When 2019 saw a surge of displaced people at the United States’ southern border a Waco church with connections to missionaries in Latin America and a close relationship with the pastor of an asylum-seeker-minded Mennonite church in San Antonio didn’t see a problem with the people.

The problem the members of DaySpring Baptist Church saw was in claiming fidelity to Christ but turning away from the needs of those people, explained Dennis Tucker, church member and professor of Christian Scriptures at Baylor University’s Truett Theological Seminary.

Getting there was a process, but in August 2022, Dayspring Baptist Church invited its first family who had been granted permission to seek asylum to move into a new residential ministry—Naomi House.

Naomi House is a hospitality house that offers a “temporary place of refuge for families as they prepare for the next steps in their asylum-seeking journey,” the church website explains.

Dayspring Baptist Church had been working on the hospitality house concept since the spring of 2021, “because none of us had ever done this,” Tucker recalled.

“None of us were social workers. We were having to find out simple things like city codes for this area. What kind of insurance do we need?”

Tucker explained they spent “the better part of the year” researching, figuring out how to design teams and schedule transportation, and identifying the house—which they rent from a church member.

First steps toward Naomi House

The church had learned much from the experience of one church member whose family had agreed to a request in 2019 from Pastor John Garland at the San Antonio Mennonite Church. He is the son of former Truett Seminary dean David Garland and the late Diana Garland, founding dean of Baylor’s School of Social Work that now bears her name.

With a pledge of support from DaySpring members, the family agreed to help an 18-year-old from Honduras and her newborn infant son who had been granted asylum by housing them in their own home.

Housing the young family gave the church team who supported them valuable experience, but they still had more to learn before they would be ready to begin a full-fledged hospitality ministry, Tucker noted.

Coming out of COVID, the church considered whether a hospitality house like the one San Antonio Mennonite Church operates might be something they could support. Their successful teamwork with the first young family convinced church members they could.

The San Antonio ministry, La Casa de Maria y Marta, as well as most hospitality houses for asylees in Texas, was short-term oriented. But DaySpring members decided on a longer-term housing ministry model, providing at least six months’ residential assistance for families.

Six months is the minimum length of time individuals who have been granted asylum must reside in the country before they legally can work here.

The church had identified women and children as the most vulnerable group among migrants.

While men who cross over the border often find ways to support themselves, it is not always easy for the women. They are vulnerable, particularly to exploitation or trafficking, Tucker explained.

So, at Naomi House, the congregation thus far has housed only women and children—offering safe housing, transportation assistance to work, school, appointments and ESL classes, and additional services as needed.

Because the church has several Spanish-speaking members, the congregation decided they best could support women from Spanish-speaking backgrounds. A common language also helps in learning how to live together, when housemates previously were strangers.

The house is five bedrooms with three bathrooms and is set on about an acre of land. The women who live there can garden, if they choose, and the children have a playset and space to be kids, Tucker noted.

Naomi House has provided housing and support to 8 mothers and 14 children in the two years since it opened.

Rewarding, challenging work

Tucker said the most challenging piece of the ministry is the amount of flexibility required. Every family has a different set of dynamics and trauma they bring in, “so it’s not like we can ever say, here’s our three-page manual on how to care for people in a hospitality house.”

The ministry requires constant adjustments to meet the actual needs of each new family who resides at Naomi House.

But, Tucker noted, the most rewarding aspect of the ministry is its mutuality—this is not a story of a well-heeled, mostly-white American church saving poor migrants.

Instead, there’s an intentionality to the relationships they are building between the church and Naomi House residents. “It’s sharing life together in the belief that this will animate our own faith,” and it has, Tucker explained.

“Most people go to church an entire lifetime, and they wish they could do something to change someone else’s life because it might change their own.

“And so, I think for those of us who are involved—you know, not every story works out perfectly [for] people who come in the house. Some find great jobs. Some don’t find great jobs.

“Sometimes it’s heartbreaking. It’s difficult work.”

But he explained for those who are involved, “it’s asked us to put our faith to work in a real way, and to allowed us to serve people who are vulnerable—not because we’re going to save them, but because that’s just what the gospel asks of us.”

They don’t have “a metric of success,” Tucker said ministry participants have to remind themselves.

“We have a metric of faithfulness. And we have to be faithful to what we’re asked to do, regardless of any particular outcome, good or bad.”

To measure success, the team asks instead, “are we being faithful to the ministry that God has called us to?”

Tiffani Harris, associate pastor of community life at DaySpring, has been in talks with several churches around Texas and beyond who have expressed interest in beginning a hospitality house ministry.

She mentioned North Carolina has a network of Baptist churches who operate five hospitality houses in Raleigh-Durham alone.

This network is equipped to house refugees from background languages other than Spanish, so DaySpring and the North Carolina network have cooperated to provide asylum-seekers care.

But as a Texan, Harris expressed some ire that North Carolina currently has more hospitality houses. She would love to see at least five hospitality houses operated by Baptists in Texas, she said.

Reciprocity and cooperation

It is difficult work, she agreed with Tucker.

For Harris, it is most difficult to work with people who, having journeyed thousands of miles across dangerous terrain—including for many the Darién Gap—vulnerable to dangerous people, with nothing except their children—realize once they finally get here, just how difficult it’s going to be.

They have been lied to by the cartels who exploit them for money. They have been told the United States has great jobs and cheap housing, Harris noted.

With the dire living conditions they leave behind, maybe the truth would not have dissuaded their journey, she pointed out.

It isn’t easy to walk alongside asylum-seekers as they work through the shock of coming to terms with the reality of life in the United States for asylees, when they have no one and nothing.

But when asylees do find community through the ministry of DaySpring, they are so grateful and bring so much to the church, Harris said.

Other churches in Waco come alongside DaySpring to help with Naomi House, sponsoring some of the monthly expenses, encouraging and partnering with the church, because ministry to asylum-seekers is meaningful.

 “Once you step out in faith, when you feel that the Lord has led you to do something like this,” Harris said. “You will be surprised how many people will come around you in support.”

Jamison Charles always considered himself a follower, and he “followed the crowd straight to prison,” receiving a 50-year sentence for eight felonies, he recalled.

But during his incarceration, he became a follower of Jesus Christ, and “tragedy turned to triumph,” he said.

“I hit rock bottom and found out God has an office there,” Charles told the No Need Among You Conference at the Gaston Christian Center in Dallas, an Oct. 23-25 event sponsored by the Texas Christian Community Development Network.

He entered the federal prison system at age 19 after being convicted for carjacking—his first offense.

“I lost all of my 20s, all of my 30s and half of my 40s” to incarceration, he said. “Prison is terrifying. For me, it was going from being around puppies to being around wolves.”

After serving time at the federal penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kan., Charles jumped at the opportunity to be transferred to the federal prison in Beaumont, near his mother and sister.

While he cherished their visits, he grew to recognize the toll his imprisonment took on his family.

“I realized I wasn’t the only one doing time,” he said. “That brought me to my first real conversation with God.”

