Sept. 17, 2014 • Texan Digital • Issue #37

September 17, 2014 • ISSUE 37

GRACE AND

COMMUNITY PASTOR AND CHURCH DISCOVER ‘NEW BEGINNINGS’

Ministering to children and families with special needs

FLOYD LEADS EVENING OF PRAYER FOR REVIVAL

Gary Ledbetter

What did you learn at school today?

Y

ou should read this Christianity Today article by Tish Harrison Warren. Warren is an Anglican priest and formerly directed Intervarsity Christian Fellowship on the campus of Vanderbilt University. She describes herself as non-fundamentalist and clarifies by indicating that she is authentic and committed to justice.

Even though she was a “winsome” evangelical, her chapter’s requirement that student leaders believe in the resurrection and a basic sexual morality put her crossways with Vandy’s administration.

“Creedal discrimination,” she was told, “is still discrimination.” Rather than abandoning any recognizable Christian identity, IVCF, along with several other religious groups, lost recognition as a Vanderbilt student group. Recognized student groups have advantages in using campus facilities and can receive program money from student activity fees. Loss of status also makes participation in the life of the university very challenging.

This article has more impact because it is from someone who considered herself more mainstream to the life of the university than conservative Christians might be. Any Christianity was too much, as it turned out.

This same thing has happened at the 23 campuses of California State University, with a combined population of 447,000 students. Religion News Service says that IVCF has been challenged on more than 40 campuses so far. Other confessional groups are also under pressure to conform to a secular version of their faith or face exclusion. Now we all understand something more about modern definitions of “university” and “free exchange of ideas.” “Persecution” is not too strong a word for this. It’s not the same as what others face in the Muslim world or other regions of anti-religious repression, but the difference is one of degree rather than type of treatment or intent.

While it is not illegal for Christians to be on a college campus or even to witness there, banning Christian student groups is a logical next step for an academic environment wholly sold out to moral

relativism and liberalism. It is reasonable to expect that the effort to censor Christian viewpoints will expand on state school campuses.

So what do we do in a day when a college degree is a requirement for many jobs, assuming that the banning of the expression of Christian beliefs is an accelerating trend?

Christian colleges may be a better answer, but there is shocking diversity even within that category of educational institution. Many barely remember why “Christian” or “Baptist” is part of their names. A few of our Baptist schools are serious about their Christian identity and about academic rigor but not all. This option requires discernment on the part of the prospective student and his parents.

I still think state schools are an option for Christian families but under certain conditions. Here is my advice, particularly related to casually Christian or state schools: Check out the school—Who are the professors and administrators? What’s the school’s reputation? Have other Christian families had an acceptable experience at this school? Meet with administrators and department heads and ask hard questions about the experience of Christian students in the classes.

Check out the churches—Churches are more important than on-campus Christian organizations. The purpose of campus ministry is to win the lost; the purpose of churches is to make disciples. If there is not a good church near the campus, don’t send your kid there. Talk to the pastor and visit the collegiate group of the church before deciding.

Prepare your child—Begin to familiarize your child with the issues he’ll face in a faith-hostile classroom. Your child needs to have his own convictions about the Bible, God, Jesus and how Christians should live according to those convictions. He needs to understand his faith. Your church can be a resource for your family in that process, but the responsibility is yours. If your graduate is not mature enough to face challenges to his faith, he’s not ready for college. Get him a job at Chick-Fil-A while you finish discipling him, but don’t send him to university until you’re done.

The challenge to campus Christian groups and belief is only the next step in what higher education has been for a long time. Professors ridiculed my beliefs 40 years ago at the University of Arkansas. I might have learned something from those profs, but they were spiritual adversaries. Things are not better since you and I were in school.

The bottom line seems to be, and has been for a while, that higher education can be better than nothing but usually isn’t. Unless churches and families prepare their students well for the spiritual and moral challenges they’ll face after high school, we’ll all grieve at what happens next. It’s not rational to think collegiate life will do what we did not.

CONTENTS ISSUE #37 /////////////////////////////////////////////

5

Floyd leads evening of prayer for spiritual awakening in America

On Sept. 2, Southern Baptist Convention President Ronnie Floyd hosted a prayer gathering called “Pray for the Nation” on the campus of Southwestern Seminary.

8 COVER STORY:

Living with autism:

9

CORSICANA’S GRACE COMMUNITY MEETS SPECIAL NEEDS

Dealing with autism has been a daily challenge for Steve and Kim Hayes since the birth of the couple’s third son, Pierce, now 11. This challenge has also been embraced by Corsicana’s Grace Community, the steadily growing church of 250 that Hayes, a Criswell College graduate, has pastored for six years.

6

Dooley excited about new beginnings at Sunnyvale FBC

When Adam Dooley’s 6-year-old son Carson completed his last round of treatment in February after a three-year battle with leukemia, their family sensed a longing for a fresh start, a new beginning.

16

SWBTS installs endowed chairs of biblical theology, evangelism

Southwestern Seminary installed Executive Vice President and Provost Craig Blaising into the Jesse Hendley Chair of Biblical Theology and Assistant Professor of Evangelism Matt Queen into the L.R. Scarborough Chair of Evangelism (Chair of Fire) in two August chapel meetings.

Prayer for revival fuels annual meeting focus

Taking its theme from Isaiah 55:6, the 17th annual meeting of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention will emphasize the need for prayer and revival when it gathers on the campus of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth Nov. 10-11. The theme for this year’s annual meeting is “Seek the Lord While He May Be Found.”

17

CALL TO PRAYER: Why we don’t pray for awakening

Our Southern Baptist Convention president, Ronnie Floyd, has called us to pray for spiritual awakening. This call is the right one for a convention that exhibits marks of decline even as we seek to determine the best steps into the future.

