Family Gathering 2023 Book of Reports

VACANT AT TIME OF PRINTING Executive

Director

BECKY BROWN Executive Assistant

Please continue to pray for the Executive Director Search Committee.

The next executive director will provide the comprehensive spiritual, visionary, relational and organizational leadership necessary to ensure the effective implementation of the BGCT’s mission. The search committee is seeking an individual who is an active member in good standing of a Baptist church and who is capable of serving ably as the Christcentered spiritual leader of the BGCT.

MAJOR ACTIONS OF THE EXECUTIVE BOARD

SINCE THE LAST SESSION OF THE ANNUAL MEETING INCLUDED:

APPROVED THE 2022 PROCEEDINGS of the 137th Annual Session of the Baptist General Convention of Texas that met Nov. 13-15 in Waco.

APPROVED THE RECOMMENDATION to elect a new chair, vice chair and one additional member of the Executive Director Search Committee find the next executive director.

APPROVED THE FOLLOWING ACTIONS FROM THE COMMITTEE ON NOMINATIONS FOR BOARDS OF AFFILIATED MINISTRIES:

Recommendation for Nomination to the Baptist University of the Americas Board of Trustees

2025 Term

Belinda Reyes, Park Cities Baptist Church, Dallas Sam Medina, One Accord Fellowship Church, Lubbock

W.H. (Bill) Brian, First Baptist Church, Amarillo

Recommendation for Nomination to the Baylor University Board of Trustees:

2024 Term

Tyler Cooper, Park Cities Baptist Church, Dallas

Recommendation for Nomination to the Hardin-Simmons University Board of Trustees:

2023 Term

Drue Pounds, First Baptist Church, Grapevine

2025 Term

Daniel Stahl, Vista Community Church of Bell County

Recommendation for Nomination to the Baylor HealthCare System Board of Trustees:

2026 Term

Rodrick Robinson, First McKinney Baptist Church

Recommendation for Nomination to the Baptist Health Foundation of San Antonio

2024 Term

Marilyn Elliott, FBC, San Antonio

APPROVED THE FOLLOWING ACTIONS FROM THE COMMITTEE TO NOMINATE EXECUTIVE BOARD DIRECTORS:

Alison Howell, First Baptist Church, Nederland, Sector 17

APPROVED THE FOLLOWING ACTION FROM THE ADMINISTRATION SUPPORT COMMITTEE:

Recommendation to create an Executive Board Task Force to study guidance on responding to sexual abuse issues

Approved recommendation to create a task force to study and recommend guidance on matters of responding to sexual abuse issues within Texas Baptist churches. Task force shall consist of three Executive Board members, three Texas Baptist pastors not on the Executive Board, and three licensed counselors not on the Executive Board. Task force shall be appointed by the Associate Executive Director and the Executive Board Chairperson and will report to the Executive Committee at each regular Executive Board meeting. Task Force shall function until 12/31/24, unless extended by the Executive Board.

APPROVED THE FOLLOWING ACTIONS FROM THE FINANCE COMMITTEE:

Recommendation to allocate 2023 JK Wadley Endowment Fund Earnings

Approved $425,000 of available JK Wadley Endowment Fund earnings be allocated to 2023 needs as follows:

Recommendation to allocate $500,000 to BSM at Baylor Building Fund

Approved $500,000 to BSM at Baylor Building Fund

APPROVED RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE INSTITUTIONAL RELATIONS COMMITTEE:

Recommendation for Baptist General Convention of Texas to relate to Hendrick Medical Center by special agreement

Recommendation for Baptist General Convention of Texas to relate to Baptist Standard Publishing House by special agreement

APPROVED RECOMMENDATION FROM THE COLLEGIATE MINISTRY COMMITTEE:

Recommendation to ratify Baylor BSM MOU

APPROVED THE FOLLOWING RECOMMENDATION FROM THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE:

Recommendation to remove Woodland Baptist Church, San Antonio, and Second Baptist Church, Lubbock from affiliation with the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

The office of the Cooperative Program (CP) helps churches discover how far we can reach with the love of Christ by cooperating in missions giving.

For your edification, we provided you with the 2022 CP Annual Report. It is a concise yet comprehensive report on how Texas Baptists mobilized their funds to effectuate the gospel. The CP Report is available online in English and Spanish at txb.org/ cpannualreport.

Our staff continues to serve with integrity and skill. Anna Crittendon is our Cooperative Program Specialist. Anna earned her bachelor’s degree from Texas A&M University and her M.Div. from Truett Seminary. We are blessed to have Anna serving Texas Baptists.

Bruce McCoy and Ralph Emerson continue to preach in our churches as guest speakers and clinicians across Texas and in a few other states for Texas Baptists. We offer short videos on our website to provide your church informative and encouraging information about the expansive ministries your CP funds support. Each of these videos is excellent and info-packed into two or three minutes of information and inspiration. Many of our churches feature these videos as part of their Sunday morning worship experience. They highlight ministries such as our hospital chaplains, BSM leaders, Future Church Conference, local church ministries and additional stories from those who impact the world for Christ. You can download and make use of them at www.txb.org/cp. The expanse of the gospel we share together is remarkable.

Whether you need a card, or a few CP fast facts, our 2022 CP Annual Report or the 2023 Budget Summary, you can find them at txb.org/cp.

Associational Relations

One of my joys is working with over 80 associations across our diverse state. At the helm of each association is a gifted servant-leader on the cutting edge of church planting, ministry trends, troubleshooting and long-range planning. For years, they have been called the Director of Missions (DOMs); though more and more are known as an Associational Missions Strategist, or the Association’s Executive Director. No matter what’s on their business card, we commend them for their wisdom and skill in caring for our pastors within their association.

Through the generous support of the Mary Hill Davis Offering as well as the Cooperative Program (totaling over $2,000,000), we have been able to support 24 of our associations hold over 122 mission projects with their partnered churches across Texas. These projects include food pantries, community gatherings, rodeos, prison ministries, and border refugee aid. These partnerships assist our associations to minister to thousands across the state each year. If you would like to know more about their expansive ministry, please visit our associations webpage:  https://www.texasbaptists.org/about/partners/associations.

Camping Ministry

So many students come to Christ or answer the call to vocational ministry because of the spiritual impact at camp. Please continue to pray for your regional camp, their director and their financial needs. Despite the enormous challenges and the growing darkness of our culture, our brothers and sisters called to manage our Baptist campgrounds have remained faithful in their dedication to love and serve the youth in their care. Even with the new struggles they are facing, our campgrounds are continuing to see God’s Kingdom grow through their faithful service.

BRUCE MCCOY Director

RALPH EMERSON Associate Director

ANNA CRITTENDON Cooperative Program Specialist

JOSHUA MINATREA Director

AIMEE FRESTON Associate Director

SPENCER WOLVERTON Communications Assistant

GEORGE SCHROEDER News Media Specialist

NEIL WILLIAMS Multimedia Specialist

VACANT Social Media Specialist

CALEB ARNDT Design Manager

LAUREN KENDALL Graphic Designer

MARITZA SOLANO Production Designer

JOHANN DYCK Senior Web Manager/ Developer

JILLIAN SANDERS Web Specialist

HEATHER PENNA Senior Marketing Consultant

MARCUS WILSON Junior Marketing Consultant

The ministry of the Communications Department includes telling the story of God’s movement through the churches, partners and ministry staff of the Convention and promoting ministry resources and events to Texas Baptists churches. Over the past year, we have been blessed to experience a few firsts and receive valuable feedback as we strive to honor our obligations and improve our efforts continually.

For the first time under my leadership, the department announced the resignation of our Convention’s executive director, Dr. David Hardage, following more than 10 years of faithful leadership. Through news stories, videos, the dedication of an annual virtual race and other in-person recognitions, we celebrated Dr. Hardage’s tenure. Since that time, our department has also actively supported the efforts of the Executive Director Search Committee by publishing related news stories and updates online at txb.org/edsc. Thank you for your prayers for the committee as they carry out their vital mission of selecting the next leader of Texas Baptists.

Another first included the development of our Annual Meeting “Digital Program” smartphone app. Launched in advance of our 2022 gathering, we were astounded to find 955 users had just shy of 3,000 sessions as they accessed meeting information, including maps, schedules and the daily bulletin over just a three-day span. When attendees are able to bypass paper for digital solutions, we are better able to steward our Cooperative Program dollars to further our ministry impact – thank you, Texas Baptists!

A final first included our redesigned “Home” and “About” webpages at txb.org. Launched in the fall of 2022, this updated online presence includes streaming video footage of Texas Baptists ministries and a completely redesigned site navigation. Users are better able to hear the story, see the impact and easily access resources to help their churches share Christ and show love. If you haven’t already seen these improvements, check out txb.org on a laptop or desktop computer today. It’s never been easier to see we are doing more together.

Feedback was also a crucial part of our past year of work and ministry. Following a ninemonth engagement evaluation, the department received a detailed report that sought to analyze data, audit communications and deliver resulting insights to Convention leadership. More than 600 individuals responded to a “Quick Sync” survey delivered via email, and several others gave their time to provide feedback through phone, Zoom and other interactions. I am so grateful to the Texas Baptists family for the level of participation we received. All of this data and input is helping the department better understand the health of Texas Baptists churches, what each church values most from its relationship with the Convention, and how we can best communicate with each church in the days ahead.

In addition to this study, the department was also blessed to receive the Gen Z/Millennial Task Force Report, which offered themes and recommendations for future efforts. Having followed up personally with many of these members, I have thoroughly enjoyed the excitement these emerging adults have expressed as they seek to engage more fully and actively participate in the Convention’s storytelling. We have much to do!

I have never been so excited by the unique opportunities our department has to deliver the right message to the right person at the right time, to appeal to hearts, heads and hands all across the Texas Baptists family, and to see God glorified in all we do and say.

Helpful Links

Website: txb.org

News: txb.org/news

Subscription Center: txb.org/subscribe

Ministries: txb.org/ministries

Digital Publications: issuu.com/texasbaptists

Facebook: @TexasBaptists

Twitter: @TexasBaptists

Instagram: @TexasBaptists

The Human Resources Department is, foremost among our responsibilities, here to serve. In fact, our stated mission is: To support the mission and ministries of the BGCT by helping leaders attract, train, and retain quality staff members. We accomplish this through applying strategies and interventions in the areas of recruitment, benefit administration, employee relations, compensation, training and development, organizational design, coaching and performance management. We have many statistics that help measure and validate how well we accomplish our mission. If you’d like, we’d be happy to share that statistical information with you.

Instead of just listing statistics, we wanted to share a few examples of things we’ve done and are working on this year that we feel better illustrates our commitment to our Human Resources ministry to help the collective BGCT ministries happen.

How are we doing – an inward look

This year, we have hit our collective stride. With this past year under our belts, our future looks bright in the HR department. Yes, we were presented with challenges in 2022, but we also overcame them by taking a unified approach that all our challenges presented us with tremendous opportunities. We embraced the opportunity to conduct an internal review of our HR processes and procedures to look for opportunities to improve our performance, and thus, our ability to serve our ministries. Among other outcomes, this effort led to process and performance improvement in key areas like recruiting and benefit administration.

Employee health benefits – the challenge grows greater

Everyone knows how challenging it is to provide good health benefits to individuals, families and organizations in this very volatile health care environment. Two years ago, we went out to bids in an attempt to stabilize our health care costs, while maintaining quality health care offerings for our employees and retirees. Since then, the health care environment has become even more unstable and costs continue to rise at an unsustainable rate. As a result, we have embarked on a detailed analysis of health care options in terms of plan design, cost containment interventions and financing structure. Our goal remains to provide quality health care delivery options for our employees and retirees while being good stewards of the funds entrusted to us. Our analysis continues, and with the help of some highly qualified health care experts, we are confident that for 2024 and beyond our stated goal will be accomplished.

Work in progress – looking to the future

In HR, we are always looking for ways to improve our employee’s experience as they work daily to support Texas Baptists and the Kingdom. Before the year is out we will introduce a number of interventions we are currently working on that will enhance the performance of HR, our organization and our employees. These new interventions include:

•Updated employee handbook that will put the answers to employee’s questions regarding HR policies and practices at their fingertips.

•Recruiting enhancements that will simplify the experience for our hiring managers and candidates.

These are a few examples of how we have worked every day this year in service to our Texas Baptists staff and ministries. We in HR are blessed, and we thank you for the opportunity you give us to serve in His name. Please feel free to reach out to us with questions or if you need help in the HR arena. We are here to serve.

RAY MALONE Director PEGGY MOULDEN HR Benefits Coordinator LATAMRA SELLS HR Generalist

WILLIAM M. PINSON, JR Executive Director Emeritus/ Director TX Baptist Heritage Center (Volunteer)

Director Communications/ Organization (Volunteer)

Goal: To make available Bible-based Baptist beliefs in the most widely used languages in the world amid a worldwide pandemic.

An impossible goal? It would seem so. But with God’s help It has been achieved. Spanish, Portuguese, Swahili, Chinese, Arabic, Hindi, French, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Urdu and Hungarian materials are now complete. Work is underway in Polish and Vietnamese, and a request has come from Ukraine for a translation.

These materials are available in the languages of over five billion people. They are available in the parts of the world experiencing the largest Christian growth, according to the Center for the Study of Global Christianity – Africa and Asia. Baptists are also growing the fastest in those areas. Furthermore, the Baptist growth in the United States is increasing among these language groups.

Since Baptist beliefs clearly present the Good News of Jesus Christ, these materials help fulfill Jesus’ words: “Ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts 1:8).

They are available to the language groups in our Jerusalem (Texas) and Judea (United States) and Samaria (North America) as well as to the uttermost part of the earth. The translation project is a continuing one and in keeping with the Scripture theme of the 2023 Baptist General Convention of Texas (BGCT) Family Gathering that we are “no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of His household” (Ephesians 2:19). Baptists of many different languages and cultures are indeed one family.

Translations of the 27 articles of the Baptist Identity Series are prepared by the staff of the Baptist Heritage Center with input from Baptist historians, theologians, pastors and laypersons of various ages and cultures. The brief articles, written in a popular style, were first printed in each issue of the Baptist Standard in 2005 and posted on a newly created website www.baptistdistinctives.org.

The style came from suggestions by both academicians and laypersons. For example, James Leo Garrett, a leading Baptist theologian stated that while numerous academic books, articles and journals on Baptist beliefs were available, few popular style materials were.

Such materials were greatly needed. Due to a variety of factors, more and more Baptists know less and less about Baptist beliefs and heritage. Concerned that this deficiency would lead to a weakening of the Baptist family of Christians and their efforts to carry out the Great Commandment and Great Commission, BGCT leaders took Convention action in 1994 to remedy this situation.

One such action was to establish the Baptist Distinctives Committee, now Council, and this led to the establishment of the Texas Baptist Heritage Center. The members of the committee and the staff of the center began to develop and distribute information and inspiration about Baptist beliefs and heritage, a process that continues today, such as in the translation of the Baptist Identity Series articles.

The translation project is a team effort. The chair of the council, David Mahfouz, helps enlist and coordinate the work of translators. The project’s webmaster, Brad Hepp, collaborates with the translators in preparing the material for the original website as well as the websites devoted to each individual language. The materials are also being published in books, such as Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic and Swahili. A Hungarian book will be released in conjunction with the 500th anniversary of the Anabaptists’ arrival in Hungary.

The positive response to these translations indicates that this resource from the Baptists of Texas is helping share the gospel with the peoples of the world.

DORIS A. TINKER

2022 marked the 89th year of operation for the Texas Baptist Historical Collection. The key word for 2022 was “outreach.” The THBC launched its first ever friends group known as the 1839 Society. The society’s name commemorates the founding of the Independence Baptist Church in Independence Texas, the oldest Baptist church in continuous existence in the state and site of the Texas Baptist Historical Museum. Julia Butler, Senior Researcher/Coordinator of the 1839 Society, is overseeing the society’s benefit program and quarterly newsletter. For more information on the 1839 Society or to join, contact Julia Butler at Julia.butler@texasbaptists.org.

For the first time since 1998, the TBHC has completely redesigned its website and created a unique web address. The website can be found at thetbhc.org. The site highlights the three major ministries of the TBHC to collect, preserve and communicate the history and heritage of Texas Baptists. Readers are invited to explore the new site and give the TBHC staff feedback.

The TBHC also began proactively contacting churches that have major anniversaries in the next two years, offering help as their significant date approaches. Many of these churches have contacted the TBHC as a result.

The TBHC staff hosted individuals, churches and groups from Texas WMU and Convencion while they used material at the TBHC. The TBHC also continued to help researchers virtually and via email throughout the year, answering over 400 requests from individuals, churches and institutions.

The director of the TBHC spoke to numerous groups, including the Baylor Board of Regents, about the history and impact of Baptists in general and Texas Baptists in particular.

The TBHC continued its training-based outreach programs led by Associate Director Naomi Taplin and included instruction on how to start a church archive, records management and sustain and reenergize church libraries. She is in churches leading sessions two to three times a month. Taplin is also overseeing the growing oral history program with African American and Hispanic churches.

The acquisitions of new material are critical to the growth and future of any historical collection. In 2022, 102 linear feet were added to the TBHC, including church and association records.

The Texas Baptist Historical Museum, a branch of the TBHC, located in the historic Old Independence Baptist Church in Independence, Texas, continues to tell the story of Baptists both globally and locally. Independence is also the birthplace of Baylor University. In June and July, the TBHM hosted 2,700 Baylor freshmen as they learned why Texas Baptists founded Baylor as well as the early history of the school. If you or your church would be interested in touring the museum, contact Dylan Price at dylan.price@txb.org for more details.

Finally, the TBHC staff actively reached out to associations across the state to identify disbanding or recently disbanded churches to preserve these churches’ records before they are lost forever.

The TBHC offers the following services: Research assistance, photograph reproductions, preservation, consultations and Baptist history and heritage awareness.

ALAN J. LEFEVER Director

NAOMI

TAPLIN Associate Director

DYLAN PRICE Manager Texas Baptist Historical Museum

BRITTANY CRUMPTON Ministry Assistant

JULIA BUTLER Senior Researcher/ Coordinator 1839 Society

JERRY CARLISLE President

STEVE MASSEY Vice President

ERIC WYATT Vice President

God’s mission. Your legacy. Let’s make that connection!

The Texas Baptist Missions Foundation assists individuals and churches connect God’s mission with their legacy through sharing their financial resources to create ministry impact. By engaging donors and potential donors with the mission and ministry of Texas Baptists, the Missions Foundation works to generate revenue over and above the Cooperative Program dollars received from churches.

In 2022, the Missions Foundation assisted 5,010 donors in making 31,106 gifts, totaling more than $7.1 million to benefit the work of Texas Baptists. Donations designated for specific areas of ministry are distributed immediately. Some donors make gifts to the Missions Foundation which are not specifically designated. Those undesignated gifts are distributed through annual grants made available to the staff of Texas Baptists and awarded by action of the TBMF Council, a group of 24 Texas Baptists donors elected to serve by the Executive Board. In September 2022, the council awarded 36 grants, totaling $578,000 for use by Texas Baptists ministries and missions in 2023.

Are you interested in return on investment? Currently, each dollar generated by TBMF costs a mere six cents of Cooperative Program support. Investing in Kingdom work through the Missions Foundation is not only spiritually fulfilling, it is financially responsible.

Did you know that two-thirds of Texans who die each year have no will or estate plan?

TBMF provides an opportunity for every Texas Baptist to create their own legally valid will online for free. This effort allows Texas Baptists to provide for their families, preserve and pass on the resources God has entrusted to them and perpetuate God’s work in future generations. As of March 2023, through missionsfoundation.org/create-a-legacy, more than 184 wills have been completed, creating bequests totaling $13,587,250 to benefit Texas Baptists churches, Texas Baptists and associated ministries.

The Missions Foundation team members work with individuals and churches to make transformational gifts that create tremendous impact immediately. We also provide guidance and assist donors in creating a variety of planned gifts, some of which can provide income for the donor and/or avoid unnecessary taxes.

Will God’s mission be your legacy? The future of Texas Baptists ministry and mission support depends on your answer. Reach out to the Missions Foundation at missionsfoundation.org to learn more. We would enjoy helping you or your church.

JULIE GALINDO Donor Relations Specialist

BARBARA FORBIS Administrative Assistant BRUCE MCGOWAN Senior Consultant for BSM

“God is up to something big.” I hear this sentiment expressed over and over again. From the Asbury College revival, to the movie The Jesus Revolution, to the 2,000th anniversary of the resurrection of Christ (being celebrated 10 years from now in 2033), God is on the move as He prepares us for something big. The question is this: Are we ready for the new thing God wants to do?

As I write this report, the Executive Director Search Committee is engaged in seeking the right candidate for the position of executive director. This leader will be responsible for seeking a fresh vision from the Lord for Texas Baptists, communicating that vision to God’s people, and then organizing the convention in such a way as to facilitate its fulfillment. Whatever the Lord leads us to do, my goal during this interim period has been to prepare the staff and ministries of the BGCT to get ready to catch the fresh wind of the Holy Spirit so we keep in step with Him.

As Baptists, we live in such an interesting time. Some Christians want to go backwards to the way things used to be. They constantly look back to programs and procedures that worked in the “golden years” and say, “We should go back to the things of old.” They are like the farmer who puts a hand to the plow and looks back (Luke 9:62).

Others are laser-focused on protecting and preserving legalism. They bellow vaingloriously about the liberalism infiltrating contemporary fundamentalism. In an effort to control their brand of doctrine, they draw the circle smaller and smaller each year to define a “good Baptist.” But like the Pharisees who rightly tithed, they have “neglected the more important matters of the law — justice, mercy and faithfulness” (Matthew 23:23).

In Mark 2 (and Matthew 9), Jesus explains He came to do something new. As an illustration, He said, “No one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins” (Mark 2:22).

Does Jesus want to do something new with Texas Baptists? Is He opening doors of opportunity for partnership around the United States, Mexico and the world? Is He calling us to new methods for doing ministry and missions? Honestly, those are great questions for the next executive director, but I agree with the sentiment expressed by Jim Cymbala in his book Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire, “I despaired at the thought that my life might slip by without seeing God show himself mightily on our behalf.”

Texas Baptists continue to offer great opportunities for our churches to catch the new thing God wants to do. From the Future Church 2030 Conference to the relaunch of the annual Statewide Evangelism Conference, we offered ministers and churches resources, strategies, encouragement and training in best practices. The Centers for Church Health, Ministerial Health, Cultural Engagement, Missional Engagement and Collegiate Ministry are here to help you and your church reach your community and your world for Jesus. We’re here to do it together.

God is up to something big; not just because we are calling a new executive director, but because we serve a big God! He is pouring fresh wind and fresh fire on his people. He wants us to claim Texas and the world for Jesus. Let’s open our hearts and go together to share Christ and show love until the whole world has the opportunity to say “Yes!” to Him.

CRAIG C. CHRISTINA Associate Executive Director

STEPHEN STOOKEY Director Theological Education

ANNA ROSALES Executive Assistant to the AED/Exec. Brd. Coordinator

MARIBEL PAZ Committee Specialist

PHIL MILLER Director DEBY MILLER Administrative Assistant

It is a challenging task to put into words what God has been up to during this past year.

Our annual reporting typically focuses on what “we” have been up to over the past year as convention staff. And, without question, the Center for Church Health staff has been uniquely on the front lines relative to our assignment to “serve the needs of our churches by equipping the local church to be healthy so that God’s people may succeed in His mission of connecting the world to Jesus.” As testimony, I encourage you to read through the team reports that encompass our center’s work in the areas of Discipleship, Evangelism, Music & Worship, GC2 Press, Church Architecture, Church Health Strategy, Women’s Ministry, and Single & Young Adult Ministry. Without question, it is incredibly inspiring to see how God has been using our staff to impact lives for the Kingdom. For that opportunity, we are truly grateful.

However, when you take time to consider what God has been up to – The Asbury Revival, the “Jesus Revolution” movie, “The Chosen” television series, the “He Gets Us” campaign, “Finish the Task,” fresh expressions of God’s presence on many of our college campuses in Texas and across the country, the GC2 Movement of Texas Baptists – it is impossible to remember a time in recent memory when we have had such a front row seat to the beginnings of a fresh movement of God.

With that as a backdrop, it would have been impossible to be about “business as usual” in responding to the needs expressed by Texas Baptists. So, we didn’t. We focused our attention on Tod Bolsinger’s insightful book, Canoeing the Mountains. This book had a profound impact on our direction as we realized everything changed, much in the same way the Lewis & Clark expedition in their search to find a water route to the Pacific, stood looking at “the most terrible mountains they ever beheld. What lay before them was nothing like what was behind them.”

When we face mountains instead of rivers, we need to be willing to adapt and forge ahead. It is a true saying that “what got us here won’t take us there.” This is where the church of today finds itself. But, with God at work around us, we are encouraged to be about the task at hand in fresh ways, relying on the power of God to lead us as never before.

With the following Scripture on our hearts, it is with unusual anticipation we celebrate where God has brought us and rely on Him for what is yet to come.

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” – Ephesians 3:20-21

For more than 30 years, Texas Baptists churches have called on the Church Architecture staff to provide planning expertise. More than 4,000 churches have benefited from onsite consultations, and more than 2,000 conceptual drawings have been delivered to churches.

Beginning in January 2022, Church Architecture expanded to include full architectural and engineering services through an agreement with the experienced staff of VisionBridge Consulting of The Woodlands. This expansion of services has been well received by churches around the state. The leadership team is composed of Ken Hunnicutt, BGCT Church Architecture Coordinator; Cal Todd, VisionBridge Consulting; and Mark Todd, Mark W. Todd Architecture. This team has worked well together for the good of Texas Baptists and has provided consultations with more than 120 churches. To date, more than 25 churches have contracted with VisionBridge for schematic drawing studies. Several churches have chosen the VisionBridge team to be their architect of record, with Mark W. Todd Architecture providing design and construction administration.

In addition to helping churches with facilities planning, Church Architecture provided grants to some churches to help with the expenses of maintaining their facilities. These grants, which were made possible by the Mary Hill Davis State Missions Offering, were used by these small churches for a variety of needs, ranging from repairs of leaking roofs to replacement of inoperative air conditioning and heating units. All of the churches receiving grants have been giving regularly to the Texas Baptists Cooperative Program and provided a significant part of the funds required to complete their projects.

The Church Architecture team thanks Texas Baptists churches for faithfully supporting our work through your giving through the Cooperative Program, the Mary Hill Davis State Missions Offering and through your prayers.

KEN HUNNICUTT Texas Baptist Church Architecture Coordinator (Liaison with VisionBridge Consulting)

MARK TODD President (VisionBridge Consulting)

CAL TODD Project Manager (VisionBridge Consulting)

JONATHAN SMITH Director LIBBY SHORMAN Ministry Assistant

Since June 2022, the ministry of Church Health Strategy has expanded rapidly, especially through PAVE: New Paths for Church Growth. PAVE is the Texas Baptists church health, growth and revitalization strategy, designed to help pastors customize church health and growth for their context. The PAVE process includes joining a cohort, where each pastor guides their church toward health and growth with encouragement from a coach to help them along the journey. As PAVE continues expanding regionally and becoming contextualized for the diverse congregations represented within Texas Baptists, we have witnessed God move through PAVE as pastors are encouraged and walk through church growth principles, strategies and spiritual dynamics.

From June 2022 to March 2023, 130 people have attended a PAVE training, and we have seen pastors and churches encouraged and equipped more than over 120 church health, growth and revitalization consultations. Following a three-week baptism plan from PAVE, FBC Devine baptized more people in four months than the church had baptized in the past four years.

As testimonies of salvation within the community are displayed and a church centers around celebrating new life in Christ, a church’s vision and purpose are restored and empowered. Here are just a few examples:

• First Baptist Church in Round Rock has a new initiative to see members share 6,000 gospel conversations in 2023.

• First Baptist Church Cedar Hill recently baptized at least one person four weeks in a row … and counting.

• First Baptist Church Buffalo has instituted a new assimilation strategy and is seeing renewed growth.

• Impact Church in Schertz created a new vision and direction to reach 6,000 new families in their growing community by the year 2030.

• Eli Diaz is a 61-year-old student at Baptist University of the Américas who desperately desired to learn church health and growth principles. He is a plumber by trade but wants to advance the Kingdom of God by encouraging churches and pastors. He is assisting churches in the greater San Antonio area by consulting with them about church health and growth. Eli attended the PAVE September 2022 training and is a student with Church Answers University, getting certified to assist pastors in growing the health of their churches, all due to the generosity of giving through the Cooperative Program.

PAVE Events:

• PAVE Dallas Season 1: May, 2022 – 27 attendees: 24 participants, 3 coaches

• PAVE Dallas Season 2: September, 2022 – 32 attendees: 14 participants, 13 learners, 2 DOMs, 3 coaches

• PAVE Dallas Season 3: March, 2023 – 14 attendees: 6 participants, 6 learners, 2 coaches

• PAVE Panhandle Plains – 27 attendees: 18 participants, 2 learners, 4 DOMs, 3 coaches

• PAVE for African American Ministries – 16 registrations

• PAVE Preview for DOMs – 21 registrations

The Texas Baptists Discipleship team provides consultations, training, special events and resources to help your church develop healthy strategies of disciple-making. Learn more at txb.org/discipleship.

Discipleship Collective

Training and connecting is a big part of what we do on the Discipleship team. We saw this happen consistently in our new strategy for equipping pastors and lay leaders called the Discipleship Collective. Many newly-recruited Sunday school and small group leaders received formal training for the first time at Discipleship Collective events, and others were awakened to the possibilities of making disciples through the groups they lead. The networking between church leaders provided inspiration to see Sunday school and small groups ministry in new ways. Many pastors and lay leaders were also encouraged simply by realizing they were not alone in their work.

Thirteen events took place in Amarillo, El Paso, San Angelo, Cotulla, Natalia, Alice, Corpus Christi, Lorena, Sulphur Springs, Corsicana, Burleson, Sugar Land and Fort Worth with 519 leaders from 107 churches attending. We are excited to see the Discipleship Collective continue to grow as we meet Bible study leaders across the state who will be challenged and encouraged to reach their communities for Christ and disciple believers to maturity.

2023 Discipleship Collective events are already planned for Lubbock, Abilene, Carrizo Springs, Pearsall, San Antonio, Kingwood, Brownwood, Tyler, Allen and Saginaw. Visit txb.org/dc for details and registration.

Consulting

Discipleship team members also consulted with pastors and other church leaders regarding many areas of church life. Virtual and in-person consultations included help on topics like safety and security, family ministry, curriculum development, communicating with teens, children and conversion, learning styles, space and equipment usage, generational issues, staff searches, children and media, leadership development, and overall ministry design for discipleship.

Annual Events and Opportunities

Seven children’s ministers participated in our 2022-23 Childhood Ministry Certification. This is an intensive course, centered around the fundamentals of children’s ministry, tailored for an individual newly called to children’s ministry. Plans are already in place to add certifications for youth and adult ministry leaders beginning August 2023.

