Dr. Hershael York, chairman of the Great Commission Task Force for the Kentucky Baptist Convention, has provided this update for Kentucky Baptists from the committee’s first organizational meeting held on Tuesday:

Hershael York, Kentucky Task Force Chair

On Tuesday, Jan. 5, the Great Commission Task Force of the Kentucky Baptist Convention met for the first time. Our goal is to examine the work of the KBC to determine how we can work more faithfully and effectively together in serving Christ and fulfilling the Great Commission. Throughout the coming year, we plan to study our mission efforts so that we can make recommendations to the churches and to the KBC that will result in a true resurgence of Great Commission commitment.

The heart of our purpose is about mission. We will study the ways the Kentucky Baptist Convention serves it churches and reaches out to the lost in an effort to determine the most effective ways to obey Jesus’ command in Matthew 28:19-20. We are convinced that Kentucky Baptists already are doing a lot of things well and that our desire to honor the Lord and reach the lost is evident. The challenge for us as a task force is to recommend ways that we can improve our strategy, structure and funding base in order to reach the next generation and the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

We want our work to be an encouragement and not a distraction for our KBC staff, agencies and institutions. We are excited about the Find it Here emphasis and all of the good things that are happening in the Kentucky Baptist Convention. We hope our process will only strengthen, broaden and deepen that work.

Historically, Kentucky Baptists have been well served by the committee process. We anticipate that God will use our differing perspectives, burdens and backgrounds to bring us to a united vision and a set of recommendations that will prepare Kentucky Baptists to meet the challenges and opportunities of the coming decades.

The KBC Great Commission Task Force at work on Tuesday.

The task force elected Charles Barnes as vice chair and asked that I serve as the official spokesman of the group. The committee also scheduled monthly meetings for the group. We look forward to hearing from Kentucky Baptists and will soon be communicating some ways to provide input to the committee.

Please be in prayer for the task force in the days ahead. The task with which we have been charged is vital Kingdom work and we will need more than our own collective wisdom in order to succeed. We all know that true wisdom comes from the Lord so please pray that He will grant us discernment of His will.

In addition to Dr. York, other members of the committee are:

• Paul Badgett, pastor of First Baptist Church, Pikeville
• Charles Barnes, member of Hurstbourne Baptist Church, Louisville
• Joy Bolton, executive director of Kentucky Woman’s Missionary Union, Louisville
• Jeff Crabtree, director of mission for the Warren Association of Baptists, Bowling Green
• Rusty Ellison, pastor of Walnut Street Baptist Church, Louisville
• Greg Faulls, Bellevue Baptist Church, Owensboro
• Chad Fugitt, First Baptist Church, Monticello
• John Hale, a deacon at First Baptist Church, Mount Vernon
• Bill Henard, pastor of Porter Memorial Baptist Church, Lexington
• James Jones, pastor of Pleasant Hill Baptist Church, Campbellsville
• Jessica Milburn, member of Union Baptist Church, Union
• Sam Rainer, pastor of First Baptist Church, Murray
• Kevin Smith, pastor of Watson Memorial Baptist Church, Louisville
• Dan Summerlin, pastor of Lone Oak First Baptist Church, Paducah

KBC President Don Mathis, staff evangelist at Eastwood Baptist Church, Bowling Green, is also serving on the committee as is KBC Executive Director Bill Mackey.