In the last three years, I have conducted funerals for almost 40 percent of the active participants in my congregation. I also have officiated more than a dozen funerals for nonmembers and inactive members. These numbers might seem staggering. For many clergy, funeral work is one of the most demanding aspects of ministry.

Bill NieporteYet while clergy are among the first called upon to help a family through its time of grief, often little attention is paid to the work, stress and sorrow experienced by clergy themselves.

Part of the problem is many parishioners are unaware of the effort involved in preparing a funeral. I’d like to outline what typically is involved in planning a eulogy and conducting a memorial service.

The eulogy usually takes six to 10 hours of preparation. Before writing begins, however, the pastor will meet with the decedent’s family. He or she will spend about 90 minutes with the family, outlining the service, selecting scriptures and choosing music. The bulk of the time, though, will be spent listening to stories about the deceased person’s life.

Other duties are set aside for a funeral

Normally, the funeral will take place the following day. So, after the family gathering, the pastor will focus almost exclusively on writing the eulogy. This will necessitate setting aside most other job and family responsibilities.

The pastor will be the first one at the funeral home to meet with the director, musicians and other service participants. Before the service begins, he or she will assemble the family for prayer. After the eulogy, the pastor will join the procession to the graveside and officiate at the committal.

During this time, it is ill-advised to expect your pastor to be in tune with much else beyond the funeral. This kind of work is unlike anything else the clergy are called to do. Pastors invest their best toward a well-prepared eulogy and respectfully planned funeral.

Usually unable to express their grief

What many parishioners often miss is the humanity of the pastor. Very often, a pastor is called upon to conduct a service for a person who is a close friend. Yet most pastors are unable to express their grief the way others might. If your pastor starts crying uncontrollably while conducting a funeral, you’d probably want to get a new pastor. So, pastors become conditioned to hold in their grief, even while advising others to allow their grief to be expressed.

Now, consider that in many congregations the pastor will conduct two or three funerals a month. Sometimes, it will be two or three funerals a week. Consider that funeral work will almost always affect the pastor’s time off, family responsibilities and the ability to get a decent night’s rest. Consider also the pastor still will be expected to prepare a quality sermon for Sunday, engage in hospital and homebound visitation, and handle all the other aspects of ministry typically expected from a pastor.

Congregation can care for the clergy

I hope you can see special attention needs to be spent by a church toward the care of the clergy and their families, especially when they are dealing with large numbers of funerals.

So, what can a congregation do to care for clergy in circumstances like these?

• Remember your pastor really is a human being. Make sure the pastor can turn to someone—a trusted deacon, fellow pastor, denominational leader, etc.—when he/she needs a shoulder to cry on.

• When the burden of grief and the stress related to numerous funerals begins to take a toll on your pastor, step forward and offer to help. Make visits on behalf of the pastor. Offer to teach the mid-week Bible study.

• Understand—and insist—your pastor take an additional day off and spend it with his/her family.

• Stick up for your pastor when he/she misses out on the completion of some typical pastoral responsibilities.

In one congregation I served, I conducted four funerals in the first three weeks of November. That year, I conducted 43 funerals.

On Thanksgiving Eve, a lady called to tell me she had broken one of her toes. Did I go visit? No. I ate Thanksgiving dinner with my family. The next day, we traveled out of town for an overnight trip.

The next Sunday, after worship, this lady “blessed me out” for not visiting her when I knew she had a broken toe. Seriously, you can’t make this stuff up.

A letter of appreciation

Several deacons were standing nearby. They stepped in and defused the situation. The next day, they mailed a letter to the congregation defending my work ethic, demanding understanding and patience, and informing them the first person to call when they had a need was their deacon.

I have a copy of that letter. Whenever I read it, I weep. It allows me to release some of my grief and sorrow and begin to find healing for my heart.

I think I am going to keep that letter in my top desk drawer so I can read it from time to time.

Bill Nieporte is pastor of Patterson Avenue Baptist Church in Richmond, Va. His essay was distributed by ABPnews/Herald.

Recently, the Baptist Student Ministry at the University of North Texas participated in 72 hours of prayer.

