Month: July 2016

Dallas churches respond to shootings, encourage unity

DALLAS—Dallas-area churches responded quickly to the racially motivated shooting during a Black Lives Matter protest in downtown July 7, where a gunman targeted police officers, leaving five officers dead and seven wounded in addition to two civilians. Churches close to the scene offered physical and spiritual support, and others hosted prayer services and funerals to help the community heal from the tragedy.

In Mesquite, the hometown of shooter Micah Xavier Johnson, Mesquite Friendship Baptist Church held an “All Lives Matter” community prayer event attended by local pastors and city officials Monday evening, July 11.

MFBC pastor and former SBTC president Terry Turner opened with a call not to sweep events “under the carpet,” but to deal with the tragedy “face to face.” Reminding the congregation that the shooter was from the city, Turner affirmed, “that’s not what we are like in the city of Mesquite.”

Calling the Black Lives Matter march “good,” Turner stated that the issue became “a matter of all lives matter” when the officers were killed. The protests were in response to two unrelated incidents in Louisiana and Minnesota where black men were killed by police officers.

Turner referenced growing up in the Jim Crow era, saying, “I believe in the Black Lives movement because I’m a black American living in black America. I know what we have to deal with, … what it’s like to be treated like a second-class citizen.” He called for races to love one another in the name of God. “There is greater power in love,” he said.

Among the MFCB guests was Mesquite mayor Stan Pinkett, who said, “What’s behind dark clouds is the sun. And I am here to proclaim tonight that we have the Son that we know is also lighting the world.” Applause drowned out Pickett’s remaining words.

Another largely African-American congregation, Arlington’s Cornerstone Baptist Church hosted Arlington police chief Will Johnson at their two morning services on Sunday, July 10, with 1,400 attending. Johnson participated in a question-and-answer session after the second service.

“Our goal was for our people to be safe—s.a.f.e.—and saved,” said pastor Dwight McKissic, describing the services titled “Finding Calm in the Chaos: Dallas, Baton Rouge, Minnesota.”

In an interview with the TEXAN, McKissic said Johnson was brought in to explain how members of the congregation could avoid becoming victims. McKissic praised Johnson for helping the congregation “understand the mindset of a police person” during tense encounters.

“Respect begets respect,” McKissic said. “If the police respect the citizens, then the citizens respect the police, you can greatly reduce the odds of [tragedies] happening.”

McKissic spoke on Luke 13 in Sunday’s services, drawing parallels between current events and Jesus’ response to violence. McKissic emphasized that Jesus focused not on fairness or fate but on faith. “‘Except ye repent, ye shall likewise perish.’ Ultimately, Jesus says we are all going to die. … If we die at the hands of a madman, or a tower falling, or citizen brutality, or police brutality, whatever reason we die, we are going to likewise perish.”

In the wake of the inevitable, McKissic called upon the congregation to live lives of “repentance and faith” so that they will be prepared. “My goal was to make sure everybody got saved.”

Incendiary social media posts and a perceived hostile tone in the community prompted First Baptist Church of Farmersville pastor Bart Barber to contact area pastors to participate in a Sunday night prayer service July 10.

“I could see some of the same divisions we see playing out across the country unfolding right here in our town,” Barber said. “I just felt a real obligation that the churches of our community should get out in front of this and bring everyone together.”

Some 200 from six churches attended the service at FBC Farmersville. The mayor, city council members, police and fire department representatives and other first responders also came. Rev. Paul Mack of Mt. Calvary, Farmersville’s largest African-American church, attended with his wife and members, Barber said.

Every pastor participated in the service, leading in prayer or reading Scripture. The service concluded with small group prayer, with each group including people from other churches.

“It was pretty powerful,” Barber noted of the prayer time.

“I think that it’s always good when God’s people get together and talk about things and learn about each other’s perspective on things,” said Barber, describing a decrease in community tension. “I have seen things calm down and a willingness to see both sides of the story. … People who walked into that prayer services kind of defensive, walked out of that prayer service smiling and hugging each other.”

Dallas mega-churches also responded to the crisis. The night of the shootings, a team of ministers from First Baptist Church in Dallas, which is located downtown, deployed to Baylor hospital and DPD headquarters.

