The KBC Great Commission Task Force at work at the Kentucky Baptist Building.

Kentucky Baptists will move to an even distribution of Cooperative Program receipts with the Southern Baptist Convention and set an ambitious goal of increasing missions giving under a plan being proposed by the Kentucky Baptist Convention’s Great Commission Task Force.

The Task Force’s recommendations will be presented to messengers for approval at the Kentucky Baptist Convention annual meeting at Immanuel Baptist Church in Lexington on Nov. 16.

The report was released today to give Kentucky Baptists adequate time to understand and react to four recommendations, said Task Force Chairman Hershael York, pastor of Buck Run Baptist Church in Frankfort and a former KBC president.

Here’s the text of the report:

Last year Kentucky Baptist Convention President John Mark Toby appointed a Great Commission Task Force. The 17 Task Force members appointed were:

• Hershael York, pastor of Buck Run Baptist Church in Frankfort, Chair.

• Paul Badgett, pastor, First Baptist Church, Pikeville

• Charles Barnes, member of Hurstbourne Baptist Church in Louisville

• Joy Bolton, executive director-treasurer of Kentucky Woman’s Missionary Union

• Jeff Crabtree, director of mission, Warren Baptist Association

• Rusty Ellison, pastor, Walnut Street Baptist Church in Louisville

• Chad Fugitt, pastor of First Baptist Church in Monticello

• Greg Faulls, pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church in Owensboro

• John Hale, deacon at First Baptist Church in Mount Vernon

• Bill Henard, pastor of Porter Memorial Baptist Church in Lexington

• James Jones, pastor of Pleasant Hill Baptist Church in Campbellsville

• Bill Mackey, executive director, Kentucky Baptist Convention

• Don Mathis, president, Kentucky Baptist Convention

• Jessica Milburn, member of Union Baptist Church in Union

• Sam Rainer, pastor of First Baptist Church in Murray

• Kevin Smith, pastor of Watson Memorial Baptist Church in Louisville

• Dan Summerlin, pastor of Lone Oak First Baptist Church in Paducah

Over the course of the past 8 months, the Task Force has met in prayer, deliberation, and commitment. Every member of the Great Commission Task Force agrees that this has been a significant spiritual milestone in our lives as we have seen God work among us and bring us to a unanimous consensus about our recommendations.

In order to reach our conclusions and recommendations, we first reached a consensus about our foundational guiding principles. The include the following:

Principles we believe

We believe that Jesus Christ is worthy of all our praise, honor, worship, and resources.

We believe that Jesus Christ is the only way of salvation, and that explicit faith in Christ as Lord and Savior is necessary for all morally accountable persons to have eternal life.

We believe that faith in Christ comes only through the proclamation of the gospel applied by the Holy Spirit.

We believe that Jesus has commanded us to preach the gospel to every person on earth.

We believe that churches should evangelize the lost, baptize and disciple the saved, plant churches, and reach our nation and the world through commissioning missionaries, participating in missions personally, and giving a significant portion of income and resources to missions, especially through the vehicle of the Cooperative Program.

We believe in the value of Christian education as a means of equipping Christians to serve the Lord through cultural engagement, church membership and participation, and missionary service.

We believe that a new generation of Kentucky Baptists are not willing to settle for business as usual and that the Cooperative Program will diminish and perhaps die if we do not present a bold, sweeping vision for the future and a refocus of our energies.

We believe that we must devote a significantly larger portion of our resources to reach the 1.7 billion people of the last frontier who have never heard the gospel of Jesus Christ.

We believe that to be a faithful steward of all that God has blessed us with that each Kentucky Baptist should be challenged to provide a legacy gift for the Cooperative Program and Kingdom causes. We believe that churches, assisted by the Kentucky Baptist Foundation and Mission Board, must lead in training and developing this stewardship vision for all Kentucky Baptists.

We believe that renewed vision and ministry will only result from renewed love for Christ and repentance for our selfishness as evidenced by our decline in witnessing, proclaiming the gospel, personal sacrifice, giving, and going.

We believe that our Kentucky Baptist churches must reverse the decline in cooperative program giving, even while we engage the lost, go on mission, and plant churches.

We believe that to reach our nation and the nations for Christ will require a continued paradigm shift for Kentucky Baptists. First, our churches must become more outwardly focused than inwardly. Second, the Kentucky Baptist Convention needs to shift to a paradigm based more on outreach, evangelism, and missions and less on advising particular church ministries. To do this would require the KBC over time to become more of a facilitator of shared advice, counsel, and experience among churches, pastors, and laity rather than a provider of those services. We recognize that certain ministries (disaster relief, ministry to pastors in transition, etc) are more effective when done by the state convention so we affirm the continued significance and need for the KBC. In fact, we believe that this shift will result in a greater connection between the ministry of the KBC and the churches. We furthermore believe that the local associations are going to become key partners in renewed emphasis on shared ministry, missions, and connections.

