Messengers Formalize St. Louis Partnership, Revise Foundation’s Articles of Incorporation
11/15/2011
FLORENCE – During the first session of the 174th Annual Meeting of the Kentucky Baptist Convention, messengers passed a $23.5 million budget, welcomed several new churches, revised the Kentucky Baptist Foundation’s articles of incorporation, and were challenged to do and to be "More for Christ."
Paul Chitwood made his first report to the convention as its executive director, a three-to-five-year ministry partnership with Baptists in St. Louis was formalized, and KBC President Floyd Paris addressed messengers, church members and guests.
During the KBC Mission Board report, Chitwood and Paris touched on the urgency to share the gospel with the world, and encouraged Kentucky Baptists to get involved in the three-year spiritual emphasis, More for Christ, which launched this year.
Click here to watch the message.
"Our mission field is growing," Chitwood said, noting that Kentucky’s population has grown from 3.2 million to 4.2 million in the last 40 years.
Dr. Paul Chitwood, KBC Executive Director.
"Our mission field is becoming much more diverse," he continued. "Taken as a whole, the non-white population in Kentucky has grown 250 percent" in that same time period.
Research indicates that nearly three million Kentuckians "are lost and destined for hell," Chitwood said. "These are our co-workers, our neighbors, our friends."
With the adoption last year of the Kentucky Great Commission Task Force recommendations, Kentucky Baptists are poised to contribute enough funds to the International Mission Board in the next year to place 22 missionaries overseas.
Chitwood said Kentucky Baptists’ support of the North American Mission Board and Southern Baptists’ six seminaries also will increase.
Despite those positives, Chitwood noted that Kentucky Baptists’ gifts through the Cooperative Program have decreased, which "is about to have a dramatic impact on the ministry of the KBC."
Over the last 20 years, Chitwood said, the percentage of undesignated gifts from Kentucky Baptist churches contributed through the Cooperative Program has decreased from 11 percent to 6 percent. Those undesignated receipts assist KBC agencies and institutions, such as Baptist colleges, and fund much of the work of the KBC Mission Board.
"The time has come for Kentucky Baptists to make hard decisions," Chitwood said, noting that if CP gifts do not increase, "we cannot continue to fund (all of the current) ministries and programs through the mission board."
As Kentucky Baptist leaders, pastors and individual church members strive to answer the question, "What matters most," Chitwood had three requests of Kentucky Baptists:
"Pray with me. Ask God to clearly reveal His vision for the convention. We desperately need His vision."
The second request was to "reacquaint yourselves and your churches with the ministries of the Cooperative Program." Chitwood said even among missionaries, seminarians and life-long Baptists there is a lack of understanding about the CP and what it funds.
His third request was to "take advantage of those ministries you are funding."
Chitwood mentioned an array of services available through the KBC and its affiliated agencies and institutions such as stewardship education, deacon training, leadership development for youth and children’s ministers, Crossings camps, Baptist Collegiate Ministries and many others.
KBC staff "have years of experience and stay on the cutting edge," he said.
In presenting the proposed 2012-2013 budget, Paris echoed some of Chitwood’s concerns about the decline in CP giving.
Noting that the budget goal of $23.5 million is the same amount passed at last year’s annual meeting, Paris said, "There is no budget increase because we didn’t give what we said we were going to give last year.
"When we vote on this budget, we need to step up. We were over a million (dollars) short (of last year’s goal)," Paris said.
As KBC president, Paris helped develop ideas to increase CP giving by involving adults, youth and children in every church.
He has challenged adults to give $3 more every week to their church, which in turn, will result in more dollars for CP missions.
Children Changing the World challenges boys and girls to collect pocket change and to set aside vacation Bible school offerings to the Cooperative Program.
Million More for Missions is a way to mobilize youth to support missions. Paris said if half of KBC’s church youth ministries raised $833.33, an additional $1 million would be available for missions.
For information on these efforts, visit www.moreforchrist.com.
St. Louis Partnership Agreement Signed
Jim Breeden, executive director of St. Louis Metro Baptist Association, thanked Kentucky Baptists for the new partnership.