Executive pastor Ben Lovvorn represented the church at an interfaith prayer vigil held the morning of July 8 at Thanksgiving Square. Lovvorn described the event in a FOX news interview: “Pastors of all faiths came to lead our people in prayer, praying for our city, for the Dallas Police Department, for Chief Brown, for unity.” Lovvorn cited 2 Chronicles 7:14 as the solution to problems. “Our prayer is that God will use this tragedy to turn our nation back to him and the ultimate healer, Jesus Christ. … Pastors and churches must lead the way.”

Additionally, the church held a prayer gathering in Jeffress Fountain Plaza at 8:45 a.m. Sunday.

In Plano, Prestonwood Baptist Church also held a time of prayer during its July 10 morning services. Onstage with Pastor Jack Graham were Mike Gurley, retired DPD officer and Prestonwood member, and State Representative Scott Turner.

Prestonwood also has opened its facilities for memorial services for two fallen officers:  Sr. Cpl.  Lorne Ahrens, Wednesday, July 13, at 11 a.m.; and Officer Michael Krol, Friday, July 15, at 11 a.m.

Graham said of the crisis: “Today we pray for those who mourn. We weep with those who weep. We pray to comfort one another and ask God to heal our land and restore our hopes. There is an opportunity to put feet to our prayers and recommit to serving our community and boldly proclaiming the love of Jesus. This is a heart problem, and the only lasting solution is a Savior who died and rose again so that we may be saved. The church must rise up and stand together across America and offer biblical answers to life’s most important questions. We must overcome evil with good (Romans 12:21); to turn on the light and be the light of Jesus in our communities.”

Retired pastor and SBTC African-American ministry consultant E.W. McCall lives in Dallas. In an interview with Baptist Press at the Black Church Leadership and Family Conference July 11-15 at Ridgecrest, N.C., McCall said African American Christians must have a plan of action to follow after the talking, marching and grieving over violence end.

“I don’t see a strategy,” McCall said. “The only time the system changes for us [minorities] is when it economically impacts the majority community. Martin Luther King was nonviolent, but … he impacted the economic position of the majority. And once you have that pocket, [the majority begins] to think.”

McCall pointed out that blacks must be active in legislatures and Congress to impact lawmaking. After pastors point out injustices, the next step is to strategize to determine how we can change the condition of blacks in society, McCall said.

“If you’re ever going to make changes, you’ve got to be at the table where the laws are being written,” McCall said. “If you’re not at the table, you are on the table being carved up and forgotten.”

Presidents Bush, Obama speak at Dallas interfaith memorial service

DALLAS—President Obama visited Dallas Tuesday, July 12, to attend an interfaith memorial service honoring the fallen police officers slain in last week’s attack, the deadliest day for law enforcement since September 11, 2001.

The president, who was in Warsaw attending his fifth and final NATO Summit when the attacks occurred, cut his Europe trip short by a day to return in time for the service at the invitation of Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings.

Former president George W. Bush and Vice President Biden were in attendance at the service with their wives, alongside mayors and civic leaders from across Texas and surrounding states.

 “The soul of our city was pierced when police officers were ambushed in a cowardly attack,” Rawlings said as he opened the service. “The past few days have been some of the darkest in our city’s history.

“We may be sad, but we will not dwell in self-pity. We may weep, but we will never whine.”

President Bush, who resides in Dallas, also offered brief remarks.

“Today the nation grieves, but those of us who love Dallas and call it home have had five deaths in the family. Laura and I see members of law enforcement every day. We count them as our friends. And we know, like for every other American, that their courage is our protection and shield,” he said. “These slain officers were the best among us.”

Bush acknowledged the confusion and hurt felt by not only the families of those slain, but by the larger police community and Dallas area.

“None of us were prepared, or could be prepared, for an ambush by hatred and malice,” he said. “At times, it seems like the forces pulling us apart are stronger than the forces binding us together. Argument turns too easily into animosity. Disagreement escalates too quickly into dehumanization.

“Too often, we judge other groups by their worst examples, while judging ourselves by our best intentions.”

The former president also offered words of hope and comfort, emphasizing the need for national unity and common purpose.

“To renew our unity, we only need to remember our values. We have never been held together by blood or background. We are bound by things of the spirit, by shared commitments to common ideals.

“At our best, we honor the image of God we see in one another,” he said. “We do not want the unity of grief, nor do we want the unity of fear. We want the unity of hope, affection and high purpose.”

He also spoke directly to the families of the officers, each of whom was represented in the audience by an empty chair carrying only a folded American flag.

“Your loss is unfair. We cannot explain it. We can stand beside you and share your grief. And we can pray that God will comfort you with a hope deeper than sorrow and stronger than death.”

