It was an unforgettable trip.
Associate editor Rodney Clapp was on his way to the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention. His assignment: the third article in this issue’s SBC emphasis—” America’s Southern Baptists: Where They Are Going.”
Arriving in San Antonio, Texas, Rodney went immediately to the convention floor to pick up a meeting schedule, review the speaker roster for possible interviews, and, generally speaking, to get the “lay of the land.” After spending the better part of an afternoon there, he left, portable computer in hand, for a well-deserved (and desired) rest at his hotel “just outside of town.”
Just 116 miles outside of town, that is. A travel mixup put Rodney in the border town of Del Rio—or, more accurately, put his luggage in Del Rio. (He had had the airline send his bags on to his “local” hotel.)
The presence of 30,000 Southern Baptists meant “all rooms” were booked. That, and the absence of fresh clothes, meant the two-plus hour trek across southwestern Texas was inevitable. So away he went.
“A 232-mile commute isn’t easy!” So as the week progressed, Rodney was eventually able to rent his way back to San Antonio. First finding “the last vacant room in the area” (and for good reason), about a half-hour from the city, then finding a hotel room in San Antonio itself.
Somehow, some way, in all of his travels, Rodney was still able to carry out his interviews (even if his tape recorder did break down) and write a first draft of the article that begins on page 26.
HAROLD B. SMITH, Managing Editor
Assisting in cover illustrations were photographer Jim Wright and the SBC Home Missions Board.