Last year, 1,465 people attended one of our ministry leader events that provided training for staff-level leaders and other ministry-shapers. These included the Preschool & Children’s Ministers’ Retreat, Trainer of Trainers Family Ministry Event, Youth/Next Gen Ministry Conclave and Discipleship Leaders Retreat. Additionally, the Special Friends Retreat provides a unique experience for the mentally challenged (12 years old or older), their parents, chaperones and workers who serve in special needs ministry. In addition to established events in the DFW area and West Texas, this retreat will expand in 2023 to include the Houston area.

Leadership Texas Baptists Cohort 7 allowed younger leaders from churches to network with Texas Baptists staff and officers, as well as leaders from Buckner International, Texas Baptist Men and Dallas Baptist University. They also attended the 2022 Annual Meeting and the Executive Board meeting in February 2023 as they learned more about how Texas Baptists churches work together for common causes. See txb.org/leadershiptxb for information about upcoming cohorts.

JENNIFER HOWINGTON Childhood Ministry Specialist CORY LEIBRUM Youth & Family Ministry Assistant

SARAH

JOHNSON Childhood Program Coordinator

NICOLE GAVIRIA Discipleship Ministry Assistant

DAVID ADAMS Director

VICTOR RODRIGUEZ Hispanic Evangelism Specialist

ERIC HERNANDEZ Apologetics Lead & Millennial Specialist

ROBERT WHITE Interim African American Associate

JASON RICHARDS Youth Events / Super Summer Specialist

DAVID GONZALEZ Congreso Coordinator

HANNAH WILLIAMSON Youth Evangelism Ministry Program Coordinator

LEXIE KRIDLER Evangelism Ministry Assistant

The Evangelism team exists to challenge, equip and train Texas Baptists to passionately fulfill God’s call to reach all people for Jesus Christ. We have specialists to lead out in reaching those from differing backgrounds. Come meet us in person at the Statewide Evangelism Conference to learn more about all we are doing. As you read through these brief overviews of the work by the Evangelism team, say a prayer for each of these leaders while they seek to empower our churches to share the gospel.

African American Evangelism

Jesus’ commission was clear, “Go and make disciples of all nations.” Making disciples and sharing the gospel are unique tasks in and of themselves. The act of sharing the gospel in a particular context adds to the complexity of the task. As a result, we exist to equip church leaders and lay people in the African American church with the tools to contextualize the message of the gospel with confidence. The annual Recharge conference and local church trainings serve as the primary partnership between our center and churches to advance the message of the gospel.

Hispanic Evangelism

The Hispanic Texas growth is bringing forth the challenge in how Texas Baptists will reach this growing population. Between 2010 and 2022, the U.S. Census Bureau states this people group grew by 26.7%, while those coming into America as “foreign born” grew 8%. This report estimates Hispanics comprise 40.2% of the Texas population. We exist to train the 1,200 Hispanic Baptist churches across Texas on the latest strategies many Hispanic churches across America are effectively using to reach others.

Super Summer and Greenhouse

We are celebrating our 50th summer of teaching students to know and share the gospel. With over 150,000 people served and almost 200 sessions in the books, we are pressing forward to help the new generation share the gospel. This summer we focus on the Great Commission, specifically who is sent, what we are sent to do, and how the Holy Spirit empowers us.

Greenhouse was a great success this past summer. We had the joy of watching fathers praying with their families for their neighbors. Families gathered to elevate the value of sharing the gospel, and it was a beautifully radical event unlike any evangelism training we have seen before.

Congreso

Congreso is a student event that edifies the next generation in biblical teachings. This last year, we had over 1,300 students in attendance and 93 decisions were made for Christ. During the event, $5,000 in academic scholarships were given to 10 high school seniors/ college students. In addition to the main event, we also provide regional experiences throughout the year to give students a glimpse of what Congreso is all about. God is doing amazing things through this event, and we are excited to see what He has in store for next year, where we will celebrate the 60th anniversary of Congreso.

Apologetics

Our three annual [un]Apologetic Evangelism Conferences are customized and designed to meet the evangelistic needs of the local church, tackling hard questions that arise in our culture with biblically based answers. We’ve seen this ministry grow exponentially in profound ways. Our last two conferences reached over 1,000 people from more than 150 churches, 60 cities and numerous college campuses. Evident by our wide and diverse attendance, these conferences have become a resource for apologetics in evangelism across the state of Texas. Thanks to the support of Texas Baptists churches, believers are being equipped, nonbelievers are being reached and the gospel is being proclaimed and defended.

LEIGHTON FLOWERS Director

Welcome to GC2® Press Bible Studies and Resources. We believe the Bible is God’s Word to us and is “…useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness…” (2 Timothy 3:16-17). When the Bible speaks, God speaks. Our quality, in-depth materials are designed to provide you with a detailed road map to help you navigate God’s Word, and our writers are trusted, qualified writers, making lesson comments based on sound biblical principles.

Our Connect 360 line of Bible study curriculum has gained a reputation for solid biblical teaching and is published as an undated quarterly Bible study available in book form and digital downloads. Connect 360 is currently being distributed to over 2,200 customers in 38 states and 17 countries and has been translated into nine different languages. These translations are courtesy of the Mary Hill Davis Mission Offering and the Texas Baptist Missions Foundation.

Here are some highlights from June 2022 through March 2023.

Published in-depth quarterly adult Bible studies

• Prayer That Moves Heaven: Power with Purpose (Summer 2022)

• Hunger for Holiness: Living Pure in an Impure World (1 Peter, Fall 2022)

• The Beauty of Restoration: The Final Days of Jesus (The Gospel of John, Winter 2022-23)

• How Great Is Our God: Passing the Faith Along (Big Events of the O. T., Spring 2023)

Each study in English includes a study guide, a large print study guide and a teaching guide. Premium commentaries and teaching resource items are available at www.gc2press.org. Kindle editions of the study guides are also available on Amazon. You can find these by searching on Amazon/Kindle for “GC2 Press” or “BaptistWay Press.”

New books available

• Answers: Jesus and the Christian Message – Written by Preston and Kelly Condra on behalf of the Texas Baptists Evangelism Team

• Asking the Question: Action Guide for Evangelism – Written by Preston and Kelly Condra on behalf of the Texas Baptists Evangelism Team

• Asking the Question: Facilitator Guide for Evangelism – Written by Preston and Kelly Condra on behalf of the Texas Baptists Evangelism Team

• Cultivating Intergenerational Worship: Developing Corporate Worship for All Ages –Written by Will Whittaker on behalf of the Texas Baptists Music & Worship Team

• Following Your Call to Ministry: Recognizing and Responding to God’s Call – Written by Grant Byrd and Rusty Wheelington on behalf of the Texas Baptists Youth and Family Ministry

Upcoming in-depth quarterly adult Bible studies

• Heaven & Angels: Our Eternal Home and Its Heavenly Hosts (Summer 2023)

• A Cry for Freedom: Grace Is Still Amazing (Galatians, Fall 2023)

• Jesus Storyteller: Timeless Truths from His Parables (Luke) (Winter 2021-22)

• Kingdom Power: The Sermon on the Mount (The Gospel of Matthew, Winter 2023-24)

Upcoming new books

• The Lazy Approach to Evangelism: A Simple Guide for Conversing with NonBelievers— Written by Eric Hernandez on behalf of the Texas Baptists Evangelism Team

• Understanding Emmaus: Rediscovering Your Joy for the Ministry — Written by Rayford Malone, HR Director for Texas Baptists.

Moving toward the future GC2Press will continue to expand its reach in serving churches by connecting people to God through His Word. Please check out our complete library of both printed and digital resources at www.gc2press.org. These resources include adult, college, youth, children and preschool materials.

MINISTRY STATISTICS FOR GC2® PRESS (June 2022 - March 2023)

# of units sold.....................................................................61,606

Gross Sales .........................................................................$328,410

# of orders ..........................................................................5,088

# of customers ..................................................................2,213

It is an honor to serve Texas Baptists as the publisher of GC2 Press. Please feel free to contact me with your questions, suggestions and comments. You can email me at bob. billups@txb.org or call our office at 214-828-5368 or 214-828-5324.

May God continue to bless you as you continue to serve Him.

BOB BILLUPS Publisher STAN GRANBERRY Marketing Coordinator

TOM TILLMAN Director VICKI SCHMIDT Music & Worship Ministry Coordinator

The Music & Worship team exists to assist Texas Baptists churches by offering consulting to the worship pastor, senior pastor and music search committees. Our prayer and desire is to be an encouragement to the church and its worship leadership. We also offer events for church leaders involved in music and worship in their local churches.

Worship Summits

These small gatherings of worship pastors and worship leaders offer a day of inspiration, fellowship and networking. Two summits were led by Dr. Will Whittaker, author of Cultivating Intergenerational Worship, and two summits were led by John Bolin, who discussed the seven pillars of worship ministry.

Children’s Worship University

This event hosted 135 people and offered training and networking for anyone who works with children and music in their church or school. When asked what they loved most about the event, one attendee said, “Connecting and collaborating with like-minded people that have a call on their lives to model a life of worship.”

Instrumental Convergence

We were thrilled to have 120 instrumentalists on 24 different instruments play through 25 pieces of music together. One musician commented, “The camaraderie between fellow musicians and a shared love of music and worship was wonderful.”

Everlasting Choir Celebration

Over 800 people attended this senior adult choir event at three locations – Lubbock, The Woodlands and Dallas – where they were led by clinician Joseph Martin and entertained by Three on a String. One director who brought a choir said he was “thankful to give our own choir members time to get to know each other better outside of choir rehearsal.”

Handbell Festival

Clinician Jason Krug was well received as he led handbell choirs in massed ringing rehearsals, concluding with a massed ringing concert. One attendee commented, “It’s been a blessing being back together with people who love handbells as much as I do.”

Singing Men of Texas

Six chapters of over 600 men presented concerts around the state. After a concert in Richardson, one person said, “I think the power of their singing comes through because they really believe what they sing.”

Singing Women of Texas

Eight chapters of over 350 women continued to present concerts around the state. They are currently planning a combined tour in Washington, D.C. in June 2024.

Texas Baptists Children’s Chorus (TXBCC)

Our first season was a success with 25 children participating. They sang as part of the Christmas Festival at Dallas Baptist University. We are looking forward to another great season in the fall as well as beginning a group in Austin.

Prestidge Scholarship Recipient

The Prestidge Scholarship is for a student preparing for full-time music and worship ministry at a Baptist university. The recipient for the 2023-24 school year is William Booth from First Baptist Church Amarillo. He will be attending Baylor University in the fall.

Social media presence

The social media presence of Texas Baptists Music & Worship continues to grow. The Texas Baptists Music & Worship Facebook page has over 1,700 followers.

Follow us on social media

Facebook: TXBmusicandworship

Instagram: Txbmusicandworship

Twitter: TXBmusicworship

Connected is new this year. Connected is the Single & Young Adult Ministry designed to be a resource for churches by helping them reach, reconnect and reestablish relationships with single and young adults within their community and their church. We will assist churches with planning, conducting and evaluating strategies to engage single and young adults, so they are encouraged to answer the call of being discipled and making disciples.

This first year, the goal has been to reach out and build relationships with Texas Baptists churches across the state. Currently, we are building a database, allowing us to identify single and young adult ministries across the state and partnering with Baptist Student Ministries in those geographic locations to build a pathway from our BSMs to the local churches. One of the most asked questions this year came from churches inquiring about other single and young adult ministries that are having success within their respective area. The geographic database helps us answer these questions and more.

This year I am pleased to say we have helped revitalize four young adult ministries so far. This has involved teaching, training and checking up on these ministries as they grow within the fabric of the Kingdom and their local church. Link is another creation of Connected. Link is a worship service that partners young adult ministries from churches in the same community who don’t have ideal involvement in young adult ministry. This enables churches to come together for worship, fellowship, mission and outreach. While together, they encourage each other, create ideas, pray and plan with each other. Link has helped young adult ministries cut the budget for shared events and increase participation in each respective church.

We are looking forward to what God will do with Connected. We will continue to serve and build relationships with our churches and partner with BSMs, so that when local churches are looking for young adult leadership, we have prepared a pathway to fill that church’s need. God is up to something in this new ministry. Please join us in praying for Connected.

CARLOS FRANCIS Director

KATIE MCCOY Director

At Texas Baptists, we are equipping churches to become self-sustaining sources of women’s discipleship. I have lost count of the number of pastors and ministry leaders who have expressed the same frustration: Women in their churches want more than what they’ve done in previous years, but they don’t know how to create it. Add to that challenge, so many ministers to women serve part-time or as volunteers. They simply do not have the “bandwidth” to invest time, energy and resources into leadership and ministry training in light of all their other responsibilities.

To remedy this, we launched a program that focuses on women’s ministers themselves. WELL (Women Equipped to Learn and Lead) is a training program that develops the spiritual and intellectual lives of women’s ministers and ministry wives. WELL meets online, with only one in-person training. It includes discussing books, such as Carl Trueman’s Strange New World and Tyler Staton’s Pray Like Monks, Living Like Fools

It features women who are scholars and authorities in their respective fields, teaching conflict resolution in ministry. It also introduces participants to in-depth doctrinal study and exegetical tools, enabling them to continue their study within their own ministries. Finally, it gives women practical training in public speaking through a two-day colloquium at our Dallas offices.

We received over 40 participants in the inaugural cohort of WELL. We continued to hear from women across the state who wished to join the program, so we are launching a second cohort in the fall. Registration for the fall WELL cohort is available now for all women in Texas Baptists life who are serving other women, including women’s ministers and ministry wives.

We have also launched an e-newsletter for women in ministry. This monthly newsletter includes bite-sized information on topics including leadership, new resources, theology, ministry ideas and conversations with Texas Baptists women’s ministers. For the women’s minister seeking to grow, this newsletter will enrich and equip her.

On September 25-26, we hope you will join us for “Formed: Developing an Empowered Witness Through Personal Renewal,” an online event with training from author, theologian and teacher, Elizabeth Woodson. Woodson is the founder of the Woodson Institute, an organization that equips believers to understand and grow in their Christian faith. She also served as the Single Life Coordinator at Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship under the leadership of Senior Pastor Dr. Tony Evans. Any woman interested in knowing, studying and teaching Scripture with confidence will be equipped by this online event.

In 2022, I had the opportunity to speak at 18 events, including conference breakout sessions and women’s events. It was also my joy to speak at three university chapels and several podcasts. Additionally, I conducted eight church consultations, in addition to a church-wide training for women’s ministry leaders and an association-wide training for women’s ministry leaders with the San Antonio Baptist Association.

Visit txb.org/womensministry to join these and other opportunities.

The Center for Ministerial Health exists to help ministers and their families so they can be all God wants them to be as they minister in His church.

The Center for Ministerial Heath takes a holistic approach to minister health, including counseling services for ministers and their families; a financial health team that provides financial training to both pastors and churches and grants for which pastors can apply; and area representatives, who live all over the state of Texas and call on pastors in their areas of responsibility. The Center for Ministerial Health also has interim church services that provide training for churches when they are without a pastor and can provide interim pastors for those churches. The Center for Ministerial Health has a director of Bivocational Ministries who works exclusively to help bivocational pastors and a Western Heritage consultant who works exclusively with cowboy church pastors. Additionally, the Center for Ministerial Health directs Pastor Strong, a ministry in the San Antonio area, sponsored by the Baptist Health Foundation of San Antonio.

Did you know?

• Texas Baptists area representatives made over 13,000 contacts with ministers last year.

• Texas Baptists Counseling Services has a network of counselors all over the state and helped more than 100 minister families receive professional counseling last year.

• Texas Baptists Interim Church Services worked with over 180 pastorless churches last year.

• Texas Baptists Bivocational Services held six retreats last year for bivocational pastors and their wives.

• Pastor Strong held retreats for pastors and their families last year and has support groups for pastors (Barnabas Groups) and their wives (Lydia Groups).

• Texas Baptists Financial Health team currently offers four different grants (Ministers Financial Relief, Pastor Relief, Inflation Relief and Sabbatical) for Texas Baptists pastors. These are made possible through a partnership with the Lilly Endowment and generous designated gifts (no Cooperative Program money is used to fund these grants). Over 1,300 grants have been awarded to Texas Baptists ministers in the last four years.

• Texas Baptists relate to 195 Western Heritage churches around the state and have a consultant who works specifically with cowboy church pastors.

Texas is a large state and Texas Baptists is a large and diverse group. There is no “one size fits all” approach to ministry. The Center for Ministerial Health strives to provide support and encouragement for each minister in their unique ministry context.

Thank you for being a part of the Texas Baptists family. We truly can do more together.

DOWELL LOFTIS Director

BROWN Lead Ministry Assistant

ASHLYNN

TIM WATSON Director Area 7

(903) 261-1929

KRIS KNIPPA

Area 1

(806) 292-6334

DAVID VELA Area 2 (915) 309-3674

JOE AGUILAR Area 3 (956) 534-2043

FRED ATER Area 4

(210) 913-1891

ERNEST DAGOHOY Area 5

(832) 646-4965

TIM MARROW Area 6 (254) 315-2667

STEVE DOMINY Area 8

(405) 765-7880

DAN CURRY Area 9

(817) 781-2440

The Area Representatives team is strategically located in several geographical regions throughout Texas and is continually assisting Texas Baptists pastors and congregations in fulfilling the Great Commission and the Great Commandment.

Area Representative Joe Aguilar ministers throughout the Rio Grande Valley and South Texas. Through divine providence, Joe was near Uvalde on May 24, 2022 when a gunman fatally shot 19 students and two teachers at Robb Elementary School. Joe was immediately put to work by law enforcement to minister in a chaplaincy role to parents and first responders and then later to pastors in that grieving community.

As the Central Texas Area Representative, Tim Marrow writes hundreds of encouraging notes to pastors each year. He received this feedback from a bivocational pastor in his area: “I received your note of encouragement and wanted to say thank you. Being a bivocational pastor has come with many challenges. Praise God we have baptized three in the last year. Taking the time to send me a card is no small thing to a pastor who needs to know there are those thinking of him.”

David Vela serves in far West Texas and resides in Odessa. David is passionate about serving churches without pastors or simply giving pastors a Sunday away from the pulpit to recharge. Throughout the year David has supply preached in congregations of all sizes and ethnicities. Being bilingual is a wonderful tool that opens doors to proclaim the gospel in Spanish and English.

Area Representative Kris Knippa ministers to a large portion of West Texas, primarily the Texas Panhandle. Kris’ greatest privilege is serving as an active listener and prayer partner to pastors who need a safe person with whom to share professional and personal hardships. Last year, Kris also facilitated a cohort of young pastors in his region who are serving in their first pastorate.

Houston Area Representative Ernest Dagohoy responded quickly to a powerful storm that swept through Deer Park and Pasadena destroying residences and commercial buildings. Ernest immediately began the process of assessing the damage to Texas Baptists churches in these areas of greater Houston. San Jacinto Baptist in Deer Park sustained some damage as did the pastor’s automobile. Ernest prayed with the pastor and asked God to grant the members of San Jacinto Baptist favor in their community as this storm gave them opportunities to minister to their neighbors.

Dan Curry, area representative for the greater Fort Worth area, is gifted and seasoned to help churches with conflict. Although many conflicts may appear small and easily resolved, Dan has found these disputes take a major toll on the pastors of those conflictive congregations. The result is pastors who are wounded spiritually and emotionally. Dan is especially grateful for Dr. Katie Swafford, director of Texas Baptists Counseling Services, and the ministry her team of counselors provides to pastors.

Fred Ater serves as the area representative for San Antonio, as well as a large portion of South Texas. Fred continually sees the spiritual fingerprints and footprints made by the “missionary” pastors, staff and church leaders in his region. One example is LifeRestored Church in downtown San Antonio. Led by Pastor Alex Fleming, this congregation is a strong voice for the marginalized through the treating, transitioning and ending of homelessness one individual at a time through the gospel. During wintry weather, the church’s facilities are open with cots set up nightly for hundreds of people. People have accepted Jesus and become church leaders.

If Texas Baptists can serve you or your congregation, please do not hesitate to contact the area representative in your region.

We aim to encourage, equip and engage those who serve in a bivocational capacity or small membership churches. We are walking alongside these hardworking servants and their churches to awaken them to fulfill their God-given vision. This past year we had the opportunity to coordinate pastor and spouse retreats, assist small membership churches in impacting their communities for Christ, facilitate training opportunities and work with bivocational pastors in Texas. Thank you Texas Baptists for your support in helping us help others.

To the uttermost areas of Texas

Everyone knows Texas is a big state with large metropolitan areas, but there are many smaller, rural communities where pastors often serve in isolation. They are in the uttermost areas of Texas. We go to the uttermost regions of Texas because all pastors matter, regardless of size and location. In 2022, we hosted several gatherings for pastors in towns far from major cities. One such gathering was in Aspermont, Texas. Some pastors traveled over an hour to attend a lunch and learn gathering. One pastor expressed his deep appreciation that Texas Baptists staff were willing to travel so far to be with them. We go to them because coming to us would be challenging.

Comforting the comforters

In May 2022, Uvalde, Texas, was turned upside down after a shooting at an elementary school. Local pastors who served as comforters to the community also needed comfort. To offer comfort to the comforters, we partnered with the local association. We hosted a Mark Six Retreat for the pastors and their spouses. Every pastoral couple from Uvalde expressed appreciation that someone cared enough to offer them a getaway after experiencing so great a trauma. According to two couples, it was the first time they had left Uvalde since the shooting, and the evening was filled with laughter and joy.

Being fishers of children

Sargent is a small fishing community in the eastern corner of Matagorda County, Texas. While it is a great place to go fishing and boating, it lacks some amenities like high-speed internet and outreach programs, which hindered children from being connected during the pandemic. A youth leader at Cedar Lane Baptist Church sought to meet the needs of the children in this small fishing community and began writing Bible lessons, printing and hand delivering them wherever kids were to be found. They called it Kids Catching Christ. The initial outreach effort impacted 70 kids. Soon afterward, they served nearly 200 kids. This summer, they held a camp where eight kids received Christ and were baptized in the local creek. The Kids Catching Christ effort teaches other local churches how to mobilize their youth to share Christ and show love. Our grant allowed them to purchase and distribute Bibles to the children and some adults. For most of them, this was the first copy of the Bible they had ever received.

IRA ANTOINE Director

KATIE SWAFFORD Director of Counseling Services

M.A., L.P.C.-S., Ph.D. in Leadership

RACHEL CARRELL Ministry Assistant

Counseling Services receives a variety of contacts related to mental health issues, and we are honored to assist ministers and their families with counseling resources. Over the past year, we assisted more than 100 ministers/families with financial help toward counseling, made over 1,000 contacts related to counseling resources, and added 20 Christian counselors to our network of nearly 275 approved counselors across the state. Counseling Services is grateful for the support of Texas Baptists through the Cooperative Program which helps provide the hope and healing we strive to extend.

Below are a few examples of the calls we received and situations we assisted ministry families with:

A church planter contacted our offices requesting marriage counseling. The pressures of planting a church, maintaining a full-time job while launching the church, and tending to family responsibilities was taking a toll on the marriage relationship. Counseling Services connected this couple with a marriage counselor to assist them in strengthening their marriage and identifying strategies for continued growth and protection of their relationship.

A children’s minister contacted Counseling Services for a counselor referral to address issues with anxiety that had become overwhelming during the pandemic and continued even post pandemic. The minister connected with a counselor via telehealth due to the rural location of the minister and lack of counselors available in the area.

A worship minister contacted our offices seeking counseling for his teenage daughter who was experiencing a great deal of anxiety and struggling in school because of the pandemic. In addition, the family experienced the loss of a grandparent a month prior to his contacting our services. The minister received a referral for a counselor who specializes in working with teens along with financial assistance toward the counseling.

A ministry couple identified they were experiencing burnout from more than 20 years in ministry service without a break or true vacation. Counseling Services worked with the couple to identify a retreat for rest, spiritual renewal and growth individually and within the marriage relationship.

Our society has experienced an increase in anxiety and depression in the aftermath of the pandemic. Ministry leaders are not immune to the same struggles any other person might experience. Thankfully, ministry leaders and their families have a firm spiritual foundation to stand on when experiencing struggles. In addition, Counseling Services can provide additional support through trained counseling resources to help ministry leaders navigate the storms and stresses of life.

Our prayer in Counseling Services is that you do not encounter circumstances in your life that prompt you to need our assistance. However, should you find yourself facing one of life’s storms head on, know we are glad to help you connect to the mental health resources you need and count it a privilege to come alongside you in a difficult time.

Through the Lilly Endowment Grant, Cooperative Program, Texas Baptists Missions Foundation, Mary Hill Davis, Baptist Health Foundation of San Antonio, and Baptist Community Services grant funds, Texas Baptists continued to partner with congregations in 2022 to promote ministerial wellness. Through offering Pastor Sabbatical Grants, Inflation Relief Grants and Ministerial Financial Health Grants, Texas Baptists and its affiliated churches were able to partner together to strengthen, encourage and support ministers.

Inflation affected everyone; however, pastors and ministers were especially impacted due to strained church budgets and increased costs of gas, groceries and other necessities. The physical, emotional and spiritual demands of ministry have also been heavy on many ministers. Texas Baptists are thankful to partner with churches to bring sabbatical rest and financial health and wellness to ministers.

In 2022, Texas Baptists awarded the following grants to Texas Baptists ministers:

• Minister’s Financial Health Grants – $95,500 (27 ministers total)

• Pastor Sabbatical Grants – $129,000 (92 pastors total)

• Inflation Relief Grants – $96,500 (191 pastors total)

One pastor receiving the Inflation Relief Grant shared the following, “Unfortunately, with inflation our church finances have suffered, and I had to have a salary cut. With gas prices and rent prices up now, my wife also has to be working to help me out with some of the house expenses. With no parsonage nor benefits from the church, living only by my salary makes it hard to thrive with all expenses.”

“Hard to thrive” was a statement shared by many pastors applying for the Inflation Relief Grant in 2022 and summarizes where many pastors and ministers are at this time.

Another pastor receiving a Pastor Sabbatical Grant wrote, “This is the first time that our church granted a staff member a sabbatical. Our personnel committee did great work at constructing a sabbatical policy that we will use moving forward.” Texas Baptists are thankful for churches investing in pastoral health and wellness and the many churches that acknowledged the hard work of the pastor and a sincere desire to provide an opportunity for him to take a break.

For a pastor receiving the Minister’s Financial Health Grant, he shared, “The grant/loan came at the right time just when I was in dire need of money. It rekindled hope in my life and reminded me that as I engage in God’s work, He is still on the throne and in control of the affairs of mankind.” The Minister’s Financial Health grants help pastors develop a budget to help them remain in ministry and thrive financially.

The financial health team continues to offer free Faith and Finances Facilitator Training in partnership with STCH Ministries. Classes are held on Zoom on weeknights for 10 weeks. The curriculum is also available in Spanish, titled Fe y Finanzas. To sign up, visit www.txb. org/ffft.

Texas Baptists are partnering with GuideStone to develop a Minister’s Compensation Training to help churches understand how to maximize compensation dollars. Key components of a good compensation plan, like housing allowance and accountable reimbursement plans, are underutilized by churches and can have a great impact on the pastor’s take home pay and financial health.

Texas Baptists encourages churches to compensate their ministers well and to make every effort to understand how to develop a compensation plan that maximizes its compensation dollars. Be on the lookout in 2024 for additional compensation planning resources from Texas Baptists and GuideStone. In the meantime, a good place to start is to review GuideStone’s Compensation Planning Guidebook at GuideStone.org/Resources/ Education/Articles/Retirement/Church-Budget-Planning.

TAMMY TERVOOREN Director

KARL FICKLING Director

It was a big day. No, not Easter or Christmas. It was the interim pastor’s last Sunday.

The church was packed. At the end of service, the interim pastor, Bob, gave a number of people a bottle of pure-cane sugar “Red Cola” from the Dublin Bottling Company, saying, “You made my stay here so much sweeter.” A ribbon secured a private note to each person’s soda.

The church then presented Bob with the obligatory plaque, a few gag gifts and an honorarium to help him and his wife take that dreamed-of trip to the Holy Land. Then, they announced Bob’s picture was going to be placed in the row of former pastors’ pictures lining the church’s main hallway. As the personnel chair announced that honor, he got a catch in his voice, and his eyes brimmed with tears.

“Don’t start that!” Bob pleaded, as he, too, felt tears about to overflow.

They then had Bob sit on the front pew as the praise team began to sing the Ray Bolz song, “Thank You” (. . . for giving to the Lord). But the words had been changed. They talked about the healing of relationships and forgiveness and fixing broken plans. Bob realized they were singing about things that had happened during the interim time. As each verse continued, people involved in the events of that verse came and encircled Bob. When the 10-year-old girl who was baptized and the college student who surrendered to ministry came to stand by Bob, everyone was in tears. Bob bit his lower lip hard enough to leave a mark – so he wouldn’t bawl like a baby.

How could the departure of an interim pastor become such a huge event in the life of a church?

The church was a different place than the one Bob had started at just 18 months earlier. Prayer and team meetings and church-wide town halls had been added to the church’s regular ministries and services. The church tackled huge issues that had previously divided the church and led to the last pastor’s sudden departure.

However, it wasn’t the decisions that restored the church. It was the process. A holy and safe environment was created that invited everyone to share, listen and be part of the decision-making process. “God showed up,” Bob testified.

The office of Interim Church Services is adept at partnering. We train interim pastors, partnering with Church Starting, Chaplaincy Relations, Baptist Student Ministry, Area Representatives, African American Ministries, the Texas Baptist Mission Foundation, retired pastors, para-church ministers and our schools. These “called and equipped” interim pastors then partner with church leaders and church members to help prepare churches for the arrival of the next pastor.

Perhaps your church is in the “in-between” time. If not, it someday will be. Or, perhaps you are a minister who would be interested in seeing how God might use you to help an interim church. The story above could be your story. Why wait? Contact our office now or stop by the booth for the Center for Ministerial Health at our convention. There’s the possibility that a partnership with us just might be in God’s will for your future.

The Pastor Strong Initiative was created to minister to pastors and their spouses who feel isolated and ill-equipped to meet the demands of life and ministry. The initiative hosts separate gatherings for pastors and their spouses, so they can develop meaningful relationships by addressing the spiritual, mental, physical, emotional and financial concerns that affect the health of a pastor and family. There are currently over 100 pastors and their spouses who have participated in the various events of the Pastor Strong Initiative.

A recent addition has been regional coffee fellowships of small groups of pastors. This has provided a safe place to share about the struggles encountered when leading a church and a way to encourage pastors in a smaller setting.

During the monthly gatherings, pastors and their spouses enjoy a time of fellowship, a small group discussion over one of the health concerns and share a celebration and challenge so they can be in prayer for one another. These gatherings provide a safe environment for pastors and their spouses to have a moment of tearful transparency they are rarely given due to their positions. Pastors and their spouses who regularly participate in the monthly gatherings have developed lifelong friendships that have been a source of encouragement, especially in a pastor’s darkest ministry hour.