Obama opened his remarks with Scripture, acknowledging the deep sense of loss in the aftermath of the tragedy. He then focused on each of the slain officers, detailing the specifics of their lives and careers and offering personal comfort to each of the grieving families.

“Like police officers across the country, these men and their families shared a commitment to something larger than themselves,” he said. “They were upholding the constitutional rights of this country.”

He acknowledged that these officers, killed during a protest of the police-related shooting deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, willingly chose to protect those protesting their very vocation.

“I know that Americans are struggling right now with what we’ve witnessed over the past week. First, the shootings in Minnesota and Baton Rouge, the protests. Then the targeting of police by the shooter here, an act not just of demented violence, but of racial hatred,” he said.

“It’s as if the deepest fault lines of our democracy have suddenly been exposed,” he said.

Although the White House announced Monday that Obama would address the deaths of Sterling and Castile at Tuesday’s memorial, the president also used the memorial service as an opportunity to speak to more broad social issues such as education reform, mental health care, and gun control.

“As a society, we choose to under-invest in decent schools. We allow poverty to fester so that entire neighborhoods offer no prospect for gainful employment. We refuse to fund drug treatment and mental health programs,” he said.

“We flood communities with so many guns that it is easier for a teenager to buy a Glock than get his hands on a computer or even a book,” he added.

Obama went on to address the issue of systemic racism in America, stating that although race relations had improved dramatically over the last 50 years, inherent biases still exist and must be acknowledged.

“No institution is entirely immune, and that includes our police departments.”

Obama said numerous studies have shown that white and minorities do not receive equal treatment within the criminal justice system.

“If you’re black, you’re more likely to be pulled over or searched or arrested; more likely to get longer sentences; more likely to get the death penalty for the same crime,” he said. “When all this takes place more than 50 years after the passage of the Civil Rights Act, we cannot simply turn away and dismiss those in peaceful protest as troublemakers or paranoid.”

He returned to Scripture to close the service, encouraging Americans to follow the example of the Old Testament prophet Ezekiel.

“That’s what we must pray for, each of us. A new heart. Not a heart of stone, but a heart open to the fears and hopes and challenges of our fellow citizens,” he said. “Our character is not found in isolation. Hope does not arise by putting our fellow man down, it is found by lifting others up.”

The two presidents and their wives clasped hands along the stage with Biden, Rawlings, and Dallas Police Chief David Brown as the interfaith choir sang The Battle Hymn of the Republic in closing.

Grand Prairie officials call for “prayers with legs” in aftermath of sniper shootings in Dallas

GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas—With DFW Metroplex citizens still stunned and afraid by the July 7 sniper shootings of Dallas police officers, Grand Prairie city officials met with local citizens at the Grand Prairie Police and Fire Department headquarters July 11.

The 45-minute meeting highlighted officials’ commitment to public safety  in the Dallas suburb and an appeal to pray for the fallen and their families, as well as for current public servants.

Interrupted several times with cheers, applause and shouts of “Amen” during his remarks, Grand Prairie Police Chief Steve Dye cited the city’s mayor Ron Jensen, who recently said, “Yes, we need prayers. But we need prayers with legs. We need prayers, but we need actions to accompany our prayers.”

“I would ask you for peaceful, thoughtful actions to accompany your prayers,” Dye said.

“It has come to the point that we cannot communicate respectfully without violence. We fully acknowledge that we as public servants should be held accountable. But we also don’t understand why, when officers across the country may make a mistake, why all of us are stereotyped as bad or evil.”

Dye recounted the response of Dallas police officers last Friday night who “when the shooting started, the officers ran to the threat to protect those who were protesting and demonstrating. And I think that sums it up.”

Appealing for the community’s and the media’s help, Dye said, “We need to get the message out on what we really do all day long, which is almost entirely helping people and problem solving.”

“It’s time for society to be more vocal about how you feel about your police officers and how we work together to solve differences, solve problems, and to be leaders in mutual respect, and mutual respectful communication,” Dye said.

“You see, as police officers, we cannot accomplish that alone. And what I’m asking you to do is to help us sustain this change toward more civility, more honor and more support for your police officers. And all we ask is that, when you see us, tell us how much you appreciate us because that goes a long way in our professional lives after dealing with negativity.”

Dye invited the crowd to attend Grand Prarie’s citizen police academy and to become more informed about ways to collaborate with others to increase community safety.

