. “It fit me really well, because I have a family with three children. I needed to be able to schedule the work around my life.”

Jo Beth MacTavish, the third of the graduates, lives in Waco and is youth minister of Bosqueville Baptist Church there.

The modular format made it possible for her to be a part of the program, she explained.

“Living in Waco, I wouldn’t have made the commute every day for a traditional program,” she said.

The modular format also lends itself to an auxiliary, but perhaps more important, form of learning, Gramling said. Since many stay on campus, after class they spend meals and evenings discussing the various parts of ministry.

“There is a great camaraderie among those in the program, so the classes become so much fun,” he said. “And because of that, they feel a freedom to discuss the issues that come up in their various ministries.”

A major benefit of the program was learning from youth ministry practioners and then putting lessons into practice, Tye noted.

She also felt the program was directed more at preparing one’s self to be a good minister than to memorization of techniques.

“It wasn’t so geared toward methods of youth ministry and texts but more the personal side of ordering our own lives so that we can do a better job for those we are ministering to,” Dye said.

Since the in-class portions of each course are only four days, students also are exposed to a greater variety of instructors, Gramling pointed out. In addition to HPU instructors Gramling and Rusty Wheelington, students also have learned from Richard Ross, Jeter Basden, Chuck Gartman and other youth ministry “all-stars” who would not be available to teach an entire semester at Howard Payne.

Most courses are offered every two years, while a few foundational courses are offered yearly, Gramling said.

Upcoming courses include advanced youth ministry, counseling youth and their families, Baptist identity, researching youth culture and communicating with youth audiences.

For more information on the program, Gramling can be contacted at (325) 649-8404.

“We’re not where we want to be yet,” Gramling said, “but we’re excited about how it’s unfolding,”

DALLAS—The Baptist General Convention of Texas Executive Board at its May 20 meeting unanimously elected Jill Larsen as treasurer/chief financial officer and voted to “wholeheartedly endorse” the Texas Hope 2010 evangelism emphasis.

Larsen, a certified public accountant, has served as controller/assistant treasurer for the BGCT since July 2004.

She assumes the treasurer’s post effective June 1. She has served in an interim leadership capacity since David Nabors resigned April 15.

Directors of the Baptist General Convention of Texas Executive Board sign a poster promoting Texas Hope 2010 as a token of their pledge to support the statewide evangelism emphasis. (Photo by John Hall/BGCT)

Harold Richardson of Tyler recommended Larsen to the board on behalf of a search committee that also included BGCT Executive Director Randel Everett, Executive Board Chair John Petty and Vice Chair Steve Dominy, BGCT President Joy Fenner and board members Elizabeth Hanna of Nederland and Fred Roach of Garland.

The committee seriously considered three candidates for the position but decided Larsen was most qualified for the treasurer’s post, Richardson said.

Prior to joining the BGCT Executive Board staff, Larsen worked in Oklahoma with Deloitte Consulting Outsourcing, VIP Sales Co. and PennWell. She worked with the Southern Baptist Annuity Board from 1994 to 2000, where in her final position she led the agency’s largest operational department.

Larsen is a summa cum laude graduate of Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, and she teaches an adult Bible study class at The Heights Baptist Church in Richardson. She and her husband, Kent, have two children, Phillip, 25, and Mark, 18.

In another matter related to financial management, the board accepted and approved the 2007 financial audit report by Grant Thornton. The auditor provided an unqualified or “clean” opinion.

During his first report to the board as executive director, Everett presented a vision centered on three words:

• Share. Everett presented the Texas Hope 2010 challenge—share the gospel with every person in Texas by Easter 2010. (See related story.)

Jerry Carlisle, pastor of First Baptist Church in Plano, made a motion that the board “wholeheartedly endorse” Texas Hope 2010. At the end of the board meeting, directors signed a poster promoting the emphasis as a way to seal their pledged support.

Directors of the Baptist General Convention of Texas Executive Board sign a poster promoting Texas Hope 2010 as a token of their pledge to support the statewide evangelism emphasis. (Photo by John Hall/BGCT)

• Prayer. Every effort Texas Baptists undertake must be built on a “foundation of prayer,” Everett stressed.

• Care. Everett challenged Texas Baptists to commit themselves to eliminating hunger in their state and meeting human needs wherever they have the opportunity.

The Executive Board took two actions related to Baptist University of the Americas. The board approved a $166,280 gift to BUA—proceeds from the sale of about one-third of one acre to the Texas Department of Transportation to build a new pedestrian bridge over the freeway.