Lauren McKeeFrom 7 p.m. on April 14 to 7 p.m. on April 17, the UNT campus was engaged in consistent prayer. Our student leaders, staff and volunteers signed up for one-hour slots to pray for the campus and any prayer requests submitted. We staffed tables at three locations during the day where at least one student was praying and where students could fill out prayer requests.

Prayer request lists were prayed through and for multiple times a day. Our student leaders were changed forever because of this event. However, I believe UNT was changed even more.

UNT began to notice our event before it even started. As tents were getting set up, word spread that it was time for 72 hours of prayer.

Student with prayer cards lining the “72 Hours of Prayer” booth.A student in the UNT Radio, Television and Film Department called to ask if she could do a video about our event. She was set up to interview me, and from the beginning, I realized she was not a Christian. However, she wanted to do all of her films on nonprofit organizations.

Every organization that she had been gravitating toward were nonprofits whose foundation and purpose proclaimed Jesus Christ. This told me she was seeking—whether she knew it or not. So I shared the gospel in as many ways as possible. Not only did I do this, but every student leader she interviewed did the same.

We realized that Jesus had given her to us for a limited time, and we needed to make the gospel our central message.  She ended her time with us by talking with Stephanie, the BSM director, who made sure every word she was saying portrayed the gospel in some way.

I have no idea what the Lord chose to do with the seeds that were planted in our new and dear friend that day. However, what I do know is that she heard the gospel, and the Lord finds pleasure in that. 

Lauren McKee, a graduate of the University of Mary-Hardin Baylor, is serving through Go Now Missions as a campus ministry intern with the Baptist Student Ministry at the University of North Texas.

In the country where I am serving, the day after Easter is a national holiday very much akin to Labor Day in the States. Nearly every shop across the country closes its doors, and families venture out to picnic in parks or unwind at beaches in every corner of the country. It is a day of rest, relaxation and a welcome respite from the cares of everyday life.

I was given the opportunity to visit one of the beaches that families and friends flock to on this ancient holiday, and the sheer number of lost people gathered together overwhelmed me. I am well aware my region is a vastly unreached area. But there is something drastically different between seeing statistics on paper and seeing crowds of people stretching along the coastline as far as the eye can see, knowing that nearly all, if not all, are lost spiritually.

Faith in the goodness of the Father

However, I have faith in the goodness of our Father, and I believe in the power of prayer. It is my conviction that the power of praying continually often is forgotten, because I know it’s true in my life.

As I stood before thousands of lost people, I was reminded of its true power and I was convinced that the first step to reaching out to these people is for everyone across the globe to spend daily time praying for these individuals.

Will we play a part?

God is faithful, and he will respond. No matter where we live, we all are blessed with the ability to take part in his coming kingdom. But, it’s up to us to decide if we are going to actively play a part or not in the coming kingdom of God.  

J.R. is a Texas student serving in the Middle East with Go Now Missions. His full name is withheld for security reasons.

“I’m going to move to Zimbabwe.” I can remember when that was a punchline I used whenever I was joking about leaving America because of social issues. God must have thought it was funny to actually send me there for a week to cover a story on USA volunteers coming to help with a missions project.

One thing I learned: Zimbabwe is not the place to move to for a better government.

Leah AllenThe more important thing I learned: God’s goodness is not only evident in the beautiful mountains of Zimbabwe, but also in the hearts of the people.

My assignment was to follow the volunteers—musicians, songwriters and/or ministers—taking notes and photos.

The volunteers were great. I felt less like the annoying media person and more like a part of the family. They easily opened up to me and their entire team about their own personal lives on and off the camera.

Volunteers shared songs with Zimbabwe school children.The guys shared their music with local school children, danced with orphans who sang songs in their heart language, and handed out notebooks to students who would otherwise be doing their classwork in the dirt—seriously.

Part of me always gets a little jealous when I go on these kinds of media assignments. I’ve done lots of mission trips in my lifetime. To stand on the sidelines is often challenging, because I’d rather be in the middle helping. This time, though, it was beautifully different.

Standing on the sidelines, spending every moment with these guys, I was able to witness God work through each of them. On Day One, they were excited about sharing American music with the kids. By Day Five, they were excited about taking the African style of worship back home.