“It’s just a shame that the world has gotten to the point where police officers are targets,” Dye continued. “And folks, it’s true what we say: we are the thin blue line, as we’re proud to be the thin blue line. But to be that thin blue line and prevent chaos in this community and in this nation, we must work together. That’s what makes America great because we do respect our police officers, and our police officers should respect our community members.”

Dye said that when an error is made on either side of the thin blue line, “we want to hold each other accountable. And we will get better.”

Saying he is proud of his officers’ character, their level of training, and level of equipment, Dye also noted gratitude for the “salary and benefits provided by the city leaders, so we can attract and pay the best officers. We are truly blessed in our city.”

Amid swelling applause, Dye praised the city’s diversity and said, “We’re not perfect as a city, but we’ve got it right. We’ve got it right when it comes to not being divisive, but being inclusive and working together.”

Dye thanked those attending the meeting for “showing all of our police officers and civilian police how much you love them and how much you care about them. I would ask that during this difficult week, when many funerals are laying many heroes to rest, that we remember all those families of the fallen because folks it’s not just about this week, it’s about moving forward having lost that family member, that loved one serving in our community. Let’s remember those heroes. Let’s say an extra prayer.”

Mayor Jensen addressed the crowd, saying: “Many of us are pray-ers. We grew up praying. My dad is a Baptist minister, and we prayed. And prayers with legs—that’s beautiful. We certainly need to lift up those who have fallen and their families,”

“But I’m concerned about us, right here, this group. We need to pray for each other. Yourself. We need to pray tonight because you don’t want your heart to get hardened over this fiasco.

Grand Prairie’s volunteer police chaplain Emil Balliet closed the meeting in prayer. Citizens milled around for another 30 minutes sharing quiet moments together, hugging and thanking police officers, and offering each other reassurances of support.

Church in Dallas police shooter”s hometown holds community prayer service

MESQUITE, Texas—Mayor Stan Pickett of Mesquite admitted Monday night that he didn’t know Pastor Terry Turner of Mesquite Friendship Baptist Church very well, but that has changed in the wake of last week’s tragic shootings of police officers at a protest in downtown Dallas.

Pickett was one of a dozen or so pastors and dignitaries invited to speak and pray before a packed house at the “All Lives Matter” community prayer event at MFBC the evening of July 11.

After praising the actions of first responders in the July 7 crisis, the mayor described phoning Turner several times after the shootings. Thanking Turner for arranging the prayer meeting, Pickett added that Turner had assured him, “We’re going to get through this, and we’re going to do it together.”

Declaring God to be on his throne, the mayor concluded, “What’s behind dark clouds is the sun. And I am here to proclaim tonight that we have the Son that we know is also lighting the world.”

Turner revealed in his opening remarks that he is no stranger to racism, assuring his predominately black congregation that the evening’s intent was not to sweep what happened “under the carpet,” but to deal with the tragedy “face to face.”

Reminding the congregation that the shooter, Micah Xavier Johnson, was from their city, Turner announced his desire to proclaim, “that’s not what we are like in the city of Mesquite.”

Calling last week’s Black Lives Matter march “good,” Turner stated that the issue became “a matter of all lives matter” when the police officers were killed.

Turner referenced his experiences growing up in the Jim Crow era, saying, “I believe in the Black Lives movement because I’m a black American living in black America. I know what we have to deal with … what it’s like to be treated like a second-class citizen.” He called for races to love one another in the name of God. “There is greater power in love.”

Turner had invited local community pastors to pray from the platform for the victims, the shooter and their families. They also prayed for the families and communities of Baton Rouge, La., and Falcon Heights, Minn., where police killed two black men in unrelated incidents that precipitated the protests in Dallas.

Alex Gonzales of Hickory Tree Baptist Church in Balch Springs prayed for the family of fallen Dallas officer Patrick Zamarripa. “I am convinced there are those in our city, in our nation, in our world who desire nothing more than to see Satan succeed. Father, we stand together as a church convinced that Jesus has already succeeded.” Referencing the Civil Rights movement and Micah 6, Gonzales issued a call for justice and mercy, reminding the congregation that in 50 or 60 years, others may be looking to see how the church responded to the current crisis.

John Livaudais, pastor of Mesquite’s Macedonia Baptist Church, was asked by Turner to pray for the family of Micah Johnson. Ironically, Livaudais tearfully noted, the assassin’s grieving mother was his own neighbor.

