Pan Dulce

BGCT Leadership Transition

The announcement in the Baptist Standard featured Dr. Jan Daehnert as a candidate for Interim Executive Director for the BGCT. Jan will most likely be voted upon by the Executive Board to replace Dr. Charles Wade who begins his retirement at the end of January.

The transition in leadership begins but before we focus totally on the future it would be wise to think about the past. Dr. Wade has faithfully served as our Executive Director. He has provided leadership during turbulent times in denominational life. He led the convention to include Baptists from other cultural groups in the governing boards of our convention and institutions and diversified the BGCT staff. He paved the way for Baptist University of the Americas to become part of the Christian Education Coordinating Board and was instrumental in helping BUA earn a Certificate of Authority to Grant Degrees and was extremely supportive of the accreditation process with the Association of Biblical Higher Education. He led the convention to approve new funding for BUA and the joint-purchase of BUA’s new 78 acre campus. I will forever be grateful for his willingness to support the growth of BUA and his personal support of me in that leadership role.

One of the best ways we can honor his stewardship at the helm of BGCT is to build on the platform he developed during his tenure. As we remember all the achievements during Dr. Wade’s tenure we need to ask ourselves, where do we go from here?

The day has come for the next generation to step into leadership. We really need a younger leader who would be followed by the Boomer generation. What happens next for the Kingdom through the BGCT will largely depend on the kind of leadership we elect. This is all the more reason to pray for our search committee. Pray for Jan during this interim time of leadership. Pray that he will have wisdom and strength to encourage the staff in the BGCT until we have a new leader.

I am praying that the Lord will lead the search committee to someone like David before he was anointed King over Israel. We need someone who has been quietly killing bears and lions while keeping focused on the father’s business. Out of sight and out of mind. We need a leader who will step on the scene with the skills and abilities honed when nobody was looking so he or she can step up and slay the giants that keep us intimidated, in fear, immobilized, and discouraged. It is a new day and we need a new leader.

In the meantime, let’s get after our mission. Let’s lead our churches to advance and embrace the Kingdom happening around them. Find ways to plug into Buckner’s mission or in an effort that takes you beyond the daily routine to places where Jesus would go. Let’s not hold our breath for the right leader. Let’s lead ourselves to where Jesus is, especially during this Christmas season.

This will be my last blog for the year. I will pick up again on January 2, 2008. Merry Christmas to all and Happy New Year!

Visionary Headlines for the BGCT in 2015

What would be our headlines if, as a convention, we pursued the Jesus Agenda from our Core Competencies: Missions and Evangelism with a Vision for both? For the fun of it, let’s try dreaming a little as we come to the close of 2007:

Texas Baptists Eliminate Hispanic High School Drop-Out Rate
We can do it! We have about 1200 Hispanic Baptist congregations and about 10,000 Hispanic youth in churches and missions affiliated with the BGCT. This is a finite number. Hispanic youth tend to drop out of high school at a rate of about 50% in Texas. This kind of future spells economic weakness for Texas business and commerce. How can we expect to compete in a global economy with an under-trained and under-educated workforce? We may not be able to solve the problem for all Texas Hispanics but what would happen if we took care of our own Hispanic Baptist youth? Baptist University of the Americas is uniquely equipped to take on the Lion’s share of this task but we will need to invest heavily in this school’s future. I am talking about investing CP dollars at a rate of $1 million per year as well as aggressive funding for faculty, ESL, pre-collegiate programs and a full court press to reach these youth. We will also need to call on the other 8 universities to step up to the plate and take a swing at this issue. These universities will have cross-cultural bridges to overcome…all the more reason to significantly invest in these other schools to address this issue. This one headline we will touch ethics, economics, poverty, leadership development, etc. As the demographic trends continue to change the landscape of our state, we will need more and more bilingual and bicultural leaders, not less. We will not be able to realize this headline unless we make it a priority and re-allocate our funding of CP resources. If we gain this reputation we will have more opportunities to share the gospel than we could ever imagine.

Texas Baptists Eliminate 3,000 Children from State Rolls
Today there are about 3,000 children waiting to be adopted in Texas. Again, this is a finite number. We have 5500 affiliated congregations. What would it take for 3,000 of our 5500 congregations to help one family adopt one child? What would happen if we made up our minds that we would not allow children to wait any longer to be adopted by a Christian family from among Texas Baptists? We can do it! What would happen if we asked congregations to raise an offering to offset the cost of adoption? What if 3,000 congregations agreed to provide support for one adoptive family in their church? If we only did 500 adoptions a year, we could clear the rolls in 6 years (If the numbers were frozen for six years). This single headline would involve missions, evangelism, social ministry, poverty, Christian life, etc.