TEXAN Digital is e-published twice monthly by the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention, 4500 State Highway 360, Grapevine, TX 76099-1988.

Jim Richards, Executive Director Gary Ledbetter, Editor Keith Collier, Managing Editor Sharayah Colter, Staff Writer Russell Lightner, Design & Layout Stephanie Barksdale, Subscriptions Contributing Writers Carolyn Nichols, Rob Collingsworth, Jane Rodgers, Alex Sibley, Chuck Lawless, Karen L. Willoughby To contact the TEXAN, visit texanonline.net/contact or call toll free 877.953.7282 (SBTC).

Photo cover by Adam Tarleton

Briefly /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TRUETT CATHY, FAITH-ROOTED BUSINESS ENTREPRENEUR, DIES

S. Truett Cathy, founder of the Chick-fil-A restaurant chain famous for closing on Sundays, died Sept. 8. He was 93.

Cathy, one of Southern Baptists’ most respected businessmen, was surrounded by loved ones when he died at his home at 1:35 a.m., according to an announcement from the Atlanta-based company.

Read the story from Baptist Press here.

BOKO HARAM GAINING GROUND IN NIGERIA

Boko Haram’s incessant capture of villages in northeastern Nigeria is gaining attention from United States and United Nations security officials, who say the terrorists’ victories are troubling and pose a serious threat to Nigeria’s overall security.

Read the story from Baptist Press here.

EBOLA PROMPTS COUNTER-CULTURAL PRECAUTIONS

ERLC: TIME IS NOW FOR MARRIAGE RULING

The Southern Baptist Convention’s religious freedom entity has told the U.S. Supreme Court the time to rule on samesex marriage has arrived. The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) joined four other faith organizations representing tens of millions of Americans in a Sept. 4 brief urging justices not to delay in deciding the constitutional status of marriage between people of the same sex.

Read the story from Baptist Press here.

FEDERAL JUDGE RULES FOR TRADITIONAL MARRIAGE

As the deadly Ebola epidemic in West Africa continues to spread, many Africans find themselves being forced to take precautions that are counter to their culture, report Christian workers in the region.

“Africans live and love community,” Sam Gardner,* medical doctor and Christian worker in West Africa, said. “Greetings as well as farewells in African life are very important. When not done properly, or neglected, offense is taken.”

Gardner said attempts to get people not to shake hands, because doing so could transmit the Ebola virus, runs against a lifetime of experience.

Read the story from Baptist Press here.

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Traditional marriage gained a win in a federal court Sept. 3 after a string of losses at the federal level.

U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman in New Orleans ruled that Louisiana’s ban on same-sex marriage can stand. The ruling is the first time a ban in a state on same-sex marriages has been upheld by a federal judge since the Supreme Court struck down key elements of the federal Defense of Marriage Act in 2013.

Read the story from Baptist Press here.

—Briefly section compiled from Baptist Press, other news sources and staff reports

PRO-LIFERS VOICE CONCERNS TO PBS’ AIRING OF ‘AFTER TILLER’

On Sept. 1, the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) telecast “After Tiller,” a 2013 movie about the only four doctors who openly perform thirdtrimester abortions in the United States. The nearly 90-minute film is available for viewing online at the PBS website through Oct. 1.

Some pro-life organizations and individuals criticized the film as propaganda for abortion rights and called before its premiere for PBS to cancel it. Others urged PBS to show a pro-life documentary to provide balance.

Skeet Workman, longtime Texas Southern Baptist and former trustee with the ERLC, expressed her objections after watching the PBS premiere on a local public TV station affiliated with Texas Tech University in Lubbock. Workman shared her concerns in an email to Mickey Long, chairman of Texas Tech’s board of regents.

Read the story from Baptist Press here.

COURT SIGNALS HOPE FOR HOUSING ALLOWANCE

Supporters of the ministerial housing allowance should be hopeful about a federal appeals court’s anticipated ruling on the 60-year-old provision, a religious liberty lawyer said after oral arguments in the case. The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago appeared Sept. 9 to lean toward either dismissing the case because the allowance’s challengers lack legal standing or upholding the allowance as constitutional, a lawyer with the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty said.

Read the story from Baptist Press here.

‘EVANGELICALS FOR MARRIAGE EQUALITY’ LAUNCH DRAWS HARSH CRITICISM

Reaction to the launch of a group calling itself “Evangelicals for Marriage Equality” heralded by an op-ed in TIME by its spokesman, was met with harsh criticism from some Christians, including the assertion that no “real arguments” were made to support samesex marriages. Andrew T. Walker, director of policy studies for the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention responded with his own op-ed the next day in TIME, “An Evangelical Defense of Traditional Marriage.”

Read the story from the Christian Post here.

FEMA COUNCIL ADDS BAPTIST DR LEADER

Fritz Wilson, executive director of Southern Baptist Disaster Relief, is one of 12 new appointees to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s National Advisory Council. Wilson was selected for a threeyear term from among 200 leaders recommended from across the U.S., including elected officials, first responders, scientists, emergency management specialists and cyber security professionals.

Read the story from Baptist Press here.

ISIS TERROR THREAT GIVES IMPETUS TO ‘JUST WAR,’ STRATEGISTS SAY

With ISIS beheading a second American journalist and controlling a large section of Iraq and Syria, analysts say military action against the terrorist group aligns with traditional just war principles.

Read the story from Baptist Press here.

BIVOCATIONAL, SMALL CHURCH COUNCIL NAMED

Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee President Frank S. Page has named a 21-member Bivocational and Small Church Advisory Council to serve through 2017, SBC LIFE reported in its fall issue. Calling the local church the “headquarters of the Southern Baptist Convention,” Page named the council to help the Executive Committee and other SBC entity leaders gain greater understanding of and appreciation for the perspectives of churches served by bivocational pastors and churches with Sunday school attendance of 125 or less.

