Hello, Texas Baptists. For the past 18 months, I have had the joy of serving as interim pastor of First Baptist Church in Waxahachie (www.fbcwax.org). I am so grateful to this wonderful church family for the way they made Kathleen and me feel so welcome each week. I completed my work there; they have a very bright future.
I express my gratitude to the Baptist Student Ministry of Texas Woman's University (www. twubsm.com) and the University of North Texas (www.untbsm.com) for their hospitality a couple of weeks ago as I visited each campus. Mika Sumpter is providing good leadership at TWU, and Stephanie Gates is doing a good job at UNT. Please pray for them. Also, the UNT group is raising funs for a new facility. They have a great location in the heart of the campus, where 17,000 students pass every day. When I was there, 400 gathered for lunch and heard the gospel. If you are interested in supporting this cause, please contact them at (940) 387-6331.
This year's Texas Woman's Missionary Union annual meeting (wmutx@texasbaptists.org) was held at First Baptist Church in Corpus Christi (www.fbc-corpuschristi.org), and more than 500 attended. I so appreciated the opportunity to preach and then lead a breakout group. Sandra Wisdom-Martin is giving great leadership, and the Baptist General Convention of Texas values our partnership with Texas WMU.
Thank you to Clint Davis, pastor of First Baptist Church in Mount Pleasant, (www.fbcmp.org) for allowing me to preach in his absence recently. First Baptist has constructed a beautiful new facility just south of Mount Pleasant, and the pastor will celebrate his 20th anniversary with the church in May. Congratulations, Clint!
Your Texas Baptist Ministers of Education Association held its annual retreat at the T Bar M Conference Center in New Braunfels in April. I appreciated the opportunity to share with them about who we are as Texas Baptists. Bruce Welch, minister of education at First Baptist Church in Sulphur Springs (www. ssfbc.org) has served as their president this past year. Well done, Bruce.
First Baptist Church in Waco (contact@fbcwaco.org) hosted a luncheon for Baylor University's Center for Ministry Effectiveness and Educational Leadership (http://www.baylor.edu/ministry_effectiveness/). Don Schmeltekopf is the director of the center, and I was honored to speak to such a great group.
Kathleen and I certainly enjoyed the retirement dinner honoring Ken Hall of Buckner International (www.buckner.org). Ken has provided visionary leadership for more than 18 years, and I wish the very best for him and Linda. Of course, Buckner is still in great hands under the new leadership of Albert Reyes.
More next time. Plan to join us in Corpus for our annual meeting Oct. 29-31.
David Hardage is executive director of the Baptist General Convention of Texas Executive Board.
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