BRYAN?Can a church small in numbers impact college students in a big way? Mike Curry, pastor of Christ’s Way Baptist Church in Bryan, thinks so.

Though only four years old and surrounded by much larger churches ministering to students at Texas A&M University and Blinn College, the church still felt God’s call to begin a ministry to collegians. “We basically had nothing in the way of programs to offer to university students, yet God was sending a small group of six to eight to worship with us,” Curry said. “God began to burden my heart for this group.”

Curry began teaching a college Sunday school class himself, which sometimes had only two or three in attendance. “The greatest difficulty of [a new collegiate ministry] is in the beginning numbers,” Curry said. “When you have a small group and a part of them go home for the weekend or on break at Christmas, it leaves a hole. During those times, it is important to stay focused and to keep others focused on the fact that God is laying the foundation first.”

After contacting the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention’s collegiate ministry consultant, Kevin Ueckert, Christ’s Way received a collegiate intern, Jeff Herrington. Herrington spent the first semester teaching basic spiritual truths to the group. Through Herrington’s ministry, the college group has grown to about 20.

Curry said a small church like Christ’s Way can reach students effectively.

“Not every student is looking for a large church with an abundance of programs,” he said. “Some need a smaller family setting and an opportunity to serve. Therein, God opens the door of opportunity for small churches like Christ’s Way. We are averaging about 100 [church members] in Sunday school, yet we have begun a university ministry.”

“Several [students] have told us how blessed they are because they have been received as a part of a family,” Curry continued. “They are welcomed and given the opportunity to use the gifts and talents that God has given them. They need that opportunity for their own growth.” Furthermore, the church has become a “home away from home” for the college students it reaches. “Sometimes the students will say, ‘I just needed a hug,'” Curry said. “Now that might sound mighty simple, but if you’ve ever been away from your family, you know the time comes when you need that kind of family interaction.”

Meanwhile, Christ’s Way has not only reached students, but the students have impacted the church in a very meaningful way. “We receive the blessing of their youth, vision, excitement, talents and willingness to serve, just to mention a few of the blessings,” Curry said. “And God uses them to stretch us in our vision, in our willingness to minister.”

The SBTC’s Ueckert said bearing this kind of fruit is not unusual for any church dedicated to reaching college students, and he recognizes Christ’s Way in Bryan as a great example of this simple truth. “If a church shows any iota of concern for students and gives them a little bit of opportunity,” Ueckert noted, “there’s going to be some level of students that jump in with both feet, and they will impact a church.”

Ueckert also lists several other reasons to reach out to students, as Christ’s Way has. These include the great need for students to learn from the church about marriage, family, discipleship, and other vital topics at this crucial time in their lives. “Students want to be shaped into who they want to be by people who are getting there,” he said.

Another reason to minister in this way is the need of students to understand living as part of a church body, so that they will be significant members of their future churches after graduation. And Ueckert noted that even during their college years, students’ opportunity to serve can be as great as any other portion of the church.

Even if it is primarily to students returning home for the summer or to only a small group of collegians, nearly every church has the potential to reach college students?and should attempt to do so, Ueckert said. “College students are in a position in life where they are making the biggest decisions of their lives. If we as a church of God do not proactively help them follow Christ in those moments, they are not going to connect with the church in the future.”

While some churches may fear their size, style, or lack of resources will discourage student attendance, Ueckert believes collegians are looking foremost for authenticity. Christ’s Way’s staff often connects with students at Sweet Eugene’s, a coffee shop near to the Texas A&M campus.

“They like real, genuine, sincere people,” he observed. “They want to feel like they enter a place that is genuine. From the preaching, to the music leading, to [everything else], they’re more concerned with how genuine this place feels than with whether or not this place is perfectly their ‘style.'”

Fifty-seven students and one adult prayed to receive Christ during six emPOWER Rallies held across Texas in January and February, the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention evangelism department reported.

