Texas Baptist musicians who had prayed for New York City and prepared to perform concerts in churches there have spent recent weeks sewing protective masks for a congregation in Queens to distribute to its ethnically diverse neighborhood.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced the Singing Women of Central Texas to cancel a long-anticipated mission trip to New York City.

However, funds raised for that trip will benefit several churches in Metropolitan New York Baptist Association, and members of the choral group have made 500 masks for a predominantly Romanian congregation to give to residents in its neighborhood.

The Central Texas chapter of the Singing Women of Texas—a musical group sponsored by the Baptist General Convention of Texas—raised $7,500 to fund a mission trip to New York City through offerings collected at its concerts in Texas Baptist churches from September to February.

‘Walked and prayed for New York City’

The group had expected to perform concerts in at least two churches in New York and work on mission projects in coordination with Metropolitan New York Baptist Association.

“We had a burden for New York City and for the people there,” said Kay Payton of Round Rock, director of the Singing Women of Central Texas.

In preparation for the trip, members participated in a virtual “walk to New York”—registering miles on a digital fitness tracker and praying for specific locations in New York City as they exercised.

“All fall, we had walked and prayed for New York City,” Payton said.

When the first case of COVID-19 was confirmed in New York City, the Singing Women committed to “keep praying and keep walking,” she noted.

But even before the New York governor issued stay-at-home restrictions in late March, it became clear the mission trip and concerts had to be cancelled.

Plans changed, new opportunity emerged

At that point, Payton contacted Metropolitan New York Baptist Association to request a list of specific needs the Singing Women might be able to meet.

The group learned Maranatha Baptist Church serves an area in the borough of Queens, bordering Brooklyn, where more than half the residents speak a language other than English. About four out of 10 people in the neighborhood are immigrants—mostly from Romania, Albania and Poland.

“A lot of the immigrants work as taxi or Uber drivers, as hotel employees or as busboys or dishwashers in restaurants, so they are out of work,” Payton said.

Maranatha Baptist Church provides free groceries each Tuesday afternoon to local families who are unemployed or in need.

“But they can’t even go out on the streets without masks,” she added.

Payton contacted Pastor Emanuel Grozea to ask how many masks his church needed. He responded with a request for 500 masks.

“He told me he had been on the phone trying to secure masks from companies, and they were just too expensive,” Payton said. “He prayed and asked God what he should do. And then my email appeared offering masks for free.”

Making masks, funding ministries

Payton asked each of the Singing Women who were capable to sew masks. Those who lacked the skill or equipment to sew were invited to write encouraging Scripture verses on index cards or slips of paper that could be clipped to each mask.

The first 200 masks arrived May 1 at Maranatha Baptist Church. A few days later, neighborhood residents lined up around the block—each person six feet from anyone else—to receive a sack of groceries and select masks for other members of their families.

A second shipment of 200 masks was sent about a week later, and 100 more are scheduled to be sent to New York by the end of this week.

In addition to giving away groceries to neighborhood residents, Maranatha Baptist Church also has provided meals for police officers in the 104th Precinct, as well as firefighters and paramedics serving the neighborhood.

The Singing Women of Central Texas wanted to donate to ministries in New York the funds given at its concerts in recent months. The group’s officers agreed to send Maranatha Baptist Church $1,000 to help buy groceries for neighborhood families and meals for first responders. Metropolitan New York Baptist Association will receive the remaining $6,500 to meet other needs.

“Every church needs money to help with food, shelter and—unfortunately—funerals,” Payton wrote in an email to the Singing Women.

“We may not be the ‘hands and feet’ of Jesus on the streets of NYC, but like Lydia, Mary, Martha, Eunice and Lois, we can send funds for the ministry of those the Lord has already set in place.”

Ushers learn to seat worshippers six feet apart from anyone not in their households.

Collection baskets at sanctuary exits and instructions for online giving replace offering plates previously passed from one hand to another.

And churches that previously considered their facilities spotless discover what deep cleaning really means.

Texas Baptist churches that prepare to resume in-person worship discover a far different experience than they knew before the COVID-19 outbreak.

‘We know it’s sure to look different’

In recent weeks, when Gov. Gregg Abbott issued a series of guidelines for houses of worship in consultation with the state attorney general’s office, pastors and other church leaders began taking steps to develop their own plans to return to in-person worship gatherings.

“Three weeks ago, we began talking about it,” Troy Allen, pastor of First Baptist Church in College Station, said on May 1. “Our staff—particularly our ministry staff—started asking, ‘What is this going to look like?’ We know it’s sure to look different.”

The first set of guidelines from the state noted the Centers for Disease Control recommended no gatherings of 10 or more people if any individuals from at-risk populations attended. So, most churches discontinued in-person worship services, and many initiated or upgraded online alternatives.

Revised guidelines issued April 21 removed that stipulation but continued to encourage churches to “conduct as many activities as possible remotely and … follow federal guidelines when providing services in person.”

The most recent guidelines, issued jointly by the offices of the governor and the state attorney general April 27, include a recommended set of “minimum health protocols” for churches that decide to provide in-person services.

On April 28, Abbott issued an executive order launching Phase One of his “open Texas” initiative. Among other stipulations, the order allowed certain businesses and other public venues to reopen on May 1 at 25 percent of legal occupancy.

Because worship services are categorized as “essential services,” they are not subject to the restrictions mentioned in the executive order. However, many congregations are choosing to adopt a similar phased-in return to in-person worship and to be guided by the state-issued public health protocols.

Churches that are taking initial steps to resume in-person worship services have several traits in common. Online streaming of worship services continues. Members in high-risk groups are encouraged to participate by viewing from their homes. Churches are slow to resume offering childcare on their campuses. Seating in services is reconfigured to promote social distancing. And worshippers at on-site services are strongly encouraged—but not required—to wear masks.

Laredo church begins with drive-in worship

First Baptist Church in Laredo launched Phase One of its gradual return to in-person worship with drive-in services on the church’s parking lot beginning May 3. Members who joined in the worship event from their parked cars were able to listen on FM radio. Pastor Benjamin Karner preached outdoors, the church’s praise team led worship music from inside the sanctuary, and worshippers listened on their car radios.

“About three years ago, we had quite a few nursing mothers in our congregation and wanted to accommodate them. So, we bought a small FM transmitter so the moms would listen to the worship service from the nursing moms’ room,” Karner said.

When the initial limits on the size of gatherings went into effect in March, the church first planned to initiate the drive-in worship services at that point. However, when local officials quashed that idea, the church put it aside until the governor and attorney general issued subsequent guidelines for houses of worship.

The church hopes to move to Phase Two—a family service inside its worship center, reconfigured to allow for social distancing—on May 17. Seating in the sanctuary will be limited to about 25 percent of capacity, and overflow seating will be provided in the church’s fellowship hall. If attendance significantly surpasses seating capacity in the worship center the first Sunday, the church likely will add a second worship service, Karner said.

Timing of future phases flexible

In Phase Two, no childcare will be provided, and Bible study groups will continue to meet via video conference. The Sunday worship service and a mid-week Bible study will be livestreamed.

“The progression to this phase of relaunching is dependent on community factors. If we are experiencing further outbreaks or virus-related challenges, this phase will be pushed back,” Karner wrote to his members May 1.

Ideally, First Baptist in Laredo hopes to enter Phase 3 as early as June 7. At that point, the church will resume children’s ministries. Rather than individual small-group meetings, one large adult Bible study will be offered in the worship center and a youth Bible study will be held in the fellowship hall to maintain physical distancing requirements.

