Baptist Temple Year in Review: 2021

The Year in Pictures

 

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, 

let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. 

And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.
Hebrews 12:1

 

A GREAT CROWD OF WITNESSES

The author of Hebrews encourages us to remember the Old Testament saints, a great cloud of witnesses who remind us of God's faithfulness. They overcame challenges, discovered opportunities and carried out God's plan for their time. In our fellowship hall there is a painting called “A Great Crowd of Witnesses.” Painted in 1980, it's a montage of Baptist Temple's past leaders and a further reminder of God's faithfulness.

As I look back on the 110th year of Baptist Temple, I am amazed by the fact that this church has ministered through two world wars (and five smaller ones), two global pandemics, a world's fair and the Great Depression. Buildings were built, remodeled and repurposed. There have been thousands of baptisms and generations of people learning and practicing biblical truth. The hungry were fed, the naked were clothed, and the afflicted were comforted. Through it all the congregations of Baptist Temple overcame challenges, discovered opportunities and carried out God's plan for their time.

The year 2021 began with a backward glance as we celebrated Jonathan Clark's 20th year at Baptist Temple. Beginning as Minister of Music, he was promoted, first, to Associate Pastor and, then, to Executive Pastor. Jonathan has proven to be a man for all seasons as he has grown and adapted to the changing needs of Baptist Temple.

In February, we continued our long-standing tradition of helping in the development of ministers. To that end, we licensed Nathan and Alison Clark, Mateo Beltran and Anna Cortinas to the gospel ministry. The Clarks are part of the No Place Left evangelism network and are missionaries in residence, Mateo has been named an outreach minister, and Anna served as a pastoral ministries intern as she finished the Master of Theology degree at Dallas Baptist University.

Disciple making was enhanced this year as doors opened at the Crosspointe rehab centers, which allowed us to hold Bible study at both the men's and the women's facilities. Furthermore, Sunday school returned to the BT Campus. This created a learning environment that builds community and accelerates spiritual formation.

February was, also, the month of the big freeze that caused damage throughout the BT campus; especially in the Fritz building. Repairs and improvements continued throughout the year thanks to grants, gifts and skilled workers who gave their time and talents. We replaced some of our windows and covered others up, we replaced the Brunnemann Building access ramp, freshened up some spaces, restored the Fritz building and repaired parts of the air conditioning system.

Although many non-profit organizations and churches downsized or shut down in the wake of COVID-19, Family Deaf Church, Sunny Slope Baptist Church, New Direction, and Rise Above continue to meet on campus. The Message and Life Change Church adapted to off campus models. Jubilee Academy and Funeral Caring are still here and the Early Learning Center is stronger than ever. The Ceramics ministry was the only one to return to the Fritz in 2021.

A new addition to the BT Campus family is Care Warriors. This non-profit group helps teens and young adults with developmental disabilities to develop life skills that lead to greater Independence.

Our hunger fighting efforts were enhanced by large and timely food drives from Woodland Baptist Church, Fellowship of San Antonio and Jubilee Academy, as well as grants from the Texas Baptists and the San Antonio Baptist Association. We were able to provide groceries for 1001 families, representing 3626 individuals. Our free community meals are also back, creating more opportunities for connection and relationship building.

The COVID situation limited the number of church mission teams traveling this summer. Only two came. In the Spring, the Crusader Choir from Christian Heritage Academy performed three concerts and did some yard work in the community. In June, First Baptist Church of Tulsa brought a team to conduct VBS in the park and for the early learning center. They also did a lot of light construction work.

VBS returned this year after it was canceled in 2020. Although the numbers were smaller than in the past, it was still a great victory. First, we did it. Second, the children learned biblical truth while having fun. Third, we had a great number of volunteers. We were hampered by our inability to do children's outreach this year but I expect next year to be better.

Outreach efforts included an outdoor concert sponsored by Rise Above Ministries and featuring the bands Filthy Rags and Becoming Sons and worship concerts featuring Westward Road and Simply Blessed. Our worship attendance has remained steady for the year at 30% below our pre-COVID average. The worship concerts provided opportunities to invite new people and present the gospel through music and testimony.

Our biggest event was the Trek or Treat jointly sponsored by the BT Early Learning Center and Jubilee Academy. It was a highly attended event designed to introduce new families to the services we offer. Many new families learned about our services.

