As Christians, we truly believe in the power of God to “work all things for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to his purpose.” The excitement in this state regarding what God can do with Texas Baptists has never been more evident.

Yes, there is a great deal of anger regarding the firing of Russell Dilday. But that anger is being channeled into so many wonderful responses.

This newsletter focuses on the events at Southwestern Seminary in March and the response of Texas Baptists to the firing of Dr. Dilday and the subsequent “lame” attempts to justify such an outrageous and “unjustifiable” act. Students have responded, the faculty has responded, members of the Seminary Council have responded, the president of our state convention has responded with incredible leadership, pastors, lay people, and churches have responded.

And the response is overwhelmingly focused on leaving SBC politics behind and following the Lord’s leadership as Texas Baptists.

Allow me to point out some of the exciting things which are happening.

1. Texas Baptists are remembering that they are Baptists! The headquarters in Baptist life is the local church. Notice the reports we are printing of what local pastors and local congregations are doing. They are remembering they are Baptist!

Notice the different memberships and locations of the churches. Some are urban, some rural. Some are large congregations, some mid-size, some run under 50 in Sunday School. We printed these for a purpose. You know where I stand. You know where members of our executive committee like Bill Bruster, Charles Wade, Ben Loring, Daniel Vestal, and Jim Denison stand. We want Texas Baptists to realize that God is moving all across our state, in every region and size of church. Why? Because every local church is equally important to God’s work and witness in Texas.

2. Pastors are remembering they are leaders! The last fifteen years have been hard on pastors. A pastor’s primary calling is to take care of the local congregation. We dislike turmoil in our local congregation and in our denomination.

And yet, it is important to keep our people informed regarding the events in the denomination. Our people’s tithes and offerings built the ministries of the BGCT and the SBC. It is exciting to read of so many pastors remembering they are leaders and informing their people of the truth.

3. Lay persons are remembering they are priests! Another exciting event is that lay persons are exercising their “priesthood.” Lay people all over are remembering that the pastor is not a dictator and are standing up and saying “This is how I want my money to go for missions,” even in churches where the pastor is sympathetic to the fundamentalist agenda.

The things I am reading and hearing regarding “freedom in giving” sound Baptist, fair, and responsible to me.

I do not know where “free and faithful” Texas Baptists will be five years from now in our programs or in our relationships to other Baptist groups but I sure am expecting the future to be exciting.

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