“We’ll be looking at the hard data from the county judge, looking particularly for any community spike in confirmed cases” of COVID-19, Karner said.

Church leaders also will seek to determine the comfort level of worshippers. In looking at his church members’ posts on social media, Karner noted, their opinions about how open or how cautious Texas should be span the spectrum.

In his May 1 letter to the congregation, Karner wrote about the need to act “according to wisdom in obedience to the commands of God while also being civically minded.”

“There are no safe solutions,” he acknowledged. “Life does not work that way. However, we cannot be paralyzed by our fears and anxieties. We are a community of faith, and we will move in faith and wisdom knowing our future is secure in Jesus Christ.”

College Station  church ‘Moving Forward’ step by step

As leaders of First Baptist Church in College Station made plans to return to on-site, in-person worship services, they set May 10 as the starting date for Phase One.

They posted a document—“Moving Forward”—online to explain the comprehensive plan for resuming public gatherings.

“We will not be opening everything all at once,” the plan states. “We want to take a very measured approach to ensure the health and safety of our church.”

On May 10, the church plans to offer three identical family services at 8:30 a.m., 9:45 a.m. and 11 a.m.

“We’re not able to offer Sunday School as we have known it at this point. So, we decided to pull that off the table for now and recapture that hour for worship,” Allen said in a phone interview.

Each worship service will be condensed to about 45 minutes, allowing 30 minutes to sanitize the sanctuary between services, he noted. Since the sanctuary has movable pews, every other row of seats will be removed before May 10 to allow proper social distancing, and everything from the pew racks will be taken out to facilitate cleaning of surface areas.

“Assess and evaluate every week’

First Baptist in College Station hopes to move to Phase Two—on-site Bible studies in some of the larger rooms in the church’s facility—after May 31, but that will be determined by what state and local officials recommend at that point.

If all goes well, the church hopes it may be able to implement Phase Three—the congregation’s familiar schedule of Sunday worship services at 8:30 a.m. and 11 a.m., with Sunday school at 9:45—sometime in July.

“We will assess and evaluate every week,” Allen said.

Even after the church enters Phase Three, livestreaming of worship services will continue, no “meet-and-greet” time will be part of the worship services, and online giving will be encouraged.

Allen acknowledged the challenges in trying to maintain social distancing and limiting contact—particularly when church members have been separated from close friends for several weeks.

“We’re kind of big on our freedom as Baptists. Adults are going to do what they want to do,” he said. “We’ll just remind them and encourage them.”

Corpus Christi church commits to ‘love our people well’

Leaders of First Baptist Church in Corpus Christi began in April making plans how to resume on-site worship.

“We wanted to make sure safety precautions were in place and that we had an opportunity to train ushers and greeters,” Pastor Brian Hill said.

Hill posted a video on the church’s Facebook page on April 28 announcing plans to begin “regathering” for worship on May 10, stressing that “the church never closed” and ministries continued.

“The driving principle for us as a church, and for me as your pastor, is that we need to love our people well,” Hill said in the video.

Discipleship and fellowship occur best in person, he said, but the church did not want to rush into resumed worship gatherings without first taking necessary precautions—training personnel, installing hand sanitizer dispensers, and making adjustments regarding seating in the worship center.

The church’s sanctuary normally can seat about 800. Keeping every other pew vacant for social distancing immediately reduces the seating capacity to 400. To provide six feet between worshippers who do not live in the same household, the church will seek to limit the number of on-site worshippers to 200.

First Baptist in Corpus Christi will offer one on-site blended worship service at 9 a.m. on May 10.

“We are going to encourage our members to show love for the person next to them,” Hill said in a phone interview. He noted he will do everything possible to remind worshippers to show grace to others who may not have the same comfort level in terms of physical distance.

By Memorial Day weekend, Hill hopes his church might be ready to return to two Sunday morning services with distinct worship styles.

While churches are in uncharted waters as they learn how to return to some sense of normalcy after a pandemic, Hill noted the benefit of “a collective brain trust,” as church leaders learn best practices from each other.

Coordinated effort in Magnolia

In Magnolia—about 45 miles northwest of downtown Houston—pastors who had been part of a monthly breakfast meeting saw value in seeking to coordinate the timing of when their churches would resume on-site worship.

While some churches in hierarchal denominations had to receive the approval of superintendents or bishops, about a dozen evangelical churches in Magnolia set May 24 as the tentative target day for resumed in-person worship.

“We decided there are certain triggers that will tell us when to start,” said Ed Seay, pastor of First Baptist Church in Magnolia.

One statewide metric will be the transition from Phase One to Phase Two of the governor’s “open Texas” initiative. A more definitive measure will be the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Montgomery County.

“We probably will not know for certain until the week before the go-ahead date,” Seay said.

When on-site services resume, First Baptist in Magnolia will offer three styles of worship in five English-language services at two venues, and Primera Iglesia Bautista will meet twice in the First Baptist’s chapel. In each worship venue, individuals will be seated with members of their own households in groups of chairs spaced six feet from other groups.

Seay will preach live in two of the English-language services each week on a rotating schedule. At the other services, worshippers will view a recorded sermon from the online worship service.

Guided by school district schedule

Worshippers will be directed where to enter and how to exit each service, and a particular traffic flow will be required to facilitate social distancing and limit contact between individuals attending the varied services.

“I probably will do an online tour the week before we come back, just to walk through it and show what it will be like,” Seay said.

Services will be scheduled 30 minutes apart to allow time for chairs and other surfaces to be sanitized before the next group of worshippers arrives.

For the most part, individual Sunday school classes were offered options about how they want to proceed, Seay noted.

“Most are going with a hybrid of online classes and some in person,” he said.

First Baptist in Magnolia anticipates returning to its pre-COVID-19 worship schedule and activities when students in the Magnolia Independent School District are allowed to return to school.

“When the school district believes it is medically safe for students to return, then we will be comfortable offering age-graded ministries and other on-site programs,” Seay said.

However, he added, some aspects of church life during the pandemic likely will continue.

The church significantly enhanced its online presence in the last six weeks, Seay said, “and I don’t see that going away.”

As congregations plan when and how to return after suspending in-person worship services to stop the spread of COVID-19, Texas Baptist leaders suggested issues for churches to consider as they relaunch.

“Legally speaking … churches can relaunch right away. Practically speaking … churches should relaunch when they are ready,” John Litzler, a San Antonio-based attorney, said during the “Relaunch” video conference April 29.

The Baptist General Convention of Texas sponsored the video conference to help churches make informed decisions about when they are “ready” to relaunch, not to offer a “one-size-fits-all-approach” for resuming in-person worship and discipleship, said moderator Joshua Minatrea, director of communications for Texas Baptists.

Joining Litzler and Minatrea on the call were BGCT President Michael Evans, pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Mansfield; BGCT Executive Director David Hardage; Rolando Rodriguez, director of Hispanic ministries for Texas Baptists; and Phil Miller, acting director of Texas Baptists’ Great Commission Team.

Guidelines and protocols

When Gov. Abbott issued an executive order in March that included religious gatherings among “essential services,” the first iteration of guidelines for houses of worship noted the Centers for Disease Control recommended no gatherings of 10 or more people if any individuals from at-risk populations attended, Litzler noted.

Revised guidelines issued April 21 removed that recommendation but continued to encourage churches to “conduct as many activities as possible remotely and … follow federal guidelines when providing services in person.”

The most recent guidelines, issued jointly by the offices of the governor and the state attorney general April 27, include a recommended set of “minimum health protocols” for churches that decide to provide in-person services. Texas Baptists posted a checklist of health protocols based on those health protocols here.