The year 2021 was a year of rehabilitation. We moved forward with an abundance of faith, trusting God for the results. I am confident for the future. We must heed the words of the passage we are focused on this morning.

• We must throw off everything that hinders. Our ministry focus must be on those events that have the biggest impact for making disciples. 

• We must run the race marked out for us. We are not running the race that other churches are running. We are not running yesterday's race. We must be like the people of Issachar who understood the times and knew what to do.

• We must keep our eyes upon Jesus. Not on the news, not on the politicians, certainly not on social media. We need to see where God is at work and join him.

Baptist Temple Year in Review: 2020

2020: The Year in Pictures

It is with great joy that I write this blog as a testimony of God's faithfulness. Even in the darkest times we can see Him at work. While the COVID environment created limitations and hardships, God created streams of mercy that enabled us to continue to be a channel of blessing to our community.

Towards the end of March, we shut down hard. All of our campus churches went online. Jubilee Academy went to remote learning. Our Early Learning Center closed and all campus activities were suspended. We did not know how long this would last.

I soon received an email that put us back into play. A lack of open childcare centers created a crisis for medical workers who were unable to return to work. Our newly hired daycare director, Kathleen, quickly went to work and, in two weeks, we had the equipment, protocols and training to reopen.

In order to stay close to our members in this age of social distancing, we commissioned our deacons and Stephen Ministers to be Phone Angels and make weekly check in calls to all our members. Robert Newman, our Archangel, and Minister to Adults, kept it running smoothly. He, also, created paths for online ministry so our worship and Bible study would continue.

Thanks to Jonathan, our Executive Pastor, we continued to improve our infrastructure to save money and enhance ministry delivery. Jonathan's most visible accomplishment was the completion of our inclusive playground. Work days continued in January as the equipment began to arrive. Construction is essential work, so it continued through the Spring and Summer. We dedicated the first inclusive playground in the Southside to God's glory in October, as a testimony of God's love for all His children. We received nearly $250,000 in cash, material and labor to make this happen.

In 2020, we collected and distributed over 55,000 pounds of food. During the shutdown Daniel, our Minister of Outreach, delivered food directly to our clients who were in greatest need and lacked transportation. David and Bertha led the way in determining ways to provide ministry through our thrift store and pantry in a safe manner.

Uncertainty caused many churches to cancel summer travel plans but we still had a 40 member team from Lee's Summit FBC stay at BT this summer. We also had five summer interns who assisted in worship and a variety of other tasks.

A partnership with No Place Left expanded our disciple-making efforts. No Place Left is a network that seeks to preach the gospel to the ends of earth until there is no place left that has not heard. A group joins us on Thursday mornings to prayer walk in our neighborhood and has provided training for our leaders. In the Fall we hosted a No Place Left residency for seven people (six are ministry students). The residency provides advanced training for evangelism.

We returned to worship in our sanctuary in May, with the new protocols in place. We maintained space between family groups, wore masks and avoided hand shakes and hugs. The 30 minute service reduced the amount of singing and the offering plate was not passed.

Soon Family Deaf Church, Sunny Slope and Rise Above returned. Another church, New Direction, started meeting on our Campus. (The Message and Life Change still have not returned.) Other groups began to return, including Jubilee and youth basketball clubs, all with new safety procedures.

Although it seemed to be a quieter year, much was accomplished. A group from the community has started working on the community garden, ensuring its beauty and utility. Under Kathleen's leadership the Early Learning Center not only survived but revitalized the after school program and helped us acquire a van to pick up kids from other schools.

All this was made possible through your prayers and financial support. Thank you for your faithful partnership that sustained us through a difficult year.

Behold, I will do a new thing,
Now it shall spring forth;
Shall you not know it?
I will even make a road in the wilderness
And rivers in the desert.
Isaiah 43:19 NKJ

Baptist Temple Year in Review: 2019

Daniel Arredondo,  Roxanne Arredondo, and Robert Newman
(front) were licensed this year. Pastor Jorge Zayasbazan in back.

SLIDESHOW: TheYear in Pictures 

We kicked off 2019 with an Experiencing God Weekend led by Texas Baptist Men. Our goal was to grow together as a church so that we may better see where God is at work, make adjustments and join Him. One clear message we discerned is that our bottom line mission is to make disciples. This spiritual awakening would be crucial to the decisions we would need to make as many opportunities and changes presented themselves in quick succession.