I often heard the remarks: “Why is our music so inward? Look at how fun their outward celebration is!” “The American culture is so much about ‘me’ and ‘I,’ whereas the African is about ‘us’ and ‘we.’” And my favorite, “Let’s challenge ourselves to make more celebratory music!”

The joyful hearts of the Zimbabwean Christians truly spread to the hearts of the American volunteers.I also witnessed God work through the Americans as they handed out the notebooks. The focus of the project is to provide for a need while sharing the gospel. So, each day, the men shared the gospel through music, testimonies and a short sermon.

Then the children approached them one-by-one to get a stack of three notebooks, each of which had the gospel message and a True Love Waits statement on the cover.

You could just see the hearts of the guys being touched as they handed out the notebooks and the Zimbabweans feeling so much joy for a simple thing we take for granted.

I’ve never been in the position before to just watch God work through people in such a way. It was inspirational. The joyful hearts of the Zimbabwean Christians truly spread to the hearts of the American volunteers. I cannot wait to see what kind of music comes out of their experience and how they are inspired to continue to share God’s love to Zimbabwe and the ends of the earth.

Leah Allen, a former communications intern at the Baptist Standard and the Baptist General Convention of Texas, served as a semester missionary in Africa with Go Now Missions.

I again invite you to our upcoming Bivocational/Small Church Conference July 11-12 on the campus of the Baptist University of the Americas in San Antonio. The theme for the conference is “A Call to Courage,” taken from Deuteronomy 31:8, “The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”

Richard RayI shared last week the Bivocational/Small Church Association understands serving in the small-church mission field takes courage. This year’s conference is designed to minister to ministers and their families who have taken on the call of God to serve in the small-church mission field.

I mentioned how this conference will provide breakout sessions that will edify, educate and equip you to serve in the small-church mission field. I also noted we will host a “Ladies’ Beauty Spa,” where each woman can have her nails done and receive refreshments and fellowship, and the teenagers will experience San Antonio along the River Walk. There also will be childcare and activities for the children.

Along with these activities, we also will provide wonderful entertainment, beginning with Christian illusionist Mitch Chapman on Friday night. He will entertain with his unique style of mystery. He will astound you with his illusions, and he will enlighten you with his words.

On Saturday, we will host a free health screening for all attendees and the local community, thanks to Baptist Health Systems, which is providing its mobile medical unit for the conference.

Also on Saturday, a Christian clown company will paint faces, make balloon animals and put on skits to entertain the children. The Texas Baptist Men feeding unit out of San Angelo will provide breakfast and lunch Saturday. You simply do not want to miss the two-day conference, where you and your family are lifted up in spirit and in truth.

Our goal for this conference is to touch the lives of all those called to serve in the small-church mission field, which includes the family. You can find additional information and register for the conference on our website, www.bivocational.com. You may contact me via email at brother_ray@juno.com. In next week’s article, I will share the heart of each breakout session as expressed by the instructors.

Remember, God has called you to serve, but God has not called you to serve alone. Let us be your advocate, your resource and your prayer partner as you fulfill your calling. Until next time, please visit our website, www.bivocational.com.

Richard Ray is president of the Bivocational/Small Church Association, pastor of First Baptist Church in Wink and director of missions for Pecos Valley Baptist Association. You can reach him at brother_ray@juno.com.

Every time we’re together, Ezra helps me understand why I love being a grandfather.

My grandson also stretches my memory a generation, and he reminds me why I love every moment I’ve been a father.

The pure, simple, untamed love of a child is a grace-gift—from God, but also from that child. Its magnitude dwarfs infinity. Ezra’s mama, Lindsay, and Aunt Molly loved me like that. (They still do, of course, but adult love is more dynamic and complex.) And I reciprocate their love as fully as a grown man’s heart can stretch.

Grandparents enjoy making jokes about grandparenting. You’ve heard them all; so have I. Their humor juxtaposes the responsibility of parenting with the freedom of grandparenting. Their banality deflates the spectacular originality of each child into the bland commonality of generic childhood.

Is grandparenting better than parenting?

Most grandparent jokes circle around the premise that grandparenting is better than parenting. The standard line, delivered in myriad forms, claims grandparenting is better because grandparents aren’t required to do the hard or unpleasant jobs of raising children.