The regional rallies, held in conjunction with the state emPOWER Conference held Feb. 9-10 in Arlington, drew total attendance of 3,218, including 2,168 adults. Rallies were held at Park Hills Baptist Church in San Antonio; Gardendale Baptist Church in Corpus Christ; Ridgewood Baptist Church in Port Arthur; Sherwood Baptist Church in Odessa; Lifeway Fellowship Baptist Church in Amarillo, and Exciting Emmanuel Baptist Church in El Paso.

“The regional emPOWER Rallies call laypeople and bi-vocational ministers to be involved in an exciting evangelism event that they could not attend any other way,” said Don Cass, SBTC director of evangelism. “Added to that, 58 people prayed to receive Jesus as Savior and Lord. That makes these regional emPOWER Rallies worthwhile.”

The youth events included high-energy praise music from the band Rhythm and youth speaker Pat Cammarata.

Christian laymen and church leaders are more aware of what they cannot do than what they can do regarding political issues. Consequently, critics say, such ignorance stymies those who are most intimately associated with the truth regarding moral issues and bear the greatest responsibility for seeing it propagated.

What has silenced many pastors in the pulpit over the past 40 years regarding issues political was a last-minute amendment to the 1954 Internal Revenue Service Tax Code revision. Lyndon B. Johnson, then a U.S. Senator from Texas, tacked on the rider barring 501(c)(3) organizations from campaigning for or against candidates vying for political office.

The amendment was passed with no debate on a voice vote. It was later speculated Johnson made the move to silence two non-profit organizations that threatened to campaign against him. It is not known if Johnson realized how far-reaching his measure would be and whom it would ultimately silence.

Regardless of intent, the code regulates speech for 501(c)(3) organizations, barring them from endorsing candidates under threat of losing their tax-exempt status. Few churches have been taken to task in the past four decades by the IRS, but the fear of big government?not the fear of God?has had a significant impact on what is preached from America’s pulpits.

There are exceptions. For example, a Buddhist temple was the site of politicking and fund-raising for Al Gore during the 2000 president election. In 1980, Ronald Reagan joined several prominent evangelical leaders on the platform at Dallas’ Reunion Arena during a political rally.

Mostly, however, mere discussion of moral and ethical issues is sometimes averted in the pulpit so as not to be seen as endorsing one candidate and rejecting the other based on the views they hold.

THE CHURCH AS PROPHET

“In days gone by the pulpit and God’s prophets have voiced concerns. ? We don’t hear these voices anymore,” said Jim Bolton, retired investment banker and First Baptist Church of Dallas member. Bolton served on the SBTC’s Texas Ethics & Religious Liberty Committee (TERLC). The role of the committee has been to relay information regarding issues of concern to SBTC churches.

Bolton noted, “When the pastor doesn’t lead, the people aren’t interested. If doing the right thing politically is not going to be proclaimed, then why should we be interested?”

There remains much that pastors and lay people can address in church without violating IRS codes. Although the code precludes endorsing candidates, the church may address issues. The church can, and should, take a stand on moral and social issues explicitly addressed in the Bible, said Keet Lewis, a representative of Heritage Alliance, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to helping grassroots conservative movements.

One project Lewis has nurtured is the Christian Citizenship Committee, traveling the state helping churches organize such committees which then act as conduits of information from the state and national levels to their congregations. Being politically involved, Lewis said, is part of being a good citizen. And being an informed voter “is the beginning of taking citizenship seriously.”

These committees keep congregations informed of social and cultural issues within their own communities also, Lewis said.

“We need to be salt and light. We need to clearly articulate biblical issues,” he added.

William Nix concurred, using salt and light to illustrate how Christians can preserve society. Salt, he explained is a curative while light acts to shed light on the blemish that needs treating. Voting with biblical principles in mind is only a small part of the duties of a responsible Christian citizen.

