Dan Summerlin, left, pastor of the Lone Oak First Baptist Church of Paducah, and Jeff Crabtree, director of missions for the Warren Association of Baptists, chat during a break of the first meeting of Kentucky's Great Commission Task Force on Tuesday. (KBC photos by Kristie Randolph)

Kentucky’s Great Commission Task Force held its first organizational meeting at the Kentucky Baptist Building on Tuesday. Please be in prayer for this special committee as it proceeds with its work during the coming year.

The committee was appointed at the KBC’s annual meeting in November after messengers approved a recommendation to form a committee to study “how Kentucky Baptists can work more faithfully and effectively together in serving Christ through the Great Commission.” The task force will work throughout the coming year to study the work of the KBC’s Mission Board, agencies and institutions, and will report any recommendations it might have to messengers attending the 2010 annual meeting at Immanuel Baptist Church in Lexington.

Members of the Kentucky committee are:

• Hershael York, pastor of Buck Run Baptist Church, Frankfort. York is chair of the committee.
• 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, new 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.