When the land was sold, a title search revealed the BGCT held the title to property believed to belong to BUA. When donors made contributions for the purchase of the land, they understood it would belong to the institution now known as BUA. Later, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary assumed responsibility for the school. But when the seminary relinquished its claim to the San Antonio school, the title was given to the BGCT rather than BUA.

At the recommendation of its Administration Support Committee, the Executive Board voted to authorize the title transfer to BUA.

In other business, the board:

• Approved a resolution of congratulations for Wayland Baptist University for its centennial year; resolutions of appreciation for Victor Schmidt, who retires July 1 as president of San Marcos Baptist Academy, and Jan Daehnert for service as interim executive director and interim associate executive director; and a resolution of commendation for the BGCT Executive Board staff for bringing the 2008 budget into “workable and attainable spending more consistent with income projections.”

• Authorized changes to the policy manual reflecting the composition of the audit committee, authorizing creation of the Hispanic Education Advisory Council and the Baptist Student Ministry Strategic Planning Team, updating guidelines for the doctoral loan program for Baptist university faculty and administrators, and revising language to reflect the closing of the counseling and psychological services office in Dallas.

SAN ANGELO (ABP)—The state of Texas had no right to remove some—if not all—of the more than 460 children taken from their polygamist parents, a state appeals court ruled May 22.

It was unclear if or when the children—some housed by Baptist Child & Family Services —eventually would be returned to their parents, who are members of the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints, or FLDS, church. The sect is led by controversial polygamist Warren Jeffs, who is in jail on unrelated charges.

A district judge in April ruled in favor of the state of Texas, which seized the children during an April 4 police raid on the church’s 1,600-acre Yearning for Zion Ranch compound near Eldorado. Thirty-eight FLDS mothers filed suit against the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services to have their children returned.

A three-judge panel of the Texas 3rd District Court of Appeals ruled May 22 that the state failed to prove the children are in immediate danger.

“Evidence that children raised in this particular environment may some day have their physical health and safety threatened is not evidence that the danger is imminent enough to warrant invoking the extreme measure of immediate removal prior to full litigation of the issue,” the court’s majority wrote.

After the April 4 raid, several Baptist churches and agencies were among those asked by the state to help care for the children. Baptist Child & Family Services, an agency affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas, was charged with coordinating care for hundreds of the children.

The appeals court instructed the lower court to vacate its ruling, but did give instructions for returning the children, according to several news reports. The state could appeal the case to the Texas Supreme Court.

In a message sent to Baptist Child & Family Services, a Texas Department of Family & Protective Services representative indicated the state agency’s legal staff was reviewing the court order and had not determined its next steps yet.

“As of the time of this writing, Judge Walther has not vacated any orders granting temporary managing conservatorship of any of the children in this case. We have been instructed by DFPS legal that we are not to return any child to any parent until further notice,” said Heather Shiels, director of residential contracts for the state agency.

“Children under the age of 18 are not to be released to their parents or persons other than CPS staff. Young adults 18 years of age and older, including many of the ‘disputed minors’ who have been dismissed from DFPS conservatorship, are free to leave their placements but may not take their minor children with them.”

With additional reporting by Managing Editor Ken Camp

• The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship has commissioned six people with Texas ties as missionaries. Cynthia Levesque of San Antonio will teach English in China. Brittany Phillips, a member of Meadow Oaks Church in Temple, will be an outreach program director at a Christian English center in China, teaching classes and developing new programs. Christopher and Jessica Rose, members of Tallowood Church in Houston, will serve at Operacion San Andres, a holistic ministry center in Peru. Dan and Jolene Tucker, members of San Jacinto Church in Deer Park, will be pastors of Iglesia Bautista Bethel in Tuxpan, Mexico.

• Kevin Kim has been appointed as a church-starting pastor in Euless by the North American Mission Board. He will focus on international, multi-ethnic students. He and his wife, Lanhee, have two children—Rebecca, 12, and Peter, 9. They are members of Wedgwood Church in Fort Worth.

• Howard Payne University awarded the Nat Tracy Servant Leadership Award to two seniors. The awards were presented to seniors Kirk House, a youth ministry major from Gordon, Ark., and Hannah Lee Carter, a theater and Christian studies major from Wichita Falls. The HPU Servant Leadership Award was presented to four upperclassmen not graduating—Mark Cartwright, Cora Durain, Hailey McClelland and Jami Oliver. Each received a $1,000 scholarship, $250 of which each designated to a charity of their choice.