That’s true to a degree. But I happily have taken my turn at changing poopy diapers for two generations of our family. And I eagerly have played games with my daughters and my grandson over and over and over until my eyes crossed. I now engage the tedium of grandparenting as willingly as I engaged the monotony of parenting. Because, ultimately, that’s when you truly show a small child your deep and abiding love.

Still, most grandparents (the exceptions are the ones who actually raise their grandchildren) relinquish some of the hard responsibility of childcare to parents. Eventually, the grandparent or the grandchild has to go home. I’d say that’s a trade-off to parenting. Sure, a parent rarely gets a break. But a parent also gets to be there all the time. A parent hears the first word and watches the first step. A parent glimpses the light of understanding click on. A parent shares splendidly serendipitous moments.

All that aside, one quality of grandparenting eclipses parenting: Thanks to the poignant gift of experience, a grandparent truly appreciates the fleeting nature of childhood. That knowledge sanctifies every second. It infuses the present with a joy too sweet to be savored fully and completely the first time around.

A grandparent understands exactly how rapidly each phase of life flees. A grandparent realizes that in five blinks of an eye, this 3-year-old will be heading off to college. While a parent must move on to the next task, a grandparent enjoys the luxury of drinking deeply at the fountain of in-the-moment awareness.

Not always easy

Not that it’s always easy. Two-year-olds still throw tantrums. Three-year-olds get too tired and go ballistic. Four-year-olds get fed up and show their hind-ends to anybody anywhere. But grandparents know this, too, shall pass. It did when that child’s mama was his age; it will today.

Grandparenting Ezra, in particular, reminds me this gift is fragile, not to be taken casually.

Ezra’s other grandfather, Gary, died a little more than two weeks before this child was born.

After Lindsay married Ezra’s daddy, Aaron, I worried how I would compare as a grandfather. Gary built homes. He knew how to do stuff. He hunted and fished. He souped up and drove fast cars. He was godly, gentle, generous and kind. He even had a full head of hair. And he was an experienced and terrific granddad to Ava years before Ezra came along. How could I possibly measure up?

Of course, grandparenting isn’t a competition. If Gary had lived, we would be complementing each other in the love and affection we pour on this little guy. Now, I miss Gary when I look at Ezra, who looks so much like his daddy, who looks so much like his own daddy. All I can do is try to love and enjoy Ezra enough for two grandfathers.

And that is pure bliss. Especially when Ezra calls my name. When he asks me to play trains, shoot baskets and throw a ball. When he laughs, “Hugs, but no kisses.” When he wakes from his nap and calls out, “Marvo, where are yooooooo?”

Yep, grandparenting is great.

It’s all about perspective.

A smart professor in Massachusetts recently noticed religion’s decline in America coincided with the rise of the Internet.

He theorized the two may be connected. Headline: “Is the Internet bad for religion?”

It’s utter nonsense, of course. The decline of mainline churches began in 1965, not in the 1990s, when the Internet became commercially available. It would be more accurate, from a timing standpoint, to say the American League’s designated hitter rule (1973) caused religion’s decline. Or maybe the “British invasion” in rock ’n’ roll (1964).

Tom EhrichOr maybe the impact of Brown v. Board of Education (1957), which launched a wave of white-flight suburbs and crippled two rings of inner-city and neighborhood churches. Or maybe it was suburban shopping malls (1960s), which gave people something else to do on Sunday morning, and repeal of the so-called “blue laws” that once guaranteed Sunday morning to churches.

Here’s a primer on what actually is going on:

• Is the Internet killing religion?

No. U.S. Religion went into decline 30 years before the Internet became commercially available.

• Is anything killing religion?

Not directly or deliberately. Cultures change; people’s lives, needs and expectations change. Therefore, institutions must change. Religious institutions were slow to recognize fundamental changes in their contexts and constituencies. Many fought change, in fact, as if change were unholy. By now, many religious institutions have adapted, and they are doing fine. Others refused to adapt, and they are closing their doors at a rapid clip.

• Are Americans losing faith?

No. By all measures I’ve seen, Americans are as faith-filled, faith-interested or faith-seeking as ever. What people are losing is a desire to sit in a pew on Sunday morning. This cuts deep. Many church leaders remain stuck believing Sunday worship is their reason for being. They keep hoping when they open the doors next Sunday, magic will occur. When congregations look beyond Sunday, however, and beyond worship as primary activity, they are amazed at how responsive people are, even the generation supposedly known as “nones.”