While some businesses that had closed are reopening within prescribed occupancy restrictions, “churches are not a ‘reopened’ service; they are an ‘essential’ service,” Litzler said. Restrictions placed on maximum occupancy that are imposed on businesses such as restaurants and movie theaters do not apply to churches, he said.

However, churches are encouraged to follow social distancing guidelines by keeping every-other-row of seats empty and maintaining six-foot distance between worshippers who do not live in the same household.

Stay safe at church

Evans encouraged churches to review the recommended minimum health protocols as important steps to “staying safe at church.”

Churches might want to consider training ushers how to dismiss worshippers one row at a time and “lovingly” not allow individuals exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms into contact with others, he suggested.

“One of the things I’ve said to our leadership is that we pray to God for the best. However, we need to prepare for the worst, even though we don’t want to do that,” Evans said.

Church leaders should think through worst-case scenarios, brainstorming with individuals in the church who tend to think along those lines, he suggested.

“This is the time when the pessimists in the church really get to shine, and we really want to listen to them this time,” Evans said.

‘Online worship is here to stay’

Whenever churches choose to return to in-person worship gatherings, Rodriguez encouraged congregations to continue the online engagement many of them started in the last few weeks.

“Online worship is here to stay. That’s a reality,” he said.

Many congregations have recognized how much their outreach has increased since beginning online worship services out of necessity, Rodriguez noted.

“Online worship has given the church an opportunity to have a global ministry,” he said.

As the audience of church worship services online grows, congregations need to ensure they have the proper licensing for music, Litzler added.

Also, churches that livestream worship services on social media and then post those videos for later viewing on their website should make certain their license allows for that type of broadcasting, he said.

“We are seeing an increase in the policing of copyright infringement from Facebook and YouTube,” he said.

Litzler also noted churches should consider privacy issues as they expand their online presence—particularly if worshippers, not just worship leaders, are pictured.

Churches especially should be sensitive to the privacy rights of children who are in the foster care system and spouses who are victims of abuse, he noted. Litzler suggested designating a particular section in the worship center as a “safe place” where crowd shots will not be taken.

‘Learning as we go’

Rather than simply return exactly to the pre-COVID-19 status quo, Rodriguez encouraged churches to consider how they might adapt and change, based on what they have learned.

“Growth equals change,” he said. “You can change many things and never grow. But I believe this crisis has helped leaders and churches grow. And if we grow, we will grow through a process of change.

“We will never do church the same again. But you know what? It’s OK.”

Changes forced on churches by the COVID-19 crisis offer them “the opportunity of a lifetime to change the conversation” about how they measure success and how they move forward, Miller said.

“There are no experts right now. Everybody is wading through this a page at a time,” he said. “We are learning as we go.”

Rather than resuming in-person worship and Bible study prematurely and having to relaunch a second time later, Miller encouraged churches to think through the process.

“It’s not how soon we go back in. It’s how safe we go back in,” he said.

For example, he noted a 300-square-foot classroom that previously would have comfortably accommodated 20 adults now can be occupied safely by only three adults when social distancing guidelines are observed.

Miller encouraged Texas Baptist churches to “acknowledge the activity of God” and build on the success they have experienced.

“One of the things we have discovered in all this through classes that are doing Zoom (video conferences) and a variety of things like that is that simplicity has come back in such a good way,” he said.

Miller pointed to resources Texas Baptists have developed for churches to consider as they relaunch ministries to youth and children.

Stewardship matters

As churches consider issues of generosity and stewardship, Hardage encouraged pastors not to shy away from the subject of giving.

“Obviously, you want to be gracious,” he said. “We have to understand our folks are wrestling with their own finances.”

At the same time, pastors should encourage members to give “as you can,” recognizing stewardship is a biblical principle.

Hardage also suggested leaders keep their congregations informed about how their church stands financially during a challenging time.

“I would encourage you to graciously communicate in an honest way the financial condition of your church,” he said.

As church leaders consider issues related to congregational business and administration, Hardage suggested they seek to “stabilize” the organization, “analyze” how the church is doing in terms of budget and “optimize” resources for the utmost impact.

In terms of worship planning moving forward, churches might need to consider shorter services to allow enough time for dismissal and disinfecting between services, he said.

Churches might also consider having practice services with ushers prior to a relaunch and experiment with a small audience during online worship services before inviting all worshippers back, he suggested.

Evans urged Texas Baptists to remember the words of Moses to the people of Israel, as recorded in Deuteronomy 31:6. Quoting from the King James Version of Scripture, he said: “Be strong and of good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.”

“We’ve seen harder days throughout the life of our country,” Evans said. “And we know that the same God that saw us through then is the same God who is going to get us through this.

“I think we’re going to be stronger. I think we’re going to be better. And I sure know we’re going to be wiser.”

Two months after Hardin-Simmons University’s board of trustees voted to close Logsdon Seminary and eliminate multiple academic programs as part of The Way Forward financial plan, a group of concerned alumni, donors and others sent trustees its own 14-point proposal called “The Better Way Forward: A Plan to Save Hardin-Simmons.”

In addition to urging trustees to reverse The Way Forward plan and reinstate Logsdon Seminary, another part of the plan proposed by the group calling itself “Save HSU” calls on the university to restructure its board of trustees.

Specifically, the group wants to eliminate mandated Baptist General Convention of Texas representation on the board of trustees, require at least 51 percent of board members to be HSU graduates, and allow alumni to nominate and elect one-third of the board.

BGCT executive leaders were asked for a response but chose not to comment at this time.

Institutions related to the BGCT fall into two categories. Messengers to the BGCT annual meeting elect a simple majority of the governing boards of affiliated institutions, such as HSU. A few institutions relate to Texas Baptists through contractual agreements that allow the institutions more control over their boards, while still allowing some BGCT representation.

A relationship with the convention—and the way in which an institution relates to the BGCT—has a direct impact on funding from Texas Baptists. (See related article here.)

Financial support and trustee representation

In an April 17 blog, Save HSU leaders asserted “the BGCT’s influence over the HSU board has been flagrantly disproportionate to the convention’s level of giving and support to the university.”

The university reported $49,783,087 in total budgeted operating expenses in the 2019 fiscal year. HSU received $866,776 in cooperative giving from Texas Baptist churches through the BGCT in 2019, according to the office of the convention controller.

The Save HSU group cites lower figures, which appear to reflect the base support the BGCT provides through the Cooperative Program to each of its affiliated institutions, without factoring in the theological education support universities and seminaries also receive. Still, total BGCT funding in 2019 constituted less than 2 percent of the university’s operating expenses.

“Clearly, the BGCT’s influence is proportionally out of balance with its giving. We believe that in light of recent events HSU should fundamentally reevaluate her relationship with the BGCT, because the relationship has not only caused the erosion of an independent trustee board, but also has endangered academic freedom—both of which consequences have resulted in a less healthy university,” leaders of the Save HSU group stated.

‘Outside and outsized influence’

The group repeated its previously stated charge that BGCT Executive Director David Hardage met with President Eric Bruntmyer, “a few West Texas pastors” and “a couple of trustees” regarding Logsdon Seminary.

“This private meeting can be a threat to accreditation itself, because accreditation agencies take very seriously the independence of a board,” the Save HSU group’s leaders stated.

The group asserted HSU could make up the loss of revenue from the BGCT “by getting its ballooning administrative costs under control, increasing recruitment and retention and being more careful about not getting into protracted, expensive construction projects.”

“It is time for trustees at Hardin-Simmons to take full control of the university and hold the BGCT’s leadership accountable for undermining the existence of Logsdon Seminary. We believe this will ensure that future board decisions are made free of outside and outsized influence by an organization that gives an increasingly small percentage of HSU’s revenue,” the group’s leaders stated.