To that end and after intense study, interviews, deliberation and prayer, we propose that Kentucky Baptists:

1) Initiate a 3-year emphasis called “More for Christ,” an intentional time of repentance, renewal, and redirection for the future. Kentucky Baptists responded to the “Find It Here” campaign in record numbers and with great enthusiasm and excitement. Our prayer is that we might respond in the same way to a call to personal and corporate commitment to Christ and to the Great Commission.

More for Christ means:

More of myself

• personal surrender
• personal witness
• personal sacrifice

More of my family

More for the lost

More for the needs

More for the nations

We propose that messengers request the KBC mission board, staff, agencies and institutions to seek ways that we can implement this theme in every part of Kentucky Baptist life and that it become a clarion call to our churches and individuals.

Explanation: We recognize that we desperately need a recommitment of our lives, our churches, our families, and our resources. Our prayer is that these recommendations will result in a great movement of the Holy Spirit among Kentucky Baptists. We pray that “More for Christ” will be the theme of what Kentucky Baptists do and give for the future. We pray that such an emphasis will be used of God to remind us and motivate us to strategize, mobilize, and give toward that end.

2) Instruct our Mission Board to move to a reallocation of Cooperative Program funds that results in 50% of our annual Cooperative Program receipts (after shared administrative expenses) being given to the Southern Baptist Convention and 50% to KBC within the next 7 years. Beginning with the 2011-12 fiscal year, the Mission Board shall implement the attached GCTF-Ky CP Percentage Distribution Plan to achieve this goal.

Explanation: To illustrate the differences in this change over the next 7 years and estimating approximately 4% of the KBC budget as shared expenses and 3% growth in CP funds, the division of Cooperative Program receipts after those shared expenses would be:

1st year 2011-12: KBC 53.28% SBC 46.72%

7th year 2017-18: KBC 50%, SBC 50%

The basis for this change in the first year would include a 6% across the board reduction in the KBC budget; eliminating the KBC’s contribution to annuitants by $400,000; reducing contribution to the colleges an additional 7% (which means that the colleges still receive slightly more than they did prior to Georgetown’s departure from the KBC budget); a Mission Board staff reduction of 12%; a total Mission Board budget reduction of 9.85%; an additional WMU reduction of 3.85% ; meaning a total of 9.85%.

In years 2-7 the Mission Board would make further adjustments of $600,000 to achieve incrementally the goal of a 50%-50% allocation between SBC and KBC causes after shared expenses.

3) Set a goal to increase overall CP receipts from Kentucky Baptist churches and individuals at least 3% per year for the next seven years. This growth would be equivalent to each church increasing CP giving by at least 0.25% of undesignated receipts each year for 7 years.

Explanation: It would be wrong simply to reallocate cooperative program receipts and ask KBC ministries to sacrifice and cut back without also asking more from ourselves. As a tenet of faith, we believe that God has already given His people all the resources we need to do what He has commanded. We cannot deny that in the past 15 years Cooperative Program giving from Kentucky Baptist churches has declined from approximately 10% of undesignated receipts to less than 7%. We simply must reverse that trend and ask our churches and individuals to respond graciously, generously, and sacrificially.

If Kentucky Baptists respond and if we could reverse that trend by growing our receipts by 3% per year for the next 7 years, the results for missions would be staggering. Using the new seven-year reallocation with a 3% growth, the increase for SBC causes would be $23,786,274 meaning that over $11.8 million more would go to the IMB and put missionaries on the field.

This is attainable in several ways. If every church in the KBC increased their CP giving by just ¼% of their undesignated receipts every year for the next seven years, we could do it. If small churches that usually give a fixed amount rather than a percentage would up that amount, we could do it. If large churches that have tended to decrease CP giving in order to support their own programs, buildings, and missions would understand the global importance of the CP and reverse that trend, we could do it.

While designating missions dollars to the IMB or some other agency or effort may seem attractive, only the CP supports missions in North America and around the world, helps train pastors and missionaries through our seminaries, and speaks on moral and social issues through the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. While we encourage multiple mission efforts, we believe in the wisdom and strategic genius of the Cooperative Program which, after all, was born here in Kentucky.

4) Authorize the Great Commission Task Force to remain constituted for the next seven years, monitoring progress and implementation and reporting to the Convention and/or Mission Board each year, making any further recommendations as necessary. Each year the KBC president may appoint members to maintain between 10 and 15 on the committee.

Explanation: This work is significant enough that a single entity needs to work closely with the Executive Director and relate to all parts of the KBC to see how we are doing and make reports on our progress. We also believe that continuity is essential, especially after as extensive a study of all KBC entities as this task force has conducted. For that reason we ask that the current members remain on the committee and new ones be added only as natural attrition occurs.