Nix, who has taught in several universities and seminaries across the country, earned a doctor of philosophy in intellectual history. Such a degree, he explained, is a study of the history of ideas within their cultural, social, and economic environment. Nix is a member and 30-year deacon at First Baptist Dallas and a former member of the TERLC.

Nix said it was only 10-12 years ago that many churches within the Dallas metroplex did exactly what Lewis is encouraging congregations to do, coordinating efforts to assemble and disseminate information of a social and political nature. “A lot of people on the basis of fear are avoiding those things,” Nix said.

FREE CHURCH & FREE STATE

Aside from losing their tax-exempt status, churches and individual members use the excuse of “separation of church and state” as a reason for not being politically involved.

The oft-recited statement was discovered in a letter from Thomas Je

HOUSTON?While it has been argued that Christians can do far more in the political arena than they have believed is allowed by law, is there an ethical line that can be crossed when believers gather Sunday mornings displaying their partisanship?

The answer, according to one man, is “yes.” Eddie Weller, an American history professor at San Jacinto Community College in Houston with a doctorate from Texas Christian University, is familiar with the role Christians played in the development of the United States.

Pastors, he said, have a duty to preach on biblical truths that impact society?issues like abortion, gambling, and same-sex marriages. But topics not specifically addressed in God’s word and which have more political overtones than the simple “thou shalt nots” should be left for another discussion. For example, he said, health care for indigent families and housing subsidies for the poor have a more political spin to them, but can be easily related to Jesus’ commands to care for the less fortunate.

An unashamed Democrat in a congregation of conservative Republicans, Weller has learned to take good-natured jibes?and not so good-natured?concerning his political leanings. He has taught Sunday school there for 14 years and has served as a deacon since 1994. Weller has volunteered on numerous committees and ministries of the church and because of his faith in Christ, does not align himself with some of the more socially liberal tenants of the Democratic Party. He is among the minority of pro-life Democrats. But with the spiritual gift of mercy, he said he must take sides with the party he believes has the interests of the poor and needy high on its priority list.

Although he may be in the political minority in his own Houston-area SBTC congregation, Weller represents one half of an even split among believers. According to a 2000 Barna Research Group survey, those categorized as born-again believers were split 35 percent to 35 percent between the two major political parties. Independents made up 18 percent of the voting group.

The idea that conservative Republicans have a lock-hold on a biblically-based worldview does not match statistical evidence. But that does not keep people from believing it, he said.

“I have a hard time with someone saying the Republican Party is the Christian party,” Weller said. Fellow church members, in all sincerity, have said they would pray for him. A few years back, Weller said a woman, upon being introduced to him and then discovering his political proclivities, responded, “And they let you teach Sunday school!” A friend of Weller quickly responded, “We make him park his pitchfork at the door.”

William Nix, also a Ph.D. who studied history, finds the Republican Party more in line with biblical teaching. He believes both parties want much of the same things for the country?like feeding the poor, but finds disagreement over who will be allowed to control the purse strings.

Weller said there have been instances in his life when political speech or even just its symbolism has left people hurt or feeling out of place in church. And these are the times, he argued, when his brothers and sisters in Christ have crossed a line that hinders a church’s ability to share the gospel.

One such incident occurred in the mid-1980s in a large Baptist church in the Dallas-t1:City>Fort Worth metroplex. “Friend Day” was approaching and Weller wanted a lost friend and his wife to attend. Weller had finally secured an agreeable answer from a fellow Democrat friend when the church ran a newspaper ad touting that the pastor’s guest at the service would be a Republican senator.

“They never set foot in that church,” he said. Two years later, Weller added, the couple was divorced. Did the pastor’s bringing a political figure to church cause his friend’s divorce? “No, of course not,” Weller said. “Could lives have been completely changed? Of course. The gospel changes lives.”

The most recent experience was in his current church home during the 2000 presidential campaign. Contributors to the George Bush campaign were awarded “badges” which many church members wore with pride each Sunday morning. Such a display, Weller argued, could send a message to visitors of a differing political persuasion that they are not welcome.

