Month: April 2024

Massive NAMB day of service makes big impact ‘for generations to come’

Nine-year-old Destiny, wide-eyed and smiling broadly, surveyed the freshly repainted sanctuary of Lake June Baptist Church as she and her mother, Yvonne, arrived at the church to see what the Lord had done.

Newly installed blue carpet covered the floors, while comfortable, upholstered chairs replaced 50-year-old rickety wooden pews. Bright can lights, rather than aging fluorescent fixtures, illuminated the space. Ceiling stains from seasonal roof leaks had disappeared under coats of pleasing white tinted with gray. Even the foyer, kitchen, bathrooms, and hallways had been refloored, repainted, and relit. Outside, volunteers put the finishing touches on flower beds, adding mulch and spring blooms.

Destiny, Yvonne, and other church members gathered that day with Lake June’s bivocational pastor, Bobby Worthington, to give thanks to God and the volunteers participating in the North American Mission Board’s Send Relief Serve Tour Dallas 2024.

Serve Tour Dallas volunteers participated in 38 projects to further God’s kingdom in the DFW Metroplex March 15-16. For the more than 600 volunteers—representing 48 congregations from eight states including Texas—it was a spring break to remember, making an eternal impact. Projects varied widely, from assisting with block party outreaches to school facility updates to mobile dental clinics to playground rebuilds and church remodels.

Three Southern Baptists of Texas Convention churches—First Baptist Dallas, Mesquite Friendship Baptist, and Northway Church—functioned as Serve Tour hubs, with mission activities radiating from these strategic spots. A Serve Tour rally was held at First Baptist Dallas, as well.

The remodel of the historic Lake June Baptist Church in the Pleasant Grove neighborhood of Dallas grew considerably beyond the two-day Serve Tour initiative, thanks to the church’s long partnership with First Baptist Dallas.

“We were once a mission church of First Dallas. We have a sister partnership, a relationship, with First Baptist,” Worthington said. “First Baptist helps us with bookkeeping and things like that. They do a lot of things behind the scenes.”

For example, a roofing contractor who was a member of First Baptist Dallas recently arranged for the Lake June roof to be replaced at cost.

Serve Tour Dallas By the Numbers

Churches Involved

Total Projects Served: 4 schools, 16 churches, 18 community projects

Construction Hours

Salvations

Volunteers

people served

Making connections, making it better

When Send Tour representatives approached Brent McFadden, First Dallas recreation pastor, he recommended the refurbishment of Lake June Baptist as a project.

Send Relief’s Marcus Rawls, First Baptist Rowlett Pastor Cole Hedgecock, and Worthington met weeks before Serve Tour to develop a plan. Worthington figured they might redo some floors and repaint the bathrooms and kitchen. When Rawls and Hedgecock saw the sanctuary, ideas began flowing.

“What if we do the auditorium, too?” Rawls asked, indicating that replacing the seating would be possible.

Worthington, amazed and grateful, started weeping. Rawls had described renovations that Worthington had envisioned over the long term.

“God knew what I wanted to do in three phases. … Marcus and Cole had no way of knowing that,” Worthington said. “What I had planned to do in three phases, they got done in three weeks.”

Work started weeks before the mid-March Serve Tour, as McFadden asked a First Dallas deacon, Scott Finney, to get involved. Finney, who works for a large developer and owns an excavating company, agreed to volunteer.

What started as a job to take out the old pews and refloor and spruce up the sanctuary expanded to include new lighting in the sanctuary—then new flooring, lighting, and painting the entire church interior, including bathrooms and kitchens.

“It grew,” Finney said.

Finney, his wife, Joan, and Worthington got to work with other helpers.

“God knew what I wanted to do in three phases. … What I had planned to do in three phases, they got done in three weeks.”

—Bobby Worthington Tweet

“I’ve spent the last 23 days up at the church helping,” Worthington said at the time. “I told Scott, ‘I can’t do what you do, but I can pray for you and hand you what you need.’” Church members helped significantly, also.

“We’ve been working over the last three weekends,” Joan Finney added.

Send Relief/NAMB, First Baptist Dallas, and a local doctor who has been involved with the annual Kenya mission trip led by Worthington all contributed to the project, supplementing the money Lake June had budgeted for the redo.

Finney called on friends and fellow contractors, too.

“I was able to enlist a lot of relationships I had. We’ve all known each other a long time and they were glad to do it,” he said. “The flooring was donated. The electrical was costed out, and the chairs were donated at cost. It started blossoming.”

Finney said the dozens of volunteers and vendors who contributed to the project will likely come to a Lake June celebratory service this spring.

Serve Tour volunteers were enthusiastic about their chance to participate in the change at the church. Cheri Bedford of Paris, Texas, who attends First Dallas’ Servant Singles class when she is in town, said she was happy to work alongside “people with a heart for missions.”

“We are just here to serve the community and share the gospel of Jesus,” said First Dallas member Jonathan Parrish of Grand Prairie.

“It’s all to the glory of God. We are here to volunteer to just try to make a difference in the community,” said James Hurse, from Mesquite Friendship Baptist, pausing from raking a flower bed.

Raising the roof

The Kenya Mission Trip led by Worthington for a decade has focused on medical missions, evangelism, and planting churches. For the last five years, First Baptist Dallas has partnered with Lake June and the National Baptist Convention of Kenya in the effort.

“We do a clinic. We do evangelism. We plant a church,” Worthington said, adding that during the following year, the church raises money in an effort called Raise the Roof. Lake June members give generously and other partners contribute.

“We hire a contractor recommended by the National Baptist Convention of Kenya and he erects a pole and roof structure so the church can meet [under a shelter],” Worthington said, estimating that the outreach has planted more than two dozen churches in Kenya over the past decade.

