The 360. Friday 8:30-12:00 pm. Back to School Fair will be from 9:00am to noon at North Side Baptist Church. See page 6 for more info.

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Blanche Strickland
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1 The 360 Investing in Kingdom-focused churches that make a local and global difference for Christ. Volume 43, Number 8 August 2017 Back to School Fair will be from 9:00am to noon at North Side Baptist Church. See page 6 for more info. Office Phone: Office Hours: M-Th 8:30-4:30pm Friday 8:30-12:00 pm Director of Missions: John Thielepape, D.Min. john@parkerbaptist.org Director of Baptist Student Ministry: Mark Nelson mark@parkerbaptist.org Financial Coordinator: Leah Newman leah@parkerbaptist.org Administrative Assistant: Lauren Johnson lauren@parkerbaptist.org

Over the past decade of serving Parker Baptist Association and the Coyote BSM at Weatherford College main campus I ve been asked What does the BSM do? several times. We do lots of things.

2 Over the past decade of serving Parker Baptist Association and the Coyote BSM at Weatherford College main campus I ve been asked What does the BSM do? several times. We do lots of things. My go to answer has been free lunch on Wednesdays. If you come to the BSM on Wednesday, from 11am to 1pm, you will see the BSM and what we do. That is a good answer, but it says we do free lunch, and we are that. The students know us by that one thing over 3 campuses at Weatherford College. As a result, we serve between students each week. Coyote BSM by Mark Nelson This past month I was able to explore a better answer to the question, what does the BSM do? You need to understand that we have been doing this work since September of 2006 on the campus here. We haven t been able to articulate it like this until now. Our Mission is to engage WC students on a journey of becoming authentic followers of Jesus. This engagement happens by building authentic relationships with the students, which will lead to leadership and missions opportunities. Our strategy is to connect with students, equip them, and then launch them into the places where God leads them as they continue their education or go into the work force. We know we have accomplished this when our students we have intentionally worked with have a spiritual rhythm present. That rhythm will include a dedication to abiding in Christ, a deepening of relationships with others and a missional engagement in the community. I am available to share more with you individually or with your church. Please contact me at (817) or by at mark@parkerbaptist.org. Prayer Requests From Vermont Alec as he works at Champlain College this fall, and as he tries to get the ministry (the vine) recognized as an entity on campus. Lauren building connections with incoming freshmen, follow up from orientations, and her new position as a Wellness Specialist at UVM. Lacee She is looking to work in the public school systems there in the area. 2 At Coyote BSM Connections with incoming students. Welcome Week activities August You can now sign up to host a BSM Lunch online. To sign up and view available dates, visit

3 Embracing the Change Coming our Way by John Thielepape The often-repeated quote, The only thing constant in life is change, is attributed to a Greek philosopher named Heraclitus of Ephesus who lived around BC. Indeed, a lot of change has taken place over the last 25+ centuries. I often write about the larger shifts and changes that are taking place across the landscape of church and association life in America, but this month I want to prepare you for a procedural change coming for the Parker Baptist Association. The final, printed edition of our monthly newsletter will be mailed during the final week of November, for December After many years of mailing a monthly newsletter, we will be switching to a weekly digital communication that will be sent by and made available on a variety of social media platforms. There are many reasons for doing so. First, in the modern world a monthly newsletter cannot be a timely communication piece. We begin preparing each month s edition during the middle of the month, and mail it on the last Thursday of the month. Any news reported cannot be time-sensitive and any announcements must be made quite a bit in advance. Most organizations have found that a monthly printed newsletter is the least effective way to communicate. Second, the cost and difficulty of bulk mail have both increased over the years. Bulk mail no longer offers the convenience that it once did as the requirements have become more stringent and costs have increased. We will save almost $4,000 in printing and production costs for the newsletter that can be distributed into other ministries. Additionally, the time spent by our staff preparing and producing the newsletter could be better spent on other methods of communication. We already send out a weekly that goes mostly to pastors, staff members, and lay leaders for whom we have addresses. We also a PDF of The 360 to a large number of people each month rather than going out through mail. In the next few months we will begin merging those lists and giving the weekly more prominence as we transition to a completely digital format. If you receive this newsletter in printed form, then we will be asking you to send us an address to sign you up for digital delivery. You will also be able to access our news through Facebook, Twitter, our website and other digital platforms. I will continue to write about issues that I believe are relevant to our shared ministry on an internet blog, Mark will continue to report on and promote Baptist Student Ministry, we will still share announcements from churches, and we will still share ministry stories that we hope will spur one another on toward love and good deeds. We just won t be doing it by visiting your mailbox. Finally, we have been doing some math lately, looking forward to the next ten years in Parker County. We currently have approximately 5.5% of the population of Parker County in attendance at Parker Baptist churches on a given Sunday morning. And I think it is fair to say that we are the largest denominational body in the county. If we would like to maintain that same percentage in 2028, then we will need to double the attendance in our churches. Please don t miss that point. If we simply want to keep up, then we will need to double the attendance in our churches over the next 10 ½ years by growing the churches we have and/or by starting new churches. But who wants to just keep up? We are preparing for the changes necessary to embrace a God-sized dream to expand His Kingdom. Join us. To be added to our directory, please go to the link below. Enter your name and your address.

P M y t i s n s u i o o C n s r e 2 k 01 7 r a FBC Weatherford

Northside Vancouver, Canada Northside Chicago, Illinois

Germans claim to be evangelical Christians.

