English
Korean
Spanish
Carlos Hinojos recently completed his seventh year as pastor of Redbud Baptist Church in Lubbock. He has previously served congregations in the Rio Grande Valley, working as an associate pastor and church planter affiliated with First Baptist Church in McAllen. After a stint as a high school program coordinator in Plainview, Hinojos came to Redbud in 2016. He and his wife, Sylvia, have been married 37 years and have four adult children, three grandchildren, and two foster grandchildren. Hinojos is a member of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention Executive Board.
What is something you’ve been able to celebrate at your church recently?
On a personal level, I would say my seven-year anniversary, which is exciting for us. … But [regarding] the church, our prayer ministry that we launched right before COVID … it’s something the church had not done before. The church had a regular Wednesday night prayer service, but corporate prayer—just praying for our community, praying for the lost, praying for each other, and all kinds of things at the corporate level—had not been done here. We launched that in January 2019. We started out with a group of about six men and there was already a group of about six women who had been praying. … That developed into the prayer ministry. … Then COVID hit in 2020. That’s been really helpful to the church, even after COVID.
What have been some of the biggest challenges in your ministry lately?
Keeping the church focused on the mission. For us, our vision is very simple: we are a going church, growing disciples. We focus on making disciples, training, and equipping our people to make disciples and to lead people to Christ. The challenge is to keep focused on that when so many things come our way, even good things.
What’s one lesson you’ve learned to this point of your ministry that you know you’ll never forget?
One of my biggest lessons I’ve learned in my years of ministry has been to wait on God—waiting on Him, yet walking with Him at the same time. … My tendency is to get out ahead of God and to do things and to orchestrate things, because I’m a doer. I’m a make-things-happen kind of person. I’ve learned that anytime I get out ahead of God, I literally mess things up.
What’s one thing you want to see God do specifically in your church this year?
We are really praying for an awakening and a revival at Redbud. That is what the groups who are praying are asking God—awaken us. Awaken our church and bring revival. Bring us to the place where you do something so supernatural in us that it can only be explained by the hand of God in our midst. Let that spill over into our community of Lubbock, Texas.
How can other SBTC churches be praying for you?
Pray for that awakening and revival. There are great churches in Lubbock, but there’s always room for another church to do more. There’s not enough of us to do it all.