One major decision was whether or not accept a $200,000 lump sum payment for the cell tower lease. It would be a financial loss in the long-term but a short-term windfall that would pay off a large loan and free up money to do ministry now.

Buildings are a church's biggest financial liability but can also be its strongest asset. In order to maintain our campus as an asset, we were able to leverage some large financial gifts and grants to make needed repairs and improvements. These include completing the exterior lighting upgrades and upgrading all interior lighting to energy efficient LED, replacing a significant number of windows, replacing the floor in the parlor and new signage.

We said goodbye this year to Betel and Free by the Truth. Two new church starts that were incubated on the #BTCampus. Betel began as a Spanish-language Bible study in 2006 and moved into their own facility. Free by the Truth continues to meet as a house church.

However, the work continues as God sent two new churches to our campus. Rise Above Ministries meets at 3 pm in the chapel and reaches out to counter culture youth in the punk / heavy metal culture. It is led by Basilio Carrillo. Iglesia Bautista Inmensurable is a Spanish-language new church start in its formative stages and is led by Samuel Paquot. 

We also welcomed the San Antonio Clubhouse to our campus. They meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays in the Fritz building to help people living with mental illness live more productive, enjoyable lives.

Our leadership development and ministry-student mentoring kicked into high gear this year as we hosted five Student.Go missionaries (from five different schools) and nine mission teams. Student.Go is a Cooperative Baptist Fellowship program that places potential missionaries in ministry settings.

The nine missions teams brought 179 people who worked all over San Antonio with refugees and children, in hunger ministries, community gardens, home repairs, evangelism and more.

In the Fall we licensed Robert Newman, Daniel Arredondo and Roxanne Arredondo to the ministry. Robert serves as our Minister of Adults, Daniel has served as an intern and is, now, our Minister of Outreach, and Roxanne is our Youth Ministry Intern.

Another leadership development action we began this year is training 18 people to be Stephen Ministers. After 50 hours of training they will be prepared to walk alongside people who are going through a difficult time. Training will be completed in January.

Along the way we baptized 5 and added 11 new members. We gathered over 112,000 pounds of food that was distributed to over 15,000 people. We also served over 2000 meals and snacks.

VIDEO: InclusivePlayground

What stood out most prominently this year was our vision to build the first inclusive playground in the Southside of San Antonio. We received grants from the Baptist Health Foundation ($7395) and the Charity Ball Association ($60,000) plus other gifts and fundraisers that totaled over $140,000 at the end of 2019. There are still two more grants pending and gifts are coming in but we have enough to get started.

As we look to the new year, we must look to find evidence of God's work and make the needed adjustments to join Him. That will require breaking the bondage of tradition and moving beyond the comfortable and familiar.

Baptist Temple Year in Review: 2018

Xavier, Nora, Jorge and Robert receive grant from Baptist

Health Foundation on behalf of Baptist Temple.

SLIDESHOW: The Year in Pictures

The dedication of the OLAYA LONG MISSION HOUSE, on our 107^th anniversary (December 9), was the high point of a another victory-filled year of ministry. The journey began in the Summer of 2017 when the house to the east of our property line became available. We began to pray for vision and provision.

God gave us a vision to use the house as a residence for ministry interns so they could add practical experience in a multicultural, urban setting to their classroom learning. Over the last ten years, Baptist Temple has worked with over 20 interns. We have a strong commitment to train future generations of urban ministers.

Financial gifts, labor and other support from George and Olaya Long, Ed and Rose Flynn, Jean Williams, Buster Snellgrove, FBC Corsicana, FBC San Marcos, Woodland Baptist Church, Crosspointe, Inc., the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (CBF), and the members and friends of Baptist Temple made this ministry vision a reality.

SLIDESHOW: Olaya Long Mission House

The SOLAR PANELS on our roofs were completed in May. They belong to a venture capital firm who sells energy to CPS. In return, we receive 3 cents per kilowatt (over $600 on a good month). Our primary motivation is to help tilt the scale in favor of renewable energy and energy independence. Tending the planet was humanity's first job.

Another big event this year was the completion of the cell tower. This will improve technological access for our community and provide funds to support our expanding ministry.

This year we welcomed FUNERALCARING^® USA to our family of churches and agencies serving our community. FuneralCaring^® USA is the leader in affordable funeral services in San Antonio, helping folks celebrate the life and the memory of loved ones with a dignified funeral at a reasonable cost. They provide support to grieving families with high-quality, value-driven merchandise, superior service, and uplifting facilities.