“The real question is not whether Hardin-Simmons can live without the BGCT’s annual contributions. Rather, it is whether Hardin-Simmons can afford the cost of continuing to receive them.”

BGCT Executive Director responds

In February, Hardage told the Baptist Standard: “For several years, numerous church leaders from all over the state began expressing concerns about some theological positions at Logsdon, and those concerns were shared with leaders of both the seminary and the university privately and in small group settings. Certainly, others from Texas and beyond did not share those concerns.

“However, as I understand it, a full theological discussion regarding Logsdon was not a part of the HSU board of trustees decision to close the seminary. Apparently, the stark, negative financial realities facing the seminary negated the need for such a discussion.

“Personally, I was never a part of any conversation with anyone who wanted Logsdon to close and was surprised when I heard the news. I continue to pray for all those whose lives and families have been impacted by the decision to close the seminary. I also continue to pray for and believe in university leadership and hope for a very bright future for HSU.”

Other proposals

In addition to the proposal calling for the HSU board of trustees to be restructured with no mandated BGCT representation, the Save HSU group’s Better Way Forward plan also urged trustees to:

• Re-examine the university’s founding documents.
• Create open and safe forums to discuss university changes.
• Recognize, celebrate, value, listen to and work with faculty.
• Recruit and prepare students for leadership in the world.
• Protect students’ freedom of speech.
• Restore trust with alumni and donors.
• Establish a culture of transparency and integrity.
• Internally review all standards of accreditation to ensure compliance.
• Evaluate current HSU leadership.

In addition to the April 6 letter to the board of trustees, leaders of Save HSU also sent a letter to HSU Board Chair Laura Moore on April 16, inviting her to meet with them by video conference to discuss their concerns.

HSU responds

In response to the Better Way Forward proposal, the university issued a statement April 13. It said the HSU board of trustees and administration “have full confidence” in the decisions reflected in The Way Forward, noting they “went through a detailed process to determine steps needed to evaluate and enhance the university’s financial condition.”

“The Way Forward is Hardin-Simmons University’s next chapter and long-term strategic plan to guide the university’s community of students, alumni, faculty and staff to be good stewards of our resources and to embrace the change required of us as we boldly prepare for the future. Being good stewards has required us to close a longstanding HSU operating deficit,” the statement from the university said.

In the next few years, the actions taken by the administration and board “will help bring the university’s expenses in line with revenue to fulfill current fiscal responsibilities while also preserving the university’s future ability to serve the greatest number of students in a cost-effective way, create new and innovative programs and invest in needed technology and infrastructure,” the university stated.

Read related articles here and here. 

WACO—Baylor University will implement a hiring freeze, eliminate some vacant positions and delay construction on most major capital projects as part of an effort to cut costs by up to $80 million in the next fiscal year.

Baylor President Linda Livingstone announced the cost reductions April 14, pointing to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the university’s revenue sources.

“Despite Baylor’s overall strength and resilience, we are now experiencing declines in many essential sources of revenue, which is coupled with an increased need for student financial aid and uncertainty about future enrollment due to COVID-19,” Livingstone said.

“In other words, most of our previously reliable sources of revenue—tuition and fees, fundraising, athletics and income from our investments and endowment—are certain to be significantly affected.”

Baylor already slowed its rate of spending and reduced costs by $16 million through May 31, allowing the university to address credits and refunds to students’ interrupted spring semester and other costs related to COVID-19, she noted.

‘Immediate and difficult decisions’

Looking ahead to the 2020-21 fiscal year, the Baylor President’s Council in concert with the board of regents set a goal of $65 million to $80 million in cost reductions from the university’s projected $750 million budget.

“Simply put, we need to make immediate and difficult decisions to address the serious financial realities we face in the months and, potentially, years ahead,” Livingstone said.

Baylor will implement an immediate hiring freeze and eliminate some vacant faculty and staff positions, reduce the use of adjunct faculty and temporary employees, postpone a decision on merit increases for faculty and staff, and decrease defined contributions to participants in Baylor’s retirement plan.

The university will initiate “a strategic review and reduction of operating, or non-personnel, budgets” in all areas, including administrative divisions and athletics, Livingstone said.

“Construction of the Mark and Paula Hurd Welcome Center and the Baylor Basketball Pavilion will be deferred until economic conditions improve,” she announced. Architectural and planning work will continue on both projects, she noted.

“The renovation of the Tidwell Bible Building will continue, given that the project was fully funded from external sources,” she added.

One year ago, Baylor announced a $15 million lead gift from the Sunderland Foundation of Overland Park, Kan., to renovate and restore the Tidwell Bible Building, built in 1954. At their February meeting, Baylor regents approved the final phase and total budget of $21.2 million for the project.

Other major capital expenditures will be postponed, and the university will make “aggressive efforts” to refinance existing debt at lower interest rates “once market conditions become favorable,” Livingstone said. Major contracts also will be renegotiated for cost savings.

“While these initial budget reductions are all-encompassing, we also recognize that we are in an era of significant financial uncertainty,” Livingstone said. “If the country’s economic climate deteriorates further, or we experience substantial enrollment declines, or there’s a recurrence of COVID-19 in the upcoming fall or winter, the university may be forced to take additional budgetary actions.”

She asked for prayers for the university, its leadership team and its board of regents as they “make difficult decisions not for Baylor to merely survive, but to thrive once the COVID-19 pandemic is completely addressed.”

DALLAS—New moms in West Dallas know they can depend on Brother Bill’s Helping Hand for solid information about how to care for their babies—and for the one-month supply of disposable diapers they receive when they complete parenting education classes.

Typically, expectant women and mothers of newborns attend three days of classes to learn the basics of baby care before Diaper Day, a celebration when they receive a month’s supply of diapers and other infant-care supplies as a reward for their participation in the nonprofit ministry’s educational program.

When group gatherings had to be cancelled after multiple confirmed cases of COVID-19 throughout the Dallas area, leaders of Brother Bill’s Helping Hand decided the two days of instruction mothers completed before stay-at-home orders went into effect would have to be sufficient. Providing diapers and other essential supplies to families with infants took precedence over the final day of classes.

“That’s when we made the decision to move to a drive-through experience” for Diaper Day, said Wes Keyes, executive director of Brother Bill’s Helping Hand.

Instead of a graduation party, Diaper Day in mid-March was a drive-through event, as gloved volunteers loaded supplies into cars for parents, he explained.

Brother Bill’s Helping Hand focuses on three key components—educational programming, healthcare and the essentials of life, particularly food for families in need, said Keyes, a member of Cliff Temple Baptist Church in Dallas.

The ministry—founded seven and a half decades ago by Bill Harrod, a Baptist preacher who saw needs among his West Dallas neighbors and wanted to meet them—now serves about 300 families a week at its grocery store and about 3,000 patients a year at its community clinic.

Churches around the state help support Brother Bill’s Helping Hand through gifts to the Texas Baptist Hunger Offering.

‘Our time to shine’

COVID-19 and restrictions mandated to control its spread compelled the ministry to adapt quickly to changing circumstances, Keyes noted. Families in need throughout West Dallas, Oak Cliff and the surrounding areas have grown to depend on Brother Bill’s Helping Hand for multiple services.

“This is our time to shine. A lot of ministries have become very narrowly focused and specialized. We’ve been a jack-of-all-trades for a long time,” he said.

In the current COVID-19 crisis, the ministry made changes rapidly to find ways to continue to meet a variety of needs in unconventional ways.