‘I’m following the right one now’

Charles prayed, challenging God—if he really existed—to “show up” for him. If God responded, he promised to turn his life around.

“God called my bluff,” he testified.

Charles began attending chapel services at the prison—initially because the chapel was air-conditioned, he confessed. But those chapel experiences made an impact, and he enrolled in every available Bible study for the next eight years.

“I’m still a follower, but I’m following the right one now,” he said.

In one of those early Bible studies, Charles learned the first Scripture verse he committed to memory—Jeremiah 29:11. He wrote the verse on a paper he taped to the bottom of the bunk above his, so he would see it the first thing every morning and the last thing every night.

“I totally blew it, but God said, ‘I still have a plan for you.’ And I believed it,” he said.

Discovered a talent for writing

Charles also took every available class offered in prison. In one class, students were assigned to write about the most horrible thing that ever happened to them. Then the teacher challenged the inmates to write a happy ending to that narrative.

Charles fulfilled the assignment, and the teacher told him he had a gift for writing.

“I started writing every day,” he said.

He began working on a novel based on his own life experiences, and used that story as the basis for a skit that was presented in the prison chapel.

It was so well-received, prison officials encouraged him to develop the brief skit into a full stage play. He wrote the script, enlisted fellow inmates to play assigned roles, and presented the play to the whole prison population.

After he committed himself to using his writing talent for God’s glory—and after participating in a life-changing weekend sponsored by Kairos Prison Ministry—Charles characterized his last two years in prison as “beautiful.”

“I learned how to pray fervently,” he said.

‘Change the narrative of my life’

When he appeared for a parole hearing, Charles told the board if he was allowed to reenter the free world, “I want to change the narrative of my life.”

“Now, I’m in my comeback season,” he said.

When he received an economic stimulus check, he used it to self-publish his novel, Saved-ish: Sometimes It’s Hell Gettin’ to Heaven. At an early book-signing event, correctional officers from the unit where he was imprisoned stood in line to get their copy of the book autographed, he said.

The play based on that same story—which Charles wrote, produced and directed—premiered in March at the Jefferson Theater in Beaumont. It has also been performed in churches and will be presented Nov. 16 in Killeen.

Charles believes audiences have responded favorably to the play not only because of its humor, but also because of its message of redemption.

A person’s value is not diminished just because they have been torn and trampled, he insisted.

“Don’t you dare throw anybody away,” he said. “They are only one God-appointed moment away from changing everything.”

Messengers and guests from Texas Baptist churches across the state will gather Nov. 10-12 at the Waco Convention Center for the 139th Baptist General Convention of Texas annual meeting.

Under the theme “His Kingdom Agenda,” attendees will join in worship and business sessions, hear from six keynote speakers, choose from among 35 unique ministry workshops and experience numerous times of fellowship throughout exhibit halls, meals and receptions and rallies.

BGCT Executive Director Julio Guarneri said he looks forward to connecting with church leaders across the convention and celebrating together all God has done.

“I’m looking forward to being in the sessions and worship and hearing some of the great speakers that we have invited and then connecting [with] pastors from across the state and from outside of Texas,” Guarneri said.

“Celebrating the things that we have accomplished … just a big time of celebration [and] enjoying being together as a family.”

Kingdom-focused event

The annual meeting’s keynote speakers include Guarneri; Albert Reyes, president and CEO of Buckner International; Al Curley III, associate pastor at Cornerstone Church in Arlington; Meghan Hendrickson, director of Dallas Baptist University Baptist Student Ministry; Joel Gregory, emeritus professor of preaching at Baylor University’s Truett Theological Seminary; and Ronny Marriott, pastor at First Baptist Church in Richardson and president of Texas Baptists.

Reyes will speak on “A Kingdom of Wholeness,” Curley III on “The Gospel of the Kingdom,” Hendrickson on “Kingdom Advance,” and Gregory on “The Kingdom Has Come Near.” Guarneri and Marriott will deliver the executive director’s report and the president’s address, respectively.

Worship will be led by Art Wellborn, worship pastor at First Woodway Baptist Church; Lampsato, East Texas Baptist University worship band; DBU Chapel Worship; and Michael Glenn, worship leader at First Baptist Church in Burleson.

Workshops will include topics on church health, vision and strategy, identity, discipleship, kingdom giving and more. Attendees can visit exhibit halls throughout the three-day gathering to learn more about ministry resources from Texas Baptists staff, ministry partners and other vendors and for networking and fellowship.

Several meals and receptions also will be hosted by Texas Baptists’ ministries and partners, and a welcome center will be available near the registration area to help first-time attendees to the gathering.

Rallies a tone-setting ‘celebration of diversity’

Rallies scheduled for Sunday evening include the African American Fellowship worship rally at Carver Park Baptist Church, Texas Baptists en Español rally in Texas Rooms South at the Waco Convention Center and the Millennial/GenZ rally at Terry Black’s Barbecue in Waco. Sunday rallies will begin at 5 p.m. and end at 6:45 p.m. to allow attendees to join the 7 p.m. evening worship session at the Waco Convention Center.

Guarneri said he encourages attendees not to miss out on these opportunities to celebrate diversity within the convention.

“It’s meant to be a celebration of our diversity with the people, the local people in Waco, and then with our different fellowships and affinity groups,” said Guarneri. “It hopefully sets the tone for the rest of the annual meeting.”

Church insurance relief to be considered

During business sessions, messengers will elect officers and vote on recommendations, including a 2025 proposed missions and ministries budget of $36,716,950, worldwide missions initiatives and partnership allocations of $1.1 million, and nominations for Executive Board directors and boards of affiliated ministries.

Messengers also will hear and vote upon a recommendation for a Texas Baptists Insurance Program to assist affiliated churches amidst a challenging property insurance environment through collaboration in a captive insurance pool.

Passage of that recommendation would grant BGCT leaders authorization to “take all necessary steps” to successfully implement the program subject to the Executive Committee’s approval, pending the results of a feasibility study already in process.

This and other recommendations are available online via the “Business” page of the annual meeting website.

Clarifying the call and prayers for unity

Guarneri said he is praying for a spirit of unity among messengers and guests and that participants will come away with a renewed clarity for the coming years of collaborative missions and ministries through Texas Baptists.

“We want to communicate what we can be doing together for the next couple of years with a sense of clarity. We have a sense of clarity about what we’re going to join together for in the next couple of years, and so, we hope that that happens through the preaching, and that happens through some of my reports and other things that [attendees] experience there,” Guarneri said.

“I’m praying, first of all, that God’s presence would be felt when we’re together. Second, that there would be a spirit of unity, that we would be listening to others [and] listening to God’s voice,” he said.

Attendees are encouraged to access the schedule, worship and business sessions information, workshop titles and descriptions, rallies, meals and receptions in the Texas Baptists app, which is free to download online at txb.org/app.

To register as a messenger or guest for Texas Baptists’ annual meeting, visit txb.org/am. Online registration closes Nov. 11.