In 2022, the Pastor Strong Initiative launched its first Family Strong Retreat so pastors and their families can have an opportunity to spend time together outside of church ministry activities, and at the same time, a chance for their children to connect with each other. Pastors’ kids, regardless of age, experience the same pressures of ministry, and when they know there are other kids just like them, the burden of ministry becomes easier to bear.

The initiative has also hosted multiple couple’s nights, a family cookout and pool fellowship, separate fellowships for pastors and their spouses, and the third annual Pastor Strong Retreat for pastors and their spouses only. Last year, the focus for the Pastor Strong Retreat was on marriage, and couples who participated were equipped with meaningful skills, so their marriage can thrive under the pressures of church ministry.

CHAD SHAPIRO Director

JAMES “MAC” McLEOD Consultant/ Starter RACHEL CARRELL Ministry Assistant

The Western Heritage Ministry of Texas Baptists was a key factor in assisting three cowboy churches successfully share the gospel to multitudes of people through arena and leadership events in the Panhandle (Behind the Chutes Cowboy Church, Amarillo), Abilene area (Salt Branch Cowboy Church, Merkel), and East Texas (Cross Brand Cowboy Church, Tyler).

Pastor Steve Belote and his team from Behind the Chutes assisted at the annual PRCA Rodeo in Amarillo, by working behind the chutes, passing out Bibles and praying with professional competitors. Pastor Corey Smith of Salt Branch presented the gospel through their playday series, as well as hosting the Texas Baptists Cowboy Church Pastoral Center training sessions in which 59 people from 11 cowboy churches participated (average of 21 participants per month). They covered topics in multiple areas, such as church and faith, church planting, vision, discipleship, evangelism, administration, preaching and teaching, leadership, pastoral care and worship.

Pastor Mike Morrow saw hundreds attend the Horse Gate Leadership Conference at Cross Brand for pastors, staff and spouses. Another way Texas Baptists has been touching lives in many cowboy churches is by providing partial scholarships for roughly 30 students enrolled in a quality certificate program (Ministry Development Certificate Program) designed specifically for cowboy pastors, staff and spouses who have little or no theological education or training but have a desire to broaden and enhance their ministry skills – bringing out a sense of having an “adventure in excellent with Almighty God.”

At the 2022 Annual Meeting, cowboy pastor Marcy Grun of Bluff Creek Cowboy Church, Winters, Texas, received the Cowboy Pastor of the Year Award. He has been pastor at Bluff Creek since 2008 and has a passion for evangelism and discipling.

Additionally at the Annual Meeting, the new Western Heritage Consultant for Texas Baptists was announced during the Western Heritage Luncheon. Since Jason Bryant moved to a different position within Texas Baptists, James “Mac” McLeod, pastor of Chisum Trails Cowboy Church, Powderly, Texas, prepared to take the servant role in that capacity. Building relationships with cowboy pastors and resourcing needs are Mac’s priorities. Mac and Cindy have hearts for cowboy pastors and their spouses, as well as for seeing cowboy churches fulfill their mission to which God has called them. Mac is also a huge proponent of leadership mentoring and coming alongside pastors and cowboy churches that may be struggling to accomplish their goals and Kingdom significant ministries.

Mac met with eight Texas Baptists affiliated cowboy church representatives who head up Mission Rez. Mission Rez is a rodeo Bible camp outreach event which took place at two Native American reservations in New Mexico. Texas Baptists partnered with the Mission Rez venture in 2022. Pastor Danny Brey (Soldiers of the Cross Cowboy Fellowship, Nolanville) and Burleson County Cowboy Church elder, Kevin Mahr have headed this exemplary team for Mission Rez, where the gospel is proclaimed clearly in a culturally significant manner.

We praise God for Texas Baptists and what you mean to those in the western culture. For myself and my family, it is because of Texas farmers and ranchers and Texas Baptists that made it possible for me to receive an excellent theological education and have a training ground for ministry – to experience an adventure in excellence with almighty God. Thank you for your support and the privilege to serve.

Texas population has surpassed 30 million-plus. The Center for Missional Engagement partners with Texas Baptist churches, associations and conventions/unions in our state, the U.S. and around the world in reaching those who are not yet God’s people. We read in God’s Word how the early church impacted the world with the gospel amid limitations and persecutions. Our Lord continues to use the church to impact and transform people’s lives today. In this report you will read about how the Lord is using Texas Baptists churches and be reminded of the Lord’s words when He said, “I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18).

Paul Atkinson, director of House and Philippi churches, reported the number of people living in apartments, mobile homes and multi-housing is considered one of the fastest growing segments of the population who are not being reached by conventional churches. Texas Baptists is bringing the gospel and church to the places where they live.

Mario Gonzalez, director of River Ministry and Mexico Missions, gives us a new understanding of missions on the border and in the interior of Mexico. Last year, there were 7,414 people who made a profession of faith in Christ and 40 new churches were started on both sides of the border and among the immigrant population.

Tom Howe, director of Church Starting, reported 43 new church starts in 2022 and 15 in the first part of 2023. The Church Starting program offers opportunities and resources to sponsor a new church and tools for those called to plant a new church.

David Scott, director of BOUNCE, mobilized youth church groups to help families in Jefferson County who were impacted by Hurricane Harvey in 2017. BOUNCE has been present in this part of our state at least eight separate times, assisting victims of natural disasters.

David Miranda, director of Church Planting Centers and Pastor’s Common, is providing training and fellowship for church planters and young pastors.

Noe Trevino, director of MAP and Minister of Missions, helps us gain new insights on how a local church can be engaged in mission, regardless of size and budget. Texas Baptists churches are present in 16 countries, supporting 75 missionaries and engaging 119 local churches.

Cesar Zamora, missions specialist, has helped churches adopt community mission projects in Alice, Texas, and in the Rio Grande Valley during Family Gathering.

We are thankful to our Lord for the blessing of seeing 19,136 people make professions of faith in Christ last year and for Texas Baptists churches who pray, give and send their members to fulfill the Great Commission.

R. JOSUE VALERIO Director

STACEY RICE Lead Ministry Assistant

DAVID SCOTT Director LEAH MCMULLEN Ministry Assistant

Through BOUNCE, student ministry leaders can mobilize their middle school, high school and college students for challenging mission service. BOUNCE provides two mission options: Hands-on construction missions through long-term disaster recovery and community rehabilitation missions or church planting missions.

During summer 2022, BOUNCE mobilized student groups for construction missions in Galveston County, Beaumont/Port Arthur, Waco and for the first time, Lake Charles. BOUNCE participants (BOUNCERS) from 39 churches served 33 families and three churches with repairs to roofs, siding, flooring, drywall, painting and more.

In addition to construction efforts, BOUNCERS served Texas Baptists church plants in the Fort Worth area. BOUNCERS assisted area plants through Bible schools, community service projects, block parties and more in an effort to help church plants BOUNCE forward in ministry momentum.

During Spring Break 2023, BOUNCERS returned to the Beaumont/Port Arthur area to partner with Jefferson County Long-Term Recovery and First Baptist Church Nederland for continued Harvey recovery efforts. Michelle Brewer, director of Jefferson County LongTerm Recovery, has high praise for BOUNCERS.

“Volunteer groups like BOUNCE are critical to communities recovering from disasters,” she said. “More than ever before, interaction with faith-based groups like BOUNCE is crucial to the well-being of those struggling with the aftermath of storm damage. There is nothing like having 10-15 good Christian young people in your home for six to eight hours every day, laughing, singing and loving!”

Will Hagel, junior high minister from Mobberly Baptist Church in Longview, has been a long-time partner with BOUNCE. He sees the value of missions in the lives of his students.

“Missions equal spiritual maturing,” he said. “There are aspects of missions that are not a part of other parts of church for students. Sundays, Wednesday nights, camp — those are pouring into the kids. Missions are a chance for students to pour out and stretch themselves. It’s a form of worship. We talk to our students about representing Jesus everywhere they go. To be intentional about the work they’re doing and to consider the people living in these homes as they work … We want them to look at people and have a Christ-like heart for others.”

David Scott, Director of BOUNCE says, “It’s so important for youth ministries and churches to have a missional element in what they do with students. Missions can be a transformational experience for students, an opportunity for them to grow in their faith, to embrace service and to give them a sense of a missional life.”

In addition to helping communities BOUNCE back and helping church plants BOUNCE forward, BOUNCERS collected an offering for the Missionary Adoption Program (MAP). Through their generosity, BOUNCERS were able to fund three missionaries in Uganda for three years. In 2023, BOUNCERS will work toward supporting another MAP missionary in Roses, Spain.

For more information on mobilizing your students through BOUNCE, visit txb.org/bounce.

Texas is experiencing unprecedented growth, with the expectations of millions more Texans in the years to come. Now is the time to plan for how Texas Baptists will reach those new Texans and part of the process will be church starting. We need your church to be part of this exciting process as a sponsor church and planter trainer.

Between June 1, 2022 and March 31, 2023, sponsor churches have been influential in our church plants, seeing 1,116 professions of faith and 378 baptisms. This includes all 131 churches in our five-year process. During this time, we started 24 new church plants.

Not only do we have Texas Baptists church planters active within Texas, but we are raising up more planters for our GC2 movement. This includes churches started in California, Louisiana, Washington, Oregon, Hawaii, New York, Indiana, Alabama, New Mexico and Wisconsin.

We will have our first Texas Baptists Church Starting Project this fall, designed by Church Planters for Church Planters. We are excited about this time of rest and training for our church planters and look forward to more of these types of conferences for planters and sponsors in the future.

Texas Baptists Church Starting has continued to refine its process to provide more resources and structure for planters to provide the strongest starts possible: A robust assessment, strategy and planning, counseling, administrative assistance, media and worship training, demographic studies and online and in-person training. We held five assessments, including two Spanish language assessments with the help of Union Baptist Association in Houston and El Paso Baptist Association in El Paso. We were able to assess 49 church planting candidates at these assessments. Some of these have already begun the church starting process with us, and others may start later this year.

The future for Texas Baptists Church Starting is exciting because of the great opportunities that lay ahead. Come join us by contacting Tom Howe at 817-201-2653, tom.howe@txb.org.

JOHN SILVA West Texas DANIEL DELEON South Texas D. EARL LEWIS Southeast Texas LONNIE

Northeast Texas CLAY JACOBSON North Central Texas JASON BRYANT Central Texas GLORIA TILLMAN Ministry Assistant

TOM HOWE Associate Director

PAUL ATKINSON Director

The house church strategy consists of five components:

• The entry – This is the beginning and asking the who, what, were, when and how questions about the community. We need someone who is called of God to enter this field. Is that someone you?

• The gospel – This is the whole purpose of this church. Reach the lost and develop the saved to reach the lost. Each leader needs to be well trained in relational evangelism and proficient.

• Discipleship – This new church will have at its core Bible study and discipleship because this is what will keep the church on its Great Commission trajectory.

• Church formation – This church will be a full partner with Texas Baptists. This church will be identified by 10 functions: Baptizing, praying, disciple making, evangelism, loving, worshiping, giving, Bible study, new leaders and mission engagement.

• Leadership development – Church leaders will be coached and connected to Texas Baptists by way of authentic relationships built on common understanding of Baptist distinctives and missional multiplication.

Report June 2022 – March 2023

Professions of faith – 2,852

Baptism – 296

New churches – 72

Philippi churches – 167

Total churches – 722

Testimony

At one of our house churches, the pastor scheduled a baptism of a young man with special needs. After the baptism, the young man was so excited that everyone in the congregation could see the joy on his face. There was also a woman who wanted to be baptized. The women’s teacher had talked with her about baptism because she said she wanted to make a new start in her life. She was also excited to share publicly about her walk with the Lord. The women’s teacher picks up some of the people who don’t have transportation to go to church, and another woman entered the van with an extra set of clothes. When asked why, she said the Lord told her she needed to be baptized that day, and she was. One other woman was baptized whose face was filled with such joy as she came up out of the water. God definitely led each of these people to declare publicly that Jesus is Lord. It was a great witness to all those in the congregation and a great way to celebrate what Jesus has done in each of their lives.

Church Planting Centers

A Church Planting Center is a residency of current and potential church planters with the purpose of assessing, equipping, coaching, mentoring and resourcing them to start new Texas Baptists churches and ministries.

Church Planting Centers 2022-2023: (completed and ongoing)

Church Planting Center Coordinator

Park Cities Baptist Church

Tarrant Baptist Association

Bell Baptist Association

Dallas Baptist Association

Lubbock Baptist Association

El Buen Pastor English

El Paso Baptist Association

Kelly Hamilton

Eric Dejean

Carl Love

Marlow McGuire

Ed Sena

Fernando Rojas

Larry Floyd and Kelly Knott

Western Heritage Temple Salt Branch Cowboy Church

Brazos Valley Network

San Antonio Baptist Association

Español

Rio Grande Valley Baptist Association

Fort Worth

Midland

Union Baptist Español

Golden Triangle

The Pastor’s Common

Steve Doyle

Chad Schapiro

Eder Ibarra

Robert Arrubla

Martin Ortega

Victor Marte

Jim Turnbo

The Pastor’s Common exists to strengthen Texas Baptists churches by creating a space for millennial and Gen Z pastors to build community, grow intellectually and be resourced.

Number of millennial and Gen Z ministers connected to The Pastor’s Common (2022) –

376

Number of practical ministry conversations filmed – 96

Pastoral cohorts completed – 12

Annual Meeting Gathering Waco attendance – 125 pastors, ministry leaders and spouses

Devoted

Devoted is a program for Texas Baptists young adults based on Acts 2:42. The early church was devoted to one another in prayer, fellowship, breaking of bread and teaching of the apostles. Devoted seeks to gather young adults from across the state as a means to identify potential leaders and connect them to Texas Baptists life and ministries.

Embrace

Embrace is a mentorship program in partnership with the WMU of Texas. The objective of the program is to identify young women leaders with a passion for work in ministry. Embrace will connect them to mentors and ministries of the BGCT.

This year we partnered with 15 women cohorts to promote missions. We were able to fund 15 community outreach projects for women, led by women. Collectively, they were able to serve 480 people.

Missional networks: Jan. 1 - April 1, 2023

Churches mobilized to community outreach

Mosaic Church

Ignite Community Church

Primera Iglesia Bautista de Waco

Plymouth Park Baptist Church

Pathway Church

Primera Iglesia Bautista Dallas

First Baptist Church of El Paso

First Baptist Church Llano

Iglesia Corona de Vida

First Baptist Church Gonzales, TX

Mercyhill Church

Queens Church

The Promise Church

City On A Hill International Church

Crestview Baptist Church

Canyon Creek Baptist Church

First Baptist Church Bandera

Lubbock Unified Church

Revive Zoe

Iglesia Bautista Nueva Jerusalen

First Baptist Church of Josephine

Lucas Barrientes

Chad Schapiro

Cintia Aguilar

Israel Villalobos

Nebiye Kelile

Rafael Munoz

Jeremy Kroeker

Ken Fowler

Kelly Knott

Rafe Jackson

Shay Wood

Larry Mayberry

Abraham Quinones

Kendy Nguyen

Joshua Fuentes

Joshua Murray

Tommy Derrick

Fermin Sifuentez

Luis Torres

Rodrigo Becerra

Rick Blanton

DAVID MIRANDA Director

NOE TREVIÑO Director

What is MAP

The Missionary Adoption Program (MAP) exists to connect Texas Baptists churches with churches, associations and conventions in countries all over the world to jointly adopt local missionaries, native to those countries. These missionaries intentionally focus on evangelism, discipleship and church planting in their own context.

Testimony

The following testimony was sent to us by one of our MAP missionaries in South Asia. In November, a young vegetable seller named Mushir was pushing his cart past Anugrah’s (MAP Missionary) house. Anugrah saw him and invited him to tea. He was able to share the gospel with Mushir. The good news immediately touched Mushir’s heart, and he began to visit Anugrah’s house often to learn more about Christ.

In late January, Mushir declared his faith in Christ and has since been sharing the gospel with others from his community. He is very faithful and eager to learn more about Jesus. Anugrah has been teaching and disciplining him to become a leader in reaching his people. Mushir’s wife is not yet believing, but she has witnessed Mushir’s behavior and heart change because of his decision to follow Christ.

Celebrating the harvest

MAP serves missionaries worldwide. We currently have partnerships in South Asia (Nepal, Bangladesh, India), Africa (Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda), Brazil, Myanmar (Burma), Spain, Portugal, Mexico, Peru, Argentina, Cuba, Canada and the United States. We are excited to read the reports that come in every month detailing what God is doing in these areas.

MAP missionaries reported the following:

• Professions of faith – 2,433

• Baptisms – 590

• Gospel conversations – 104,019

• New church starts – 62

• Discipled – 36,847

• People served – 301,766

Testimony

This testimony was sent to us by a pastor in Guadalajara, Mexico. During 2022, we have been working in two different mission points which will soon become new church starts. There are many challenges we face every month. Some of those challenges include a place to meet for worship at both mission points, discipleship material for children, children’s Bibles in Spanish and developing more leaders. Although there are many challenges, God has been faithful in the harvest of new believers and a hunger for the gospel of Jesus.

Last month we baptized 13 people, including an entire family. On the day he was baptized, Guillermo said, “The days God allows me to live, whether many or few, I will speak of His love and salvation.” Please pray that Guillermo uses that influence as he witnesses to those in his community.

Join MAP

Texas Baptists believe that through collaboration, we can take the gospel of Jesus Christ to areas we would not be able to alone. By joining MAP, you and your church are assigned to a specific missionary, whom you can pray for, financially contribute to and visit on the field to serve alongside. One hundred percent of all the offerings you give to MAP go directly to support your missionary partner.

To find out how your church can be a MAP partner, visit txb.org/map or contact Noe Treviño at noe.trevino@texasbaptists.org or 361-920-2481.

River Ministry has been in Texas for over 50 years. At its beginning, it functioned to help people affected by a hurricane. Now, it is a ministry that includes a variety of outreach actions, from Vacation Bible Schools to medical clinics and church planting. We have river ministry missionaries who coordinate mission trips with churches and institutions to come to the border to evangelize, have VBS, medical and dental clinics, assist the immigrants, develop sports clinics and present training for pastors and leaders in the area.

This year, 41 river ministry missionaries worked in the border cities and some planted churches in major cities in Mexico. We work with local Baptist associations and regional Baptist conventions to start new churches in Mexico and promote outreach events and missional opportunities for the border in Texas.

This year the Lord blessed us with these results:

• 7,414 professions of faith; 46,990 people were engaging with this ministry

• 40 new churches

• 137 new ministries (some were temporal, while others lasted for the whole year)

• 5,472 patients we attended

Thanks to Texas Baptists contributions, we provided resources for the River Ministry missionaries to advance the Kingdom by giving out hygiene kits to the immigrants on both sides of the border, hot food in feeding centers, medicines to patients who received free consultation, and many other events to reach out the border communities and the impoverished areas in the border and in major cities in Mexico.

Thousands of immigrants received a New Testament, coloring books for kids and other items as well as the gospel message. This ministry happened in several ministry centers along the border where Baptist churches or associations collaborated with us to do the Great Commission and show the love of Christ to the refugees and displaced people.

Many of our River Ministry missionaries shared the love of the Lord by assisting the border patrol agents and providing them with food, prayer time and encouragement.

Many Baptist churches came to the border and developed a short missional trip, so we thank them for their participation and donations. If your church would like to take part, please get in touch with the director or ministry assistant of the River Ministry.

The River Ministry missionaries facilitated training for pastors and leaders. They collaborated with local churches and associations to assist pastoral families with their needs and, most times, help with expenses when they faced medical conditions. The financial help mainly happened in Mexico.

Please pray for our missionaries. You can see list of River Ministry missionaries at txb.org/ministries/txb-missionaries

MARIO GONZALEZ Director

LEAH MCMULLEN Ministry Assistant

KATIE FRUGÉ Director REBECCA TREVIÑO Center Specialist

The Center for Cultural Engagement helps equip Texas Baptists to engage in our respective communities. God calls us to be salt and light. We help bring others into community with God’s people through building bridges between groups, seeking justice, healing brokenness, confronting systemic evils and speaking truth to power. We do this to bring the secular toward the sacred.

This past year was a mercurial mix of highs and lows. We celebrated the 20th anniversary of Baptist Chaplaincy Relations and hosted and participated in events across the state that celebrated the diversity and beauty of our convention. We also sadly lost a friend and co-worker with the sudden passing of Dr. Bobby Ray Smith. We grieve the loss of our friend and co-worker but also celebrate the legacy and impact he had on Baptist Chaplaincy.

The Christian Life Commission welcomed John Litzler as the new General Counsel and Director of Public Policy. Litzer only had a few months to get acclimated to his new role before jumping into the 88th Legislative Session.

African American Ministries celebrated 40 years of impact in June 2022. Hundreds of Texas Baptists pastors and leaders gathered together in San Antonio for the annual African American Fellowship Conference to celebrate this milestone. The Culp Banquet underwent a fun update, turning into a “sneaker ball” with guests wearing their best outfits matched to sneakers. In addition, guests brought hundreds of donated shoes for Buckner Shoes for Orphan Souls.

Texas Baptists en Español welcomed Armando Solis in August 2022 as the new ministry assistant. From training, camps and conferences to webinars, Texas Baptists en Español has reached thousands of Texas Baptists and has helped connect by encouraging, informing and collaborating with the Hispanic Baptist churches.

Intercultural Ministries continues to strengthen and connect with over 300 churches that worship in nearly 80 languages weekly.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of Baptist Chaplaincy Relations and the 25th year of dedicated convention service of our Director of Chaplaincy, Dr. Bobby Smith. Shortly after the 20th anniversary celebration, Smith passed away. Under Smith’s leadership, Baptist Chaplaincy Relations has grown to a top-tier nationally recognized organization and a top endorsing organization in the U.S.

We at the Christian Life Commission are agents of transformation, speaking to Texas Baptists rather than for them, equipping them to apply their faith to life in ethical conduct, public policy and community ministry from a biblical perspective.

CHRISTIAN LIFE COMMISSION MEMBERS FOR 2022-2023

Randy Anderson*

Jim Edwards*

Glenn Young*

Steve Bezner*

Michael Jones*

Steven Young*

Ryan Buck

Erica Currie

Bryant Lee

Laura Rodriguez

*Representatives from Executive Board

Ray Sanchez

Brandon Skaggs

Tedrick Woods, Vice Chair

Abigail Rojas

Kalie Lowrie

Emmanuel Roldan

Alice Ward

Director

KATIE FRUGÉ

SHANTELL WELCH Ministry Assistant

DAVID SANCHEZ Director

The Ethics & Justice branch of the Christian Life Commission (CLC) strives to equip believers so they may walk worthy of the gospel, having an impact in the world without being worldly, learning how to navigate today’s challenging issues and embracing the responsibility to care and advocate for the poor, the oppressed and the outcasts among us.

In this past year, Dr. David Sanchez has become a consistent voice on the topic of ministry among LGBTQ+ and their families. His messages and workshops equip and encourage Texas Baptists not to shy away from this topic, but to show the watching world we can love them with the love of Christ, while neither condemning nor condoning them. He presented this topic as a workshop at the last Annual Meeting in November 2022 and at over 40 other conferences, events and church gatherings, including AAM Re:Charge, UnApologetic, DNow events, pastoral leadership trainings, BSM trainings and university chapel services.

The feedback for these messages has been overwhelmingly positive. Several pastors have thanked him by saying the material was helpful and even “paradigm shifting.” At one event, Sanchez noticed a student tearing up as he shared on the more specific topic, “A Biblical Approach to Gender Identity Issues.” When he asked the student if she was okay, she replied, “Yes, I’m just really happy. It meant so much for me to see your heart and hear you speak on this topic with compassion. I used to struggle with my gender identity, but I am learning to find my identity in Christ.” Sanchez hopes to continue speaking on this topic and that churches will take advantage of the opportunity to invite him.

On Aug. 4, 2022, Sanchez raised almost $3,800 for the Texas Baptist Hunger Offering during Bits4Bites, a marathon stream in which he played video games for 18 hours straight and asked people to donate. This was the second year to have this event, and the amount raised was over $1,000 more than the previous year. Sanchez enjoys this event, not only as an opportunity to support the Texas Baptist Hunger Offering, but also as a way to show the younger generation we can use many different hobbies and passions for God’s Kingdom.

On Jan. 15, 2023, the CLC held a Sanctity of Life Celebration at Calvary Baptist Church in McAllen, Texas. The pro-life messages included a brief sermon from Sanchez on how Psalm 139 instructs us that pro-life is for every stage of life, a conversation with CLC Director Dr. Katie Frugé and CLC Public Policy Director John Litzler about the current landscape of pro-life legislation in a post-Roe Texas and testimonies from spokespersons for Lifeline Children’s Services. Recordings of the messages were uploaded so churches could use them during their worship services the next Sunday. The videos are still available at: txb.org/events/sanctity-of-life-celebration

For the 88th legislative session, the CLC updated pamphlets and one-pagers on issues related to our public policy priorities. While these topics are more on the public policy side of the CLC, there is a close partnership with Ethics & Justice, as these materials allow us an opportunity to show the biblical principles and key Scriptures from which we get our convictions to live out Micah 6:8.

The Public Policy branch of the Christian Life Commission (CLC) provides biblical perspectives and resources on current policy issues in order that all Texas Baptists will feel equipped and encouraged to participate in the democratic process. CLC Public Policy works to inspire Texas Baptists to engage in informed advocacy on public policy issues affecting their churches and communities.

During the 88th Legislative Session, the CLC has focused on the following public policy priorities:

• Predatory financial practices: The Bible is clear about our responsibility to care for the poor and the vulnerable. We support legislative efforts to extend justice and protection for all Texas and oppose legislation that leads to the exploitation of the poor.

• Pro-life legislation: We believe every person has innate dignity and worth given to them by their creator and as such are entitled to abundant life. We support efforts to promote a culture of life in our state and oppose efforts to undermine life-affirming legislation.

• Religious liberty: Religious freedom is for every person of faith and those with no faith. We support legislative efforts to protect the rights of religious people and organizations and oppose legislation which would disadvantage people because of their faith.

• Adequate funding for public schools: We support legislative efforts to ensure an adequate and equitable funding of public education that prioritizes Texas children, families and communities and oppose legislation which would divert public funds to private institutions.

JOHN LITZLER Director

IRENE GALLEGOS Director, Hunger & Care Ministries

Texas Baptist Hunger Offering

The Texas Baptist Hunger Offering supported 138 ministries in 2022 and is supporting 147 in 2023.

Texas Baptist Hunger Offering approved $439,049 in hunger grants in 2022.

• 823,548 individuals served

• 193,731 children served

• 9,914,558 meals served

Additional funds were generously given to support emergency Ukraine relief efforts and secondary refugee and rebuilding strategies, totaling Ukraine relief support to just over $128,000.

Community Care

The Christian Life Commission awarded $147,200 in 2022 Community Care funds to support ministries engaged in restorative justice, community development, community health and hunger ministry across the state.

• 2,048 professions of faith and 306 baptisms through community outreach programs.

• Served 333,002 individuals, including 99,029 children through community outreach programs.

• Handed out 18,980 Bibles and tracks through community outreach programs.

• 35,071 volunteers helped serve in 2022 with community ministries.

The Hunger & Care team is deeply thankful to Texas Baptists for your faithful support and generosity. Because of your support, millions around the world are hearing the gospel and being ministered to by the body of Christ.

The vision of African American Ministries (AAM) is to enlist, equip and engage African American churches to reach their Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and uttermost parts of the world. We accomplish this by training and equipping churches in the areas of discipleship, fellowship, scholarship, worship, partnership and leadership.

A new staff member

The leadership of Texas Baptists recognized a need in AAM and hired a ministry specialist. Dr. Timothy Fuller, a graduate of Southwestern Seminary, joined the team in the fall. His expertise in theology, hermeneutics and homiletics brings strength to AAM as we focus on the areas of discipleship and scholarship in the upcoming months.

AAM and evangelism

On Jan. 1, AAM along with Campus Crusade for Christ, sent out over 600 college students with several of our AAM churches to evangelize their communities. This effort saw 429 spiritual conversations. The gospel was shared to over 200 people and of those, nine professed faith and three rededicated their lives to Christ. Because of this effort, our local churches became more connected to their communities.

Health initiative

AAM partnered with Medigroup and with several African American churches for the Clear the Air vaccine drive. Clear the Air provided free COVID vaccines and boosters to anyone from 6 months to 99 years old. Everyone vaccinated received a $50 gift card, provided by the Medigroup. Through this initiative, AAM was able to provide approximately 200 vaccinations to the communities that AAM churches serve.

Black History Month

For Black History Month this year, we celebrated education. AAM wrote a series of blogs highlighting and educating Texas Baptists on the impact of the African American church in the areas of social activism, secular and theological education and church history. Black History Month culminated in our Black history chapel, where we celebrated educators and heard a message from Dr. Terrance Ford, the president of Southern Bible Institute and College.

The African American Leadership Conference

The African American Leadership Conference’s emphasis was discipleship and was a remarkable success. The conference was designed to challenge leaders, pastors and laity to “reframe” their understanding of discipleship. Fuller challenged participants to look at discipleship through the lenses of a Jewish Jesus rather than through the lenses of church history, theological or church growth movements. Breakout sessions addressed discipleship to men women and children.

Wave/Camp Exalted

AAM is excited to recruit Robert Purvey as our new Camp Exalted director. In the fall, he held a joint event with the students of Prairie View and Texas Southern University. The students shared their faith and encouraged one another to evangelize their campus for Jesus. This became an impetus for WAVE. WAVE is a ministry of AAM that exists to encourage and excite youth and young adults to become active and involved in ministry leadership. Our first WAVE event was in conjunction with the African American Leadership Conference in March. In this event, Purvey recruited the Prairie View choir and praise team to lead in worship. Purvey preached a powerful message. As a result, five young people made a profession of faith, and they were connected to local church leaders for follow up.

Our future is bright

God is going to do something great through AAM in the upcoming year. Our impact will be more visible because we will be more targeted to regions. This is beneficial to our bivocational pastors, who may be limited because of career and financial obligations. AAM is more intentional about making an impact locally which will make a greater impact statewide.

OZA JONES, JR. Director

TIM FULLER African American Ministries Specialist LEONIDA QUARLES Ministry Assistant

ROLANDO RODRIGUEZ Director VIDAL MUÑIZ Strategist ARMANDO SOLIS Ministry Assistant

Texas Baptists en Español exists to connect, collaborate, contextualize and celebrate with the Hispanic Baptist churches aligned with Texas Baptists to help them reach the goals the Lord has given them. We start by facilitating connections with pastors. Our goal is to assist the congregation in their ministries by collaborating and contextualizing the wide variety of services and ministries available through Texas Baptists. Together, we celebrate the advancement of the Kingdom through the local church.

Texas Baptists en Español is also an opportunity to promote unity, fellowship and clarity for Hispanic Baptist churches using the productive collaboration of 40 Compañerismo presidents throughout Texas. Under the leadership of Texas Baptists, new churches are planted and new initiatives are promoted to reach the Hispanic population in Texas and beyond.