Mesquite PD Captain David Gill reminded all of the relative powerlessness of elected officials and police and of the power of the Lord. Reading from Colossians 3:14, Gill reminded the audience to “put on love,” and that the apostle Paul called upon the Colossians to have a “church” that was neither black nor white, slave nor free.  A standing ovation greeting his final words, “We need to fix this on our knees.”

Scott Gray, pastor of First Baptist Church of Mesquite reminded all of the wickedness of man, the futility of law, and the “only hope” in the “peace of the gospel of Jesus Christ.”

Wayne Wible, associate pastor from Sunnyvale First Baptist Church, ended the meeting with a call to the congregation to “show your love, grace, and mercy to others, regardless of ethnicity, social standing” or other “manmade barrier.”

Southwestern announces new certificate program for professionals

FORT WORTH  Just because one is a professional in the business world does not mean one cannot serve the kingdom of God. Such a mentality is the driving force behind Southwestern Seminary’s new Professional Missions Certificate, a 20- to 21-hour program designed for professionals outside the world of vocational ministry but who nevertheless feel called to advance the work of Christ on the mission field.

Southwestern has been approached by a number of medical professionals over the years inquiring about a certificate program or degree that would prepare them specifically for assisting in church planting efforts while involved in medical missions. As Southwestern administrators discussed this need, the vision expanded to include business and perhaps other professionals as well. The professional missions certificate is the result of these discussions.

According to Craig Blaising, executive vice president and provost at Southwestern, the professional envisioned by this program already has a graduate degree (such as a Doctor of Medicine or Master of Business Administration) and is seeking to serve in the field of his/her training—such as medical missions or international business—as a platform to assist in mission work. Such a person would not be seeking to lead the work of church planting but to assist that work from his/her service position.

The certificate curriculum provides three hours of study each in Old Testament, New Testament, biblical hermeneutics and systematic theology. It also includes “Introduction to Missiology” and a specialized course connecting the professional’s training to missions, as well as practicum training in missions.

“While it is impossible to provide a thorough grounding in biblical and theological studies through a short certificate program, we believe that the professional missions certificate will give the trained professional a basic foundation for assisting career missionaries in the work of international church planting,” Blaising said. “It will also be a foundation upon which the professional can build a program of further studies (whether residential or online while in the field) toward one of Southwestern’s master’s degrees.”

Each of these courses would count toward higher degrees at Southwestern (such as the Master of Theological Studies or Master of Arts in Missiology) should professionals choose to continue their education. Also, the curriculum meets the International Mission Board’s seminary requirements for those deployed as apprentice workers with the IMB and can support IMB President David Platt’s vision for “limitless pathways” for missions.

German preachers conference welcomes 1,000 European church leaders

LEMGO, Germany More than 1,000 pastors and lay preachers assembled for the fifth biennial Preachers Conference in Lemgo, Germany, May 25-28. Heinrich Derksen, president of Southwestern Seminary’s partner seminary Bibelseminar Bonn (BSB) in Bonn, Germany, served as one of the conference’s hosts alongside Southwestern, the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention, and the Forum of Evangelical Free Churches, an organization comprising roughly 100 Russian German Baptist and Mennonite churches. These various parties united under the motto, “Preach the Word … the ONE Gospel for the whole world.”

The conference aimed to strengthen lay preachers and pastors in their ministries through solid, faithful teaching as well as fellowship and spiritual encouragement. 

“Our hearts are burdened with assisting both full-time and lay ministers as they seek to better understand the Word of God, to develop their gifts and abilities, and to serve God in their communities, churches and around the world,” Derksen wrote on BSB’s website.

The idea for the conference originated in 2007 when Southwestern President Paige Patterson suggested to Pastor Nikolai Reimer (whose church hosted the conference this year) that a meeting be held for pastors and lay preachers in Europe. A preachers conference has been held every two years since then, and many European countries have been represented on each occasion.

Frank Page, president of the SBC Executive Committee; Robert Jeffress, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Dallas; and Patterson all spoke at the conference as representatives of the Southern Baptist Convention. During an interview with Walter Risto, pastor of a growing evangelical church in Germany and a Southwestern graduate, each of the SBC leaders expressed his excitement and gratitude regarding what God is doing through the Russian-German churches and the partnership between Southwestern and BSB.

“Sharing Christ personally and as a church is key,” Page told pastors. “I am here because ‘Ich liebe Deutschland.’ (translated, ‘I love Germany.’)”

Acknowledging the difficulties that believers often face as they engage culture with the gospel, Jeffress said, “It is worth it to stand up for God’s Word in a growing opposition culture because it’s about the gospel of Jesus Christ.”

