ROSHARON, Texas—Robed in caps and gowns over their white prison uniforms, 33 inmates in Texas’ maximum security Darrington Prison Unit made history May 9 as they received bachelor’s degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, becoming the inaugural graduating class of the state’s first seminary prison program.

“I’m overwhelmed at what God has done,” Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said during the ceremony inside the prison’s chapel. “Only God could do this.”

Patrick served on the Senate Criminal Justice Committee prior to being elected Lt. Gov. last fall. He and Senator John Whitmire, who chairs the committee, were the legislative heads behind the creation of the program, which began in fall 2011. Each year since, a new class of 40 students has been added to the program, and the current number of enrolled students stands at 114.

Looking at the graduates, most of whom will be deployed in groups of four or five to assist chaplains and minister in six other state prison units, Patrick called them “prison apostles” and charged them to “be models and examples of what Christ can do in [people’s lives] if they will give their [lives] to him.”

This summer, approximately two-thirds of the graduates will be transferred to six maximum security facilities in Huntsville and Tennessee Colony to reproduce the ministries—and the radical changes—that have been witnessed in Darrington. The rest will remain at Darrington to mentor underclassemen in the program.

In a press conference, May 7, Whitmire described the remarkable change in culture at the Darrington Unit over the past four years as a result of the program. “When we started this, (Darrington) was one of our toughest, problematic units, and I’m here today to announce that it’s now one of our best.”

During the graduation, Whitmire, who has served in the Texas Senate for 30 years, recounted the history of the program. “I have scores of programs that I’ve worked in,” he said, citing drug and alcohol programs, procedures for pregnant female inmates and other major initiatives to clean up the prison system and rehabilitate inmates. “But … nothing is more impressive and moving than to be a part of this program. … I’m a better man, a better senator, and a better Christian because I’m here participating in this program.”

Whitmire said the seminary program demonstrates that Texas is “tough on crime” but also “smart on crime.” He told graduates that he plans to use their success in changing prison culture to argue for changes in the state’s guidelines regarding consideration of parole, which is largely based on the nature of the crime committed.

“I know up to this point that you are demonstrating that you are a good risk for society,” Whitmire told graduates. “You’re going to leave here and minister at the other units and turn lives around and save lives from crimes. I’m going to make your case that in a few years, if you continue to turn people around and behave like I know you will, work with the wardens where you are sent, and are responsible for your families, I’m going to continue to work in Austin and say, ‘Okay, the nature of the crime is important, but there are other factors. You’ve got to give my ministers the chance after they’ve saved souls in other prisons to save souls on the streets of Houston.'”

Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDJC) Executive Director Brad Livingston challenged graduates to take what they have learned and apply it to the ministries they will have in the prison.

“What you’ve accomplished is extraordinary, but it’s just the beginning,” Livingston said. “As you go out into these units, rely on each other, support each other, but rely ultimately on God. You will be an inspiration to others. You will allow God to work through you to reach hundreds and thousands of others.

“Before you know it, you will have peers in every one of our units across the state. Imagine the profound impact that God will have through you and others that follow you. I couldn’t be more proud of you.”

Just before graduates walked across the stage to receive their diplomas, Southwestern Seminary President Paige Patterson gave a final charge to “his children” from Micah 6:8. Patterson pointed to the graduates’ academic achievements in the strenuous, 125-hour degree and said their education could be a “stepping stone to greatness,” but it would only be so if they were “agents of mercy … (who) walk humbly with God.”

“You have done a great deal to educate the mind,” Patterson said, “but this program is a little different, isn’t it? Because the program has not just been about the mind; it’s been about the heart. And, oh, how you’ve done so unbelievably [well]. I thank God for every one of you today.”

Brandon Warren, who has served as the program’s administrative assistant from its beginning in 2011, is also a Master of Divinity student at Southwestern’s Houston campus. Warren is not unfamiliar with prison, having served eight years at a different facility before his release a number of years ago. Like many of the men in the Darrington program, he found faith in Christ while in prison. Before serving at the Darrington program, he wrote theologically rich correspondence courses on basic Christian doctrines for use in prisons across the state. At Darrington, Warren oversees students’ coursework, grades papers, assists professors and serves as a liaison between the school and the prison.