• If the Internet isn’t killing religion, what is it doing to religion?

Saving religion’s bacon. The Internet is providing new tools for creative faith leaders. Blogs, e-letters, social media posts, videos, data management, Web conferencing, mobile apps—radically affordable, familiar to constituents, trusted and relatively easy to learn. They are making it possible for churches to reach people with an immediacy and intensity they didn’t have before.

• What, then, is the problem?

The problem is noncreative leaders who fear new ways and have concluded new means wrong. Even though Christianity has benefited tremendously from technology—printing press, modern libraries, sound systems, video systems, computerized record-keeping and now Web-based tools—these leaders fear the new and feel incompetent when presented a new tool, and they mistake those feelings with the will of God.

• Does religion have a future in the U.S.?

Not without adapting to changed circumstances, contexts and constituencies. Refusal to change is a death wish. But if congregations can embrace people, the needs they know, the tools they use and the hungers they experience, and if they can get outside themselves, religion can have a great future. In many places, that future already is breaking in.

Tom Ehrich is a writer, church consultant and minister. He is the author of Just Wondering, Jesus and founder of the Church Wellness Project. His website is www.morningwalkmedia.com. Follow Tom on Twitter @tomehrich.

Imagine you’re God, and you care about what happens in Anytown, USA. It’s Tuesday evening, and you’re ready for someone in Anytown to request your guidance over the city council meeting.

The mayor calls on the ministerial alliance president to offer the invocation. Then, by mutual consent of everybody from pagans to Presbyterians and Buddhists to Baptists, he begins: “To whom it may concern, … .”

Editor Marv KnoxIf you’re God, would you bother to listen?

Most Americans think so.

I’ve got my doubts.

Fairleigh Dickinson University’s PublicMind survey asked citizens what they think about U.S. Supreme Court cases. Anytown’s scenario parallels Greece v. Galloway. The lawsuit questions whether public government meetings can be opened with specific religious prayers—such as praying in Jesus’ name.

A Jew and an atheist sued the city of Greece, N.Y., which began its meetings with Christian prayers. They claim the practice violates the First Amendment, which bans government establishment of religion. Even when officials invited non-Christians to pray, they still violated the amendment, the plaintiffs contend.

Generic prayer

Greece’s city leaders “were trying their best not to offend anyone by making prayers as generic as possible,” Peter Woolley, political science professor at Farleigh Dickenson, told Religion News Service. “In this survey, we asked if this is an acceptable way to approach the problem.”

The vast majority of Americans agree it is.

Seventy-three percent affirmed, “Prayer at public meetings is fine as long as the public officials are not favoring some beliefs over others,” Woolley reported. Twenty-three percent countered, “Public meetings shouldn’t have any prayers at all, because prayers by definition suggest one belief over another.”

The key to gathering broad-based support is requiring generic—“harmless, if not uplifting”—prayers at public events, Woolley told RNS. “Americans have become more used to the idea that one denomination is not necessarily privileged over another. Even unbelievers—atheists who would say prayer ‘is not for me’—approved.”

Well, of course, atheists approved. They understand generic “To whom it may concern …” prayers aren’t worth protesting. Atheists know they have nothing to fear from faux prayer.

Public support

You’d think Christians would fear watered-down mumbling masquerading as prayer. You’d be wrong. Overt religiosity correlates directly with support for generic public prayer, the survey showed:

• 86 percent of Americans who attend religious services at least once or twice a month favor generic public prayer; 11 percent do not.

• 73 percent of respondents who go to church only a few times a year favor; 26 percent do not.

• 58 percent of those who rarely or never worship support; 36 percent oppose.

Why is this attitude so troubling? Three reasons come to mind …

First, it blasphemes the God we claim to worship.

The prophet Amos spoke for God regarding shallow, showy, meaningless religious practice: “I hate, I despise your religious festivals; your assemblies are a stench to me …” (Amos 5:21).

Second, it undermines true prayer.

