IN FOCUS: What an event, down in the Valley

We have just concluded our Texas Baptist annual meeting in the Valley. I don’t know what we should call this experience, but it was much more than a meeting.

I’ve never been very clever when it comes to creative names. When Sheila was expecting our first child, we labored over names. She wanted her family name, King, to be included in our son’s name. We also wanted a name that had biblical significance. I had the perfect solution. I said let’s name him King James. We could call him Art, short for Authorized Version. This was unacceptable for obvious reasons. We settled for the less conspicuous name Jeremy King Everett, a form of Jeremiah, prophet for the nations. After a long night of sleeplessness, I also remembered Jeremiah was the weeping prophet.

The name “annual meeting” doesn’t do justice to what we have just celebrated in McAllen. We had some meetings with lively discussion, disagreements, consensus and decisions; but it was much more than a meeting. Perhaps we could call it a “family reunion.” I believe fellowship was the most important characteristic of what we experienced. Alumni gathered together from all our Baptist schools. Affinity groups had rallies, worship times and meals together. Old friends reminisced.

It also was a regional evangelistic emphasis, with more than 700 people professing faith in Christ for the first time. It was a revival. Hundreds of folks throughout the Valley registered decisions of rededication, and prayer walks were held in neighborhoods, public places and symbols of crisis and opportunity, such as the international bridge. The pastor of the church where I preached on Sunday morning invited his congregation to come to the ministry fair, where they could observe booths describing the multiple ways Texas Baptists reach out across our state and beyond. He also invited them to participate in the many ministry opportunities through food and clothing distribution and other acts of mercy.

We could call our experience a conference with the many breakout sessions. It was a worship celebration, with the dynamic preaching of David Lowrie and Victor Rodriguez, biblical teaching of Jim Denison, Joel Gregory and Ellis Orozco, and the inspired music.

This obviously was not a youth event, but five students from East Texas Baptist University told me they loved being part of the experience, even the business meetings. We failed to represent the great ethnic diversity of Texas, but more Hispanics participated than ever before and even international guests from Mexico, Venezuela, Israel, Lebanon and India attended.

Some will focus on the numbers—we had 783 who signed in as messengers and 948 as visitors—and say annual meetings are no longer viable. Yet those who showed up in McAllen and experienced the Valley hospitality, the dynamic worship, the moving ministry experiences and the warm fellowship will thank God for this memorable time with him and with the Texas Baptist family. Whatever we call this annual event, we experienced the presence of Christ in the Valley.

Randel Everett is executive director of the Baptist General Convention of Texas Executive Board.