Essentially, Lake June members have been helping roof churches in Kenya even as their own church’s roof needed replacing.

“Our people are very giving. The church loves each other,” Worthington said of his 40-person congregation.

“The church exists for those who are already here but also for those who are not yet here,” Worthington said when asked what the remodel will mean to his people. Nodding to young Destiny, he said he had baptized four generations of the girl’s family over the decades.

“When I baptized Destiny, it was a sign of generations to come [to Lake June] long after I’ve gone to heaven. We’re setting it up. The church is known in the community. Destiny and other of our kids and youth, our teenagers, they see this [remodel] and they know the church is going to be here.”

People, not places, are the church, Worthington. “This is a place of worship for people.”

Now, thanks to a coalition of partners and the involvement of Serve Tour Dallas, it’s a much more inviting place to worship.

Just keep casting your line

I’m not what you would consider a man of the outdoors, but I did my fair share of fishing during my teen years. A friend of mine growing up owned a bass boat, and we would stay out on the water for countless hours tossing plastic worms under lighted docks and running crank baits through a forest of submerged tree limbs trying to catch a lake record.

Though it may seem like a straightforward endeavor, fishing requires skill. Unlike me, my friend spent his entire childhood fishing, and he had developed a talent for understanding how factors including water levels, temperature, and spawning season timetables affected his ability to catch fish. I knew none of those things, but what I did know was this: the more times I threw my line in the water, the better chance I had of catching a fish.

As followers of Christ, we are all called to tell others about Jesus. That can be intimidating for many, and it’s often a source of guilt for others who struggle to do so. But can I just encourage you to remember a couple things?

Don’t be discouraged. Instead, be ever-mindful of ways you can sneak Jesus’ name, or your testimony, or the full-blown gospel, into your conversations.

Jayson Larson Tweet

1The Holy Spirit has promised to give us the right words at the right time when He is at work. There’s nothing wrong at all with evangelism trainings that aim to better equip us to share our faith, but we also see biblical examples of the Holy Spirit boldly using “uneducated and untrained” people (Acts 4) to speak boldly for Jesus. This ought to be a freeing truth.

2Our best days, regardless of their circumstances, will be the ones spent with a constant awareness of the presence of Jesus. That’s a tall order as we navigate this world of distraction, but if we can just keep our Lord at the forefront of our minds, we’ll likely be more intentional about speaking His name when the moment calls for it. To say it another way, the more we keep Jesus on our minds, the more likely we are to keep throwing our lines into the water knowing that it will increase our chances to tell someone the good news about Jesus.

In this issue, you’ll see examples of churches throwing their lines into the water and hoping for opportunities to tell others about Jesus. Churches in the eastern and southern parts of the state are seeing God bless their efforts through traditional outreaches such as Vacation Bible School and fall festivals. A church plant in Corpus Christi hosts community forums on mental health topics to open doors to a wider conversation about how Jesus can heal our minds. Other churches are using the fast-growing sport of pickleball—pickleball, I said!—to introduce people to the gospel. And on our new Leading Off page, you’ll read about how our Southern Baptists of Texas Disaster Relief teams are thrusting themselves into the heart of the worst wildfire in Texas history to minister to people with a hope only Jesus can give.

Don’t be discouraged. Instead, be ever-mindful of ways you can sneak Jesus’ name, or your testimony, or the full-blown gospel, into your conversations. Be creative. Be consistent. Be intentional. Whatever you do, just keep throwing your line into the water and trust God with the results.

Send Network SBTC celebrates, encourages church planters

BOERNE—“We are planting churches for an audience of One,” said Dean Inserra, pastor of City Church in Tallahassee, Fla., and one of the speakers at the Send Network SBTC church planter retreat held April 4. “Be people of defiant joy. Be joy scatterers.”

Inserra offered a message of encouragement, reminding planters of the importance of togetherness, partnership, prayer, and church support.

“Church planting is hard work—and it’s supposed to be hard. You cannot do it alone. We signed up to serve in this manner, by God’s calling, to do something that was never designed to be easy. … You are heroes at the front line, and it’s worth it.”

God has greatly blessed the efforts of Send Network SBTC, the church planting partnership between the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention and the North American Mission Board, according to Julio Arriola, director of Send Network SBTC.

“This family of churches planted 90 churches in Texas. This is a great movement of God,” Arriola said. He added that out of 48 churches that were planted in 2023, more than 30 were planted by Hispanic pastors.

Planters were not only encouraged by preaching at the gathering, but by a time of prayer, praise, and worship led by Jimmy McNeal. All events were translated into Spanish by Mario Moreno, pastor of Oak Meadow Baptist Church in Austin.

The retreat also included a women’s track based on Jeremiah 17:1-8. Rivers Partin, who serves as part of the planter spouse development team for Send Network, ministered to the English-speaking women involved with church planting. She said she would like women to always depend on God.

“As they pursue doing their work for God, they should rest in God’s love for them and be rooted in God’s love for them,” she said. “All of these ladies are involved in church planting because they want to see people saved, they want to see the fruit of their ministries, and that only comes from being rooted in Christ.”

Carla Arriola, who ministered to the Spanish-speaking women who attended the retreat said, “As church planters’ helpers, we help each other, but people should not be our main refuge and support. God should be the first source of help. … As believers, we are all going to be attacked by the enemy, especially those who are planting churches. You are on the front line of attack for the enemy. It is very important that you remain rooted in the Lord and seek daily nourishment from Him so as not to defend yourselves with your own strength, but rather depend on the Lord and deal with those trials in a way that blesses others.”