“We’re best known for our grocery store. That’s been our on-ramp to everything else,” Keyes explained.

Brother Bill’s Helping Hand offered its first weekly drive-through grocery distribution on March 14. Qualified families receive a month’s supply of food and other necessities.

“We’re providing about $300 worth of fruit, vegetables, meat, frozen food, eggs, milk and other essentials. We even have toilet paper,” said Keyes, a graduate of Baylor University’s Truett Theological Seminary.

Brother Bill’s Helping Hand put into place strict guidelines to protect volunteers, he noted. Each person who enters the ministry’s building is screened and has his or her temperature checked. No more than 30 masked and gloved volunteers are allowed in the ministry’s building at a time, and they seek to maintain six-feet distance between them as they work.

Grocery recipients are asked to open their car’s trunk or back door for when they arrive at the drive-through. That way, when volunteers deliver the groceries, they don’t have to touch the vehicles.

‘We’re not going away’

Partner congregations in the area, including Park Cities Baptist Church in Dallas and Parkway Hills Baptist Church in Plano, have provided in-kind donations of peanut butter, jelly, sandwich meat and bread to help Brother Bill’s serve families with young children who need quick and easy lunches.

Rather than complete forms in personal interviews to qualify for the groceries, Brother Bill’s implemented online registration for the first time. It proved so successful, the ministry hopes soon to begin offering its English-as-a-Second-Language classes through online platforms.

“In the past, we had said, ‘A lot of the people we serve don’t have computers.’ Then we realized nearly all of them have cell phones. Those are powerful tools we can use,” Keyes said.

Working with its partners at Baylor Scott & White Health and Methodist Health System, Brother Bill’s also is using Telehealth to deliver some services and to pre-screen patients who need in-person medical attention.

“This is a crazy and ridiculous time, but we took action quickly,” Keyes said. “A lot of people have had to shut down services now. But we’re not going away any time soon.”

Chaplain John Bender recites Psalm 23, ageless words of comfort in times of fear or threat.

As he pauses, he looks up to his listeners, residents of Buckner Parkway Place in Houston. A single camera lens stares back at him. He’s delivering his message on Parkway Place’s closed-circuit television system.

Like each chaplain at all six Buckner Retirement Services Communities, Bender is seeking creative ways to share messages of faith, hope and comfort in the wake of social distancing measures in response to the coronavirus.

Since the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic began to take shape in the United States, Americans have responded with measures that range from social distancing to canceling large-scale gatherings to even city-wide lockdowns.

Nowhere have these safety measures been more critical than among the senior adult population, deemed by most health-related entities as the group most at risk for contracting the coronavirus.

Following standards set by the Center for Disease Control and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Buckner took quick action to ensure the health of residents and staff, limiting outside access to only essential health care providers as well as promoting distance between each resident internally.

‘God is walking with us’

While the safety strategies created distance from potential harm, they also created distance from residents’ churches, community worship meetings and each other for groups larger than 10. It’s a situation that might seem to lessen residents’ hope, but the chaplains are fighting the coronavirus threat in their own unique way—from the soul.

“I have encouraged residents to read Psalm 23 every day because of its familiarity, as well as the message that God is walking with us,” Bender said.

Spreading messages of hope and comfort is key to reinforcing residents’ faith, he said.

“Each conversation I have is salted with the concept that: ‘We have faith in our God. This crisis did not catch him by surprise.’”

Chaplain Daniel Carpenter of Buckner Calder Woods in Beaumont echoed Bender’s approach.

“I have spoken to several people about the sovereignty of God. I also try to get them to think of all the ways God has provided for them and protected them up to this point,” he said. “And I’m talking a lot about anxiety. I’ve been using Philippians 4 as a launching point to talk to them about faith and the presence of Jesus in their lives.”

Finding creative ways to offer comfort

But to reach their flocks, the group must come up with creative ways to spread that word and meet constituents’ needs.

“We normally have two to three people from our campus in the hospital every day and I typically visit them there, but now the hospital, as of today, has limited their visitation and I can no longer go to see them,” said Chaplain Kevin McSpadden of Baptist Retirement Community in San Angelo. “Now I just call our residents and talk with them over the phone.”

He noted that while the independent living Sunday morning chapel service has been canceled, he recently learned how to broadcast live services on YouTube and will be using that technology to reach residents.

“I still do a worship service and a sit-down Bible study at our Sagecrest Alzheimer’s facility,” he said. “Both of the open area pods at Sagecrest are very large and we literally spread the people out and go on with our services. At both Sagecrest and The Crest, volunteers can no longer come in to help me with the music, but I manage to make everything work with music on my laptop.”

David Mann, chaplain for Ventana by Buckner in Dallas, also adopted the “spread out” social distancing approach, modified even further by the 10-person-per-room limit.

“Yesterday’s worship service was interesting here at Ventana,” he explained. “We signed up the members who wanted to attend in increments of 10 and had four worship services, at 2:30, 3, 3:30 and 4. Needless to say, I was very tired afterward, and our poor pianist was exhausted as well.”

Making necessary adjustments

Rick Webb, chaplain for Buckner Westminster Place in Longview, acknowledges the importance of smaller chapel services since many churches have had to cancel services.

“I am leading it myself—music and message—so no outside person is engaged,” Webb said, noting he is taking additional precautions to lessen the possibility of exposure to residents. “I am limiting my life to Buckner and home and no other people than Westminster Place and my family.”

In addition to altering his personal life, Webb is also adapting technology to reach his residents.

“The technology is being adapted so I can post devotionals and encouragement to the residents via the in-house cable television system. Along with that medium, I have repeatedly given them my cell phone number as an on-call resource and encourage them to call.”

Carpenter also has been playing guitar and singing for residents who can’t leave their rooms and to help calm nerves heightened by isolation or fear.

“There is a spectrum of response here,” Carpenter said. “Many residents are starting to get cabin fever, but some of them like being isolated. Some are sitting at their doors in the hallway so they can talk to neighbors across the hall. Some are fearful. Most are understanding (of the safety measures that have been put into place).”

Minister to staff in stressful times

In addition to ministry to residents, each chaplain noted their ministries seek to reach staff members as well.

Mann encouraged Ventana associates to continue living out the Buckner Retirement Services mantra of “Inspiring happiness” while serving others.

Mann shared a prayer with the group and reminded them that “as we become open to each day at hand, and its challenges, may we remember that we are called and equipped (every position is a sacred vocation); may we step forward with a non-anxious presence and seek to learn, teach, and lead by example. May the Holy Spirit grant us abundant resources for the journey!”

“I have been going around visiting with staff, listening to them and empathizing where I can,” echoed Carpenter. “A lot of them are anxious too, so I try to calm their fears and cheer them up. I have also offered to help them in any way that I can if they seem stressed.”

Ministering to staff, though, also includes time to renew and minister to themselves and their families amid their own concerns.

“It’s definitely causing some stress and anxiety in my home,” Carpenter said. “I have two young boys and a third boy on the way. The hovering threat of a shelter-in-place scenario is a frequent concern. My wife is due in 10 weeks, so the thought of being separated from them for up to eight weeks is not a pleasant one.”

“The only thing that has made a change in my life is the unknowing of if or when we will go into on-campus quarantine” Bender said. “The ministry has not changed here other than it is a more focused work.  But the unknowing of if I will return home at night has an impact on my family.”

AUSTIN—Texas Baptist Men donated 15,000 protective masks and assorted other supplies to be used by hospitals and first responders across the state in the midst of the growing novel coronavirus pandemic.

