Realigning the Center for Cultural Engagement to equip churches for Great Commandment, Great Commission faithfulness

February is here, and it seems that most everyone is returning to normal after dealing with snow and ice in some parts of our state and country.

I want to share with you about some staff changes that we are implementing this week.

In a continued effort to better align Texas Baptists ministries to equip churches for Great Commandment, Great Commission faithfulness, we are realigning the Center for Cultural Engagement, effective this week. The ministries under the center will be redistributed to other teams across the organization as we focus on strengthening churches, ministers and missions. 

Dr. Katie Frugé has overseen the Center for Cultural Engagement for the last 4 ½ years. We are thankful for her outstanding leadership of such a diverse center and the great work that has  been done by the team members. I look forward to her continuing to serve as the director of the Christian Life Commission.

The Christian Life Commission (CLC) will return to its historic role as a stand-alone ministry aimed at resourcing churches and focusing on the areas of ethics, mercy and justice, advocacy and public policy. Dr. Frugé will continue to serve on the Leadership Team. Rebecca Treviño will transition from her role as the specialist for the Center for Cultural Engagement to policy analyst for the CLC.

Rebecca Treviño has a bachelor’s in Political Science from UMHB and a master’s degree in Community and Economic Development from Penn State University. She started in 2018, working in Austin as the ministry assistant for the CLC. She moved to Dallas and began serving as the center specialist in 2022. Rebecca is a member of the most recent cohort of Leadership Texas Baptists and a member of The Promise Church in Farmers Branch, where she leads the children’s ministry.

The CLC has already been working to enhance the manner in which they resource churches and has plans to continue deepening their work in their assigned area. I am excited about the future of the CLC!

Affinity groups that work with cultural churches will now be part of the Relationship Development/GC2 Team. This office, under the leadership of Sergio Ramos, connects with conventions, churches and institutions. Affinity groups will include African American Ministries, Texas Baptists en Español, Intercultural Ministries and Western Heritage. This last one is moving from the Center for Ministerial Health.

Carlos Francis, current director of African American Ministries, will assume a new role as director of Affinity Relations/GC2 Support. He will continue to direct African American Ministries and will also serve on the Texas Baptists Leadership Team, providing direct input to Texas Baptists staff leadership.

Before his current role, Carlos also served as director of Young Adult Ministry and African American Evangelist specialist for Texas Baptists. He graduated from Texas Tech University in December 2003 with a Bachelor of Science in Exercise and Sport Science. He was drafted by the Oakland Raiders in the 2004 NFL Draft and served the team with distinction for four seasons. Carlos served at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Mansfield as their youth and young adult pastor for 12 years and now currently serves at Westside Baptist Church in Lewisville.

About half of our Texas Baptists churches relate to one of the affinity groups. They play a tremendous role in advancing the GC2 Strong strategy. Their participation is essential to where we are going. It is very fitting that they have direct representation in our leadership team.

Chaplaincy Relations will be under the Office of the Associate Executive Director for an interim time. This ministry serves to endorse chaplains in a variety of fields, including military, business, prisons, hospitals and more. Under the leadership of Todd Combee, chaplaincy will work with Craig Christina, associate executive director, to continue to serve chaplains in ministry roles.

I believe this alignment of staff and offices will help us be more focused and strategic as we move forward with the GC2 Strong strategy.

Thank you for your support, your prayers and your contributions through the Cooperative Program. We strive to be the best stewards of it.