Here are some highlights from this past year:

Pastors Connection

• 520 pastor connections for meetings, general conferences, marriage conferences, evangelism conferences, leadership training, planning, graduation celebrations, installation of pastors, collaboration, coaching, etc.

• Average of 65 pastor connections per month

Compañerismos and churches

• 40 Compañerismos

• Meetings/collaborations with 26 Compañerismos in the last eight months with an impact to at least 236 churches for an average of 30 churches per month

• Three new church plants

• Assuring with 12 pastorless churches

Training

• Three CPC Entrena-T training centers with a total of 60 students in Midland, Fort Worth and Gainesville

• Virtual training center with 40 students and 14 churches represented

• Weekly live sermon podcasts

• Weekly live Bible course webinars

• Planning for future YouTube and Facebook Live virtual program “Grow and Change”

Events

• Youth Camp at DBU had 300 students and workers in attendance, 15 professions of faith and seven surrendered to the ministry

• Leadership training events in several locations

• Entrena-T Train the Trainers event in Dallas

• Multiple pastors and spouses retreats and family retreats including one in Fort Worth, Jacksonville and DBU for a total attendance of 450

• Men’s retreats in Houston, East Texas and Glen Rose

• Spanish track for UnApologetic Conference in Corpus Christi

• Pastoral ordination service at IB El Buen pastor in Fort Worth

• Pastors and spouses retreat in Birmingham, Alabama

• Collaborated with River Ministry to do Youth Camp and Wives Retreat in Mexico

Hispanic Education Initiative

The main goal of the Hispanic Education Initiative (HEI) is to keep students in school through graduation and then on to college.

To accomplish this God-given mission, the HEI council meets regularly to bring focus to areas regarding education events, missionary opportunities, mentoring and others. Here are some activities accomplished this past year:

• Planned and coordinated with eight churches to host eight Hispanic summer missionaries

• Partnered with Winshape College and provided scholarships to 61 students attending WinShape Discipleship Intensive

• Collaborated with summer missionaries to do education fairs in their communities

• Created media to promote the Mary Hill Davis Scholarship

• Highlighted the DBU Hispanic Leadership Scholarship and submitted names of students to be considered

• Celebrated and promoted education through Education Day at church, such as DBU Day at El Buen Pastor church with Dr. Brent Thomason as keynote speakers where students were enlisted for college

• Started work on the foundation of the Student Mentoring Program for Hispanic Churches

As the director of Texas Baptists Intercultural Ministries, I am an eyewitness to God’s work in weaving together a beautiful tapestry of the many cultures and peoples that make up our great state of Texas. Did you know that within the Texas Baptists family of churches there are more than 300 congregations that speak nearly 80 languages? But God’s heart for Texas Baptists is even bigger: To see every language in Texas with a gospel movement and every culture with a healthy and thriving church that is discipled and equipped for their mission. Thus, our office works through relationships and networks to assist in the best way possible so each intercultural pastor and church are resourced and reached contextually.

Please join us in prayer and support. If you feel God’s tug on your heart to contextually engage cross-culturally, give us a call.

Intercultural Ministries partnered and supported intercultural churches

• 31 intercultural events

• 18 contextual outreaches

• 11 oversea mission and humanitarian projects

Intercultural Ministries initiatives

• Cross-cultural mobilizer (contextually reaching closed communities with the gospel and training)

• Project: Start a refugee resource center assisting 286 refugee families in need

• Camp Fusion is a culturally relevant camping experience for Texas Baptists

Intercultural Youth

• 246 attended (2/3 of the people attending were first-time campers)

• Eight people become a follower of Christ for the first time

• 48 people recommitted to Jesus

• 94 people personally committed to spiritual growth

• 54 people help led youth group

• 48 people invited someone to Bible study this year

• 35 people in full-time Christian service

• 19 cross-cultural missions

MARK HEAVENER Director

LINDA HOWELL Intercultural Ministries Specialist

Baptist Chaplaincy Relations endorses, supports and trains chaplains. These ministers provide pastoral care in a variety of specialized ministry settings.

The office provides ecclesiastical endorsement through a process that affirms to an employer that a chaplain or pastoral counselor has met all the basic requirements of the denomination to practice ministry in a specialized setting. Basic requirements include personal, spiritual and professional accountability; educational, moral and ethical standards; ability to work in a pluralistic environment; doctrinal stability; and active membership in a local Baptist congregation.

The Chaplaincy Relations Endorsement Council is elected by the BGCT Executive Board and serves as the endorsement agency on behalf of the BGCT and The Baptist General Association of Virginia (BGAV). It reports its work to the Center for Cultural Engagement Committee of the Executive Board. The council establishes guidelines for endorsement requirements. State and federal institutions require chaplains to be endorsed by an officially recognized faith group. On July 24, 2002, the U.S. Armed Forces Chaplains Board approved the BGCT as a recognized endorsement agency. Every major federal, state and civilian institution recognizes Texas Baptists chaplaincy endorsement.

Texas Baptists Chaplaincy Relations continues to grow. Under the director/endorser are five associate endorsers directing three separate functions. The associate for calling and endorsement coordinates communication with individuals interested in chaplaincy as they pursue their chaplaincy calling, manages the endorsement process and provides administrative support in Dallas.

Three associate endorsers for pastoral care and support maintain relationships with endorsed chaplains and provide timely and quality support to meet their needs. The associates’ primary responsibility is pastoral visitation and counseling support.

The associate endorser for chaplain training and education coordinates training to maintain chaplain certification and professional qualification to serve in various institutions. The office also manages local church volunteer chaplain training.

In early 2017, the BGAV voted to ask Texas Baptists Chaplaincy Relations to serve as the chaplain endorser for the association. The BGAV consists of 1,400 churches in the Commonwealth and many affiliated churches throughout the world.

Chaplaincy Relations is committed to training Texas Baptists congregations to become authentic Christian caregivers through pastoral ministry skill training by offering courses such as Hands on Ministry and Disaster Spiritual Care Training.

Texas Baptist Student Ministry (BSM) exists to engage the 1.6 million college students in Texas to follow Christ and transform the world. BSM missionaries are on approximately 135 campuses, internationally engaging the collegiate culture by making and multiplying disciples of Jesus. It is both exciting and challenging at Texas universities, where over 300 exist statewide. Junior College attendance is a large part of the student population. Major universities are also establishing new campus sites to meet the needs of students in different areas.

Reach the Campus Reach the World

Texas BSM prayed and developed a strategy with the intention of sending collegiate workers to multiple targeted areas. In July 2021, Texas BSM introduced Reach the Campus Reach the World (RCRW), a five-year strategy of sending 100 workers to nine different locations.

In the last several years, campuses have increased connection with adopted locations and developed relationships with workers on the field. Multiple vision and mission trips have been taken to the target areas. One Texas RCRW priority location is Midland /Odessa. This last year, two part-time workers served at Midland College and UT Permian Basin. Tyler and Cindy McMurry, who have served as BSM associates at Midwestern State for several years, will be moving to full-time roles in Midland/Odessa. They will serve as key leaders, coordinating BSM ministry on multiple campuses. This last year, two part-time workers served at Midland College and UT Permian Basin. By Fall 2023, 28 gospel workers will have been sent from Texas BSM to the priority sending places. The Lord continues to call out workers for these vital impact areas.

Campus evangelism

The culture of BSM prioritizes training students to share the gospel as a key component in discipleship. Ministries at UT Arlington, UT Tyler, Tyler Junior College, Sam Houston State and Midwestern State have at least one day a week where students gather to pray, train and go out in pairs to start spiritual conversations and share the gospel. The Laredo BSM, led by Emilio and Pris Vega, has a dynamic ministry that engages students at Laredo College and Texas A&M International. They have involved local churches and have had numerous students make commitments to Christ. A renewed evangelism emphasis was started under the leadership of Kyle Crim at Sul Ross University in Alpine. The current director, Santiago Garcia, has built on this effort and trained leaders who actively share their faith with fellow students. Twenty-one students have made commitments to Christ this year.

Student Lead Team

Under the Leadership of Ginger Bowman, key student leaders from BSMs around the state join together in early January for training and collaboration. Over 100 students plan the multiple prayer experiences for the statewide Abide Prayer Retreat held in late January at Highland Lakes Camp. This retreat involves over 600 students. Many of these student leaders will go on to serve as GoNow missionaries and some as Campus Missionary Interns.

Campus Missionary Interns (CMI)

Clayton Bullion led the large group of Campus Missionary Interns that serve around the state and in several of the RCRW locations. Almost 70 CMIs will serve, beginning this fall. They will work with existing staff to prioritize evangelism, discipleship, leadership development, missional sending and church connections. The Student Lead Team and CMIs provide the beginnings of the vital pipeline of gospel workers that will serve on campuses for years to come.

“The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore, pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.” – Luke 10:2

VACANT Evangelism Discipleship Mobilization Catalyst

RYAN HODGES Ministry Partner Development Director BECKY BARNES Administrative Assistant KATIE COLEMAN Ministry Assistant - Communications and Administration

CINDY ZOLLER Ministry Assistant - Receptionist/ Finances

221 BSM STAFF MEMBERS (employed and volunteer)

BRENDA SANDERS Missions Consultant ERICA HARNISCH Assistant Director

JOSHUA BOUCHER Ministry Assistant

Go Now Missions

God continues to call, and Texas students continue to answer the call to carry the gospel across our state, nation and the world. In 2023, 435 Go Now missionaries served in 33 Texas cities, 14 states and 27 countries. There are students serving 365 days out of the year as Christmas, summer, impact and semester Go Now missionaries. A team of 16 will participate in “Valley Reach,” serving in the Rio Grande Valley before Family Gathering.

Reach the Campus Reach the World

In July 2021, Texas BSM introduced Reach the Campus Reach the World (RCRW). RCRW is a five-year strategy of sending 100 longer term workers to nine different locations to invest in collegiate ministry. These include three locations each in Texas, the USA and international. To date, 28 workers have served or will serve beginning in the fall 2023. These include recent graduates and 14 BSM staff members.

Colton Raymond, a recent UT Tyler graduate, served in Provo, Utah, with a local church and college ministry as Go Now summer missionary and then returned as a RCRW yearlong missionary.

“Over the summer, we met a guy named Jordan. He was new to the area and new to the LDS church. After meeting us, he was naturally drawn to us. We were new to the area, not too familiar with the culture and we knew the Bible. He started hanging out with us, and we helped him understand the Bible better. He started to see how different the biblical gospel was from the LDS teachings. I continued to hang out with him, but he seemed to be diving deeper into the LDS church. We prayed hard for Jordan.

“When I returned to serve for the semester, I contacted Jordan again. He began to attend Mosaic church. He asked the pastor and me to study the Bible with him. The Spirit was truly working on his heart, showing him the truth behind grace. On Nov. 7, after reading Galatians 1 and 2, Jordan prayed to receive Christ. He had counted the cost and found Jesus was worth it! Praise God for our new brother in Christ and my good friend Jordan. What joy it has been to witness the Holy Spirit work in someone’s life.”

Jordan has since been baptized and continues to grow in the Lord.

Thank you for supporting Texas Baptists student missionaries.

The work of the Treasurer’s Office includes overseeing endowments and investments, legal coordination, financial matters, information technology, conference and events, church administration and process improvement. Our ministry is financing and supporting the ministries of Texas Baptists. The variety of responsibilities it takes to accomplish this is only possible by great creativity and productivity from our incredible staff (which has seen significant turnover). As you will easily see in the reports that follow, God has been at work through it all. We remain committed to respond to the needs of BGCT staff and churches.

Technology, and its continual upgrading, remain a critical piece in helping us strengthen our efficiency and productivity through the automation of our processing, better manage our costs and increase our investment earnings. These improvements have helped us battle against inflationary challenges and financial market volatility.

For our office and all departments under our umbrella, we remain committed to the purpose that “every dollar earned and every dollar saved are more dollars we have to do ministry.” We continue to work diligently to improve to do this in support of Kingdom work through Texas Baptists.

Thank you for allowing us to serve the churches and ministries of BGCT.

WARD HAYES Treasurer/Chief Financial Officer PAYTON ABERNATHY Executive Assistant

OF ACTIVITIES

THE BAPTIST GENERAL CONVENTION OF TEXAS STATEMENT OF ACTIVITIES

Years ended Dec. 31, 2022 and 2021

THE BAPTIST GENERAL CONVENTION OF TEXAS STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION

Years ended Dec. 31, 2022 and 2021

COLEEN WALL Director

The ministry of the Conference & Event Planning team is to serve the Convention to provide the most effective events that deliver synergy with maximum value for minimum costs. Conference & Event Planning uses “lessons learned” and meeting industry knowledge in developing and implementing meeting design strategies as well as assisting to align our resources and expertise to provide the convenience of full-service planning capabilities.

Conference & Event Planning supports the meetings and events of the Convention in numerous ways, serving as consultants at the beginning planning stages and guiding throughout an event. Conference & Event Planning can deliver fully produced events and training, all the way down to being the one that turns out the lights when an event is over. We may partner with an office to create, set up and manage an exhibit hall, schedule meals and work with caterers, be the liaison with bands and keynote speakers, assist in script writing, be a stage manager for worship sessions, volunteer management, organize and manage workshops, develop timelines, and worship schedules or assist in stage design. In the case of the Annual Meeting, Conference & Event Planning serves as the executive producer.

Conference & Event Planning works to reduce overall Convention costs by developing requests for proposals and obtaining corporate discounts and preferred vendor services related to production, decorators (pipe/drape), catering, transportation, transient hotel rates and event equipment.

During the last year

• Conference & Event Planning supported over 60 events of the Convention in numerous ways that include large-scale conferences, like Annual Meeting, mediumscale events, like Executive Board, and smaller 10-member committee meetings and everything in between, such as workshop and training events, summer camps, retreats, conventions and meetings.

• Researched all aspects of meeting/event planning and negotiated contracts to assist in securing over 100 locations and over 150,000 sleeping room nights.

• Negotiated future and multi-year events with convention centers, churches, hotels, production, transportation, catering, creative productions and exhibit companies that allow for additional long-term cost savings.

• Negotiations, management and liaison for speakers, special talent and bands/ musicians.

• Creative production, stage design, event production, sound and lights, audio visual, stage management, live streaming, archival recording and basic editing.

• Provided staff training for organizational compliance for contracting, risk management and organizational purchase power.

• Consultations and project management, organizational compliance, risk management, crisis management, labor and liabilities best practices.

With the ever-changing landscape in the meeting industry, the Conference & Event Planning staff has continued to seek out training and learning about advances in technology and industry standards to better support and impact the ministry offices of the Convention.

The Conference & Event Planning team thrives by serving in the background, supporting our ministry offices by creating an environment that is creative and effective as the Convention focuses on the Great Commandment and the Great Commission.

Finance and Accounting serves as the processing and accuracy arm of Texas Baptists, “taking pains to do what is right, not only in the eyes of the Lord but also in the eyes of man” (2 Corinthians 8:21). It provides accurate and timely processing of receipts from voluntary contributions, mission gifts, event registration fees and GC2 product sales. Finance and Accounting also provides assistance with budgeting and accounting information on the corporate and individual level.

The primary ministry emphases are cash receipts, accounts payable, general ledger and financial reporting. During the past year our ministry team:

• Received and recorded more than 55,000 contributions and over 9,000 product sales transactions and event registration payments.

• Processed over 15,000 cash disbursement checks and electronic payments.

• Recorded information into and prepared reports from more than 60,000 accounts in the general ledger subsidiary ledgers.

• Provided church tax information upon request.

• Continued to provide accurate financial reporting for the yearly audit.

• Coordinated the preparation of the annual budget.

• Provided church training in the areas of nonprofit accounting, tax and best practices.

The financial statements of Texas Baptists are audited annually by an independent certified public accounting firm. Also, the controller ensures proper internal controls are in place to avoid financial improprieties.

This office is also responsible for risk management. Responsibilities include determining levels of insurance coverage, negotiating rates and coordinating claims.

Upon request we assist churches affiliated with Texas Baptists by providing evidence of their exemption from Federal income tax.

All members of the Finance and Accounting staff consider our work a ministry to Texas Baptists churches and staff. Please let us know how we can help. Thank you for allowing us to serve you.

KRISTEN RAY Controller/ Assistant Treasurer JEANNIE MILLER Administrative Assistant

DAVE LYONS Director

Information Technology (IT) and Support Services is privileged to serve the many ministries of Texas Baptists and WMU of Texas through technology and logistics solutions. Our ministry is enabling, equipping and supporting those ministries. Our teams are User Support, Information Management Team (IMT) and Support Services.

IT User Support

IT security, network administration, user support

• Security

o Met new requirements for cyber insurance coverage

o Conducted online security awareness training for all employees

o Conducted phishing testing

o Added Multi Factor Authentication for Google Workspace, Microsoft Office 365,

o Salesforce, Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT, UKG

o Launched Grip software to detect SaaS (Software as a Service) apps used by staff

• Deployed Macs as our standard work computer – 60 to date

• Performed multi-function copier upgrades in three offices

• Upgraded internet bandwidth at Rambler and Arlington offices

• Supported another smooth, fast-moving Annual Meeting registration using scanners for messengers who registered online

• Provided and supported technology solutions to accomplish the ministry goals of Texas Baptists by keeping our systems usable, current and protected, such as Google G Suite, Microsoft Office 365, Zoom meetings, webinars, phones, wireless networking, managed printing, Helpdesk support, IT training for staff, laptops, tablets, desktops, Windows and Mac support, and supporting three remote locations and dozens of mobile workers

Information Management Team

IMT administers the Salesforce system and trains staff on its use. There are two main roles for IMT – application development, which adds functionality and new processes to Salesforce, and updating data and providing reports. In the latest reporting period, IMT:

• Migrated to secure, cloud-based Microsoft BI Publisher for report and data warehouse

• Developed contracts with electronic signatures – speaker, volunteer, GC2 author

• Developed Use & Confidentiality Agreement process

• Developed Pastor Sabbatical Grant process

• Developed Pastor Inflation Grant process

• Developed scholarship application process

• Completed CLC grants and reporting process

• Updated Church Starting process

• Created year-end giving statement by email

• Enhanced use of Marketing Cloud and data validation

• Performed regular assigned tasks

• Managed hundreds of thousands of account and contact records and updated tens of thousands of them.

• Answered and handled or routed 3,383 incoming phone calls

• Processed:

o 5,096 GC2 Press and other orders

o 33,461 online donations

o 1,672 ACPs

• Managed over 1,000 active reports

• Created or modified 708 unique reports

• Produced 107 demographic studies, resulting in 1,147 customized PDFs

IMT is committed to partnering with Texas Baptists ministries to support what they do in the local church by expanding use of Salesforce, performing ministry processes support, data entry, reports and other custom data collection and reporting tools.

Support Services

Our Support Services team provides important services to our staff:

• Events support

• Facility safety

• Warehousing

• Shipping and receiving

• Meeting management, including kitchen and meeting refreshments

• Repairs, maintenance and adjustments at our Rambler office and warehouse; oversight of the Waco office

• Materials transportation, including bank deposits and pickups and deliveries for printed material

• Office moves

• Implementing, directing and managing three high quality, impactful golf tournaments

This group serves with a laser-like focus on customer service and doing whatever it can to best serve the varied, fast-paced needs of our Texas Baptist ministry teams.

Information Technology and Support Services exists to serve the ministries of Texas Baptists and WMU of Texas and play a role in their Kingdom impact.

ABRAHAM JAQUEZ President 2418 W Ansley Blvd. San Antonio, TX 78224 bua.edu

Baptist University of the Américas (BUA) is an affordable, biblically based, cross-cultural university that seeks to educate and equip students for the church and the marketplace. Since its inception in 1947, BUA has been at the center of developing pastors and church leaders from Texas, the U.S. and other parts of the world with a Christian worldview as its foundation. With a small student-faculty ratio, BUA continues to provide a high-quality and personal education throughout all our programs (Associate of Arts, Bachelors of Arts, Master of Arts, English as a Second Language and the Baptist Bible Institute) no matter where students are or where they come from.

After retiring 4.9 million dollars of debt in December 2021 and centralizing university operations in one location, the university has positioned itself for consistent growth in the years ahead. In Fall 2022, the university enrolled the largest number of new students in five years and recorded its largest attendance since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Like many other universities, BUA is thriving after the last three years of societal upheaval, while remaining focused on maximizing God-given opportunities to seize what He has for us.

Among the opportunities the Lord is sending our way are:

• The recently renovated Student Life Center to hold chapel services, student events and day-to-day student activity.

• Students serving in missions around Texas, New York and Monterrey, Mexico, through the Mary Hill Davis Missions Offering.

• The completion of the university’s strategic plan for 2023-2028, which will chart the school’s course over the next five years.

• The ongoing development of the master plan for the 60 acres around our current campus that will provide direction on how to develop our infrastructure now and in the future.

• The growth and strengthening of our Board of Trustees with a fresh influx of leaders in education, business and law.

• Strong collaborations with Texas Baptists, Texas Baptist Men, Woman’s Missionary Union of Texas, El Paso Baptist Association and other ministries and organizations.

• Open doors to offer degree and Baptist Bible Institute courses in new locations.

As a Christian university, we are committed to holistic student success by providing students a transformational opportunity to integrate their faith, learning and experience. We are dedicated to investing in the growth and development of the school’s personnel, performance and infrastructure. And lastly, we are determined to secure sustainable funding as we inspire others to invest sacrificially in support of BUA’s mission. Doing these three things, under the Lord’s favor and guidance, will no doubt result in great things for the glory of God.

The theme verse for the Texas Baptist Family Gathering 2023 is “Household of God,” based on Ephesians 2:19. Through Jesus, we have access to the Father. So, we “are no longer strangers or aliens, but fellow citizens with the saints.” This verse certainly describes BUA. As most students would say, we are “familia” (family). Even though at the moment we come from 14 different countries, the Lord has brought us together for a purpose. Praise be to Him!

Thank you, Texas Baptists, for all your prayers, giving and support!

BAPTIST UNIVERSITY OF THE AMÉRICAS STATISTICAL INFORMATION

SUMMARY FINANCIAL STATEMENT

LINDA A. LIVINGSTONE President

One Bear Place

#97096

Waco, Texas 76798

Baylor University is a private Christian university and a nationally ranked Research 1 institution. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas and affiliated with the BGCT, Baylor is the oldest continually operating university in Texas. Baylor’s mission is to educate men and women for worldwide leadership and service by integrating academic excellence and Christian commitment within a caring community.

Baylor University has had a special agreement with the BGCT for more than three decades. However, the relationship between the two institutions has been closely intertwined since the university’s founding. The special agreement, initially agreed upon on Nov. 4, 2011, calls for a joint review by the BGCT and Baylor every 10 years. The most recent review was delayed two years as both organizations managed through the COVID-19 pandemic. In Fall 2022, leaders from the BGCT and Baylor jointly reviewed the relationship agreement between the two organizations and deemed no changes were necessary.

The BGCT provides approximately $1.3 million annually to Baylor in the form of scholarship dollars in support of pastoral and ministerial education through George W. Truett Theological Seminary, financial aid for BGCT-affiliated pastors and ministers and their families, and in support of Baptist Student Ministry activities. As part of the review of the ongoing relationship agreement, Baylor confirmed BGCT-provided funds are being allocated to their intended purposes.

Under the leadership of President Linda A. Livingstone, Ph.D. – a distinguished scholar, national academic leader and strong voice for the role of faith-based institutions in American higher education – Baylor is recognized as a premier Christian research university and the world’s largest Baptist university. Since 2018, Baylor’s Illuminate strategic plan has transformed the university in numerous ways: R1 designation ahead of schedule; eclipsing Give Light’s $1.1 billion campaign goal ahead of projections; funding 22 new, fully endowed faculty positions; and recognition by global research firm Morning Consult as one of the most trusted universities in the country.

In Fall 2022, Baylor enrolled 20,709 students, including an intentionally smaller freshman class of 3,296 students (due to the large “COVID” classes in 2021 and 2020) and 362 Truett Seminary students. Nearly 19% of Baylor students are Baptist and more than 13% are non-denominational while 1,006 undergraduates indicated an interest in vocational Christian ministry.

In 2022-2023, Baylor’s Department of Religion enrolled 6,837 students in religion courses, with 360 undergraduate students majoring/minoring in religion and 52 students in the graduate program. Nine students earned the Ph.D. in religion. Baylor had 191 undergraduates receive the BGCT Ministry Scholarship.

Baylor contributes to the vitality of Waco through strong community partnerships and programs, from a transformational philanthropy course where students steward and present $100,000 in grants to Waco-area nonprofits to thousands of students serving in the community each semester through the Steppin’ Out day of service. Students returned to Baylor Missions, using their academic disciplines and skills to show the love of Christ through service at home and abroad.

Baylor also continues its pioneering Faith and Character Study that tracks the longterm impact on students’ faith and character development from when they arrive, when they graduate and a decade after graduation. Recent findings from the first full cohort of students revealed that over a four-year time frame, Baylor helps the majority of its students grow in faith and character while providing evidence of that growth and the factors that predict it. The findings have already informed practices at Baylor, such as reimagining chapel and better connecting with local churches. In addition, the findings from Baylor’s longitudinal study are used by colleges and universities around the country informing practices on their campuses.

BAYLOR UNIVERSITY STATISTICAL INFORMATION

2022 - 2023

*Non duplicating

SUMMARY FINANCIAL STATEMENT

March-2023

Months from 6/1 - 3/31)

(1) Certain allocation of plant and other expenses to functional expense categories are only calculated at year-end.

(2) Restricted net assets reflect current FASB guidance. Permanently/temporarily restricted allocation is only available at year-end.

DR. ADAM WR IGHT President 3000 Mountain Creek Parkway Dallas, Texas 75211-9299

Dallas Baptist University (DBU) is a nationally ranked, comprehensive, liberal arts institution, which remains the college of choice among students seeking an excellent Christ-centered education with a mission to produce servant leaders and transform lives. The Lord continues to bless DBU as academic programs are expanded, new campus facilities are being added, and its global reach inspires lives around the world.

With more than 40,000 graduates serving around the world and enrolling more than 4,300 students, DBU welcomed its largest class of incoming first-year students and traditional-age undergraduate students in school history. In addition, we welcomed the largest number of new international students by more than 30% in DBU history, totaling 260 new students, and welcomed our largest class of student-athletes.

DBU ended the fiscal year in the black for the 35th consecutive year and added new academic programs and several accelerated programs to expand the curriculum and meet marketplace and ministry demands.

During the 2022-2023 academic year, DBU appointed a new dean of the College of Business, Dr. Stephen Mansfield, former president and CEO of Methodist Health System. Other firsts include accruing Programmatic Accreditation from the Association for Biblical Higher Education and introducing the Master of Music Education to remain competitive in the music education climate and meet the needs of those who have expressed a desire to get a MME at DBU. Dallas Baptist University would be the first in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex to offer a completely online MME.

Partnerships are invaluable to DBU, and we are pleased to have increased our Ministry Fellowship Program to over 30 church partners and growing. The Ministry Fellowship Program offers comprehensive, accredited and fully transferable graduate classes to participants in church residency programs.

In an ever-increasing effort to strengthen our Christian commitment and honor our Baptist history and heritage, DBU launched the inaugural Baptist Distinctives Lecture with Baptist World Alliance General Secretary Elijah Brown as the inaugural speaker.

Several programs in DBU Athletics achieved top 10 national rankings, with two additional programs receiving top 15 national rankings. The women’s golf and women’s soccer programs achieved number one rankings in the nation at the NCAA Division II level, both advancing into the NCAA postseason. The DBU Cheer and Patriettes teams won their third national championship in the past three years (2021, 2022 and 2023) in Daytona, Florida. Volleyball posted the most wins the program has ever experienced, finishing 25-7.

Coach Dan Heefner and Patriot baseball have produced another memorable season during their first year of competition in Conference USA as an affiliate member. The Patriots started the season with a program record of seven straight wins. Under Dan Heefner’s leadership as head coach since 2008, DBU has produced over 65 MLB draft picks, 12 of which have made their major league debut.

Many challenges remain in the days ahead for DBU and for all institutions of Christian higher education. However, these challenges pale in comparison to the great calling to produce men and women whose hearts are focused on the Lord and whose lives are on mission to serve others. To this end, DBU continues to push toward its mission and vision to be a great Christian university that is pleasing to God.

We are grateful to Texas Baptists for their generous support of Dallas Baptist University.

DALLAS BAPTIST UNIVERSITY STATISTICAL INFORMATION

2022 - 2023

SUMMARY FINANCIAL STATEMENT

J. BLAIR BLACKBURN President

One Tiger Drive Marshall, Texas 75670 etbu.edu

East Texas Baptist University (ETBU) celebrated the highest recorded fall enrollment in 110 years, with 1,771 total students and an 84% undergraduate retention rate (2% higher than the five-year average). Graduate program enrollment increased by 13.6% in the last year, a significant milestone as the university continues to expand the variety of programming offered to provide students with tools to advance their careers through Christ-centered education. Spring 2023 enrollment surpassed the Spring 2022 enrollment record, with 1,560 new and returning Tigers enrolled for classes in January 2023. The 4.35% increase over last year’s record spring enrollment marks the first time Spring semester enrollment is over 1,500.

ETBU’s academic accolades for 2022-2023 include awarding 162 degrees during the Fall 2022 commencement ceremony and an estimated 179 graduates during the Spring 2023 ceremony. Additionally, the School of Education received full accreditation and commendations from the State Board for Educator Certification (SEBC). During spring break, ETBU’s Symphonic Band and Concert Choir traveled to Israel as part of the Global Study and Serve Program. The group of 52 students and faculty performed at and toured historical and cultural sites throughout Israel.

The presidents of B. H. Carroll Theological Institute in Irving and East Texas Baptist University in Marshall announced on Feb. 6 that the institutions’ boards have each approved resolutions authorizing an exclusive agreement to merge the administrative and academic operations of B. H. Carroll into ETBU. The two institutions will continue to work toward accreditation approval over the next year.

The university’s Great Commission Center opened in April 2023. Standing at the forefront of the ETBU campus, this new home for the Fred Hale School of Business will become the focal symbol for quality Christian education, servant leadership, ethics, and excellence in business entrepreneurial leadership throughout East Texas and beyond.

Additionally, Synergy Park, opened in downtown Marshall in March and will offer adult education, continuing education, workforce training and professional and graduate-level education programs while uniting individuals and organizations for networking to foster cooperative avenues for professional growth, organizational success and economic development. Synergy Park extends ETBU’s downtown academic learning and vocational training footprint in connection with the Marshall Grand, the downtown campus and home of the Teague School of Nursing.

ETBU and the Tiger Athletic Department honored Jason Bell and his family Saturday, April 1, with the dedication of Jason Bell Park at Taylor Field, home to the ETBU Tiger Softball team. Jason Bell Park hosted the 2023 NCAA DIII Softball National Championship in June.

ETBU’s newest student residential community, Billy and Winky Foote Hall at Tiger Yard, will comprise nine three-bedroom, three-bath apartment lofts for upperclassmen and graduate students, baseball program space, and a micro-market grocery for our campus community. Foote Hall opens in Fall 2023.