Read the story from Baptist Press here.

CRUZ BOOED OFF STAGE FOLLOWING ISRAEL COMMENT

Sen. Ted Cruz walked off the stage at an In Defense of Christians conference Sept.

10 in Washington D.C. when a portion of the audience began booing at him and his reference to Israel being an ally of Christians. He told the heckling crowd that if they would not stand with Israel, he would not stand with them.

Read the story from The Daily Signal here.

SEPTEMBER 17, 2014 TEXANONLINE.NET 3

SOUTH ASIA FLOODING STIRS CALL FOR PRAYER & RELIEF

Floodwaters sweeping across northern India and Pakistan have killed more than 450 people.

Hundreds of thousands more have fled their homes as helicopters and boats raced to save marooned victims in one of the worst floods to hit this area in 60 years.

MAGISTRATE RECOMMENDS GLORIETA SUIT DISMISSAL

New social studies textbooks for Texas public schools are set to be approved in November, and many left-leaning groups are unhappy with them. They say they take offense that the books mention Moses as being a lawgiver and great leader and that he, like the founders of the United States, “helped establish a legal system to govern his people,” among other things.

A U.S. magistrate has recommended dismissal of all claims in a lawsuit filed against LifeWay Christian Resources, the Southern Baptist Convention and its Executive Committee, as well as the Glorieta 2.0 ministry that bought the Glorieta (N.M.) Baptist Conference Center from LifeWay last September.

Federal magistrate Robert Hayes Scott, in a 79-page document for the U.S. Federal District Court in Albuquerque where the lawsuit was filed, found no evidence of misconduct in the Glorieta sale.

Read the story from the Associated Press and ABC News here.

Read the story from Baptist Press here.

Read the story from Baptist Press here.

POTENTIAL TEXAS HISTORY BOOKS SPUR NATIONWIDE DEBATE

4 TEXANONLINE.NET SEPTEMBER 17, 2014

Floyd leads prayer for spiritual awakening in America FORT WORTH

By Alex Sibley

On Sept. 2, Southern Baptist Convention President Ronnie Floyd hosted a prayer gathering called “Pray for the Nation” on the campus of Southwestern Seminary in Fort Worth. Southwestern students and faculty, as well as representatives from local churches, assembled in MacGorman Chapel for the evening, which comprised worship and prayer for spiritual awakening in America.

“I’ve really become convinced over these days that no great movement of God ever occurs without first being preceded by the extraordinary prayer of God’s people, and tonight’s really about extraordinary prayer,” Floyd said. “We come together tonight with agreement that there is not a greater need in this country than for the God of heaven to step into this nation. That is our number one need and nothing else can fix it—only God can.”

Floyd facilitated the evening by leading those in attendance through a process of guided prayer. This began with prayers of personal repentance, surrender to God, and an appeal to be filled with the Spirit.

Following this, attendees prayed for revival in their local churches.

Floyd defined revival as when the manifested presence of God comes upon a body of believers, leading to a season of unusual movement of the Lord in the body of Christ.

“Great things begin to happen that were not happening,” Floyd explained. “Lives begin to be affected that were not affected before, and things change and never go back to where they were. Because God always makes a difference; it doesn’t matter where he goes or what he does.”

With these foundations laid, the next prayer focused on a new great awakening in the United States.

Addressing the current crises going on in the country and around the world, Floyd said such crises are nothing more than God calling people unto himself.

“God is speaking to his people,” Floyd said, “and the wonderful thing about knowing Christ is that we have somewhere to go. We do not stand here tonight as people who are hopeless; we stand with greater hope than ever before that God is moving and God is going to move, and we’re going to trust him tonight to do just that.”

To illustrate God’s ability to do great works in this country, Floyd listed several examples of how God moved among the American people in the past. He cited the three Great Awakenings, which, as Floyd put it, resulted in the shifting of cultures and unprecedented missionary engagement. Floyd also mentioned a series of prayer gatherings in 1857 and 1858 in which God moved so mightily that in a matter of two years, one million Americans came to Christ.

“And there were only 30 million Americans alive,” Floyd said. “Can you imagine what could happen in our country today if the Lord so chose to do that again?”

“God wants to bring a mighty spiritual awakening to America,” Floyd continued. “I’ve never been more convinced of that. We [the United States] have more churches, more buildings, more money, more of this, more of that, but here’s what we need: we need more God. And may that be what we become known for.”

The final prayer of the evening focused on reaching the world with the Gospel, which Floyd said is the natural result of praying for spiritual awakening in the United States.

“This is what we’re all about,” Floyd said. “This is what called us together back in 1845 [when the SBC was founded]: this idea that we can do a lot for God when we do it for his name and we join together in the right way and we take the Gospel to the ends of the earth.”

SEPTEMBER 17, 2014 TEXANONLINE.NET 5

Dooley excited about new beginnings at Sunnyvale FBC

By Keith Collier When Adam Dooley’s 6-yearold son Carson completed his last round of treatment in February after a three-year battle with leukemia, their family sensed a longing for a fresh start, a new beginning.

Little did the Dooleys realize at the time that God was loosening the soil around the roots of their lives in order to transplant them nearly 600 miles from their home in Mobile, Ala., where Adam Dooley served as pastor of Dauphin Way Baptist Church, to Sunnyvale, Texas, where the congregation of Sunnyvale First Baptist Church called Dooley as their pastor June 29.

Naturally then, the title of his first sermon series at Sunnyvale First Baptist—New Beginnings— captured a theme for his family as well as the church.

