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‘Find it Here’ to Be Focus of KBC Annual Meeting
09/28/2009
Messengers to the 172nd annual meeting at Severns Valley Baptist Church in Elizabethtown will see video reports, hear testimonies, and listen to inspirational messages in what could be considered a major convention-wide pep rally for the “Find it Here” initiative.
“Find it Here” is a major evangelistic push aimed at helping Kentucky Baptists fulfill the Great Commission in the state by sharing the gospel with up to 1.5 million households. Some 50,000 volunteers from the more than 2,400 Kentucky Baptist churches will be delivering a bag with a gospel presentation and brochure from their church to the homes in their area.
The door-to-door delivery is slated for March 6-21 and will be supported by a major media campaign on TV and radio.
Many Kentucky churches have already been preparing for the “Find it Here” initiative by prayerwalking the areas where they will be delivering the gospel presentation, providing witness training to church members, and working to improve church facilities and programs in order to make the best first impression on guests who may be visiting as result of the effort.
“In the history of the Kentucky Baptist Convention there has never been such an all encompassing evangelistic initiative,” KBC Evangelism Team Leader Ross Bauscher said in encouraging Baptists to both participate in the evangelistic campaign and to be a part of the annual meeting.
More than 1,000 messengers and guests from churches across the state are expected to meet for convention business, fellowship and inspiration. Other business of the annual meeting will include setting a new budget goal for the Cooperative Program and electing convention officers.
Depending on action taken by the Kentucky Baptist Mission Board in its meeting Nov. 9, messengers to the annual meeting may also be requested to ask that KBC President John Mark Toby appoint a Great Commission Task Force for Kentucky.
The task force would be asked to study “how Kentucky Baptists can work more faithfully and effectively together in serving Christ through the Great Commission.” It would bring its report and any recommendations it might have to messengers attending the 2010 annual meeting at Immanuel Baptist Church in Lexington.
The Mission Board’s administrative committee has asked the full board to consider recommending the formation of the special committee in response to action at the Southern Baptist Convention in Louisville in June. Messengers to that meeting asked SBC President Johnny Hunt to appoint a task force to examine how Southern Baptist national organizations are engaged in helping fulfill the Great Commission. That task force has already begun its work and will be reporting back to SBC messengers next June in Orlando.
Dr. Al Mohler
Dr. Jay Strack
Convention messengers will also hear on Tuesday morning a report from KBC Executive Director Bill Mackey on the Kentucky Baptists Connect emphasis. This year marks the culmination of the original five-year run of this special initiative during which Kentucky Baptist have focused on renewing commitments to evangelism, missions, leadership training, church growth, networking, and relationships with Baptist agencies and institutions.
Kentucky Baptists Connect has been extended for three more years in order to address goals that have not yet been reached and address additional opportunities. Mackey is expected to highlight Kentucky Baptists’ achievements through Kentucky Baptists Connect and encourage renewed passion for efforts to reach the lost in Kentucky.
Convention officers will be elected on Tuesday afternoon. The only announced candidate for president thus far is Don Mathis, a vocational evangelist and staff member at Eastwood Baptist Church in Bowling Green.
Mathis, 67, who was KBC president in 1985-86, will be nominated by Darren Gaddis, pastor of Central Baptist Church in Corbin, who served as KBC president in 2006-07 and is chairman of the KBC Mission Board’s administrative committee.
Adam Greenway, a professor and administrator at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, will be nominated to serve as first vice president. Greenway, 31, is a member of the First Baptist Church of Mount Washington. He will be nominated by Dr. Bill Henard, pastor of Porter Memorial Baptist Church in Lexington.
No candidates have been nominated to date for the positions of second vice president, secretary or assistant secretary.
The Kentucky Baptist Pastors’ Conference meeting will precede the annual meeting in the same location on Nov. 9. The Pastors’ Conference will feature two sessions on Monday afternoon and evening.
The afternoon session from 2-4:45 p.m. will feature Roger Williams, pastor of Annville Baptist Church in Annville, Ky.; Jamie Ward, associate pastor of preaching and evangelism at Hillvue Heights Church in Bowling Green; and Ken Weathersby, senior strategist in church planting for the North American Mission Board.
The evening session from 6-9 p.m. will feature Mathis; Dr. Phil Hoskins, pastor of Higher Ground Baptist Church in Kingsport, Tenn.; and Ergun Caner, president of Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va.
To see the full KBC Annual Meeting and Pastors’ Conference schedule, visit www.kybaptist.org/annualmeeting.
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 Communications