Texas Baptist Send 700,000 Humanitarian Aid Workers
If we have 2 million Texas Baptists, could we expect 1/3 of our members to go on a short term mission trip by the year 2015? We would only have to send 100,000 short-term volunteers a year. Buckner already sends about 3,000 and we may see that number reach about 4,000 in 2008. What would happen if each of our 5500 congregations sent 18 members on a short term mission trip in Texas, the USA, or around the world only one time in 7 years? We would send 700,000 in a short 7 years. How much poverty could we reduce? How many children might be adopted? How much economic infrastructure could we build? How many lives could be touched both in this life and in eternity? What would be the total stewardship of our members and their resources by 2015? We would have difficulty keeping up with divine appointments to share the gospel.

These are the kind of headlines that I would get excited about. We need an Executive Director that will think, dream, work, envision, and lead us to these kinds of God-sized dreams. I have a feeling that the Lord redemptive history will meet the Texas Baptist family at the point of our dreams and visions. He will create these headlines with or without us.

BGCT Core Competencies and Organizing for the Jesus Agenda

I believe that the Core Competencies of the BGCT are missions and evangelism and a compelling vision for both. These competencies are best demonstrated by the combined ministries of our affiliated congregations and institutions. All of our other expressions of Texas Baptist identity including Ethics, Religious Liberty, Worship, Music, Bible Study, etc. can be seen as supportive of our core competencies. All of the varied facets of Texas Baptist life can be woven into one complex fabric of missions and evangelism.

Now I know that I have just stated my bias. I am a Missiologist by training so I will tend to see the world through the discipline I have studied. My ethicist friends, proponents of Religious Liberty and Church-State issues, musicians, consultants, etc., will all beg to differ with me and may sharply criticize my over-simplistic description of our work. I understand and accept any push-back offered. Having said that, how do our core competencies impact how we utilize organizational resources in pursuit of a Jesus Agenda?

You can find Jesus’ agenda articulated in his inaugural sermon in the synagogue as recorded in Luke 4:14. Jesus said he came to preach good news to the poor, give sight to the blind, freedom for the prisoner, liberty to the oppressed, and to preach the acceptable year of our Lord’s favor. If we were starting a BGCT organized to do the Jesus Agenda, what would it look like? How would our Core Competencies fit with the Jesus Agenda? Would the Jesus Agenda encompass all the interests of the Redeemer’s kingdom?

Social Ministry
Our mission in Social Ministry would be to provide good news to the poor. But what would the good news be? What did Jesus mean? I have never been poor so I do not speak from experience. I think good news to the poor means that a poor person does not have to be poor any more. How I am I defining poverty? In every way you can imagine. Economic, social, relational, institutional, etc.  Certainly, orphans, children at risk, the least of these would qualify here. Texas Baptists have 5500 congregations and four human welfare institutions devoted to this item in Jesus’ agenda. Social ministry efforts outside of the ministry of our BGCT affiliated congregations and institutions are a duplication of effort and resources.

Healthcare Ministry
Our mission in Healthcare ministry is to serve those in need of medical attention from a Christian perspective. Texas Baptists have 5500 congregations and six medical centers/systems focused on the healing ministry of Jesus.

Justice Ministry
Our mission in Justice Ministry is to serve those in prison and those who are oppressed in our midst. Wherever there are prisoners you will find Jesus busy at work. Wherever you find systemic or individual oppression so that others might benefit, you will find Jesus there at work. Texas Baptists focused the Jesus agenda would take action regarding marginalized communities, human trafficking, sex trade, modern day slavery in Texas, unjust treatment of undocumented immigrants, unjust displacement of U.S. born, minor children of undocumented immigrants, and the list goes on. Buckner and BGCT have formed the ISAAC program, Immigration Services and Aid Center to address some of these issues. About 5500 congregations and institutional ministries have the capacity to address these issues. We have the Christian Life Commission to address some of these issues as well.

Good News Ministry
The acceptable year of our Lord’s favor is sharing the good news of Salvation. This gets us back to evangelism and missions. In the area of missions we have 23 institutions involved in some kind of mission effort, some to a greater degree than others. Many of our 5500 affiliated congregations are already doing hands-on mission trips. We have Worldconnex, the BGCT Missions Department, WMU, Texas Baptist Men, and the Evangelism department in addition to the missional efforts of the institutions and congregations. We may be over-organized for missions and evangelism and are most likely duplicating resources and efforts in an uncoordinated fashion. Light diffused is good but concentrated and focused light is called a laser, the kind that can cut steel or perform delicate surgeries. One of the greatest challenges of the new Executive Director will be to organize us around our core competencies focused on the Agenda of Jesus. The Church Planting effort of the BGCT is probably one of the most dynamic efforts alive today in the BGCT.

