The Call to be Pioneers
By Charlie McLaughlin,
Associate Coordinator

Texans are often characterized by a pioneer spirit. A pioneer is one who blazes a new trail, a new explorer of a new country, one who is first to investigate and develop a new way of doing things. Texas Baptists also have a reputation as being pioneers.

This year I am proud to say that the symbol of being a pioneer will be personal to the McLaughlin family. My dad, Dr. Charles P. McLaughlin, will receive the Pioneer Award for service in missions due to his service as director of the BGCT State Missions Commission from 1964 to 1987. Under his leadership several ministry programs began including the River Ministry, the Disaster Relief ministry, the new church emphasis, Partnership Missions, and the Hospitality House for families of inmates at Huntsville. He also had the reputation for being an advocate for Hispanic ministry. He had a broad vision for Texas.

He is a good example to follow. Texas Baptists need to keep that pioneering spirit— the spirit that calls us to venture forth, to lead others even as we follow the Spirit of God. It is appropriate that the Special Missions Program on Tuesday, November 11, at the convention in Austin be titled “Risk Taking/ Texas 2000.” Just as God leads a church to risk and change in order to reach more people for Christ, God leads a state convention to risk and change.

The pioneer spirit is manifested in the report of the Effectiveness/Efficiency Committee. The E/E plan identifies the need for risk and change as the BGCT moves to the 21st century. The report compliments and encourages ministries which continue to be effective. Yet, it moves us beyond maintenance of the status quo, away from a common bureaucratic stance, into a posture that prepares the way for new trails of missions, evangelism, ethics, education and human services.

Of course, there will be the “nay sayers,” the ones who oppose any change—the ones who oppose options and choices and believe that the BGCT should have a connectional relationship of subservience to the SBC. The E/E report does not force any church to stop relating to the SBC, but it recognizes that cooperation does not just come in one form.

In 1947, my father was the education minister for Sagamore Hill Baptist Church, Fort Worth, Texas. These are the words he selected for a church growth campaign.

“Christopher Columbus was reared under the philosophy of the Roman people. This philosophy was ‘Ne Plus Ultra’ which meant ‘there was nothing beyond.’ It concluded that all the world had been explored and as they looked out to the sea, there were no other worlds to conquer, but when Columbus went to school in Portugal, he changed his philosophy from this philosophy of pessimism to the philosophy of ‘Mas Alla’ which means ‘More Beyond.’ It was from this philosophy that he discovered America.

“We need to see ‘More Beyond.’ Some people would have us believe that our church has done all that it can do. Some would have us believe that we have gone as far as we can go. The Lord wants us to say ‘Mas Alla.’ There is more beyond!”

The pioneer spirit of Columbus lead to a new world, the one in which we now live. Perhaps a new world of cooperation that utilizes diversity beckons us forward?

The issue is autonomy. When the BGCT meets in Austin on November 10-11, the vote on the E/E report will be about autonomy. We know about local church autonomy which is a historical Baptist principle. It is the right and responsibility of a church to follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit to define itself, to make decisions about ministry and ministers, to interpret the Scripture as a local body of believers, to move in a strategic direction according to the conscience of the people as they follow their understanding of God’s will.

The principle of church autonomy is the same for a state convention. The state convention not only has the right, according to Baptist polity, but the responsibility to seek out God’s direction for itself. Thus the E/E Committee began its work to “consider the best ways to assure the maximum efficiency and effectiveness of BGCT cooperative efforts in missions, evangelism, education, ethics and human services…”

The results are five primary recommendations in the areas of 1) Ministry to Families, 2) Multi-Cultural Ministries, 3) Theological Education, 4) Partnership Missions, and 5) Biblically Based, Texas-focused Literature. A summary of the report is included as an insert in the middle of this newsletter.

The report of the E/E Committee calls Texas Baptists to rekindle that pioneer spirit. For the BGCT to practice its autonomy does not place the state convention in opposition to the SBC. But it does mean that Texas Baptists accept the responsibility to decide for themselves the direction God is leading. The broader vision of cooperation for the purpose of missions and evangelism belongs to those who will be inclusive of those the SBC has excluded. It is the broader vision put into practice that makes us pioneers.

When I vote in favor of the E/E report I will simply be expressing my pioneer heritage.

October 1997