1,000th church partners with Southern Baptists of Texas

by Melissa Deming                                                                                                              Vol. XV, No. 3, March 2002

On Jan. 30, the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention (SBTC) posted the affiliation document from the 1,000th church to partner with the young convention. The SBTC is the newest of 40 state conventions associated with the Southern Baptist Convention. Founded in November 1998 with 120 affiliated churches, the SBTC has experienced steady growth in the three years since. "We thank God for this milestone in the life of our convention. It is a great challenge to serve so many diverse churches; but we serve a great God who empowers us to do all that he sets before us," said Executive Director Jim Richards. "Part of that empowerment will be the gifted people in these churches who will work alongside us as we share the good news of Christ across our great state. It is a great time to be a Texas Southern Baptist."

Church number 1,000 is First Baptist Church of Buffalo Gap in Taylor County. Steve Joiner, pastor of Buffalo Gap for 14 years, said the church voted unanimously during a Jan. 20th morning worship service to affiliate with the SBTC. "We could have done it three or four months ago," Joiner said. "But we wanted to make sure that we spent plenty of time educating everyone so they could make an intelligent vote."

Joiner continued, "Our church is excited to affiliate with people of like beliefs when we go to conferences and conventions. Our church believes very strongly that the Bible is without error in any issue, whether faith, practice or science," Joiner said. "We love the idea that we'll be affiliated with people that are of like mind. This is a group that we believe in. To me, they are old-time Southern Baptists. That's who our church is."

Of the first 1,000 churches, 138 were started by SBTC churches and convention efforts. About 88 church plants are currently supported financially by the SBTC. Since the convention's inception, 108 church starts have received financial aid at some time, while 30 affiliated churches have started since the SBTC's beginning without receiving financial help.

"Starting healthy, reproducing churches that will share the gospel with men and women in Texas is a primary emphasis of this convention," said Ruben Hernandez, SBTC missions and evangelism director. "We have put feet to that emphasis by giving it priority in our staffing and budgeting. Church planting is the largest single item in our annual budget."

Additionally, the convention is comprised of 10 different language and ethnic groups. Each Sunday, SBTC churches preach the gospel in English, Chinese, Korean, Spanish, Indonesian, Portuguese, Nepali and Hindi. "This reflects the growing cultural diversity of our state," said Robby Partain, SBTC church planting associate. "It is our intent that this diversity will grow as we reach into other unchurched or underchurched areas and people groups in Texas."

Currently, 76 percent of the 1,000 churches affiliated with the SBTC are uniquely affiliated with the convention. Affiliation requires church action expressing agreement with SBTC's statement of faith and a desire to participate in the convention's missionary work. There are approximately 6,000 Southern Baptist churches in Texas. [BP]