Others present at the retreat included SBTC church planter catalysts Aaron Clayton, Edgar Trinidad, Cameron Whitley, and James Martínez, as well as church planter mentors including Russ Barksdale and Travis Berger. Several SBTC staff members also shared about resources their departments provide to church planters. That group included Colin Rayburn, missions mobilization associate; Dan Acharya, people groups associate; Bruno Molina, language and interfaith evangelism associate; and Jason Crandall, church plant lead for Send Network SBTC.

Chosen Conference’s message to the church: ‘We must be engaged’ in fostering, adoption

PLANO—The message was clear and unapologetic: every child is precious in God’s sight.

But the heart of the Chosen Conference, held Saturday, April 13, at Prestonwood Baptist Church, aimed to not only proclaim that truth, but mobilize followers of Christ to make a difference in the lives of vulnerable and forgotten children. Figures cited throughout the conference paint an urgent picture: more than 400,000 children are in the foster care system in America and 100,000 are awaiting adoption. Each year, 20,000 children age out of the foster system without having been matched with a family.

The church, Prestonwood Senior Pastor Jack Graham said, must take action.

“This is a critical and key issue not only in the community and the country, but in the church of the Lord Jesus Christ,” Graham said. “Our goal is to elevate this work of fostering and adopting. … We believe every child is a wanted child, every child is chosen by God. They’re not here by accident or chance, but through the divine plan, providences, and purposes of God.

“This means the church—we the people of God—must be engaged in this.”

The conference was shaped around “three pillars of hope” intended to empower local churches to establish an adoption and foster care ministry within their communities; engage all believers to understand their role in supporting adoption and foster care; and equip families that have been called to adopt and foster.

‘Everyone can do something’

For Shane and Kasi Pruitt, fostering and adoption are deeply personal issues: they have six children, four of whom are adopted (two from Texas and two from Africa–including their son Titus, who passed away last summer at age 10).

Though their connection to fostering and adoption is direct, Shane—national next gen director for the North American Mission Board—noted how Galatians 4:4-5 teaches that all followers of Jesus are benefactors of adoption ministry and orphan care: “When the time came to completion, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.”

“It would have been enough for Him to set us free, but He went a step further and said … ‘my Father is going to be your Father, my family is going to be your family, and my inheritance is going to be your inheritance,’” Shane said. “God did the work [through Jesus] to make us a part of His family. Now everything we do is in response to that truth.”

Kasi spoke about what she calls the “both/and” part of fostering and adoption. In other words, there is a side of it that is a beautiful picture of the gospel, wholeness, and rescue that is counterbalanced by the fact that all fostering and adoption needs grow out of the fall and begin with trauma and loss. “Foster care and adoption is heartbreaking and joy, trauma and beautiful, grief and peace, loss and love, tragic and redemption,” she said. “We can be grateful we get to parent our kids and be heartbroken when we have to be.”

The loss of Titus, Shane shared, was one of those heartbreaking instances. Titus suffered from daily seizures, was confined to a wheelchair, could not speak, and was fed through a tube. His death brought a simultaneous wave of grief and celebration for the family as it missed Titus’ daily presence but rejoiced knowing he was in heaven in the presence of the Lord and fully restored.

“I think a lot of times we paint this picture like, if we are obeying God, everything is going to be easy,” Shane said. “We’ve got to remind ourselves that Jesus doesn’t promise us an easy life. He promises us eternal life. Sometimes obedience is not easy at all.”

Kasi shared several ways churches and believers can get more involved in foster and adoption ministry. One way is for families to foster and adopt when called by God to do so. Others can build relationships with local Child Protective Services offices and minister to caseworkers by providing meals and encouragement. Kasi noted that one CPS office shared with her church that, in cases where a child was able to be reunited with his or her original family, a church had been involved in some way 100% of the time.

“Everyone can do something—absolutely everyone,” she said.

Later, Gregg Matte—senior pastor of Houston’s First Baptist Church—shared a testimony about how God used tragedy in his family’s life to lead them to found a ministry called Legacy 685, which provides financial resources, education, and other practical help for families on the frontlines of adoption, fostering, and orphan ministries. Likewise, Scott Turner, an associate pastor at Prestonwood, announced the Plano church has started a fund to support families in the adoption and fostering process.

Shaping the future of Texas

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott knows firsthand the impact a family can have through the adoption process. He and his wife, Cecilia, adopted their daughter, Audrey, in the 1990s. Abbott shared a series of personal family photos during a question-and-answer session with Graham chronicling Audrey’s life from infancy to college graduation to her engagement day.

“What you do really does change not only the life of a child, but changes the future of our state,” Abbott said. “ … The fact of the matter is, we would have to pass fewer laws if we had more families, better parenting, taking care of our children. It’s good parents educating good children, loving them, supporting them, that leads to those children being very productive and making our society better.”

Abbott said the need for qualified parents to adopt and foster remains high, as the most recent statistics show 4,000 children are available for adoption in Texas. Two thousand children have already been adopted this year, he said. There are other avenues the state has created to provide churches with opportunities to contribute. He noted the existence of “rainbow rooms” stocked with items such as diapers, car seats, and school supplies that can be given by CPS workers to children in crisis. Rainbow rooms are located in every region of Texas and can be stocked by churches with the means to help.

Another avenue of involvement is the Clergy in the Court for Kids program operated through the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. The program invites faith leaders to attend court proceedings, meet families in need, and serve as a calming influence in courtroom environments that can be intimidating for most children.

“We need church involvement in our communities more today than we have maybe ever,” Abbott said. “A way to do that is for churches across our state to immerse themselves in this family unit bonding process that can be done through the adoption and foster care process. Through that process you will be involved in ensuring that you will grow and strengthen family units in the state of Texas while at the same time doing what we are told biblically that we have the responsibility to do, and that is to care for our youngest—especially the orphans among us.”