Tiger Athletics garnered several exciting accolades throughout the year, including ETBU Men’s Basketball’s 2023 American Southwest Conference Tournament Championship title. For the second year in a row, ETBU Athletics received a community service award from the National Association of Division III Athletic Administrators (NADIIIAA). This year, ETBU was named the “One-Time Project” award winner for their cleanup efforts in the Gilmer area after the Spring 2022 tornado.

The Tiger Athletic Mission Experience (TAME) saw its 16th overall trip this year, with the following teams traveling and serving on mission: ETBU Tiger Softball-Australia, ETBU Men’s Soccer-Spain and Portugal, Women’s Basketball-Northern Ireland, and Women’s Soccer-New Zealand.

ETBU values the faithful partnership of Texas Baptists as we strive to develop Christian servant leaders in fulfillment of the Great Commission.

EAST TEXAS BAPTIST UNIVERSITY STATISTICAL INFORMATION

SUMMARY FINANCIAL STATEMENT

ERIC BRUNTMYER President

2200 Hickory Street

Abilene, Texas 79601

hsutx.edu

God has created all people for a purpose and Hardin-Simmons University (HSU) helps people find their purpose by speaking life.

Hardin-Simmons is raising up the next generation of students as we educate tomorrow’s Christian leaders through providing an innovative community of servant scholars who engage both the mind and spirit.

Our mission and vision — The mission of Hardin-Simmons University is to be a community dedicated to providing excellence in education enlightened by Christian faith and values. Hardin-Simmons University will be an innovative community of servant scholars engaging the minds and nurturing the spirits of future Christian leaders.

Spiritual life — Our mission is to ensure we walk alongside our students as they do life at Hardin-Simmons University. We offer a plentiful campus ministry so each student has the opportunity for spiritual formation while they are at HSU. We desire to engage students spiritually and emotionally.

Affordable — Hardin-Simmons University has been named one of the nation’s “Best Affordable Colleges” by Colleges of Distinction in its inaugural list of “Affordable Colleges of Distinction for 2023.” HSU is one of only 124 schools in the nation and one of only two Texas private universities to earn the “Affordable College of Distinction” designation.

Below are the possible scholarships that HSU students may be eligible to receive:

Award Annual Trustees $20,000

Presidents $18,000 Deans $16,000

University $14,000

Opportunity $12,000

Awards are based upon high school GPA and ACT, SAT or CLT test scores. Students must be enrolled full-time in consecutive fall/spring semesters and maintain the minimum GPA for renewal.

HSU Heritage Scholarship — For dependents of full-time Christian pastors or missionaries, dependents of HSU alumni, or families with multiple siblings attending HSU concurrently. Not available to recipients of Honors or Leland scholarships.

Simmons Exchange Grant — For students with financial need. The Simmons Exchange Grant is funded by various sources. The Lord has blessed HSU with donations from alumni, parents, friends and foundations who generously give to HSU each year. These gifts plus other federal and state grant programs make up the Simmons Exchange Grant, which lowers the tuition cost of an HSU Education.

Honors scholarships — Students chosen for admission to the Julius Olsen Honors Program will be awarded $23,000 annually for up to four years. Top honors candidates may qualify to receive the Leland Scholarship for full tuition for four years.

Leland Scholarship — Top candidates chosen for the Julius Olsen Honors Program may qualify for this prestigious award of full tuition for four years. Leland is awarded in lieu of Academic or Honors scholarships.

Church Match Scholarship — Up to $1,000 match per semester. Church Match Scholarship application required.

Departmental scholarships — Available to majors studying in one of our five colleges or schools.

Outside Scholarships — Outside scholarships are available from many sources. Check out My Scholarship Guide in the Financial Aid section of our website.

Ministerial Grant — For students planning to enter the ministry. An application must be submitted to the Logsdon School of Theology.

Academics at HSU — Our degree from Hardin-Simmons will represent to the world a rigorous, useful and modern academic education, as well as the personal and spiritual development we provide our students.

Hardin-Simmons University offers more than 50 bachelor’s degrees and minors through our five different colleges, and we’re always evaluating programs and offering new undergraduate degrees.

2022-2023 UNDERGRADUATE STATISTICS APPROXIMATE PERCENTAGE OF STUDENTS BY RACE/ETHNICITY

UNIVERSITY STATISTICAL INFORMATION

*Non

SUMMARY FINANCIAL STATEMENT

ROBERT B. SLOAN President

7502 Fondren Houston, Texas 77074-3298 hbu.edu

hbuonline.com

In September, Houston Christian University (HCU) celebrated the grand opening of the Morris Family Center for Law & Liberty, modeled after Independence Hall in Philadelphia. A major gift from Dr. Stewart Morris and the Joella and Stewart Morris Foundation established the Center in 2018. Its mission focuses on promoting an appreciation of American history and an understanding of our nation’s founding principles. The center serves as an outreach to our community and beyond. Since its opening, the Morris Family Center has hosted a number of events as well as educational tours for K-12 students and the community.

In conjunction with the historical mission of the Morris Family Center, Dr. Christopher Hammons, director of the Morris Family Center for Law & Liberty and government professor at HCU, was awarded a prestigious National Society Daughters of the American Revolution Founders Medal at the organization’s March state convention.

After several years of consideration, research and prayerful review, the Board of Trustees announced the decision to change the name Houston Baptist University to Houston Christian University on Sept. 21. During the 2022-23 academic year, the university has focused on a branding campaign, including logo development and expanded recognition to all publics. HCU remains true to the Preamble on which the university was founded in 1960. Additional foundational documents include the University Mission, the Scripture and Christian Worldview, and the Ten Core Convictions that express the university’s essential beliefs and give shape to our strategic plans and the transformative projects we hope to undertake during the next 10 years.

HCU is moving forward with great momentum with the Sherry and Jim Smith STEM and Nursing Complex. The building will include facilities to be utilized by both the College of Science and Engineering and the School of Nursing and Allied Health.

Recently, we recognized a number of significant firsts, including the first graduating class of engineering students from the College of Science & Engineering and the first students to earn Doctor of Education degrees in Executive Leadership in Mental Health and Human Services from the College of Education & Behavioral Sciences. The university has seen academic growth in multiple areas and now offers 109 programs across the graduate and undergraduate level, including the prestigious Doctor of Ministry, HCU’s fourth doctoral program. The university has celebrated more than 25,400 degrees that have been conferred since HCU’s first graduating class in 1967.

In December, Braxton Harris joined the HCU family as the second head football coach in the university’s history. Harris previously spent three seasons at Campbell University, during which time he brought in the top ranked recruiting class in the FCS. Prior to Campbell, Harris was the head coach at Howard Payne University in Brownwood, Texas.

Husky athletes continue to proudly lead both on the field and in the classroom. Women’s basketball won HCU’s first-ever Southland Conference regular-season championship in April. More than 230 student athletes were named to the Southland Conference Commissioner’s Honor Rolls for 2021-2022.

On Oct. 26, 2023, the Spirit of Excellence Gala will celebrate Spirit of Excellence Award honorees, including Cindy and Dan Wilford, Nichole and Benny ’86 Agosto, and Alex and Randy ’84 Sorrels. And Drs. Gloria and Wiley Biles will be awarded posthumously the President’s Award. Alumni family members Jo ‘77 and Charles ’77 Canton will accept the award on the Biles’ behalf. This prestigious event supports scholarships for the university.

We are grateful for the countless blessings the Lord has bestowed on HCU and look forward to another year as we invest deeper in the value of a Christian higher education and expand our influence in the community and world beyond.

HOUSTON CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY STATISTICAL INFORMATION

2022 - 2023

*Non duplicating totals for the 2022-23 school year.

SUMMARY FINANCIAL STATEMENT

As of the end of the 4th quarter of the fiscal year, May 31, 2023 (unaudited)

CORY HINES, PH.D. President 1000 Fisk Street Brownwood, Texas 76801 hputx.edu

Since 1889, Howard Payne University (HPU) has prepared students for intellectual inquiry, personal and professional integrity, and service to God and humanity. HPU is committed to developing students to understand what the words of Ephesians 2:10 mean to them. Students must recognize they are God’s workmanship, created in Him to do good works, which He has prepared in advance for them to do.

In October 2022, the Howard Payne University Board of Trustees approved the university’s 2023-2028 strategic plan, Enhancing the Student Experience. Over the next five years, Howard Payne University will focus efforts and resources on Enhancing the Student Experience across locations in Brownwood, New Braunfels and El Paso. This endeavor will maintain and further strengthen HPU’s commitment to students in providing a Christcentered academic community dedicated to excellence by developing and equipping students with the critical thinking skills, integrity and service mindset necessary for lives that glorify God.

The university has been blessed by another strong year of financial support provided by faithful alumni and friends of the institution. As of March 31, 2023, nearly $700,000 has been raised during the 2022-2023 fiscal year for endowed and non-endowed scholarships, accounting for almost 20% of the university’s fundraising for the fiscal year. Since 2019, the university’s endowment has grown from $65 million to over $75 million. In addition, HPU recently hosted the inaugural Robnett Founders Dinner, a new annual fundraising dinner that will support a different university priority each year, where nearly $250,000 was raised toward fully funding the renovation of the Douglas MacArthur Academy of Freedom, the home of the university’s Guy D. Newman Honors Academy, which is set to open at the start of the Fall 2023 semester.

In Summer 2022, Howard Payne was named the top-ranked university in Texas on the Forbes 2022 College Financial Grades list. HPU received an A- grade, ranked 61st out of 905 private, not-for-profit institutions of higher education, was among only 69 institutions in the United States to receive an A- ranking or higher from Forbes, and will finish the fiscal year in the black for the fourth straight year.

Alongside recognition for the university’s financial health, HPU continues to receive acknowledgment for achievement in educational service. For example, HPU was recently commended by the Texas State Board of Education Certification for exemplary performance in preparing and supporting teachers employed in rural schools. Howard Payne’s Educator Preparation program was one of only four other programs in Texas to receive the commendation.

As continued evidence of HPU’s commitment to area schools, the university and representatives of the seven independent school districts in Brown County announced in January 2023 the launch of a partnership to provide automatic acceptance to the university for high-achieving students from area high schools. Per the arrangements, HPU will grant automatic admission to students from these high schools who graduate within the top 25% of their respective classes and waive the testing requirement and application fee. In addition, area high school graduates who qualify for HPU’s Heart of Texas Scholarship Program will receive an award guarantee of $60,000 over four years.

Finally, the university announced two new scholarship programs during the 2022-2023 fiscal year to promote affordable access to quality, Christ-centered higher education. The Head Start Scholarship is designed to help students earn college credit through dual credit courses while earning scholarship funds for each dual credit course completed. The Church Matching Scholarship program will match church gifts of up to $3,500 per student per academic year. This program will be available to full-time and part-time undergraduate and graduate students at HPU.

HOWARD PAYNE UNIVERSITY STATISTICAL INFORMATION

2022 - 2023

SUMMARY FINANCIAL STATEMENT -

RANDY O’REAR President 900 College Street Belton, Texas 76513 umhb.edu

The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor (UMHB) prepares students for lives of leadership, service and faith-informed discernment in a global society. Academic excellence, personal attention, broad-based scholarship and a Baptist vision for education distinguish our Christ-centered learning community. This year the university celebrates its 178th anniversary, having been founded in 1845 by the Republic of Texas.

Academics

Currently, the university offers bachelor’s degrees in more than 60 undergraduate majors, 11 master’s degree programs and two doctoral degrees. This spring, the university launched a fully online, affordable, self-paced Bachelor of Applied Studies in Worship Leadership. Featuring courses in church music and worship, Christian ministry, and business leadership, this program offers practical skills for those serving in ministry.

UMHB will offer several new majors in Fall 2023. Within the College of Humanities and Sciences, UMHB will offer a BS in Bioinformatics, a BS in Cybersecurity and a BS in Neuroscience. Additionally, the university will introduce a BA in Religion and Public Life, a BS in Educational Advocacy, and a BS in Information Systems.

Campus improvements

Construction has begun for the Marek-Smith Center for Teacher Preparation, a groundbreaking training facility to prepare general and special education majors for various academic environments. Innovative spaces will incorporate immersive, multisensory and interactive equipment to enhance the overall learning experience. The building is expected to open in Spring 2024.

The university has also begun construction on a Golf Performance Center for the UMHB men’s and women’s golf teams. The golf clubhouse is designed by one of the world’s most widely-acclaimed sports venue designers, Earl Santee of Populous. A practice facility with three holes and additional short-game practice areas is designed by legendary golfer and world-renowned golf course architect Ben Crenshaw. UMHB anticipates the new practice areas will be completed and ready for use in Fall 2023.

Student life

Global Outreach launched teams in Kentucky, Florida, Costa Rica, Hungary/Romania, Ireland and Ecuador in December 2022. UMHB also hosted the fifth annual Psalm 139 women’s conference in January, and Baptist Student Ministries took many students and staff members to serve at Beach Reach on South Padre Island during spring break.

UMHB hosted its 24th annual spring revival in March. Approximately 1,000 students attended each of the three evening sessions, with an additional 800 via live stream. Dale Wallace from Harris Creek Baptist Church in Waco brought engaging messages, and The Worship Initiative led dynamic worship.

On April 5, UMHB hosted its 84th annual Easter Pageant on campus. The three pageant performances attracted thousands of people in person and through live streams. More than 350 UMHB students and children and grandchildren of faculty and staff participated in the planning and production of the pageant, which chronicles moments from the gospel story. The tradition of the annual Easter pageant at UMHB began in 1940 when it was held on Easter Day.

Athletics

The 2022-2023 school year was incredibly successful for UMHB athletics. The UMHB football team celebrated its 25th season with a NCAA Division III National Semifinalist finish and the program’s 18th American Southwest Conference championship. Men’s soccer and women’s soccer also won their respective ASC championships. Additionally, the university’s men’s basketball team competed in the NCAA sectionals for the second consecutive season.

Many thanks

The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor continues to move toward its vision of being the university of choice for Christian higher education in the Southwest. Many thanks to Texas Baptists and others who support the university’s efforts to prepare students for lives of Christian service and leadership.

UNIVERSITY OF MARY HARDIN BAYLOR STATISTICAL INFORMATION

2022 - 2023

SUMMARY FINANCIAL STATEMENT

BOBBY L. HALL President

1900 West Seventh Street Plainview, Texas 79072 wbu.edu

Academic excellence with emphasis on ministry continues to serve as the strength of Wayland Baptist University, a distinctively Christian institution with more than 114 years of tradition.

“I am unashamedly in love with this place and our mission of Christian higher education,” President Bobby Hall said at the university’s convocation chapel. Examples of that commitment have abounded from words spoken by Dr. George Yancey, author of Beyond Racial Division: A Unifying Alternative to Colorblindness and Antiracism, during professional development sessions to the arrival of Mariia Syzonenko, a 19-year-old freshman from Dnipro, Ukraine. Personally invited by the president and trustee Sherman Aten, Mariia traveled through her war-torn country to get to Wayland. Overwhelmed by the love and determination shown to get her to the campus, she shed tears of joy upon arrival.

Recognition of Wayland’s emphasis on academic excellence came with the awarding of three grants. The U.S. Department of Education provided $597,217 for a Virtual Center of Excellence for Veteran Students. The university was awarded a nearly $3 million Title V grant to ensure the academic success of Hispanic and low-income, first-generation students. The grant funds Wayland’s effort to improve support for Hispanic students and expand information systems to improve student success. The Robert Welch Foundation awarded a three-year $120,000 grant expanding Wayland’s highly successful Welch Summer Research Program.

Accenting strong ties with Texas Baptists, Wayland recognized Dr. David Hardage, retired executive director of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, for his service and support. Dr. Katie Frugé, director of the Texas Baptists Center for Cultural Engagement and director of the Christian Life Commission, was invited to speak, and Dr. Todd von Helms, author of Before You Leave: For College, Career and Eternity was on campus for the annual Willson Lectures. During spring break, students ministered on South Padre Island and to immigrants in Mission. The return of Super Summer echoes Wayland’s commitment to work with Texas Baptists.

During a time when economic conditions create challenges, Wayland engaged the largest number of donors in the recorded history of the university. Demonstrating that momentum, Winds of Change, a publication of the American Indian Science and Engineering Society, named Wayland one of the top 200 colleges for indigenous students. Also, Wayland was ranked number eight among Most Affordable Online Colleges for Spanish Degrees. People are taking notice as a Dunroe Inc. report found the university’s number of Instagram followers is growing at a faster percentage than other Christian universities. Dunroe ranked Wayland number one in Follower Growth Percentage.

Brick-and-mortar evidence of Wayland’s success can be seen in the steel framework for the $7.5 million Kenneth L. Maddox School of Mathematics and Science and the opening of the Flying Queens Museum. Wayland’s School of Nursing moved to Live Oak to provide a higher level of excellence with state-of-the-art classrooms and simulation labs at the institution’s San Antonio campus.

Reaching out, students delivered 2,600 food items to Plainview’s Faith in Sharing House, provided 600 water bottles to a Lubbock elementary school, raised $1,260 for Children’s Miracle Network during a 12-hour e-sports game night, and shared Jesus with the “Lighting Up Wayland” celebration and a nativity scenes museum exhibit.

The university’s first softball team took the field and will play a full schedule of Sooner Athletic Conference games next season. Christian James Vaughn became the first Wayland student to graduate with the Accelerated Bachelor’s to Master’s Degree, which incorporates a Bachelor of Christian Ministry and a Master of Divinity.

Wayland’s success can now be heard around the world. After 72 years of broadcasting to the community, KWLD-FM went global with Christian music and Wayland sports on RadioFX.

WAYLAND BAPTIST UNIVERSITY STATISTICAL INFORMATION

2022 - 2023

SUMMARY FINANCIAL STATEMENT

BRIAN N. GUENTHER President

2801 Ranch Road 12

San Marcos Academy, located in the beautiful Texas hill country, is a fully accredited private Christian school for students in PreK3 through the 12th grade, with a boarding program for students in 6-12th grades. The curriculum at the academy is designed to engage and inspire students, preparing them for success in life and in college. The academy has a diverse population of students from around the world, across the United States and all over Texas. Since 1907, San Marcos Academy has provided a tradition of excellence in private Christian school education.

The 2022-2023 school year ended with 352 PreK3 through 12th-grade students. In addition to a rigorous core curriculum, the academy offers fine arts instruction, competitive athletics, leadership training, recreational and after-school programs and much more. The commitment of San Marcos Academy has always been to offer excellence to each and every student, and the quality of the academy’s outstanding graduates confirms the success of that goal.

The academy employs a School Resource Officer and a front gate attendant as part of a robust safety plan that aligns with the Hays County Standard Response Protocol.

Highlights from the year include the following:

• The academy welcomed its largest middle school population in recent history.

• The long-awaited terracing project at the McCoy/Remme Athletic Complex and Ingram Stadium is now complete. The new terracing not only enhances the look and feel of the stadium but also mitigates erosion damage.

• The Lower School playground was expanded through a generous donation to include a large jungle gym, slide, monkey bars and various other play structures. This playground area also makes for a great location for little ones who like to run and play during an Academy Bears home football game.

• The development team implemented the Green and Purple Fund, renaming the Annual Fund Campaign. Donations help provide funds to close the gap between tuition dollars and expenses.

• The 5th grade class attended the Governor’s Inauguration in Austin on Jan. 17.

• 35 upper school students and chaperones toured Scotland and Ireland over spring break. Middle school students traveled on an educational trip to Boston in April.

• At the 115th Annual Commencement, the academy presented diplomas to 35 seniors. The class of 2023 received merit scholarships totaling more than $1,300,000.

San Marcos, Texas 78666 smabears.org

SAN MARCOS BAPTIST ACADEMY STATISTICAL INFORMATION

2022 - 2023

SUMMARY FINANCIAL STATEMENT

TONY CELELI President 7000 Ocean Drive Corpus Christi, TX 78501 stark.edu

Stark College & Seminary (SCS) exists to equip educationally under-served followers of Christ for service in the church and community.

Stark is uniquely positioned to serve and reach leaders in South Texas and beyond who want to answer God’s call to ministry and receive an education in the region where they live. The special emphasis on the “under-served” population contributes to what we call “Stark distinctives” that makes SCS different from other seminaries. Stark distinctives include having affordable tuition, providing a range of different modalities in which students can earn their education and uniting a diverse population of students and faculty that reflect not only the region’s demographic but the kingdom of God.

Distinctive 1: Discounted tuition

Stark’s non-traditional students are older and juggle work and ministry while simultaneously providing for their families. These leaders lack the necessary resources to pay for a typical college education. Discounted tuition is just one way Stark’s uniqueness is valued by its students. Endowed and institutional scholarships enable ministers and advanced lay leaders the opportunity to earn ministry degrees at unheard of rates. For example, Certificate in Ministry classes cost $300, Diploma in Ministry classes cost $450, Bachelor of Arts in Ministry classes cost $600, and Master of Arts in Ministry classes cost $750. Thanks to the generosity of donors, 100% of students received financial aid and scholarships this past year.

Distinctive 2: Flexible modalities

Various educational modalities fit the needs and busy lifestyles of SCS students. These forms of classroom modalities range from in-person, Zoom, hybrid, online and hy-flex courses. The most recent addition is the “hy-flex modality” that allows students the choice to attend class face-to-face, via video or online on a weekly basis. While SCS has a main campus in Corpus Christi and a second campus in McAllen, extended classrooms are as close as a local church. For leaders serving outside of Texas, SCS students enjoy online accredited educational opportunities wherever their ministry assignment takes them.

Distinctive 3: Kingdom diversity

The kingdom of God is a beautiful kaleidoscope of divine image bearers. At Stark, God’s kingdom is the model for diversity. For example, during the 2022-23 academic year, the student population reflected 47% Hispanic, 29% Caucasian, 21% African American and 3% other. Also, 44% of students were female and 56% were male. Lastly, 59% of students were over 40 years old. The faculty reflected 25% Hispanic, 54% Caucasian, 17% African American and 4% Asian. Also, 25% were female and 75% were male. SCS continually strives to represent the demographic of its student population, not only in its faculty, but also in its staff and trustees.

Stark College & Seminary is accredited with the Association of Biblical Higher Education (ABHE) for all programs, including the Certificate in Ministry (19 hours), Diploma in Ministry (60 hours), BA in Ministry (120 hours), and MA in Ministry (44 hours). In addition to NC-Sara online accreditation, SCS has several articulation agreements with other educational institutions across the state of Texas, creating a pathway for students to graduate with degrees whether ministry related or not. Visit www.stark.edu for more details.

STARK COLLEGE & SEMINARY STATISTICAL INFORMATION

SUMMARY FINANCIAL STATEMENT

OTHAL E. BRAND JR.

3700 E. Harrison Harlingen, Texas 78550 vbmec.org

Missions

Valley Baptist Mission Education Center’s (VBMEC) two youth campuses housed over 2,700 campers. Guests from 92 churches and other Christian organizations worked on church construction and participated in Vacation Bible School day camps. They also witnessed to poor residents of colonias throughout the Rio Grande Valley.

Distribution Program

After working last year’s farmer to family food box program. VBMEC continued to work with five national and international distribution organizations. This year VBMEC distributed over $9,000,000 in food, clothing, appliances and household supplies to more than 120 churches and their members.

Christmas Programs

VBMEC has winter Texans and retirees who sewed and filled over 2,300 Christmas stockings for this year. The children from 13 churches were blessed.

Youth Programs

Weekly programs for youth continue. Over 6,500 professions of faith and over 2,200 baptisms took place among the youth we serve.

Help for Homes

Twenty-seven churches and five homes had repairs done. Work was accomplished for older members belonging to Baptist churches throughout the Rio Grande Valley.

Being part of the Baptist life of God’s Kingdom is always rewarding to those who serve and seek opportunities to spread His Word.

VALLEY BAPTIST MISSIONS EDUCATION CENTER

PRELIMINARY - CONDENSED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION

ENDING DECEMBER 31, 2022

These financial statements summarize the financial position and the results of the operations of Valley Baptist Missions Education Center for the year indicated. The reader should refer to the statements on file at the Center’s offices for full disclosure and further information.

STEVE DALRYMPLE President/CEO & Chief Legal Officer 701 Park Place Amarillo, Texas 79101 baptist community services.com

Baptist Community Services (BCS) is a multi-organizational system that operates and provides a variety of facilities and services to the Panhandle region of Texas. BCS’ primary focus is on the provision of quality, spiritual-based services to senior adults.

Park Central community

The Park Central campus near downtown Amarillo is currently comprised of eight facilities which provide independent living services, assisted living services, memory care services and long-term care nursing services to senior adults. Apartment facilities and services are provided at Park Place Towers, The Continental, The Harrington, The Talmage Apartments and the Plemons Court Apartments. Park Place Towers, The Continental and The Harrington facilities provide a wide array of services to their respective residents, including a Nurse Navigator program (health care access services), a chaplaincy program, dining services, housekeeping and transportation services. The Talmage Apartments and the Plemons Court Apartments provide affordable housing facilities for lower income senior adults, with access to the services of the Park Central campus. A complete range of assisted living services are provided at the Winfred and Elizabeth Moore Assisted Living Center. The Sycamore is another assisted living facility operated by BCS which provides specialized memory care/dementia services. BCS also provides a complete range of longterm care nursing services at its nursing home facility, The Ware.

Roving chaplaincy program

This chaplaincy ministry consists of 12 chaplains provided by BCS, who provide spiritual care for residents and families, as well as the staff/employees of 20 senior living facilities (i.e. nursing homes, assisted living centers, etc.), a senior adult low-income housing complex, a free health care clinic and a senior community center in the Amarillo area (which are not affiliated facilities of BCS).

Snack Pak 4 Kids

This feeding ministry feeds more than 10,000 children and teenagers in the Texas Panhandle, who are experiencing food insecurity on weekends (not only during the school year, but also when school is out). Nutritious food packs are delivered each week for weekend use for these children and their families.

BAPTIST COMMUNITY SERVICES STATISTICAL INFORMATION

2022 - 2023

Provided on-campus or residential care 4,320

Served in own homes and off-campus care

Provided financial aid only

Provided college education or special training

Served through other ministries

SUMMARY FINANCIAL STATEMENT

ALBERT L. REYES President/CEO

Hope is just a dream for so many.

Last year held so many personally exciting experiences for me, but among the top of my list was leading our first international trip since COVID-19 restrictions began in 2020. Our team visited the Buckner Family Hope Center® in Jocotenango, Guatemala, which was full of school-age children and their parents who were ready to receive new shoes, school supplies, life skills classes and other services. I also talked to several families that have participated in the Family Hope Center ministry.

That’s where I met Valentina, a teen girl who made a big impression on me. Valentina, her sister and her parents live in a home that wouldn’t seem to support anything big. It’s an apartment accessed by a tiny alley and consists of just three rooms: A kitchen, bedroom and bathroom. It is less than 200 square feet total.

Out of this small apartment, Valentina shared her big dream of one day becoming an engineer. She also revealed it was a hope she never would have chased because at one time, her mother didn’t support it, discouraging her from daring to dream. But because of the parent-child communication skills Valentina’s mom learned at the Family Hope Center, she began listening to Valentina’s dreams and – just as important – began supporting them.

Valentina was one of more than 106,000 lives who dreamed of and saw hope through one of our ministries last year. Buckner and all of you who support us – are shining hope brightly into homes like Valentina’s that need support, encouragement, coaching and dreams of hope for a brighter future.

Among our brightest highlights of last year were:

• 90% of children were successfully discharged from Buckner foster care in Texas and internationally (Kenya, Peru and Guatemala) into family permanency.

• 305 children lived in a safe environment with their single mother or father in a Buckner Family Pathways® community.

• 35,508 family members were strengthened through the Buckner Family Hope Center® model.

• 12,804 people from families, churches or organizations made memories to last a lifetime at Camp Buckner.

• 2,905 residents and members were served by our Buckner Retirement Services team, the team that’s Inspiring happiness® for seniors in six Texas senior living communities.

• More than $2.7 million was provided through Buckner Senior Care and Assistance to residents whose funds have run out.

There were so many more stories of fulfilled dreams. In the coming year, I want you to dream with me about how together we can shine hope and meet even more dreams. If you are attracted by our four guiding ministry pillars to protect children, strengthen families, transform generations and serve seniors, then I invite you to join us.

Thank you for helping us make dreams a reality for these lives this past year. Thank you for your partnership, your prayers, your volunteer efforts and your support. Thank you, Texas Baptists!

700 N. Pearl Street, Suite 1200 Dallas, Texas 75201 buckner.org

BUCKNER INTERNATIONAL - STATISTICAL INFORMATION - ALL MINISTRIES

CHILDREN & FAMILY SERVICES

SUMMARY FINANCIAL STATEMENT (as of 12/31/2022 unaudited)

TODD ROBERSON President & CEO

1301 N. Mays Round Rock, Texas

78664- 2945

cahm.org

Serving children. Strengthening families.

2022 was a time of returning to normalcy. After two years of uncertainty and confusion, it was refreshing to meet face-to-face again, have fun events, celebrate the holidays in big ways and connect with one another. God has allowed us the privilege of continuing to serve children, families and young adults, as well as experience growth throughout our ministries.

Former clients who have previously been a part of the program at Texas Baptist Children’s Home, Miracle Farm or Gracewood when they were younger children often say things like, “I never realized my family was in turmoil. At the time, I just thought it was a fun place to live.” We are so thankful for the positive impact made this past year in the lives of many who have come through our doors.

In 2022, Gracewood continued its mission of offering home, hope and healing to singlemother families. Last year, our Houston campus served 37 children and 20 single mothers who needed a soft place to land and the chance to recover, gain new strength and build toward a brighter future. The ministry also helped over 50 families in Aftercare, providing food, clothing, counseling and a steadying hand as these families transitioned into selfsufficiency. Gracewood counselors delivered over 1,500 hours of individual and family counseling to help families heal from their past and move forward. The children on campus thrived with enrichment opportunities added this year, such as the bi-weekly art classes and the new, interactive playground that became a focal point and gathering place for the Gracewood community. Additionally, seven mothers in residence were able to complete education programs, putting them even closer to independence.

Miracle Farm, our Brenham ranch campus, offered home and the chance of a lifetime to 21 teenage residents during 2022, providing academic recovery, vocational training, the horse program and spiritual development to help them overcome challenges and face the future with confidence. Throughout the year, we felt God leading us to open an additional home on campus so we could serve six more boys, and He provided new house parents and a program director with a background in counseling. Miracle Farm was continually blessed throughout the year in the form of improvements that we were able to make on the campus. We were able to drill two more water wells, add well houses, make numerous improvements to structures on campus and generous donors even provided a dump truck and new tractor. The boys were able to help with many of the improvements, giving them valuable skills they can use in the future.

