Reyes to be nominated for BGCT president; first non-Anglo in history
By Marv Knox

SAN ANTONIO—Albert Reyes, president of Baptist University of the Americas and current first vice president of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, will be nominated for president of the BGCT this fall.

If elected, Reyes will become the first non-Anglo president in convention history.

Charlie Johnson, Reyes’ pastor at Trinity Baptist Church in San Antonio, reported he will present Reyes for president when the BGCT meets in their city Nov. 8-9.

“It’s my great privilege to make this nomination; Albert is the present incarnation of the future of Texas Baptist life,” Johnson said.

“His leadership at Baptist University of the Americas has taken that institution to a new level. He is a visionary, but he also has the administrative and organizational instincts to implement a new vision.”

Reyes has distinguished himself as a builder of bridges between cultures, Johnson added.

Reyes’ willingness to take on the demands of the presidency grows out of his own “indebtedness to Texas Baptists,” he explained. A Texas Baptist evangelist introduced his family to Jesus Christ on a ranch near Snyder in the 1930s. That introduction blossomed into a broad relationship with Christ that has touched his extended family, he said.

So, he would serve as president “out of a desire to return back to Texas Baptists what they have given to our family,” he said.

Reyes has enjoyed serving as a convention officer alongside President Ken Hall and Second Vice President Dennis Young this year, he said.

“It’s been a good year,” he added. “We’ve made some headway and seen some positive things.”

Among the positive developments has been a reorganization/ strategy process set in motion by BGCT Executive Director Charles Wade, with the support of the officers.

Reorganization of the BGCT is coming at a strategic time, Reyes observed.

“The convention can position itself to advance our kingdom work through congregations and institutions,” Reyes said of the opportunities for a reorganized BGCT. Reorganization “can put the convention right at the edge of what is happening in Texas.”

Reyes sees the possibility of becoming the BGCT’s first Hispanic and first non- Anglo president as historic but also in keeping with the convention’s recent past.

A Hispanic president would make “a very strong statement to the whole Texas Baptist family—that there is a pattern of inclusiveness we’ve seen in the past few years,” he said.

“It sends a message to Hispanic Baptists and other ethnic groups that Texas Baptists are serious about inviting all groups to the table. It’s a positive statement about who we say we are. ... All have a place of leadership.

If elected president, Reyes will emphasize a strategic focus. “My strategic focus is that I would like this next year to be about missions,” he noted. “It’s the best thing we do as Texas Baptists. When I talk about missions across the state, I always hear people say, ‘Well, that’s the heart of Texas Baptists.’

“Missions is foundational to my own pilgrimage and ministry. And the time is right to make missions a front-burner emphasis for every church, every ethnic group and all the (BGCT) institutions.”

Before becoming president of Baptist University of the Americas in 1999, Reyes was founding pastor of Pueblo Nuevo Community Church in El Paso. He also has been pastor of Love Field Church/North Temple Baptist Church in Dallas and Iglesia Bautista Alfa/Home Gardens in Dallas.

Reyes received an undergraduate degree from Angelo State University. He earned master’s and doctor’s degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, and he is working on another doctorate from Andrews University.

Reyes has been chair of the Hispanic Outreach Task Force of the White House Initiative for Hispanic Academic Excellence.

He is a board member of the Baptist Joint Committee on Public Affairs and Texas Baptists Committed and was a trustee of Valley Baptist Academy. Reprinted from The Baptist Standard 8/20/04.

October 2004