• Houston Baptist University recognized its outstanding students recently. Rishi Kumar and Sandra Mathoslah were named Mr. and Miss HBU. They also earned the President’s Award along with David Crow, Joseph Dittfurth, Jennifer Hall, Ashley Hatchett, Christopher Hill, Ash-ley Nunes, Ben Ware, Nathan Yap and Megan Yarrington. Class academic awards were presented to freshman Elizabeth Tisdale, sophomore Rebecca Barton, junior Jennifer Acres and senior Kimberly Gutowsky.

• Dallas Baptist University presented its annual Good Samaritan Awards to Betty Hatfield and Christ for the Nations earlier this month. Hatfield has been secretary at Grace Temple Church in Dallas 52 years. Christ for the Nations is an international, interdenominational organization that equips men and women for ministry around the world.

• Thirty-eight graduates of the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor Scott and White College of Nursing participated in the college’s traditional pinning ceremony signaling their graduation from the program. Award-winning graduates included Nicole Meine-Nielsen, Jennifer Boelter, Heidi Dexter, Kristin McGilvray and Lauren Mathiews.

• Brian Nichols is retiring as dean of the School of Education at East Texas Baptist University. He came to ETBU in 2002 after retiring as superintendent of the Marshall Independent School District.

• John Herring, formerly of Bryan, was awarded the doctor of ministry degree at Fuller Seminary. He is teaching pastor and minister to adults at Johnson Ferry Church in Marietta, Ga.

Anniversaries

• Wesley Shotwell, 10th, as pastor of Ash Creek Baptist Church in Azle, April 20.

• Bob Mashburn, fifth, as pastor of Ferris Fellowship, May 15.

• Emily Ford, 10th, as pianist at Allison Church in Lipan, May 25.

• Timothy Chang, fifth, as pastor of Corpus Christi Chinese Church in Corpus Christi.

• Stephen Teal, fifth, as pastor of Northwest Church in Austin, June 21.

• Living Faith Church in Austin, June 29. James Shugart will be the guest preacher. After a lunch, Brian Byrne and Bor-rowed Time will sing. Henry Swofford is pastor.

Deaths

• Bobby Gregory, 74, May 5 in Columbus, after a four-month bout with cancer. He began his ministry at Shiloh Church near Itasca, where he was ordained in 1962. He also was pastor of First Church in Cotulla, First Church in Robstown, Retama Park Church in Kingsville and First Church in Wolfe City, where he retired from full-time ministry in 1997. After his retirement, he expected to supply preach, but he was surprised to have less than a dozen Sundays in more than 11 years when he did not preach. The final church, Greenvine Church in Burton, he served five years. He is survived by his wife, Chaney; daughter, Jan Gregory; son, Jon; and three grandchildren.

• Forrest Pollock, 44, May 12 in the mountains of North Carolina. He and his 13-year-old son, Preston, were killed in the crash of a single-engine plane Pollock was piloting. Pollock was to have been a featured speaker at the Southern Baptist Conven-tion’s June 10-11 annual meeting in Indianapolis. He also had been appointed to serve on the convention’s committee on committees. In 2006, Pollock nominated Frank Page to serve as SBC president. He was pastor of Bell Shoals Church in Brandon, Fla. He also had been pastor of Istrouma Church in Baton Rouge, La., and Rosen Heights Church in Fort Worth. He previously served as associate pastor of church growth at Prestonwood Church in Plano. He is survived by his wife, Dawn; and five children, Courtney, Brooke, Hope, Blake and Kirk.

• Fritz Smith, 81, May 14 in Tyler. He served on the staffs of several Texas churches in music and education positions including Calvary Church in Lufkin, First Church in Jasper, First Church in Galena Park, First Church in Garland and First Church in San Antonio. In 1966, Smith resigned his minister of music position at the San Antonio church to begin his music evangelism ministry and moved to Tyler. He recently celebrated his 41st year in music evangelism. He was preceded in death by his daughter, Greta. He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Shirley; daughters, Gayla Amerman and Ginger Bell; and brothers, Jimmy and John.

