Three are Nominated to be BGCT Officers

Two institutional presidents and a pastor will be nominated for officers of the Baptist General Convention of Texas at the annual session in Lubbock November 10-11.

Ken Hall, president of Buckner Baptist Benevolences, will be nominated for president by Jim Denison, pastor of Park Cities Baptist Church in Dallas.

“I am convinced that Dr. Hall is God’s man to lead Texas Baptists in the coming year and that the Lord will use him to guide us to our greatest potential for the kingdom,” Denison stated.

Hall has served as president and chief executive officer of Buckner Baptist Benevolences since 1994. During his leadership tenure, Buckner has grown into one of the nation’s showcase social service ministries, annually serving more than 70,000 people through an array of diverse programs designed to care for children, families and senior adults.

Prior to assuming the leadership of Buckner, he served as a pastor in Longview, Midland, Gatesville and Stephenville, Texas. He is a graduate of the University of Texas at Tyler and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Hall has served as chairman of the Board of Directors of the Baptist Standard and a member of the Executive Board of the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

He and his wife, Linda, have two married children, Kevin and Kayce, and a granddaughter.

Albert Reyes, president of the Hispanic Baptist Theological School, will be nominated for first vice president.

Charlie Johnson, pastor at Trinity Baptist Church in San Antonio, will make the nomination at the BGCT annual session.

“Albert is the best of our breed. He’s got the right vision and the right sensibility for Baptists’ mission in Texas and beyond,” Johnson stated.

Reyes, the sixth president of HBTS has been president since 1999. Under his leadership, the San Antonio school has received authority to grant bachelor’s degrees from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and is in the final stages of gaining accreditation from the Accrediting Association of Bible Colleges.

If messengers at the BGCT annual session vote to approve, the school’s name will be changed to Baptist University of the Americas.

Before coming to HBTS as president, Reyes was founding pastor of Pueblo Nuevo Community Church in El Paso. Other pastorates include Love Field Church/North Temple Baptist Church and Iglesia Bautista Alfa/Home Gardens, both in Dallas.

Reyes is a board member of the Baptist Joint Committee on Public Affairs and Texas Baptists Committed. He is a graduate of Angelo State University and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and he is working on an additional doctorate from Andrews University.

Reyes and his wife, Belinda, are the parents of three sons, Joshua, David and Thomas.

Marvin Delaney, pastor of South Park Baptist Church in Houston, will nominate Dennis W. Young, pastor of Missouri City Baptist Church, for second vice president.

“Dennis has for a long time been a really strong supporter of the Baptist General Convention of Texas’ work,” Delaney stated.

Young has served as pastor of the Missouri City Baptist Church, which he started, for 12 years. During his pastorate, he has led his church to focus on reaching people where they are in the community. Young is deeply committed to missions both locally and globally.

As a result of this mission commitment, Young has participated in direct missions projects in Jamaica, St. Eustatius, South America and Nigeria.

Young was on the staff of South Park Baptist Church in Houston before his current pastorate. He is a board member of the BGCT Executive Board and the missions network board. Young served as the president of the Texas African-American Fellowship from 2001 to 2003. He is a graduate of Brooklyn College in Brooklyn, N.Y., and the Houston Graduate School of Theology in Houston.

Young and his wife, Fanny, have two children, Fandenia and Dennis II.

November 2003