"We commit to you (that) we will make your visits a good missions experience," Breeden said.
Dr. Floyd Paris, KBC president; Jim Breeden, executive director of the St. Louis Metro Baptist Association; and Dr. Paul Chitwood, KBC executive director, sign a partnership agreement.
In presenting the partnership agreement, Chitwood noted that 1.3 million people in the St. Louis area do not claim any religious affiliation.
The KBC Partnership Missions Department and St. Louis Metro Baptist Association already have a list of missions opportunities available. Find out more by e-mailing partnership@kybaptist.org.
In his address to the convention, Paris, pastor of Unity Baptist Church in Ashland, said "sometimes we forget that each of us needs to be involved in More for Christ."
Click here to listen to the sermon. | Click here to watch the message.
Although giving is part of doing more for Christ, Paris said believers can also go the extra mile through prayer, service and by seeking God anew through repentance.
Paris challenged pastors to take the lead in the More for Christ challenge and to make a new commitment to cooperative ministries.
"I don’t care how big your church is, you cannot win this world alone," he said.
Dr. Floyd Paris, KBC president, delivers his address.
Referencing the D-Day invasion of France, Paris said it was necessary for Kentucky Baptists "to get off the beach" and to move forward in order to pursue the Great Commission.
"There are only two types of churches in Kentucky," he said. "Those that are going to stay on the beach because they are dead and dying, or those that are going to go forward and win this world for Christ."
Foundation’s Articles Revised, New Churches Welcomed
The Kentucky Baptist Foundation asked messengers to approve a change in the foundation’s articles of incorporation to permit non-Kentucky residents to serve on that board. Membership in a Kentucky Baptist church for at least one year would remain a qualification.
Barry Allen, Kentucky Baptist Foundation president, noted that the change would bring the foundation’s articles in line with the KBC constitution, which allows Kentucky Baptists with home addresses in other states to serve on committees and boards.
Charles Barnes, a member of the foundation board and a messenger from Hurstbourne Baptist Church, made the motion which was passed.
Upon recommendation from the committee on credentials, messengers welcomed five churches to the convention; three other congregations were accepted under watchcare.
The newly affiliated churches are Crossroads Community Baptist Church in Whitley City, Bowling Green First Korean Baptist Church, Christ Community Church in Shelbyville, Twin Lakes Worship Center in Smithland and Valley Chapel Baptist Church in Edmonton.
Churches under watchcare usually are just beginning their acquaintance with the mission and ministries of the KBC. Congregations accepted under watchcare this year were Connections Church in Radcliff, His Way Ministries in Nortonville, and Sovereign Grace Church in Lawrenceburg.
Messengers also accepted the committee’s recommendation that Purchase Area Baptist Association be accepted for affiliation and be granted representation on the KBC Mission Board when the association reaches the minimum number of 15 churches. The move would be contingent upon no other issues arising that would call into question the association’s affiliation.
In other business:
The 467 registered messengers passed a resolution encouraging governments to place restrictions on short-term, high-interest loans. Another resolution praised the ministry of Bud Underwood as president of Oneida Baptist Institute.
Changes to the KBC Constitution & Bylaws were ratified, and messengers re-elected Wilma Simmons and Pat Reaves as KBC’s secretary and assistant secretary respectively. Simmons, a member of Big Spring Baptist Church in Vine Grove, has served in that role for 20 years.
Additionally, messengers approved recommendations from the Committee on the Annual Meeting. This was the first year of work for the panel, which was created when the committee on arrangements and the committee on order of business were combined.
The 2014 annual meeting will be held Nov. 11 at Living Hope Baptist Church in Bowling Green.
Next year’s annual meeting will be held at Immanuel Baptist Church in Lexington. Jason Pettus, pastor of Living Hope Baptist Church in Bowling Green, will preach the annual meeting sermon. Greg Faulls, pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church in Owensboro is the alternate.
The 2013 annual meeting will be held Nov. 12 at Lone Oak First Baptist Church in Paducah.
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.
by Dannah Prather, KBC Communications