Addendum

GCTF – KY  CP Percentage Distribution Plan

Fiscal Year (2010-11):

KBC:  62%, SBC:  38%

First Year (2011-12):

CP Percentages — KBC: 51.15%; SBC: 44.85%; Shared:  4%

Percentage of CP after Shared Expenses — KBC: 53.28%; SBC: 46.72%

Basis for Change: 2010-11 Budget = Base Year.  Shared Expenses 4% or $940.000; Reduction in KBC Budget 6%; Annuity Reduction $400,000; College Reduction 7% in addition to 6% KBC Budget, Total = 12.58%; Mission Board Staff Reduction 12%; Mission Board Total Budget Reduction of 9.85%, totaling $750,671; including $237,000 of the Cooperative Agreements absorbed by the Mission Board; WMU Reduction 3.85% in addition to 6% of KBC Budget; Total = 9.85%; and 3% Growth in CP divided KBC 33.1%/SBC 66.9% in years 1 through 7.

Seventh Year (2017-18):

CP Percentages — KBC: 48%; SBC: 48%; Shared: 4%

Percentage of CP after Shared Expenses — KBC: 50%; SBC: 50%

Basis for Change in Years 2 through 7: Mission Board absorbs in years 2 through 7 Cooperative Agreements Totaling $600,000 by Mission Board Additional Staff Reductions Totaling $600,000; $180,000 in NAMB Cooperative Agreements to be terminated; Total Mission Board Funding would be Reduced $1,350,691 or 17.72% the 7th year.

For more on the report and comments from Task Force Chairman Hershael York, click here to read the KBC news release on the report.

Click here to download a copy of the Kentucky Great Commission Task Force report.

–Robert Reeves

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
• Bill Mackey, KBC executive director
• Don Mathis, 2009 president of the Kentucky Baptist Convention and staff evangelist at Eastwood Baptist Church, Bowling Green.
• 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

–Robert Reeves

This post continues the GCR Myth Buster series I introduced earlier. Find links to the other posts released so far at the bottom of this one.

One of the statements I sometimes read within the Great Commission Resurgence discussion is that Southern Baptists do not understand how their Cooperative Program funds are being used. This usually shows up in a tweet or within a blog post with the implication that if Southern Baptists did understand how their money is being spent, they would somehow be disappointed. I disagree with this sentiment, however, and feel that in general most Baptists do understand that they have put into place an extremely accountable and transparent system for managing their missions giving through CP.

It’s true that many Baptists in the pews do not know as much about their church budgets or the workings of their association, state convention or national convention entities as they could. Most churches have only a small fraction of their members show up for business meetings and fewer still attend association, state convention and Southern Baptist Convention annual meetings. I also think it is safe to say that most Baptists have little specific knowledge about the budget and staffing of an organization like a seminary which may not even be located in their home state. My impression from talking to pastors and being in churches during the past year is that awareness of even this GCR discussion, while of much interest to those of us who are engaged in it, has not penetrated very far in most churches.

There are number of reasons for this. First, it’s only natural for people to focus most on the local. Most of us live very busy lives and have enough going on in our own local church that it’s easy to hit information overload. As I think back to the days before I served with a Baptist organization, I know that I didn’t pay nearly as close attention to all that was going on in Baptist life as I do now.

Second, many churches have moved away from discipleship training on Sunday nights and missions education programs for children, which is where Southern Baptists of past generations largely learned about the Cooperative Program and their Southern Baptist entities. I’m not advocating trying to recapture the past from a programming standpoint but I think it’s important to realize that many churches have never found another way or time to effectively focus on this kind of important information.

Finally, I think that the folks in our pews generally have confidence in their pastors and the elected leadership throughout the SBC and, therefore, don’t necessarily feel a need to keep up with all of the details. In a sense, this is a good thing. When the sanctuary is full for a business meeting, it usually means something has gone wrong. But, of course, it’s never a good thing to become lackadaisical about God’s work so we want people to be engaged.

I think that those Baptists in leadership positions and/or those lay people who do pay attention find that information and ways to be involved in directing CP giving are readily available. As usual, I can only speak with authority about the process in Kentucky but I think this is generally true across all of our state conventions and national entities as well.

Here in Kentucky, we work to help people understand how their Cooperative Program gifts are being used. In addition to Web pages and blogs such as this one, we put out a variety of printed and video-based materials. We also regularly send Mission Board staff members to speak to churches and finance committees and answer any questions they may have.

Each year, we also put out a brochure that has all of the numbers for the current budget as well pie charts showing the allocations of funds between the state mission board, our Baptist entities and the SBC. This piece is sized to fit as an insert into a standard church bulletin and we offer to send churches as many as they need free of charge. The print order for these well-received brochures usually starts at about 80,000 and it is not unusual for us to have to reorder during the year to ensure we have enough to distribute. For churches that want more detailed information, we even run reports that show how that specific church’s gifts were divided and distributed.