Last year, Texas Baptist Children’s Home in Round Rock served 118 children and 66 single mothers in residence with its Family Care program and 23 young adults in residence with its Home Base program for emerging adults. The ministry also offered Aftercare to 180 children and 94 single mothers who needed additional guidance after transitioning to independence. TBCH HOPE Program counselors nearly doubled its previous service level, delivering more than 9,000 hours of free professional counseling to residential and community clients on the Round Rock campus and at a satellite location in Georgetown. In 2022, our scholarships supported five students in continuing their educational goals and 34 of our clients opened a savings account for the first time. One of the most exciting updates to share is we had seven professions of faith and one baptism this year. Our moms, children and young adults experienced spiritual guidance in the form of campus mentors, Bible studies and attending local churches.

God’s faithfulness was unmistakable throughout 2022 in providing the strength we needed in each moment and by allowing us to witness lives transformed through His provision. We are deeply grateful for our Texas Baptists family who walk alongside Children At Heart Ministries as we work together to honor God and build a better world by serving children and strengthening families.

“Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.” – Isaiah 1:17

CHILDREN

ERON GREEN President PO Box 1210

Beeville, Texas 78104-1210

stchm.org

“Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained; but happy is he who keeps the law.” –Proverbs 29:18

At the beginning of 2023, we embarked on an exciting journey called Vision 2025. The pursuit of where God would have us at the end of 2025. As we begin this process, we appreciate your prayers and are expecting God will continue to use STCH Ministries in amazing ways.

We would like to share a few ideas and help you to understand a bit about where we currently are in the vision pursuit. Through God’s leadership and power, we will press on to become all God has in store for STCH Ministries. As an organization we will strive to:

• Ensure all phases of this ministry will be completed in a manner that will ultimately bring honor and glory to Jesus Christ.

• Ensure all children and mothers in our campus care will be provided a safe haven of love and refuge and the opportunities to realize the fulfillment of their hopes and dreams.

• Ensure the ministry provided to families and individuals is Christ-based and of the highest professional standard.

• Nurture and grow our children and families spiritually to have an active, deep and growing relationship with Jesus Christ.

• Wisely use the financial gifts we receive; this will include remaining debt free.

• Remain completely funded by charitable gifts and not take state or federal funds. Our mission statement is to honor God, to reach children and families with His love and truth while enabling others to join us in our ministry.

Our vision statement is to show the love of Christ to each and every child and family to whom we minister. We do this by creating a culture where the needs of children and families are seen and met in creative and innovative ways. Efficiency and accountability are strategic priorities with effectiveness and excellence as the resulting evidence. We desire God to use STCH Ministries in mighty ways to do His work.

Our ministries

• Homes for Children: A campus that provides a loving, family environment for children in need.

• Homes for Families: A safe haven for mothers and their children whose families are in crisis.

• Family Counseling: Professional counseling that is both clinically excellent and distinctively Christian.

• International Ministry: Family-friendly mission trips where Americans can work side by side with local believers in churches, orphanages and Christian schools to meet needs and advance the gospel.

• Faith & Work: Guiding people to discover God’s purpose for their lives and how to fulfill that purpose through their work.

• Faith & Finances: A 12-week class that teaches biblical principles of money management.

• Pastor Care: Ministering to ministers through confidential counseling and pulpit supply.

• Family Support: Connecting people in need with resources and guidance.

• Ministry Consulting: Sharing expertise and resources with other like-minded ministries.

Baptist Health System (BHS) is a leading provider of health care services in South-Central Texas. We continue to evaluate the needs of our community and react to serve where we are needed with the highest quality care and best patient experience possible.

North Central Baptist Hospital has invested $3 million in renovation of 13,000 square feet of space in the Women’s Services Department to include cosmetic upgrades and refurbishment of 16 labor and delivery, recovery and postpartum rooms, nurses station, hallways and adjoining areas with capacity to expand labor and delivery services. Expansion includes the addition of two operating rooms, one with a surgical robot dedicated for women’s procedures to add surgical capacity to the hospital creating a dedicated space for women’s surgery. The other OR will be for general OB/Gyn. Baptist Children’s Hospital at North Central celebrated 25 years of service to the most vulnerable in our community – our children.

Mission Trail Baptist Hospital has achieved Advanced Primary Stroke Center Certification and earned Level II (Specialty Care) Maternal designation in Perinatal Care and Neonatal Level II designation. Mission Trail opened a Healthy Women’s Center in the Medical Office Building adjacent to the hospital, which aims to help women who go to the ED with pregnancy complications get connected with an OB/Gyn.

Northeast Baptist Hospital attained Primary Plus Stroke Center Designation and continued its focus on neuro-interventional services for the surrounding community.

Resolute Baptist Hospital rebranded from Resolute Health, to further align the hospital with the Baptist brand and its association with the scope of services available to New Braunfels residents at our sister hospitals. Resolute also earned Advanced Primary Stroke Center Certification. The hospital set a record for births.

Baptist Medical Center opened a neuro-interventional suite and upgraded gastrointerventional suite, bringing expanded neurologic and gastro-interventional care to patients.

Construction began on the new Westover Hills Baptist Medical Campus. The campus will consist of a 100-bed acute care hospital, medical office building and ambulatory surgery center. The hospital is expected to open in mid 2024.

Baptist has purchased 23 acres of land purchased at IH-10 and Hwy 46 in Boerne with plans for an acute care hospital with outpatient services, medical office building and other ancillary health care services.

Among some of the achievements Baptist Health System hospitals have earned this year include:

• Resolute Health Hospital and North Central Baptist Hospital were named Leapfrog Top Hospitals in Texas and the U.S. in 2022.

• Baptist Health System was named “Best Regional Hospital” for 2022 and 2023 by U.S. News & World Report.

• Forbes in 2022 named Baptist among “America’s Best Employers By State” Top in Texas.

• All hospitals earned Leapfrog A’s for safety and quality in the past reporting period.

• In the past year, the Baptist Physician Network was given a new name and look. Baptist Medical Network leverages the strong brand recognition of our hospitals. Our network of primary and specialist physicians continues to grow and provide critical services for our community.

Our mission and ministry team promotes a holistic care culture within the BHS community. They provide professional spiritual care and education, while serving beside all BHS team members to offer whole person care to the community’s most vulnerable people who come to us for service. Also, our Pastoral Care Education program was re-accredited through the national ACPE.

Total FTE’s as of December 2022 were 4,635.5 with a total headcount of 5,976. Our total number of licensed beds is 1,794.

MATT STONE President 215 E. Quincy, Suite 200 San Antonio, Texas 78215 baptisthealth system.com

BAPTIST HEALTH SYSTEM & RESOLUTE HEALTH HOSPITAL STATISTICAL INFORMATION

JUSTIN DOSS President/CEO 3080 College Street

Baptist Hospitals of Southeast Texas (BHSET) operates as a not-for-profit health care system with spiritual values dedicated to providing high quality health care services to improve the health of the community we serve. BHSET supports many community projects through funding, sponsorships, supplies, testing and donated hours. The hospital utilizes social media platforms with over 15,000 followers to educate the public and encourage awareness of disease processes and how to be a healthier community. Physicians and staff participate in roundtable discussions, PSA videos, health care panels, Rotary meetings and public events to promote education, prevention and treatment initiatives.

Employees participated this year in numerous American Cancer Society events, Harvest of Heroes, Fall into Heart Luncheon and raised thousands of dollars for our NICU. BHSET proudly provides support groups for patients and families including diabetes, bariatrics and childbirth education to encourage follow-up care and continued education for patients before, during and after a hospital visit.

While the COVID-19 pandemic created a need for tremendous resources, it also created a vast opportunity for public education and community involvement. Baptist employees volunteered at a local church scanning temperatures for over 150 people at a community event, partnered with the county to create an infusion clinic for treatments, Baptist physicians educated 149 industrial workers at a virtual town hall on prevention and treatment and provided PSAs through various media outlets on long-term side effects and vaccination efficacies.

BHSET employees support the community through blood drives and fundraisers, raising $11,132 this year for the Employee and the Chaplains’ Emergency Funds. Baptist representatives called on community support in hosting an Alzheimer’s Association community forum for 35 participants to discuss the needs of local Alzheimer’s patients and their families. Employees adopted 115 children, seniors and cancer patients for the holiday season, giving toys, clothes and gift cards to community members in need.

BHSET continues to increase presence in the community through partnerships and collaborations. The Partners in Education Program provides an established relationship between BHSET and several local elementary and high schools and contributes to both students and staff by providing donated hours and funding for school events, hosting student tours and shadowing, and providing flu vaccines and wellness information to staff. In partnership with the Julie Rogers Gift of Life Mammogram Program, BHSET helps make mammography services available to women/men in need. Since the inception of this program, over 27,400 free mammograms have been provided to Southeast Texans. During the past year, 1,451 mammograms were provided at BHSET in Beaumont and Orange, Texas. Additionally, BHSET makes hospital personnel available to speak for civic groups, industrial partners, media appearances and health fairs to address the health needs of our community and in the past year provided outreach to 40,144 individuals.

The Department of Religion at BHSET provides numerous benefits to patients, family members and the community at large. The chaplains provide financial assistance through the Chaplain’s Emergency Fund, donating $24,502.92 this year for medicine, food, housing and travel to patients and family members throughout Southeast Texas. Additionally, the chaplains provide sessions of pastoral counseling to individuals in the community. The Congregational Health Ministry (Parish Nursing) programming provided unreimbursed services and training to the community through the Faith Community Nurses to function in their respective congregations and assisted them with implementation of their congregational health programming.

For over 70 years, BHSET has provided services to the nine-county area for which we serve. Meeting the community’s mental, physical and spiritual needs has always been the underlying principle upon which this hospital was founded, making fundamental differences in the general health and well-being of the communities we serve.

BAPTIST HOSPITALS OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS STATISTICAL INFORMATION

SUMMARY FINANCIAL STATEMENT

PETER MCCANNA Chief Executive Officer 301 N. Washington Avenue Dallas, Texas 75246 baylorhealth. com

As Texas’ largest not-for-profit health system, Baylor Scott & White Health promotes the health and well-being of every individual, family and community it serves. It is committed to making quality care more accessible, convenient and affordable through its integrated delivery network, which includes the Baylor Scott & White Health Plan, Baylor Scott & White Research Institute, Baylor Scott & White Quality Alliance and its leading digital health platform — MyBSWHealth. Through 51 hospitals and more than 1,200 access points, including flagship academic medical centers in Dallas, Fort Worth and Temple, the system offers the full continuum of care, from primary to award-winning specialty care. Founded as a Christian ministry of healing more than a century ago, Baylor Scott & White today serves more than three million Texans.

Baylor Scott & White nationally recognized Baylor Scott & White is ranked number four in the Top 5 Large Health Systems in the United States by Fortune and Merative (now PINC AI™), based on key quality and safety metrics, including better survival rates, fewer patient complications and better long-term outcomes. In addition, for the fourth consecutive year, the system is the most awardwinning not-for-profit health system in Texas, according to U.S. News & World Report’s 2022-2023 Best Hospitals list.

Office of Mission & Ministry at Baylor Scott & White

The Office of Mission & Ministry’s (OMM) three divisions — Pastoral Care, Pastoral Education and Faith in Action Initiatives (FIAI) — minister Christ’s healing love to people whose lives have been disrupted by illness, injury or death and enhance community health through partnerships with local congregations.

Pastoral Care chaplains recorded 159,506 pastoral encounters with patients, including 5,756 visits at Baylor Scott & White Medical Center – Hillcrest in Waco and 34,321 visits at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas. In addition, chaplains made 141,660 supportive visits with hospital staff.

To provide easily accessible, high-quality spiritual care to staff, patients and families, OMM now offers digital spiritual care. During 2022, OMM saw 223,872 annual users on the community support prayer wall, 12,532 views on the uplift blog, 635 virtual chaplaincy visits and 147 calls to the spiritual care support line. OMM intends to continue its work to broaden its digital footprint to deliver care to customers within their preferred digital space.

Pastoral Education enabled clergy, seminarians and qualified laypersons to earn 81 student units of Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) through virtual classroom experiences and tele-chaplaincy visits with patients and families. As always, CPE participants offered direct spiritual care to patients, family members and staff in hospitals across the system.

FIAI contributes to the spiritual growth of staff and empowers medical mission work. In 2022, it provided nearly $6.5 million in medical supplies and equipment for domestic and international humanitarian aid and mission work, serving nearly 150,000 people. A November mission trip to Nigeria’s southern coast — a region that has received containers with FIAI’s medical supplies for more than six years — illustrates its impact. Within Nigeria, only 50 open heart surgeries are performed on average in the entire nation each year. Over two weeks, we were able to be part of 25 open heart surgeries performed at a new cardiac center — 15 of those were infants and children.

In partnership with local faith congregations, Faith Community Health (FCH) continues to help bridge the gap between health care and community care. Since its founding, FCH has collaborated with 300 faith communities, trained 1,200 volunteers and served 1,100 patients. Learn more at BSWHealth.com/FaithCommunityHealth.

We are grateful for the continued support of Texas Baptists and look forward to the opportunities God will guide us to in the future.

BAYLOR SCOTT & WHITE HEALTH STATISTICAL INFORMATION

SUMMARY FINANCIAL STATEMENT

BRAD HOLLAND President/CEO

1900 Pine Street Abilene, Texas 79601 hendrickhealth.

Hendrick Health — consisting of 959 licensed beds at Hendrick Medical Center and Hendrick Medical Center South in Abilene and Hendrick Medical Center in Brownwood, as well as numerous ancillary outpatient facilities — continues its nearly century-long legacy of service to Abilene and the Texas Midwest region. Our Board of Trustees, administrators, physicians, employees and volunteers channel their diverse skills and talents into the singular mission of delivering high quality health care emphasizing excellence and compassion consistent with the healing ministry of Jesus Christ.

We continue to offer a comprehensive range of services, including women’s health, orthopedics, rehabilitation, oncology, neuroscience, cardiovascular, neonatal intensive care and children’s services. We also partner with local and area educational institutions to train nurses and other health care workers.

Through community health education and support, our outreach activities help to address identified community health needs. Patients receive education both in the hospital and in outpatient settings through support groups and education offerings. Some of these include: Diabetes education and support, stroke support, ostomy support, breast cancer support, better breathers support, bereavement support for adults and youth and perinatal and postnatal education.

Hendrick partners with regional hospitals and clinics to increase access to health care specialties, such as cardiology, oncology, orthopedics, endocrinology, nephrology, neurosurgery, pain management and urology, for persons living in rural areas.

To ensure patients receive their medications at the lowest (or no) cost, Hendrick pharmacy annually fills thousands of scripts for patients in chronic disease management programs.

Hendrick participates in a community-wide behavioral advisory team to confront the needs and challenges of homelessness, alcohol and drug addiction, and mental health crises. We then develop and oversee strategies to meet those needs, identify funding source, and collaborate for the most effective approaches to care and resource utilization.

Hendrick recognizes the challenges of racial and ethnic diversity among health care professionals. In 2020, the Hendrick Foundation created a scholarship fund for minority employees, who seek advanced health education opportunities. Last year, the first scholarship was awarded to a patient care tech, who is currently pursuing a degree in nursing.

In 2022, for the 16th consecutive year, Hendrick received the Gallup Exceptional Workplace Award. We are one of only two companies worldwide to accomplish this feat. We were also recognized as the 2022 Local Employer of Excellence for West Central Texas and one of three finalists statewide for Large Employer of the Year by the Texas Workforce Commission.

Our employees regularly volunteer their time, talents and abilities to many civic and religious organizations. Qualified employees can also receive additional paid time off to participate in approved mission projects. Last year through this program, 15 Hendrick employees traveled to various overseas and domestic mission points such as Kenya, Rwanda, Ghana, Panama, Peru, Comoros Island, Mexico, California and Alaska.

Other expressions of our Christian mission include chaplain ministries at all three hospitals and through Hendrick Hospice Care. Daily inspirational messages are delivered through hospital media, and Bible verses placed in the hallways are a reminder of our spiritual mooring.

The statue, located at the main entrance to Hendrick Medical Center, represents the matrix of ministry and medicine that describes our heritage. It depicts a mother holding her child, who is being examined by a physician, while a minister with an open Bible looks on compassionately. Hendrick strives to meet the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of our patients and improve the health of persons in our service area, with Christian compassion and care. To that end, we are always grateful for the gracious and prayerful support of Texas Baptists.

HENDRICK HEALTH SYSTEM STATISTICAL INFORMATION

SUMMARY FINANCIAL STATEMENT

GERALD R. JAMES, JR. President/CEO baptist churchloan.org

Ruth Bell Graham, the late wife of evangelist Billy Graham, spent many hours traveling with her husband on highways and farm-to-market roads in their efforts to spread the gospel. On more than one occasion, their journeys would lead them into a construction zone. The potholes, temporary pavement and unclear road markings in these zones clearly reflected there was a “work in progress.” These construction zones often reminded Mrs. Graham that as long as she was here on earth, she was also a “work in progress,” supervised by the great architect and engineer, Jesus Christ.

Just as Mrs. Graham’s life was a “work in progress,” Baptist Church Loan Corporation (BCLC) believes its ministry is a “work in progress” led by the direction and supervision of Jesus Christ. For the past 70 years, our supervisor has guided previous and existing BCLC board members and staff in their pursuit to provide the affordable real estate loans needed to help churches spread the gospel.

Other areas of BCLC that are a “work in progress” include the attraction of more church loan requests and the maintenance of the financial health of our existing church loan customers. For the first nine months of fiscal year 2023, these church loan requests have helped BCLC fund over $50 million in church loans in over 30 states. Thanks to prayer and communication, the financial health of BCLC supported churches has also improved.

Thank you to the many men and women who have volunteered their time to serve on the BCLC’s board and to our lending partners who have provided the necessary loan funds to support our ministry. In Proverbs 16:9, Solomon writes: “The mind of man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.” As we move into the next year, please join us in our prayer that BCLC will continue to submit to the direction and supervision of our Lord.

BAPTIST CHURCH LOAN CORPORATION

“So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.” – 2 Corinthians 4:16

A messenger of hope is always welcomed. The Bible says even the feet of a messenger bringing good news are beautiful. In 2022, Baptist Health Foundation of San Antonio (BHFSA) sought to be a messenger of hope, showing the community we serve that we can be filled anew with purpose, passion and love of Christ each day, even when outward things may fall apart. At BHFSA, we rely on this daily renewal to carry us forward. South Texas faces hardship in many ways, and there are days when it is hard to see past our troubles.

Ultimately, however, we have hope in our hearts that the goodness of God will overcome the difficulties we face. This year, BHFSA was able to give away more grant funds than ever before, which we did in Jesus Christ’s name. We could not be more grateful for the blessings we’ve been given. We count ourselves blessed to be able to partner with such incredible organizations in the community we serve. Together, we hope to bring renewal to our community.

In 2022, BHFSA awarded $9,409,200 in grants. These grants were given with prayerful consideration to nonprofit organizations in Atascosa, Bandera, Bexar, Comal, Guadalupe, Kendall, Medina and Wilson counties to improve the health and lives of our neighbors.

• Disaster Relief Grants ($91,000) were given to organizations working to relieve disaster-related suffering, one of which provided a canteen truck to feed response teams in Uvalde.

• Scholarship Grants ($1,693,200) were given to local higher education institutions. These grants fund scholarships for students in health-related fields. The past few years have demonstrated how greatly our society needs health care workers, and BHFSA is honored to assist in educating the next generation.

• Responsive Grants ($5,150,000) were awarded to 54 area nonprofits. These are large organizations, many of which have been working in San Antonio or the surrounding areas for decades. BHFSA is honored to support such vital fixtures in our community.

• Community Impact Grants ($275,000) were given to 32 smaller organizations in our service area. These organizations often work with a specific sub-community, brought together by region, demographi or medical concern, and bring localized expertise to their work.

• Strategic to Mission Grants ($2,200,000) were given to three organizations to further their goals of improving mental health in children and teens. A fourth grant was given to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes to improve spiritual health in teens.

Baptist Health Foundation of San Antonio celebrated these grants in December at an Awards Ceremony at First Baptist Church of San Antonio. During the ceremony, BHFSA also awarded its annual Spirit of Health Award to an incredible young woman named Rebecca Taylor.

When she was 7 years old, Rebecca was diagnosed with chronic pancreatitis, a rare condition in children. Pancreatitis causes unrelenting abdominal pain and Rebecca’s has cost her seven and a half digestive organs, many of them before her teen years.

At age 12, Rebecca was approached by Make-A-Wish Foundation, a nonprofit that grants “wishes” to critically ill children. Unlike the usual requests for celebrity visits or vacations, Rebecca wished to meet with a medical philanthropist and start a charity for other children with pancreatitis. That charity was named Rebecca’s Wish. Now in its fifth year, it has raised over $3 million, trained five pediatric endoscopists and helped countless patients and their families with hospital living costs.

Rebecca was recognized by BHFSA’s Spirit of Health Award for being a leader in advancing the health of the community, and Rebecca’s Wish was awarded an honorarium of $1,000.

ERIC BLACK Executive Director/ Publisher

P.O. Box 259019

Plano, TX 75025-9019

(214) 630-4571

baptiststandard. com

About the Baptist Standard

Our new logo expresses our refocused mission to connect God’s story and God’s people to grow God’s Kingdom around the world. We do this through publishing news, opinion and resources as we have for 135 years.

The colors correspond to our core commitments and our spirit.

• Green: Redeeming and reconciling work of Jesus Christ

• Blue: Responsible journalism

• Gray: Historic Baptist principles

• Yellow: Hopeful, adventurous, adaptive

Growing reach

We launched a redesigned website that is easier to read and allows us to serve our ad customers better. Readers also can print individual articles or save them as PDFs. Our reach continues to grow through mobile app downloads, new weekly edition signups and a growing social media following.

Content areas

We publish news about individuals, churches and institutions affiliated with the BGCT, as well as news related to religious liberty and other Baptist concerns around the world. Our opinion features Texas Baptists and other Christians expressing their views on current events in relation to Scripture and the good news of Jesus Christ.

Our resources include sermons, Bible studies and book reviews.

How to stay connected

The Baptist Standard is published five days a week at www.baptiststandard.com and is delivered by email each Thursday. You can sign up for our weekly edition at www. baptiststandard.com/email.

Our app for mobile and tablet is available in the Apple and Android app stores and gives you direct access to all our content immediately upon publication. You also can find us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

To be the best possible stewards of our resources, it became necessary for us to discontinue CommonCall Magazine at the end of 2022.

We need you

We are funded through donations, advertising and endowment income. For us to succeed in keeping Baptists connected, we depend on people like you — faithful readers and financial supporters. Faithful readers share and discuss our content with family, friends, fellow church members, co-workers and others. They also partner with us financially to ensure we are able to connect God’s story and God’s people to grow God’s Kingdom around the world.

To further this mission, you can support us by visiting www.baptiststandard.com/donate/ or by mailing us at P.O. Box 941309, Plano, Texas 75094.

Advertising with the Baptist Standard

For advertising in the Baptist Standard, including placing classifieds, contact Victoria McCrary at victoria.mccrary@baptiststandard.com or 214-630-4571, ext. 1017.

Our team

• Eric Black, executive director, publisher, editor: In addition to oversight of operations, Eric oversees development and our opinion content. He can be reached at eric.black@baptiststandard.com.

• Ken Camp, managing editor: Ken, a veteran reporter, oversees all our news, Bible studies and book reviews. He can be reached at kencamp@baptiststandard.com.

• Victoria McCrary, digital communications manager: Victoria manages all things digital for us, including advertising. She can be reached at victoria.mccrary@ baptiststandard.com.

• Lindsay Springer, administrative assistant: Lindsay can be reached at lindsay. springer@baptiststandard.com.

Denison Ministries was founded in Dallas, Texas, in 2009 by Dr. Jim Denison and Jeff Byrd to encourage spiritual awakening while equipping believers to engage with the issues and news of the day from a biblical perspective, principally through its brand Denison Forum. Since 2009, Denison Ministries has added three other content offerings to its family of brands: First15, Christian Parenting, and Foundations with Janet Denison. Through the connection between Christ-centered content and technological innovation, the ministry resources and equips Christians, on technology devices they already use, with encouragement and insights they need in the moment. In the first quarter of 2023, the ministry has achieved 21.6 million content experiences (across all brands and content platforms). Our goal is to reach 75 million content experiences by year-end.

Since June 2022:

Denison Forum (DenisonForum.org) increased its average monthly content experiences to 2,072,962. The Daily Article email was averaging over 1,411,000 opens each month. Denison Forum website content was viewed approximately 263,000 times per month and had over 408,000 monthly social media engagements. Dr. Denison released multiple books including, The Fifth Great Awakening, The Path to Purpose, and Biblical Insights to Tough Questions Volume 11. In addition, Dr. Ryan Denison released What are My Spiritual Gifts and launched an interactive spiritual gifts analysis test online.

First15 (First15.org) continued providing its 15-minute daily devotions, averaging approximately 2,692,000 content experiences each month. First15 launched a new devotional app, along with a website refresh, the book Rhythms, aiding readers into a daily spiritual rhythm for their lives, and Guided Prayers, leading subscribers in a moment of peace with God. Our first kids daily devotional is in process, set to release this Fall. Primeros15, (Primeros15.org) the Spanish language version of First15, is now averaging over 1,490,777 email opens per month.

Christian Parenting (ChristianParenting.org) increased its monthly average content experiences to over 1,043,000. The CP Podcast Network curated the best parenting podcasts from across the country, with on average 730,000 downloads each month. CP continues its work with Terra Mattson to create and distribute additional video curriculum for moms and daughters, titled Helping Moms Raise Confident Daughters. The fifth annual Perfectly Imperfect digital event is set for April 2023, including friends and experts sharing their insights, experiences and wisdom to questions parents ask every day.

Foundations with Janet Denison (FoundationswithJanet.org) continued to produce online topical Bible studies such as Studies on Prayer Volume 1 & 2 and Psalm 23. A 20-week in-depth Bible study titled Until the Whole World Hears was also produced and released. Due to its popularity, Janet re-released The Songs Tell the Story, her 12th Advent devotional. A new Foundations Bible study app and evening devotional launched called Wisdom Matters, which helps readers use and filter all we learn for God’s higher purpose. Janet’s blogs, Bible studies, books and articles reached nearly 46,000 content experiences per month.

Denison Ministries believes not just in the value of Christ-centered content, but its power to transform lives, so God’s people can transform the world. To that end, each Daily Article, First15 devotional, Christian Parenting podcasts, Foundations Bible study, book, and media opportunity is a result of that focus. Denison Ministries believes we live in an unprecedented day with an unprecedented opportunity to share biblical truth with God’s people and our larger culture. Jesus is just as alive and active as when he first rose from the dead. As part of the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:27), Denison Ministries is joining Him in advancing His Kingdom in America and around the world.

HANCE DILBECK President

5005 LBJ Freeway, STE 220 Dallas, TX 75244

1-888-98-GUIDE (888-984-8433)

GuideStone.org

“Thus far the Lord has helped us.” The words of 1 Samuel 7:12 echo through time, reminding each generation of faithful servants the Lord has been with us. He has been with us during good times and bad, during seasons of abundance and drought, and seasons of euphoria and despair.

He has certainly had his hand on this ministry we know and love today. From the heart of William Lunsford to the Southern Baptist Convention, through the past 105 years, the Lord has helped us.

2022 was a record year for Mission:Dignity, which had the largest fourth quarter on record, with more than $4.7 million given. It marked the end of an already record year as 2022 was the largest fundraising year ever, as $16 million was given. The Emergency Grant Fund — renamed the O.S. and Susie Hawkins Emergency Grant Fund in early 2023 — was established in 2019 to provide for the large, one-time expenses of the neediest Mission:Dignity recipients. Those onetime expenses include hearing aids, eyeglasses, dentures, medical bills and home repairs.

For 2022, Mission:Dignity assisted 2,858 retired ministers, spouses and widows living in 2,115 households nationwide. At the beginning of 2022, each recipient household received a 25% raise in monthly honorariums, a timely raise in assistance given this year of inflation.

Between geopolitical events, worldwide inflation and an unprecedented wave of monetary tightening by global central banks, markets whipsawed back and forth.

In the U.S., the Consumer Price Index (CPI) climbed steadily to a peak in June 2022 at a yearover-year rate of 9.1%, the highest since 1981. The Federal Reserve made the first of many moves against inflation by ending its initial quantitative easing program in 2020. Then, it raised the fed funds rate for the first time since 2018. Additional increases followed throughout the year. By the end of December, the Fed had raised the fed funds rate from 0.25% to 4.5%, a far cry from the beginning of the year estimates of a 75-basis point increase. Such a rapid increase over so short a time was unprecedented and accounted for much of the market’s volatility last year. The Fed also employed a rarely used tactic and further reduced liquidity in the economy by allowing maturing bonds to roll off without replacing them with other assets. After a seemingly endless climb in 2021, the past year in equity markets was characterized by cycles of declines and rallies as investors carefully parsed every statement from the Fed, looking for signs of a pivot toward an easing of monetary policy.

The Insurance line of business’s commitment to “Bridge the GAP” by Guiding, Advocating and Providing has built new growth and further trust in our established relationships. We continue to provide faith-aligned tailored solutions that meet church and ministry staffs’ needs and seek solutions that fit church and ministry budgets.

GuideStone’s Retirement Customer Solutions department is committed to providing superior service to the ministry partners and members we are privileged to serve. This is reflected in our high customer service survey scores. On a scale of 0 to 5, we received an overall member satisfaction score of 4.9 in 2022. That matches the highest marks we have ever received since we began tracking this metric.

In October, GuideStone announced that Chu Soh, who joined the ministry in June 2020 as chief insurance officer, would become the new chief operating officer, succeeding John R. Jones, who had served at GuideStone for 35 years, 25 as chief operating officer. The transition was completed on March 1, 2023, with Jones serving as Special Assistant to the Executive Office until the end of 2023.

Number helped by Mission:Dignity ministry: 293

Founded in 1930 as the Baptist Foundation of Texas, HighGround Advisors advances the important work of churches, ministries and other nonprofits by providing investment management and charitable gift planning services. With our flexible investment platform, we design solutions to fit the unique goals and needs of our client partners, and our gift planning solutions help charitably minded individuals steward their financial resources for Kingdom-advancement. The services we provide at HighGround Advisors enable our clients, who are actively making a difference today, to make an even greater difference tomorrow.

Fast facts:

• $2.6 billion in assets under management

• 93 years serving nonprofits and charitably minded individuals

• $1 billion distributed to client partners and income beneficiaries as directed over the last decade

• Over 500 client partner organizations and beneficiaries served

2022 Investment management highlights

• HighGround believes diversification tempers the impact market volatility can have on portfolios and is a fundamental aspect of protecting and compounding capital over time. At the close of 2022, HighGround’s Capstone Endowment Fund was down 10.4%. While a significant drawdown, it compares favorably to less-diversified portfolios. In comparison, the S&P 500® was down 19.4%.

• Client partners added $67 million to short-term investments, such as treasury ladders and HighGround’s Enhanced Cash Fund. Short-term treasury ladders may be opportune while short-term interest rates are increasing.

• To further strengthen the HighGround investment team, we hired Philip Godfrey at the beginning of 2022 as our director of private markets and recently added Steven Thieme as our director of public markets. Philip and Steve bring over 45 years of combined investment management experience to the team.

