Recognizing Green Acres Baptist Church on the occasion of its 70th anniversary.

89(R) SR 637 - Enrolled version - Bill Text

SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 637

WHEREAS, For seven decades, families have come together to

celebrate their faith at Green Acres Baptist Church in Tyler; and

WHEREAS, Established on May 1, 1955, with nearly 300

charter members, Green Acres Baptist Church has since played a

vital role in the community, providing area residents with myriad

opportunities for spiritual growth, fellowship, and community

outreach; its ministries serve numerous groups, among them young

and senior adults, couples, singles, married adults, women, men,

people with disabilities, and people in recovery; it also offers

a preschool ministry and a ministry for children with

disabilities, staffed by adults experienced in the field; in

addition, its multifaceted GraceWorks ministry incorporates

counseling; and

WHEREAS, Green Acres Baptist has benefited from the able

leadership of a number of notable pastors, beginning with Pastor

Cecil Johnson, who was succeeded in 1962 by Pastor Lester

Collins; Pastor Paul Powell guided the church for 17 years

beginning in 1972, and David Dykes became senior pastor in 1991;

since 2021, Dr. Michael Gossett has served as lead pastor; the

current leadership further includes Todd Haymans, executive

pastor of ministries, Dr. John Roach, missions pastor, Eddy

Espinosa, business and operations administrator, and Hixon

Frank, associate pastor; and

WHEREAS, Affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention, the

church has grown through the years to encompass two campuses, in

Tyler and in Flint; its membership exceeds 18,000, and its services

garner an average weekend attendance of approximately 4,000; Sunday

services in Tyler feature the Worship Choir, and the Highest Praise

Choir, for adults age 55 and older, also performs nationally and at

local nursing, retirement, and assisted living facilities;

moreover, adult musicians in the orchestra provide music for both

worship services and special events; the church also offers

recreational opportunities at its Family Life Center, Retreat

Center, and Green Acres Sports Complex; and

WHEREAS, Members of the church are dedicated to sharing their

faith in missions at home and abroad; recently, congregants traveled

to Kenya, and they plan to take many other missions in 2025 to places

ranging from Bucksport, Maine, to Colombia; the church maintains a

host of local outreach partnerships as well with such organizations

as Bethesda Health Clinic, Breckenridge Village, Celebrate

Recovery, Christian Women's Job Corps, Hope Haven of East Texas,

Mentoring Alliance, Refuge of Light, The Fostering Collective, and

Triumph Village, Tyler; connect groups and volunteers from the

church serve schools in the Tyler Independent School District and

have collaborated with Churches Serving Schools, a community-wide

group of churches; moreover, the congregation participates in

disaster relief and prison ministry; and

WHEREAS, Green Acres Baptist Church has long served as a

source of inspiration and spiritual enrichment to those who

worship there, and its continued existence is a tribute to the

unwavering commitment of its members, both past and present; now,

therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That the Senate of the State of Texas, 89th

Legislature, hereby commemorate the 70th anniversary of Green

Acres Baptist Church and extend to the congregation sincere best

wishes for many more years of shared prayer and fellowship; and,

be it further

RESOLVED, That an official copy of this Resolution be

prepared for the church as an expression of high regard from the

Texas Senate.

Hughes

________________________________

President of the Senate

I hereby certify that the

above Resolution was adopted by

the Senate on May 31, 2025.

________________________________

Secretary of the Senate

________________________________

Member, Texas Senate