Leadership Development Ministry
We need leadership to carry out the Jesus Agenda. We have 9 universities focused on developing leaders for Texas Baptist missions and evangelism. Among those 9 universities we have 2 theological seminaries and one theological university specializing in developing cross-cultural ministry leaders. Our oldest universities have over 50 years of experience developing leaders for Texas Baptist life. Leadership development outside of these 9 universities is a duplication of effort and resources.

On Thursday I will write about Potential BGCT Headlines in 2015.

Core Competencies and the Future of the BGCT

Yesterday I wrote about the future of the BGCT. I am hopeful that the BGCT has a bright future provided convention leadership can help us return to our core competencies. Our new Executive Director will have the task of leading the convention, a fellowship of congregations and institutional ministries to our core competencies to bless the next generation of Texas Baptists. So what are our BGCT Core Competencies? I am sure you will come up with your own list. Let me share a few of mine.

Vision. I get pretty excited about vision, maybe to a fault. However, one of the core competencies that the BGCT can use to gain followership and support is through a higher, larger, and grander vision. Vision, by its very definition implies change. John Kotter, in his article “What Leaders Really Do” (Harvard Business Review, May-June 1990), says that “leading an organization to constructive change begins with setting direction.” You probably knew that but here is the revolutionary thought: “What’s crucial about vision is not its originality but how well it serves the interests of important constituencies…” (Kotter, 1990). There is no reason to set a direction or a vision for the future if we have already decided we are not going to change. The end result is frustration, especially for “the interests of important constituents (churches and institutions).” And, of course, without a vision, the convention perishes.

Evangelism. My best memories of being a Baptist for 49 years today (if you count the time my mother carried me to church in the womb) have focused on evangelism. I remember thinking that Baptists champion the task to telling, sharing, showing, and living the good news of salvation and redemption found only in Christ. We do evangelism through individuals, congregations, events, programs, Sunday School, Bible Study, Small Group Ministry, relationships, worship, collegiate ministry, hospital ministry, social ministry, etc. Evangelism is part of Baptist culture. That is what we do. How we evangelize and how we encourage others to let the good news flow through them will change given time and context. Discipleship is the “Teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you” part of Evangelism. One of my good friends says it this way: “The Gospel that has come to us must go through us.”

Missions. My second best memory of being a Texas Baptist is related to missions. I was a Baptist in California for ten years as a child but it was not until I moved to Texas that I went on my first mission trip as a teen. If you were draw blood from a Texas Baptist, he or she would bleed missions. Missions is a core competency. Missions is more than what we do, it is who we are. We are a missionary people, a sent people. But how we do missions is radically different than the way we used to do missions. We do missions through congregations, higher education, church planting, social and human welfare ministry, short-term mission trips in our cities, our nation, and around the world. We are at our best when we blend social ministry or human welfare with missions. Now if you add evangelism to that mix, we are in 7th heaven. In 2006, Buckner International recorded 800 professions of faith through its ministries to orphans and children at risk. We typically provide leadership for 80 short-term mission groups with over 3,000 volunteers. When we start with evangelism we find human needs and meet them. When we start with human needs we find open invitations to share the gospel message. Buckner is the premier missions sending agency for Texas Baptists. Why? Because we have a passion for living out James 1:27, Matthew 28:19-20, and John 3:16. We don’t create false dichotomies between pure religion, doing the Great Commission, and the Evangelistic task. Jesus didn’t so why should we?

Missions and Evangelism are two sides of the same coin. These are our basic core competencies. That is what our history bears out. Is there really anything else? Ethics, Worship, Music, Christian Higher Education, Healthcare, etc., are all folded into our core competencies of missions and evangelism. To the extent that the BGCT and its leadership helps us to rediscover our core competencies by raising up a compelling vision for missions and evangelism, the BGCT future is bright.

On Wednesday I will blog about BGCT Core Competencies and Organizing to pursue the Jesus Agenda.

The Future of the Baptist General Convention of Texas

I have remained pretty silent over the past few months about the future of the BGCT given the impending retirement of Dr. Charles Wade and the work of the Executive Director Search Committee. I write these words with deep respect and love for our BGCT. My life and ministry has been shaped by our fellowship as Texas Baptists.

