September Executive Board meeting: God’s hand at work

This week, your Texas Baptists executive board met. It was an encouraging time of hearing exciting ministry reports and making important decisions moving forward. In an era where some denominations and Baptist conventions are struggling, there is no doubt we sense God’s hand at work among and through Texas Baptists.

While we celebrate the myriad blessings we have received, we also pause to ask hard questions about the present and the future. The situation around us calls us to seek God’s face and unite in fervent prayer.

On Monday night of our two-day meeting, we celebrated staff members who have served with Texas Baptists for 20 years, and we mentioned some of the recent talented additions to our team. I also delivered my executive director’s report to the board.

As a follow-up to the May executive board meeting, I informed the board that we have hired Sergio A. Ramos to lead the GC2 initiative. Ramos will work with the study group that the executive board endorsed in May to develop the strategy and structure of the GC2 initiative. Once it is in place, he will be responsible for leading in its implementation.

Also, as a response to the convention messengers’ decision in McAllen last year regarding resourcing women in ministry, we have welcomed Dr. Bennye Bryant as director of the women in ministry network.

Dr. Bryant, who has served in our finance and accounting department, has abundant experience in women’s ministry as a pastor’s wife, conference speaker and ministry leader at the local church, community, and state level and beyond. She holds an Ed.D from Dallas Baptist University and brings enthusiasm and cross-cultural competency to serve women in ministry.

While women’s ministry will continue to be resourced through our Center for Church Health, the director of the women in ministry network will be a part of the Center for Ministerial Health team. She will work alongside the director of the pastoral health network, Kevin Abbott, the director of the pastor strong network, Chad Shapiro and the director of the millennial/gen z network which is currently vacant.

We are excited about connecting women serving on church staffs and in our institutions, encouraging them, providing training, networks and cohorts, all the while respecting each church’s autonomy on the matter.

I shared with the executive board that we continue in a process of clarifying our call as Texas Baptists for the next season of ministry. I invited them to reflect with me about Nehemiah’s call based on the first chapter of the book by the same name.

Nehemiah’s call began with interested inquiry. In his exile, he asked about the condition of Jerusalem. We, too, need to ask about the condition of our state. The explosive demographic growth, the condition of our churches and the changing cultural landscape has huge implications for our ministry. We need to start with a serious assessment process.

The royal cupbearer in Persia’s interested inquiry resulted in intense concern. His heart was broken at the condition of Jerusalem. Before God calls us to action, he calls us to brokenness.  Before we can make a difference in the world, God gives us a burden for its brokenness.

Ultimately, Nehemiah’s inquiry and compassion led him to intercessory prayer. Nehemiah’s fervent prayer expressed his sense of desperation and dependence on the Lord to address the current crisis. 

God calls us through and to prayer. When we attempt to address the issues of our time without prayer, we will be powerless. When we rush to action without seeking God’s face, we will grow weary and discouraged. We must face our broken world with the confidence that God is at work.

Will you join us in praying for God’s supernatural intervention? Will you go ask your church to pray for your community, for our state and for our work together as Texas Baptists?