SAN ANTONIO—Preaching from a passage recounting the passing of the prophetic mantle from Elijah to Elisha, the field coordinator for Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Texas encouraged Baptist women in ministry to draw strength from the bigger picture.

In addition to her current CBF role, Ellen Di Giosia served as founding chair of the conference host, Texas Baptist Women in Ministry.

In the final keynote of the biannual EmpowHer Conference, held at Antioch Missionary Baptist Church in San Antonio, Oct. 17-19, Di Giosia advised attendees to “widen the lens a little bit” to see the larger story, by following Elisha’s walk with Elijah up to his new, prophetic role.

Taking as her main text 2 Kings 2:1-15, she highlighted the strange way Elijah “anointed” Elisha as his successor—by throwing his mantle, or cloak, at Elisha. After this unusual selection process, Elisha follows Elijah. But, he isn’t discussed again for almost another 10 years, Di Giosia said.

It was a long road for Elisha from “anointing” to appointment as prophetic successor, an experience with which women in ministry can relate, she noted.

A word of warning

“Among sisters,” Di Giosia said she felt compelled to warn the ministers in attendance who are just starting out there will be people who will oppose them along the way, even in great churches that claim to support women in ministry.

She shared a personal story of hateful comments she received regarding a post on stepping away from a pastoral position some years ago. Initially on the X post (then Twitter) she had written, she responded to comments calling into question the validity of her pastoral position with a touch of defensiveness.

However, a few responses in she was down to a simple one letter response of “K,” meaning, “OK, whatever,” or “hush,” and after that no response at all.

 “I will defend to my very last breath the right and responsibility of women to lead and serve and preach and care for people in whatever way God has called them, but what I will not do anymore is defend myself to people,” she said.

“I have learned that when someone says, ‘You’re not called,’ when someone says, ‘That dream of yours is dead,’ or ‘You’ve misinterpreted what God is saying,’… the best response is exactly what Elisha says: ‘hush.’”

Instead, naysayers may be advised to sit back and watch, because as the apostles responded in Acts: “If this plan or this undertaking is of human origin, it will fail. But if it’s of God, you will not be able to overthrow it. You might even be found to be fighting against him.”

Di Giosia explained, if someone says she’s not called of God, “they can just wait a minute.” Because if her ministry bears fruit, they’ll be proved wrong. If her ministry does not, “they can pat themselves on the back all the way to glory.”

A page out of Elisha’s book

But she’s going to be “busy following where God leads,” she explained. And, stopping to talk to everyone questioning her will waste all her energy, though she pointed out some situations may require advocacy or stronger demands of respect.

However, with the “randoms of the world” who speak out against women in ministry, the best response is to guide them “toward the spiritual discipline of silence,” she said.

This is the same response Elisha gave the company of prophets who questioned his choice to continue following Elijah, even when everyone in the story knew the end of Elijah’s prophetic ministry had come, she said.

Elisha responded to the company of prophets to “keep silent.”

And he continued to follow Elijah along his “farewell tour” of sites important to the settlement of the Holy Land and cities where he had established prophetic companies—all the way to Jericho.

“An era is ending and something new is going to have to take its place.” Elisha wants to be there for it, she explained.

Elijah parts the Jordan with his mantle like it was a mundane undertaking. But when the prophets get across, they have left the mundane and are alone in the wilderness—a place where God has a habit of “showing up in spectacular, surprising ways,” Di Giosia continued.

Elisha asks for a “double helping” of the spirit, or to be Elijah’s prophetic “eldest son.” And he sees God, who will protect his people, coming with chariots of fire to take his master away.

Because Elisha followed Elijah to the end, despite the hecklers and even the urging of Elijah to let him go it alone, he sees the Lord, Di Giosia pointed out.

Historical wormholes explained

Di Giosia explained a “historical wormhole” is when a living person can be traced back to a distant historical figure, like how President Joe Biden can be traced all the way back to Queen Elizabeth through a series of handshakes, or how “there are whales alive today that were alive before Herman Melville wrote Moby Dick in 1851.

“The fax machine was invented while wagons were crossing the Oregon Trail in 1843,” she explained.

Historical wormholes function “like a camera pulls back so we can see more of the scene,” in a movie. The wormholes provide context, helping readers to see the broader picture of history and how events connect over time.

Elijah’s journey “on the last day of his life on earth” traces the events of the history of his people, like a wormhole, tying his ministry to the ministry of Moses and other prophets of old.

Then, because he doesn’t die, Elijah’s spirit “actually haunts” much of the rest of the Bible, even showing up with Jesus on the mountain, “making our view of salvation history wider and wider,” she explained.

So many times, Elijah said: “It’s just me. Nobody else is standing up to power. I can’t do it on my own.” But if he could have “pulled the camera back,” he could have seen the prophets before him and the ways God had shown up for his people over and over, from the garden to the flood and in the wilderness, she said.

“He might have recognized that this difficult gift of prophecy came with the assurance of God’s presence in every moment,” but as great as he was, he didn’t seem to get it.

Yet, Elisha is starting his ministry having seen God as protector and defender. God will fight the fight against idolatry, not Elisha, she noted.

She said, “when we shift our focus from the right here, right now,” to a broader look at history, it’s possible to see things that couldn’t be seen from up close—tracing a history that shows how “everything is caught up in the great story of redemption that God is still writing today.”

“If we follow doggedly like Elisha, if we are willing to face the whirlwind … we will see the Lord God coming in glory to defend us, to remind us that we are not alone in the task—that God is not depending on us to win the day.”

Being faithful isn’t about knowing all the answers. It’s about picking up the mantle “that has been laid at our feet” and going back to life ready to see God move.

Di Giosia explained as God said “yes” to Elisha: “The spirit belongs to you. And you are called, and you are never, never alone.”

Christian nationalism threatens democracy and substitutes coercive idolatry for authentic faith, Amanda Tyler, executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, told a gathering at a North Texas church.

“It divides us into nation states and merges political and religious authority in ways that are really idolatrous—that really can lead us to worship country over God,” Tyler asserted.

Christian nationalism also “undercuts all the foundational values of a pluralistic democracy, especially with regard to religious freedom,” she added.

Tyler spoke Oct. 20 at her home church, Royal Lane Baptist in Dallas, to promote the launch of her new book, How to End Christian Nationalism. She participated in a question-and-answer public conversation with Pastor Victoria Robb Powers.

Christian nationalism is “a political ideology and cultural framework” that merges American and Christian identities, Tyler explained.

“To put it another way, Christian nationalism suggests that to be a real American one has to be a Christian—and not just any kind of Christian, but a Christian to holds certain religious beliefs that are more fundamentalist in nature and that align with more conservative political views,” she said.

Christian nationalism promotes the view that the United States was founded as a Christian nation by Christians “in order to privilege Christianity in law and policy,” said Tyler, lead organizer of the Christians Against Christian Nationalism movement.

Rather than emphasizing God’s love for all people globally, Christian nationalism supports the idea that the United States plays a special role in God’s plan, she said.