Also, NEW TO THE BT CAMPUS this year are the Message Church (a CBF-related new church start that worships at 9 AM in the chapel), Club Lighthouse (a Christian performing arts ministry), and Nora Gonzales (Metrohealth Community Health Worker).

We created A NEW LIFE FOR THE LIBRARY by moving into the large hallway outside the classrooms on the second floor of building 4. Books that had not been checked out for decades were removed and children's books from Jubilee Academy were merged in. We hope that the increased visibility will increase the number of books checked out by the children and adults on the BT Campus.

Our deacons continue to grow in their ability to minister to our members. This year we ordained long-time member Melissa Baxter and selected Roger and Rosie Ramon and Armando and Rosalinda Acosta as yokefellows. A yokefellow goes through a period of training, prayer and reflection prior to ordination as a deacon.

Family Deaf Church, CBC Highland Park, a mission team from Baptist University of the Americas and Immanuel Motorcycle Ministry joined Baptist Temple in putting together another spectacular VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL. We had 102 students and 90 volunteers.

SLIDESHOW: VBS

Our annual BACK 2 SCHOOL HEALTH FAIR immediately followed. Eighteen community organizations joined together to give out school supplies, hot dogs, information and more. Working with Metrohealth, the Moose Lodge and District 3, this year's event was the official Highland Park back to school event. Other family focused, community outreach events included the EASTER PARTY, the FALL FEST and the CHRISTMAS PARTY.

The GYM was humming all year as we hosted nine youth basketball teams and two adult recreational basketball groups. We hope to bring that level of activity to the FRITZ BUILDING, hosting classes everyday of the week. Robert Newman joined our pastoral staff as MINISTER OF ADULTS to help develop our weekday ministry and outreach efforts.

As the year came to an end, we were poised for our next major project. Grants of $7395 from the Baptist Health Foundation and $1000 from the Texas Baptist Missions Foundation have been added to the $5470 raised through our Mother's Day and Christmas offerings to fund phase one of our INCLUSIVE PLAYGROUND project. Our goal is to create a playground where all children can play together regardless of ability. Phase two will cost $80-100,000. We awaiting a decision on a $60,000 grant and will be applying for some other grants, as well as doing other fundraising events.

The new year will start with an EXPERIENCING GOD WEEKEND. We will be intentional about drawing closer to God and to each other as we prepare of a new decade of ministry to our community.

Baptist Temple Year in Review: 2017

SLIDESHOW: The Year in Pictures: 2017

Vacation Bible School was, once again, the high point of a year filled with God's blessings. All 5 #BTCampus churches (Baptist Temple Church, Community Bible Church Highland Park, Mision Bautista Betel, Family Deaf Church and Sunny Slope Baptist Church.) worked together to give us 96 workers and a total enrollment of 269. A sixth church, Iglesia del Dios Altisimo, brought a van filled with African refugee children that, along with a student mission team from Baptist University of the Americas, brought a total of 14 different nations to our campus that week.

SLIDESHOW: VBS 2017

Worship this year included some special events including a Blessing of the Bikes (led by #BTCampus Immanuel Motorcycle Ministry), a Blessing of the Teachers, a multi-church Youth Rally, the Hanging of the Green and a Christmas Cantata. The house was packed on Easter as BT and CBC shared the 11 o'clock hour in a combined service. On Memorial Day Weekend all the campus churches joined in worship. Delvin Atchison, director of the Texas Baptist Great Commission Team, brought the message.

In the Fall, Ferrell Foster, from the Christian Life Commission, brought the message as we celebrated our community ministries. A tour of the Brunnemann Building and snacks followed. The Brunnemann is home for our thrift store, food pantry and community garden and is open 3 days a week. Over 3500 people visited in 2017.

SLIDESHOW: Birth of the Brunnemann Building

Our food pantry is only part of our hunger ministries. Our free weekly dinners and occasional large food distributions enabled us to feed 1649 households (6181 people) and serve 11,022 meals. We distributed 85,912 lbs of food in 2017.

The latest addition to our hunger fighting efforts is our community garden. It serves as an outdoor lab to teach gardening to people of all ages while providing fresh produce to our pantry clients. This was made possible by grants from the Baptist Health Foundation and Texas Baptists.