As a way to honor the men in the Darrington program, with whom he has built strong friendships, Warren delayed his graduation from Southwestern and received permission to receive his master’s degree at the prison graduation ceremony. As he walked across the stage, the chapel erupted in applause.

Attended by state dignitaries, friends and family of the graduates, seminary faculty, and friends of the Heart of Texas Foundation, the graduation was a celebration of what many described as a miracle. The vision for such a program came from Grove Norwood, executive director of the Heart of Texas Foundation, who had experienced a similar program by New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary at Louisiana’s Angola Prison. He gained the support of Senators Patrick and Whitmire, who visited Angola to see if it could be reproduced in Texas.                                                                                           

Norwood and the Heart of Texas Foundation have been the primary fundraisers of the entirely privately funded program, which uses no tax payer dollars. The funds raised have gone to support educational materials, computers, books for the prison’s seminary library and other program needs. Other major contributors to the budget have been Southwestern Seminary and the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention, who initially gave a $116,200 grant in 2011 to provide library books, classroom furniture, technology and half of the ongoing costs for professors’ salaries and travel expenses for the first two years.

For more information on the Darrington seminary program, visit www.swbts.edu/darrington.

HORSESHOE BAY—Church planting efforts in Montreal gained ground April 28 when the Executive Board of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention approved a $100,000 grant to the North American Mission Board to assist missionary volunteer Woody Wilson in coaching church planters and student missionaries as well as encouraging evangelistic opportunities for Montreal churches.

Woody Wilson, a former International Mission Board missionary to France and church planter in Chicago, will be serving as a Mission Service Corps Volunteer for NAMB as part of the SEND Montreal strategy. He will guide the process of moving student missionaries to apprenticeship opportunities, then placing them in internships that train them to plant churches.

The board also redesignated a $250,000 grant approved last year to purchase property in Montreal for a church planter multiplication center and campus of La Chapelle Church. Instead of acquiring property, the change allows more flexibility to fund renting a facility and equipping new churches.

Since launching in 2013 the church has grown to more than 900 people in attendance, reporting over 80 baptisms and more than 200 decisions for Christ during 2014. La Chapelle will plant two new churches in the next 18 months.

The board also received a report during their spring retreat of the Reach Houston initiative to intentionally focus church planting and revitalization efforts in the nation’s fourth largest city. Eighteen pastors met April 23 at Faith Memorial Baptist Church in Houston to hear about the initiative and offer their advice. SBTC will employ a strategist to establish church planting centers and coordinate with existing churches to reach the most diverse mega-city in North America.

Other reserve funds grants will provide $50,000 for special projects to meet ministry opportunities that arise outside the convention’s normal budget and up to $90,000 to fund the 2016 Breathe Deep Conference for non-pastoral church staff.

The board approved giving property in Laredo to a local ministry entity that will be established under the guidance of a board made up of members of SBTC affiliated churches. The former church building was purchased in 2011 to launch church planting efforts near the border and host mission groups with the intention of transferring ownership within five years.

Affiliation requests for 40 churches were approved while 22 were removed, 20 of which have disbanded and two others having merged with other congregations.

Cooperative Program receipts through March amounted to $6,519,822, coming in at $264,193 below budget for the same period. However, that gap had decreased to under $100,000 by the time of the board meeting, Chief Financial Officer Joe Davis reported. CP receipts through the end of 2014 exceeded the nearly $26.8 million budget by $301,706.

Vern Hargave of the auditing firm PSK reported a “clean opinion” of the convention’s annual audit, describing financial operations as “very well run, very well managed and a very accountable system.”

The board received the resignation of Terry Coy after 14 years of service with SBTC, the last seven as director of missions. He will continue serving with SBTC as a consultant in the area of church planting while pursuing teaching, writing and speaking opportunities.

“Reaching Texas and touching the world is more than a slogan,” SBTC Executive Director Jim Richards told the board. “It’s a mandate of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention.”

He reflected on two common denominators he had observed while leading revivals in two different churches during the past month—a culture of prayer and a genuine care for people. “We are not having this sweeping spiritual awakening yet, but the mercy drops round us are falling.”

