Executive Board hears GC2 Strong reports, insurance program update during September board meeting

The September meeting of the Texas Baptists Executive Board was held on Sept. 22-23 in Dallas, TX. Board Directors approved the 2026 proposed budget, elected officers, heard ministry reports and considered 19 unique recommendations during the two-day business meeting. 

Guarneri: Praying for unity and GC2 Strong progress

During his Monday evening address, Executive Director Julio Guarneri spoke from John 17:1-21 and the high priestly prayer of Jesus. He shared that Jesus prays for his disciples, for the Father to glorify him and “for the world to know that eternal life is found in Christ,” but “the climax of the prayer is [Jesus’] plea for unity in the church.”

Guarneri said, “We need a counter-cultural posture of unity in Christ,” and we should pray for unity as Jesus did.

“We need to pray for unity in our churches. We need to pray for unity in our convention. We need to pray for unity among Christians,” said Guarneri. “Unity means that at the end of the day, we remember we are family [sharing the same Father, Savior and Holy Spirit]. We stand on the same scriptures. We share one baptism, one communion table, one message of good news to the world, one Great Commandment and one Great Commission.”

Guarneri also provided an update on the GC2 Strong initiative, a strategy through which Texas Baptists will move forward “strengthening a multiplying movement of churches to live out the Great Commandment and Great Commission.” The approach focuses on three areas: churches, leaders and missions. 

A GC2 process design effort was launched this past summer, and GC2 Network Director Sergio Ramos enlisted design team members, who have been meeting weekly to “design a process that will serve our churches well.” 

Guarneri addressed questions and provided clarity on the GC2 focus. 

“Our focus is serving local churches,” said Guarneri. “We believe that if we have strong churches, strong ministers and strong mission partnerships, empowered by God’s Spirit, we can address the lostness in Texas and beyond.” 

Guarneri encouraged board members to be involved in the GC2 process by engaging in prayer, giving and living out the Great Commandment and the Great Commission for the sake of those who do not know Christ. 

Marriott: Being “standard-setters” for loving others

In his Tuesday morning address, Convention President Ronny Marriott spoke about Jesus' command to “love the least of these.” Drawing from Matthew 25:31-40, he shared that when we love the least of these, we love Jesus. 

“We are people of love because we serve a God of love… [and] Jesus’ encouragement here is: ‘When you do good things for people, you do good things for me,’” said Marriott. 

He said we are called to love our enemies and be people of peace. Referencing John 13:34-35, he encouraged board members to “set the standard” for what loving Jesus by loving others looks like. 

“I believe it is time now more than ever that Baptists stand up and we set the gold standard of what it means to love one another… to the degree that Jesus loves us,” said Marriott. “This is an opportunity for us to step up… so our churches can be healthy, so Christians can be healthy and so the kingdom can advance.” 

2026 Budget to mirror GC2 focus 

Ward Hayes, Texas Baptists treasurer/CFO, delivered a financial update. He said the Convention is fiscally sound, focused and strategic.

The convention’s cash position was strong at the close of last year, with $12.8M spread across multiple accounts. Endowments and investments were at $264M, and the reserve fund was at $8.6M.

Cooperative Program (CP) receipts are at 97.1% of the prior year. 

Hayes noted that BGCT Worldwide was slightly up, but that special mission offerings were down. 

Annie Armstrong was down from $2.9M to $2.6M; The Mary Hill Davis Offering for Texas Missions remained steady at $1.4M; Lottie Moon Christmas Offering was down from $7.4M to $6.9M; and Texas Baptist Hunger Offering remained steady at $.3M.

The board approved the proposed 2026 Texas Baptists missions and ministries budget of $37,502,456. The proposed budget consists of $28M in Cooperative Program (CP) giving, $8M from investment income and $1.4M from conference and booth fees and product sales.

The total budgeted revenue for the new year’s budget is set at 101% of the 2025 budget.

Hayes noted that the 2026 budget will mirror the GC2 focus in part to provide accountability. 

“That way it provides a good structure, but it also provides focus around how we’re going to expend our funds in ministry,” said Hayes.

A recommendation also passed for the allocation of $1.1M in Worldwide Missions Initiatives and Partnerships allocations. 

Officers, GC2 Strong and Indemnity Program updates

Suzie Liner, retired physician and Executive Board director from Sector 2 representing First Lubbock, was elected to serve as Executive Board chair in 2026, and Keith Warren, executive pastor of North Side Baptist Church in Weatherford and Executive Board director from Sector 6, was elected to serve as vice chair.

Ramos gave a progress report on the GC2 Strong initiative. He said he and his team have met weekly since April to define and structure the initiative. 

He introduced the GC2 Design Team: Jonathan Smith, leading the church strong focus, Noe Treviño, leading the missions strong focus, Clinton Lowin, leading the pastors and leadership strong focus and Joshua Minatrea, serving as the GC2 process designer.

Ramos said the GC2 Design Team was working to finalize the design of the core assessment instrument. 

“This is a major milestone,” said Ramos.

Ramos said the design team has “remained committed to transparency and staff engagement,” and has started giving weekly updates to staff and answering questions about the progress of the GC2 Strong development.

Reporting on other ministry assignments under his supervision, Ramos also shared that Texas Baptists now counts 14 memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with global missions partners and 101 churches beyond the bounds of the state, “currently in partnership with us.”