TBM disaster relief leaders donated 10,000 N95 masks, 2,000 biohazard suits and four decontamination tents to Texas Division of Emergency Management officials in Austin on March 23. Emergency management officials will distribute them across the state. TBM also directly is giving 5,000 masks—typically used by TBM mud-out crews who clean homes after floods—to Dallas-area first responders.

“On behalf of the state of Texas, I would like to thank Texas Baptist Men for stepping up and providing thousands of critical resources for hospitals and first responders that are in need of protection as they tirelessly serve our state during the COVID-19 response,” Texas Division of Emergency Management Chief Nim Kidd said. “TBM continues to set the standard as a nonprofit organization that answers the call.”

The N95 masks, in short supply around the globe, block 95 percent of particulate, protecting nurses, doctors, EMS workers, firefighters and police officers from being infected by the highly contagious COVID-19 virus.

As the virus has spread across Texas, emergency management leaders are receiving requests for the masks daily from first responders wanting to protect themselves as they serve the community.

“This pandemic is unlike anything TBM has responded to since our founding in 1967,” TBM Disaster Relief Director Dwain Carter said. “Still, we are called to deliver help, hope and healing in the midst of every disaster. It’s our prayer these masks protect first responders and save lives as people on the frontlines battle this virus.”

Gov. Greg Abbott reported March 22 that 566 Texans have tested positive for the virus or have been presumed to have contracted the virus. Seven Texans have died from the disease. Dallas County has the most cases in the state, followed by Harris County. As testing becomes more available, the number of cases is increasing quickly.

The donation of equipment conservatively valued at over $100,000 in the current market is viewed as a first wave of response for an organization whose 10,000 volunteers have responded to every major natural disaster in the state for more than 50 years. All TBM volunteers and mobile kitchens are on alert and prepared to serve if they are needed.

“Our teams stand ready to meet widespread needs as they arise,” Carter said. “Fully staffed, we can provide 200,000 meals a day. We always hope we’re not needed, but we’re always prepared in the event that we are.”

To support TBM disaster relief financially, click here.

I felt called this past week to use my experience in ministry and research on Christianity and new technology to design a free guide to creating online, participatory worship services.

Many church leaders are conducting worship services online or planning to start meeting online. This task likely feels daunting to church leaders who never have done this before and especially to those who have little to no experience using technology.

The idea of worshipping online also is disappointing to many people, especially given the time of year it is. Christian communities have long-held traditions for Lent and Easter that are significant to community members.

As I’ve texted and talked with church leaders over the past few weeks, some have expressed they are unsure how to make online worship as meaningful as in-person worship. Several people explained their teams feel low on creativity.

The thing is, worshipping online is fundamentally different than worshipping in a church building. There are real things that need to be lamented by our communities. And it is hard to innovate in a pinch.

The opportunities of online worship

At the same time, new media provides church leaders with numerous possibilities for the coming weeks. In the midst of paralyzing anxiety and overpowering stress, church leaders can offer congregants opportunities to interact meaningfully with each other, nurture new relationships across generations, provide tangible ways to engage in spiritual disciplines and historic Christian practices, and offer concrete ideas for witnessing to God’s love.

During this unprecedented and distressing time, online worship services can be sources of hope and encouragement. And mysteriously, the Spirit of God can use the weeks we spend online to help our communities grow closer together. Depending on how we design the services, we could help our congregations to have a profound impact on the communities we live in.

• What if your community saw your church as a source of strength and extravagant love during this difficult time?

• What if you used the coming weeks to form mentoring relationships between elders and youth in your congregation?

• What if the new worship services your team creates allow even more people in your church to contribute and to be a part of the church in meaningful ways?

• What if God used the coming weeks to reinvigorate people’s practice of faith?

The church’s opportunity during troubling times

Throughout the Bible, we see again and again how God’s people found themselves in troubling and scary circumstances; yet, God’s faithfulness remained. Even in the midst of profound difficulty, God’s love could be felt, and God’s voice could be heard.

And sometimes, miraculously, the very thing that caused heartbreak initiated resurrection.

Church leaders can create online participatory worship experiences that help people to feel God’s presence, pray together, read the Bible in new ways, learn from one another and experience joy together.

Churches have an incredible opportunity to use the coming weeks online to allow congregants to tell stories to each other, build relationships and encourage each other.

With online participatory services, you can encourage groups of congregants to respond to the sermon and the biblical text in concrete, meaningful ways right from their homes, both during the service and throughout the week.

Church online truly can inspire a fully-embodied and engaging experience for all congregants—children, youth, and adults.

Three paths of participatory worship

There are three paths in the guide I designed.

The “Low Stress path” offers five bulletins for online worship services and a checklist your team can use to ensure your bulletin is ready to be shared with your congregants.

The “Create Your Own path” offers a sample bulletin template and a checklist for tailoring the bulletin to your congregation.

The third is “Grab and Go.” This path is for church leaders looking for imaginative ways to supplement their online worship plans and help congregants connect, participate in worship online and live out their faith in the coming weeks.

This guide is for churches with little to no experience going online for worship. You can use it if you are high tech and have livestreaming capabilities, too.

Thanks for all you do to invest in the lives of children, youth and adults.

If you’re interested in seeing the guide I designed and getting some inspiration and help for the coming weeks, click here.

Angela Gorrell is assistant professor of practical theology at Baylor University’s Truett Seminary and the author of Always On: Practicing Faith in a New Media Landscape.

Increasingly stringent public health guidelines regarding the COVID-19 outbreak not only forced Texas Baptist churches to make rapid adjustments to worship, but also to think creatively about how to minister in the weeks ahead.

After county judges in several metropolitan areas strongly recommended all gatherings of more than 250 people be canceled—and in Dallas County, expressly prohibited gatherings with more than 500 people—a significant number of churches announced online-only worship for March 15.

Some churches with attendance significantly below the 250-person threshold—or in parts of the state without recorded cases of COVID-19—gathered for Sunday morning worship, while taking special precautions to avoid the spread of infection and noting the usual schedule of activities was subject to change.

But by later in the day, most were scrambling to make alternative plans for upcoming weeks after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued new recommendations that organizers cancel or postpone gatherings of 50 people or more for the next eight weeks. Later, officials strongly advised individuals to avoid groups of 10 or more.

Learning to worship virtually

Multiple churches that had video recording capability—and some that learned how to do it on the fly—offered worship services online.

Churches also used social media to communicate information about local sites where students who were out of school could receive healthy meals. Many public schoolteachers who are members of Texas Baptist churches offered to help parents who suddenly found themselves homeschooling their children for an indeterminate time.

Michael Evans, pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Mansfield, posted a video on March 14 announcing all meetings at the church would be cancelled for two weeks, but a worship service would be available to view on social media, the church’s website, its mobile app and on YouTube.

On Sunday morning, a small praise team—who “kept an appropriate distance from each other”—replaced the full choir of more than 50 voices that typically sings at Bethlehem Baptist, he said.

The church used multiple avenues to inform members about the video worship service and urged them not to attend, “but we did not lock the doors of the church,” said Evans, president of the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

So, when the scaled-down group of worship leaders gathered to broadcast the Sunday morning service, more than 50 worshippers joined them in person.

About 300 typically attend the church’s 7:45 worship service, but more than 1,000 viewed the service on Facebook, and about an equal number watched the 11 a.m. service, Evans noted.

‘Bringing God’s house to your house’

Steve Wells, pastor of South Main Baptist Church in Houston, similarly posted a video on March 14 announcing the church’s campus would be closed at least through March 27, and worship services for two weeks would be available via webcast, “bringing God’s house to your house.”