“Our arrival here at Sunnyvale First Baptist today is much more than a new journey between a pastor and a congregation,” Dooley told the congregation during his first sermon Aug 24. “It really feels like a new beginning; it feels like we have been given a new life.”

While it’s a new season for the Dooleys and the church, Dooley gives a great deal of credit to his predecessor, Charles Wilson, who served as pastor of Sunnyvale First Baptist for more than 25 years.

“The church I have inherited is, humanly speaking, in large part due to Charles Wilson,” Dooley told the TEXAN in an interview. “I’m really thankful for the years he 6 TEXANONLINE.NET SEPTEMBER 17, 2014

New Sunnyvale FBC pastor Adam Dooley preaches his opening sermon of a series titled “New Beginnings” Aug. 24. PHOTO COURTESY OF SUNNYVALE FBC

“OUR ARRIVAL HERE AT SUNNYVALE FIRST BAPTIST TODAY IS MUCH MORE THAN A NEW JOURNEY BETWEEN A PASTOR AND A CONGREGATION. IT REALLY FEELS LIKE A NEW BEGINNING; IT FEELS LIKE WE HAVE BEEN GIVEN A NEW LIFE.” invested here. You can walk around our buildings, and you can see his fingerprints everywhere. I want to honor him and what he did here and try to build on that in the future.”

Dooley also follows in the footsteps of Criswell College President Barry Creamer, who served as interim pastor at Sunnyvale First Baptist during the 13-month transition between Wilson and Dooley. “(Creamer), in my opinion, is the best interim pastor I’ve ever followed,” Dooley said. “I walk in,

and he has the staff in great shape, the morale and direction of the church is in great shape; it’s been the smoothest transition that I’ve ever experienced at a church, and that’s in large part due to Barry.”

Creamer enjoyed his time at Sunnyvale and has great hopes for the church under Dooley’s leadership.

“Dr. Adam Dooley has a rocksolid commitment to studying and preaching Scripture, both of which he does with aplomb,” Creamer told the TEXAN.

“He has a vision for the church and the leadership to see it fulfilled. And, most importantly, the church loves him and will fit his leadership style and desire for evangelism and discipleship perfectly. I cannot imagine a church better positioned for growth and impact than Sunnyvale FBC with Pastor Adam Dooley.”

Recognizing the church’s conservative theology and commitment to the inerrancy of Scripture, Creamer led the church to affirm the Baptist Faith and Message 2000, and the church then decided to affiliate with the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention in July.

“I was thrilled to learn that the church had affiliated with (SBTC),” Dooley said. “I was thrilled that Barry led the church to do that, and that relationship is only going to grow with me here. I’m very anxious to get involved and have felt so welcomed by (SBTC Executive Director) Jim Richards and other pastors who are part of the convention.”

Dooley has a long history of denominational leadership during his previous pastorates in Kentucky, Tennessee and Alabama. He served as first vice president of the Kentucky Baptist Convention from 2004-05, a member of the Southern Baptist Convention Committee on Committees in 2004 and 2009, president of the Tennessee Baptist Convention’s Pastors Conference in 2010, and president of the Alabama Baptist State Convention’s Pastors Conference in 2014.

Dooley earned his Bachelor of Arts in Ministry from Clear Creek Baptist Bible College in Pineville, Ky., as well as a Master of Divinity and Ph.D. in preaching, evangelism and theology from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky. Prior to serving

at Dauphin Way in Mobile, he pastored churches in Tennessee and Kentucky. He has also taught preaching and pastoral ministry at Tennessee Temple University in Chattanooga and Boyce College and Southern Seminary in Louisville.

As he starts his new beginning at Sunnyvale First Baptist, Dooley desires the church to be guided by the Great Commission—built on evangelism and discipleship.

“The community of Sunnyvale is one of the bestkept secrets of Dallas County. It has a very small community feel to it, and yet in the immediate surrounding area of Sunnyvale there are over 1 million people,” Dooley said.

“What excites me is renewing our passion to reach the lost. Sunnyvale First Baptist has a great history of that, and I’m anxious to refocus the church in that direction.

“Something I really want to emphasize is personal discipleship. I don’t mean a discipleship program, but I mean small groups of three to five men or three to five women who are meeting to memorize the Word, understand the Word, and be accountable to the Word and to one another.

“Christ did not tell us to make converts; our goal is to make disciples. I’m anxious to lead the church to fulfill that part of the Great Commission. Churches in general have stopped short of the Great Commission in that regard.”

With these goals in view, Dooley is enthusiastic about the days ahead.

“We have a church body that’s hungry to reach the lost and to impact its community. It’s a real joy to be here.”

SEPTEMBER 17, 2014 TEXANONLINE.NET 7

Prayer for revival fuels annual meeting focus

By Keith Collier Taking its theme from Isaiah 55:6, the 17th annual meeting of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention will emphasize the need for prayer and revival when it gathers on the campus of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth Nov. 10-11. The theme for this year’s annual meeting is “Seek the Lord While He May Be Found.”

“As the theme of the convention centers around seeking the Lord, special prayer times have been scheduled,” SBTC Executive Director Jim Richards said. “If ever there was a need for God’s people to seek his face, it is now.”

Jimmy Pritchard, pastor of First Baptist Church in Forney, has focused his tenure as SBTC president on spiritual awakening.

“The Bible conference and convention will be a convocation on revival to help us meet any and all scriptural requirements for awakening and set the table for God to move among us,” Pritchard said. “I am praying that our time together will serve as a catalyst for awakening in our state.”

