Dr. John Mark Toby, KBC President

The Great Commission will certainly be in the forefront of Tuesday’s annual meeting of the Kentucky Baptist Convention which will convene at Severns Valley Baptist Church in Elizabethtown. More than 1,000 messengers and guests are expected for the meeting with the theme “Find it Here: Sharing Christ Across Kentucky.”

Here are some of the expected areas of Great Commission focus:

• “Find it Here” theme interpretations – Messengers will be hearing a lot about the “Find it Here” door-to-door evangelism campaign with theme interpretations set for each session as well as a special report on plans for the spring campaign during the morning session. The KBC is coordinating the “Find it Here” campaign in conjunction with Kentucky associations, churches and the North American Mission Board. This initiative is part of the GPS (God’s Plan for Sharing) strategy that NAMB is using to reach every person in the United States and Canada with the Good News of Jesus Christ by 2020.
  
• Agency and institution reports – KBC agencies and institutions receiving Cooperative Program funds will each have an opportunity to report on their work. With all of the discussion on the Great Commission Resurgence this year, you can count on each organization to highlight the role it plays in helping Kentucky Baptists reach the world. The Kentucky Baptist Mission Board and the two Southern Baptist Convention mission boards — the North American Mission Board and International Mission Board — will also report. NAMB’s report will be presented by Jason Pettus, a NAMB board member and pastor of the KBC’s top CP-giving church — Living Hope Baptist Church in Bowling Green.
• Appointment of a Great Commission Task Force for the KBC – Assuming the KBC Mission Board approves the recommendation of its Administrative Committee when it meets on Monday afternoon, KBC messengers will have the opportunity to vote on a proposal to ask KBC President John Mark Toby (who is also serving as first vice president of the Southern Baptist Convention) to appoint a Great Commission Task Force for the state. 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.” The task force would bring its report and any recommendations it might have to messengers attending the 2010 annual meeting at Immanuel Baptist Church in Lexington.
• Cooperative Program focus – Messengers will be asked to approve a budget goal of $23.5 million that increases the allocation to SBC ministries to 38 percent. The current year budget divides CP gifts three ways with the SBC receiving 37.32 percent, the Kentucky Baptist Mission Board receiving 36.83 percent and the Christian education and KBC entities receiving 25.85 percent. The increase to the SBC allocation continues several years of incremental increases. The KBC will also be recognizing its top CP giving churches in the categories of total giving and per capita giving as well as those churches who have hit million dollar milestones in total CP giving. The convention will also present the annual Distinguished CP Leadership Award to one individual who has demonstrated longterm leadership in supporting missions through the Cooperative Program.
• Sermons – The annual meeting will feature three major sermons and all are likely to focus in one way or another on the Great Commission. Toby will bring his President’s Address during the morning session while Dr. Al Mohler, president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and member of the SBC’s GCR Task Force will preach the Convention Sermon on Tuesday afternoon. Dr. Jay Strack, the president and founder of Student Leadership University will speak on Tuesday night. Strack is the author of several highly acclaimed books, including: The Three Success Secrets of Shamgar and Good Kids Who Do Bad Things, and the editor of three study Bibles: The Transformer, True Love Waits, and IMPACT. He has been a highly sought after speaker for NBA and NFL training rooms, Walmart, NASA, Johnson & Johnson, Chick-fil-A, the Air Force Academy, NASA and many others. He has  been asked to lead a special time of commitment for the “Find it Here” evangelism emphasis.

The annual meeting looks to be both productive and inspirational. If you are in Kentucky and close enough to come, I encourage you to come join us!