Community outreach events included three annual events: Fall Festival, Christmas Party and Back to School Fair. The Fair put 800 people on our campus (including volunteers). We handed out 350 backpacks, 300 lunches, $2500 in vouchers for clothes and 14,000 lbs of groceries.

Our fellowship grew closer and larger this year with 25 new members. Our young people went on a variety of field trips and three different camp experiences. Our adults shared 17 meals together including the monthly Young in Heart luncheon. We ordained 8 deacons and licensed three people to the gospel ministry.

Adding to the #BTCampus fellowship are San Antonio Against Slavery (advocating against human trafficking), who meet monthly on Thursday nights, and Free By the Truth (working with ex-offenders), who worship Sundays at 2PM.

Seven mission teams stayed on the #BTCampus in 2017 performing ministry throughout the city and recording 93 professions of faith. Other local ministries and individuals have joined with us to build up our ministry in physical and spiritual ways.

This tremendous volume of ministry takes a toll on our campus. We are continually repairing and upgrading. This year our parking lot was made safer by re-striping and improved lighting, the chairs in fellowship hall were replaced and the Fritz Building got a new roof. As I write this blog, there are a number of projects in progress.

In 2017, the #BTCampus hosted 6 churches, 2 schools, 3 conferences, 9 ministries and 6 Basketball Clubs. Thirteen different churches and non-profit agencies have contributed finances, materiel and/or labor to help us in our mission to minister to the physical and spiritual needs of our community.

Baptist Temple Year in Review: 2016

The year in pictures: 2016

It was another year of blessings for the ministries that share the Baptist Temple Campus. We are blessed to now have six congregations meeting on the BT campus. Community Bible Church of Highland Park joined our family of churches in May. In the Fall, Weapons of Deliverance and Sunny Slope Baptist Church started worshiping at our location. Together we baptized 36 people last year.

VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL involved the four churches on campus at the time and a mission team from Houston; a total of 96 workers. Our enrollment was 153 and 32 decisions were recorded, leading to many of our baptisms.

WORSHIP events this year included an Easter Sunrise service and the musical presentation “Champion of Love.” In May we concluded “BELIEVE,” a 30 week sermon series and Bible study in conjunction with 14 San Antonio Area churches. During Advent we celebrated the Hanging of the Green (with CBC Highland Park and Family Deaf Church), Christmas Eve (with CBC Highland Park) and a memorial service for people in our community who lost a loved one this past year (with Immanuel Motorcycle Ministry).

FELLOWSHIP opportunities abounded for all ages. The children and youth went on a variety of field trips; and our senior adults enjoyed monthly luncheons. There were church-wide fellowships as well, including a Valentine's lunch, and banquets in the Spring and Fall. In June we enjoyed a campus-wide picnic at Roosevelt Park.

COMMUNITY OUTREACH included our annual Fall Fest and National Night Out events. Our first Back to School Health Fair attracted 488 people. A total of 19 churches, businesses and community groups participated to provide food, games, health screenings, vaccines, school supplies and fresh produce.

Another first this year was our community Christmas party. Snacks, make and take crafts, games and Christmas carols made this an event that we look forward to repeating.

FIGHTING HUNGER remains our most visible ministry. We collected and distributed nearly 80,000 lbs of food. (That's 30,000 more than last year.) This includes groceries for 6300 people; 1800 received individual ministry through our client choice food pantry.

We provided 75,469 meals to our community through our Wednesday night dinners, summer feeding and other venues. This included 151 breakfasts, 1628 lunches, 3550 dinners and 9140 snacks.

FACILITY IMPROVEMENTS are a continuing effort on the BT Campus. Some major improvements came as result of a contract between Parent-Child Incorporated and our Early Learning Center. This includes a new freezer, new ovens, playground equipment, classroom furniture and security cameras. Additional security cameras were added by Highland Park Gifted and Talented Academy.

Another big improvement involved boosting our wireless internet capacity to reach more areas of our campus. This was made possible in partnership with CBC Highland Park.

THREE NEW PARTNERS came to the BT campus this year in addition to the three new churches. The Christian Women's Job Corps Job helps us to provide job readiness training. San Antonio Sports brought the Fit Family Challenge to our campus, with an average participation of 58 per week. Immanuel Motorcycle Ministry came alongside to enhance and expand our evangelistic efforts.

We hosted 9 MISSION TEAMS from as far away as Connecticut and South Dakota. They ministered all around San Antonio including the Rosemont Apartments and Habitat for Humanity houses.