Robertsons share adoption story

Sadie Robertson Huff and her mother, Korie Robertson—who appeared on the popular reality TV show Duck Dynasty—were interviewed by Tasha Calvert, Prestonwood women’s minister. The church later aired a preview of the pro-adoption film Possum Trot, based on the true story of a small East Texas church whose members adopted 77 children from the Texas system. The film is due in theaters July 4.

“Adoption has made our family what it is. … We love a big family,” Korie said of the six children she shares with her husband, Willie. Three of the Robertson children are adopted.

“It’s not exactly what we had planned … it’s not necessarily easier, but it’s better because God calls us to this abundant life,” Korie said. She also noted that younger generations seem increasingly open to adopting children.

Sadie, the mother of two young children, added that she and her husband were considering adoption in the future.

“As the church we do have a responsibility for adoption,” Sadie added. “The church is expected to take in the children that need help … the place that takes in the orphans and cares for those” like a hospital caring for its community.

“I’ve gotten to see my family do that and I’ve been so grateful,” Sadie said, later reminding the audience that Christians have all “been adopted into God’s family through the blood of Christ and we get to share in the same family [eternally].”

Korie praised the help of her church and family in her journey as an adoptive parent. “Find that. That is what the church is meant to be,” she said. “And if it’s not there, start it.”

SWBTS trustees receive reports of financial stability, enrollment growth

FORT WORTH, Texas—Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary trustees heard reports of renewed financial stability and enrollment growth during their April 9-10 meeting held on the Fort Worth campus, which was marked by a spirit of unity, President David S. Dockery said.

“Southwestern Seminary is in a very different place than in September 2022,” said Dockery, noting many factors. “All this has happened because of God’s providential kindness to us.”

Trustees unanimously approved a $35.6 million budget, elected and promoted faculty, named faculty to academic chairs and approved graduates for spring 2024 during the meeting.

Board Chairman Jonathan Richard thanked Dockery for his “capable leadership,” commended trustees for their work during the meeting, noted the “high morale” among students and faculty and affirmed the seminary’s faculty as a “one of our greatest assets to this institution.”

Richard said trustees “continue to rely on the Lord for guidance” and during his tenure on the board he has been “thankful for the sustaining presence of the Lord here.”

He added that the seminary’s current financial situation is “stronger than it has been in years, and I know that with continued hard work and sacrifice, the financial future is hopeful.”

The board approved a $35.6 million budget for the 2025 fiscal year, a decrease of $300,000 from the originally approved budget for the current year. Trustees also approved the firm Guinn Smith & Company as auditors for the fiscal year 2024.

In his report to trustees, Dockery noted the collective thankfulness “to God for His presence” and the “obvious presence of the Spirit leading us,” resulting in a “genuine spirit of unity and humility that was present in all aspects of our work.” He added that everyone is “very hopeful for the days to come.”

Southwestern influence

Dockery highlighted two recent “big announcements” in the Southern Baptist Convention that exemplify the influence of Southwestern Seminary. On March 21, Jeff Iorg, current president of Gateway Seminary, was elected president of the SBC Executive Committee. Iorg, who was honored as a distinguished alumnus in 2022, holds a Doctor of Ministry from Southwestern. Pending approval of the board of trustees at Gateway, Adam Groza, a two-time Southwestern Seminary graduate, including a Doctor of Philosophy degree in 2009, will assume the presidency of Gateway Seminary.

“We are thankful for the influence Southwestern continues to have not just here on this campus, but across the world where there is not a time zone … across the globe in which there is not a Southwesterner serving at this time,” Dockery added.

Encouraging future

Dockery told trustees the seminary is “very hopeful” about ongoing giving to the institution. He noted that unrestricted giving is “steady” and that temporarily unrestricted giving is “ahead of the last three years.” He said that the seminary’s operational budget is “in a good place” as it is more than $1.5 million ahead of the same time last year. He added that the seminary currently has $8.4 million in cash “which no one would have imagined this time last year.”

Dockery also mentioned the $3.4 million that was placed in a “quasi-endowment fund” that is overseen by the board.

“We have moved from crisis to challenge to stability,” Dockery observed, adding “we’re not yet at a place where we can call institutional health; we still have work to do to get there.” He said the seminary will “continue to work as hard and as wisely and as carefully as we can, but we must not fail to give thanks to God for answering our prayers.”

Dockery also commended the work of the Board of Reference, a group of “50 key voices across SBC life where they speak” into the work of the seminary as they give “guidance to our work.”

Dockery noted that one-third of the objectives of the Advance Southwestern 2030 institutional plan, which trustees adopted in the spring 2023 meeting, have been completed. He also explained there have been “markers of hopefulness,” including the spring 2023 chapel sermons focused on 1 and 2 Thessalonians; the new employee handbook; enrollment progress, including the upcoming Southwestern Preview Day; unrestricted giving; an embracing of the institution’s core values; and the commitment to prayer across the campus.

During the meeting, Dockery publicly thanked the board officers for their decision to give him a raise and bonus, which he declined, explaining he wanted all employees to be rewarded while the president should be last. Richard said Dockery’s actions were “the Lord affirming to me that we have the right man in the president’s office.”

Enrollment analysis

Dockery reported an increase in enrollment and hours taught. He said the credit hours taught in the 2022-2023 academic year were 34,836, representing an increase of 1,583 credit hours from the previous academic year. Enrollment also showed an increase of 171 students in the 2022-2023 academic year from the prior year.

