Texas Baptists Committed is dedicated to reaching people for Christ through local churches; promoting and defending historic Baptist principles; spreading an understanding of Baptist heritage and distinctives through education; and cooperating with the mission of the Baptist General Convention of Texas and its related institutions.

THE FUTURE FOR TEXAS BAPTISTS COMMITTED

For several years Texas Baptists have made it clear they do not want to follow the SBC path of fundamentalist control and exclusion.

We have advocated this position strongly in our newsletter.

We have tried to emphasize our Baptist heritage and polity and to encourage people to practice good stewardship of what God has given Texas Baptists.

Texas Baptists have responded with financial support of this organization and elected to office persons we endorsed who would keep Texas Baptists in the mainstream.

For all of this we are thankful.

Should we continue?

We believe we should but we also believe we can and should expand our role in Texas Baptists life. Here is our present thoughts on our future as an organization and we appreciate input from Texas Baptists.

First: We should continue to encourage Texas Baptists to practice good stewardship and be diligent in attending BGCT annual meetings.

Fundamentalists control the SBC. They do not control the BGCT. This creates tension for all of us and we seriously doubt militant fundamentalists are going to stop trying to take over the BGCT.

There is a role we should continue to play in advocating traditional Baptist polity for Texas Baptists and supporting solid Texas Baptists for officers of our convention.

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Second: We need to more aggressively seek to unite Texas Baptists around a vision for the future. We need to use these pages to encourage Texas Baptists to give more to our state convention. We need to explain and urge support for Mission Texas, Vision 2000, and other BGCT programs.

Third: We would like for our Summer Convocation to become a major event in Texas Baptist life. We would hope we can use this forum as an educational vehicle to emphasize our historic principles and practices.

Fourth: We hope to produce videos and educational materials emphasizing our heritage and principles — the authority of scripture, local church autonomy, the priesthood of all believers, and the separation of church and state — that would be helpful to Texas Baptist churches and individuals.

Fifth: We see a role in peacemaking for TBC. We can use this publication to call for truthfulness, inclusiveness and respect among Texas Baptists. We can advocate unity in diversity for Texas Baptists regardless of what local churches do regarding national mission support.

In conclusion, we believe most Texas Baptists appreciate our concerns and our efforts and plan to continue to be an advocate for our heritage and for peace. We hope even more of you will join us.

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