“There's still much to do, but we are comforted that God is at work and the future of Texas Baptists is bright,” said Ramos. 

Associate Executive Director Craig Christina updated the board on the development of the  Texas Baptists Indemnity Program (TBIP) and Texas Baptists Risk Management (TBRM), approved by the board at the February board meeting. 

Christina said that the TBIP Board has partnered with an insurance company called King’s Cover to provide insurance for churches. He said the TBIP Board hopes to do “a soft launch in October, working primarily with BGCT churches who have completed the feasibility study. Then, prayerfully by Nov. 1, if not sooner, we want to be opened up for all BGCT and SBTC churches in Texas.” 

He said as they are working toward the launch, Texas Baptists is committed to keeping costs low, maintaining low premiums, eventually serving like-minded churches from other denominations & non-denominational networks (following guidelines similar to Guidestone), and providing deeper discounts for churches giving undesignated gifts to the Texas Baptists Cooperative Program. 

“We believe that allowing more participation from like-minded churches will add strength, value and sustainability to the program,” said Christina.

He also noted that the board received a recommendation to appoint the initial slate of officers and board of directors for Covenant Solutions, a South Carolina captive insurance program that will help Texas Baptists provide insurance beyond Texas, and approve the funding of the initial reserve and investment. 

Christina said that if passed, TBIP and TBRM will be dormant, and Covenant Solutions will partner with Kings Cover to provide insurance nationally. 

“When we come together for the cause of Christ, miracles can happen, and we can be there for one another in a time of loss, we can restore one another and we can move to higher ground,” said Christina. 

Additional business 

The following individuals were elected to fill vacancies on councils, committees and boards of affiliated ministries:

• Institutions Audit Council: Maggie Pepper, First Baptist Church of San Angelo, San Angelo; Corbin Couch, First Baptist Burleson, Burleson; Jill Larson, The Heights Church, Richardson; Jennifer Clements, Park Cities Baptist Church, Dallas; Deborah Woods, First Baptist Church Farmers Branch, Farmers Branch; Heather Fairman, First Baptist Church Anna, Anna. 
• Hispanic Education Council: Sylvia Villareal, Cliff Temple Baptist Church, Dallas; Fernando Rojas, Azle Avenue Baptist Church, Fort Worth; Jeremy Johnston, First Baptist Church, Hallsville. 
• Baptist History and Distinctives Council: Sharon Darwin, First Baptist Church Dallas, Dallas; David Mahfouz, First Baptist Church Warren, Warren; Betty Booth, First Baptist Church Tyler, Tyler. 
• Texas Baptist Missions Foundation Council: Carla Robinson Park Cities Baptist Church Dallas, Dallas; Paul Kim, Forest Community Church, Plano; Jerry Ramirez, First Baptist Church Lubbock, Lubbock; Bill Brian, First Baptist Church Amarillo, Amarillo; Bill Bevill, First Baptist Church Corpus Christi, Corpus Christi; D.M. Edwards, First Baptist Church Tyler, Tyler; David Paul Sugar Land Baptist Church Sugar Land, Sugar Land; Charles Whiteside, First Baptist Church Kilgore, Kilgore. 
• Christian Life Commission: Steve Bezner, Houston Northwest Baptist Church, Houston; Kevin Lintz, University Baptist Church, Fort Worth. 
• Chaplaincy Endorsement Council: Jim Browning, First Baptist Church Floresville, Floresville; Amy Hall, Madison Heights Baptist Church, Madison Heights, Virginia; Ken May, First Baptist Church Stephenville, Stephenville; Ben Sprouse, Memorial Baptist Church, Staunton, Virginia; David Cross, Westgate Memorial Baptist Church, Beaumont.
• GC2 Press Advisory Council: Reagan Miller, Lakeshore Drive Baptist Church, Hudson Oaks; David Goddard, First Baptist Church Temple, Temple. 
• Affinity Ministries Council: Rolando Aguirre, Park Cities Baptist Church, Dallas.
• Western Heritage Council: Charlie Nassar, Top Rail Cowboy Church, Greenville; Chris Maddox, Cowboy Church of Ellis County, Waxahachie. 
• Missions Funding Council: Joseph Adams, First Baptist Church Mount Pleasant, Mount Pleasant; Rene Maciel, First Woodway Baptist Church, Woodway; Wisdom Asita, First African Baptist Church, Fort Worth. 
• Baptist Student Ministry Council: Austin Lambert, First Baptist Church Sherman, Sherman; John Wheat, Trinity Baptist Church, Kerrville. 
• Committee on Nominations for Boards of Affiliated Ministries: Nomination to East Texas Baptist University Board of Trustees: Charles Whiteside, First Baptist Church Kilgore, Kilgore. 

Other business included the passage of the following recommendations:

• A recommendation to amend Policy 822 Background Investigations to more comprehensively address controlled substance possession and driving while intoxicated. 
• A recommendation to revise Policy 846 Family Medical Leave Act to clarify medical leave procedures. 
• A recommendation to revise Policy 807 Harassment Policy to clarify employee preventative training and investigation procedures. 
• A recommendation to secure 2025 Independent Auditor as Batts Morrison Wales & Lee to conduct the financial audit for 2025 based on a one-year contract.
• A recommendation to adopt Policy 420.3 from the Sexual Abuse Task Force as part of the BGCT’s Policy Manual.

The Texas Baptists Annual Meeting will take place Nov. 16-18 in Abilene, Texas.