“Christian nationalism departs from the life and teachings of Jesus—Jesus who was always on the side of the marginalized and the oppressed; Jesus who was killed by the state for speaking truth to power,” she said.

“Jesus, who was all about love—loving our neighbors, loving everyone without regard to difference … has nothing to do with the Jesus who is a mascot for Christian nationalism.”

In contrast, she said, “Christian nationalism is all about power—seeking power and holding onto power.”

Christian nationalism a threat to faith freedom

Christian nationalism threatens religious liberty in the United States, Tyler asserted.

“To protect everyone’s religious freedom in a pluralistic democracy, we must insist on the institutional separation of church and state,” she said. “There cannot be any kind of state religion or religious laws.

“Any time the state tries to take any religion—including our own—and assume it for itself and impose it on everyone else, that’s where religious freedom ends. And really, that’s where faith ends, because for faith to be authentic, it must be freely chosen and not imposed by any authority.”

In a sense, Christian nationalism traces its roots back to the Roman Emperor Constantine’s merger of Christianity and empire, Tyler asserted.

“That’s when I think that the teachings of Jesus and the religion of Christianity started to be polluted by Christian nationalism and this idol of power,” she said.

Religious nationalism takes varied forms around the world, she said, pointing to Hindu nationalism in India and Vladimir Putin’s appropriation of Russian Orthodoxy in Russia as examples.

However, she noted particular ways Christian nationalism and white supremacy have been woven together into the fabric of the United States since its beginning.

She cited the Doctrine of Discovery, along with the use of Christian Scripture to provide theological justification for slavery, as well as the fact that decision-making power granted by the U.S. Constitution originally was limited to white males.

“It’s impossible to think about Christian nationalism in the American context without thinking about white supremacy,” Tyler said.

“The ‘America as a Christian nation’ narrative perpetuates this sense of cultural belonging that’s limited to the people who held power at the beginning of the country.”

Texas public schools a ‘proving ground’

Efforts to impose Christian nationalism are seen most clearly in legislation related to public schools, and Texas is the “proving ground” for some national initiatives, Tyler noted.

She pointed to proposals for school vouchers that divert public funds to private religious schools, efforts to require the posting of a particular version of the Ten Commandments in every public-school classroom and recommended reading curriculum based on Bible stories.

She also noted the bill approved by the Texas Legislature that allows schools to employ chaplains—or accept volunteer chaplains—who are not required to be certified or trained.

However, she cited a hopeful sign. While lawmakers approved the measure, they left its implementation to the discretion of local school districts. The BJC is aware of only one district in Texas that approved school chaplains.

Without minimizing the importance of the upcoming national election, Tyler emphasized Christian nationalism is so pervasive, it will not be resolved once and for all at the ballot box.

“No matter what happens, Christian nationalism is still going to be a problem after Nov. 10,” she said.

She stressed the value of doing the “hard work” of having honest conversations—face-to-face, not on social media—with neighbors who may embrace Christian nationalism to some degree, while remembering the Christian duty to love all neighbors.

Resist the ideology, don’t attack the people

Tyler emphasized the importance of resisting and rejecting Christian nationalism as an ideology without demonizing individuals who hold to some of its principles.

“The book is called How to End Christian Nationalism, not How to Get Rid of Christian Nationalists, and it’s intentional,” she said.

Christian nationalism is an ideology and cultural framework that exists on a continuum, and it “operates a lot like racism,” in that it is a pervasive systemic problem, she said.

As such, it presents daily opportunities for individuals to reject or embrace it in a variety of ways and to different degrees, she asserted.

“It’s not an immutable quality that you can’t choose to move away from,” she said. “It’s also not an immutable problem that you’re safe from.”

By looking at Christian nationalism in those terms, rather than assigning a negative label to people and creating an “us-versus-them” dynamic, it offers the opportunity for meaningful conversations with neighbors who hold different views, she noted.

Tyler differentiated between patriotism and nationalism, noting “language really matters.”

“I define patriotism as a love of country that can be expressed in a lot of different ways, whereas nationalism is an allegiance to country that demands allegiance over everything else,” she said. “There’s usually one narrow way to be a nationalist.”

The challenge for Christians who have a heartfelt love for their country comes when patriotism makes demands that conflict with their faith.

“Is our patriotism causing us to violate our religious convictions? Are we being asked to put our duty to country over what our faith is calling us to do?” she asked.

Christians need to remember the teaching of Jesus to “render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and unto God the things that are God’s,” she observed. A person can be patriotic and also be Christian, but the two are not the same, she noted.

“We can be both, but we are not one because of the other,” Tyler said.

Given the prevalence of family violence and human trafficking in Texas, every faith community will encounter survivors, participants in a Texas Department of Family and Protective Services webinar learned.

“It is too common for you not to have encountered somebody,” said Samantha McWhinney, prevention coordinator at the Texas Council on Family Violence.

McWhinney addressed more than 100 participants in an Oct. 17 webinar titled “Breaking Chains: A Faith-based Approach to Domestic Violence and Human Trafficking.”

In order to “break the chains,” churches and other faith communities must create a culture where coercion, control and violence are not tolerated, McWhinney asserted.

More than 1 in 3 women and 1 in 4 men in the United States have experienced rape, physical violence or stalking by an intimate partner, she noted.

National hotlines rank Texas second among all states in contacts regarding domestic violence at 19,168 and human trafficking at 2,373, she reported. Furthermore, 80,000 youth were sexually trafficked in a single year in Texas.

Control and coercion are the common denominators that link family violence and human trafficking, McWhinney said.

She defined domestic violence as “a pattern of behaviors used by one partner to maintain power and control over another partner in an intimate relationship.”

Human trafficking occurs “when a trafficker uses force, fraud or coercion to control another person for the purpose of engaging in commercial sex acts or soliciting labor or services against his or her will,” she said.

“Family violence and human trafficking both are rooted in power control dynamics,” McWhinney said.

Behaviors common to perpetrators of family violence and human trafficking include coercion and threats, intimidation, isolation, economic abuse and emotional abuse. Minimizing, blaming or denying are also tactics they use against victims.

Isolation and victim-blaming also are used in some faith communities by individuals who misuse the tenets of their faith and cherry-picked excerpts from sacred texts to allow abuse and violence in their midst, McWhinney noted.

Other religiously abusive practices she identified include: using community coercion and spiritual authority to enforce subservience and submissiveness; prolonging abusive relationships by insisting victims remain in those relationships; restricting access to health care; using children to manipulate victims of abuse; and controlling sexuality and reproduction.

‘Leaving does not equate with safety’

Family violence literally is a matter of life and death. Last year, 205 Texans were killed by their intimate partner, and an additional 16 bystanders were killed, McWhinney reported.

Of the 205 victims, 92 individuals—45 percent—had separated or ended their relationship with their abuser, she added.

“Leaving does not equate with safety,” she said.

In Texas, half of eligible individuals who contact a family violence shelter will not receive help because there is no space, McWhinney stated.

Nine out of 10 survivors experience homelessness at some point due to fleeing family violence, and child care is available on site at only 40 percent of family violence agencies in the state.