Keet Lewis of the Heritage Alliance said, “This knife has to cut both ways.” He said some politically liberal churches have a history of inviting Democratic candidates to speak while “freedom loving, Republican-minded people” sit in the congregation.

Jim Bolton, a member of First Baptist Dallas and a past chairman of the SBTC’s Texas E

PLANO?In less than eight months American voters will go to the polls to elect a president. A few questions worth asking might be:

• Why is electing a president such a big deal?

• Why would anyone want to be a part of politics?

• If politics is a dirty game, should Christians aspire to hold political office?

• Should Christians even vote?

On the last one, political strategist Ralph Reed says yes.

Reed, speaking in January at an Elevate 2004 Conference sponsored by Southern Baptists and hosted by Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, told the group of young Christians in attendance they have a responsibility to be involved.

“A lot of people ask, ‘How can you be involved in a business as dirty as politics?'”

Reed answered using the analogy of a house with broken water pipes. Our government is not completely corrupt, Reed contended, it just has some malfunctioning parts.

“That broken water pipe is threatening the foundation of that house,” Reed said. “If you don’t do something about it, it’s going to flood the foundation. It’s going to weaken the soil around it. And the whole house is going to come crumbling down.”

Believers have two options, Reed said. They can choose to stay in the house and not fix the pipes because they might get dirty under the house. Or, they can get under the house, repair the pipes and save the house.

“Don’t think for one minute as a Christian that you can stay cloistered in your own safe churches and schools and homes and not engage the broader culture, that you can be protected from the broken water pipe that is threatening the survival of our culture,” Reed said. “Eventually, it will find you.”

For Reed, politics is a calling.

He became involved in politics before he was a Christian. So, Reed said, he has played the game from both sides. As a political strategist before his salvation, Reed said he played to win at all costs. But since his conversion, he has had a chance to see and be a part of elections where people stood by their convictions.

“I have had the privilege and the honor ? to see people who got in touch with the talents and abilities they had been given and combined it with their faith in God and made a real difference in touching every life that they came in contact with through the love and grace and mercy of Jesus Christ,” Reed said.

Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Reed and radio talk show host Janet Parshall explained to the audience the importance of getting involved in the “culture war” and how to become involved in the battle.

Huckabee, a former pastor, said Christians today should be “thermostats instead of thermometers.” Thermometers only check the temperature around them, Huckabee said, adding, “A lot of people?particularly in politics?are nothing more than thermometers.” These “thermometers” take an opinion poll to get the “pulse of the public” and based on the poll state the position they’re going to take, he explained.

Huckabee said God is calling more people to be thermostats instead of thermometers. Thermostats were made not just to read the temperature, but to move the temperature and make it what it ought to be.

He offered two suggestions in becoming a thermostat and changing the climate of the culture. First, Huckabee said, a Christian should stand by his convictions no matter the consequences

“Convictions are not your preferences or your likes versus your dislikes.” Huckabee said. “These are things that you so genuinely believe in ? you’re willing to be left alone and have your friends walk away because these are things you’re simply not going to compromise.”

For Christians, these convictions should be based on the word of God, Huckabee said. Some absolutes are unchanging. Huckabee listed some of his unchangeable convictions?sanctity of life, helping the poor, and honesty.

Second, Huckabee said Christians should “serve compassionately” to get ahead in this culture war. “Jesus did not come to be served, but he came to serve,” Huckabee told the group.

Huckabee told of his 12 years of pastoring churches before he became involved in public life. When he first made the decision to go into politics, some of those in the church questioned his decision. According to Huckabee, some of these people believed the only ministry options were pastors, song leaders (they didn’t have music leaders) or foreign missions. Everything else was considered secular work?not a calling.

“Where did that nonsense come from?” Huckabee asked. “Folks, you don’t have to get a payche