It is hard to accept that we are in a post-denominational era in the United States today. Even so, denying that we are in a new era of denominational identity does not reduce this reality, however painful this may be. I am hopeful that our BGCT will find its way and become stronger over time. What do we need for a bright future?

Prayer. We really need to pray for our convention and its leadership. We need to pray for revival, discernment, wisdom, courage, vision, creativity, and unity among our fellowship.

Leadership and Management. Leadership is not everything but when absent, it seems like nothing else helps. We need good strong management or stewardship of our resources: human, financial, physical, etc. I am hopeful that an Interim Executive Director will be named soon. The role of this person is to provide leadership and management in the interim, while the Search Committee finds a new leader. Leading change is not the role of the Interim Executive Director. That is the role of the new ED. We will need a new Executive Director that understands and is able to execute the office with both leadership and management skills as well as a passion for the work of our churches and institutions.

Innovation. Plain and simple, the new Executive Director will have the enormous task of leading the BGCT to Re-invent itself. This will require innovative approaches to serving churches in the future. We are not the same fellowship of churches and affiliated institutional ministries we were even six months ago, much less a decade ago. Our world has changed, we have changed, and the future has changed given where we are today. If there were not a BGCT why would we need one given the challenges pastors, churches, and institutional leaders face? Our new ED will have to help us answer this question.

Hindsight and Insight. We will need a reorientation to our past in order to see the future clearly. It is my understanding that during the post-civil war era in Texas, settlers and preachers from other states came to colonize this area and start churches. Some of the first ministries these leaders started were universities and other ministries to augment the work of the churches. The BGCT was formed as a way of organizing the congregations and ministries (institutions) into one cohesive force for Kingdom advancement. If the 23 institutions affiliated with the 5,500 congregations that comprise the BGCT form the missions and evangelistic heart of our work, what is the role of the convention at the end of the first decade of the 21st century? Our ability to answer this question with wisdom, creativity, courage, and discernment will most certainly determine the future of the BGCT.

More thoughts on this subject on Tuesday of this week.

It's Your Mission in Mexico

This week through December 19th Dexton Shores, Russ, Dilday, Analiz Gonzalez, and Bradley Vinson are on an Exploratory Trip throughout Mexico. For real time information, blog entries, and pics take a look at itsmymission4kids.blogspot.com and keep up with their experience. Things are happening in Mexico for children at an amazing pace. Please pray for Dexton and this team and consider ways you might help in 2008.

It’s Your Mission in Africa

One of my favorite places to travel this year was to Ethiopia and Kenya. Maybe you have thought about traveling to Africa to serve children. You can learn more about how to get there and what Buckner is doing in those countries by selecting www.itsyourmission.com.

If you select Ethiopia you will learn about our baby home, adoption program, our foster care program, and the community center we are building in Bantu. You will find lots of information about the country, culture, customs, and facts about Ethiopia. I also have pictures posted on my blog from my trip there. Ethiopia is one of the most fascinating cities I have visited with its deep roots and connection to biblical history. I enjoyed learning about the connection between King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba from Ethiopia.

If you select Kenya you will learn about our foster care program, our child development center in Busia, and the Baptist Children’s Center in Nairobi as well as a Buckner Medical Clinic run at the BCC. The link provides information about the cost of traveling to Kenya, facts about the culture, population, information about orphans, and the kind of work that Buckner is doing in that country.

During this holiday season, consider the mission of the Prince of Peace who came so that we might live. Consider Jesus’ mission to the children, the poor, the prisoner, the sick, and the oppressed. Consider the mission that he left us to do. It really is your mission. This website gives you most of the information you need to get started. Where will you go to do your mission in 2008?

It’s Your Mission to Eastern Europe and China

This week I have been writing about followers of Christ taking up their personal mission to do what Jesus would do if he were here now. He would be found with the last and the least of these. He would be with children who are pushed to the margins of society, out of the way, out of sight. It really is your mission.

Buckner is here to provide the framework in which to touch the lives of children in Texas, the USA, and all around the world. I am writing today to point you to Eastern Europe and China. When you pull up www.itsyourmission.com you will find a map of the world. Move your arrow over to Eastern Europe and China. You will find information about Buckner’s work in Russia, Romania, and Latvia in Eastern Europe. If you look on the pics on this blog you will find some of my photos from Russia taken this fall. I fell in love with the children in St. Petersburg and Moscow.

If you point your arrow to China and click on it you will find that we provide for international adoptions, humanitarian aid, and mission trips. If you point your arrow to Eastern Europe you will find information about our work in Latvia involving foster care, humanitarian aid, orphanage improvements, baby home, and VBS ministry. In Russia you will find information about humanitarian aid, construction projects, and mission team opportunities. In Romania you will find group homes, day care centers, and child development centers.

