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

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President of the Senate

I hereby certify that the above Resolution was adopted by the Senate on May 31, 2025.

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Secretary of the Senate

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Member, Texas Senate