Generic prayer weakens our assertion prayer matters. If you agree prayer is so innocuous you can toss it up indiscriminately, you undermine the idea God cares about and/or gets involved in the world. You say prayer is a mere civic formality, devoid of meaning and power.

Third, it’s anti-evangelistic.

Christians often claim they want all people to follow Jesus. But then they either disrespect others’ beliefs and rub their noses in real prayers or pacify their own piosity with generic prayers. Neither approach guides people toward faith.

American civil religion

In fact, generic prayers prop up American civil religion. When religious practices are so placid they appease everyone, they’re practically meaningless. They inoculate unbelievers against true faith.

You know how a vaccine works: Medical staff inject dead or weak disease cells into a person. The cells aren’t strong enough to make the person sick; just strong enough so the person builds up antibodies for the disease. That sounds like civil religion; tepid generic prayer is Exhibit A.

Of course, prayer still has value in our society. Here are solutions to the “To whom it may concern” public-prayer imbroglio:

• Observe a moment of silence at the beginning of public meetings. People of faith may pray. Others can check their email. But real prayers are said.

• Pray privately in the meeting. Pray quietly, with your eyes open. If you value prayer in public meetings, pray without ceasing. But keep it between you and God.

• Pray before you leave home. Jesus advised praying in private. God is smart enough to connect the dots between at-home prayers and divine involvement in society.

• Pray for the community continuously. Nobody will regulate prayer in your church. Make praying for your community a major component of your worship.

Why support immigration reform?

“Baptist leaders discuss immigration reform with Obama”: Why?

Our current immigration laws built the most prosperous county ever to exist in the history of the world. It is the failure to enforce the immigration laws that has created the problems.

Immigration reform as proposed by the current administration is nothing more than buying 11 million new grateful voters. Add a clause that will put the illegal immigrants on probation for voting rights and listen to the screams of the current administration.

Fred Rosenbaum

Gainesville

Jeane Law: ‘Always smiling and working for our Lord”

“Down Home: Thanks God for the faith and laughter of Jeane Law”  describes the Jeane I knew. She was always smiling and working for our Lord.

Her last outing was to a Woman’s Missionary Union group meeting. She shared with us that day how her cancer was hurting, but she smiled as she spoke about it.

Yes, all of us will miss her, but we could not ask for God’s delay in calling her to him because she was suffering so. She left all of us a challenge—serve the Lord in all that we do and remember that “we’ve a story to tell to the nations.”

Charlotte Northington

Lubbock

Hello, Texas Baptists! I hope you all were able to spend some quality time with your friends, family and church this Easter. My family and I were thoroughly blessed to spend time together reflecting on the magnificent gift the Lord gave us through the resurrection of Christ.

David HardageKathleen, Rebekah and I spent Easter Sunday at First Baptist Church of Gainesville. It was a wonderful experience, and I was happy to preach and worship alongside that great church.

Later, I made a visit to West Texas and was able to meet with pastors and directors of missions around Lubbock and Midland. It was a great trip, filled with wonderful conversations and hopeful anticipation for the work in that area. Thanks to all of the Baptist leaders who made time to visit.

Houston Baptist University has been named the sixth most diverse U.S. college. Four racial groups—Asian, black/African-American, Hispanic/Latino and white—each comprise double-digit percentages of Houston Baptist University’s student body. That means a very diverse group of students is learning to view all life from a distinctively Christian worldview as they prepare for success on the job and in life at HBU.

Your Baptist Building is being decked with photos from our Baptist institutions around the state. All of these beautiful Texas Baptist faces are bringing a lot of life to the halls and offices. I hope you will stop by sometime and see them for yourself. Thanks to Baylor University, Buckner International, Children at Heart Ministries, East Texas Baptist University, Houston Baptist University, Howard Payne University, the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor  and Wayland Baptist University for sending us photos. If you didn’t see your Baptist institution’s name in this list, please contact them and ask them to send us photos to represent them here in your building. We would love to have their photos up on the walls!

David Hardage is executive director of the Baptist General Convention of Texas Executive Board.

At 50, it is said, everyone gets the face they deserve. Whoa! I am 53.

My wife headed to the middle school track meet (a school annual sponsor) this past week with PFS 120 sunscreen slathered on her face. Who of us over the age of 30 would dare go out for a day in the sun without a thick coating of zinc oxide? Of course, for me, this probably is all too late. The damage has been done. I have, yes, wrinkles! Lines! Creases!