• Larra Druin, 73, May 20 in Waxahachie. She worked in the special mission ministries department of the Southern Baptist Home Mission Board, and later in the stewardship and public relations departments of the Baptist General Convention of Texas. She retired in 1983 to devote her life to her grandchildren. Her husband, Toby, worked in Baptist journalism positions in North Carolina and Georgia before moving back to Texas to work for the Baptist Standard, where he became editor in 1996 before retiring in 1998. They were members of First Church in Duncanville 27 years before moving to Wax-ahachie in 2003, when they became members of First Church there. She was preceded in death by a son, David. She is survived by her husband of 54 years, Toby; daughters, DeAnna Jarnagin, Christie Windsor and Sherry Hight; six grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

Event

• On Mother’s Day, Mount Pleasant Church in Comanche honored Oma Dale Connally, the pastor’s wife, for her 50 years of service in that role. “I’ve been honored and recognized by churches and church groups from Texas to New York to Brazil to Mexico,” said her husband, Dan. “It is time my wife is recognized for her significant contribution to our ministry together.”

Ordained

• Damon Boniface as a deacon at First Church in Temple.

DALLAS—In a ceremony filled with prayer and encouragement, the Baptist General Convention of Texas Executive Board installed Randel Everett as executive director May 19.

Texas Baptist leaders and family from across the state came together to pray over and encourage the new executive director and his wife, Sheila.

Their son, Jeremy, and daughter, Rachel, encouraged their father to remain true to the principles he showed raising them—honesty, fairness, humor and an ability to lead.

Bruce Webb, pastor of First Baptist Church in The Woodlands, encouraged Everett to remain faithful to who he is and to his God. Everett hired him on the staff of University Baptist Church in Fort Worth when Webb was a student at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

“I think Christianity in some ways is defined by how you treat people who have nothing to give you back,” Webb said. “I can tell you Sheila and Randel treated me with kindness when I had nothing to offer them back.”

Mary Carpenter, former missionary to Albania and Christian studies professor at Howard Payne University, praised the Everetts as people of action.

“These are not people who say ‘This needs to happen.’ They say, ‘This needs to happen, and let’s do it.’“

Staying true to Carpenter’s words, Everett challenged Texas Baptists to give every person in their state an opportunity to respond to the gospel by Easter 2010 and to feed the hungry throughout the state.

By working together, Texas Baptists—who make up 10 percent of the population—can have a powerful impact in the name of Christ, he stressed. Concentrated Baptist outreach could transform the state, he insisted.

“Let’s make sure people in our state have enough to eat,” he said. “And make sure everyone has an opportunity to respond to the hope of Christ.”

By giving people the opportunity to respond to the gospel, Texas Baptists are giving individuals opportunities to change their lives, Everett said. Texans are seeking answers to life’s most profound questions. They are looking for the positive in what for many seems to be a grim and meaningless existence.

“There are millions of people living in Texas who have yet to understand the hope of Christ,” he said.

WICHITA FALLS—Baldemar Borrego will seek a third term as president of the Hispanic Baptist Convention of Texas when it meets in Wichita Falls June 22-24.

Borrego decided to run for another term “after praying to seek God’s direction in my life and in the life of our Hispanic Baptist Convention of Texas,” he said. He also considered the encouragement of “so many calls and e-mails from a lot of people” who asked him to continue, he added.

If re-elected, he will focus on strengthening the convention, which is the Hispanic affiliate of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, he said.

“There are things that still need to be fulfilled,” he stressed. “I look forward to continuing to promote unity and dignity among all leaders in the state of Texas. I recognize the convention is not yet in the position we need to be, but we are in a better position than we used to be. …

“The better is about to come, if we have the opportunity to start the implementation process in evangelism and missions that will turn upside down the state of Texas with the gospel of Christ.”

Borrego described his leadership style as “transparent and genuine.” He thanked messengers to last year’s Hispanic Baptist Convention annual meeting for re-electing the entire slate of officers, which now have worked together two years. That decision provided the convention with continuity to face its challenges and achieve its goals, he noted.

He asked Texas Baptists to pray for the Hispanic Baptist Convention and pleaded with his fellow Hispanic Baptists to attend the convention’s annual meeting this summer.

“Please come and join us, and bring your family and congregation,” he said. “You will not regret that you did.”

Hispanic Baptist Convention leaders hope their 2008 annual meeting will set an attendance record, with 5,000 participants, he said.

Borrego is pastor of Nueva Esperanza Baptist Church in Wichita Falls. He is a former first vice president of the Hispanic Baptist Convention and member of its strategic planning committee. He also has been president of the Hispanic Ministers’ Conference and has been a minister more than 30 years.

He has been host of a radio program, “Jesus is the Answer,” and is a member of the American Association of Christian Counselors.