A Conversation with Charles Wade
Pastor, First Baptist Church, Arlington, Texas

Dr. Charles Wade is Pastor of the First Baptist Church of Arlington, Texas where he has served for 19 years. As the pastor of a big church with a big staff in a big city in the heart of the big metropolitan area of Dallas and Fort Worth, Dr. Wade consistently finds time to deal with the Christian social concerns and to do the Christian social action which Christian Ethics Today seeks to support. His acceptance of the invitation to be interviewed for this issue is particularly appreciated because the pastor’s voice and the pastor’s actions are the most important single element in furthering the cause of Christian ethics. Dr. Wade is a graduate of Oklahoma Baptist University and of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary where he graduated with a Doctor of Theology degree having written a doctoral dissertation related to Black theologians who were involved in social concerns and Christian social action. In the middle 1980s he served two terms as Chairman of the Christian Life Commission. For years he has been active in Baptist life on many fronts.

Q. Where did you get your social conscience?
A. From the Bible. The passage that really spoke to me as a young man was Luke 4:14-30. Jesus had returned to Nazareth, early in his ministry, and was invited to speak to his home town crowd. Out of all the passages he could have read and spoken to, he chose Isaiah 6 1:1-2, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” That message created controversy in his home town. They did not want to hear that the gospel was for everyone. The example of Jesus is the key to every Christian’s priorities.

Earlier, as a child, I had learned “red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in his sight, Jesus loves the little children of the world.” In Vacation Bible School, we had pledged, “...with liberty and justice for all.” The mission sermons called for compassion and involvement in the lives of people no matter their race, language, or nation. My parents taught that it was wrong to use racial epithets and never did.

Of course, there were other social issues besides race. Gambling, alcohol, sexual immorality, theft and lying, violence, and drugs (the only drug we knew anything about where I lived was nicotine). The basic rule was: “You’re a Christian, son, so you need to act like one.” Another way of sorting out things in my mind, was to ask, “What would Jesus do?”

Q. Since evangelism and social involvement are often said by evangelism partisans to be mutually exclusive, will you tell us what your experience has been at FBC, Arlington?
A. We have been committed to doing both. Years ago, when I went to be the pastor of FBC, Enid, Oklahoma, a reporter interviewed me for the local paper and asked what my vision for the church was and I replied that I believed the church ran on two tracks, evangelism and ethics. There had to be the gospel and there had to be the evidence of the gospel’s power, a new life. It is important for Christians that we both believe and behave. We are about being and doing.

Through the 19 years we have been in Arlington our church has baptized 125 to 175 people every year. We always want to reach more people for Christ and we pray that this year we will baptize almost 200 people. As we reach out to our city with ministries of food, clothing, medical care, shelter, utilities assistance, furniture for apartments, a Christmas store where parents can “shop” for presents for their children, and help with school supplies at the beginning of school, we know that the best gift we have to give is not any of those things. It is Jesus. Our members staff the 180 Bible study groups which form small congregations all across our town. They visit the people who receive help from our benevolence funds and are often able to enlist them in an ongoing Bible study group in the apartment, mobile home park, or neighborhood where they live. Currently we will have 2800 to 3000 people every Sunday in these “off campus” Bible studies.

I do not believe evangelism and social concerns can be separated in an authentic Christian environment. If Jesus Christ changes your life, then you have to be about the task of helping the people in your community know Christ and become more like him. That can mean many things. Reminding people to register and vote. Encouraging members to enter the political arena with a concern for all the people. Speaking up on issues that impact the lives of people—alcohol and drugs, peace and justice, halfway houses in the community for prisoners and handicapped citizens, the importance of public schools, dealing with abortion issues in a way that demonstrates compassionate concern for the welfare of both the fetus and the mother, the rise of a gambling culture, sexual immorality and violence, marriage and family concerns, guarding the religious liberty of all the people in the community, and racism.

Now, it is crucial for the pastor and the church that none of those issues becomes more important than the clear proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ which announces the good news of God’s grace and calls for repentance and faith. When the gospel is clearly and honestly preached and lived, every social issue of importance will receive biblical input and the light of God’s wisdom will shine in that darkness.

