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 As native Texans, my colleagues and I have been immersed in the tremendous array of Texas cultures ever since we can remember. It was this understanding of Texas that led us to create the now-legendary “Don’t Mess with Texas” campaign in the 1980s and also the tourism campaign, “Texas. It’s Like a Whole Other Country.” It is clear to me that while we all come from different regions and cultures, we are bound together because we are Texans — native or not — and we always come together when we see a common purpose.
Yet in the past years, it seemed that when it came to religion and faith, more was being reported about what divides Texans than what unites us. As a person who has spent most of my life trying in some small way to bring people together for the common good, that worried me. So I set out on a solitary road trip across Texas back in 2005 just to think about all that. I stopped at 123 churches along the way. What I experienced was not what I was hearing on the news.
I am not a pastor, but I am a person who loves God and God’s people, so I was heartened to find out that no matter what you may hear secondhand, the people of Texas are united. Not on everything. But when it comes to faith, Texans are very devoted to their own and yet share an amazing amount of common ground on higher ground with others.
That was the beginning of this idea, and within a month, we had gathered together a small group of Texans, added a Winnebago, a camera and some sound equipment and declared a mission: crisscross Texas. Talk to people of all faiths and all parts of our state and reveal the discovery. Despite differences, common ground on higher ground does exist.
The Amazing Faith of Texas is the result of that journey. I hope that in some small way, the lives and the hearts presented in this book spark a change and encourage a dialogue about what we do have in common and what we can agree upon. Things like compassion, charity, humility, forgiveness and the need to remember the Golden Rule. These truly are the things of amazing faith.
Along with five college friends, Roy Spence founded what is now known as GSD&M, one of the most successful advertising agency start-ups in the country. Today GSD&M is the consumer voice of the marketplace’s most respected brands, including Wal-Mart, Southwest Airlines, AT&T, BMW, AARP, the U.S. Air Force and MasterCard. Roy also developed Purpose-based Branding for GSD&M, a to-the-market philosophy that seeks to uncover and articulate the purpose behind great brands. His early mentors included noted entrepreneurs Sam Walton, Herb Kelleher, Norman Brinker and Red McCombs — all business legends to whom Roy ultimately became both friend and trusted adviser.
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