“Support needs to be survivor-centered,” McWhinney said. “Trust survivors that they know what they need.”

Churches and other faith communities can be involved in primary, secondary or tertiary prevention, she suggested.

Primary prevention is focused “upstream” to address violence before it occurs. This involves changing systems and societal norms regarding the use of coercion and violence in relationships.

Secondary prevention involves crisis intervention to minimize harm and to address the immediate needs of survivors.

Tertiary prevention focuses on long-term recovery that “emphasizes healing, safety and stability for survivors,” she said.

She offered other suggestions for faith communities:

• Be vocal about anti-violence. Address issues of abuse and domestic violence from the pulpit.
• Create well-known policies. Develop policies that prevent abuse, and educate the entire faith community.
• Connect with a local program that addresses family violence. Participate in collaborative community responses.
• Engage youth. Teach adolescents about healthy relationships.

Los días 27 y 28 de septiembre, la Universidad Bautista de las Américas (BUA) fue sede de Proclama, una iniciativa de BUA financiada por de Lilly Endowment Inc. Proclama se dedica a capacitar a pastores en la entrega de sermones centrados en la palabra de Dios.

El evento contó con la participación del Dr. Rudy González, Director de Proclama y profesor de BUA, quien fue el orador principal y centró su intervención en los aspectos teológicos de una predicación convincente.

El Pastor Dr. Tony Miranda abordó las mejores prácticas para la entrega eficiente de las predicaciones, mientras que el Dr. Abe Jaquez, Presidente de BUA, dio la bienvenida a una capilla repleta de pastores de habla hispana provenientes del sur de Texas y hasta de Nuevo México, expresando su agradecimiento por la sólida participación. Fernando Hill,

Asistente del Director de Proclama, coordinó el evento de dos días, fomentando el crecimiento espiritual, el desarrollo del liderazgo y promoviendo la comunión y el refrigerio espiritual entre los pastores presentes. A su vez, estudiantes voluntarios de BUA desempeñaron un papel clave, sirviendo durante todo el fin de semana.

Reflexionando sobre su experiencia en el evento, el participante Elías Martínez, originario de México y exalumno destacado de BUA, ahora radicado en San Antonio, donde pastorea en Viña San Antonio, compartió: “Este fin de semana fue desafiante, pero fue una bendición recibir las herramientas necesarias para ofrecer un sermón eficaz.”

Motivando a otros a asistir a eventos de Proclama, Elías añadió: “Una cosa que diría a quienes están considerando participar en Proclama es que la mejor manera de hacer ministerio de manera efectiva es utilizando los recursos que Dios ha proporcionado. Proclama ha hecho un excelente trabajo revitalizando ministerios y equipando a los ministros para ser más eficientes en alcanzar a las personas para Jesucristo.”

El participante Javier Medina, quien se graduó de BUA y es originario de El Salvador, actualmente pastorea en la iglesia Más Allá de la Cruz, localizada en la frontera entre San Antonio y Boerne. Al preguntarle sobre la importancia de Proclama para él,

Javier destacó las palabras del Dr. González: “Lo que el Dr. González dijo acerca de ser consciente del púlpito, de la enorme responsabilidad que es proclamar la verdad de Dios, realmente me hize reflexionar. Nos recordó que nunca debemos olvidar que no se trata de nosotros; se trata de lo que Dios tiene que decir a través de Su Palabra.”

Francisco Vega, originario de Puerto Rico y otro graduado de BUA, actualmente sirve en la Iglesia en Español en Cornerstone, San Antonio, asistiendo al Pastor Daniel González y enseñando clases para parejas como “Viviendo en Libertad”.

Compartió sus pensamientos sobre el impacto del evento: “Proclama es muy interesante en la forma en que reune a pastores hispanos de diferentes comunidades, de varias partes de América Latina. Esta iniciativa nos ayuda a superar la barrera del idioma, que puede ser muy difícil, enseñándonos cómo predicar y expresarnos en el idioma que nos es habitual—el espanol.”

Motivando a otros a participar, Francisco agregó: “Esto es recomendado para todos los pastores. Solo porque has sido pastor durante muchos años no significa que no puedas aprender. Proclama te ayudará a revitalizar la forma en que predicas.”

Proclama es una iniciativa continua que ofrece talleres a lo largo del año en diversas regiones del estado. Dirigido por el Dr. Rudy Gonzalez, la iniciativa también proporciona mentorías para los participantes registrados.

El Dr. González, actualmente profesor en Midwestern Seminary y director asistente del programa de doctorado en español de esta escuela, aporta casi cinco décadas de experiencia en educación pastoral y teológica. Su carrera ha abarcado iglesias en Nuevo México, Texas y California, así como roles académicos en el Seminario Golden Gate (ahora Gateway) y el Seminario Teológico Bautista del Suroeste. Su compromiso con la educación teológica y el ministerio local lo ha convertido en un mentor clave para Proclama.

Varios de los pastores presentes fueron formados en BUA, reflejando la sólida tradición de la universidad en cultivar líderes en el ministerio hispano. Además, estudiantes de teología de BUA participaron en el evento, ganando valiosa experiencia en ministerio y liderazgo junto a pastores experimentados durante todo el fin de semana.

Reflexionando sobre el éxito del evento, el Dr. Abe Jaquez, Presidente de BUA, comentó: “La participación y la dedicacion mostradas por estos pastores son un testimonio del hambre por aprender como desarrollar una predicación práctica y centrada en Cristo dentro de la comunidad hispana. Estamos agradecidos al Señor por la oportunidad de servir.”

El Dr. Rudy González añadió: “Es un honor ayudar a nuestros pastores a superar la brecha entre el estudio de la Palabra y la proclamación de la Palabra, que es el llamado que Dios ha dado a Sus predicadores.”

Con Proclama completamente desarrollado en español y con materiales diseñados por el Dr. González, esta iniciativa estará sirviendo a pastores hispanos a través de Texas, ofreciendo mentorías y capacitaciones adaptadas a sus necesidades y ministerios únicos, apoyándose en el compromiso de BUA con el desarrollo del liderazgo pastoral.

Para más información, visita bua.edu/proclama o contacta al Dr. Rudy González en rudy.gonzalez@bua.edu o a Fernando Hill en fernando.hill@bua.edu.

Por el Dr. Rubén Cayoja, Especialista en Comunicaciones en la Universidad Bautista de las Américas.

After more than a decade of inviting audiences to Waxahachie to visit “Heaven’s Front Porch,” a group of old-time Southern Gospel singers are taking the show on the road.

R.G. Huff, retired minister of music and adjunct professor at Dallas Baptist University, founded Waxahachie Old-Fashioned Singing using local talent.

Huff created “Heaven’s Front Porch,” a staged production of old-time congregational music, presented at Waxahachie’s Chautauqua Auditorium for a dozen years.

When Huff retired, Judy Oates became coordinator of the renamed Old-Fashioned Singing Project, and Cheri Jordan—an eight-year cast member—became artistic director.