In an article for the September TEXAN print edition, Pritchard

PRE-REGISTER FOR THE ANNUAL MEETING

8 TEXANONLINE.NET SEPTEMBER 17, 2014

said, “My heart’s glow for awakening brightens as I survey the landscape of our convention leading up to our annual meeting. A growing number of God’s men have moved beyond lip service to lead the charge to cry out to God for spiritual awakening. Desperation that draws us to our knees in prayer provides the crucial cornerstone for a movement of God.” Day of Prayer & Fasting The Day of Prayer & Fasting for the SBTC Bible Conference and Annual Meeting is set for Sunday, Oct. 19, with an emphasis on spiritual awakening. Churches are asked to set aside this day to pray for events leading up to the annual meeting and for the annual meeting itself, that God would be honored in both.

The SBTC Minister/Church Relations department has created a website with resources for individuals and churches at sbtexas.com/ prayer. Resources include “I Will Pray,” a simple, five-part prayer approach that has people pray for their home, church, pastor, lost friends and family, and nation.

According to the website, “Pastors may choose to have a prayer emphasis by using a similar approach each

VIEW MEALS AND EVENTS

2014 Annual Meeting Schedule MONDAY, NOV. 10 Evening Session | 6:15 p.m.

Biblical Exposition: J. Josh Smith Introduction of Motions SBC Reports (EC & SWBTS) President’s Message: Jimmy Pritchard TUESDAY, NOV. 11 Morning Session | 9:15 a.m.

Biblical Exposition: David Galvan SBTC Exec. Board Report SBC Report (IMB) Election of Officers (First) Convention Sermon: Tony Mathews Afternoon Session | 1:30 p.m.

Biblical Exposition: Jeff Moats SBC Reports (NAMB & LifeWay) Resolutions Committee Report Committee on Order of Business Election of Officers (Second & Third) Southern Baptists of Texas Foundation Report Prayer Time for Spiritual Awakening Evening Session | 6:15 p.m.

Biblical Exposition: Matt Queen SBC Reports (ERLC & GuideStone) SBTC Missions & Ministry Report Guest Message: Russell Moore sbtexas.com/am14

week. Focus the Sunday morning prayer time on one of the segments each week for five weeks.”

FIND HOTELS FOR THE ANNUAL MEETING

Living with autism:

CORSICANA’S GRACE COMMUNITY MEETS SPECIAL NEEDS Story by Jane Rodgers | Photos by Adam Tarleton

CORSICANA

ealing with autism has been a daily challenge for Steve and Kim Hayes since the birth of the couple’s third son, Pierce, now 11. This challenge has also been embraced

by Corsicana’s Grace Community, the steadily growing church of 250 that Hayes, a Criswell College graduate, has pastored for six years.

“Before Pierce turned 2, we started to have concerns about his development. He was late on just about everything: speaking, crawling, walking,” Steve Hayes recalled. And yet, Pierce seemed happy.

“In many ways he was our easiest child,” Hayes said.

“We didn’t know till later that this was mainly because he was in his own little world.”

A doctor in Lewisville delivered the diagnosis of autism when Pierce was 2.

“Socialization for autistic children does not happen naturally as it does with other kids,” Hayes said. “Developmentally, they fall behind because socialization pushes us to develop in a lot of ways.

Pierce does not have that wiring.”

Steve and Kim researched options, finally settling on a behavioral modification program called Applied Behavioral Analysis offered at Plano’s Wayman Center.

“We wanted to be able to do a therapy we could track and monitor. It was a perfect fit for us,” Hayes said.

The program also proved to be an expensive fit, at the time not covered by the family’s health insurance.

Friends, family and supporters provided funds to help Steve and Kim pay for the school for five years.

One gentleman unexpectedly financed half a year of Pierce’s therapy.

“It was a blessing to have a network of people partner with us. It was humbling. But it made us think of countless families who don’t have that option,” Hayes said.

As a fifth grader in a Corsicana public school, Pierce has his own aide who stays with him all day. “Because we caught his condition early and got him into such intensive therapy, today his behavior is manageable,” Hayes said.

SEPTEMBER 17, 2014 TEXANONLINE.NET 9

Pierce’s behavior is manageable but still unusual, presenting challenges in social settings, including church.

“Pierce has severe communication deficits, so he cannot sit and have a conversation with you. He has a vast vocabulary, and he is very good with numbers and letters. He still does not talk much. He can only string together two- or three-word phrases,” said Hayes, describing his son’s behavior.

“With a kid like Pierce, everywhere you go, you get used to being a spectacle because he will make crazy noises or engage in odd behaviors. You get looks and comments; it’s part of the deal.”

10 TEXANONLINE.NET SEPTEMBER 17, 2014

Attending church at all can be difficult for families with special needs members.

“Families of special-needs children often do not feel welcome at church. They feel like there’s nobody there who can help them with their child, and going to church will be difficult, maybe even embarrassing and definitely disruptive,” Hayes said.

Hayes and Grace Community want to change that perception.

Ministry to families with special needs starts with transparency from the pulpit at Grace Community.

“I talk a whole lot about our situation with Pierce from the pulpit. I don’t hide it. I talk about how

“FAMILIES OF SPECIAL-NEEDS CHILDREN OFTEN DO NOT FEEL WELCOME AT CHURCH. THEY FEEL LIKE THERE’S NOBODY THERE WHO CAN HELP THEM WITH THEIR CHILD, AND GOING TO CHURCH WILL BE DIFFICULT, MAYBE EVEN EMBARRASSING AND DEFINITELY DISRUPTIVE.” STEVE HAYES SEPTEMBER 17, 2014 TEXANONLINE.NET 11

difficult it is and how enriching it can be to raise a kid like this,” said Hayes, who encourages churches to find ways to acknowledge the issues of special needs.

At times, Hayes has been in the middle of a sermon when Pierce made a run for the stage, once joining the worship team.

“I can play it off with a comment like, ‘Boy, you’ve really got to watch out for those pastor’s kids,’ and people laugh. Our church has become very comfortable with it.