Jeff JohnsonWhat an image! No wonder the multi-million-dollar cosmetics industry provides so many moisturizing, micro-encapsulated, mega-drenched, money-sucking methods for combating the effects sun, rain, wind and life exact on our faces.

Have you ever wondered what we as Texas Baptists look like? Our image? Our identity? Our distinctives? How old we are? How old we appear? Do we look our age?

Alan Lefever leads a group that helps us identify ourselves. The Texas Baptist Historical Collection partners in collecting, preserving and communicating the history of Texas Baptists by working with churches, institutions and associations. They help provide a better look at where we’ve been, where we are and where we are going. They also provide information on a particular church’s history or particular minister’s biography.

Texas Baptist Historical Collection

Need someone to help you formulate and articulate your church’s heritage? Frame your image for those who would build on your church’s spiritual foundation? Contact the Texas Baptist Historical Collection team: Alan Lefever, director; Naomi Taplin, associate director; and Autumn Hendon, ministry assistant.

First Baptist Church in Commerce recently hosted the annual Baptist General Convention of Texas Church Library Conference. Naomi is the person on our BGCT staff responsible for organizing and leading this meeting. Her expertise as both a librarian and an archivist helps churches like ours transform old facilities and practices to meet the demands of 21st century church libraries, media centers and reading initiatives.

Image is an interesting thing, especially in religious life. Over the years, I have noticed Jesus’ image showing up in all sorts of bizarre places. In Texas, I can remember Jesus’ image reportedly appearing in a bathroom window, a flour tortilla and a Willie Nelson photograph.

One year, he had the good sense to appear on a mass-produced piece of pizza billboard advertising. I then resolved to take no more foolish treks to Southwest Texas lavatories just to see Jesus.

See the image of Jesus in Texas Baptist history

I see the face, the image of Jesus in Texas Baptist history. Our foreparents encountered God, and I have a passion to experience God in the same way. What does your church’s heritage reveal about your relationship with God? What Texas Baptist facemarks testify to our experiences with God and Main Street encounters with those Jesus died to save?

As a Texas Baptist late baby boomer, I may just be willing to concede I should begin to “act my age,” but it is abundantly clear I have no intention of looking it. When I look in the Baptist historical mirror, I am encouraged toward a bright future built on a firm foundation. Oh, in pictures, remember I’m the one with the neon green zinc oxide nose and outback hat.

Jeff Johnson is president of the Baptist General Convention of Texas and pastor of First Baptist Church in Commerce.

All the nations have come together in New York City. It blows my mind how God has brought people groups in just one city, and not only that, God has brought them together in their own communities and neighborhoods.  

Brenda Sanders, my Go Now Missions supervisor, recently came to New York City. I was so happy to see her and spend time with her. I am so thankful for her passion to send college students to make disciples of all nations. Leilani EstradaShe attended our Get Connected event at Metropolitan New York Baptist Association, where she learned about different ministries at the association, as well as our new summer internship program, MultiplyNYC.  

Brenda and I—along with a group from First Baptist Church in Houston—took a Vision Tour and visited the ministries that take place in the borough of Queens.

First, we went to Flushing, an Asian neighborhood. There, we talked to a church planter and learned about his ministry—and also drank some bubble tea.

Two subway stops after Flushing, we visited Corona. In this neighborhood, you will find people from Mexico, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador and El Salvador.  We visited Pastor Juan Carlos Suero, who told us about his ministry. He has planted a Quichua church in Corona.  

After Corona, we stopped at Jackson Heights, also known as Little India. We heard from one of our church planters, Boto Joseph, as he shared with us the needs in his neighborhood. As he gave us a tour, we went inside one of the Indian stores. There, Boto explained to us a little about the Hindu religion—what they believe and how Hinduism and yoga go hand-in-hand.

I got to try Indian food for the very first time in my life and I loved it!  We also had real chai tea, which is very different from Starbucks chai.

I am captivated at how God works and brings people closer to the gospel.

Leilani Estrada, a graduate of the University of Texas Pan-Am, serves in New York as a Go Now semester missionary with Metropolitan New York Baptist Association.