Dear Fellowship Southwest Friends,

Thanksgiving is the appropriate season to write to you. My heart overflows with thanks to all of you—individually and collectively—as I count down my final days as founding coordinator of Fellowship Southwest. How retirement arrived so soon (I feel I should be 32, not 65) baffles my imagination, but this is the moment.

Thank you for joining the Fellowship Southwest journey, which began in the summer of 2017. It seems like only yesterday, and yet it’s been about four and a half years. That’s enough time to forge a collaborative network of churches and other partners who share compassion for people across the American Southwest and Northern Mexico. And I’ve loved every second of it—mainly because you have been here beside me, offering encouragement, companionship, faith and love. 

More than anything else, I have reached retirement with a heart full of gratitude. And while I don’t want to bore you, I feel compelled to name names. So, with every molecule of every cell of my body, I am grateful to …

• God, for blessing me with a charmed life and abundant career in ministry. For two decades, I held the job of my young dreams, editing the Baptist Standard in my home state, Texas. And then came Fellowship Southwest, which I never saw coming, only because my imagination wasn’t that fertile.

• Joanna, who captured my heart when we were college sophomores. We’ve walked a long, long road together, some patches uphill and rocky and some stretches straight and smooth. She’s the wisest, most loyal person I know. Every day, she makes me laugh. Always, she infuses faith into our lives. Every day, she embodies grace. How sweet to spend your life with your best friend.

• Suzii Paynter March, then executive coordinator of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, for thinking up Fellowship Southwest and casting vision to be bigger than Baptists. Also, George Mason, pastor of Wilshire Baptist Church, for joining Suzii in dreaming this audacious dream and reaching out to me. And Rick McClatchy, coordinator of CBF Texas, for affirming CBF’s next thing out here should be bigger than our home state.

• The Eula Mae and John Baugh Foundation—Babs Baugh (God bless her sweet memory!), Jackie Baugh Moore and Julie Baugh Cloud—for sharing this dream and investing to make it possible. Also, for opening their hearts to me and embodying true friendship across many years.

• Coordinators of the CBF state and regional organizations impacted by Fellowship Southwest—Glen Foster of CBF West, Steve Graham and now Kyle Tubbs of CBF Oklahoma, and Rick McClatchy of CBF Texas.

• Folks who made the ongoing work of Fellowship Southwest possible, even though they all have other “day jobs”—Cameron Mason Vickrey, FSW’s communications director and the one person (besides Joanna) who has been alongside me every step of the way; Katy Link and Jay Prichard, who helped us with marketing in the early years; and Lori Gooden, our accounting director since we incorporated in Texas.

• Cooperative Baptist Fellowship staff and state/regional coordinators, all of them wonderful, and especially those who leaned in to help us “do this thing”—Suzii, Paul Baxley, Harry Rowland, Becky Buice Hall, Aaron Weaver, Carrie Harris, Jenine Crew and Dave Gunter.

• All the saints who comprise our immigrant relief ministry—Jorge Zapata, associate coordinator of CBF Texas, who wove this network together; Elket Rodríguez, refugees and immigrants missions and advocacy specialist for FSW and CBF, who ratcheted the network to a higher level; the border ministry providers, Eddie and Elizabeth Bernal in Harlingen and pastors Eleuterio González in Matamoros, Juvenal González in Tijuana, Carlos Navarro in Brownsville, Lorenzo Ortiz in Nuevo Laredo/Saltillo, Israel Rodríguez in Piedras Negras and Rosalío Sosa in Juarez/Palomas; and Jeni Cook Furr and Ray Furr, who led our pre-COVID volunteer program. 

• All our ecumenical and interfaith friends who have trusted us and come alongside us to do ministry together. They have been faithful and patient, particularly as we have worked to move “ecumenical and interfaith” from aspiration to reality.

• Our splendid board of directors and early steering committee members—Jackie Baugh Moore, Glen Foster, Carrie Graham, Amy Jacober, Kathy Krey, Jewel London, Kristin McAtee, Rick McClatchy, Michael Mills, Mark Newton, John Ogletree, Javier Perez, Victoria Robb Powers, Andy Stoker, Meredith Stone, Kyle Tubbs, Suzi Boydstun, Steve Graham, Bicri Hernandez, Suzii Paynter March and Steve Wells.

• All our 300-plus donors—individuals, families and congregations—who have made our ministry, and particularly immigrant relief, possible. We could not do this without you

• And finally, so near and dear to my heart, Stephen Reeves, our new executive director. Stephen possesses abundant talent, expertise, networks, faith, courage and vision. He will lead Fellowship Southwest far beyond my capacity, and I can’t wait to see what God has in store.

Although I’m not a prophet, I confidently predict I will thank our God every time I remember you. Each of those occasions will be filled with fondness and expectation. I pray you always will remain faithful, agile, ecumenical and kind. 

With love and gratitude,

Marv