But if I didn’t have that platform, it would be difficult,” admitted Hayes.

Autism will increasingly impact the church, he said.

In fact, autism spectrum disorder (ASD) affects one in 88 people, according to a 2012 study cited by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

In addition to transparency from the pulpit, a welcoming atmosphere makes families with special-needs children feel at home. Active involvement in the lives of families with special needs is also a plus.

In the case of the Hayes family, a sympathetic elder noticed the difficulty Kim was having even getting to church with the family’s five kids in tow, including Pierce. The elder set up a rotation of volunteers to sit with Pierce during services, giving Kim an opportunity to worship without distraction.

“We offered training where we introduced Pierce, who he is, what kinds of behaviors to expect and what to do,” said Hayes, affirming the importance of such preparation.

Speech therapists, occupational therapists and special education teachers are good resources for teaching others how to deal with special-needs kids.

“Don’t be afraid to go there with a family. Don’t keep your distance,” Hayes urged.

Churches with more resources develop teams of people to assist with special-needs members, noted Hayes, who cited the Sunshine Pals program at Irving Bible Church, where adults volunteer as aides for special-needs children in Sunday school and other events.

Grace Community has six families with special needs ranging from autism to cerebral palsy.

Although isolation can be less disruptive, these children benefit from inclusion in typical activities.

Grace is committed to socialization.

“The best thing for these kids is to socialize them, to put them in typical environments and to teach them how to appropriately respond in social environments.

This can be very messy. It is easier to isolate them but better for them to socialize,” Hayes said.

Grace Community is also working with students from Navarro College to prepare a sensory room filled with kinesthetic items where special-needs kids can go when they are having a hard time functioning at a church event or service.

The room will include things like bowls of rice, favorites of Pierce, who loves to run his fingers through rice.

Special hammock swings and small digital objects that make noises are among items that will be in the room.

For the college students, the room is a class project; for Grace Community, it is another example of church and community cooperation to serve special needs.

Pierce’s situation and Grace Community’s openness to serving others with special needs have been noticed in the community.

Asked by special education administrators to host a daylong in-service training for teachers, the church shared its large meeting room and AV capabilities.

Hayes spoke as part of the program.

“It’s a good partnership,” Hayes said of the church’s relationship with Corsicana ISD, where he and his wife led parent training classes. “It has helped our church achieve legitimacy within the community.”

“My own children have learned a level of compassion and tolerance from living with Pierce that they would not have otherwise,” Hayes said.

The same can be said of Grace Community Church and the community of Corsicana.

“We must be ready to minister to an increasing segment of people who need their spiritual needs met but are torn by the idea of even being able to come to church,” Hayes said.

“In Scripture, God calls us a peculiar people, strangers and aliens in this world. Believers must develop sensitivity to others in this world dealing with a strangeness, oddity or differences. We are peculiar people called to minister to peculiar people. We are different and odd to the Lord, but he still showers us with his grace.”

“WE MUST BE READY TO MINISTER TO AN INCREASING SEGMENT OF PEOPLE WHO NEED THEIR SPIRITUAL NEEDS MET BUT ARE TORN BY THE IDEA OF EVEN BEING ABLE TO COME TO CHURCH.”

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Special needs families receive ‘buddy’ care at Pennsylvania church 3Sarah Fuller leads James Peoples, an autistic child, in a Bible study at Stewartstown Baptist Church in Pennsylvania. Fuller is a volunteer in the church’s “buddy system” for special needs families. PHOTO COURTESY OF STEWARTSTOWN BAPTIST CHURCH

By Karen L. Willoughby STEWARTSTOWN, Pa.

pecial needs children and their families have a cadre of buddies at Stewartstown Baptist Church.

To share God’s love with special needs families, the Pennsylvania congregation offers respite nights as an outreach to the community.

Special needs children and their siblings come to the church for a fun night every other month while the parents get a date night, knowing their children are in a safe place with people able to provide the quality of care their youngsters need.

On Sundays, the church pairs special needs children with volunteers in what they call their “buddy system.” Buddies sit with the children, support them and assist them in the church’s worship services, Sunday school and Awana youth program.

For the buddies, it’s a ministry that seems to be as much a blessing to them as it is to special needs families.

“There’s just something real special about helping these little ones feel accepted and wanted,” said Joan Theisen, who has been a buddy for about a year. “When you can be a buffer to help the children melt into the group and not feel they stand out, that’s a good feeling.”

Matt and Amy Hamulack wanted to be in church with their three children, but their daughter Addison is autistic, and they didn’t feel comfortable in other churches they visited.

“We didn’t know where to go, and then we heard about the respite nights this church offers,” Matt Hamulack said.

“The big thing is [Pastor] Lee and [his wife] Sandra have a special needs child,” Hamulack noted.

“Knowing there is someone who understands, someone who ‘gets it,’ and someone to help, that’s a big deal for parents like us.” The congregation helps his family with “the most important thing—to know God and Jesus and to teach the kids.”

Lee Peoples was called to lead the Stewartstown church in 2008. He and his wife Sandra have two sons, who were 2 years old and 4 months old at the time. Two years later, a church member who worked as an occupational therapist noticed that SEPTEMBER 17, 2014 TEXANONLINE.NET 13

“IN THE FIRST YEAR AFTER THE DIAGNOSIS, JAMES WASN’T INVITED TO THE BIRTHDAY PARTY OF A PEER. THAT’S THE THING YOU’RE MORE AWARE OF. EVERYTHING MAKES YOU FEEL DIFFERENT. … WITH WHAT I’VE SEEN AND HEARD AND LEARNED SINCE THE DIAGNOSIS,

I NOW BELIEVE FAMILIES WITH SPECIAL NEEDS TO BE AN UNREACHED PEOPLE GROUP.”