Q. What social involvement in Arlington has been most helpful to your church?
A. Clearly, our ministry to people through our Mission Arlington outreach. One day a city councilman, a good Methodist layman and physician, said to me, “Charles, the work your church is doing in Mission Arlington has done more to help the citizens of our city change their attitude about helping the poor than anything anybody else has been able to do. Thank you.” We have Bible studies in the five areas that the Arlington police say are the five highest crime centers in town. They say we are making a difference. One day a detective came to Tillie Burgin, Minister of Missions for FBC and director of Mission Arlington, and asked if we could help with a growing prostitution problem in town. “These women have children and no one is helping them to care for their children and find a better way,” he said. Later, the same day, one of our most cultured women came by the Mission office and told Tillie, “I believe God wants me to have a ministry with women. Have you a job for me?” Tillie said, “I believe I do!” Now, we have a Wednesday noon Bible study with lunch prepared by a rotating group of our Sunday school classes. Childcare is provided as these women begin to find jobs and begin a new life. It’s slow work and change takes a long time. But God is creating a new community in the midst of the old. And it is making a big difference in the way our Sunday school members see their world and care about people they would have never known otherwise.

Q. What social involvement has been most rewarding to you personally?
A. Well, it’s obviously hard to beat what we’ve been talking about. But two or three things come to mind. Several years ago, the school superintendent in Arlington decided to recommend to the school board that they assess a special tuition for the children of foreign families who were here on temporary or student visas. It was an attempt, I felt, to placate the critics of rising school taxes by showing that he was going to be tough on people who were “getting a free ride.” I prepared a statement to read to the school board after I could not get a favorable response from the superintendent. I made the point that these folks all lived in rental property on which school taxes were already assessed and therefore paid through their rent their share of the school tax. I suggested that this was mean-spirited, failed to value the contribution that these students made to the cultural education of our students, and forgot the wisdom of the admonition of Christ to be welcoming to the stranger. One of the reasons I felt strongly about this matter is because for 25 years our women have sponsored an International Friends day each Wednesday of the school year. I have known many of these women and their families and they know our church cares about the international community in our city. I really felt I needed to take their part. After I spoke to the school board, the president of the board said to me in front of the audience, “I have had three calls today from members of your church saying they did not agree with what you would be saying here tonight.” I replied, “Perhaps you did not understand what I said. I did not say this was what my church asked me to come and say. I have spoken my own convictions. We don’t vote down at the church to see what I think.” They went ahead and voted to charge the extra tuition, although it was later overturned by the state. Though I lost the vote with the board, I was able to maintain our credibility with the international families.

Another happy moment for me was working with the Ministerial Association in Arlington to create a Minister-at-Large program. We had needed a hospital chaplain in the large municipal hospital for many years. But there was no interest from the hospital administration and no money. Working in cooperation with the pastors, we were able to put together a way to raise enough money to sponsor one of our local pastors who had a real gift for hospital and grief ministry. Now, we have two chaplains who work in the two hospitals to minister to all who need them.

One other event I could mention was a joint sponsorship with the Cornerstone Baptist Church, an African-American congregation in Arlington, of the Heritage and Hope Conference this past winter. FBC provided our facilities for the evening sessions as Black and ‘~C’hite speakers from across the country came to speak on issues of racism, the presence of people of color in biblical history, and the negative impact upon African-Americans that ignorance of their rich heritage has caused. It was an “eyeopener” for many of our members as we joined in the Blackship experience and heard stirring sermons filled with historical material that our White experience had never thought particularly significant before. A thrill for me was to be able to present a paper drawn from my Th.D. dissertation: An Inquiry Into Black Theology: an Attempt at White Understanding. With the congregation’s help, what could have been a lecture, turned into a sermon.

Q.Are there other such involvements you would share?
A. Well, Foy, you have plenty already mentioned. The only other thing I might mention is that I served six years on the Arlington Housing Authority in which we tried to provide well-managed housing programs in the area of rent assistance, rehabilitation of old and dilapidated dwellings, and neighborhood development. Our organization won some awards for its work.

Q. Why do you make time for social action?
A. I say to my church, “I want Matthew 25:40 to be as familiar to us as John 3:16.” I really believe Jesus was serious in his vision of the judgment when he said we will stand before the King and he will know whether or not we, “fed the hungry, gave water to the thirsty, invited the stranger in, clothed the naked, visited the sick and those in prison.” James said it well, “Be doers of the word, and not hearers only” (James 1:22).

If you are a Christian who really believes the Bible and takes the words of Jesus seriously, how can you not make time for social action?

Q. Why did you and your wife, Rosemary, send your children to public schools?
A. We believe children do best when they learn to live and thrive in an environment that reflects the way the society is put together.