Beyond just putting the information out there, however, Kentucky Baptists also have the opportunity to be engaged in the process of allocating the Cooperative Program in several key places. Our Kentucky Baptist Mission Board is one of the most representative of any in the SBC in that we have about 170 members who represent the associations and regions of our state. The members are pastors and lay people and come from small, medium and large churches. Most of these individuals are elected on the association level by the churches’ messengers to their association meetings. (For those who want to be hands-on in this process, associations are usually looking for good individuals who would like to serve.)

It is from this Mission Board that the Business and Finance Committee, which reviews the budget proposal each year, is selected. Messengers from the churches themselves approve the CP budget goals during the annual meeting.

In terms of oversight on a state level, the Mission Board and each KBC entity is audited annually by an outside firm. The Mission Board’s Audit Workgroup of the Business and Finance Committee also reviews the audits of each entity and reports its findings each year. All of the audit reports are included in the Convention annual and sent to all churches each year. The KBC’s Agencies and Institutions Committee also meets regularly with the heads of Kentucky Baptist entities to hear reports and serve as a sounding board on behalf of the Mission Board and the Convention.

The KBC is committed to being good stewards of the gifts that Kentucky Baptists provide so generously. To this end, the funding formula for the way CP gifts are distributed to the various causes that Kentucky Baptists have said are important to them is reviewed regularly. For the past several years, the Convention has been making incremental adjustments to increase the amount sent to support missions causes on the SBC level. And, Kentucky Baptists have indicated that they approve of the CP allocations. Messengers have approved budget goals overwhelmingly in annual meetings and Mission Board members have overwhelmingly approved the detailed budgets.

A survey of pastors and laity in Kentucky Baptist churches in 2006 conducted by J. David Schmidt and Associates also showed strong support for the Cooperative Program allocations. In that survey, 84 percent of the pastors said their church was committed to participating in CP the way it is structured. Only 7 percent said the way the CP is structured was not a good fit for their congregation. (This included both pastors who wished to see more funds directed toward the SBC as well as some who wished to see less.)

As we all know, clear communication can be difficult and I know we will have to continually be looking for new and better ways to make sure Southern Baptists are informed and engaged in their churches, associations, state and national conventions. I strongly encourage everyone who reads this to do what you can to inform your congregations about the Cooperative Program, the way it works and about how the gifts are allocated. Please let me know as well if you have ideas about how we can better share from both an informational and inspirational perspective about how God is at work through Southern Baptists. The word “cooperative” is the operative word in Baptist life and we need to all be well informed and deep in prayer if we are to make the best decisions about moving forward to fulfill the Great Commission!

– Robert Reeves

Previous Posts in this Series:

• Great Commission Myth Busting
• State Conventions Stretched, Not Bloated
• State, National Missions Also Important

KBC Executive Director Bill Mackey recognized outgoing KBC President John Mark Toby and thanked him for his year of service during the evening session of the KBC annual meeting.

The Kentucky Baptist Convention had an excellent annual meeting at Severns Valley Baptist Church in Elizabethtown this week. Attendance was up slightly this year with 840 messengers and 270 other church members and guests joining together for worship, reports, business, fellowship and inspiration.

We heard strong sermons from KBC President John Mark Toby, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary President Al Mohler and Student Leadership Academy President Jay Strack. Young leaders got together for a convention-sponsored event during the Tuesday evening meal break as they have for several years now. Messengers seemed to enjoy the exhibit hall as usual and this year’s addition of a Twitter fountain which captured comments about the annual meeting seemed to be a big hit.

There were a lot of positives from the meeting but here are some of the “takeaways” for me:

• Kentucky Baptists aren’t just giving lip service to their commitment to evangelism. They are truly excited about the upcoming “Find it Here” door-to-door evangelism campaign and are actively engaged in preparing for it. There are an estimated 1.5 million households in Kentucky and Kentucky Baptist associations and churches have already ordered 1.4 million Gospel presentation brochures to share next spring. Even more telling than those numbers, though, are the reports of Baptist engagement in prayerwalking the areas where they will be delivering the Gospel presentations. Campbellsville Baptist Church Pastor Skip Alexander shared how prayerwalking the streets of his community has already had a tremendous impact on his church. This is a sentiment that’s being echoed in reports from across the state as God seems to be doing a mighty work in the hearts of Baptists and preparing us to show us just how mighty He is.
• Kentucky Baptists love their agencies and institutions. Convention messengers heard tremendous reports from each of their Cooperative Program-aided organizations. One of the most powerful testimonies came from a Sunrise Children’s Services foster mother who talked about the blessing to her family of being “in-home missionaries” by ministering to young people who have endured abuse and neglect. This very humble foster mom wasn’t seeking praise for herself but glorified God in sharing how Kentucky Baptists are such a part of this vital ministry.
• Kentucky Baptists are committed to the Cooperative Program. In addition to recognizing retired International Mission Board missionary Jim McKinley with the Cooperative Program Distinguished Leadership Award, Kentucky’s top total giving and per capita giving churches were honored for their commitment to supporting the wide array of missions and ministries that receive Cooperative Program report. I think it was significant that it was one of our ethnic congregations — Paducah Korean Baptist — that received top honors in the per capita giving category this year. Messengers also recognized a number of congregations that hit million dollar milestones in their CP giving since its inception in 1925, including one that has now topped $7 million — Porter Memorial Baptist in Lexington.
• Kentucky Baptists Are Not Afraid to Examine Themselves.A proposal to form a Great Commission Task Force received (as best I could tell) unanimous support from the messengers. The 17-member task force, to be chaired by Dr. Hershael York of Buck Run Baptist Church, a professor at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and a former KBC president, will look at “how Kentucky Baptists can work more faithfully and effectively together in serving Christ through the Great Commission.” The proposal for the task force had received approval from the Mission Board the day before. Most discussion from members in that meeting centered around the size of the committee and an emphasis that the committee would reflect the autonomy of the convention and not be driven by the Southern Baptist Convention’s GCR Task Force.This Great Commission self-examination parallels the extension of the Kentucky Baptists Connect initiative which has set specific objectives and goals for reaching people, strengthening churches and developing leaders for the past five years and will now do so for the next three years as well. Kentucky Baptists Connect came out of the work of a study committee similar to the Great Commission Task Force and has been supported by a special Mission Advisory Committee.

All in all, a great day for Kentucky Baptists and a great lead-in for carrying out the Lord’s work in 2010.

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!

W.F. "Bud" Underwood

I’m pleased to share the following guest post from Dr. W.F. Underwood, president of Oneida Baptist Institute, one of the institutions of the Kentucky Baptist Convention. Oneida is a boarding school supported in part by Cooperative Program gifts.

Missions Made Easy at Oneida Baptist Institute

The words of Jesus in the Great Commission are clear. Reach the nations for Christ and teach new believers to live out the gospel. We have a unique opportunity at Oneida Baptist Institute to carry out both of these commands—simply by going about our daily work.

Though OBI was founded as a school for eastern Kentucky mountain children, it has grown into a boarding school for grades 6-12 that reaches teenagers from our own county, across the Commonwealth, all over the U.S. and around the world.

While we seek to help teenagers in a variety of ways, there are four primary areas in which we believe we offer them the most help.

Academics

Graduation time at Oneida Baptist Institute

Some 40% of our students enroll with very low or failing grades. We have been quite successful helping those who are capable of making good grades but are simply not making progress. When we ask the student if he knows why he is making such poor grades, the most common answers are, “I’m just lazy” or “I just don’t care.”

We believe our smaller class sizes—typically 10 to 12 students–is one major key to helping teens who are struggling. In a smaller class the teacher can give each student more individual attention and there are fewer distractions. Nightly study hall is also very helpful. Every OBI student who is not on the honor roll goes to a required study hall each evening Monday through Thursday. We also have a Tutoring Lab to help students who have gotten several years behind their peers. In our Tutoring Lab there is normally a 1:1 or 1:2 teacher/student ratio. Progress is much slower, but struggling students are able to get the personal attention they need in reading and math.

Work

The work ethic has never outlived its usefulness at Oneida. We have always held to the philosophy that students should be accountable, including cleaning up after themselves. In our 110 years of ministry OBI has never employed a custodian. We have 15 major buildings, and our students clean every one with adult supervision. A middle school or high school child may not always be as efficient as an adult. But we can deal with a little dust and a few missed cobwebs if our young people are learning accountability.

Students are taught the importance of getting to work on time. They learn to do the jobs they are asked to do; never mind that it may be a job they don’t like. And we teach them that they must follow the instructions of the person in charge, even if it is someone they do not care for. We are proud to teach our students that happiness and satisfaction can be found in work.

Co-curriculars

Many students come to Oneida with low self esteem for a variety of reasons. Many of those students often wanted to try out for a particular team or activity in their public school but didn’t because of the fear of being “cut” from the team at a later date. We all understand the need to have a winning team. And OBI, like other schools, always seeks to put the best we have on the field or court. One thing that separates us from many other schools, however, is the fact that we do not cut because of a lack of ability. Our students are told they can be a part of any activity we offer. As long as they manage their time and meet the team requirements, they are welcome to be involved in as much as they can be.

