Month: November 2017

Your Convention – You Belong

Belong! The theme of this year’s Southern Baptists of Texas Convention is an invitation and affirmation. Let me explain the invitation.

You are invited to experience one of the most unique state convention annual meetings ever. There are two main breakout sessions designed to connect you with others in the SBTC family. The first breakout will provide a setting for you to get to know some who are ministering near you geographically. Sometimes we have the tendency to get so involved with our individual assignments from the Lord that we forget to reach out to others who are walking the same path. Monday night, at the conclusion of the session, you will enjoy getting to know some of your fellow SBTCers who are located near your place of ministry.

The second breakout is during the lunch hour on Tuesday. Pastors and laypersons serving churches similar to yours in attendance will join you as you learn from one another. No two churches are alike. Yet there are common joys and challenges that create a fellowship. 

On Tuesday morning a panel will tackle the most important function in the life of a church. You are invited to participate in the question-and-answer time. Benefiting from the interaction can enhance your local church. 

Our preachers during last year’s convention preached through a text.  The Southern Baptist Convention Pastors’ Conference picked up the idea. We are doing it again this year. All of our speakers will bring expository messages from Ephesians chapter four. In the concluding message Tuesday night  Tony Evans will bring a select passage for us.

Music will bring us into the presence of the Lord in worship. Scripture reading and prayer will be done by couples, emphasizing the unity of the home. Testimonies of God’s faithfulness will be shared. It is going to be a tremendous atmosphere.

All of these aspects of your annual meeting are an invitation to “Belong.” Notice I said, “Your annual meeting.”  This is where the affirmation part comes in. You affirm by your presence and participation that this is your Southern Baptists of Texas Convention. It is not the staff’s. It is not the big churches’. It is not the smaller churches’. It is not one ethnic group or another’s. You make up your convention. Accept the invitation and by doing you are affirming that this group of churches is yours. You are saying, “I belong.”

Many para-church organizations do great work. Many non-profits assist in bettering our society. Even other affinity groups or denominations impact the culture for God’s glory. When I look at all the groups available and vying for my involvement, I am thankful to God that I can invest my life in the local churches of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention. I pray that I will see you where you “Belong”! 

SWBTS cuts 30 employee positions to compensate for exorbitant healthcare costs and rise in utilities

FORT WORTH–Exorbitant healthcare costs, the rise in expenses for utilities and other higher education costs prompted personnel cuts last month at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth. Initial adjustments to operations were not sufficient to stay within the $36.8 million 2017-2018 fiscal year budget set by the Board of Trustees last spring, according to Charles Patrick, Jr., vice president for strategic initiatives and communications.

SWBTS President Paige Patterson said the adjustments were “personally excruciatingly painful and sad to me,” in a statement released Nov. 7 following a Nov. 2 inquiry by the TEXAN. With a cumulative increase of 42 percent over the past three years, healthcare now accounts for 10 percent of Southwestern’s operating budget.

“For 42 years I have served Southern Baptists as president of its schools. Not a day of it has been free from concerns about funding. The exorbitant cost of healthcare is the latest dilemma.”

Paige Patterson, SWBTS president

“For 42 years I have served Southern Baptists as president of its schools. Not a day of it has been free from concerns about funding. The exorbitant cost of healthcare is the latest dilemma,” he said. Consequently we have to tighten our belt.”

After making “low-hanging fruit adjustments” that included reductions in dining services, Copy Center hours and the fleet of vehicles at the 200-acre campus, Patrick said the administration decided not to refill positions from natural attrition, including student employees who are graduating and staff and faculty he said were set to retire.

In order to continue providing healthcare benefits to employees and their dependents, a third round of cuts “involved laying off full-time staff in selected areas where functions can be covered in other ways or by organizational change,” according to Patrick.

Noting that implementation of the Affordable Care Act prompted many institutions and companies to axe spousal and dependent coverage from employer health insurance plans; Patrick said Southwestern has made the decision to maintain those benefits because the school “places a high value on the family.”