Building on this theme, Patterson preached a sermon on the Holy Spirit, explaining that the Spirit provides the strength and wisdom necessary for evangelism. Noting the vast experience Patterson and his wife, First Lady Dorothy Patterson, have in evangelizing the lost, Andy Wiebe, student dean and lecturer at BSB, said, “Dr. Patterson and his wife, Dorothy, are a living testimony of what the Holy Spirit will do if Christians are willing to be used by him.”

Wiebe said BSB students consistently share Christ on market squares in Cologne and Bonn. In addition to “great” evangelistic conversations and prayers, students have also handed out several hundred Bibles.

Such acts, as well as the preachers conference itself, all serve BSB’s purpose of impacting their region with the gospel. 

“Because we believe that God has placed us in a unique and strategic place in central Europe,” Derksen said, “we want to faithfully fulfill our role in reaching this part of the world with the good news of Jesus Christ.” 

Despite language and distance, Houston church looks like heaven

Within the increasingly diverse congregation that makes up Champion Forest Baptist Church is a family that could be the poster children for the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention’s annual “Look Like Heaven” emphasis. The Orellana family represents three continents, four languages and one Lord.

Ivan Orellana, a native of El Salvador is the worship leader for the CFBC Spanish-language services. His wife, Samiko, is from Japan. Their daughters Micha, 6, and Aska, 4, are Texas born and bred. The girls are homeschooled in English. Afternoons are for conversations in Japanese. Talks with Dad in the evenings are in Spanish with a little Portuguese mixed in for good measure.

“The Orellana family is representative of our church and community; we live in a multicultural world,” pastor David Fleming told the TEXAN. “They are an example of how we can achieve unity in the midst of diversity, when it’s family. We are the family of God.”

Each year the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention promotes “Looks Like Heaven,” encouraging churches once a year to combine worship services with a church of a different culture, race or language.

“It starts with the spiritual realization of the unity that comes through the Holy Spirit,” said Fleming.

On any given Sunday at CFBC one can hear English, Spanish, Portuguese, Vietnamese, Farsi and Japanese. For the hearing impaired, there is American Sign Language. Of course more languages are likely represented since Houston is one of the nation’s most international cities.

But 10 years ago, CFBC was predominantly white and English-speaking.

“We could have stayed a wealthy, white church … and declining,” said Brent Dyer, lead worship pastor for the English-language services.

Dyer said a desire to “reach the people who live in the shadow of the steeple” sent CFBC out into their neighborhoods to draw in new believers regardless of their race, culture or language. And then those people began bringing their friends and families.

The largest growth has been in the Spanish-speaking members. On any given Sunday, 7,000 people worship on three campuses in 16 distinct yet similar worship services. About 2,000 of those attend the three Spanish-language worship services on two of the three CFBC campuses.

But the Spanish-speaking population is not monolithic; there are distinctions of dialect and semantics to interpret. Orellana has learned to negotiate the nuances. Growing up in El Salvador, Spanish is his first language. But as he learned to master a second and arguably more universal language—music—his ministry took him to Portugal, Guatemala, El Salvador and Spain between 2002 and 2005 before landing in Houston.

His first experience in an English-speaking church left him feeling lost during the preaching. But when the music started all that changed.

“It’s not easy when you are in the process of learning a language because sometimes it makes it harder to connect with the others,” Orellana said. “So what we try to do is create a place where people can feel like they are part of it without being able to speak the language fluently.”

As CFBC grew so did its complexion, its voices. The church began to reflect the community in which it was planted. And the new people brought more people like themselves. Fleming knew continuity between the pastors was crucial for them to be one church and one family rather than a loosely affiliated church in name only.

“CFBC is very intentional about maintaining unity, and it starts by having unity among the staff,” Orellana said. “It’s not just about the worship services but how we Spanish speakers and English speakers work together as one church in different ministries.”

If all the church members couldn’t be in the same worship service at the same time, they could at least be on the same page. During weekly meetings, CFBC pastors and worship leaders review the next Sunday’s sermon. There will be 16 sermons, all same yet different.

Each pastor teaches from the same verses, so each member of CFBC, regardless of age or language, will hear the same passage taught. They are currently teaching through the Old Testament.

Dyer said from the weekly discussions a “big idea” emerges that will shape each sermon and worship service. The “big idea” may present itself differently in each service, but it creates unity among the people separated by time and distance.