Rather than limiting the production to Waxahachie, the nonprofit project expanded its scope, with a goal of traveling to churches and community venues throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

A dozen singers, all involved in church music ministries, present the music, accompanied by pianist Melinda Boyd.

“The mission of the Old-Fashioned Singing staged production of ‘Heaven’s Front Porch’ is to preserve Southern Gospel congregational singing,” Oates said.

“The musical includes treasured hymns that convey the truth of God’s love and our blessed hope in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

The Old-Fashioned Singing Project is enlisting churches in the Dallas-Fort Worth area to host the production, either as an “in-house” program for the congregation or as a performance open to the public.

The group will present its debut public “road show” at Stonebriar Community Church in Frisco at 2 p.m. on Nov. 9.

“Audiences will hear and sing songs from the past that inspire joy, hope and assurance,” Oates said. “The lyrics and melodies will make attendees glad they came to sit a spell on ‘Heaven’s Front Porch.’”

For ticket information, click here. For information about hosting “Heaven’s Front Porch,” contact Judy Oates at (469) 975-6886 or email Judy@TexasGospelHymns.com.

As a bivocational pastor, Tedrick Woods demonstrates versatility in service. But his church’s hybrid worship model takes that versatility to a different level.

Three out of four Sundays each month, Woods preaches to the church he pastors in Dallas, from 200 miles away in Austin. On the first Sunday of every month, Wood comes to Dallas, and the congregation meets together in person.

Woods serves as senior pastor to Living Word Fellowship Church in Dallas.

The church was founded in 2015, in Hurst, at the suggestion of Larry Sanders, senior pastor of Keller Springs Baptist Church in Carrolton, where Woods served on staff as an associate pastor.

Woods prayed and considered the suggestion. Then, he decided to pursue it by beginning the process of requesting church planting assistance through Dallas Baptist Association and the Baptist General Convention of Texas, he said.

He received their approvals, with the Exciting Singing Hills Baptist Church in Dallas designated as the sponsoring church.

Woods noted the senior pastor of Singing Hills, Howard Anderson, was well known to him since childhood. He recalled growing up where Anderson “lived just two houses down from me in the community of Singing Hills, in Dallas.”

Within 18 months, the new church plant had grown from its five founding members to about 30 people. Things were going well, Woods said.

Then “church life happened.” The building where Living Word Fellowship was meeting, graciously provided by the late Pastor R.L. Rogers of Fort Worth, was listed for sale.

“The church thought it was not a wise purchase because we were still young. So, we moved to Dallas,” where the late Billy Bell of Dallas Baptist Association had offered the use of his church’s fellowship hall.

However, that meant the loss of several church members who lived too far away from Dallas for the move to make sense when other congregations were available nearer to their homes. After the relocation, the congregation numbered about 23 members, Woods explained.

Membership remained consistent from the 2018 move to the new Dallas location until 2020, when a new obstacle came along.

The bivocational minister had an opportunity to work for the state in Austin, and he took it, not knowing what was about to hit the country in March of that year.

Pandemic pivot

When COVID struck, like most churches during that time, Living Word transitioned to online meetings. They met by Zoom exclusively from March through July of 2020.

“Then, by faith, we started meeting in person on the first Sunday of each month, keep in mind that my family are now residing in Central Texas,” Woods note. “The members of the church wanted to stay together.”

The congregation decided this hybrid model wasn’t just a workable model for church during a pandemic, but it was how they wanted to continue to relate as a body of believers in the unique position of having a pastor who lives 200 miles away, Woods explained.

Woods pointed out “hybrid” church is the new norm for many congregations post-COVID, with numerous congregations offering live-streaming of in-person services.

“However, for us, Living Word Fellowship Church, we are truly a hybrid church in a unique way,” he said. “We do not forsake the assembling of ourselves together, as Hebrews 10:25 states. … We meet every first Sunday in person to worship.”

And when they meet in-person every first Sunday, they use social media to go live.

However, on the other Sundays, they hold worship services strictly by Zoom.

Woods explained they embrace this model “because of our location and the level of engagement and support from our members. This requires loyalty and faithfulness from members, and it’s not for the faint of heart.

“We don’t simply record services and play them back” Woods noted. “We are actually a full-fledged online ministry.”

Woods said in order for this model to work, members agree to be fully focused on the worship or Bible study for the times they are on Zoom. And to respect members’ time commitments, he keeps the sessions within the allotted time.

“This model allows us to share the worship experience within one hour with our members. We also have prayer and Bible study every Tuesday for 30 minutes,” he said, noting the Bible study is a six-week emphasis with two weeks off in between each module. And guests join the congregation, either in-person or by Zoom, at least three times a month, Woods noted.

On remote worship Sundays, Woods usually delivers his Zoom message from the basement fellowship hall of the historic Sweet Home Baptist Church in Austin.

After Living Word Fellowship’s service, from 10 to 11 a.m., Woods heads upstairs to assist Pastor Steve Manning with Sweet Home’s service.

Typically, Manning asks Woods to preach at least once a month. “It’s a sweet ministry partnership,” Woods said and recommended everyone visit this traditional Black, yet multicultural, Baptist church located in the historic Clarksville neighborhood of Austin.

Hybrid model challenges

Woods acknowledged the hybrid model can be challenging.

“Creating a genuinely hybrid service means prayer, preparation, and purposefully engaging with the members.” Woods said to do this effectively, requires contemplating the members’ lives to identify ways to serve their spiritual needs and creating a seamless church experience.

Engagement is not limited to Zoom, as members also connect by text message at least twice a week “with words of comfort, short prayers and announcements.

“For us, online works because we build in workable alerts, a schedule of teaching, and accessible resources.” Church members prepare for the Bible study beforehand, so they are ready for the brief discussion time.

Additionally, Woods sometimes receives requests for speaking engagements, which his congregation supports, often by attending or offering their prayers. These preaching engagements offer another opportunity for in-person worship for the church.

Living Word Fellowship describes itself as “mission-led” instead of “location-based,” which allows its leaders to think creatively and explore outlets for accomplishing the mission of bringing the lost to Christ.

The church seeks to demonstrate that “resurrection is a lifestyle, and whatever is dead in our lives, God can bring it back to life, if it needs to be,” Woods said.

Living Word’s hybrid model aims to overcome geographical limitations, accommodate diverse needs and preferences—including those with mobility issues or health concerns—and reach a wider audience.

However, hybrid services require careful planning and technological investment to ensure a seamless and engaging experience for both in-person and online participants.

“By leveraging technology and adapting to changing societal trends, our model aims to create a more inclusive and accessible environment for faith exploration and spiritual growth,” Woods concluded.

Living Word Fellowship Church currently meets in Dallas on first Sundays at the New Creation Bible Church. The church mailing address is P.O. Box 530922, Grand Prairie, TX 75053. Woods can be reached by email at tedrickwoods@yahoo.com.

Scholars from around the globe met virtually to discuss their research of evangelicalism and mission. The virtual conference on evangelicalism—held Oct. 2-4 this year—is an annual event hosted by Baylor University’s Institute for Studies of Religion.