Each year God provides the workers, leaders and physical resources to meet the changing needs of the community that surrounds us. Our impact has drawn the notice of local government leaders in 2016 leading to campus visits from state representatives Diego M. Bernal (District 123) and John Lujan III (District 118) and Mayor Ivy Taylor. I believe that there are greater things to come in 2017.

“Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God.”

Pioneer Missionary William Carey

Baptist Temple Year in Review 2015

The year in pictures: 2015

As another year comes to an end, it's time to reflect on Baptist Temple's ministry in 2015; a year filled with blessings and struggles. We recorded nine baptisms plus another four from Betel and three from Family Deaf Church; a total of 16. We also mourned the deaths of 14 members.

WORSHIP
One notable worship event was our first Cowboy Sunday with “Cowboy” Charles Higgs preaching, a testimony from Mike "Shotgun" Franklin, and special music from Tom "Too Slim" Reynolds; a Rodeo-themed lunch followed. Holy Week featured a Palm Sunday drama, a midweek Seder, and an Easter musical presentation. On Mother's Day we honored the moms who, on this Sunday, brought the most children to church (Estelle Lindsey), brought the most family to church (Ruby Beaver), and made the most trips around the sun (Jean Williams). The Christmas season featured a Hanging of the Green service, a cantata (Bethlehem Morning) and a Christmas Eve service.

Our worship was enhanced by two music interns from the Baptist University of the America's. Won, from Korea, shared her skill with the violin and led the hand bell choir. Mateo, from Columbia, played electric guitar in the praise band.

FELLOWSHIP
The children and youth went on a variety of field trips; our senior adults enjoyed monthly luncheons; and our adult Sunday school classes enjoyed periodic parties. We had church-wide fellowships as well, including a Valentine's lunch, a Father's Day car show and lunch and a Thanksgiving dinner. The deacons' wives hosted a very special event to honor those in our fellowship who have been widowed.

EVANGELISM
Evangelism is one of Baptist Temple's historic strengths. All of our programs are established to bring people closer to Christ but some are closer to the point than others. Vacation Bible School is the high point of any Baptist church and it provided us an opportunity to recruit new workers and reach new people.

Our annual Fall festival brought over 500 people this year, thanks to Halloween falling on a Saturday. We are certainly thankful for the help we received from Highland Park Gifted and Talented Academy, Family Deaf Church and the band Resurrection Rising.

At Christmas, our youth blessed children whose parents are incarcerated. Church support was so overwhelming that we gave two gifts to every child. These gifts were given in the name of the incarcerated parent, at that parent's request. We had one child who had three requests for gifts; they were from both biological parents and a step-parent, each of whom is incarcerated.
 
Our free Wednesday night meals combine benevolence, fellowship and evangelism. The meal could be the only hot meal for some and, perhaps, the only opportunity to sit together as a family. The Wednesday night meal also revives a tradition of coming to church straight from work to enjoy dinner with your church family and attend a committee meeting or work at some ministry. One of those Wednesday night ministries is AWANA, a spiritual formation program for children. For adults, we have classes in a variety of life skills, prayer and Bible Study.

SPIRITUAL FORMATION
Deacons and staff agreed that spiritual formation was a top priority for Baptist Temple and began to pray and explore how we would draw our church closer to Jesus. As an answer to those prayers, God sent Don Nance, a friend of BT and member of Oak Hills Church, with a package of materials and an invitation to meet Randy Frazee. The result of that meeting was that BT joined more than a dozen San Antonio churches in simultaneously preaching a sermon series with accompanying Bible studies called BELIEVE. Fifty people enrolled in the program on its first day, reviving a Sunday night tradition that was once called Training Union and, later, Discipleship Training.

PARTNERSHIPS
Highland Park Gifted and Talented (HPGTA) hired a new principal in 2015 which brought new energy to the BT campus. We worked together on maintaining the grounds, improving the playground, the fall fest, stocking the food pantry and getting a cross walk and school zone signal.
 
Visiting mission teams help extend ministry around San Antonio. Crosspoint Church Español wrote. “Thank you BTC for hosting us and loving on us with God's grace. We look forward to returning on our future mission trips. Thank you for praying for us before we left, your hearts and family of faith spirit was a refreshing blessing.”

Baptist Temple hosted the Immigration Services and Aid Center's Summer Training Institute. ISAAC is a Texas Baptist ministry to help immigrants obtain legal status. We also hosted the annual meetings of the Texas Baptist Conference of the Deaf and the Bi-vocational and Small Church Conference.