Rex Lake was only 12 years old when he recorded his first 7-inch vinyl record. That same year he gave his life to Christ in Tulsa, Okla. Six years later, at age 18, Lake got his first reel-to-reel recorder and a cheap microphone. Since it cost him $45 an hour to record in a studio and he made $1.05 an hour working, it cost him a week’s wage to get just one hour in the studio. Realizing that was not feasible, Lake learned the music business and art of recording.

By the time he was 26, Lake had opened his own recording studio, Lake Sound Inc., and publishing company, Artos Music. Over the next 40 years, the Lord blessed Lake’s efforts and enabled him to develop the business into a state-of-the-art digital facility that produced hundreds of albums for Christian artists. During that time, Lake also expanded the business to another publishing division, HeartSpring Media; a graphics division, Seed Studios Inc.; a film production division, Eterne Films; and a 501c3 company, Got Life?®, which serves as a global evangelistic outreach. Along the way, Lake also became a pilot—something the Lord now uses in combination with Lake’s media industry experience to aid and benefit Texas churches.

In cooperation with the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention’s worship technology ministry, Lake now uses his talents and skills along with four other consultants to help churches troubleshoot media issues and configure top-notch audio/visual set-ups. Whether a church needs help using equipment it already owns or guidance in taking their sound, lights and video operations to the next level, Lake stands ready to help, often flying his own plane to consult with churches on site.

Lake, now retired, says what first got his attention was the realization that many churches have current technology but not the associated technical knowledge to use it well or wisely.

“Having the latest, greatest technology does not necessarily equate to better sound or more engaging Sunday services,” Lake said. “In fact, many churches today experience technology overload and become frustrated, because after spending a lot of money, the audio and video presentation is likely not any better and may actually be worse.”

But, thanks to Lake and other SBTC consultants who travel across the state, improvement is possible.

The convention, through tithes and offerings given by church members through the Cooperative Program, offers the consultation service as a ministry to help churches use resources they already have to provide the best possible audio/visual support for worship services. The Cooperative Program allows the first—and often the only—consultation needed to be provided at no cost to the church.

Church ministry associate Lance Beaumont who coordinates the consultations on behalf of the SBTC says each situation and set-up is different.

“It is really based upon the churches’ needs, and they’re all different,” Beaumont said.

Lake says his approach is to make a church’s system—be it new or old—meet the congregation’s needs and to share the needed “how-to” technical knowledge to make it work well.

“The bottom line is for churches to be able to present the good news of Jesus Christ in a clear and concise manner without problems from the systems used to present that message,” Lake said. “Everything involved in the presentation of that message including the A/V systems, operations and operators must be proficient and efficient for the task.”

Randal Wilson, pastor of Carey First Baptist Church in Childress, said Lake came to help his church twice—once with equipment installation and an in-ear monitor system and another time to help train and coach members operating the sound board and serving on the praise team. Wilson said he thanks the Lord for Lake and his help.

“Rex is very professional, knowledgeable and personable,” Wilson said, adding that Lake even gave a guitarist tips on the best strings to buy. “He is welcome anytime.”

Beaumont said that in addition to sound consultations, the SBTC offers other assistance to churches in the worship technology area as well. Innovate Praise, a technology training event for media teams and worship leaders, provides hands-on training in sound, lighting and projection systems for both novice media team members and experienced technicians. The next events will be held Sept. 18-19 in Houston.

The convention also posts three-minute technology videos on its website at http://sbtexas.com/blog/worship. Topics such as setting the gain, microphones in worship and monitor mixing can all be found there, along with a host of other helps.

For churches, the help the SBTC offers can make the difference between under-utilized A/V capabilities and fine-tuned engineering. For Lake, the technology ministry provides an avenue to use a unique set of gifts and skills to the glory of God and the proclamation of salvation in Christ.

“[When the SBTC] asked me if I would be interested in utilizing my audio/video experience, my sound engineering and musician knowledge, my time, my pilot skills, my love of music and my love of the Lord to minister to churches needing help with their A/V battle, it sounded like a match to me,” Lake said, chuckling. “It’s amazing to watch the Cooperative Program dollars at work and how God is using that process to empower churches across this great state.”

To request a consultation, churches can fill out the “worship tech help request” form at sbtexas.com/blog/worship.