Fleming said the goal is uniformity without denying individuality.

“They’re not all preaching my sermon,” Fleming said.

Continuity flows from familiarity. And while a church member can go from campus to campus or children’s worship service to the adult service and hear the same Bible passage taught, a sense of unity  is strengthened as the pastors reinforce the notion that they shepherd the whole church, not just one segment. To that end they regularly take turns filling the pulpits on each of the three campuses.

Dyer and Orellana develop worship services through the filter of the “big idea” going so far as to create a familiar musical genre that flows from service to service. Songs are translated from English to Spanish or vice versa.

Cultural differences, even more than language, affect the dynamics of how a musical selection is interpreted, Dyer said. The worship team tries to make the differences as minimal as possible while allowing for cultural expressions in the context of any congregation. Just as in the creation of 16 sermons on the same passage, worship cannot be forced or generic.

All of that comes into play when the church—the whole church—gathers for a joint worship service each year on the Sunday between Christmas and New Year. What may appear to some as barriers, the CFBC worship and pastoral teams see it as expressions of the body of Christ.

“It’s a concerted effort all year,” Fleming said. “It wouldn’t work one service a year if we weren’t doing it all year long.”

Weeping with those who weep

Although I live only 10 miles from downtown Dallas, I’m rarely there. But last night, of all nights, I was. I was just a couple of miles south of Dallas when the shootings took place and had to make my way back through the city to return home as the situation continued to unfold.
 
The city looked unlike I had ever seen it. The streets were shut down, blue and red lights reflected off the buildings, and the sky was filled with helicopters. I listened to the reporters on the AM radio trying to make sense of the events that had just occurred. It wasn’t until I returned home and turned on the TV that I began to fully understand the reality of what had taken place in this city that I love.
 
It’s truly overwhelming. I feel a sense of the gut-wrenching compassion that Jesus felt as He looked out over the multitudes and saw them as sheep without a shepherd. I feel it for the families of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling. I feel it for the black community as they try to make sense of the last few days. I feel it for the 12 officers shot last night and their families. I feel it for the families of the five officers killed. I feel it for our Dallas police officers who will continue to protect our city and its citizens. I feel it for our nation that seems to have somehow reverted back to the racial tension of a previous generation.
 
As a pastor in this community, I’m thinking about how to respond. I must respond. Not just because I live in this community, but because this is what pastors do.
 
Pastors shepherd the people of God. They help God’s people navigate moments like this. Pastors lead their people in prayer. Pastors encourage their people in hope. Pastors put these situations into a Gospel perspective. Pastors lead their people in how to lovingly respond. The church must respond and the pastors must lead them. Even if, at the moment, it is a call to prayer, we must respond.
 
Today, as we wake up to the reality of these horrific realities of senseless killings and deeply rooted racial tension, our first response might not be to act — but rather to feel. Romans 12:15 says, “Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep.” The reason God gives us that command is because He knows we do not naturally do this. God knows that every response to someone’s suffering is easier than this one; it’s easier to act than to feel. It takes less time. It takes less energy. It takes less listening.
 
It’s not that we do not feel badly for people. We are sad for their circumstances and wish they were different. But we do not often set our own circumstances aside and ask God to allow us to enter into someone else’s suffering and pain. After all, we all have enough of our own. But this is the Gospel in action.
 
Today, among the many good and Gospel-centered responses that the church will have to this situation, let’s not miss the most basic one — to feel. The glory of the incarnation was not that Christ simply felt our pain, but that He took our pain and suffered and died for it. But one without the other does not give us much hope. We run to Jesus not only because He can help, but because He understands.
 
Our response cannot end with grief — but it seems that it must start there. We cannot bypass Romans 12:15 in order to jump to our sermons and action plans for racial reconciliation. We must pray that God, in His grace, will allow us to weep with those who weep. That somehow, in the midst of our own griefs and sorrows, God might allow us to understand and feel the grief and sorrow of those around us. That somehow, their grief might even overshadow ours. We must pray that we, as the church, might not only reflect those actions of Christ, but the heart of Christ. That the world around us would see the Jesus of the Bible, the one who bore our griefs and carried our sorrows (Isaiah 53:4). That Jesus is hard to ignore.

This column by J. Josh Smith, pastor of MacArthur Avenue Baptist Church in Irving, Texas, first appeared at the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission’s website, www.erlc.com.