In times of economic recession and global pandemic, Christians need to show their neighbors the peace that Christ offers and demonstrate through faithfulness what it means to trust God, Wells said in his March 15 sermon.

“People around us in the coming days are going to be anxious and afraid, and some of them are going to panic. And they’re going to need more counsel than just, ‘Please don’t buy out the toilet paper aisle,” which means we’re going to have to live out our faith,” he said.

In a phone interview, Wells noted South Main members seemed to appreciate the “shared experience” and “familiar rhythms” an 11 a.m. Sunday webcast offered.

At the same time, while church leaders were discussing additional video broadcasts including a Bible study and Wednesday evening prayer time, the church also was “ramping up the phone chains” to discover pastoral care needs, keep members connected and allow them to “hear a familiar voice,” he added.

“People need more touch points, not fewer touch points, during unusual times like this,” Wells said.

One of the blessings of a shared experience like the current pandemic is that ministers who may not typically contact each other are reaching out to share ideas about how to worship and minister in an unfamiliar context.

“There is a grace-filled community of people working together,” he said.

Make a ‘heart-to-heart’ connection

In Nederland, First Baptist Church met together for worship on March 15, but cancelled other activities and implemented multiple precautions—including posting hand sanitizer dispensers at all entrances and throughout the sanctuary.

First Baptist in Nederland cancelled in-person worship services on March 22 and will “take it week by week” in the immediate future regarding schedule adjustments, Pastor Jason Burden said.

For however long the limitations on public gatherings continue, Burden said, “We want to ramp up our online presence.”

Earlier in the year, Burden had begun recording twice-daily devotionals at 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. with a smartphone, posting them on social media.

“As it turns out, that served us well in preparing us for this time,” he said. “It’s become a meaningful electronic gathering place for our people.”

When natural disasters hit the community in the past, First Baptist in Nederland opened its facility in response to community needs. In this situation, the church is caring for its community by closing its doors to group meetings for a time, he noted.

Limited opportunities for in-person fellowship and worship make it even more important for individual Christians to reach out personally and discover needs to which the church can respond, said Burden, first vice president of the BGCT.

“Just because we can’t be together face to face and connect that way, it doesn’t mean we can’t have a heart-to-heart connection in a meaningful way and be available to one another,” he said.

‘See the possibility to do meaningful ministry’

First Baptist Crowell—a congregation in rural Foard County, about 80 miles west of Wichita Falls—averages about 50 in weekly attendance. So, the congregation met for worship on March 15, but the church streamed its service live on social media for the first time.

The church already had the capability to make video recordings of worship services, which it makes available to local nursing homes, and audio recordings that it posts on its website. However, since it lacked the ability to use its audio-visual equipment to broadcast a service live, Pastor Chris McLain decided to experiment with Facebook Live.

“I just used a couple of hymnals and propped up my phone on the front pew,” he said.

That approach provided a serviceable broadcast that not only reached homebound members, but also was viewed by others in the community, he noted. It also prompted the pastor to order a tripod and microphone for his smartphone.

Moving forward, McLain said, his church will comply with the revised public health recommendations. On March 22, a small group—fewer than 10 people—will gather at First Baptist in Crowell for a service the church will livestream on social media and later post on its newly created YouTube channel.

McLain also has used social media to emphasize “the church is not ‘closed’” just because it is not gathering for in-person worship. Church leaders are available to pick up and deliver essential items from the pharmacy or grocery store for individuals who need help, he stressed.

“We see the possibility to do meaningful ministry,” he said.

Helpful links to information about COVID-19

Resources from Wheaton College and Saddleback Church

https://coronavirusandthechurch.com/#resources

Texas Baptists COVID-19 response

https://texasbaptists.org/response/covid-19

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html

Baptist mission-sending agencies and universities scramble to make adjustments prompted by coronavirus-related travel restrictions and advisories.

The Southern Baptist Convention International Mission Board is offering missionaries in affected areas the option of relocating to other regions where travel and interpersonal contact is not as restricted. The IMB established a task force to provide consistent information about medical advisories and travel directives to all personnel. On March 9, the IMB recommended that mission volunteers from the United States postpone international travel at least through April 30.

Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Global Missions field staff also have been affected, according to a March 11 announcement: “CBF has evacuated a field personnel family from China, and in conversation with its Japanese Baptist partners, a CBF field personnel family presently in the United States has delayed its return to the region. Also, CBF field personnel in Asia have canceled their annual meeting planned for March in Indonesia, and CBF field personnel that are a part of the Europe team have shifted their meeting online.”

Leaders of Texas Baptists’ Go Now Missions program for college students made the decision in February—prior to summer student missions appointments—to cancel all trips to East Asia.

“We also have cancelled a summer trip to South Korea. We are in the process of reassigning those students,” said Brenda Sanders, collegiate missions consultant for Texas Baptists.

Before the IMB issued its recommendation regarding volunteer mission groups, Go Now Missions leaders already had decided to delay the purchase of tickets for any flights until later, she added.

“Any student missionary on an international team that is cancelled will be moved to a location in the U.S.A.,” Sanders said.

Student missionaries have been told Go Now Missions will continue to monitor issues related to COVID-19, closely following information from the U.S. Department of State and the Centers for Disease Control in addition to updates from missionary supervisors in international locations.

“If, at any time, it is deemed unsafe to send a team to a particular country, we will move the team to another U.S.A. or foreign location,” according to a statement from Go Now Missions.

Universities restrict travel; some extend break

Travel restrictions and medical advisories also prompted Texas Baptist universities to postpone travel, extend spring break or make other changes.

Giuseppe Conte, prime minister of Italy, announced March 9 that a lockdown in the northern region of Lombardy and other provinces had been extended to include the entire nation. Several days prior to the nationwide lockdown, Baylor University and its Center for Global Engagement announced it had temporarily postponed university-sponsored travel to Italy, after already halting travel to China and South Korea.

“Five students enrolled in the program in Italy have been advised to return to the United States,” according to a statement Baylor issued March 3. “They will return to their permanent residences and self-monitor for any symptoms for 14 days while completing their courses remotely. Eighty students studying in Europe have been restricted from traveling in Italy.”

On March 11, Baylor President Linda Livingstone sent an email notice to the campus community announcing spring break would be extended one week and instruction would shift strictly to online classes from March 23 to April 3. The decision affect all Baylor-related campuses and locations, including Truett Theological Seminary.

“We will continue to monitor the conditions around COVID-19 during this time period, and a future decision will be made as to when face-to-face instruction can resume,” Livingstone stated.

That same day, Dallas Baptist University made a similar announcement.

“To begin addressing the unique concerns posed by the spread of the virus across the country, DBU will extend spring break for one additional week. All classes will resume online  on Monday, March 23, 2020 through Sunday, April 5, 2020. Classes are scheduled to resume in-person on Monday, April 6, 2020.  However, if a community outbreak occurs in Dallas or the situation otherwise worsens, DBU is prepared to provide classes online for a longer period. Students, faculty, and staff will continue to receive updates regarding the status of classes,” according to a statement posted on the DBU website.

The following day, Hardin-Simmons University announced it would extend spring break through March 22 and offer instruction online from March 23 to April 13.

East Texas Baptist University initially cancelled all university-related travel to countries designated as Level 2 or 3 by the Centers for Disease Control. Currently, the CDC lists Level 3 travel notices for China, Iran, South Korea and Italy and a Level 2 travel notice for Japan.

“Anyone traveling to a CDC designated Level 2 or 3 country will be required to self-quarantine off-campus for a period of 14 days before returning to East Texas Baptist University,” a notice on the ETBU website stated.