5Lee Peoples, pastor of Stewartstown Baptist Church, with his wife Sandra and sons James (left) and David have nurtured a heart for special needs families, stemming from James’ autism. PHOTO COURTESY OF STEWARTSTOWN BAPTIST CHURCH

their son James did not appear to have age-appropriate motor skills.

A slate of tests determined James was autistic.

“I felt relieved,” Sandra Peoples said. “Because we had a diagnosis, a name, then we knew what to do next. Lee was in shock; I was in warrior mode. I didn’t cry after we heard the diagnosis; Lee did.”

The pastor nodded. “For me, to see he was never going to be like other kids, it was the death of a dream.

You have to change your mind around it.

“In the first year after the diagnosis, James wasn’t invited to the birthday party of a peer,” Peoples continued. “That’s the thing you’re more aware of.

Everything makes you feel different. … With what I’ve seen and heard and learned since the diagnosis, I now believe families with special needs to be an unreached people group.”

Ashley Norris, a special education teacher, and Nicole Filack, an occupational therapist, went to their pastor about a year after James’ diagnosis with a concept for a new ministry, which took hold among the 135 people who attend the church’s weekly services.

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Norris and Filack wanted to reach special needs families in the Stewartstown area with a three-hour Friday night respite event every other month so parents could have a night out. Soon after, the buddy system was birthed so the church could integrate the families it would be reaching.

“We’re trying to teach them about God’s Word and to provide an environment where parents feel comfortable so they can learn more about God’s Word themselves,” Norris said. “We can tell they [the children] like the opportunity for the special attention they receive from their buddies.

“Everything we do, we make accommodations for those with special needs,” Norris said. “You train your people to a certain point, but basically you just get to know the children. Some like to be touched; some, not. Some are verbal; some, not.”

Volunteers are taught the signs of epilepsy and how to help a child who is having a seizure, as well as basic first aid. They are also trained in how to gently and lovingly work with and assist the children rather than doing tasks for them.

An unanticipated benefit of including special needs children in the life of the church, Norris said, is that other students come to understand, accept and accommodate people who are “different,” which adds a broader dimension to their worldview.

The occasional unique behavior of special needs youngsters is accepted by the congregation, she added. “Our church has learned to not take ourselves so seriously.

“Children with special needs will change a church,” Norris said. “Some churches are scared of the dynamics, but we believe every church—no matter how small—can do something.”

‘Best Night Ever’ celebrates special needs guests

By Carolyn Nichols JACKSONVILLE, Fla.

eens and adults with special needs had the “Best Night Ever” at North Jacksonville Baptist Church.

“We learned from parents that the younger the children are, the more activities there are for them. But after they get older and get out of the school system, the opportunities for them are limited,” said Josh Reavis, associate pastor for pastoral care who headed up the prom-like event at the Florida church.

North Jacksonville’s special needs class, which includes about 15 members ages 12-70, “get first dibs on the spots” for Best Night Ever, which is offered free to individuals in the church and community, Reavis said.

In its second year, Best Night Ever included a “glitz and glamour” makeover for each guest, red carpet entrance, dessert buffet with a popular chocolate fountain, a DJ and a performance by illusionist Jared Hall.

Two hundred volunteers cheered as guests were introduced as they stepped out of their valet service vehicles in early May.

All of the guests, including several from a local group home, had an assigned “buddy” for the evening based on age and need who “walked through every part of the experience with them,” Reavis said. Other volunteers prepared food and served as bathroom attendants or on a standby medical team.

Guests and hosts stepped into a photo booth and received strips of photos, and videographer Will Thomas mailed each guest a DVD of the event.

Reavis said the genesis of the event came three years ago when a former church member sent him a video of a similar event at her church in North Carolina.

“I fell in love with the idea, and I showed it to everybody in the church office,” he recounted. “It took a year of planning before the first Best Night Ever.”

After the initial Best Night Ever in 2013, word and interest spread. The local Down Syndrome Association endorsed it and encouraged parents to register their children.

“We want to minister to the children and their families,” Reavis said, noting that the church’s volunteers “take literally” Luke 14:12-14 in which Jesus said, “When you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind, and you will be blessed.”

“Our church people beg me to let them do something at Best Night Ever,” Reavis said. “They know that we are blessed far more than our guests.”

Dawn Boles (top left photo) makes a red-carpet entrance at the “Best Night Ever” for special needs teens and adults at North Jacksonville Baptist Church. PHOTOS BY JERRY FAVORITE/FLORIDA BAPTIST CONVENTION

Ronny Watkins (top right photo) smiles in receiving a hug from Lisa Lacock at the “Best Night Ever” at North Jacksonville Baptist Church.

SEPTEMBER 17, 2014 TEXANONLINE.NET 15

SWBTS installs endowed chairs of biblical theology, evangelism FORT WORTH

Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary installed Executive Vice President and Provost Craig Blaising into the Jesse Hendley Chair of Biblical Theology and Assistant Professor of Evangelism Matt Queen into the L.R. Scarborough Chair of Evangelism (Chair of Fire) in two August chapel meetings.

Blaising is the first to occupy the Jesse Hendley Chair of Biblical Theology, which was inaugurated and installed during chapel at Southwestern, Aug. 28. President Paige Patterson said he could not think of anyone more “eminently deserving” than the provost.

“This is a great honor because of the one after whom it is named,” Blaising said during his chapel sermon.

Hendley, often called the dean of Southern Baptist evangelists, served as a pastor, evangelist, Bible teacher and creator of “The Radio Evangelistic Hour,” which continued for 60 years.

The endowment for the chair came from Hendley’s family, which gave funds to Southwestern and to Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C., so that a chair of theology could be established at both schools, according to a Southwestern news release.

