History & Mission

A SUMMARY HISTORY OF THE Waco Regional Baptist Association

 The Waco Baptist Association was formed on November 10, 1860, at First Baptist Church, Waco. Nine local churches with a combined membership of 531 pledged to serve together as an Association and adopted the New Hampshire Confession of Faith as their statement of faith. The work was rather slow due to the Civil War however, during the war, and afterwards, the Association maintained concern for foreign and home missions and work among African Americans.

The 1880s and 90s was a period of great growth! There was large giving to missions and to the local Buckner’s Orphans’ Home and special work among the Germans began 1889.  Moving into the new century the Association, through the vision of AJ Barton, 1908, initiated plans for the construction of Hillcrest Hospital (now Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center). A committee to oversee the project was formed in 1912, ground was broken in 1917 and the hospital was opened in May, 1920.   The Hispanic work started in 1911 in the basement of First Baptist, Waco.  1920 to 1930 found an emphasis in stewardship, educational programs, and the establishment of sound budget systems in the churches.  In the 1930s churches were urged to concern themselves with liquor traffic and poverty.  The emphasis of 1940s was in the area of evangelism, Training Union (now Discipleship Training), and special work with minority groups.  The decade of 1950-1960 found a strong emphasis on the establishment of mission churches. There were eight new churches and sixteen mission churches established from 1953-1960.  The emphasis in the 1960s continued the previous decade’s thrust, but also added the dimension of understanding the concept of the total person. Among these areas of concern were counseling, work with senior adults, and the maturing of the program of Christian social ministries.

The 1970s and 80′s offered the Waco Association one of its greatest times of growth.  During the ministry of Dr. Edwin Crawford, in the 1970′s, and later, Reverend Larry Rose, and Dr. Paul Stripling the marriage of evangelism and missions was emphasized in keeping with the Bold Mission Thrust, of the SBC. Such an emphasis was born out of our Strategy Planning in 1982 and 1983, wherein evangelism was placed as the first priority in the work of the Association. The Task Force committees chartered with this emphasis continued to work in the fulfillment the priorities adopted by the Executive Board including  Evangelism, Church Program Support, Strengthening Families, and Mission Support. In addition to Dr. Stripling’s arrival, January, 1982, the Association approved the selection of a director of church services, who assisted in the accomplishment of the WBA goals through a focus on Sunday School and special programs for senior adults. In 1982, the WBA organized the Pastors’ Conference, Baptist Senior Ministers Fellowship, and started a Counseling Center. Later, this Center became Samaritan Counseling Center. Subsequently, the Center became related to Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center.  Continuing with the Association’s ongoing mission efforts, in 1984 several revival teams ministered to churches in Monterrey, Mexico.

In 1988, the WBA celebrated the largest World Missions Conference in its colorful history. More than sixty missionaries, representing foreign, home, state, and associational missions, spoke in the participating churches. This year, in cooperation with the Baptist General Convention of Texas and the Southern Baptist Convention, the WBA celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Woman’s Missionary Union. The WBA implemented PROBE, a means to discover pockets of need in order to start new churches, in 1989. In 1991, the 84 churches of the WBA hosted the Baptist General Convention of Texas, with a record registration of more than 11,000 messengers!  The year 1993 the WBA celebrated Debt-Free in ’93”, for the first time in many years, attaining a debt-free status.  In the 1990′s the Association was engaged in mission trips to the states of Washington, Idaho, and Minnesota, primarily conducting revivals and Sunday School growth campaigns.   A major focus in the 90′s was starting new work again, reflecting the emphases from several Strategy Planning meetings. The results are more than obvious: in 1982, there were 72 churches, with a total of 48,717 Southern Baptists; wherein, August 1996, the number grew to 101 churches and 56,605 members. These congregations now included a great deal of ethnic diversity, such as Chinese, Hispanic, Korean, and Vietnamese. In addition, the WBA had sixteen African American congregations, as well as many Anglo Churches.  The Association, 1997, helped to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the arrival of the W.B. Bagby’s to Brazil. Dr. Stripling represented the Waco Baptist Association, in Brazil where the Bagby’s had resided.  Through the 90s the WBA continued to start new churches, reaching a total membership of 107 congregations.

The year 2000 was highlighted by the Task Force Assignments: Ministry to Hispanics, Helping Churches with Positive Change, Ministry To “At-Risk” Persons, Prayer Ministry In Every Church, and Family Ministry. The Jesus Video project was also a highlight of this year’s associational activities.  In 2000 the Waco Baptist Association Mission Statement was adopted:

The mission of the Waco Baptist Association is to encourage cooperation and doctrinal integrity among churches by assisting them in ministering to people and carrying out the Great Commission.

The WBA sponsored Experiencing God conferences in Minnesota, which included a total of at least 8 mission trips to this state.  In 2002, the Waco Baptist Association was given the Orvel And Lois B. Edington Earle Missionary Home to accommodate furloughing missionary families. By 2002 the Association exceeded 123 churches. Churches baptized 1169 people this year. The Association hosted the Baptist General Convention of Texas, 2002, as well as sponsoring “Wake Up Waco! (also called Crossover Waco). Though the attendance did not match the 11,000 attendance Waco, BGCT in 1991—this Convention was most successful!

Dr. Stripling retired June, 2003, after serving nearly 22 years as Director of the Association. May of this year was highlighted when many ministers made a most successful mission trip to the Boston area. By June, 2003, the Association included 125 churches. Thirty-six of these were African-American. Other churches included Hispanic, Native American, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, and Anglo congregations. Ministries in the Association, included, the “Crisis Center,” Heathcare Equipment loans, and Jail Ministry.

Dr. David Hardage came as Executive Director in February, 2004. Structure for the Network changed from a committee approach to ministry teams. The name of the Association was changed to Waco Regional Baptist Network. The associational building at 1516 S. New Road was sold with the anticipation of later purchasing another building for the Network. Temporary offices for the WRBN were located in the Grace Temple Baptist Church.  Starting new churches continued to be an active part of the Network’s efforts.  By 2008, there were 143 congregations in the Network. Along with the continuing active of the existing ministries an additional ministry is the Waco Immigrant Service, which is embodied in the Ruth Project. The purpose of this service is to provide compassionate legal and professional social assistance to our immigrant community.  The Network also enjoys a unique relationship with the Christian Women’s Job Corp of McLennan County, organized in 2004. During, 2007, the Network developed a partnership with Romania following a trip by Dr. Hardage and Dr. Earl Murphy.

Dr. Hardage resigned, December, 2007. January, 2008 Dr. Stripling was asked to return as the Interim Executive Director and in January 2009 Tim Randolph was hired as the new Director for WRBN.   The more traditional name of the Waco Regional Baptist Association was reestablished and efforts to support our existing congregations have been ramped up to include coaching classes, leadership development opportunities, and the establishment of church starting polices to insure that this remains an important part of the work of the Association.

 There are many challenges and opportunities before us —- let us reach out with the spiritual stamina of the Apostle Paul who said, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!” (Philippians 4:13)