Baptist Senior Ministry Award Gets Permanent Home at Baylor
Baylor University's Institute of Gerontological Studies will become the permanent home of the Horizon Award, an honor recognizing individuals for their lifelong contributions to senior adult ministry. The award is given biannually by the Christian Life Commission of the Baptist General Convention of Texas.
The award will be unveiled at 11 a.m. on Thursday, Sept. 10, in the second floor foyer of the Clifton Robinson Tower, 700 University Parks Dr. in Waco.
"It is indeed a privilege to house this prestigious award," said Dr. Ben Dickerson, director of the Institute of Gerontological Studies. "The names of the recipients on this award characterize the important values that we are eager for our students in gerontology to have in their work with the aging population. Baylor continues to be committed to enhancing the lives of older Texans and their families and working with the local church to further senior adult ministries."
Dr. Mike Lundy, associate director of the Christian Life Commission, said Baylor was chosen to be the permanent home of the Horizon Award because of the significant contributions made to Texas Baptist churches and to senior adults by the gerontological studies program. "So many people are living into the second half of the second 50 years of life that we want to encourage and see ministry to seniors increase," Lundy said. "We hope that this award will serve as an inspiration to students who might choose this educational path at Baylor."
This year's honorees are Robert S. (Bob) Cook of Jacksonville, Fla.; Aranna Martha Watson of Baytown, Texas; George Darwin Farmer of Fletcher, Okla.; and Andrew H. and Josie T. Villarreal of San Antonio.
The award was presented in March during the biannual Senior Adult Leadership Summit in Belton. The next summit and Horizon Award presentation will be in Waco in 2000.
For more information, call Dr. Dickerson or Connie Beran, special projects coordinator, at (254) 710-1164.