I don’t presume to judge any one else in this matter. Our public schools in Arlington are considered first-rate, although there are several private school options in our city. If I had felt that our children were in severe danger from violent students, or that the teachers had no support from the administration or community and had given up trying to educate the students, then we would have been faced with a real dilemma. I hope I would have felt able to influence the community and the system in such a way that change could have been effected, but that is a hard call to make when you haven’t had to face that situation.

I do feel our children were well taught, learned good social skills in developing relationships with people who were different, and were able to bear witness to the gospel and the positive values of the Christian life and the fellowship of the church.

Q. Are you, your family, and your church now doing something to affirm and support the public school system?
A. Rosemary is a second grade teacher in the public schools. She is a wonderful teacher and friend to boys and girls. Teaching school is very hard work for anyone who really cares and is determined to make a difference in lives. She is effective in her influence with fellow teachers and with parents. I really admire the strength she has in her work with the children and adults who work with her.

Additionally, our church sponsors occasionally an appreciation luncheon for the teachers in our school. Every year on the Sunday before school starts and on the first few Wednesday evenings after school begins, I lead special prayers for the children and parents, teachers, and administrators as they begin the new year. I pray for safety as they travel to and from school, but especially I pray that the real desire for learning and teaching will not be snuffed out by boredom or frustration.

We have offered school tutoring for children who have difficulties. Right now a Ph.D. in mathematics from India, who we were able to help get a permanent visa, is heading up a tutorial program for children who need extra help.

Q. Have you and your church been involved in any systemic effort to ameliorate poverty?
A. Our primary efforts have been directed through Mission Arlington which I have already described. We believe we are helping people who have resources in this city to begin to believe that they can make a difference in the cycle of poverty. People can be motivated to help when they can get a chance to do some “hands on projects. Through the Bible studies we are able to deal with those life choices which make a difference in success or failure. People whose values have not been shaped by a biblical world view, are prime candidates for involuntary poverty. When they discover that God loves them and they are important to God and to their Bible study leaders, their self-esteem goes straight up. When they are finally able to trust God to save them, everything begins to change.. .their family structures, their job attitudes, their sense of belonging and hope.

We help the homeless by providing a day shelter where they can stay if there are no jobs that day. In the day shelter we provide a telephone and help in writing job resumes, we give training on how to dress for a job interview and how to present their case to a prospective employer.

In times of high unemployment we have provided networking groups for our members so that they could get on track for career changes.

Q. Will you please tell us about recent blows you have struck at the ugly head of racism?
A. Our hosting of the Heritage and Hope conference surprised a few people. We didn’t have to do that. But I felt we ought to encourage our fellow Baptists in their vision to make the case that the Christian gospel is not a white man’s religion as the Black Muslims have so successfully convinced many black men to believe. Our cooperation in a venture where the African-American pastor, Dr. Dwight McKissick, took the lead and the chief responsibility spoke volumes to our community.

We welcomed the Chinese and then the Korean community to use our buildings to begin their congregations several years ago. Now they both have thriving churches with their own property and facilities. There was a time when the halls of our church looked like the United Nations. Their children were in our preschool and children’s departments. It helped shape the way we understand church. Now we have a Thai congregation meeting with us.

We have a black woman who is one of the congregation’s favorite soloist in the choir and an extraordinary black deacon who contributes significantly to the wisdom of our deliberations. Sometime ago, we dedicated a baby to the Lord who was born to an interracial couple.

I am a member of an interethnic group of clergy in Tarrant County led by a black Baptist minister, which is committed to staying on top of racial issues in our county and making sure that simmering racial problems get good attention before they blow up in our faces. A good deal of mutual understanding has grown out of a crisis in our community three years ago when some white skin-heads did a driveby shooting of a young black man. We realized at that time that the white ministers did not know the black ministers and they didn’t know us. There was little ground for trust. But we came together, planned a joint worship service for the county at which 3,000 people showed up, and laid the ground work for cooperation which has changed the atmosphere for race relations in Tarrant County.

Q. How do you perform your leadership duties in the citizenship area?
A. I preach sermons on the importance of being good citizens, especially emphasizing that if we want harmony and peace in our communities, we must work for justice. I encourage prayer and respect for our leaders. I vote and I encourage our people to vote. I help our people to understand that God is neither Republican nor Democrat. And I feel confident he isn’t backing Ross Perot, either. I want them to make their decisions on broad moral issues and not on single issues that may seem urgent at the time. Obviously, I care about gambling and alcohol legislation, but it also matters to me whether the politician will work to help us have better schools in the poorest parts of our state, whether he or she is owned by some special interest group, whether or not the leader sees a responsibility to work for the good of as many people as possible.