The 865-member workforce at Southwestern includes 300 full-time and 565 part-time employees. Classes taught by the four faculty members scheduled to retire will be covered by current professors.

Patrick indicated the seminary had fielded questions about “the perceived dichotomy of making budget adjustments that affect staff positions while concomitantly embarking on campus building projects” such as the recently opened Mathena Hall and renovations to Reynolds Auditorium and Barnard Hall.

Donor funds designated specifically for those projects cannot be used for operating the seminary, Patrick said. Furthermore, “all newly constructed buildings possess a maintenance and operating endowment to defray the impact on Southwestern’s operating budget, he clarified.

Regarding the personnel cuts, Patterson said, “I have had no choice to maintain the financial integrity of the School. We are profoundly appreciative of the prayers of God’s people,” he added, seeking intercession for those affected by the staff reductions and additional donors to help with the operating budget.

“Many of our faithful ministry partners in South Texas are understandably recovering from Hurricane Harvey,” Patrick said. He also encouraged supporters to “pray for and invite more students to Southwestern,” noting that tuition revenue helps with the operating budget.

“The head count enrollment at Southwestern continues to be sustained, but students are taking fewer hours as they themselves make budget adjustments and work multiple jobs during these economic times of increased expenses.”

Patterson expressed appreciation for the Cooperative Program, the Southern Baptist funding mechanism for state and worldwide missions and ministries which provides 22 percent of the operating budget to subsidize campus services and tuition expenses for students.

The complete release is available under the news tab at swbts.edu.

SBTC helps small churches improve security

GRAPEVINE—Church security issues exploded into the forefront for many congregations Nov. 5 with the murder of 26 people during a worship service at First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs.

For most small-membership churches, however, improving security is no simple matter, and the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention has excellent resources to help, including free seminars around the state in Dallas in November, Plano in December, East Texas in January, Houston in February, Lubbock in March and El Paso in April.

“Smaller churches face security threats, but they do not have the same resources [as larger churches] to address them,” said Bart Barber, pastor of First Baptist Church in Farmersville, in a Nov. 6 column in Christianity Today.

Employing off-duty police officers, impaneling security teams, adapting buildings and installing security technology involve significant expense, Barber wrote. In addition, Texas state law until recently required churches to pay for background checks and training of security personnel, as well as submitting an annual licensing fee to the state. Fielding an unlicensed volunteer team was punishable by a $10,000 fine. 

Effective Sept. 1, however, a change in state law allows congregations to assemble security teams composed simply of volunteers who are legally allowed to carry a gun. Passage of the law “ensures churches are empowered to make their own decisions about how they want to implement their security policies without jumping through unnecessary training and licensure hoops,” State Representative Matt Rinaldi told Fort Worth’s NBC 5 in late July. 

Churches should not jump too quickly to address the possibility of an active shooter like the one that traumatized the Sutherland Springs congregation. Not only are medical emergencies or severe weather events more likely to occur than a shooting, but arming church members for official security purposes raises serious legal and insurance liability concerns. 

“Police officers go through constant training to know when to shoot and when not to shoot,” said SBTC Church Ministries Director Mark Yoakum.

Toward that end, the SBTC offers congregations, free of charge, specialized consultation and several excellent resources. Two on-line videos from the 2015 Equip Conference provide an overview of church security and explain how to get started. Then a congregation can request an on-site consultation that looks at the unique situation of the church.

“This is not a ‘one size fits all’ approach,” Yoakum said. “We will point out vulnerabilities and things they need to look at. We will talk about both prevention and what to do in case of an attack, help them develop a plan. We also look at child and preschool security at same time. All that is offered free of charge to the church, paid for by the Cooperative Program.”

Churches interested in scheduling a consultation can fill out a request at http://sbtexas.com/church-ministries/church-administration/church-security. In the meantime, church security conferences are being scheduled around the state in the coming months. A list of those dates and locations also is available on that web page.