Dockery added that there was an increase of 479 credit hours taught in the fall of 2023 compared to the fall of 2022 and the 15,821 credit hours taught in the fall of 2023 also reflected an increase of 1,066 credit hours taught compared to the fall of 2021.

He said the spring 2024 academic semester includes 2,711 students, an increase of 71 students enrolled in spring 2023 which was up from 2,561 the year prior. Dockery said that “uptick in credit hours is the key to our stable tuition revenue line which is so important for our overall budget.”

He noted that the total hours taught for spring 2024 has increased by almost 600 hours over spring 2023 – 14,709 credit hours taught in the current semester compared to 14,152 credit hours taught in spring 2023. The credit hours taught in spring 2024 represent an increase of more than 1,350 credit hours taught compared to spring 2022.

Citing data from the Association of Theological Schools (ATS) annual enrollment report, which includes 274 divinity schools and seminaries, Dockery said that in the fall of 2023, Southwestern moved to 5th in total enrollment and 6th in total credit hours taught. The increases in enrollment and total credit hours taught make Southwestern 3rd and 4th, respectively, among Southern Baptist seminaries. Dockery also noted that Southwestern was 3rd among all of the ATS institutions regarding the total number of graduates in the past year and 9th concerning the size of the total endowment.

He added there is “no other Southern Baptist school that finished in the top 10” in all four categories of number of graduates, enrollment, credit hours taught, and endowment. He said the ranking “distinguishes Southwestern in a meaningful way” for which he gave “thanks to God.”

Providing a breakdown of the current student body, Dockery said that 23 percent of students are women, while international students make up 26 percent of students. Additionally, 58 percent are online students, and a “Revelation 7:9 picture of the Kingdom of God” is reflected among the students as 40 percent of students are white, 28 percent are Asian, 21 percent are Hispanic, 5 percent are Black, and 6 percent of unknown ethnicity, he said.

“What takes place at Southwestern is not just counting the numbers, it’s a recognition that each one of these numbers represents a person – a person called to serve in the church, to serve our denomination, to go to the mission field, to be in counseling sessions, to be in the classroom, serve in parachurch organizations, wherever God might lead that person and we never know where they’re going while they’re here,” he said.

School and board business

Trustees received an announcement of the appointment of Carl J. Bradford as the dean of Texas Baptist College, the undergraduate school of Southwestern Seminary. Bradford, whose appointment is effective May 6, led the devotion for the plenary session of the trustee meeting.

Trustees also promoted W. Madison Grace II to professor of theology, Dean Sieberhagen to professor of missions, Michael Wilkinson to professor of theology, and Joshua Williams to professor of Old Testament. Additionally, Amy Crider, associate professor of foundations of education, and Jonathan Okinaga, assistant professor of biblical counseling, were elected to the faculty. All actions are effective August 1.

Trustees named O.S. Hawkins, chancellor and senior professor of pastoral ministry and evangelism, to the L.R. Scarborough Chair of Evangelism (“Chair of Fire”); Lilly H. Park, associate professor of biblical counseling, to The Hultgren Chair of Ministerial Counseling; Okinaga to the Hope for the Heart Chair of Biblical Counseling; and Joseph R. Crider, dean of the School of Church Music and Worship, to the McKinney Chair of Church Music.

Trustees approved the students nominated by the faculty and certified by the registrar as having met all the requirements for spring 2024 graduation.

Richard (New Mexico), Robert Brown (Tennessee), and Angela Duncan (At-Large), who have served as chairman, vice chairman, and secretary, respectively, were re-elected to one-year terms as officers of the board.

Three outgoing trustees were recognized for their service. Michael Trammel (Maryland-Delaware-DC), Ron Pracht (Kansas-Nebraska), John Rayburn (At-Large) were thanked by Richard for their time and valuable contributions provided during their tenures on the board.

The next board meeting is scheduled for Oct. 21-23, 2024.

Bradford appointed dean of Texas Baptist College

FORT WORTH—Carl J. Bradford, assistant professor of evangelism and occupant of the Malcolm R. and Melba L. McDow Chair of Evangelism, has been appointed dean of Texas Baptist College, the undergraduate school of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, the institution’s leadership announced today.

Bradford’s appointment is effective May 6.

“We are thrilled that Carl Bradford has accepted the invitation to serve as dean of Texas Baptist College,” President David S. Dockery said. “He and his wife Andrea have been deeply invested in the Southwestern community for several years.”

Dockery added that Bradford “is a gifted classroom teacher, has fine leadership gifts, a heart for the gospel and the importance of sharing this good news with others, a love for students, and a dedication to quality academics and to his colleagues.”

Bradford also “knows and understands the best aspects of the Carroll-Scarborough tradition at Southwestern, which will be important as he develops a hopeful vision for TBC and TBC students for the days to come,” Dockery said.

Bradford also serves as minister of evangelism at First Baptist Church of Mansfield and is an evangelism consultant for the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention.

During the April 10 general plenary session of the board of trustees, Bradford led the time of devotion where he focused on the life of Joseph in the book of Genesis. He said two lessons of encouragement can be drawn from the life of Joseph, including his faithfulness to the Lord and the “divine providence and favor of God” in his life. Bradford paralleled the life of Joseph, which included trials, to the life of Southwestern. However, he explained there are many things the Southwestern community is grateful for as it remains “faithful, thankful, and hopeful in God” as “we recognize that God is divinely at work.”

Bradford, who has served as the interim associate dean of the Roy J. Fish School of Evangelism and Missions since July 2023, began teaching at Southwestern in 2018. A native of New Orleans, Bradford holds Master of Divinity (2011) and Doctor of Philosophy (2018) degrees from Southwestern in addition to a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration degree from Xavier University in Louisiana.