Willow Park Baptist will be sending a student to go share the

Northside Brooklyn, NewYork Religions in Haiti: Indonesia is

Sunni Islam is the majority religion throughout most of the

7% are Christians (4.1% Protestant and 2.9% Roman Catholic); 1.

Arlington, TX Midway Managua, Nicaragua FBC Dennis Romania FBC

Santiago, Dominican Republic Greenwood Haiti Salvation in

Their team joined up with 25 other missionaries from the

They worked in villages of the indigenous tribe, Ngöbe Buglé.

The Panama team saw about 150 people surrender their lives to

Religions in Germany: Although Germany is rich in protestant

Lakeshore Drive Del Rio, TX FBC Willow Park Munich, Germany

most dominant religion in Haiti is Roman Catholicism

4 P M y t i s n s u i o o C n s r e 2 k 01 7 r a FBC Weatherford Minnesota FBC Dennis Vermont Greenwood Vancouver, Canada Northside Vancouver, Canada Northside Chicago, Illinois Friendship Harlingen, TX religious history, only 31% of Germans claim to be evangelical Christians. 33% say they are not religious. 31% identify with Roman Catholicism. The remaining 5% is made up of a variety of other religions. Willow Park Baptist will be sending a student to go share the Gospel in Germany in July. Northside Brooklyn, NewYork Religions in Haiti: Indonesia is the largest Muslim nation in the world. Sunni Islam is the majority religion throughout most of the country. About 87 % of all Indonesians are Muslims. 7% are Christians (4.1% Protestant and 2.9% Roman Catholic); 1.7% are Hindu, 0.9% are Buddhists, Confucian and other; and 0.4% are unspecified. FBC Millsap Brooklyn, NewYork FBC Willow Park Mission Arlington, TX Midway Managua, Nicaragua FBC Dennis Romania FBC Dennis Africa Friendship Chiriquí Province, Panama Beulah Santiago, Dominican Republic Greenwood Haiti Salvation in Panama: Friendship sent 4 missionaries to Panama on June 15th. Their team joined up with 25 other missionaries from the states. They worked in villages of the indigenous tribe, Ngöbe Buglé. God did amazing things in the hearts of the natives. The Panama team saw about 150 people surrender their lives to Jesus! Religions in Germany: Although Germany is rich in protestant Greenwood Brooklyn, NewYork Spring Creek Comanche County, TX Lakeshore Drive Del Rio, TX FBC Willow Park Munich, Germany Beulah Haiti Lakeshore Drive Indonesia Religions in Haiti: The most dominant religion in Haiti is Roman Catholicism (including Catholic-Vodou Syncretism). This religion makes up 80% of haiti s religious beliefs. Protestant Christianity makes up 16%. The remaining 4% is made up of Islam, atheism, judaism, and other eastern religions. Pray for Beulah Baptist as they share the Gospel and equip pastors in Haiti! If your church is doing missions this summer and would like to be added to the map, let us know! lauren@parkerbaptist.org

5 August Prayer Focus: July 30 - August 5 Hilltop Iglesia Bautista Nueva Jerusalem Lakeshore Lighthouse August 6-12 Midway New Hope - Boyd New Hope - Weatherford North Side August Oak Ridge Parker County Cowboy Primera Iglesia Bautista Shady Grove August Silver Creek Soda Springs Spring Creek Walnut Creek August 27 - September 2 West Parkway Whitt Zion Hill Baker Churches currently without permanent Pastors: Brazos Trails Central Garner Soda Springs Church News & Announcements Spring Creek Baptist Church is hosting a No Sale Garage Sale in their church parking lot on August 19th. Everything is free! Come shop from 8:00am to 3:00pm. Oak Ridge Baptist Church is teaming up with Culture of One Ministries to collect broken guitar strings. WHAT ARE THEY GOING TO DO WITH THE STRINGS? Maria walks her kids to school and, because of the distance, waits on a bench all day so that she can walk home with them to try and keep them safe from the cartel. But Maria also needs to work. While she waits, she can make beautiful bracelets out of your broken strings and we can sell them for her. SO HERE'S WHAT WE'RE CALLED TO DO... We want to help people be able to feed their families. But we have an agenda. We want to create opportunities to spend time with people so that we can tell them the good news of Jesus and make disciples. For more information you can visit cultureofone.today This year s Back to School Fair will be held on Saturday, August 12th from 9:00am to noon at North Side. The average attendance in the past has been 600 children! It is possible that we could see many more families this year. With your help we can provide a complete set of school supplies to many kids in need! If you are interested in volunteering at this event, please contact Ragan Carr at To view the list and for other info, you can visit Parker Baptist Association We have updated our website ( You can refer to our website for info on our ministries, initiatives, news, and other resources!

This is where we post announcements, important news and each weeks

7 Calendar of Events August 17 Pastor Staff Prayer Breakfast Breakfast at 8:30 Connect with Us Follow us on Facebook and Twitter. This is where we post announcements, important news and each weeks prayer list.

The 360. Foster Care Closet. Read story on page 5! Friday 8:30-12:00 pm

The 360. Foster Care Closet. Read story on page 5! Friday 8:30-12:00 pm The 360 Investing in Kingdom-focused churches that make a local and global difference for Christ. Volume 43, Number 7 July 2017 TO Foster Care Closet Read story on page 5! Office Phone: 817-599-6586 Office