2022 Charitable giving highlights

• HighGround opened 385 new client accounts and distributed, as directed, $137.8 million to client partners and income beneficiaries.

• HighGround assisted families and donors in contributing $40.6 million in new gifts for charitable purposes, benefiting our Baptist constituents.

• Nearly $2.2 million was granted to over 100 charities by donor-advised funds held at HighGround.

Featured giving tool: Donor-advised funds

One of the fastest-growing and most flexible giving vehicles, a donor-advised fund (DAF) is a charitable giving account that is sponsored by a public charity (e.g., HighGround Advisors) and funded by a donor’s tax-deductible contributions of cash, stock, mutual funds or other assets. Contributions to a DAF have the potential to grow tax-free over time and donors retain the right to recommend grants from the DAF to eligible charities of their choice. A DAF is an excellent tool for donors who wish to maximize their charitable impact, give in a tax-advantageous way, and streamline the administration of their donations.

The HighGround DAF program provides our client partners and their donors with a values-aligned DAF option. Additionally, to ensure more DAF dollars go directly to our client partner organizations and their life-changing work, HighGround does not charge the administrative fee most DAF sponsoring organizations charge on their donor-advised funds.

Protect. Strengthen. Grow.

We are proud to champion the important work of our Baptist institutions and are humbled to be their trusted partner. Working with innovation and vigilance, we wish to steward well the funds and assets entrusted to us by the nonprofits and generous individuals we serve.

JEFF W. SMITH President/CEO

TEXAS BAPTIST MEN, INC.

MICKEY B. LENAMON Executive Director

In Matthew 22:37-39, Jesus says, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Time and again in Scripture, Christ meets needs and shares God’s love. He shows us how caring for people in their time of need opens opportunities to share the gospel.

TBM seeks to follow Jesus’ model of ministry. As a result, people around the world are professing Christ as their Savior. More than 140 people have already come to faith this year through TBM partnering with churches like yours.

As the disaster relief arm of your church, TBM responded after ice storms, floods and windstorms in Texas; tornadoes and wildfires in Oklahoma; tornadoes in Mississippi and Arkansas; flooding in Kentucky; a hurricane in Florida; and an earthquake in Turkey.

As TBM Disaster Relief teams rolled into his flooded neighborhood, one Dallas man said, “God’s vehicles. That’s God coming right there. I see those vehicles; I see God coming to help us.”

TBM volunteers who are part of churches like yours:

• Provided more than 100,000 meals after disasters of all kinds

• Served 72,400 hours after disasters

• Performed 258 chainsaw jobs and counting

• Washed, dried and folded nearly 3,000 loads of laundry

• Distributed nearly 600 Bibles

Through service projects and mission trips, members of your church:

• Prepared more than 8,000 First Step Kits, hygiene bags that help people take their first steps in recovery after crises

• Fed hungry families in Peru

• Ministered to 1,300 people in the Rio Grande Valley, including building beds for children who didn’t have one

• Built homes and shared the gospel in Turkey

• Provided clean water for more than 65,000 people

• Served on six continents

Thank you for your and your church’s commitment to sharing the life-changing love of Christ through TBM ministries.

5351 Catron Dallas, Texas 75227 texas baptistmen.org

God is faithful

Since the founding of WMU of Texas 142 years ago, God has continued to allow us to serve Texas through your generosity. Last year was a banner year for local missions in this state. Because of your support, we exceeded $3.5 million of the $3.6 million goal for the Mary Hill Davis Offering for Texas Missions and were able to fully respond to each of the 86 ministries requesting funding in 2022.

For example:

• 306 lives were transformed through participation in Camp Fusion.

• The 12th house of the South Texas Women’s Build was completed.

• The ribbon cutting for Mary’s House, the on-campus housing at SWBTS for Missionaries in Residence (MIRs) named to honor the life and legacy of Mary Hill Davis, former president of WMU of Texas and namesake for the state missions offering, was held in January with two missionary families inhabiting the residence.

• We reached more than 70 families at the first Families on Mission Conference for our Hispanic congregations.

• We maintained or established new connections with seven cultural groups: Korean, Laotian, Vietnamese, African, Russian, Brazilian and Iranian.

• In 2022, WMU of Texas received 221 requests for missions discipleship new start curriculum, marking an increase in the number of new groups in local churches who desire to make disciples who make disciples.

• We equipped 150 missions discipleship leaders in Regional Training events in Lubbock, Longview and Lewisville in 2022. For 2023, we have transitioned to the name, Leadership Summit, and have already established a corps of equipped leaders in San Antonio and will continue this effort in Midland in August.

• We celebrated the selection of two WMU National Acteens panelists from the state of Texas.

• Texas Christian Job Corps maintained 42 sites with 1464 volunteers, 764 participants, 325 graduates and 51 professions of faith.

In order to engage our congregations in conversation concerning health, specifically mental health awareness, we continue the efforts for Project Help: Mental Health, an initiative of WMU to raise awareness and equip churches and individuals to respond to this critical issue in their congregations and surrounding communities. Through online courses (Mental Health: The Church’s Response, wmu.com) and curated resources, churches gain knowledge to continue in the care of their communities. WMU of Texas has also reconnected with National Baptist Nursing Fellowship and is working to reestablish the Texas BNF network.

As we look toward the future, we are excited about the young adults God is calling to serve in His name in this state. Our hope is to equip and support them for such a time as this. In 1908, Mary Hill Davis said “serving this day and generation will either condemn or endow the generations yet to come. But we only serve acceptably when we give ourselves abundantly and unreservedly.” Strengthening our connection to the state Baptist Student Ministries and sharing the Embrace mentoring model for calling out the called will be priorities for us in the coming months.

Thank you for your support of the mission and ministries of WMU of Texas. To God be the glory for the great things He has done!

TAMIKO JONES Executive DirectorTreasurer 10325 Brockwood Rd, Dallas, TX 75238 wmutx.org

Abilene Callahan Baptist Association

Larry Tarver

PO Box 5228

Abilene, TX 79608-5228

325-673-8349

marsha.langford.acba@suddenlinkmail.com

Amarillo Area Baptist Association

Bryan Houser

2123 S Van Buren St

Amarillo, TX 79109-2404

806-372-6566

aabacherrie@gmail.com

Austin Baptist Association

David Smith

PO Box 4978

Austin, TX 78765-4978

512-454-2558

david@austinbaptist.org

Bell Baptist Association

Tom Henderson

PO Box 1447

Belton, TX 76513-5447

254-939-0761

bba9129@sbcglobal.net

Bi-Fork Baptist Association

David Warren

PO Box 2125

Vernon, TX 76385-2125

940-257-7247

deidra@fbcseymour.com

Bi-Stone Baptist Association

Lowell Warren

519 S. McKinney

Mexia, TX 76667-2814

817-939-1142

drlwarre72@gmail.com

Big Bend Baptist Association

Edward Jennings

PO Box 1488

Marfa, TX 79843-1488

432-729-4349

ambigbend@gmail.com

Blanco Baptist Association

Rafael Murillo

3901 Charco Rd

Beeville, TX 78102-2111

361-358-9420

blancobaptist@sbcglobal.net

Bluebonnet Baptist Association

Robby Partain

PO Box 312257

New Braunfels, TX 78130-3241

830-629-7674

linda@bluebonnetbaptist.org

Bosque Baptist Association No Dom PO Box 391 Clifton, TX 76634-0391 254-675-8381

bba@fbcclifton.com

Bowie Baptist Association

John Webb, Moderator PO Box 7740 Texarkana, TX 75505-7740 903-831-0194

receptionist@bowiebaptist.org

Brazos Valley Baptist Network

Steven Doyle 410 Tarrow St STE 101 College Station, TX 77840 979-846-1788 info@bvbn.org

Burnet Llano Baptist Association

Richard Ray 21563 Lakefront Drive Logo Vista, TX 78645 713-530-8877 tririversdom@gmail.com

Caprock Plains Baptist Association

Lester Griffin 2301 Utica St Plainview, TX 79072-2063 806-296-2751

caprockplains@nts-online.net

Castle Gap Association

Juan Avila PO Box 485 Rankin, TX 79778-0485 432-693-2385

francisjuan6259@yahoo.com

Coastal Bend Baptist Association PO Box 273 Kingsville, TX 78364 coastalbendinfo@gmail.com

Collin Baptist Association

Matt Henslee 7300 TX-121 STE 300 McKinney, TX 972-529-5222 officers@cbachurchnetwork.org

Colorado Baptist Association

Barry Barnet 1515 Briar Ln Wharton, TX 77488-4309 903-227-9019

coloradobaptistassociation@gmail.com

Concho Valley Baptist Association No Dom 825 N Main St San Angelo, TX 76903-4056 325-653-4898

Cooke County Baptist Association Hollis Parsons PO Box 842 Gainesville, TX 76241-0842 940-665-4082

lori.geojcarroll@gmail.com

Corpus Christi Baptist Association No Dom 2820 South Padre Island Dr. Corp Christi, TX 78415 361-853-2555

anash@ccbaptistassociation.org

Crossroads Baptist Association

Glenn Faris 1311 Goliad St Big Spring, TX 79720-4639 432-263-1673 contact@xroadsba.org

Dallas Baptist Association

Ryan Jespersen 8001 E R L Thornton Fwy Dallas, TX 75228-7001 214-324-2803 cindyburr@dba.net

Del Rio Uvalde Baptist Association

Tommy Larner 117 E Commerce St Uvalde, TX 78801-3713 830-278-5351 delriouvalde@sbcglobal.net

Denton Baptist Association

Morgan Malone

1406 N Corinth St Ste 408 Corinth, TX 76208-5449 940-498-5200

rochelle@dentonbaptist.org

Dogwood Trails Baptist Association

Alan Small PO Box 949 Jacksonville, TX 75766-0949 903-586-5156

alan.dtba@gmail.com

Double Mountain Baptist Association No Dom PO Box 112 Stamford, TX 79553 325-773-2462

East Texas Baptist Area

Lewis Edwards PO Box 546

Mt Enterprise, TX 75681-0546

903-822-3474

etba@eastex.net

East Texas Baptist Network No Dom

PO Box 9067

Longview, TX 75604

903-753-9900

office@getba.info

El Paso Baptist Association

Larry Floyd 2012 Grant Ave

El Paso, TX 79930-1017

915-544-8671 lfloyd@elpasoba.org

Ellis Baptist Association

Richard Cody PO Box 532 Waxahachie, TX 75168

972-937-9320

eba@eba.life

Enon Baptist Association

Timothy Ellis PO Box 928 Linden, TX 75563-0928

903-756-7331

enondom@valornet.com

Fannin Baptist Association

Darrel Hathcock

1505 Silo Rd

Bonham, TX 75418-2864

903-583-2210 dhathcock@gmail.com

FIRM Baptist Area

Patrick Knowlton PO Box 192 Cameron, TX 76520-0192 254-697-6505 firmarea@sbcglobal.net

Frio River Baptist Association

Loren Fast PO Box P Pearsall, TX 78061-1415

830-334-2061

frioriverbaptist@outlook.com

Galveston Baptist Association

Jim Grant

705 FM 517 East

Dickinson, TX 77539 409-938-8942

gbassociation!@gmail.com

Golden Triangle Baptist Network

Jim Turnbo

3350 Dowlen Road Suite G Beaumont, TX 77706

409-832-1110 office@gtbn.us

Grayson Baptist Association

Bobby Fletcher PO Box 1806 Sherman, TX 75091-1806

903-868-9361

thegbaoffice@gmail.com

Guadalupe Baptist Association No Dom

2601 N Ben Jordan St Victoria, TX 77901-5611

361-575-5281 guadalupeassociation@gamil.com

Gulf Coast Baptist Association

Chuck Beem

2700 E Highway 35 Angleton, TX 77515-2904

979-849-2477

mail@gulfcoastbaptist.org

Harmony Pittsburg Baptist Association

Jeremy Randolph 403 Daingerfield St Pittsburg, TX 75686-1405

903-856-6696

jeremy@harmony.pittsburg.com

Harvest Baptist Association No Dom PO Box 1735

Decatur, TX 76234-6150

940-627-0723

hba@harvestba.com

Heart of Texas Baptist Network

Zachary Harrel PO Box 1646

Brownwood, TX 76804-1646

325-643-1348

ministryasst.texasmissions@gmail.com

Hill Baptist Association

Kenneth Coleman PO Box 1606

Hillsboro, TX 76645-1606

817-648-6645

broken22@windstream.net

Hill Country Baptist Association

Robert Wheat PO Box 294718

Kerrville, TX 78029

830-445-4222

drrwheat@hcba.net

Hunt Baptist Association

Jim Gatliff

PO Box 8848

Greenville, TX 75404

903-883-0001

khunt@argontech.net

Kauf-Van Baptist Association

Ernest McCoulskey

PO Box 708

Terrell, TX 75160-0013

972-563-8023

adminassist@kaufvan.com

Lake Ivie Baptist Association

Keith Simpson PO Box 639

Ballinger, TX 76821-0639

325-365-2585

lakeiviebaptist@yahoo.com

Lamesa Baptist Association

Dennis Adams

PO Box 1373

Lamesa, TX 79331-1373

806-201-0595

debnam@poka.com

Laredo Baptist Association

Hector Almanza

PO Box 1634

Laredo, TX 78044-1634

956-791-0410

lbalaredo@gmail.com

Leon Baptist Association

Allen Crosby

8153 FM 3178

Centerville, TX 75833-3116

903-536-7051

allenc@fbcjewett.org

Lubbock Area Baptist Association

Jerry Joplin

4207 34th St

Lubbock, TX 79410-2641

806-791-4442

angie@lubbockbaptist.com

Neches River Baptist Association

William Jones

PO Box 995

Crockett, TX 75835-0995

936-544-3754

nrbaoffice11@gmail.com

Palo Pinto Baptist Association

Ferel Gage

PO Box C

Mineral Wells, TX 76068-0079

940-452-1336

palopintobaptist@gmail.com

Paluxy Baptist Association

Boots Hubbard

1844 Acton Hwy

Granbury, TX 76049-5900

817-579-5111

office@paluxybaptist.org

Parker Baptist Association No Dom

118 E Park Ave Weatherford, TX 76086-5614

817-599-6586

leah@parkerbaptist.org

Pecos Valley Baptist Association

Dudley Mullins

PO Box 1105

Kermit, TX 79745-1105

432-586-6601

edmullins1952@att.net

Red River Valley Baptist Association

Guille Seigler

2320 Clarksville St Paris, TX 75460-6260

903-785-2890

redrivervalleybaptist@gmail.com

Rehoboth Baptist Association

Roy Edgemon

1139 Industrial Dr E Sulphur Springs, TX 75482-3326

903-885-2868

info@rehobothonline.org

Rio Grande Valley Baptist Association

Eber Ibarra

617 W Expressway 83 Weslaco, TX 78596-4326

956-968-3161

asalazar@rgvbaptists.com

Sabine Neches Baptist Area

Jimmie Neel PO Box 159

Kirbyville, TX 75956-0159

409-423-2224

theresa@snbarea.org

San Antonio Baptist Association

Darrell Horn

5807 W IH 10

San Antonio, TX 78201-2800

210-525-9954

contact@sanantoniobaptist.org

San Felipe Baptist Association

Sam Waltman

1105 San Jacinto St Rosenberg, TX 77471-3641 281-232-8556

info@sanfelipeba.org

San Jacinto Baptist Association

Randell Gilchrist PO Box 1533 Baytown, TX 77522-1533 281-422-3604

sjba@sanjacintobaptist.com

Smith Baptist Association

Danny Pickens 3226 Old Jacksonville Rd Tyler, TX 75701-7503 903-581-6139

paula@smithbaptist.org

Soda Lake Baptist Association No Dom PO Box 1088 Marshall, TX 75671-1088 903-938-0756

sodalakebaptist@gmailcom

South Central Baptist Area

Kevin Muilenburg PO Box 603 Gonzales, TX 78629-0603 830-672-3830

scba@southcentralarea.org

South Plains Baptist Association No Dom PO Box 1286 Levelland, TX 79336 spba.1@netzero.com

Southwest Metroplex Baptist Association Scott Whitson 601 N Nolan River Rd Cleburne, TX 76033-7007 817-645-8222 office@swmba.net

Strategic Church Solutions

Travis Bundrick PO Box 607 Georgetown, TX 78628 512-930-0965

mandy@wbatexas.org

Tarrant Baptist Association David Bowman 4520 James Ave Fort Worth, TX 76115-2117 817-927-1911

frontdesk@tarrantbaptist.org

Top O Texas Baptist Association

James Greer PO Box 300 Pampa, TX 79066-0300 806-665-3152

topotx@yahoo.com

Tri County Baptist Association

Barry Schahn PO Box 1151 Cisco, TX 76437-1151 254-442-4568

tricountrybaptist@suddenlinkmail.com

Trinity River Baptist Association

David Williams PO Box 1269 Liberty, TX 77575-1269 936-336-9232 david@trbatexas.org

Tryon Evergreen Baptist Association

Roger Yancey PO Box 2408 Conroe, TX 77305-2408 936-856-2001 ryancey@teba.org

Union Baptist Association

Josh Ellis 2916 W T C Jester Blvd Ste 200 Houston, TX 77018-7051 713-957-2000 info@ubahouston.org

Unity Baptist Association

Stephen Brazzel 105 Weber Street Suite B Diboll, TX 75941 936-526-2023 unityba@gmail.com

Waco Regional Baptist Association

Timothy Randolph PO Box 1848 Waco, TX 76703-1848 254-753-2408 admin@wacobaptists.org

Wichita Archer Clay Baptist Association

Darrell Brown PO Box 4110 Wichita Falls, TX 76308-0110 940-224-9136

wacmissions@yahoo.com

Alto Frio Baptist Encampment

P. O. Box 468

Leakey, TX 78873

Ph: (830) 232-5271

Fax: (830) 232-5274

www.altofrio.com

Aspendale Mountain Retreat Center

P. O. Box 287

Cloudcroft, NM 88317

Ph: (800) 959-2605

Fax: (575) 682-2608

www.aspendale.org

Big Country Camp

201 FM 142

Lueders, TX 79533

Ph: (325) 228-4542

Fax: (325) 228-4586

www.bigcountrycamp.com

Camp Buckner

Hill Country Retreat

3835 FM 2342

Burnet, TX 78611

Ph: (512) 756-7540

Fax: (512) 756-6121

www.campbuckner.org

Camp Chaparral

3784 Church Camp Rd. Iowa Park, TX 76367

Ph: (940) 855-4182

Fax: (940) 852-0602

www.campchaparral.org

Camp Copass

8200 E McKinney St. Denton, TX 76208

Ph: (940) 565-0050

Fax: (940) 382-9984

www.campcopass.com

Camp Menard PO BOX 1385

Menard, TX 76859

Ph: (915) 396-2162

Fax: (915) 396-4427

www.zcat.com/tbm/listings/26

Circle Six Ranch

P. O. Box 976

Stanton, TX 79782

Ph: (432) 458-3467

Fax: (432) 458-3320

www.circle6ranch.net

Cone Oasis 23921 N. Parker

La Feria, TX 78579

Ph: (956) 797-2050

Fax: (956) 797-5142

www.coneoasis.org

East Texas Baptist Camp

178 Private Rd. 7005

Newton, TX 75966

Ph: (409) 379-2737

Fax: (409) 379-2737

www.etbe.org

Heart of Texas Baptist Camp & Conference Center

8025 North FM 2125

Brownwood, TX 76801

Ph: (325) 784-5821

Fax: (325) 784-6293

www.heartoftexascamp.com

High Plains Retreat Center

18511 City Lake Rd

Canyon, TX 79015

Ph: (806) 499-3429

Fax: (806) 499-3429

http://hpretreatcenter.org

Highland Lakes Camp & Conference Center

5902 Pace Bend Rd. N Spicewood, TX 78669

Ph: (888) 222-3482

Fax: (512) 264-2794

www.highlandlakescamp.org

Lake Lavon Baptist Camp

8050 County Road 735

Princeton, TX 75407

Ph: (972) 736-2273

Fax: (972) 736-6670

www.lakelavoncamp.com

Lake Tomahawk

408 Lake Tomahawk

Livingston, TX 77351

Ph: (936) 563-4644

Fax: (936) 563-4630

www.laketomahawk.org

Lakeview Baptist Assembly & Conference Center

P.O. Box 130

Lone Star, TX 75668

Ph: (903) 656-3871

Fax: (903) 656-2993

www.lba1948.com

Latham Springs Camp and Retreat Center

134 Private Rd 223

Aquilla, TX 76622

Ph: (254) 694-3689

Fax: (254) 694-4174

http://lathamsprings.com/

Mt. Lebanon Retreat & Conference Center

1701 Texas Plume Rd.

Cedar Hill, TX 75104

Ph: (972) 291-7156

Fax: (972) 291-4958

www.mtlebanoncamp.com

Paisano Baptist Encampment

91872 W HWY 90

Alpine, TX 79830

Ph: (432) 837-3074

Fax: (432) 837-3074

www.paisanoencampment.org

Panfork Baptist Encampment

4530 County Rd 210

Wellington, TX 79095

Ph: (806) 447-2627

Fax: (806) 447-5558

www.panfork.org

Pineywoods Baptist Camp

6272 East US 287

Woodlake, TX 75865

Ph: (936) 642-1723

Fax: (936) 642-2608

www.pineywoodscamp.com

Plains Baptist Camp & Retreat Center

3001 Love Rd.

Floydada, TX 79235

Ph: (800) 581-3954

Fax: (806) 983-2008

www.pbcamp.org

Riverbend Retreat Center

1232 County Rd 411B UNIT C

Glen Rose, TX 76043

Ph: (254) 897-4011

Fax: (254) 897-3960

www.riverbendretreat.org

CAMPS

Texas Baptist Encampment

P.O. Box 1265

Palacious, TX 77465

Ph: (361) 972-2717

Fax: (361) 972-2939

www.texasbaptistencampment.org

Tejas Camp & Retreat Center

1038 P.R. 2191

Giddings, TX 78942

Phone (979) 366-2422

Fax (979) 366-9206

www.camptejas.org

camptejas@camptejas.org

Timberline Baptist Camp & Conference Center

15363 FM 849

Lindale, TX 75771

Ph: (903) 882-3183

Fax: (903) 882-3184

Trinity Pines

Conference Center

4341 FM 356

Trinity, TX 75862

Ph: (936) 594-5011

Fax: (936) 594-5085

www.trinitypines.org

Valley Baptist Retreat

1600 E. Business 83

Mission, TX 78572

Ph: (956) 585-4393

Fax: (956) 585-8354

www.vbmc.org

Zephyr Baptist Encampment

151 FM 3162

Sandia, TX 78383

Ph: (361) 547-2448

Fax: (361) 547-6351

www.zbcamp.org

Article I – Name and Nature

Section 1. The name of this corporate body shall be The Baptist General Convention of Texas, hereafter Convention.

Section 2. This Convention is and always shall remain, only and solely a medium through which Baptist churches may work harmoniously in cooperation with each other, promoting the work and objects set forth in this constitution. It has not, to any degree, and shall never have any ecclesiastical authority. It shall not have and shall never attempt to exercise a single attribute of power or authority over any church, or over the messengers of the churches in such wise as to limit the sovereignty of the churches, but shall recognize the sovereignty of the churches under the one Sovereign, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Article II – Object

The object of this Convention shall be to awaken and stimulate among the churches the greatest possible activity in evangelism, missions, Christian education and benevolent work and enterprises; to cultivate a closer cooperation among the churches and promote harmony of feeling and concert of action in advancing all the interests of the Redeemer’s Kingdom.

Article III – Membership

Section 1. This Convention in session in all its meetings shall be composed of messengers elected by Baptist churches that shall voluntarily cooperate with the Convention. All messengers must be members of the church by which they are elected. A messenger must be enrolled at the Convention in session to be qualified to vote. The messengers have no right to act except for annual or special meetings constituting the Convention in session for which they have been elected by their cooperating churches.

Section 2. Each church cooperating with this Convention shall be entitled to:

A Two messengers for the first one hundred (100) members or fractional part thereof. Two additional messengers for the first two hundred fifty dollars ($250) given during the previous fiscal year to the Texas budget as adopted by The Baptist General Convention of Texas in annual session, and

B. One additional messenger for each additional hundred members and each additional one thousand dollars ($1,000) given during the previous fiscal year to the Texas budget as adopted by The Baptist General Convention of Texas in annual session, and

C. If, as calculated under B above, a church’s giving surpasses its membership, then one additional messenger for each two thousand dollars ($2000) given during the previous fiscal year to the Texas budget as adopted by The Baptist General Convention of Texas in annual session, not to exceed six additional messengers, provided, however, that

D. No church shall be entitled to more than twenty-five messengers.

E. A mission church shall be considered a church under the Constitution solely for the limited purpose of electing messengers to the Annual Meeting if it is identified as a body of believers separate from its sponsoring church; it contributes to the BGCT in an identifiable way either directly or through the sponsoring church from its own resources; it exists to address some specific mission need, such as language, culture or location, it regularly practices baptism and the Lord’s Supper separate from its sponsoring church; and it identifies itself with, aligns itself with, and endorses, generally, the purposes and work of the Convention. The total number of messengers a mission may qualify for is four (4) as specified in Article III, Section 2.A.

1st Adoption by Baptist General Convention of Texas in session November 17, 2014 Final Adoption by Baptist General Convention of Texas in session November 10, 2015

OF THE BAPTIST GENERAL CONVENTION OF TEXAS

Article IV – Meetings

Section 1. The Convention shall meet annually at such a time and place, based on Convention site guidelines, as determined by the messengers at least two years prior to the annual meeting.

In case of emergency, the Executive Board is empowered to change the time and place of the meeting. The minutes of the annual meeting of The Baptist General Convention of Texas are to be approved by the Executive Board of the Convention at the first meeting of the Executive Board following the Convention.

Section 2. No notice of annual or regular meetings of The Baptist General Convention of Texas shall be required. Notice of a special meeting shall be given at least 10 days prior to such meeting by publication in any newspaper of general circulation in the community in which the principal office is located.

Section 3. The right to vote is limited to the duly elected and enrolled messengers who are actually present in the session at the time the vote is taken. There will be no proxy or absentee voting.

Section 4. The quorum for conducting business during any session of the annual meeting of The Baptist General Convention of Texas shall be a minimum of 25% of the enrolled messengers.

Section 5. Special meetings of the Convention may be called by the Executive Board by a two-thirds vote of the votes entitled to be cast by directors of the Board. The call for a special meeting shall state the purpose of the meeting and the date, time and place for the meeting. The special meeting shall be limited to the purpose stated.

Article V – Officers

Section 1. The officers of this Convention shall be a president, a first vice president, a second vice president, a secretary of the Corporation, a recording secretary and a registration secretary. With the exception of the recording secretary who serves by virtue of serving as Treasurer, these shall be elected annually by ballot not later than the second day of the annual meeting. By unanimous consent any officer of this Convention may be elected by acclamation. Officers shall hold their offices until the end of the last session of the Convention meeting at which their successors are elected. In case of the death, resignation, or disability of the president, or if the president is no longer a member of a cooperating church, the vice presidents shall automatically succeed to the office of president in the order of their election.

Section 2. In any election for office, the nominee who receives the vote of a majority of the enrolled messengers present in the session shall be elected. If on the first ballot no nominee is elected, there shall be a run-off election between the two nominees who received the greatest number of votes on the first ballot.

Section 3. No one shall be eligible for the office of president or eligible for the same vice president’s office for more than two successive years.

Article VI – Committees

Section 1. The committees of the Convention shall be: (1) Committee on the Annual Meeting, (2) Committee on Credentials, (3) Committee on Committees, (4) Committee on Resolutions, (5) Committee on Memorials, (6) Committee to Nominate Executive Board Directors, (7) Committee on Nominations for Boards of Affiliated Ministries. The duties of the committees are included in the Convention Bylaws.

Section 2. Special committees may be established by action of the Convention to serve for specified periods of time to perform specific duties that in the judgment of the Convention cannot be effectively performed by one of the regular committees of the Convention or by the Executive Board.

The Convention shall specify the number of members to be appointed to each special committee and the method to be followed in selecting members. In the absence of other provisions, the president and the two vice presidents shall jointly appoint the members.

1st Adoption by Baptist General Convention of Texas in session November 17, 2014

Final Adoption by Baptist General Convention of Texas in session November 10, 2015

Article VII – Executive Board

Section 1. Functions

The Executive Board speaks for the interest of the Convention and has authority and accountability over the work of the Convention in the interim between annual meetings, except for that which is reserved for the Convention in session as noted in the Articles of Incorporation, the Constitution and the Bylaws.

A. The Executive Board shall have charge and control, except when otherwise directed by the Convention, of all of the work of the Convention, including missions, education, and beneficence, in the interim between its sessions.

B. The Executive Board has authority to elect and employ, to evaluate performance and set compensation for the Executive Director who shall serve as chief executive officer of The Baptist General Convention of Texas and its Executive Board.

C. The Executive Board also has authority to elect an Associate Executive Director and a Treasurer/ Chief Financial Officer, both of whom shall serve under the direct supervision of the Executive Director. The Executive Director is authorized to employ other staff as provided by the plan of work and the financial plan of the Convention. The Board shall approve a compensation plan for Convention employees.

D. The Executive Board shall hold in trust and shall administer all the properties, annuities, trusts, and invested funds of this body except as otherwise provided for by the Convention, and the Board shall report annually to the Convention the state of all funds which the Board administers.

E. The Executive Board provides the Convention annually with a report of its work and with a complete financial accounting of all funds received and disbursed, including properties, trusts, and invested funds which the Board administers.

F. The Executive Board determines the organization, functions, responsibilities and working relationships of the Executive Board committees.

G. The Executive Board maintains an official organization manual setting forth the plan and organization of the Convention and its programs. It shall also maintain a policy manual (including business, financial and personnel) for those policies adopted by the Convention in session and by the Executive Board.

Section 2. Membership

A. The authorized number of elected directors shall be 90 directors from 30 sectors in the Convention. The sectors are based on resident church membership in counties, and such sector criteria will be included in the Bylaws upon recommendation of the Executive Board.

A minimum of three directors will be elected from each sector. The number of elected directors of the Executive Board will exceed ninety (90) until expiration of the terms of directors elected prior to the effective date of adoption of this amended Constitution.

B. One-third of the number of directors is elected each year to serve a three-year term. Directors are eligible for election to a second three-year term but are not eligible to serve more than six consecutive years.

C. Voting directors of the Executive Board shall be the elected directors, the convention president, and the two convention vice presidents, and the presidents of the Convention-recognized fellowships, provided that these presidents are members of churches supportive of the BGCT. Non-voting directors of the Executive Board shall be the executive director, recording secretary, and the presidents of Woman’s Missionary Union of Texas, Texas Baptist Men and Baptist Student Ministry.

1st Adoption by Baptist General Convention of Texas in session November 17, 2014

Final Adoption by Baptist General Convention of Texas in session November 10, 2015

D. All Executive Board directors, including the ex officio directors, must be members of churches that are supportive of The Baptist General Convention of Texas.