Smaller churches may face challenges in making their buildings secure, but Barber added they have the advantage of generating “a loyalty and a resiliency that make them hard to kill.”

He predicted that sister churches in the rural area of Sutherland Springs will reach in and give a helping hand, convinced “the martyrdom of these believers will bring people to Christ.”

Church Security Resources

This link searches the SBTC website and the security videos are among the results:
https://sbtexas.com/onlinetraining/search/?keywords=security

These links take a visitor directly to each video:
https://sbtexas.com/onlinetraining/overview-of-church-security/673/
https://sbtexas.com/onlinetraining/how-to-get-a-church-security-ministry-started/674/

This link gives details on upcoming seminars:
http://sbtexas.com/church-ministries/church-administration/church-security/

SBTC giving options to care for Sutherland Springs

SUTHERLAND SPRINGS—The Southern Baptists of Texas Convention has established three options for submitting monetary donations to care for victims of the November 5 tragedy at First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs.

Donors may choose one of the following methods:

  • Option 1: Donate online at http://sbtexas.com/givesutherland.
  • Option 2: Text a specific dollar amount, followed by the word ‘Sutherland’, to 817-442-2792. Example: for a $25 donation, text ‘25sutherland’ to 817-442-2792.
  • Option 3:  Send a check payable to the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention to: SBTC, PO Box 1988, Grapevine, TX 76089. The note “Care for Sutherland Springs” should be designated on the check.

Funds collected will be used to meet needs of the church’s pastors and members, as well as others in the community who suffered loss.  Immediate needs include trauma and grief counseling, funeral expenses, and church clean-up and repair.

In a video message on the SBTC web site, Pastor/Church Relations Director Dr. Tony Wolfe addressed the Sutherland Springs community as family. He said, “We will walk with you on this long journey ahead, leaning every single moment on the grace that is ours in Christ Jesus.”

Dr. Wolfe’s brief message of condolence can be accessed at http://sbtexas.com/sutherland. The same web page also contains updated prayer needs for the Sutherland Springs community and a link to the online giving option.

SBTC Annual Meeting: Pastors to benefit from geographically & size-based breakouts sessions

DALLAS Southern Baptists of Texas messengers and guests will gather in Dallas for their 20th annual meeting Nov. 13-14 at Criswell College, 4010 Gaston Avenue, east of downtown Dallas. With a theme of Belong, taken from Ephesians 4, SBTC president Nathan Lino sought to create an environment of encouragement for pastors and church members through Spirit-filled preaching, powerful music and relationship-building breakout sessions.

In addition to ministry reports from SBTC departments, speakers include J.R. Vassar of Grapevine bringing the annual convention sermon on Tuesday morning and Tony Evans of Dallas preaching later that night.

Vassar serves as pastor of Church at the Cross in Grapevine. Previously, he founded Apostles Church in New York City in 2005 and served as pastor until 2013. 

A graduate of Dallas Baptist University, Vassar received a Th.M. from Dallas Theological Seminary (DTS). He is the author of Glory Hunger: God, the Gospel and Our Quest for Something More.

Evans pastors Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, which he founded in 1976. What began with a group of 10 people has grown to more than 10,000 congregants with over 100 ministries. 

Through church and school partnerships, Evans has led the church to affect spiritual and social change around the country with the Adopt-A-School Initiative. He has authored more than 100 books, booklets and Bible studies, including Oneness Embraced and The Kingdom Agenda.

The first African-American to graduate with a doctoral degree from DTS, Evans serves as an associate professor, teaching evangelism, homiletics and black church studies. For three decades he has served as chaplain to the Dallas Mavericks.

SBTC President Nathan Lino, pastor of Northeast Houston Baptist Church in Humble, will deliver his message during the opening session, which begins at 6:30 p.m. on Monday. Musicians from his church will be leading in worship. 

Other sermons will be delivered throughout the two days in a sequential exposition of Ephesians 4 and part of Ephesians 5. Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano will provide music during the Tuesday sessions. 