David Bebbington, emeritus professor of history at the University of Stirling in Scotland and acting nonresident director of Baylor ISR’s Evangelical Studies Program summarized key findings of the presentations.

Bebbington defines evangelicals according to four commitments or emphases, what has been called the “Bebbington quadrilateral”: the Bible as authoritative for faith and practice, Jesus Christ and the cross, the necessity of conversion, and actively communicating the gospel.

Three papers demonstrated the early supporters of missions—beginning in 1817—as well as those who made missionary appeals were evangelicals, Bebbington noted. He also pointed to research that revealed the term “evangelical” originally was used by Presbyterians and Congregationalists, but not Baptists or Methodists.

Changes in missions

Two papers considered changes in missionary strategy.

Aminta Arrington, of John Brown University in Arkansas, examined a policy change related to the Lisu people in rural China in the early 20th century, in which the mission agency agreed to allow people to convert as families instead of as individuals.

Community was and is a defining trait of the Lisu people. So, they expressed their faith not individually, but together through hymns, Arrington explained.

She pointed out the success of hymns and the introduction of four-part harmony to this culture by missionary musicians was central to the proliferation of the gospel in Lisu communities. Their villages are remote, but they have practiced Christianity corporately through hymns for more than 100 years.

Lisu theology is shaped considerably by their hymnal, which is considered a “closed canon,” though they do write new Christian pop songs without harmony.

Karl Dahlfred, of Chiang Mai Theological Seminary, Thailand, demonstrated a shift from direct to more indirect methods of evangelism, when missionaries with the American Presbyterian Mission in Thailand began to prioritize education over conversion.

The result was “something like a secularizing effect on missionary work,” though the aim had been to permeate society with Christian values, Bebbington noted.

Bebbington suggested the papers by Arrington and Dahlfred taken together show evangelical missionary work across the 20th century changed in practice, “and that’s a very important contention, because it undermines the very frequent supposition that one finds in the literature that evangelical missionaries used constant, unchanging methods. How false that is,” Bebbington explained.

Evangelical influence

Other research summarized by Bebbington included:

Dana Robert, of Boston University, showed evangelicals “included married couples as central to the enterprise.”

Mark Smith, of Kellogg College, Oxford, UK, demonstrated that “missionary promotion was central to [William] Wilberforce’s career” and that evangelicalism provided a motivating theology for him.

Boone Aldridge, with Wycliffe Bible Translators, highlighted a constant tension between the academic world of Bible translation, which became more focused on the science of linguistics, and the popular evangelical world of Wycliffe, which was more concerned with providing understandable translations.

“Evangelical biblicism conditioned missions,” Bebbington summarized.

The work of Amos Chewachong, of Newport-on-Tay, Scotland, examining Nigerian Pentecostal missions to Cameroon disputes the assumption that missions is a Western scheme, Bebbington pointed out.

Together, these works clearly show mission among evangelicals wasn’t uniform. It changed. “For that reason, it needs to be studied in detail at each point in time,” he said.

Books will be published soon on several of the scholars’ findings.

SAN ANTONIO—More than 700 children, youth, college ministers and pastors from across Texas and beyond gathered in San Antonio, Oct. 7-8, for worship, training and networking at Conclave NextGen.

Jana Magruder, strategic initiatives director of Lifeway NextGen, discussed discipling the next generation and teaching “a counter-cultural identity message that helps kids and students know who they are because of who God is.”

She challenged attendees to create relationships that build belonging in students, so they understand their identity in Christ better.

“When we connect these two things together, belonging and identity, we are doing two really important things,” Magruder said.

“Number one, we are meeting the cultural need that this generation has to feel seen and known. And number two, we are answering the big cultural question that they have about who they truly are.”

Magruder provided a tool to help create relationships so the next generation feels like they belong. She offered the acronym ‘FLIP’—making sure children and youth have a Friend, Leader, Influencer and Pastor investing in them.

“Everyone is called to the urgent work of reaching the next generation,” Magruder said. “I want us as the church to fight for them, because we want them the most, because we know that the Father wants them the most. … You have the most strategic seat in the church to lead this fight, and to rally every generation of your church and mobilize them around reaching [the next] generations.”

Conclave attendees had the opportunity to choose from more than 30 breakout sessions on topics such as family ministry, evangelism, ministering to mental health, empowering volunteers and navigating social media.

A specialized “Pastor’s Track” was offered for senior church leaders to learn from and form community with other pastors.

David Gonzalez, Congreso coordinator at Texas Baptists, led a breakout session on “Bridging Generations: Expanding Church Outreach to Connect with a Diverse and Growing Church.”

Leaders can bridge the gaps between generations by empowering students to be involved in ministry and embracing the change that comes with it, Gonzalez said.

Students “want somebody to come tap on the shoulder and say, ‘I think you are capable of being in X, Y, Z ministry.’ And I think it’s a step of faith in you taking the leap of faith and saying, ‘I’m going to put trust in you’ and loosen the reins just a little bit,” he said.

“Sometimes change has to be done for growth to happen … bridging the gap is embracing change. We need to make sure that our younger generation also has a seat at the table.”

Joining God in ministry by looking to the cross

Mike Satterfield, founder of Field of Grace Ministries, encouraged leaders with a sermon based on John 19:30. He explained the Greek word tetelestai, meaning “it is finished,” is a word that helps us understand “the past completed act with present, ongoing, permanent effect for all eternity.”

 “It was in John 19 … I learned Jesus tasted bitter vinegar, completely sour, so we can taste the best victory in being completely saved. I’ve been bought with a price. I’m no longer my own. I have been set free,” Satterfield asserted.

Satterfield encouraged Conclave attendees to lay down everything hindering them from resting in Jesus’ words, “it is finished,” and join him where he already is leading their ministry.

“Stop trying to help God, when all you have to do is join him where he’s already at work,” he said.

Displaying the friendship of Jesus

Justin Whitmel Earley, author of Made for People: Why We Drift into Loneliness and How to Fight for a Life of Friendship, spoke about “the holiness and the importance of friendship in ministry.”

He referenced Genesis 2-3, encouraging NextGen ministry leaders to understand they were made for people, and John 15:13-16, emphasizing Jesus showed what it means to be a friend.

“Jesus is demonstrating here not just how to be the best friend that you can be. He is also showing that one way to summarize the gospel is that God has taken the lonely, broken people and made them friends again—friends with God, and thus friends with the world,” said Earley.

Earley asserted friendship is at the center of “what the gospel calls us to,” and encouraged ministers to allow themselves to be fully known and loved by someone, so they can, in turn, fully know and love others in ministry.

“If the call of the New Testament, think of Ephesians 5:10, is ‘to be imitators of God,’ well, if Jesus is friendship made flesh, then to become more and more like him is necessarily to become more and more like a friend,” Earley said.

“So, go into your ministry knowing you were made for people, don’t do it alone, and put the friendship of Jesus on display.”