E. No one who is an employee of the Convention or member of the immediate family of an employee, except an ex officio director of the Board, shall be eligible for membership on the Executive Board.

F. The membership of the Executive Board shall be generally representative of the Baptist membership in the Convention and shall include men and women, Anglo and non-Anglo persons, persons who are members of larger membership churches and smaller membership churches, and those who have abilities and experience needed by the Board. There shall be a minimum of forty percent (40%) of the persons elected each year who are church/denominational employees and a minimum of forty (40%) who are non-church/denominational employees.

Section 3. Officers

A. Officers shall be chairperson, vice chairperson, recording secretary and other such officers as the Executive Board may determine needed from time to time.

B. Term of service for elected officers is one year. A person is limited to a maximum service of two consecutive years in the same office. The exception to these provisions is the recording secretary who serves by virtue of serving as Treasurer.

C. Nominations for election of officers are from the floor. A person must be elected by majority vote.

If on the first ballot no nominee is elected, there shall be a run-off election between the two nominees who received the greatest number of votes on the first ballot.

Section 4. Committees

The Executive Board has the authority to establish and dissolve committees as required to carry out their responsibilities. Duties of the committees will be included in the Executive Board Policy Manual.

A. The Executive Committee plans, coordinates and monitors the general progress of the Executive Board, including the budget and financial affairs. The Executive Committee will be composed of the chairperson and vice chairperson of the Executive Board, the president and vice presidents of the Convention, and the chairperson of each Executive Board committee. The chairperson of the Executive Board will serve as chairperson of the Executive Committee. The executive director and the recording secretary will serve as ex officio members, without vote.

B. The Audit Committee is to oversee the financial audit function.

C. The Institutional Relations Committee is to give broad oversight of the institutions related to the Convention, recognizing that the institutions are managed by a separate board of trustees according to their articles of incorporation and bylaws.

D. The Church Ministries Committee shall set the direction for the operation of core ministries of the Convention.

E. The Administration Support Committee shall set direction and recommend general policies for the administrative functions of the Convention. The committee shall include a finance subcommittee for budget development and general financial oversight.

1st Adoption by Baptist General Convention of Texas in session November 17, 2014 Final Adoption by Baptist General Convention of Texas in session November 10, 2015

Article VIII – Affiliated and Related Ministries

Section 1. General Provisions

A. Institutions or agencies which associate with this Convention in compliance with this Article are affiliated. Institutions or agencies which associate with this Convention pursuant to an adopted Special Agreement are related.

B. A new agency or institution may be established or a change in relationship with an agency or institution may be approved by a majority vote of the votes entitled to be cast by the messengers when the vote is taken without regard to the total enrollment at any meeting of the Convention upon the recommendation of the Executive Board, and must be considered by the Executive Board not later than a September meeting of the Board preceding the annual meeting of the Convention. In the case of a new agency or institution, the recommendation must include a comprehensive plan of development, a set of proposed articles and bylaws, and a proposed annual budget.

C. An affiliation or relationship with an agency or institution may be discontinued by the Convention upon recommendation by the Executive Board and by majority vote of the votes entitled to be cast by the messengers present when the vote is taken without regard to the total enrollment at any meeting of the Convention.

Section 2. Affiliated Ministries

A. Trustee Membership of Boards

1. Each institution affiliated with this Convention shall have a board consisting of thirteen (13) or more trustees of which at least a simple majority shall be elected by this Convention in its annual meetings. When the charter of such institution provides for a specific number of trustees, the number so provided for shall be elected. Those persons elected by the Convention to serve as members of these boards shall be active members of cooperating churches of The Baptist General Convention of Texas.

2. No person shall be eligible for concurrent membership on more than one affiliated board or board of related institutions or agencies.

3. Each institution affiliated with this Convention shall be eligible to elect those members of its trustee board not elected by the Convention in accordance with criteria adopted by its board. All trustees so elected shall be active members of a Baptist church and shall meet other criteria established by the Executive Board.

4. Trustees of affiliated institutions shall be elected in classes so that the terms of one class only shall expire with each Convention year. The term of office of each member of the boards of affiliated institutions shall be three years. A member who has served three full successive terms shall not be eligible for re-election until he or she shall have been out of office for one Convention year.

5. The board of trustees and the administrator of an institution may request that a trustee, whose continued service is considered imperative to meet an emergency or a special need, be elected for an additional year. Such an exception must be approved by the Committee on Nominations for Boards of Affiliated Ministries. No more than two exceptions may be made for any given term for any one institution. In the event of such an exception, the position filled by that trustee shall revert to its previous class at the completion of the extra year.

6. No Trustee shall be allowed to name his or her successor by resigning in favor of another person.

1st Adoption by Baptist General Convention of Texas in session November 17, 2014

Final Adoption by Baptist General Convention of Texas in session November 10, 2015

7. No elected trustee of the board of an affiliated institution who resigns from that board before the expiration of his or her current term shall be eligible for nomination to another board of the Convention until one year after such resignation is filed. A trustee elected by the Convention who no longer meets the qualifications for service set forth by the Convention as determined by the Executive Board, shall cease to be a trustee and that place shall be deemed vacant, or the Executive Board upon a 75 percent vote of those present may recommend to the Convention the removal of a trustee.

A vote of 75 percent of the votes entitled to be cast by the messengers when the vote is taken without regard to the total enrollment at any annual meeting of the Convention is necessary for removal. The Articles of Incorporation and bylaws of affiliated institutions shall not contain provision inconsistent with this Section 2 (A)(7).

8. The Recording Secretary of the Convention shall be notified immediately of vacancies that occur on an institutional board for any cause. Should a trustee position elected by the Convention become vacant for any cause, the Convention shall name a replacement trustee for that position through its adopted processes

B. The board of each institution affiliated with this Convention shall submit any and all changes or amendments to the institution’s charter to the Executive Board for approval. Any changes that significantly alter the mission of the institution or the institution’s relationship to The Baptist General Convention of Texas shall be referred to the Convention for approval.

Section 3. Related Ministries

A. The institution’s Articles of Incorporation and Special Agreements with the Convention shall guide the election and terms of trustees.

B. No person shall be eligible to concurrently serve on more than one related ministry board or affiliated ministry board.

C. The board of an institution may request, with a 75 percent vote of its board, that the institution relate to the Convention through a contractual Special Agreement rather than as an affiliated institution. Such agreements must be approved by the Convention at its annual meeting and may be considered only after favorable action by the Executive Board. Special Agreements must be negotiated in accordance with policies established by the Executive Board.

Section 4. Reports and Reviews to the Convention

A. The board of each agency or institution affiliated with or related by Special Agreement to this Convention shall submit to the Convention at each annual meeting such written reports as will keep the Convention fully informed concerning the activities, plans, resources, financial condition, and legal status of the institution.

B. The board of each agency or institution, except general acute care hospitals and health care systems, affiliated with this Convention shall submit for review and approval to this Convention, or to a committee designated by this Convention, each and every project or policy that involves a level of indebtedness of the institution beyond the policies of The Baptist General Convention of Texas.

1st Adoption by Baptist General Convention of Texas in session November 17, 2014 Final Adoption by Baptist General Convention of Texas in session November 10, 2015

Article IX – Contributions and Funds

Section 1. The Cooperative Program shall be the chief means through which this Convention shall support its missionary endeavors. The mission causes shall be reviewed and the Cooperative Program Budget through which they are supported shall be adopted annually.

Annual adoption of the budget shall be voted at the Annual Meeting held in the fall. The Executive Board will be responsible for budget adoption at its fall meeting in years when a summer Annual Meeting is held.

Section 2. All funds of this Convention shall be raised by voluntary contributions provided this does not prevent acquiring funds, or property, by bequest or use of any income on property that may be bequeathed to or purchased by the institutions or agencies hereof.

Section 3. All designated offerings or special gifts shall be strictly applied according to the expressed will and direction of the contributor.

Article X – Offices

The Convention shall maintain a principal office within the State of Texas and shall continuously maintain in the State of Texas a registered office which is identical with the principal office and a registered agent who is the recording secretary of the Convention as required by the Texas Non-Profit Corporation Act. The Executive Board shall, from time to time, amend the Articles of Incorporation of the Convention as necessary to reflect the then current address of the registered office and the registered agent.

Article XI – Amendments

Any alterations may be made in these Articles by two-thirds of the votes entitled to be cast by the messengers present when the vote is taken without regard to total enrollment at any annual meeting of the Convention, provided (1) no amendment may be considered after the second day of the Convention and (2) that an amendment shall be so approved by two successive Conventions.

1st Adoption by Baptist General Convention of Texas in session November 17, 2014

Final Adoption by Baptist General Convention of Texas in session November 10, 2015

Article I – General Provisions

Section 1. For purposes of usage in the Constitution and these Bylaws, a church is deemed to be affiliated with the Convention if such church (1) identifies itself with, aligns itself with, and endorses, generally, the purposes and work of the Convention, and (2) is otherwise eligible to send messengers to the annual meeting of the Convention. For purposes of usage in the Constitution and the Bylaws, “supportive” and “cooperating” shall have the same meaning as “affiliated” has in these Bylaws.

Section 2. All Convention officers, members of Convention committees, all Executive Board directors, and all non-director members of any special committee, subcommittee, group, team, council or other entity created under or permitted to be created under these Bylaws shall be members of affiliated churches. An exception will be made for members of groups, teams, councils or other entities who are Baptists and live outside the state of Texas.

Section 3. If a person named in Section 2 is no longer a member of a church affiliated with the Convention, or otherwise vacates the position, the position will be deemed vacant and the vacancy will be filled according to the provisions of these Bylaws.

Determination of vacancies and the date of such vacancy will be made by the Executive Board or a committee of the Board so authorized by the Executive Board.

Article II – Messengers

Section 1. Each messenger shall register with the Registration Secretary by presentation of proper credentials prior to being seated as a messenger to the Convention.

Section 2. The credentials of a registered messenger may be reviewed by the Credentials Committee as deemed necessary.

Section 3. Any challenges to the seating of the messengers of a church will be presented in writing to the Credentials Committee during the Annual Meeting.

Section 4. Any challenges to the ability of a church to have the opportunity to send messengers to the Annual Meeting will be presented in writing to the Executive Board.

Article III – Meetings

Section 1. The annual meeting of the Convention shall be a gathering for the purpose of worship, fellowship, mobilizing, encouraging, informing and uniting Texas Baptists to accomplish the Great Commission, as well as to elect officers; receiving recommendations and reports of officers, committees and boards; and for any other business that may arise or be scheduled.

Section 2. The Convention shall determine its order of business at the first session of the annual meeting.

Section 3. Special meetings may be called according to the provisions of the Constitution.

Section 4. In all questions covering the proceedings of the Convention in both annual and special meetings, Robert’s Rules of Order (latest revised edition) shall be the authority used by the presiding officers and by the Convention, unless the Constitution or the Bylaws have special rules of order that apply.

Article IV – Duties of Convention Officers

Section 1. It shall be the duty of the president to preside over the deliberations of the Convention and to discharge such other duties as are usually incumbent on the presiding officer of a deliberative body.

If the president is no longer a member of a church cooperating with the Convention, a vice president shall succeed to the office according to provisions of the Constitution, and this fact shall be so recognized by a resolution of the Executive Board.

Section 2. The vice presidents shall discharge such duties as requested by the president. In the absence of the president from a Convention session, a vice president in the order in which he or she was elected shall preside.

Section 3. It shall be the duty of the recording secretary to keep an accurate record of the proceedings of the Convention, and to file and keep all papers in order deemed important to be preserved.

Section 4. The registration secretary shall be responsible for registration of all messengers of the Convention.

The registration secretary shall report to the chairperson of the Committee on Credentials the number of messengers registered as of the hour the Convention convenes and periodically thereafter as prescribed by the chairperson of the Committee on Credentials.

Following the Convention the registration secretary shall provide the recording secretary the number of messengers registered, arranged by associations.

Section 5. The duties of the secretary of the Corporation shall be to attest legal papers of the Convention.

Article V – Convention Committees

Those committees that use sector criteria for membership shall use the same sectors as used for the Executive Board membership in the Bylaws, Article VI, Section 1, A.

Section 1. The Committee on Annual Meeting shall be responsible for recommending the time and place of future annual meetings of the Convention, for selecting the worship leaders and for formulating the agenda for the annual meeting and submitting the agenda to the messengers for approval at the opening session.

The committee shall have eighteen members appointed for three year terms with six appointed each year by the president and the vice presidents acting jointly.

The president and vice presidents may appoint replacements to fill vacancies.

A. This committee shall provide periods of time during the early sessions of the Convention annual meeting for the introduction of all matters requiring a vote not scheduled on the agenda and when introduced shall fix times for consideration for the same, unless the Convention gives its unanimous consent for its immediate consideration.

B. This committee shall be responsible for formulating and recommending the Standing Rules of the Convention to the Convention for adoption. The Standing Rules of the Convention may be amended without notice by majority vote.

It also shall be responsible for recommending the disposition of motions made during consideration of miscellaneous business but not finally disposed.

Section 2. The Committee on Credentials shall be responsible for verifying credentials of prospective messengers, enrolling messengers, for investigating any contention arising out of the enrollment of messengers, and for reporting its findings to the Convention. Any challenges to the seating of messengers of church that are based upon the assertion that a church is no longer in harmonious cooperation with Texas Baptists will be referred to the Executive Board and not reported on until the next Annual Meeting. At the time scheduled by the Committee on Annual Meeting, the chairperson of the Committee on Credentials shall report the number of messengers registered as of the opening of the annual meeting or special meeting and periodically thereafter.

The committee when established shall have ten (10) members appointed for two years with five (5) appointed each year by the president and the vice presidents acting jointly. The president and vice presidents may appoint replacements to fill vacancies.

Section 3. The Committee on Committees shall be responsible for nominating persons for election by the Convention to serve on the Committee to Nominate Executive Board Directors and the Committee on Nominations for Boards of Affiliated Ministries, and for such special committees as the Convention shall designate. The committee shall have fifteen (15) members appointed for three-year terms with five (5) appointed each year by the president and the vice presidents acting jointly. The president and vice presidents may appoint replacements to fill vacancies.

Section 4. The Committee on Resolutions shall be responsible for receiving all resolutions proposed by messengers and for reporting its findings to the Convention.

The committee shall have ten (10) members appointed for two-year terms with five (5) appointed each year by the president and the vice presidents acting jointly. The president and vice presidents may appoint replacements to fill vacancies.

All resolutions shall be automatically referred to the Committee on Resolutions without public reading or discussion.

This committee is directed to report back to the Convention such resolutions as it deems proper, whether submitted to or prepared by the committee.

Section 5. The Committee on Memorials shall be responsible for preparing and presenting to the Convention suitable memorial statements in remembrance of active Baptists whose death occurred during the year preceding the Convention session.

The committee shall have five (5) members appointed for one-year terms by the president and the vice presidents acting jointly. The president and vice presidents may appoint replacements to fill vacancies.

Section 6.The Committee to Nominate Executive Board Directors shall be responsible for nominating persons for election by the Convention to serve on the Executive Board.

A. The committee shall have fifteen (15) members, five (5) of whom shall be elected each year to serve for three-year terms. Members of this committee shall be elected by the Convention on the nomination of the Committee on Committees.

A member may serve one three-year term and is not eligible for re-election until one year has elapsed. No two members of this committee shall be from churches in the same sector.

The committee shall publish its list of nominees at least two full days prior to the day on which directors of the Executive Board are to be elected by the Convention

B. All members should be persons with experience in Convention affairs. In the election of the fifteen (15) members, a minimum of six (6) shall be church/denominational employees and a minimum of six (6) non-church/denominational employees. Spouses of church/denominational employees shall be considered in that category. Retired persons and their spouses who served as church/ denominational employees shall be considered in that category.

C. If a member moves from a church in one sector to a church in another sector that is already represented on the committee, the member shall continue to serve until the succeeding Convention at which time the position will be deemed vacant and the Committee on Committees shall make a nomination to the Convention to fill the unexpired term.

If a member resigns or is no longer a member of a church affiliated with the Convention, the position will be deemed vacant and the Committee on Committees may nominate to the Executive Board at its next meeting a person who shall be elected on a temporary basis to serve until the succeeding Convention at which time the membership shall be terminated.

Thereafter, the persons or committee charged with nominating the members of such committee shall make a nomination to the Convention to fill the unexpired term.

D. The committee shall conduct its work in accordance with a policy adopted by the Executive Board. The policy adopted shall provide for the committee to seek information and suggestions from persons in all sectors.

Section 7. The Committee on Nominations for Boards of Affiliated Ministries shall be responsible for nominating persons for election by the Convention to serve on the boards of trustees and boards of directors of all Convention institutions, agencies, and affiliates.

A. The committee shall have fifteen (15) members, five (5) of whom shall be elected each year to serve for three-year terms.

Members shall be elected by the Convention on the nomination of the Committee on Committees. A member may serve one three-year term and is not eligible for re-election until one year has elapsed. No two members of this committee shall be from churches in the same sector.

B. All members should be persons with experience in Convention affairs. In the election of the fifteen (15) members, a minimum of six (6) shall be church/denominational employees and a minimum of six (6) non-church/denominational employees.

Spouses of church/denominational employees shall be considered in that category. Retired persons and their spouses who served as church/denominational employees shall be considered in that category.

C. If a member moves from a church in one sector to a church in another sector that is already represented on the committee, the member shall continue to serve until the succeeding Convention at which time the position will be deemed vacant and the Committee on Committees shall make a nomination to the Convention to fill the unexpired term.

If a member resigns or is no longer a member of a church affiliated with the Convention, the position will be deemed vacant and the Committee on Committees may nominate to the Executive Board at its next meeting a person who shall be elected on a temporary basis to serve until the succeeding Convention, at which time the membership shall be terminated.

Thereafter, the persons or committee charged with nominating the members of such committee shall make a nomination to the Convention to fill the unexpired term.

D. The committee shall conduct its work in accordance with a policy adopted by the Executive Board. The policy adopted shall provide for the committee to seek information and suggestions from persons in all sectors. The policy adopted also shall provide for the committee to establish one nominating subcommittee for each institutional board, agency, and affiliate to assist the committee by suggesting names of persons who shall be considered for nomination for election to boards. The committee shall determine the composition of each subcommittee and select the members of each subcommittee.

E. The subcommittee shall develop the lists of suggested nominees in accordance with criteria established by the Executive Board. The committee shall develop its list of nominees on the basis of the list of suggested nominees presented by the subcommittee, screening those lists to eliminate duplications and to assure compliance with established criteria.

The committee shall publish its list of nominees at least two full days prior to the day on which members of institution boards, agencies, and affiliates are to be elected by the Convention.

Section 1. Membership

A. The elected membership of the Executive Board shall be ninety (90) directors from thirty (30) sectors in the Convention. At least three directors will be elected from each sector. The composition of the Executive Board shall be that as defined in the Constitution. Additionally, at least thirty percent (30%) of the membership shall be non-Anglo persons.

The sectors are based on resident church membership in counties with additional consideration given to the number of churches and Cooperative Program giving for Texas causes. The drawing of sector boundaries is based on the following weighted criteria by county: resident church membership, fifty percent (50%); number of churches, twenty-five percent (25%); and Cooperative Program giving for Texas causes, twenty-five percent (25%).

Large population counties may contain multiple sectors, and smaller population adjacent counties may be grouped into one sector. Counties containing more than one sector will not be subdivided.

Sector boundaries will be evaluated every five years by the Executive Committee of the Board and any changes recommended to the Board for approval.

B. The Executive Board shall have ex-officio directors in addition to the ninety (90) elected directors. The ex-officio directors shall be divided into these two classes.

Class 1. The president and vice presidents of the Convention and presidents of the recognized fellowships, provided that these presidents are members of churches supportive of the Convention. These persons shall by virtue of office serve with all rights, privileges, and duties of, and shall in all matters be treated as elected directors.

Class 2. The non-voting directors named in the Constitution, Article VII, Section 2, C. These persons shall by virtue of office serve with all rights, privileges, and duties of, and shall in all matters be treated as elected directors, except these persons shall not have the right to vote in regard to actions of the Executive Board or in regard to actions of any committee of the Executive Board, and shall not be counted for purposes of ascertaining a quorum of the Executive Board or of any of its committees nor in the number needed for adoption of certain actions.

C. If a director of the Executive Board moves from a church in one sector to a church in another sector, the director shall continue to serve until the succeeding Convention at which time the membership shall be terminated and the Committee to Nominate Executive Board Directors shall make a nomination to fill the unexpired term.

In order to achieve the purposes and structure dictated by the Constitution, as each incumbent director completes the term to which he or she was elected prior to the adoption of these Bylaws, or in the event any director, prior to the expiration of his or her term, dies, resigns, is no longer a member of a church affiliated with the Convention, is removed by the Convention, or otherwise vacates the office of director, such director’s position on the Executive Board determined by the previous provisions shall be deemed eliminated and no vacancy shall be deemed to exist, except as follows: if a sector has less than three directors on the Executive Board or after the time the number of directors positions has been reduced to ninety (90) elected directors, then when a vacancy occurs for any reason outlined in the foregoing sentence, the Committee to Nominate Executive Board Directors shall nominate to the Executive Board at its next meeting a person who shall be elected on a temporary basis to serve until the succeeding Convention at which time the membership shall be terminated and the Committee to Nominate Executive Board Directors shall make a nomination to fill the unexpired term.

Should an ex-officio director resign, be unable to continue to serve, or no longer be a member of a church affiliated with the Convention, the position will be deemed vacant.

The Executive Board shall give the entity responsible for the election of such person written notice that such person’s position as a director has been deemed vacant and that such director position shall remain vacant until it is filled by such entity’s presentation to the Executive Board of another person qualified to serve as such entity’s ex-officio director under the Constitution and these Bylaws.

D. The Constitution and Bylaw provisions in regard to the composition of the Executive Board directors pertain to directors elected under these Bylaws and not to previously elected directors continuing during the transition period.

Section 2. Elected Officers

The Board shall elect a chairperson and a vice chairperson annually. The treasurer/chief financial officer of the Convention shall serve as recording secretary. The officers shall have the following duties:

A. Chairperson

1. Presides at all meetings of the Board.

2 Chairs the Executive Committee.

3. Assists the executive director as the director provides leadership in the planning and implementation of Convention operations and ministries.

4. Consults with the executive director and secretary prior to each meeting to set the agenda.

5. Appoints special committees as authorized by the Board.

6 Represents the Board in meetings of Convention agencies as invited to do so.

7. Serves the Board by carrying out responsibilities assigned to the chair.

B. Vice Chairperson

1. Assists the chairperson throughout the term as may be requested.

2. Presides at meetings of the Board and Executive Committee in the absence of the chairperson or at the request of the chairperson

Recording Secretary

The recording secretary is to keep an accurate record of the proceedings of the Executive Board and to file and keep in order all papers deemed important to be preserved.

Section 3. Election of Officers

A. Nominations

Nominations shall be made from the floor at the last regular meeting of the year. Nominations shall be made in this order: chairperson and vice chairperson.

B. Voting

The election of officers shall be the first order of business on the agenda at the last regular meeting of the year.

C.

Election shall be by show of hands unless the chairperson with the appointed parliamentarian shall agree that the vote be by ballot. A majority of votes cast shall determine the person chosen.

C. Terms

Officers of the Board shall serve one-year terms and be eligible for one additional term. Terms begin immediately following the close of the last session of the annual meeting of the Convention. Should for any reason the office of chairperson be vacated prior to completion of the term, the vice chairperson shall become chairperson for the remainder of the term.

In such case, the vacancy of the vice chairperson would be filled at the next regularly scheduled meeting of the Board.

Section 4. Meetings

A. Authority

The Board shall meet at times and on a schedule that it adopts. The meeting date of the Convention should be a strongly influencing factor in the determination of when the Board meets.

The meetings should be calendared so as to supplement and facilitate the total work of the Convention in support of all Convention-adopted programs.

The meeting schedule of the Board shall be recommended to the Board by the Executive Director.

B. Meeting Times

The Board shall determine three-to-five years in advance the three times during each calendar year it meets.

C. Annual Meeting

The annual meeting of the Board shall be the one conducted prior to but not necessarily in conjunction with the annual Convention meeting. At this meeting, the Board will elect officers, may appoint committees, and consider other business as may come before the meeting.

D. Place of Meeting

The Board may designate any place within the State of Texas as the place of meeting.

E. Notice of Meetings

Written notice stating the place, day, and hour of any meeting of directors shall be delivered either personally, by mail, or by electronic means to each director, not less than 10 days or more than 60 days before the date of such meeting by or at the direction of the chairperson.

F. Special Meetings

Special meetings may be called by the executive director and/or the chairperson with the consent of two of the following: the vice chairperson of the Board and the president and vice presidents of the Convention; or may be called by not less than twenty percent (20%) of the directors.

The call for a special meeting shall state the purpose of the meeting, and the time, date, and place for the meeting. The special meeting shall be limited to the purpose stated.

G. There will be no proxy voting.

Adopted by Baptist General Convention of Texas in session, November 14, 2016

Section 5. Committees

Descriptions of the committees and duties of the Executive Board Committees will be described in the policy of the Executive Board as adopted by the Executive Board.

Section 6. Voting by Mail or Electronic Means

Any action required by law to be taken at a meeting of directors or any action which may be taken at a meeting of directors may be taken without a meeting if consented to and signed by a requisite number of directors of the Executive Board who are entitled to vote, either in writing, by mail ballot, by electronic means, or by some combination of both, with respect to the subject matter thereof.

The requisite number is the number that would be necessary to take that action at a meeting at which the directors were present and voted. Where a specific business item may need action prior to a regular meeting, the chairperson, or the vice chairperson in his absence, may conduct the voting by mail or by electronic means, or by some combination of both.

No vote shall be taken by electronic means or by telephone unless notice of such proposed vote to be taken has been communicated by electronic means, in person, by mail, by telephone, or by any of these means, to all members of the Executive Board or to the committee or subcommittee proposing to take a vote at least three (3) business days prior to the first day on which votes will be accepted. Notice by mail shall be deemed properly given if deposited in the U.S. Mail at least five (5) business days prior to such first day.

Voting by fax, email, dedicated website, any similar technology, or any combination of such means shall constitute “electronic means” for purposes of this and the following section.

“Signing” of a ballot or other confirmation of a vote by way of electronic means shall be broadly construed to permit effective utilization of such means.

In addition, committees and subcommittees of the Executive Board, together with any group authorized under Section F. of this article, but not the Executive Board as a whole, may take votes telephonically as a part of a committee or subcommittee meeting via conference telephone call or any other electronic conferencing media (and without necessity of a signed ballot). Written memoranda or minutes shall be made of all meetings and votes undertaken by electronic means or telephonically or by mail, and shall be entered into the records of the Executive Board or the appropriate committee or subcommittee as of the next meeting in which the members assemble in person.

There will be no proxy voting and therefore voting by mail or by electronic means shall not be considered to be voting by proxy.

Section 7. Quorum

The directors holding one-half (50%) of the total votes which may be cast at any meeting shall constitute a quorum.

Section 8. Compensation

Directors shall not receive any salaries for their services but may receive reimbursement for appropriate travel expenses.

Article VII – Convention

Employees

Section 1. Executive Director/Chief Executive Officer Recruitment

The Executive Board is to establish a search committee composed of seven (7) members of the Executive Board appointed by the chairperson and vice chairperson of the Executive Board and eight (8) members of the Convention-at-large appointed by the president and vice presidents of the Convention.

The chairperson and vice chairperson of the Executive Board and president and vice presidents of the Convention will nominate a chairperson of the Search Committee from among the fifteen (15) members. The Executive Board is to approve the Search Committee and the chairperson.

Section 2. Associate Executive Director/Chief Operating Officer and Treasurer/Chief Financial Officer Recruitment

The executive director with the chairperson and vice chairperson of the Executive Board and the president of the Convention shall compose the search committee for the associate executive director/chief operating officer and the treasurer /chief financial officer as needed.

Section 3. Other Employees of the Convention

The executive director is authorized to employ other staff as needed in the plan of work and as provided by the financial plan of the Convention.

Article VIII – Amendments

These Bylaws may be changed or amended at any regular session of the Convention’s annual meeting, except the last session of the meeting, provided said change or amendment is offered at the first session of the annual meeting, and carries over to some subsequent session during the same meeting, and then receives a two-third’s majority of messengers present and voting in the session.

Adopted by Baptist General Convention of Texas in session, November 14, 2016

African American Ministries, 43

Area Representatives, 24

Associate Executive Director, 13

Associations, 104

Associational Relations, 7

Baptist Church Loan Corporation, 96

Baptist Community Services, 80

Baptist Health Foundation of San Antonio, 97

Baptist Health System, 88

Baptist Hospitals of Southeast Texas, 90

Baptist Standard, 98

Baptist University of the Américas, 56

Baylor Scott & White Health, 92

Baylor University, 58

Bivocational Pastors Ministry, 25

BOUNCE Student Disaster Recovery, 32

Buckner International, 82

Bylaws, 116

Camps, 107

Center for Church Health, 14

Center for Collegiate Ministry, 47

Center for Cultural Engagement, 38

Center for Ministerial Health, 23

Center for Missional Engagement, 31

Chaplaincy Relations, 46

Children at Heart Ministries, 84

Christian Life Commission, 39

Church Architecture, 15

Church Health Strategy, 16

Church Starting, 33

Communications, 8

Conference & Event Planning, 52

Constitution, 109

Cooperative Program, 7

Counseling Services, 26

Dallas Baptist University, 60

Denison Ministries, 99

Discipleship, 17

East Texas Baptist University, 62

Ethics & Justice, 40

Evangelism, 18

Executive Director, 4

Executive Board Report, 5

Finance and Accounting, 53

Financial Health, 27

GC2 Press, 19

Go Now Missions, 48

GuideStone Financial Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention, 100

Hardin-Simmons University, 64

Hendrick Health System, 94

HighGround Advisors, 101

House/Philippi Church, 34

Houston Christian University, 66

Howard Payne University, 68 Human Resources, 9

Hunger & Care, 42

Information Technology and Support Services, 54 Institutions, 56

Intercultural Ministries, 45 Interim Church Services, 28 Ministers Development and Missional Networks, 35

Missionary Adoption Program, 36 Music & Worship, 20

Pastor Strong Initiative, 29 Public Policy, 41

River Ministry/Mexico Missions, 37 San Marcos Baptist Academy, 74

Single Adult Ministry, 21

South Texas Children’s Home Ministries, 86

Stark College & Seminary, 76

Statement of Financial

Position, 51

Statement of Activities, 50

Texas Baptist en Español, 44

Texas Baptist Heritage Center, 10

Texas Baptist Historical Collection, 11

Texas Baptist Men, 102

Texas Baptist Missions Foundation, 12

Treasurer/CFO, 49

University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, 70

Valley Baptist Missions Education Center, 78

Wayland Baptist University, 72

Western Heritage Ministries, 30

Women’s Ministry, 22

Woman’s Missionary Union of Texas, 103