That policy does come with difficulties. When a 300-pound student joins the cross country team or a student joins the traveling choir but cannot carry a tune, there are challenges. Yet few experiences are more rewarding than seeing a student who has never before been part of a team or activity find happiness for the first time. A large part of our success over the years has been the result of making sure each student understands that “everybody is somebody” in God’s eyes. We are all created in His image and God did not make any “mistakes.” Often the student who has been overly intimidated by the thought of being cut in other schools has become one of our exceptional students. Students have even told me that they know they are not very good in their activity, but for the first time they feel welcomed by peers in spite of their modest skills. By the way, a great way for a 300-pound boy to lose 100 pounds is to join the cross country team!

Our approach to the lost

Until I became OBI administrator in 1994, I presumed that all Christian schools were similar to ours by allowing unbelievers to attend. I was saddened to discover that often Christian schools did not allow students who were not Christians. The most common reason given was that the purpose of having a Christian school was to provide an environment free of the negative influences often found in public schools. I don’t think the scriptures support that approach. Luke 19:10 says it all: “The Son of man came to seek and to save that which was lost.”

I firmly believe that nothing we do in any ministry is more important than doing what Christ said He came to do, and He came to seek and save the lost. I have never felt a need to apologize for seeking out those who need Jesus. Each year many students find Christ here. I trust our friends and supporters understand the importance of inviting those who do not know Christ to be a part of our school. If we ever close that door I honestly believe that God will be greatly displeased.

Great Commission / Great Opportunity

“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations…” At Oneida we do not have far to go to reach the nations. Our student body represents young people from around the world—and also from right in our own back yard. OBI is local, state, national and international missions all at once. As students come to know Christ on our campus and take the good news back to their hometowns, the gospel travels across the globe.

“…And lo, I am with you always…” God’s blessing has been on our school from the beginning and we know He remains with us today. Please pray for the unique ministry of Oneida Baptist Institute.

The original Kentucky Baptists Connect effort officially closed out with the end of the Convention’s fiscal year this past  Monday but work on objectives and goals related to a three-year extension began Sept. 1. Kentucky Baptists Connect was extended for reasons on both ends of the spectrum. On one end,  the process of achieving many of the goals helped reveal additional needs, opportunities and challenges that need to be addressed. On the other end, some important goals have not yet been reached and it was deemed appropriate to maintain the momentum and keep striving for the mark.

Here’s a news story from the KBC about the extension of Kentucky Baptists Connect:

Kentucky Baptists Connect Extension Underway

LOUISVILLE – Following the conclusion of the original Kentucky Baptists Connect strategic emphasis on Aug. 31, Kentucky Baptists are now working toward ministry goals outlined in the plan’s extension, Kentucky Baptists Connect ’09-’12.

The Connect emphasis originally began in 2004 as a five-year strategic plan for evangelism and ministry support across Kentucky. Previously scheduled to conclude in 2009, the KBC’s Mission Board approved the extension in December in order to reach goals yet to be fulfilled and address new opportunities. Connect ’09-’12 began on Sept. 1 and will run through Aug. 31, 2012.

“One of the strong values for the Kentucky Baptists Connect emphasis is that it gives direction and priorities for the KBC staff based on objectives and goals that have been developed in a thoughtful, researched and prayerful process to assist local churches,” said Kentucky Baptist Convention Executive Director Bill Mackey.

The Connect strategy was developed as a plan to guide the work of all Kentucky Baptist churches, supported by the work and leadership of the KBC’s Mission Board staff.

“The effort has born great fruit in the form of changed lives, healthier churches, new ministries begun and new churches started,” said Mackey.

Reflecting on the outcomes of the first five years, Mackey noted that “most goals have been reached except the baptism goals. This has been a disappointment, but I am grateful that we had a big goal, 25,000 baptisms per year, that only God could have enabled us to reach.”

The 2004-2009 Connect emphasis outlined 16 goals relating to five objectives: evangelism, missions, leader training, networking, and strengthen churches. Final reporting on the original objectives will be available early in 2010.

While some goals from the 2004-2009 plan are again reflected in the extension, Mackey said the new plan incorporates additional ministry areas. The 2009-2012 plan outlines 22 new goals relating to three streamlined objectives: developing leaders, strengthening churches and reaching people.

Goals being carried over from the original plan include baptisms, discipleship and assimilation, church planting, evangelistic ministries, networking, new Sunday school and small group units, and online resources.

Additional goals outlined in the extension plan expand the focus to include youth and campus student ministry, stewardship, visionary leadership, prayer, congregational relationships, missions involvement and disaster relief.

“The most effective goals from the current plan were refined for continuation, and new goals were developed based on research and needs that have surfaced,” said Mackey.

The extension was based on recommendations from the Mission Advisory Committee, a group comprised of Kentucky Baptists who are providing guidance for the Connect emphasis until Jan. 1, 2010. Earlier this year, KBC President John Mark Toby appointed new Mission Advisory Committee to maintain the same function throughout the three-year extension, Sept. 1, 2009-Aug. 31, 2012.

