Like tens of thousands of my fellow Arkansans, I grew up in a Southern Baptist church. My maternal grandparents were members of the First Baptist Church of Des Arc. My paternal grandparents were members of the First Baptist Church of Benton. I followed in the footsteps of my mother, father and sister when I graduated from Ouachita Baptist University. We attended the First Baptist Church of Arkadelphia.
If you were raised Baptist, you knew about the work of the Woman's Missionary Union, commonly referred to as WMU. In 1888, several women dedicated to the cause of Baptist mission work founded WMU. It would go on to become the largest Protestant organization for women with a membership of almost 1 million. Southern Baptists are familiar with the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions and the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering for North American Missions. I was expected to contribute to both fundraising campaigns as a boy. I once gave a humorous talk at Calvary Baptist Church in Little Rock titled "I'm So Baptist That ..." One of my lines was this: "I'm so Baptist that I thought Lottie Moon and Annie Armstrong were great-aunts."
The Christmas offering began in 1888 and was named for Moon in 1918. The Easter offering began in 1895 and was named for Armstrong in 1934.
Now, a couple I know has hit the road for WMU. In July, Trennis Henderson resigned his job as vice president for communications at Ouachita and joined his wife Pam on the road in order to share stories about WMU's mission work. They sold their home at Arkadelphia. Home these days is a 24-foot-long Winnebago recreational vehicle.
"Pam and I had been exploring new career and ministry options the past couple of years," Trennis says. "About a year and a half ago, as we were discussing possibilities, Pam asked me the simple but profound question: 'What would you be doing if you could do anything you wanted?' My response was: 'I'd love to get back to the basics--researching and telling meaningful stories that make an impact.' We discussed partnering with WMU, buying a small RV and traveling across the nation for the next few years to produce news and feature content aimed at engaging younger generations' interest in missions and ministry.
"After serving more than 35 years in the fields of Christian journalism and communications, I have about five or six more years of active ministry service to go. I wanted to invest my time and skills in fresh ways to tell compelling stories. ... Since we never know what tomorrow may hold, we wanted to take full advantage of this opportunity while we have the health and ability to do so."
Pam spent 14 years as a preschool director. After retiring from that work in 2016, she says she "wondered for a while what career path God would have for me and was pleased how the details have worked out for us to enter into this crazy transition of working together. ... As we've listened to faith journeys along the way, I'm convinced these stories need to be shared. The ministries are out there doing fantastic work. We're pleased to help get the word out so more people can benefit from their efforts."
The Hendersons are known as the WMU national correspondent team. Trennis writes while Pam plans the itineraries and takes photos. When Trennis was a child in southeast Missouri, his mother was an area WMU director. He said he has considered himself an "honorary WMU member" since he began attending meetings with his mother when he was 5 years old. The Hendersons will produce articles, blogs, social media and videos.
I got to know Trennis when he was the editor of the Arkansas Baptist News, previously the Arkansas Baptist Newsmagazine. That publication was a staple in the homes of my grandparents and in my own home when I was growing up. The Arkansas Baptist was established in 1858 with publication suspended during the Civil War. A second newspaper with the same name lasted only 10 weeks in 1868. Another Arkansas Baptist came along in 1879 and later changed its name to the Arkansas Baptist Banner. Yet another version of the paper was created in 1887.
The present version began in 1901 after the Arkansas Baptist State Convention renounced the Arkansas Baptist that had begun publication 14 years earlier. It was first named the Baptist Advance and changed its name to Arkansas Baptist in 1933. The word "newsmagazine" was added in 1960.
During the Great Depression, the Arkansas Baptist State Convention was almost broke. J.I. Cossey, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Searcy, volunteered to keep the newspaper going and accepted chickens and produce in exchange for subscriptions. The best-known editor of the newspaper was Erwin McDonald, who began work during the Little Rock Central High School desegregation crisis of 1957 and served until 1971. When McDonald retired, the newspaper had reached a circulation of almost 60,000. McDonald, who continued to write columns as editor emeritus, was replaced by J. Everett Sneed, who served for 20 years until his death at age 61. Trennis Henderson was editor from 1992-99.
"Our greatest challenge has been the physical transition from traditional jobs, schedules and housing," Trennis says of the current adventure. "We had to sell our house and cars, put lots of stuff in storage and downsize to a 200-square-foot house on wheels. Of course, the challenge also is part of the adventure. Our watchwords are freedom and flexibility. We can't wait to see how the journey unfolds during the coming months and years."
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Senior Editor Rex Nelson's column appears regularly in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. He's also the author of the Southern Fried blog at rexnelsonsouthernfried.com.
Editorial on 11/24/2018