I do not endorse candidates from the pulpit or in my newsletter. But I have, on occasion, lent my name on an endorsement list for a particular candidate. Perhaps the most important issue to me in my community is to discourage putting forth a “Christian” slate of candidates. I certainly want all Christians to be involved in the political process. But I am fearful of anything that smacks of a “Christian Party.” First, because the gospel always gets sullied in any alliance with government. Second, because it is good and right for people of good will to be involved in active participation in decision making in this country whether they are a Christian or not.

Q. How have you and your church dealt with the crime problem, especially among the young, in your community?
A. We have a group of men and women who go to the local jail every Thursday evening to befriend and witness to the prisoners. It takes a special courage for our people to go into the prison, for they go directly into the cell area and are in direct contact with the prisoners.

We have begun a special youth Sunday school department for “alternative” kids. We are reaching some young people who are in tension with the more mainstream young people. Our workers love them and understand them. They are telling their friends, “You won’t believe our church. There really is a place for us.”

Starting the Bible studies in the high crime areas of our city which I mentioned there is another key strategy we have for being there where people need us.

I have this vision: knowing that many inner city churches get scared of their communities and finally wind up going to church on Sunday primarily to check out how much damage the community has done to the church buildings during the week, I have prayed that we will know our community and that the people who live here will be our friends because we worship and work together to make our schools and families and communities better. I believe we have a chance to make that happen.

Q. How have you led your church to deal with health care concerns in your community?
A. We have a medical and dental clinic staffed with volunteers that help provide health care to scores of people each week.

I encourage support of the county hospital and its branches throughout Tarrant County.

We have provided office space and encouragement to the Outreach efforts of those dealing with HIV/AIDS clients. We have instituted procedures in our children’s ministry so that children with AIDS could come and everyone be cared for in a safe environment.

We helped begin and continue to support the chaplaincy program in the two major hospitals in Arlington.

Q. Could you assess your relationship to your own family?
A.  I am grateful for the love and vitality our family shares. Rosemary and I have four grown children, who are all married, and four grandsons. Our son and his wife have two sons, 7 and 3. Mark and Pam are graduates of Baylor, she sings in the choir, he is a deacon and they both work in the college ministry of our church. Our three daughters are graduates of Baylor and have married fine men. Roshell and Rick Risenhoover live in Portland, Oregon, with their 2-year-old son and are active in a church there. Karee and Richard Kelly are active in the young adult Sunday school ministry of our church with their 10-month-old baby boy. Mary Robin and George Gaston were married this summer and live in St. Louis where he is finishing graduate school at Washington University.

We believe in family traditions: family vacations, skiing, fishing, boating; family games and vigorous competition; holiday gatherings, especially at Christmas, Thanksgiving, and all birthdays.

The Wednesday afternoon our youngest daughter and her husband moved their things out of our house as they moved to St. Louis, I went to the church for Prayer Meeting and told them this: “I must thank you for being the kind of church you have been for our family. Rosemary and I love you for loving our children and letting them be who they are. They have felt free and blessed in this congregation. As our last child moves out of our home, I can tell you that one of our greatest joys is that every one of our children love this church and they love the Lord. You have helped to make that possible because you have loved them and their friends, and you have been good to their daddy. When I came here almost 20 years ago, my first sermon was on Mother’s day and I preached on “The Joy of Family Life.” In that message, I said to you that you had had many fine pastors before me and there would be others who would follow me, but my wife had but one husband and my children only one father and I wanted to keep it that way. So I told you I would be the best pastor I could be with your help and God’s, but I believed God expected me and I expected myself to be a faithful and loving husband and father. Thank you for helping Rosemary and me have a good family.”

Q. Honesty truth, loyalty, responsibility: What are you doing to lead your church, with its 7,000 members and its 5,000 in Sunday school, to practice these virtues?
A.We value the truth in all our relationships in this church. We don’t hide things. Our deacons are called the Deacon Council, which means that part of their service to their church is to offer good counsel to the pastor, staff, and committees. They don’t have the power to block committee recommendations, but their wisdom and counsel are valued by the committees.