BELONG GROUPS

Two breakout sessions have been incorporated into the schedule in keeping with the emphasis on belonging. 

“We want to give pastors the opportunity to go home with two new friendships,” Lino said. “On Monday night one will be geography-based, taking the 18 zones of SBTC. Dialogue will be built into that for them to meet each other and connect with a pastor who lives nearby.”

The other session replaces the traditional president’s luncheon on Tuesday by grouping participants based on church size. “There will be a presentation by a couple of pastors who have led well in that church size and dialogue for them to meet and connect with another pastor of their church’s size,” he added. 

REGISTRATION

Online registration is available for messengers to the annual meeting of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention. A letter was mailed to SBTC churches in September explaining the process and providing a web address and code for each church.

Churches that used the online pre-registration in prior years will be able to use the same user account again. For additional questions regarding electronic messenger registration, call 877-953-SBTC and speak with Pastor/Church Relations.

CHILDCARE

Childcare is available for newborns through 9-year olds during the annual meeting sessions beginning at 6 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 13. Pre-registration is required at the childcare tab of sbtexas.com/am17. No registration will be taken on site. 

Pastor”s last sermon before mass shooting taught parishioners how to trust God

SUTHERLAND SPRINGS—The Sunday before a gunman opened fire Nov. 5 at First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, the service opened with a traditional song that seemed unfamiliar to many of those present, including Pastor Frank Pomeroy.

The music and lyrics for “Happiness is the Lord” were composed over a century ago by Fort Worth pastor Ira F. Stanphill. Little did the several dozen believers assembled realize that references to “teardrops” and “Heaven” would prove relevant a week later.

“Real joy is mine, no matter if teardrops start;

I’ve found the secret – it’s Jesus in my heart.

Happiness is to be forgiven, living a life that’s worth the livin’

Taking a trip that leads to Heaven, happiness is the Lord.”

“Happiness is knowing the Lord,” Pomeroy told his flock Oct. 29, welcoming many for the last time before a lone gunman opened fire Nov. 5, killing 26 people, among them Pomeroy’s 14-year-old daughter. Both Pomeroy and his wife were traveling the morning of the largest mass shooting in a house of worship.

Basing his Oct. 29 sermon on Proverbs 3:5-6, Pomeroy, a motorcycle enthusiast, had parked a gleaming Harley Davidson in front of the pulpit, and then showed a quick video clip on championship motorcycle riding techniques to introduce his point.

Emphasizing the “do not” portion of the “do not lean on your own understanding” passage, Pomoroy said, “God’s understanding is far greater.

“There may be things going on that you don’t understand, but you still need to do what God is calling you to do.” Many times in life, we “try to take over” rather than “waiting to see how God’s going to work it out,” Pomeroy added, linking his sermon topic to the Harley and video by comparing trusting God to leaning into a curve on a motorcycle.

“Leaning into God is the way we should go, even if it does not make sense, like leaning into a turn.”

Pomeroy described how his daughter enjoyed riding with him as she had done that frigid morning, perched behind her dad on the way to church, albeit a little “nervous” as they negotiated turns.  

To stay safe on a motorcycle, one must do the unnatural, he said, by leaning down into a turn and accelerating out of it. “At first it feels like you are falling,” he admitted.

The laws of physics and invisible centrifugal force give the rider control when he leans into the turn, even if only “two patches” of a tire remain on the road at high speed, Pomeroy said. These forces work even when we do not understand, he added, making it “best to trust the forces [we] cannot see.”

A motorcyclist leaning into a curve who looks down at the road will become dizzy and disoriented, the pastor said, warning of the tendency to focus on immediate circumstances. “You want to look beyond,” he said.

The focus must be on the “race that is set before us,” Pomeroy urged, alluding to the Apostle Paul. “When we see only the road around us, we don’t see where we’re going. When we focus on our own understanding, when we focus on what we know rather than focusing on the Lord and what he knows, we’re going to crash.”