While the Connect ’09-’12 emphasis officially began on Sept. 1, a more formal launch will take place at the KBC annual meeting on Nov. 10 in Elizabethtown, he said.

“The big focus at the annual meeting will be “Find it Here,” which is a part of “God’s Plan for Sharing,” a 10-year evangelism emphasis from the North American Mission Board. “God’s Plan for Sharing” has been written into Kentucky Baptists Connect ’09-’12 as the primary evangelism strategy,” said Mackey.

“Find it Here” will be the primary emphasis the first year for Kentucky Baptists Connect ’09-’12,” he said. “The effort is providing an opportunity for churches to mobilize people to reach all age groups at Easter, when people are most open to spiritual conversation and church attendance.”

“Find it Here” will include prayerwalking and follow-up efforts, which also relate to the new Connect goals.

Another important resource to help Kentucky Baptists fulfill the Connect goals will be introduced at the annual meeting, said Mackey. The resource will “enable churches to survey their needs in 12 key areas and utilize a “Ministry Toolbox” that has potential objectives and projects with action steps.”

KBC staff will provide leadership in executing each Connect goal and measuring progress, but Connect will continue to rely on the ministries and outreach efforts of local KBC churches, said Mackey.

Connect ’09-‘12 also reaffirms partnerships between Kentucky Baptists and Kentucky Baptist entities, continues to acknowledge the major impact factors stated in the original plan, and authorizes Mackey to lead in implementing the emphasis.

A detailed list of the Connect ’09-’12 goals can be accessed from the KBC by calling 502-489-3578 or 866-489-3578 (toll free in KY). More information about Kentucky Baptists Connect can be found at www.kybaptist.org/kbc.

The Kentucky Baptist Convention is a cooperative missions and ministry organization made up of more than 2,400 autonomous Baptist churches in Kentucky. A variety of state and worldwide ministries are coordinated through its administrative offices in Louisville, Ky. including: missions work, disaster relief, ministry training and support, church development, evangelism and more.  For more information, visit www.kybaptist.org.

Here are some of the documents related to Kentucky Baptists Connect:

• Mission Study Committee Report – 2003
• Kentucky Baptists Connect Progress Report – Nov. 2008
• Kentucky Baptists Connect Extension – December 2009

Here’s the news as released by the Kentucky Baptist Convention:

LOUISVILLE – The Administrative Committee of the Kentucky Baptist Mission Board has approved a recommendation calling for the formation of a Great Commission Task Force for the Kentucky Baptist Convention.

Meeting in executive session Thursday, the committee voted to send the recommendation to the full Mission Board for consideration at its meeting on Nov. 9. If approved, it would then go before messengers attending the annual meeting of the Kentucky Baptist Convention at Severns Valley Baptist Church in Elizabethtown on Nov. 10.

The task force, to be appointed by KBC President John Mark Toby, 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.

In a letter to Mission Board members, Administrative Committee Chairman Darren Gaddis said the committee’s decision was in response to action by messengers attending the Southern Baptist Convention in Louisville in June to ask 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.

“This (appointing a Kentucky task force) would allow the KBC to track with the national effort in evaluating how we as a state convention can best fulfill the Great Commission,“ Gaddis said.

Gaddis, pastor of Central Baptist Church in Corbin, affirmed the work of the Kentucky Baptist Mission Board staff and that of the other entities that receive at least some funding from the Convention. These include Campbellsville University, Clear Creek Baptist Bible College, Oneida Baptist Institute, the University of the Cumberlands, Kentucky Baptist Assemblies, Kentucky Baptist Foundation, Sunrise Children’s Services, the Western Recorder and Kentucky Woman’s Missionary Union.

“We certainly appreciate and affirm the work of our Mission Board staff and that of every Kentucky Baptist Convention entity.  We know that each of our state organizations have been and are working faithfully,” Gaddis said. “They are all led by capable and committed individuals who receive guidance from boards prayerfully selected and elected by Kentucky Baptists.  It is healthy for any great organization to be constantly seeking ways to be even better and it is in this spirit that we recommend the formation of this task force.”

KBC Executive Director Bill Mackey said he supports the idea of a state task force.

“Growing, whether as an individual or as an organization takes a willingness to step back from time to time and evaluate,” Mackey said. “I see this as a very good way to do just that. Kentucky Baptists have a strong track record of using special committees like this one to study big issues effectively and I believe God will bless as we seek His guidance.”

The Great Commission refers to Jesus’ command to his followers to “make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you,” found in Matt. 28:19-20. Southern Baptists have asked for this mandate to guide the work of the SBC’s Great Commission Task Force that is already underway.