Queen’s installation into the historic L.R. Scarborough Chair of Evangelism came at the insistence of Patterson, who previously held the position but gave it up in honor of Queen’s evangelistic passion.

“I had the privilege of occupying the chair for about eight years,” Craig Blaising Patterson said during the chapel service in which Queen was installed, Aug. 21. “But I have never had a more wonderful, affirming moment in my life than to turn that chair over to the one that has just been the recipient of that chair. He is a true evangelist, and I thank the Lord for Matt Queen.”

Established by seminary foundMatt Queen er B.H. Carroll in 1908, the Chair of Evangelism, originally named the Chair of Fire, was Southwestern’s first academic chair and the first chair of evangelism in the world, according to Southwestern.

Longtime SBC evangelist Freddie Gage dies

By Rob Collingsworth Longtime SBC evangelist Freddie Gage died on Friday, Sept. 12th.

Born and raised in Houston, Gage was a drug addict and gang leader before coming to Christ as a teenager in 1951. Many knew him by his nickname, “The Cat,” a nod to his pre-conversion days as a cat burglar.

Gage felt called to preach the gospel the same night he was saved, and spent more than 50 years dedicating his life to evangelism. Throughout the latter half of the 20th century, he was widely known as a crusade evangelist. It is estimated that more than 1 million people professed faith in Christ as a result of Gage’s evangelistic efforts.

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“We have seen few if any evangelists more passionate about reaching people for Christ than Freddie Gage,” longtime friend and pastor Jimmy Draper said.

“His persistence, determination, passion and energy have impacted the lives of over 50,000 churches and 70 denominations in his crusades. His effectiveness in preaching and rallying people around the cross has impacted millions, and his passing leaves a great vacuum in our lives.”

In addition to his crusades, Gage dedicated a large part of his ministry to ministering to those on the fringes of society. He urged local pastors to make an effort to reach those living on the streets or in prison and as a result saw significant numbers come to faith in Christ with dramatic stories of conversion.

Chuck Lawless

CALL TO PRAYER: Why we don’t pray for awakening

O

ur Southern Baptist Convention president, Ronnie Floyd, has called us to pray for spiritual awakening. The fact that our president must call us to pray for awakening says something about us, however. We do not readily recognize the need for an awakening, and our track record says we need to pray fervently for a mighty move of God. As a long-time Southern Baptist who genuinely loves our denomination, here are my thoughts about why we don’t passionately cry out for an awakening—and why we must. I trust you will hear these words as both confession and concern, as I count myself among the guilty.

We are “revivalistically numbed.” We have heard this call before. In fact, I know of no SBC president in my years of denominational service who has not in some fashion called us to our knees. Sometimes we do not hear what we need to hear because it sounds too familiar. On the other hand, the fact we are numbed is only one more indicator of our need for revival.

We are biblically forgetful. Many of us forget (or perhaps do not even know) the stories of God moving mightily through His people in the Scriptures. How many of us recall God’s moving in Josiah in such a way that he led the Hebrews to abolish idols, restore the Temple, destroy pagan altars and return to the Word? We may remember that Nehemiah rebuilt the wall of Jerusalem, but do we also recall his fellow Israelites weeping, confessing and praying as they heard the Word of the Lord? We know the story of Jonah’s rebellion, but do we recollect that the entire wicked city of Nineveh turned to God as the prophet preached?

When we do not remember the miraculous work of God in the Scriptures, we do not long for such movements in our lives.

We are historically uninformed. Most of us have read little about the great awakenings that swept our nation in the 1700s and 1800s.

We do not know about crowds of thousands who gathered in public squares to hear the Gospel, about congregations that clung to pews under the power of God or about towns that spoke continually of spiritual matters. We know little about itinerant preachers who traveled the countryside to spread the Gospel or about college students who prayed until their campuses erupted in revival. We are uninformed about prayer meetings that echoed from New York City to Europe to South Africa in the decade before the Civil War. Because we know so few stories of God’s working in the past, we give little thought to a potentially extraordinary work of God in the present.

We are globally unaware. God is doing a mighty work around the world. Believers in South Asia, East Asia and the Pacific Rim speak of non-believers turning to God in waves— even though doing so may cost them their lives. I have seen followers of Christ in Africa travel for days to participate in the most basic Bible study so they can teach others. God is sending church planters to Canada, a nation with one church for every 117,000 people. The growth of the church in Cuba is staggering. Many churches do not know these stories, though, and we thus lack a passionate desire for God to do the same on our shores.

We are comfortably worldly. Revival does not come without a cost. If God so moves in our denomination, we will dramatically learn, as evangelist Leonard Ravenhill said, “God does not want partnership with us, but ownership of us.” Foreign to us are brokenness over sin, confession of wrong and gut-wrenching prayers of repentance that characterize movements of God. We are, frankly, comfortable where we are.

We are denominationally strong. This point may seem to contradict the beginning of this article, but that is intentional. Historically, the church has experienced awakening when a few believers get desperate for God— when they come to the end of themselves. I am not convinced the SBC is there yet, beginning with me. We have enough members and sufficient resources to make our slide into irrelevance almost imperceptible. As long as the SBC is content simply being larger than others, we will not cry out for awakening.

So, what do we do? Confess our unwillingness to pray for awakening. Teach the Scriptures, reminding one another of God’s miraculous work. Punctuate lessons and sermons with stories of God’s moving in the past. Learn about and proclaim stories of God’s work around the globe in the present. Repent of our idols, including our comfort. And pray. Fervently.

We simply must pray. I must pray. Apart from the power of God, we will not make a dent in the darkness of the world.

—Chuck Lawless is a vice president at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C. SEPTEMBER 17, 2014 TEXANONLINE.NET 17

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