Investing in holistic church health

Bobby Contreras, pastor at Alamo Heights Baptist Church in San Antonio, led a “Pastor’s Track” breakout session on pursuing holistic church health by investing in spiritual, physical, mental/emotional, financial and relational health. He held an open discussion on these five areas.

“Healthy pastor, healthy family equals a healthy gospel community,” Contreras said.

He reminded pastors “using a dull ax requires great strength, so sharpen the blade,” (Ecclesiastes 10:10), challenging them to treat Conclave as an opportunity to “sharpen the blade.” That way they return to their ministry “more intentional and more biblical in how we are leading and how we’re living within our ministry context.”

Contreras gave pastors resources, including pastoral and church health reports from the Baptist Health Foundation and social media pages for Scripture intake, such as ‘The Daily Gaze.’ He invited Olga Harris, director of counseling services at Texas Baptists, to let ministers know about counseling options available for pastors and their families.

“I want you, and Texas Baptists wants you in your ministry context for the long haul … so what we do now matters,” he asserted.

Being a vessel of the Holy Spirit

Ed Newton, lead pastor of Community Bible Church in San Antonio, preached on 2 Kings 4 and charged attendees to empty themselves before the Lord daily, so they can be used as vessels by the Holy Spirit to carry out the Great Commission.

“The oil of heaven flows with empty vessels,” Newton said.

To live in the “overflow of heaven,” Christians must abide in Jesus daily, he said.

“Your daily commitment, every day, John 3:30, ‘You must increase, I must decrease,’” Newton said. “Your daily checklist—every day, put on the full armor of God. Your daily covenant—you’ve got to remind yourself who you are in Christ Jesus … be first with Jesus and [then] ‘Come, follow me,’ (Matt. 4:19).”

Conclave NextGen 2025 is scheduled Oct. 6-7 at First Baptist Church in Arlington. To learn more about Conclave NextGen, visit txb.org/conclave.

Macie Groomer, a senior at West Texas A&M University, came to campus her freshman year searching for a community of like-minded believers.

At the invitation of a friend, Groomer participated in Baptist Student Ministry “Welcome Week” events and made strong connections. She decided to stick around.

Groomer said she wouldn’t have learned to take her faith seriously, if the new friends she met there didn’t dive into Scripture with her on a weekly basis that year.

“That first year, anytime we were at the BSM, we were digging into Scripture super deeply, and I was being encouraged by all the people around me [to] spend time in the word and not neglect that and keep going to church,” said Groomer.

“If I hadn’t had that experience of all of these people around me [encouraging me], I wouldn’t have taken my faith as seriously coming to college, because it was my first time on my own, and I [had to choose to] make this faith my own. And so, I think that was really special and really unique. And it just gave me a lot of boldness going into the years after that.”

Groomer learned how to share the gospel for the first time in her freshman year at the BSM, and she said it gave her the boldness to meet new students during Welcome Week in the following years.

“I think that foundation gave me something to stand on now, talking to freshmen and new people, just the willingness and boldness to share the gospel,” Groomer said.

Knowing, following and sharing Jesus

Every August, the West Texas A&M University BSM participates in the campus’ Welcome Week—hosting events each night of the week including Karaoke Night, 99 Cent Steak Night, 806 Worship, and this year’s big finale, the Welcome Dance—to connect with new West Texas A&M University students.

This year, Welcome Week looked a little different for the West Texas A&M BSM, in light of its new building project.

Eric Hunter, director of the BSM, said being in a smaller, temporary building was logistically challenging, but “we enjoy being on campus. It’s good. I think it’s even better to be on-campus [than in the building].”

Welcome Week is the most important week of the year because it sets the tone of the organization with new students, he said.

Current BSM students follow up for the rest of the year with new students they meet during Welcome Week, building relationships and sharing the gospel, hoping to “see multitudes come to Christ, to go from death to life.”

“Our heart and prayer is that … we would see revival; students who come to Christ, turn to Christ, get serious about their faith, that God would move mightily in the lives of believers that they would have a renewed passion and desire to know Jesus, to follow Jesus,” said Hunter.

“And then I think more than anything, that they would have a desire to share with other people.”

Sharing the gospel

Tirzah Miranda, a senior student leader at West Texas A&M BSM, was drawn to the organization after transferringto the school by its unified goal to share the gospel. She said through discipleship and routinely going on campus to share the gospel with her peers, she had learned to make it a priority.

“Through everyone [at the BSM] coming together as a community and going to share the gospel as a normal thing, because that’s what we’re called to do as Christians, I just grew in learning how to evangelize,” said Miranda.

“[Sharing the gospel] was super uncomfortable for me—and it’s still actually kind of uncomfortable for me. It’s a challenging thing. But it’s important, and it’s necessary.”

Miranda said it has been encouraging to see her nonbelieving friends who “maybe wouldn’t necessarily step into the BSM, be interested in the Lord because of how I was equipped through the BSM of just how to share and how to equip other people.”

“They’ve given us the tools, so it’s not like everything is contained in this building. It’s not like: ‘We need to get them into this building so that they can hear the gospel.’ It’s like: ‘No, we’re sending you out so that the campus can hear the gospel.’”

Feeling valued on campus

Hunter said the BSM hopes students will glean two things during Welcome Week: first, that the BSM exists and exists to serve them, and second, that they would “find their people,” hopefully among believers.

West Texas A&M freshman Ally Wilson said she is looking to plug in to an organization that will help her grow stronger in her faith. Throughout Welcome Week, she said she has been drawn to the BSM because she feels pursued by its students.

“What’s making me interested [in the BSM] is them knowing my name, pursuing me, making me feel wanted here,‘cause other ministries on campus are good, but they’re not actively seeking out, wanting me to grow, wanting me to be here with them,” said Wilson.

“I think that’s definitely something that I latched onto and really appreciated—being wanted here.”

Miranda advised West Texas A&M freshmen hoping to invest in their faith in college to be “faithful to Jesus first.”

“We are called to be obedient, but we’re also called to be faithful to him. So, I would just encourage them to be faithful to Jesus first and as they are poured into by the Lord, to pour out,” she said.

“But it comes first from spending time with Jesus, the word [of God], worshipping, being in community, and from that place of being filled, we get to pour out into other people.”

Reaching more students with the gospel

Groomer said she is excited to see how God will use the BSM’s temporary space and on-campus presence to reach more students with the gospel.

“I just expect for the Lord to move in really big ways, being more of an on-campus presence. Not that we weren’t already, but now we’re kind of forced to be there, so I’m hopeful that that will draw people in—and also give us boldness since we’re already there—to just go and reach more people and bring more people, not just to the BSM, but [also] encouraging people to know God and to love God and to worship God.”

The West Texas A&M BSM currently is raising funds to build a new BSM building to fulfill its vision to love, lead and launch students who will form community, hear and respond to the gospel, and become equipped and mobilized as disciple-makers.

To learn more about Texas BSM and the Texas Baptists’ Center for Collegiate Ministry, visit txb.org/collegiate.