If we choose to live in the moment, we risk making poor decisions that have negative consequences. Even as we navigate the “valley of the shadow of death,” we must not “focus on the valley but look through it,” Pomeroy said. “Our goal is what God has in store for us out there, not the valley.”

“When we trust Christ, there are going to be things we don’t understand,” he continued, describing miracles such as Jonah and the whale and the virgin birth as beyond man’s comprehension. “I can’t tell you how God can do those things, but I can tell you he did.”

Quoting John 14:2b-3 (NASB), he reminded those present that Jesus had promised, “I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself, that where I am, there you may be also.”

A heavenly home must be our goal. “That moment could be right now,” Pomeroy said, encouraging his congregation to live for Jesus and offering an invitation to trust Christ.

“If you don’t know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, the great thing is that he said if you will believe in me, if you will put your faith in me, that I am the Son of God, that I rose again on the third day. Confess that with your mouth, believe that in your heart, and you shall be saved,” the pastor urged, likening the first step of salvation as a prerequisite to riding the “bike” that is the Christian life.

As he preached what would be his last sermon to many of those who were gathered, Pomeroy told the congregation, “Here’s what I want you to think about for the rest of the week and the rest of your life.”

For 26 members of his flock, those were one and the same.

You may view the full sermon at: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KYu-XUdms10.

Prayer Gathering set for Wednesday night in Sutherland Springs

SUTHERLAND SPRINGS —Local pastors have organized a community-wide prayer gathering at the Floresville High School football stadium at 1813 Tiger Lane in nearby Floresville on Wednesday, Nov. 8, at 7p.m.

The event will be a time of prayer for family and friends of victims of the deadly mass-shooting which took place Nov. 5 at First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs. The entire community affected by this tragedy has been invited to attend, with local and state leaders invited to participate as well.

“The group of pastors organizing the event hope it will be a time of healing and unity for the community,” stated Bill Bumpas, media contact for Southern Baptists of Texas Convention Disaster Relief.

All media planning to cover the event must arrive at the stadium at 6 p.m. to be directed to a designated area.

SBTC and SBC leaders minister to Sutherland Springs community

SUTHERLAND SPRINGS, Texas—Southern Baptists ministering in the wake of what some have called the deadliest church shooting in U.S. history say they’ve witnessed “God at work” despite the 26 dead and some 20 others wounded at First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas.

Local pastors and field personnel with the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention (SBTC) began providing grief counseling within hours of the shooting at First Baptist’s morning worship service Nov. 5, and are assisting with a community-wide prayer meeting set for Nov. 8 at 7 p.m. at the football stadium in nearby Floresville.

SBTC field ministry strategist Mitch Kolenovsky told Baptist Press a sister church some three miles away — River Oaks Baptist — knew about the shooting almost immediately because the congregation’s first responders all were called to First Baptist during River Oaks’ morning service.

River Oaks altered its service and began to pray. Soon, it sent its pastor, Paul Buford, to help comfort survivors.

Kolenovsky said all the local ministry efforts have evidenced “God at work through his church.”

SBTC Executive Director Jim Richards appealed for prayer hours after the shooting, seeking “God’s mercy and comfort on those who are grieved and those who are wounded.” He and his wife, June, along with SBTC Pastor/Church Relations Director Tony Wolfe headed to the town Nov. 6, planning to join a local gathering of pastors the next day with Ted Elmore, associate director for PCR.

First Baptist Pastor Frank Pomeroy, who was out of town when the shooting occurred and whose 14-year-old daughter Annabelle was among the dead, told reporters the church’s tragedy will exalt Christ. (See related story on Pomeroy’s Oct. 29 sermon.)

“Christ is the one who’s going to be lifted up,” Pomeroy said in his first public statement at a Nov. 6 news conference. “That’s what I’m telling everybody. You lean into what you don’t understand. You lean into the Lord … Whatever life brings to you, lean on the Lord rather than your own understanding. I don’t understand, but I know my God does. And that’s where I’ll leave that.”

