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Kentucky Baptists to Decide on Task Force Report, Elect New President
09/09/2010
LOUISVILLE –Kentucky Baptists will consider making major changes in how they allocate funds for missions and ministries across the commonwealth, nation and world when messengers to the 2010 annual meeting of the Kentucky Baptist Convention gather in Lexington on Nov. 16.
"Connecting Generations in Christ" is the theme of event held at Immanuel Baptist Church. Based on Psalm 145:4, the theme will help Kentucky Baptists focus on the importance of reaching people of all age groups with the Good News of Jesus Christ.
Messengers also will elect a new president in the first contested election since 2006, vote on constitution and bylaw changes proposed at last year’s meeting and hear reports on all aspects of Kentucky Baptist work.
KBC President Don Mathis
KBC President Don Mathis, staff evangelist at Eastwood Baptist Church in Bowling Green, will deliver the president’s address on Tuesday morning. Dan Summerlin, pastor of Lone Oak First Baptist Church in Paducah, will preach the annual convention sermon on Tuesday afternoon.
Caz McCaslin, president and founder of Upward, will speak to messengers on Tuesday evening. Upward helps churches use sports recreation programs in basketball, soccer, flag football and cheerleading to reach children and families for Christ.
Other business of the 173rd annual meeting will include setting a new budget goal for the Cooperative Program and the presentation of the annual Distinguished CP Leadership Award.
Music is expected to be a highlight of the meeting with No Other Name, a contemporary Christian music trio from Nashville with a distinctive missions emphasis, leading worship times throughout the meeting. Messengers will also hear from the University of the Cumberlands Chorale, the Kentucky Baptist Convention’s Men’s and Women’s chorales and soloist Bo Warren.
A special Eastwood and President’s Choir will feature singers from Eastwood Baptist Church and other congregations served by the KBC president.
The Kentucky Great Commission Task Force report is scheduled to be presented at 10:05 a.m. on Tuesday by the panel’s chairman, Hershael York, pastor of Buck Run Baptist Church in Frankfort. The task force was appointed at last year’s meeting and asked to study "how Kentucky Baptists can work more faithfully and effectively together in serving Christ through the Great Commission."
The task force released its report in August with four recommendations. If approved, Kentucky Baptists will move to an even distribution of Cooperative Program receipts with the Southern Baptist Convention and set an ambitious goal of increasing missions giving.
The report’s first recommendation is for the convention to launch a three-year spiritual emphasis to be called "More for Christ."
The report also recommends changing the Cooperative Program allocations between KBC and Southern Baptist Convention causes to an even 50 percent-50 percent split by 2017 with the bulk of the shift occurring in 2011. Currently, 62 percent of CP receipts are shared by various KBC organizations and 38 percent is forwarded to the SBC.
The percentage split would be calculated after 4 percent in shared administrative expenses between the KBC and SBC is removed from the total. Shared expenses are those expenditures made by the state convention on behalf of the SBC.
Additionally, the report calls for increased giving by churches and individuals to the Cooperative Program to achieve an overall increase in receipts of 3 percent per year for the next seven years. Achieving this goal would require churches on average to increase the percentage of undesignated giving that they contribute through the Cooperative Program by approximately .25 percent for each of the next seven years.
The final recommendation allows the task force to stay in place for the duration of the seven-year plan in order to monitor progress and report annually to Kentucky Baptists.
Convention messengers will hear at 9 a.m. on Tuesday morning a report from the Constitution and Bylaws Committee. The committee will bring two recommendations that would reduce the size of the Mission Board, the representative body that acts on behalf of the Convention between annual meetings, from 170 members to approximately 120 over several years.
KBC Executive Director Bill Mackey will address the convention Tuesday morning. Mackey is expected to highlight Kentucky Baptists’ success through the "Find it Here" evangelistic emphasis to share a gospel message with more than 1.3 million Kentucky households this year. He also will encourage participation in the 2011 Find it Here follow-up in which Kentucky Baptists will distribute scripture portions in prisons, nursing homes, assisted living facilities and college campuses. Participating Kentucky Baptists also will pray and fast for three friends who do not know Christ and take them a copy of the scripture portion.
Floyd Paris
Convention officers will be elected during the Tuesday morning and afternoon sessions. The president’s election is slated for 2:40 p.m. with the election of first vice president occurring at 4:05 p.m. and second vice president at 4:45 p.m. The Convention secretary and assistant secretary will be elected at 9:15 a.m.
Announced candidates for president are Butch Tanner, pastor of Red House Baptist Church in Richmond, and Floyd Paris, pastor of Unity Baptist Church in Ashland. Paris will be nominated by Paul Badgett, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Pikeville. Tanner will be nominated by Butch Pennington, pastor of Kirksville Baptist Church in Richmond.
Butch Tanner
Jim Clontz, director of missions for South District Association, is the only other announced candidate. Clontz is expected to be nominated for second vice president by Choe Sergent, a pastoral intern at First Baptist Church of Junction City.
The Kentucky Baptist Pastors’ Conference precedes the annual meeting in the same location on Nov. 15. Sessions are scheduled for Monday afternoon and evening.
The afternoon session features sermons by Adam Dooley, pastor of Red Bank Baptist Church in Chattanooga, Tenn., and Frank Page, newly-elected president of the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention.
The evening session features sermons from Daniel Akin, president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C.; Johnny Hunt, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Woodstock, Ga. and immediate past president of the SBC; and Alistair Begg, pastor of Parkside Church near Cleveland, Ohio.
The Kentucky Baptist Convention is a cooperative missions and ministry organization made up of nearly 2.400 autonomous Baptist churches in Kentucky. A variety of state and worldwide ministries are coordinated through its administrative offices in Louisville, including: missions work, disaster relief, ministry training and support, church development, evangelism and more. For more, find us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.
Release prepared by Robert Reeves, KBC director of communications