The appointment as dean of TBC is meaningful to Bradford for two reasons, he said in a one-on-one interview, noting that first he is “honored, humbled, and inspired by the administration of SWBTS and TBC’s belief in my capacity to lead TBC’s students and faculty toward a promising and God-edifying future.”

Bradford added that second, he is “grateful for the opportunity and the responsibility entrusted to me to ensure that our six core values—grace filled, Christ centered, scripturally grounded, confessionally guided, student focused, and globally engaged—continue to serve as the guiding principles shaping the community of SWBTS and TBC.”

Bradford said he is “motivated” to uphold Southwestern’s core values “and to foster an environment where students experience an enriching Christian education, godly mentorship, and develop godly friendships.”

In addition to his classroom teaching, Bradford leads Southwestern Seminary’s Everyday Evangelism, a weekly initiative that facilitates students’ sharing the Gospel in Fort Worth-area neighborhoods, parks, shopping centers and universities. Since 2018, Bradford has also been the faculty leader for Southwestern’s participation in Crossover, an evangelism opportunity that occurs the week before the Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting.

Bradford said his hope and prayer for the future of TBC is simple—“every student will be not only trained and equipped but also deeply encouraged for ministry, wherever their path may lead them in industry and vocation as directed by God.”

Bradford and his wife Andrea, a Doctor of Education student at Southwestern, are the parents of Carl Jr. and Abigail.

Choose a ministry mulligan over misery

I have tried really hard to like golf, but I prefer hobbies that do not tempt me to say or do things I will regret later. One thing I do like about golf is the mulligan—a do-over stroke that doesn’t count. They make those terrible shots disappear into thin air.

In Genesis 35, we see Jacob in desperate need of a mulligan. He has wasted the last decade of his life and God gave him a chance to start over by moving him back to Bethel. Eventually, you will need a ministry mulligan, too, so let’s retrace Jacob’s footsteps back to Bethel.

Get up and go

God initiated Jacob’s restoration by telling him in Genesis 35:1 to “Get up! Go to Bethel and settle there. Build an altar there.” In defiance of God’s clear instruction, Jacob lived in Shechem for 10 years instead of Bethel. His large family paid for his delayed obedience (aka: disobedience) in Genesis 34.

Fortunately, Jacob got another chance to get up and go to Bethel. I love it when God gives us a mulligan!

If you are stuck spiritually, consider making an aggressive spiritual move. Get up and go back to where you started when you fell in love with Jesus. Initiate a spiritual homecoming by building a new altar to the Lord. If your ministry is stuck, the same instructions apply to the group. There are no secrets or shortcuts to repentance and revival—just turn around (repent) and return to your first love.

Clean out your closets

Jacob’s family closets were full of foreign gods. If they were going to start over in a new place, they needed to re-prioritize what to pack. Jacob said to his family, “Get rid of the foreign gods that are among you. Purify yourselves and change your clothes” (Genesis 35:2).

We’ve moved several times in the last five years as my ministry journey has led us from Nashville to Tulsa to Dallas. Each move made us rethink what we really wanted to keep, give away, or throw away.

Spiritual house cleaning is usually not a quick or painless process. However, if you want to get unstuck spiritually, you will need to aggressively get rid of some of your old baggage. After Jacob’s family cleaned out their closets, they buried their idolatry under the oak of Shechem.

What’s in your closet? Would you consider some aggressive spring cleaning for your soul, your family, or your ministry? Think of one thing that needs to be removed from your calendar or computer right now, then get rid of it before you change your mind.

Rebuild your altar

Jacob eventually returned to Bethel, where he had made a covenant with God 30 years earlier (Genesis 28). The old altar was rubble, so he rebuilt it. Jacob had basically wasted the last three decades of his life obsessing over his job at the expense of his relationship with God and his family.

Instead of giving up, Jacob got up, cleaned up, and rebuilt his life based on the original covenant that God was giving him another shot at. Jacob’s ministry mulligan is a great reminder that God is more interested in what is ahead of you than what is behind you.

Jesus is generously offering you grace instead of guilt, a mulligan instead of misery. Is it time for you to go back to Bethel for a spiritual homecoming? Get packing, friend!

Baptism Sunday: Southern Baptists ‘Fill the Tank’ nationwide, celebrating new life in Christ

LEXINGTON, Ga.—The last two years have been a whirlwind for Pastor Matt Bartlett and Lexington Baptist Church. At its recent low point, the 176-year-old church had 39 people in attendance, with half being from the pastor’s own family and friends.

But God has been on the move in the 200-person small town.

Just a week earlier, on Easter Sunday, 300 people attended Lexington Baptist. The church has seen nearly 50 baptisms in the past three years and added one more on April 7, the SBC’s Baptism Sunday.

“Baptism is special, not only for the individual being baptized but for our entire church family,” Bartlett said. “Many being baptized have grown through our children’s or youth ministries, influenced by numerous members of our community, including their parents and families. It’s a church-wide celebration of God’s work in their lives. It motivates us further. We often say we welcome a large water bill because it signifies continuous baptisms.”

Southern Baptist churches across the U.S. marked Baptism Sunday by celebrating new life in Christ through the ordinance of baptism. Also known as “Fill the Tank Sunday,” messengers voted to add the special day to the SBC calendar at the annual meeting in 2018 upon the recommendation of a task force appointed by SBC President Steve Gaines the previous year. Gaines appointed the task force to study the evangelistic effectiveness of churches after decades of decline in church membership and baptisms.

According to the Annual Church Profile (ACP), 2022 marked the second consecutive year of growth in the number of reported baptisms as Southern Baptists continue recovering from the pandemic 2020 drop-off.

