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Grass Roots Support for the Effectiveness/Efficiency Report

I read with great excitement the report from the Effectiveness and Efficiency Committee. In a time of change, this committee has made a balanced response which will enable us to maintain our identity as Baptists but at the same time recognizes the need for new ways of being Baptists in today’s world.

I affirm the key concepts cited in the report and wholeheartedly support the recommendations.

Brian L. Harbour, Pastor, FBC, Richardson

I can’t remember when I was so enthusiastic about reports of this type. The breadth and depth of the committee’s planning is very impressive. The willingness to examine new paradigms and to seek out new models for ministry was especially gratifying to me.

Praise the Lord, we have within the state of Texas excellent examples of new mission paradigms and many ministry models to evaluate, which should enable us to build upon them and give us a “running start.” We don’t have to reinvent the wheel for innovative ministries.

The attention given to the mission opportunities of the “innercity,” to multi-racial needs, and the recognition of the desirability of a different theological education for lay people and for bivocational pastors is something that I’ve been working and praying for during the past 10 years that I’ve been involved in inner-city missions.

Bud Hudgens, Tallowood Church, Houston

I read with interest that we have the possibility of writing our own literature in Texas. I am so pleased.

The Hobbs commentary on the Life and Work Sunday School lesson for September 7 said, “For example, a Baptist university president suggested in a recent book that Jesus was not God and contended that making Jesus into a divine figure to be worshiped was largely a mistake.” If this is true, why not say what president and what university and give the title of the book? I can’t help believe when I read something like this that the author needed to point a would-be enemy so as to put up a smoke screen for himself.

Pat Walker, Amarillo

I have never been as excited about a report as I am the Effectiveness and Efficiency Committee report. I have been pastoring in Texas for 30-plus years, and I think that this has to be a high-water mark of our efforts as Texas Baptists in being God’s people. The report demonstrates a realism and vision unparalleled in the past. It is also characterized by a sensitivity to all who are Texas Baptists. I am excited about presenting this report to my church, and I think they will be as excited in receiving it.

Pete Freeman, Pastor, FBC, The Woodlands

The members of the Effectiveness and Efficiency Committee deserve the gratitude of all Texas Baptists for their recognition of Texas as unique mission field and for proposing strategies that will enable the BGCT to fulfill the Great Commission of our Lord in our state.

This is an excellent report, with excellent recommendations, emphasizing the work of the local church, the role of the laity, meeting the unique needs of Texas and building upon historic Baptist heritage.

Two specific areas of emphasis caught my attention - theological education and literature for laypersons which are both Bible-based and Texas focused.

I urge Texas Baptists to study the report and recommendations with the same care as went into its preparation and to commit themselves to its implementation following adoption in November.

Olin F. Davis, Fort Worth

In a day when it seems as if the local church is losing authority, it is nice to see that the Effectiveness and Efficiency Committee report celebrates the decision-making power of the local congregation. Throughout the document, the motif of “church first” is demonstrated. This is a clear affirmation by the Baptist General Convention of Texas that, as the report states, “The local church is the key to reaching the lost.” Many other attributes of the document are worthy of praise - affirmation of the Baptist General Convention of Texas leadership, emphasis on a biblical basis, recognition of control and ethnic changes and a firm stance upon historic Baptist heritage.

Howard Batson, Pastor, FBC, Amarillo

I support the E/E report for four reasons:

First: I served on the E/E Committee and know first hand the hours spent on this report by members of the committee.

Second: I believe this is a gracious report. By that I mean that it looks honestly and graciously at the present situation in the culture and in our relationships with other Baptist entities. However, it never loses sight of what Texas Baptists are about. We are not about fighting a political war. We are about winning people in our state, nation, and world to Jesus Christ. This is our agenda.

Third: this is an institutionally inclusive report. It looks at all that we are doing as Texas Baptists.

Finally, this is a personally inclusive report. I am excited about us aggressively addressing racism in our midst, so that all might hear about Christ, so that all might worship Christ, so that all might serve Christ in the fellowship of the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

I am also excited that unlike the Southern Baptist Convention we have tried to increase opportunities for all who are in our churches. The last 18 years has seen a profound narrowing in the Southern Baptist Convention. To the SBC, not all are qualified to participate (except to send their money, but only through their designated channels), not all are qualified to write for SBC publications, not all are qualified to speak to SBC audiences, not all are qualified to lead. In the Baptist General Convention of Texas, the door remains open to all of a cooperative spirit to work with others who are a part of this Convention.

Those criticisms that have been leveled at the report, in my judgment, come from three sources. First, some criticisms are based on misunderstandings regarding the nature of the recommendations. Some criticisms come from those who incorrectly believe that we have a moral obligation to follow the SBC into fundamentalism. Others criticize the report because they deeply resent the freedom we are trying to provide for everyone to express their faith, convictions and call.

Michael Chancellor, Pastor, Crescent Heights, Abilene

Martin Luther King, Jr., made the sad observation that all too often the church has been the tail lights rather than the headlights of society. The recommendations of the E/E Committee are needed steps. The recommendations on family and cultural diversity are long overdue, and speak to Baptists who misguidedly seek to recover a mythic cultural past. In addition, the emphases on theological education and Texas-focused literature are critical in a time when many coming into our churches are ignorant of our distinctives and heritage. These emphases are imperative when we consider the insistence of many SBC leaders upon a revisionist reading of Baptist history and theology that dishonors our past and truncates our future. Messengers to the 1997 convention should wholeheartedly endorse the E/E report and recommendations. Even more importantly, we should pledge our support as they are implemented.

Steven Spivey, Pastor,Woodlake Church, San Antonio

October 1997