On March 11, ETBU President Blair Blackburn sent out a notice suspending chapel through March 25, for the two weeks following spring break, and cancelling university-related participation in professional seminars and conferences for the remainder of the spring semester. ETBU also cancelled all university-related air travel for the rest of the semester.

Blackburn also announced ETBU is developing contingency plans for the option of shifting to online classes for the remaining seven weeks of the semester.

The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor announced students who were slated for a study abroad trip to China will travel and study in Peru instead.

Jim King, professor in the McLane School of Business at UMHB, had been planning the trip to Zhuhai, China, and the Yunnan Province for nearly two years as the intended capstone of courses he teaches on impact enterprises and on culture and global business.

After travel warnings for the region were issued, King considered Peru as an alternate destination and began making contacts there. He previously led multiple trips to the region and had worked with Threads of Hope, a group that is changing the lives of impoverished women through textile sales.

“Now, instead of visiting the Great Wall of China, our students will be visiting Machu Picchu,” King said, according to a March 6 news release from the school.

Editor’s Note: The article was updated to include additional information made available March 11 after it originally was posted on March 10.

Helpful links to information about COVID-19

A Coronavirus Guide for Texas Baptist Churches

https://texasbaptists.org/response/covid-19/guide

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html

Baylor Scott & White Health

https://www.bswhealth.com/Pages/coronavirus-information.aspx

U.S. Department of State

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/ea/novel-coronavirus-hubei-province–china.html

ABILENE—After their second meeting within three weeks, Hardin-Simmons University trustees expressed “full confidence” in President Eric Bruntmyer and in their decision to close Logsdon Seminary and several other university programs.

A majority of trustees voted Feb. 7 to close Logsdon Seminary and move undergraduate programs offered by the Logsdon School of Theology under the Cynthia Ann Parker College of Liberal and Fine Arts.

The board took the action to “ensure that Hardin-Simmons University is a viable, financially stable institution that can move forward with boldness,” according to a statement issued Feb. 28, following a subsequent called meeting of the trustees.

Saying HSU is “at a critical juncture” in its 129-year history, the board noted its fiduciary responsibility to preserve the institution and its commitment to “making difficult decisions” that will ensure the university’s future.

“The Hardin-Simmons University Board of Trustees has full confidence in President Bruntmyer, the administration, and the strategic financial plan known as The Way Forward,” the board statement from Chair Laura Moore said.

“We also have confidence in our recent Board decisions, which were made to ensure that Hardin-Simmons University is a viable, financially stable institution that can move forward with boldness.

“Our recent decisions will allow HSU to sustainably support its academic offerings and experiences for all current and future students, because students remain the priority of the Board. We are dedicated to being good stewards of those God has entrusted to us and are determined to continue to preserve our heritage of academic excellence.”

The university also updated posts on its website replying to “frequently asked questions” both about “campus changes” in general and Logsdon in particular.

The FAQ stated enrollment in undergraduate programs at the Logsdon School of Theology declined 34.3 percent over the last five years, and graduate programs in Logsdon Seminary experienced an overall 16.2 percent enrollment decline.

Logsdon endowments

Regarding endowment gifts to the Logsdon School of Theology and Seminary, the university reported their current value as $32,463,000.

“These funds are restricted, which means that based on donor restrictions, HSU cannot use the entire amount, only a set distribution amount from those funds each year,” the FAQ response stated, adding the annual distribution is about $1,623,000.

According to the university, restricted endowments given specifically for Logsdon Seminary amount to $792,786—about 2.4 percent of the total—and they produce about $39,640 in endowment distributions annually.

Student tuition payments and support from the Baptist General Convention of Texas provide an additional $1,368,254 annually, the university reported.

In the most recent financial year, the university reported spending $2,462,000 on salaries, employee benefits, travel, supplies and equipment related to the Logsdon School of Theology and Seminary, plus an additional $1,797,000 in overhead costs such as utilities, maintenance, repairs, rent on satellite campus facilities and other expenses.

So, the total costs of $4,259,000 minus $2,991,254 from endowment distribution, tuition and BGCT financial support leaves $1,267,746 in unfunded costs HSU must absorb, the university reported.

In response to a question about anticipated cost savings to the university once Logsdon Seminary is closed, the FAQ stated: “HSU anticipates a cost savings of $400,000-$600,000 annually. The Board of Trustees considered the closure of other programs, but after consideration, discussion, and prayer, made the decision to close Logsdon Seminary.”

Outside influence?

Multiple sources indicated the pastors of some West Texas churches had expressed displeasure with Logsdon Seminary.

David Hardage, executive director of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, told the Baptist Standard: “For several years, numerous church leaders from all over the state began expressing concerns about some theological positions at Logsdon, and those concerns were shared with leaders of both the seminary and the university privately and in small group settings. Certainly, others from Texas and beyond did not share those concerns.”

The FAQ included a question about whether opinions expressed to the university’s president or board by churches influenced the board of trustees’ decisions.

“Faculty, staff, alumni, parents, churches, community leaders and many others have always provided Hardin-Simmons University with their advice and opinions of HSU and its programs. These opinions range from glowing reviews and encouragements to negative impressions and words meant to be derogatory and hurtful,” the university stated. “These opinions do not influence the financial analysis that is assisting the Board of Trustees as they make financial decisions about HSU’s academic offerings.”

More than 550 sign letter to president and trustees

While the “frequently asked questions” responses offered additional information about enrollment and finances, they do not address specific requests made in a Feb. 16 letter to Bruntmyer and the trustee board from the Save Logsdon Seminary group. More than 550 people had signed the open letter as of March 2.

“We find ourselves concerned and disheartened by the lack of transparency, faithfulness, and integrity of Hardin-Simmons University’s leadership,” the letter stated.

The letter made three specific requests:

• “Be financially transparent. Conduct an external audit of Logsdon Seminary and Hardin-Simmons University’s finances.”

The letter stated its drafters “no longer can say with confidence that we trust the data—and lack of data—provided as a justification for the closure of Logsdon.”

The letter specifically asked that HSU’s budget for all colleges and programs be disclosed “so that we may understand the financial necessity to close Logsdon and other beloved programs.”

The letter raised questions about the Logsdon endowment—both about how it will be used in the future and whether the university is honoring donors’ wishes.

“It appears that beginning Fall of 2021, Logsdon School of Theology will have only three faculty members. How can the university justify that the endowment can support no more than three faculty in the future?” the letter asked.

“We are suspicious that closing Logsdon Seminary is a move to divert Logsdon funds from donors’ intentions of preparing men and women for ministry. How a Christian university can prioritize anything above the preparation of ministers is incomprehensible to us.”

• “Listen and communicate honestly. Host a town-hall meeting with the Board of Trustees to listen to students, alumni, and university faculty and to provide honest and compassionate communication.”

The letter stated its drafters and those who signed it feel “confused, uncared for, and unheard.”

“We ask that the Board of Trustees formally and publicly listen to our concerns at a town-hall meeting. We hope and pray that you will speak with compassion, sincerity, and transparency,” the letter stated.

• “Demonstrate integrity. Release the minutes from all Board of Trustees meetings, including Executive Session meetings held in the past three years.”

“We believe that the communication surrounding the decision to close Logsdon Seminary does not reflect the true character or integrity of the leadership of Hardin-Simmons University,” the letter stated. “We believe that transparency, truth, and discretion are central to Baptist identity and Texan identity. … Baptist history teaches us that the first Baptists were dissenters, speaking against those unjustly wielding power. As the signers of this letter, we return to our Baptist roots and dissent from the decision made by the Board of Trustees and those in power.”