“Of course, we want to see churches celebrating baptisms every Sunday , but having a specific day called Baptism Sunday is a unique opportunity for every pastor and church family to invite those who have come to know Jesus to take the next step and be baptized,” said Tim Dowdy, vice president of evangelism at the North American Mission Board. “So many churches have people who need to be baptized after coming to know Jesus Christ that having a specific day set aside to celebrate baptism provides us with another way to teach and encourage faithfully following Jesus through baptism.”

Some churches, like Lexington Baptist, baptized one person; others baptized more than 50.

Dean Inserra described Baptism Sunday at City Church of Tallahassee, Fla., as incredible. The church baptized 53 people after worship services on Sunday. The group included an elementary-aged friend of Inserra’s daughter, a former Mormon, college students, and a person for whom church members have been praying for seven years.

“It’s really a portrayal of the gospel story at work,” said Inserra, the senior pastor of City Church. “Our entire church actually sees what we’ve been praying for go into action. It’s a public celebration, a big party of God answering our prayers, to see the vision of this church, the Great Commission, becoming a reality.”

Inserra noted that as SBC churches nationwide celebrated baptisms on April 7, Baptism Sunday should help to push back against a narrative that the local church is struggling.

“Seeing this happening across the country should encourage us all, reminding us that God’s hand is on our churches,” Inserra said. “We’re going to keep moving full speed ahead. This should encourage everyone, renew hope and instill a fresh desire to continue witnessing God’s work.”

Wrightsboro Baptist Church in Wilmington, N.C., baptized five people, including children and a man in his 70s. The church’s senior pastor, Eddie Eaton, said the elderly man showed the excitement of a child as he was baptized.

The church has also seen an up-tick in baptisms in recent months, causing the congregation to schedule them monthly. Eaton regularly teaches about baptism during expositional preaching through specific books of the Bible. He also consistently brings it up in conversations with people as he has gospel conversations and disciples people who are new to the faith.

“As a church, we have only one thing to do: the Great Commission, to make disciples who will then make disciples,” Eaton said. “While we often complicate this with other activities—I call it ‘busy stuff’—our true purpose is to make disciples who make disciples.”

Eaton pointed to the encouragement of his state convention as a key reason North Carolina Baptists have had more baptisms in recent years. When Todd Unzicker became the executive director of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina in May 2021, one of his first acts was to encourage participation in Baptism Sunday.

In 2023, North Carolina Baptists celebrated more than 16,000 baptisms, a 41% increase from 2022. According to Unzicker, not all of that can be linked to Fill the Tank Sunday, but he thinks it’s had a big impact.

“It’s become a routine—Palm Sunday, then Easter, followed by Fill the Tank Sunday. Churches are now deeply embedding intentional evangelism and soul-winning into their activities,” said Todd Unzicker. “Fill the Tank has reinvigorated this focus, encouraging churches to strategically pray, give and go forth to reach people. They celebrate the resurrection one week, and the next, they demonstrate new life in Christ through public professions of faith in baptism.”

Jared Cornutt, lead pastor of North Shelby Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala., calls Baptism Sunday a reminder for Southern Baptists that God is still moving among his people. Cornutt celebrated his one-year anniversary at North Shelby Baptist on Baptism Sunday with six baptisms, bringing the one-year total to 23.

Cornutt attributed those baptisms to the kindness of God and shared his gratitude for how God is at work in his church and around the world through Southern Baptists.

“Our task is really quite simple—be obedient to the Word, be obedient to his calling, proclaim his Word, and trust him to do the work,” Cornutt said. “[Baptism Sunday] gives me hope. It gives me hope that in a convention of 46 to 47,000 churches—where it always seems like there’s fighting and, at times, things look bleak—that even as we wander through the proverbial desert, God is saving and redeeming people. That’s what we need to really be focusing on.”

Churches are finding ways to use pickleball’s growing popularity to share the gospel, build community

Some find the constant pop of the wiffle ball batted about by oversized ping pong paddles annoying. Others see a sport encouraging exercise, multigenerational competition, and camaraderie.

Regardless, pickleball is here to stay.

It’s called the fastest-growing recreational sport in the U.S., although it has been around since 1965, invented as a family diversion at Bainbridge Island, Wash.

With short 11-point games, mostly played by doubles teams, people of varying abilities can occupy the same court space. Open play allows for multiple combinations of players, while leagues may be geared to established teams or rotating partners.

Churches—among them, First Baptist Dallas—have discovered how to tap into this phenomenon for ministry purposes.

A big city league of its own

First Dallas runs seasonal pickleball leagues in its Wicker gym.

Brent McFadden, the church’s sports and recreation minister, said he first heard about pickleball in a staff meeting a few years ago when a colleague suggested the sport be offered at the church.

“We all laughed,” McFadden recalled. “We asked, ‘What is this thing called pickleball?’” They taped lines on the Wicker gym floor and hosted a league in 2018. The response was “all right,” McFadden said. Then COVID hit and interest dwindled.

That was soon to change.

When his brother-in-law, a sports statistician, was isolated in the NBA’s competition “bubble” during the 2020 COVID season, the sport reappeared on McFadden’s radar.

“My brother-in-law got into it with the referees and statisticians playing pickleball every day during that isolation,” he said. “He told me that the sport was taking off.”

By 2022, McFadden and team installed permanent pickleball lines at the church gym and leagues resumed, joining the list of adult and youth recreational activities such as volleyball, youth basketball, cheerleading, golf, and soccer camps offered at the church.

A higher purpose

McFadden, a former college baseball player who once worked in the front office of the Oakland A’s Double-A affiliate, didn’t originally intend to work in sports ministry. But he found community outreach events required of his position with the A’s compelling, and he began to see a higher purpose.