EARLY CHILDHOOD LEARNING CENTER (BTECLC)
Our day care gets a new name reflecting a new ministry. The introduction of the A Beka curriculum and a partnership with Parent Child Inc. (PCI) have turned us into a premier provider of early childhood education and includes Early Head Start. Our enrollment has grown by 40% since 2009. The children celebrated rodeo, fiesta, Easter, Halloween, Vacation Bible School, and Christmas. Parents were treated to Thanksgiving dinner and a Christmas Pageant.

FIGHTING HUNGER
The San Antonio Baptist Association Hunger Walk, Texas Baptist Hunger Offering and Baptist Mission Foundation combined to provide nearly$5000 to our hunger ministries. These contributions, along with food donations and thrift shop funds amounted to 50,000 pounds of food and related items.

Elizabeth Cruz joined us this Fall as Program Director for our community ministries. She has deep experience and extensive connections with the service community in San Antonio. As a result we have agreements with Our Lady of the Lake and UTSA to provide Social Work students to serve as mentors in our food pantry.

We provide more than material items. This Fall we were able to help a homeless woman obtain ID so she could get into a shelter and a homeless family of four navigate options until they found a place to live. Our local Wesley nurses, Nancy and Sandy, bring health screenings flu shots and classes on health-related topics.

LOOKING AHEAD
It will 110 years this Spring since the first meeting of the group that would become Baptist Temple. There have been many changes since 1906. The car had not yet gone into mass production but one day I-10 would tear through our neighborhood. The rapid southward growth of the city would soon move northward at an even faster pace.

Because Baptist Temple has adapted to so many changes and challenges, I am confident of the future.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” 

declares the Lord, 

“plans to prosper you and not to harm you, 

plans to give you hope and a future.” 

Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)

Looking Back and Thinking Ahead to 2015

Many new people became a part of the Baptist Temple family in 2014, including Associate Pastor Dan Trevino. Dan's years of experience as a social worker and pastor had an immediate impact. His work with unaccompanied minors crossing the border received media attention and helped to reinforce the image of Baptist Temple as a church on the front line of caring. The story was covered by CBN, Baptist Standard, KENS5, and San Antonio Express-News

Renovation was the dominant activity at BT as we tackled deferred maintenance, remodeled some spaces and fixed things that broke. The biggest job was the roof (actually roofs). It took longer than planned but cost less than we had anticipated.

The chapel was the most visible job. Brighter lights, fresh paint and new carpet have created a cheerful multi-purpose space. Crosspoint sent large teams of volunteers on two occasions to paint the chapel, other do-it-yourself projects saved us thousands. Soon there will be new seats and sound system.

Other work included upgraded lighting in the gym and sanctuary and completion of the Brunnemann Building rehab.

The rehab of the Brunnemann facilitated the launch of our client choice food pantry. The program is mentoring-based and designed to help people become more self-sufficient. Other hunger fighting ministries include our free Agape meals on Wednesday nights and the summer feeding program which fed 180 children each day. In 2014, we received nearly $5000 in grants for our hunger fighting ministries from the Texas Baptist Hunger Offering, San Antonio Baptist Association Hunger Walk, and the Texas Baptist Missions Foundation. Additionally, the Fellowship of San Antonio, HIS Bridgebuilders, New Frontiers Charter School and Wendy's have provided clothes, food, paper products and toiletries.

Our children’s ministry enjoyed field trips to Magik Theater, the Rodeo, Morgan's Wonderland and Camp Zephyr. Vacation Bible School attracted a larger number of unsaved children than usual, resulting in 40 professions of faith.

BT youth were among the first groups to experience the inaugural year of BOUNCE mission camp. This BGCT program is a complete missions package that combines summer camp and disaster relief. One youth called it the best camp ever.

There were some memorable worship moments as well including the children's musical “Truth Works,” the Christmas cantata “Mary Did You Know?” and a special “Hanging of the Green” worship experience. Special guests included recording artist Eve Miller and the youth choir from FBC Kingfisher, Oklahoma. Guest preachers included author Tomi Grover, Mark Newton, Baylor's Director for Church Engagement, and Josue Valerio, BGCT's Director of Mission Mobilization.

