Fellowship Southwest Steering Committee plans for future

The Fellowship Southwest Steering Committee looked toward the future even as members watched each other on computer screens during their spring meeting April 27.

The committee originally planned to meet at Woodland Baptist Church in San Antonio but opted to convene via videoconference in light of COVID-19.

Steering Committee members are:

• Jackie Baugh Moore, vice president of the Eula Mae and John Baugh Foundation and a member of Woodland Baptist Church in San Antonio, Texas.

• Glen Foster, coordinator of CBF West and pastor of Pantano Baptist Church in Tucson, Ariz.

• Carrie Graham, founding pastor of The Church Lab in Austin, Texas. Consulting pastoral facilitator for pastors via Macedonian Ministry and various other churches and denominational entities.

• Steve Graham, coordinator of CBF Oklahoma, a former pastor and CBF staff member, and a member of First Baptist Church in Norman, Okla.

• Bicri Hernandez, chaplain, ACPE certified educator and manager of western region Clinical Pastoral Education Programs for Baylor Scott & White Health, and a member of Iglesia Bautista Victoria en Cristo in Fort Worth, Texas.

• Amy Jacober, a youth pastor and professor who is planting a CBF congregation, Harbor Church, in Phoenix, Ariz., with her husband, Cory Peacock.

• Kathy Krey, an assistant research professor at Baylor University and director of the Baylor Collaborative on Hunger and Poverty and a member of University Baptist Church in Waco, Texas.

• Jewel London, a campus minister and the pastoral assistant to Ralph D. West at The Church Without Walls in Houston, Texas.

• Rick McClatchy, coordinator of CBF Texas, who has been a pastor and teaches in universities and seminaries and is a member of Trinity Baptist Church in San Antonio, Texas.

• Michael Mills, pastor of Agape Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas. 

• Mark Newton, pastor of First Baptist Church in Lufkin, Texas. 

• John D. Ogletree Jr., pastor of First Metropolitan Church in Houston, Texas.

• Suzii Paynter, CEO of Prosper Waco and former executive coordinator of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.

• Javier Perez, staff member of Buckner International, living in Mexico City.

• Victoria Robb Powers, senior associate pastor at University Park United Methodist Church in Dallas, Texas.

• Andy Stoker, senior minister of First United Methodist Church in Dallas, Texas. 

• Meredith Stone, associate dean and assistant professor of Christian ministry and Scripture at Hardin-Simmons University’s Logsdon School of Theology and a member of First Baptist Church in Abilene, Texas.

Fellowship Southwest began in the summer of 2017. It functions as a network alongside three state/regional networks affiliated with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship—CBF Oklahoma, CBF Texas and the borderland states of CBF West, Arizona, New Mexico and Southern California.

Fellowship Southwest has been asked to respond to needs that otherwise might not be met. So, it has provided leadership in helping churches recover from Hurricane Harvey, helped evaluate and plan for Hispanic theological education, resourced churches and individuals, and, most extensively, provided ministry to refugees amassed along the U.S.-Mexico border. 

The organization also has been asked to expand CBF’s ecumenical, racial and cultural relationships throughout the region.

Fellowship Southwest operates as a network of the Atlanta-based CBF. FSW Field Coordinator Marv Knox works from his home in the Dallas area but is a member of the CBF Global staff. 

Although the CBF Governing Board possesses the legal responsibility for Fellowship Southwest, the Steering Committee functions as a regional advisory board. It helps Knox set priorities and evaluate operational strategies. 

At its spring meeting, the Steering Committee focused on enabling the young network to build upon its early relationships and accomplishments and shape its long-term effectiveness and viability. Committee members discussed governance issues, ecumenical relationships, leadership, models for building and maintaining relationships, opportunities for supporting theological education, and the nature and structure of the committee itself.

In the coming months, the committee will divide into task forces to engage those issues and help Knox develop action plans for responding to them.