my Texas church home...

My favorite church newsletter came in the mail yesterday. For thirty five years it has faithfully followed us as we have moved from state to state. And every time I see the familiar headline, Lake Shorelines, I give thanks for this wonderful church family and their continued vision and mission in Waco, Texas.
We came to Waco in 1970 after Michael’s graduation from seminary. He had served as Minister to Youth at Lake Shore while in college and was coming back to be an associate pastor... and minister to youth. I didn’t cry all the way to Texas but I did sniffle a lot as we left the green trees and wide rivers of home far behind on our way to the land of mesquite and Mexican food. Trading in tall trees and green meadows for the Lake Shore experience was a more than fair trade.
Most people have a jaundiced view of Baptists to begin with and Texas Baptists, like Texans, are tarred with a wider, blacker brush. When I speak of Lake Shore and all the other Baptist churches we knew and loved in Texas, I am met with polite disbelief. My world of faith expanded and grew because of these extraordinary ordinary Baptist churches and I count myself blessed to have been a member of Lake Shore Baptist. In some ways I am still a member. Lake Shore is my heart’s church home.
Women deacons, dance in worship, retreats for every age and stage, Sunday School classes that became family over the years, mission outreach at home in Waco and in the larger world, thoughtful worship and outstanding preaching, art incorporated into the life of the church, Wednesday night meals, youth worships that sizzled, summer camps for our youth that included kids from other liberal Baptist churches in Texas, mystery ventures, and parties at the drop of the hat... all of this in the seventies. There were painful times, too. Death and conflict are as much a part of life as peace and celebration. Somehow, Lake Shore as a church learned the art of valuing the past while keeping their eye on the future.
At the New Baptist Covenant we bumped into the current pastor, Dorisanne Cooper, and for a moment, I was home at Lake Shore again. Dorisanne and Sharlande Sledge, the Associate Pastor, are two talented women who lead Lake Shore now, or perhaps are led by Lake Shore. It always was a toss up as to who was leading whom.
This weeks news has a picture of a young Cameroon couple who got married there. There are some requests for help for some of the church’s Cameroon friends, Lenten worship information, a brief description of a Wednesday night Bible study focused on Psalm 51:10-12, children’s news, celebrations and requests for prayers, new member information, usher and nursery worker schedules, ministry and education opportunities and as always, the weekly budget report. Now as then, Lake Shore lives on the edge in every way. An encyclopedia of Lake Shore information is contained in the one large sheet of paper folded in half.
Every week when the newsletter comes, I give thanks for this grace filled church. The Christian witness they bear to the world in Waco, Mexico and the Cameroons also wings its way to Asheville, North Carolina. Their loving care was extended to our daughter Megan during her brief sojourn at Baylor. Homesick and crammed into a men’s dorm room with one teeny tiny closet, Megan was enveloped by the loving arms of Dot and M.B. Martin. They came, they brought special hangers and I am sure they told stories of her birth at Lake Shore as well as stories about her dad in his college years.
Lake Shore Baptist Church will always be my beloved Texas church home. There I was loved into motherhood, forgiven my rough edges as a minister’s wife, encouraged and called out to be more truly who I was created to be. I began to find my voice to sing and my feet to dance at Lake Shore. I learned how to feed the five thousand using the party closet at Dot’s for dishes and table cloths. Retreats Lake Shore Style became a necessity for my soul’s renewal. I will forever be grateful for your loving kindness to me, a young far away from home first time minister’s wife and mother. We are coming for a visit in September and I can hardly wait to see you all. I know it is too late for the ice cream social at the Davenports but maybe we could have a pool party? Or meet at the Mexican restaurant for supper? Thanks be to God for letters from home. And Michael, a.k.a. Mickey, is sending a check to cover postage.