The most important event of the year was the formation of the church council that meet for the first time on January 4. The church council puts the BT ministry leaders in the same place at the same time to plan ministry and coordinate efforts towards our goal of soul-winning.

Last year was a turning point. It takes ten years for an organization to turn around and we are halfway there. Lessons of the past five years were implemented in 2014 as a foundation for future growth. Some of our endeavors fell flat but a few showed spectacular results.

I expect that 2015 will be a year of tremendous growth. Seeds that we have planted will soon start bearing fruit.

Three key areas for 2015:

1. Our worship planning team is tasked with creating several worship experiences throughout the year that will attract our casual attenders and make first time attenders want to return.
2. We will be hosting the Texas Deaf Church Conference and the Bi-vocational/Small Church Conference. Two other conferences are in the negotiation process.
3. This summer we will offer an urban missions experience, Our partners include the Baptist General Convention of Texas and a growing number of local churches and ministries

I can see God's hand guiding us. He opens doors to new relationships and closes others that would not have worked in the interest of building His Kingdom. He has provided us with resources and friends as He builds His church.

More pictures from 2014.

Victories and Vision

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, o set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Luke 4:18-19 

It has been another exciting year of ministry for the Baptist Temple family. In 2013 we baptized 14 people and added more new members. On the first Sunday of the year I spoke with four new families who were first time guests. They came because of our reputation for community ministry. One woman and her daughter started working in the thrift shop their first week here.

This past year has been one of solidifying new ministries and laying the foundation for growth in every dimension.

Here are some of the highlights of 2013:

• Our Director of daycare and preschool ministries, Paulette, started in January. She quickly brought stability, growth and excellence. Our attendance has been at an average of 100 all year, plus 50 kids in our after school club. Moreover, our summer camp kept our attendance stable all year.
  • Community impact and teacher morale was enhanced through Buckaroo Days, Fall Festival and a Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. Academics were improved through the addition of A Beka and Wee Learn curricula.
  • Along with Highland Park Gifted and Talented Academy, we have 400 children on our campus every day.
• Hunger ministries continue to be a big part of our ministry
  • Last year we reached the point of distributing 16,000 lbs of food each month. Most of it is on our Thursday and Saturday distributions but also there Sunday bread and sweets distributions, emergency lunches for transients, free or reduced lunch and breakfasts for our school children, backpack meals for our children in danger of hunger over the weekend, and free summer feeding.
  • Our partners in reducing hunger are the San Antonio Food Bank (who provide food at less than .10 a pound), the San Antonio Baptist Association (who gave us $1250 this year from the hunger walk), the Texas Christian Life Commission (who gave us $1200 this year to purchase food), the Texas Department of Agriculture who provide funding for the free or reduced breakfast and lunch and free summer feeding program), the Thrift Shop (which covers all other costs), and the dozens of volunteers who make these programs happen.
• We participated in UTSA's “Building a Healthy Temple” program to improve the health of our church family in partnership with the Baptist Health Foundation and the SA Food Bank.
• Wednesday Night Meals returned, along with AWANA, bringing a renewed spirit to our midweek ministries. We have programs for children and youth and for adults in English, Spanish, and American Sign Language.
• Heartstrong for CHRIST!
  • In order to ensure that our facilities would be able to continue ministry into this new century you pledged $362,252 over the next three years and gave $80,950 in first fruits.
  • There is still an opportunity to pledge if you have not already done so.
  • The generation gathered at the 150^th anniversary of Baptist Temple, will rise and call you blessed.
• We were blessed to receive $23,000 for our endowment from the estates of Ed Flynn, Nell Liverett and Weldon Frazelle.
• Of course there are still the ongoing ministries that are so much of our church life such as free family counseling, young in heart, ceramics, Sunday school, worship and more.

Your financial support makes all this possible. You can be sure that your tithes, offerings, grants and gifts are put to good use at Baptist Temple. This year we will build upon the blessings of the past few years.

• We will develop a system to improve our ability to meet the spiritual needs of our food pantry and thrift shop clients.

• Develop a High School diploma program for young adults
• Start a Bible Institute.
• Expand our Healthy living initiative thanks, in part, to a $7500 grant from the Baptist Health Foundation.
• Add to the classes we offer on Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings
• Add two more weekend worship opportunities.
   
  

  It is indeed a privilege to serve Baptist Temple Church and the extended family of friends and supporters with whom God has blessed us. Thank you for being a blessing to our church and community and let's make 2014 a year to remember.