The Kentucky Baptist Convention is a cooperative missions and ministry organization made up of more than 2,400 autonomous Baptist churches in Kentucky. A variety of state and worldwide ministries are coordinated through its administrative offices in Louisville, Ky. including: missions work, disaster relief, ministry training and support, church development, evangelism and more.  For more information, visit www.kybaptist.org.

The brochures (as well as other free Cooperative Program material) is available in packages of 50 for the asking at the CP materials section of the KBC Web site. The brochures are a great church bulletin insert. I’m happy to send anyone else a copy of the brochure (in a KBC church or not) as well.

Below are the pie charts included in the brochure. This first one shows the upcoming Cooperative Program budget goals for Kentucky. Click here to see more detail on the numbers included in the chart.

The chart below shows the split for all gifts from Kentucky Baptist churches that came through the KBC during the 2007-08 fiscal year. (The audited numbers for the 2008-09 year are not yet available since the current fiscal year does not end until Aug. 31.) Click here to see more detail on the numbers in this chart.

I don’t have the total answer to that question and I suspect that if you surveyed 100 knowledgeable Southern Baptists in detail about their ideas, you’d have at least 100 different variations in thinking about what our best would look like. That’s why we need to be praying for the Great Commission Task Force as this committee seeks to provide leadership in what will hopefully be a time of consensus building among Southern Baptists in the days ahead.

I will offer a couple of what I call “hinge points” in the discussion though because it seems to me that these are some of the key questions for reaching common ground. These are questions on which people don’t have to completely agree but understanding the answers helps everyone get a better handle on the different perspectives that are coming into play in this Great Commission conversation.

To me the first hinge point is the definition of missions and what constitutes a valid support of missions. One definition I’ve seen and like is: “Missions is joyfully advancing God’s Kingdom by making disciples of all the nations until Jesus returns (Matt. 28:18-20; Acts 28:31; Matt. 24:14, Acts 1:8).” I like it because it sounds a bit like the Great Commission itself in that it captures both the concepts of evangelism (sharing the Good News) and discipleship (helping believers grow in their faith). To me this also encompasses the Acts 1:8 imperative that we are to be sharing the Gospel locally, regionally and internationally at the same time.

I’m not sure that anyone would disagree with this definition in general but there are definitely variations in emphasis that figure into the GCR discussion. For instance, I’m seeing some come close to advocating that it’s only missions if it takes place “overseas.” Others seem to me to be saying that missions work in our own state and nation should only be carried out by the local church and that there’s not really a need for a cooperative effort among local churches, associations, state conventions and national entities. Still others suggest that conducting ministries (such as reaching out to abused children, teaching people to read, providing disaster relief, etc.), while worthy, are not technically doing ”missions” and maybe shouldn’t be included in the funding mix.

I realize that this is an oversimplification of what for some are very well thought ideas and that there are many other views as well. My point is simply that when we as Southern Baptists say that we “support missions,” we need to realize that there doesn’t seem to be consensus on exactly what that means and that we will all have to work toward understanding the other viewpoints and not make assumptions.

Personally, I tend to hold a pretty broad view of the definition of missions in that I see it as both what we do across the street as well as what we do across the world. I guess I have a hard time separating the work of discipleship, ministry, missions and evangelism because to me they all go together and are vital parts of fulfilling the Great Commission.

A second hinge point and one that is closely related to the first is the perception of the Cooperative Program’s role. Some see the Cooperative Program solely in terms of international missions and are deeply concerned about wanting to see more CP dollars get to the “mission field,” which typically means “outside of the U.S.”

(As a quick aside, I think every Baptist wants to see more go to international missions. Baptists love missions and we have especially always loved doing international missions. I, myself, came to Christ through the ministry of a Southern Baptist missionary on the island of Okinawa and we have at least three former International Mission Board missionaries on our state convention staff right now. I also want us to find the best way to increase our international missions funding.)

Others see the Cooperative Program primarily in terms of its historical role. CP was orginally established to help Baptists move from a “societal” method of giving where every ministry had to solicit funding directly from the churches to a “cooperative” method of giving where churches gave to fund a pool of money that would then be divided between missions work and ministries deemed worthy of Baptist support.

Getting consensus about the percentages of this cooperative giving has been difficult since the very beginning and is a special focal point in the conversation today – especially in states like Kentucky that use Cooperative Program dollars to not only fund the work of the state mission board and Southern Baptist Convention causes but also Christian education, children’s ministries, camps, etc. Some of the newer state conventions, which do not have institutions and agencies that share in CP giving, are able to both keep more for state mission board work and also give more for SBC causes because they are dividing CP gifts only two ways rather than three.

What is the right answer? What is your definition of missions? What do you think about the role of the Cooperative Program in funding missions and ministries? This is an important conversation and I think that through prayer, educating ourselves and talking about the various viewpoints, God will bless us in strengthening our individual commitments to fulfilling the Great Commission and give us wisdom about how best to use our various Baptist organizations for His glory.