Richards responds to racial tensions, violence in America

My dear friends,

This has been a grievous week for our country, and specifically for Texas. The deaths of two black men at the hands of policemen in Louisiana and Minnesota this week brought the tension within all our communities to a higher level, even as investigations of those shootings are just beginning. The targeting and shooting of Dallas policemen, the killing of five of them, is an indicator of this tension reaching tragic heights.

God’s people are bearers of his answer to grief, to injustice, to racism and to rage. In the coming days, Texas will lay to rest five men whom God describes in Romans 13 as “minister[s] to you for good.” We honor them for their sacrifice, and we honor their fellow officers for their continued service. They are God’s servants in the civic realm, even as we are in the spiritual realm. Let us strive to be ministers of God’s peace and righteousness and justice.

This week, several of our churches will host prayer meetings around the state. Perhaps God can use the tragic deaths of policemen and civilians this week to drive us to our knees in unity around the cross of Christ and dependence on our merciful God. I think of our Look Like Heaven emphasis as our churches and communities gather. This effort was born in the heart of Pastor Terry Turner when he served as our president. He saw in his heart, and we join him in praying, that God’s people will be one in purpose and one in love without regard for the external things that try to divide us. May the Lord’s churches look more like heaven even as we pray for that day when we gather around the throne of God.

I encourage you to devote yourself to prayer as you grieve for our nation and seek God’s guidance and mercy for our people. I pray that this season of prayer will embolden you to share the good news of life in Christ from the pulpit and everywhere you go. Transformed lives will transform communities.

God bless you as you minister reconciliation in your congregations and communities in the coming days. It is my great joy to serve alongside you in this eternally significant work.

Jim Richards

Criswell College CPR program trains church planters, revitalizers

DALLAS  The face of ministry is changing in America as a growing need for revitalizing dying churches and planting new works requires new pastoral skill sets. 

“Almost 90 percent of church jobs today are either in a church needing revitalization or in a church plant,” according to Aaron Meraz, director of the Church Planting and Revitalization (CPR) Center at Criswell College. 

To meet this need, Criswell created the Bachelor of Arts in church planting and revitalization in the fall of 2012. 

“The goal of the CPR major is to prepare students to make disciples resulting in the development of churches,” Meraz said. 

“With the United States being the third-largest mission field in the world, the CPR major also prepares students for international and domestic missions. With two practicums in the program and field assignments in every course, students who complete the CPR major will have at least four semesters of practical experience in church planting and/or church revitalization.”

Meraz spent 10 years revitalizing churches and another nine years in church planting before coming to Criswell. Administrators asked him, along with others, to create a curriculum for the CPR major, which was eventually approved. Meraz taught the first two CPR classes in 2012 and became the official program director of the CPR major in fall 2013. 

Recently, the CPR major celebrated a milestone as the first three students, Tim and Katrina Stone and J.T. Riley, graduated from the fledging program and set out to impact Texas and the world with the gospel.

The Stones have served for two years in youth ministry at Stepping Stones Church in McKinney, an SBTC church plant. Upon graduation, Tim was promoted to an associate pastor role, and Stepping Stones plans to send the Stones to plant a church in the next couple years, Meraz said. 

 “J.T. took his education and planted Providence Baptist Church, which is the first Baptist church in the new township of Providence, Texas. The church is funded [through] SBTC,” Meraz said.

Riley believes his work at Criswell enhanced the skills he needed to become a church planter. 

“Criswell provided me with the tools to proficiently research demographic information on my own, which is critical for a planter to know prior to moving into an area,” Riley said. 

Riley said the program strengthened his understanding of fundraising strategies, provided him a support network, and challenged him to remember the biblical foundations of church planting, including the importance of prayer.

A relationship with Meraz also added to the Riley’s experience at Criswell. 

“Dr. Aaron Meraz is a man with a sincere passion for the lost. He will personally invest himself in your life and your work. You can guarantee that he will be praying for you and for the lost you are trying to reach,” Riley said. 

In addition to the skills he acquired at Criswell, Riley is also grateful for the training, funding and ongoing support from SBTC.

“The SBTC has been a priceless resource in regards to prayer and friendships above all else,” Riley said. “The financial support is nice, but without the support of others who have walked in your shoes, it would be very hard to walk this path.  

“They also have coaches that are extremely knowledgeable in the work of church planting, and they have a genuine passion for planters, their families and the lost.”

For more information about Criswell College’s CPR program, visit their website at criswell.edu/cpr. Learn more about SBTC church planting at sbtexas.com/missions/church-planting.