Initially, friends and family members of victims gathered at a small community center, where eight or nine Southern Baptist pastors from the local Gambrell Baptist Association offered counseling and prayer, Kolenovsky said. 

River Oaks opened its facility as a shelter for family members and made plans to host the command post of an Oklahoma Baptists disaster relief. SBTC disaster relief chaplains were on site into the early Monday morning hours to provide grief counseling and continue to minister in the area. 

Both First Baptist and River Oaks are affiliated with SBTC, as is Brookhill Baptist Church in San Antonio where chaplains are being housed.

Southern Baptist Convention President Steve Gaines, pastor of Memphis-area Bellevue Baptist Church in Cordova, Tenn., told Baptist Press SBC leaders want to help First Baptist however they can. 

“Yesterday as we prayed at Bellevue for the families of those slain and also the others who were wounded at First Baptist Church, Sutherland Springs, I sensed the need to go there and try to minister to the pastor and his wife and their devastated congregation,” Gaines said. “I discussed it with Frank Page and Jim Richards, and we all agreed to go and help any way we possibly can.

“Our Southern Baptist family grieves with this beloved church and the community it serves. Our prayers are ascending steadily to God’s throne of grace. May God bring healing and hope to these that are hurting.”

Page said he and Gaines hope to “show our love” for the Pomeroys, congregation and town.

“The First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, Texas, represents who we are as Southern Baptists — a conservative, multi-generational church led by a bivocational, godly pastor,” Page said. “The church reflects the core of who we are. I call Southern Baptist churches to pray for these dear people.”

Pomeroy’s wife, Sherri, who also was out of town during the shooting, expressed appreciation for an “outpouring of love” from friends, community members and even strangers. Bombarded by news media with requests for interviews and appearances “to celebrate Annabelle’s life,” she explained their reason for turning down those appeals.

“As much tragedy as that entails for our family, we don’t want to overshadow the other lives lost yesterday. We lost more than Belle yesterday, and one thing that gives me a sliver of encouragement is the fact that Belle was surrounded yesterday by her church family, which she loved fiercely and vice versa.”

The pastor’s wife preferred to describe the church as a very close family. “Our church was not comprised with members or parishioners,” she said, standing next to her husband. “We ate together, we laughed together, we cried together and we worshipped together. Now, most of our church family is gone, our building is probably beyond repair and the few of us that are left behind lost tragically yesterday.”

Reading from her own Facebook post, she added, “As senseless as this tragedy was, our sweet Belle would not have been able to deal with losing so much family yesterday. “ Her closing appeal asked those listening, “Please don’t forget Sutherland Springs. “

The dead ranged from an unborn baby in its mother’s womb and an 18-month old to a 77-year old. Nine of the dead were the members of one family, including associate pastor Bryan Holcombe, who was filling the pulpit for Pomeroy. 

The rampage began at approximately 11:20 a.m. when the shooter (whose identity the TEXAN is not stating) fired a semiautomatic rifle at the outside of the church building before entering and methodically firing at worshipers as he paced through the room, according to The New York Times.

Local Wilson County Sherriff Joe Tackett said “nearly everyone” in the room “had some type of injury,” according to CNN.

The shooter was fired upon by a man authorities described as “a good Samaritan” who headed over from his house next door after hearing of the incident. Ultimately, a medical examiner determined two of the shooter’s three wounds were from that confrontation, while the third was consistent with a self-inflicted wound. The body was recovered where the shooter crashed his SUV, having been pursued by the neighbor and another area man.

In a Nov. 5 interview with Fox News, SBTC Executive Director Jim Richards called the shooting “spiritual warfare” and a “demonic attack.”

Spiritual warfare often “takes the form of physical violence,” he said. “It’s heartbreaking and horrific.” That and many other interviews he accepted the following day provided opportunities to share a message of hope through faith in Jesus Christ.

