Annual Meeting

The Texas Baptist Missions Foundation presented three awards at their annual luncheon held at the Baylor Club at McLane Stadium during the 2019 Texas Baptists Annual Meeting.

“We say we believe the Bible,” Don Guthrie, retired pastor of First Baptist Church of San Antonio, said, “but the truth is there are very large portions we never read, preach, or even hear about it.”

In Monday’s 2019 Texas Baptists Annual Meeting Session 2 workshop, “Effective Evangelism Strategies in the Local Church,” Bryant Lee, pastor of Higher Expectations Church in Humble, spoke to a group of church leaders about why churches must become e-churches.

A person would never leave a newborn baby to fend for itself, said Clayton Bullion, director of Baptist Student Ministry (BSM) at Tarleton State University, likewise, new believers should not be treated that way. 

The banquet table of Christ is for everyone, said Dr. Michael Evans, president of Texas Baptists and pastor at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Mansfield, and Texas Baptists are compelled to invite others to join the feast.

“The Gospel uniquely calls us to be involved in this space of building bridges,” said Pastor Bryan Carter of Concord Church in Dallas during a Monday afternoon workshop on race and the church at the 2019 Texas Baptists Annual Meeting. “No matter what your background is, when we come to the Gospel we now share the same spiritual DNA, the same bloodline, so now we must work together.”

All three convention officers were re-elected to serve for a second term during the Monday morning business session at the 134th Annual Meeting of the Baptist General Convention of Texas Monday in Waco. 

A new initiative by Texas Baptists aims to empower churches to make a collective impact on the growing statewide shortage of foster and adoptive families. 

A crowd gathered for the African American Rally at the Greater Ebenezer Baptist Church in Waco to celebrate the beginning of the 2019 Texas Baptists Annual Meeting. 

Hispanic Baptists joined for fellowship, worship and encouragement at the Hispanic Rally held at First Baptist Woodway during the first night of the 2019 Texas Baptists Annual Meeting.

The Baptist General Convention of Texas will gather for the 134th Annual Meeting from Nov. 17-19, at the Waco Convention Center. 

Jenna Mountain didn’t hesitate with the crowd as she opened her workshop, saying, “Pornography has shifted our culture of sexuality and it’s a problem. It’s taken away God’s good gift of sexuality.”

Attempting to communicate truths from Jesus’s time to people living in 2018 has its difficulties, and as Great Commission Director Delvin Atchison described, the margin for error is great.

It’s not a topic that most churches want to even think about. But with news headlines about violent attacks becoming more prevalent, one Texas Baptists church member says churches simply must make security a high priority.

Nebiye Kelile, pastor of Pathway Church in Garland, Texas, spoke during the Monday morning worship session at the 2018 Texas Baptists Family Gathering.

“Unity is valuable because it is so rare,” said David Dykes, pastor of Green Acres Baptist Church in Tyler, Texas, during his Monday night sermon at the 2018 Texas Baptists Family Gathering.

Jason Paredes, lead pastor of Fielder Church in Arlington, Texas, presented the sermon during the last evening worship session of 2018 Texas Baptists Family Gathering.

During Tuesday morning’s worship service of the 2018 Texas Baptists Family Gathering, Ralph West, pastor and founder of The Church Without Walls, in Houston, Texas, preached a powerful message on oneness.