We are in the era of mobilizing Christians of all ages and walks of life to get on mission with Christ in the world. Rather than relying only on professionally trained missionaries, we are also inviting Christians in the pew to be on mission with God in redemptive activity, embracing the Kingdom of God in places where help is needed. All you need is a passport, airfare, and a passion for the things that matter to Jesus. Will you go with us? Take a look at this website and see if the Lord speaks to you about going with us to the places where we have established work. Make a commitment today to leave the USA at least once in 2008. It would be a great new year’s resolution. After all, it’s your mission.

It’s Your Mission: The Americas

This week I have been focusing on discovering your personal assignment in missions and the possibility of going on mission through Buckner Children and Family Services. I want to draw your attention to the Americas: Guatemala and Peru, and in 2008 we will begin work in Honduras.

You can learn more about these specific countries by visiting www.itsyourmission.com and clicking on Central and South America. This link will take you to a page that describes Buckner’s work in Guatemala and Peru. The link provides information including the cost or traveling to that country, country history, location, size, climate, religion, ethnic groups, population, literacy, unemployment rates, government, poverty, and aids population. The link also provides information regarding the customs of each country, the needs of orphans and children at risk, and the type of mission trips that are recommended for this region.

Once you select a location to visit for your mission trip we also provide full service support to make the experience effective. We provide mission support including travel arrangements, consultation on vaccinations, in-country lodging and transportation, as well as availability of trip coordinators.

If you decide to serve children in Guatemala or Peru, you will most likely be working with Leslie Chace. She provides supervision of Buckner in those countries in cooperation with our country directors. Leslie is a former missionary to Latin America. She is fully bilingual and bicultural and is highly respected among the leaders she serves.

During the last year, BCFS entered into a collaborative agreement with Dallas Baptist University to provide mission support services to the students and staff of DBU for their work in Latin America. This past September the DBU Patriots baseball team traveled to Guatemala to play the National Baseball Team of Guatemala in an effort to raise awareness and raise funds in that country for children at risk and orphans. The event was a fantastic success. We have groups that travel to Guatemala and Peru throughout the year.

As you think about Christmas this year and the season of giving, consider how you might bless the children of Latin America through Buckner work.

It’s Your Mission: USA, Border, and Mexico

When I was a teen my pastor, Dr. Rudy Sanchez, encouraged the youth of our church at Primera Iglesia Bautista to be on mission in Cienega De Flores near Monterrey, Mexico. It was expected and we just went. No one told us we were too young to conduct a VBS for children, lead Bible studies, encourage other youth, and lead revival services in the evening. We just did it. We thought that was normal activity for Christian youth groups. We used the talent we had. Some were musicians, singers, puppet actors, and some of the group did the support work. We saw God’s faithfulness as children and adults came to faith in Christ. We found ways to make a difference in those communities. To this day, the missional experiences I had as a teen continue to shape my life as an adult. I want these kinds of experiences for our three boys. Those experiences were some of the most exciting days of my life.

Today you can provide these kinds of experiences to your kids, your youth, and the adult members in your church or group. Buckner Children and Family Services has service and ministry in 14 cities in Texas as well as Seattle, Washington; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; and Knoxville, Tennessee where your mission group can go to serve the least of these. You can even come to Dallas and serve in the Buckner Center for Humanitarian Aid for a week.

Our External Affairs Group has developed a dynamic website www.itsyourmission.com to help you learn about opportunities for missions in the USA, the US-Mexico Border, and Mexico. You can go on this sight, learn about opportunities, and sign up for a trip today. Here is a brief preview of what you will see.

The Borderlands
Our Border work now extends along the 2,000 mile border between the USA and Mexico. The site will show you projects from Brownsville to El Paso; in Arizona and in California. Our border work is moving from a Texas-based point of reference to a national scope, crossing four states. Dexton Shores, under the leadership of Randy Daniels, continues to provide excellent leadership for border ventures.

Mexico: Our Neighbor South of the Border
Dexton has provided opportunities in Mexico City, the State of Guerrero, Guanajuato, Oaxaca, and Sinaloa. The needs are overwhelming and the opportunities are practically unlimited. You can make a difference in the lives of children and families just south of the border and some locations are within driving distance.

Take some time to look at this site and select North America on the Map. You will find links to Texas and the USA, the Border, and to Mexico. Sign up today. Perhaps the life that will be impacted the most for the Kingdom of God is yours.

Please feel free to call or email Dexton Shores for more information at dshores@buckner.org or 210-771-2904.