“This will not stop the gospel of Christ,” Richards said. “It will not stop the godly people who seek to serve the Lord there. So we’re coming alongside them in every way we possibly can.” 

Richards, his wife, June, and Pastor/Church Relations Director Tony Wolfe arrived Nov. 6 with plans to attend the Tuesday pastors’ gathering. Southern Baptist Convention President Steve Gaines and SBC Executive Committee President Frank S. Page are set to arrive in Sutherland Springs Nov. 7 to offer prayer and encouragement. 

Offers of practical help have poured into SBTC offices and those of local churches. Southern Baptist Convention leaders offered to channel donations to cover funeral expenses for all shooting victims in coordination with the SBTC. A Texas Victim Relief organization also offered to meet those needs and numerous online fundraisers are active.

Providentially, Frank Pomeroy’s comments to reporters following the shooting echoed remarks he made during a sermon the week before.

Preaching from Proverbs 3:5-6, Pomeroy, a motorcycle enthusiast, told of riding his Harley Davidson to church that morning with his daughter and compared leaning into turns with trusting God through life’s difficult times. 

“God’s understanding is far greater” than ours, Pomeroy said, according to a YouTube recording of his Oct. 29 sermon. “There may be things going on that you don’t understand, but you still need to do what God is calling you to do … Leaning into God is the way we should go, even if it does not make sense, like leaning into a turn.”

SBTC’s pastor/church relations director offered condolences on behalf of the other 2,643 affiliated congregations, stating, “The SBTC is a family of churches so when one grieves, we all grieve,” Wolfe said. “We will walk with you on this long journey ahead, leaning every single moment on the grace that is ours in Christ Jesus.” 

You may view the full sermon at: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KYu-XUdms10.

—This article was written by David Roach and Tammi Reed Ledbetter

Collegians, seasoned DR volunteers team up in SE Texas

VIDOR—Traditionally trained Southern Baptist Disaster Relief teams in Southeast Texas are benefiting from an influx of new workers—some young and limber, others a bit more seasoned. 

A collaboration of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention’s new Texas Relief program and the North American Mission Board’s SEND Relief outreach aimed at college students is helping flood-damaged churches recover after Hurricane Harvey.  

Over the weekend of Oct 7, the first college crews from SEND Relief descended upon churches in the Golden Triangle of Southeast Texas, where teams of college students worked alongside veteran SBTC DR volunteers.

FBC Vidor pastor Terry Wright praised the enthusiastic crew from the University of Alabama at Huntsville and the University of Mobile in addressing leaders of the Golden Triangle Baptist Network assembled at his church on Oct. 5.  

“Next week our numbers will climb to over 100 SEND Relief students,” Wright said, explaining that where once six or eight traditional DR workers might tackle a job, the additional college students provide “young shoulders and backs” to help.

“Instead of helping clean out a house every two or three days, we now hope to be doing a house every day,” Wright added. The SEND Relief students were dispatched throughout the region with FBC Vidor as a base. 

Wright said the effort also combined DR teams from FBC Vidor, other SBTC churches, Baptist associations, and the Illinois Baptist Convention. 

Wright praised DR teams from Kentucky, Illinois, Tennessee and church groups from around Texas for their help following the flooding.

“Church teams, local teams, college teams—whomever can come in is welcome,” Wright said.

FBC Kountze expected 20-25 college students from Louisiana over that same weekend, part of the SBTC’s Texas Relief program that streamlines training for new DR volunteers. 

SBTC DR unit director Paul Ester was coming to supervise the work of the college students, White said, adding that Friendship Baptist in Groves also expected to receive Texas Relief teams to work with SBTC DR veterans.

Texas Relief volunteers had already served in Houston.

“There is still significant work to be done in Southeast Texas. I don’t know if we are even halfway there,” Wright said, noting the number of citizens “doing their own stuff” in terms of recovery and adding, “We focus on folks who can’t do the work.”