A mentor told him, “If you run a sports ministry just to play sports, without it being Christ-centered, what’s the good in that?”

“I truly want [participants] to get more out the experiences [at the church] than just to play sports,” McFadden said, adding that pickleball offers unique opportunities for socialization and ministry. So, he provides weekly video devotionals with Scripture and applications for league teams to watch.

“I don’t want to provide a way for people just to connect physically, but also to connect with Jesus spiritually,” he added.

“A lot of people want to play,” he said. First Dallas offers three seasonal leagues per year. Players sign up in teams of two and the church helps prospective players find partners if needed.

Men’s and mixed doubles league play occurs during the church’s Sunday afternoon Discipleship University time. Women’s play hasn’t proved as popular, McFadden said, but may be added in the future.

Some 80 players of mixed ages participated in the fall 2023 league; 36 teams signed up for the winter 2024 league.

The fall mixed league winner was Kay Seamayer, an 83-year-old senior women’s basketball champion known as “Granny Globetrotter.” She teamed with Jim Lockhart, in his 60s, to win the league, illustrating one of pickleball’s distinctives: an octogenarian can take down millennials with well-placed dinks, drives, lobs, and placement over power.

But the spiritual possibilities far outweigh all other benefits.

“Sports ministry is so crucial … an opportunity to bring people into your church who likely have not heard of Christ or heard very little. His ways are always better. That is the exciting part to me,” McFadden said.

“Pickleball lends itself to conversation. It’s all about fellowship. Why not include Bible study in that?”

—Jina Joss Tweet

Small city pickleball vibes

Pickleball is relatively inexpensive and easy to learn. An average church gym with a full-sized basketball court has room for three pickleball courts, which are about one-fourth the size of tennis courts. Sturdy, good-quality portable nets cost less than $200.

This accessibility is one of the reasons Jerry Don Gleaton started offering pickleball at Brownwood’s Coggin Avenue Baptist Church about four years ago. The former Major League Baseball player and Coggin’s activities director said members recommended the sport.

Gleaton initially started opening the gym for pickleball on Monday nights, then added daytime playtimes, some in conjunction with the newly formed Brownwood Pickleball Club. The church made the initial investment in portable nets, which the club replaces as needed.

“We see people getting invited to play pickleball and then getting invited to church,” Gleaton said.

One indoor play date per week is reserved for Coggin members and guests, an effort spearheaded by church member Sandy Joyner, who also sets up separate playtimes at the city’s public courts.

“It’s a great ministry,” Joyner said. “Pickleball has brought community to so many.”

Joyner said her prayer is that “God will touch people’s hearts and connect those who desperately need community and ultimately, Jesus!”

Another Coggin member, Jina Joss, used pickleball to invite women to a home Bible study on prayer, posting the details on the Brownwood Pickleball Club’s Facebook page. About 15 women signed up for the six-week study, and whoever feels like it after each session hangs around to play on nearby private courts.

“We all play pickleball. We have community in that, so I thought pickleball would be a good segue into Bible study,” Joss said.

“Pickleball lends itself to conversation,” she added. “It’s all about fellowship. Why not include Bible study in that? Why not fellowship with Jesus?”

5 minutes with Jason Earls

Jason Earls became pastor of North Garland Baptist Fellowship in December 2022, but he has long been involved at the church. He served as its youth pastor from 2011-2016 before stepping down to pursue a full-time career in stand-up Christian comedy, a passion he continues to pursue part-time. Born and raised in Portsmouth, Va., and the son and grandson of pastors, Earls came to the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex to attend Dallas Theological Seminary and stayed. He and his wife, Terri, have six children: Aaron, Alexandria, Alicia, Andrew, Achim, and Aniyah—as Earls quips, his “first time making straight A’s.”

What’s something you’ve been able to celebrate at North Garland recently?

The number of individuals who have joined the kingdom by placing their faith in Christ. We’ve gotten to the point where we’ve had to renovate, turn our fellowship hall into our sanctuary to accommodate the amount of growth. We’ve had people coming to the Lord … getting baptized, going public with their faith, and an overwhelming amount of young children. Families with multiple children are joining.

What are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced in your ministry lately?

The beautiful thing about NGBF is that we have six generations very well represented. For the first time in [modern] human history, we have six living generations: the silent generation, the baby boomers, Gen X, the millennials, Gen Z, and Gen Alpha. To be able to unify and show value to every generation has been consistently challenging. … [I want us to] no longer look at generational leadership as a relay race where a baton is handed but … as a Tour de France, where everybody has an integral part on this bicycle team. In a Tour de France, different people lead in different things, in different segments, in different parts of the race.

What’s one lesson you’ve learned to this point of your ministry you know you’ll never forget?

The more biblical knowledge, experience, and wisdom we get, the more we have the propensity to lean into our own understanding. When God gives you vision, you and your own understanding may hijack the vision God wants you to implement in His timing. It’s important to achieve the balance of using the experience and wisdom God has allowed you and that of those around you.

What is something you’d like to see happen at North Garland this year?

For every individual to be so engaged with God’s Word and discipleship that we, as a church and as individuals in our own unique giftedness, are impacting Garland and the entire globe. God didn’t give everybody everything, but He gave everybody something and He wants you to use it in something to make His name known and to build His kingdom. If I could get everybody to understand what their something is and to use it for God’s kingdom, I could go be with Jesus.

How can the churches of the SBTC be praying for you?

Pray that this pastor and comedian stays faithful to his wife and children first, and that God allows Jason and every member of North Garland to be overwhelmed with the love of Jesus and His Word and a passion for the lost.