I teach a leadership course in which I share what I believe are the four key attributes that a pastor, or any leader, must have if she or he expects to be effective over a long period of time. I call them the VIPS. You must have Vision. What is about to happen or needs to happen has got to matter more to you than what has happened. You must have Integrity. People will not follow someone they cannot trust. You must protect your credibility by being credible, their trust by being trustworthy. My dad said, “Son, keep you your hands off the money and off the women, and you can be effective as a pastor.” You must have Passion. Your love for people and for your ministry to people has got to bereal and lively. People want to know if you really care for them. And they can tell if you preach because it’s 11:00 am, on Sunday or because a fire burns within your heart. Finally, you must have Support. Primarily, I mean you must have a staff that is loyal, shares the vision, and works hard. You must also earn and hold the support of your people and you do that by doing the first three things.

If you respect people they will be more likely to respect you. I have tried to show appreciation for the pastors who have gone before me. Dr. H.E. East was the pastor of our church for 25 years. He still serves as an active pastor emeritus, helping me with pastoral ministry. Our relationship has been one of mutual respect and appreciation. I hope we have been able to model for our church what Christian service and ministry are really all about.

Q. Does your social action diminish or enhance your effectiveness as a pastor?
A.  As long as you tell the truth, don’t play favorites, don’t ride a favorite hobby horse, keep balance in your preaching, love the people, show up when they really need you, any stand you take that has the mark of biblical righteousness and justice about it will be heard and sometimes supported. Most real Christians want their pastor to take a stand on issues that matter to him. Even if they don’t fully understand your passion or agree with you if they do understand, they respect a pastor who has the courage to speak and act.

Q. Has your church been hurt from some of your social concerns that have issued in actions?
A.  I don’t think so. But some of our people might disagree with that assessment.

In fact, I think the most pivotal moment in the life of our church happened in a deacon’s meeting where we received a report from a committee of women I had asked to study whether or not there was really a need for a Woman’s Shelter for abused women and their children. After the report was made, the discussion centered on the liability we might incur, the wrath of some husbands who might burn down the church or shoot the pastor! Finally, a deacon stood and said, “We’ve got smart deacons in this crowd and we can figure out how to handle the insurance and the other concerns, but I’ve been thinking about this and asking myself what Jesus would do if he were here. And I’ve come to the conclusion that if he were here, he would care about those women and their children. I move we do it.” That ended the discussion. We voted to move forward. That was 15 years ago and I believe that it has been the basis upon which our church has found the courage to move forward at critical points along the way. We treasure this verse: “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5). We try to ask ourselves what would Jesus’ attitude be about this matter and then we try to let that shape our decisions.

Some people felt our decision to ordain women would hurt us. But I really believe it has helped us. We came to the conclusion after a lot of biblical, theological, and historical study that if Cenchrea could have a woman deacon, Phoebe, why couldn’t we? Romans 16:1-2. The bottom line for us became this: The world is too lost and the needs are too great for us to spend a lot of time telling people what they can’t do. We don’t need to tie one hand behind our back when we go out to do battle against the Evil One. We want to encourage and affirm everyone whom God has gifted and called so they can be as effective as possible.

Q. Since controversy attends social action as bees attend honey, how have you handled such controversy?
A. I haven’t noticed much controversy, to tell the truth. Perhaps that’s because we haven’t really done all that much that was controversial. But when I have had folks disagree with me on anything, I have done my best to respect them and love them. We don’t expect everybody to agree with the pastor in order to be a good member of our church. There is room for discussion and different opinions and convictions.

A few years ago we went through a very tough time in our fellowship. But it had nothing to do with any social action issues. It was all about staff relationships and expectations. I was very upset because I got caught in the middle, trying to resolve some thorny personality and relationship issues. In the midst of it, I found myself praying, “Dear Lord, please, don’t let me waste this pain.” I tried to learn everything I could that would help us in the future. And I believe God answered my prayer.

Q. How have you balanced the pastoral and the prophetic dimensions of your own special Christian calling?
A. I really don’t know. Perhaps the key for me as I have worked to make a difference in people’s lives is that I am not an angry person. I really do love people and I love to pastor them and their families. If something seems right to do, I generally believe that other people who love the Lord will see that it is right to do if you give them some time to study and think it through.

I suspect that I am more pastoral than prophetic in my approach to preaching and pastoring. Though others may feel I am pushing pretty hard, I sense in myself a willingness to wait as long as we’re moving in the right direction. Things are not always clear to me, but when I feel something is really certain in regard to God’s expectation of us, then it really isn’t too much of a strain to stand up and say so.

Updated Thursday, December 27, 2001