Ashland Baptist Church

Hey Church Family!

First, thank you for the opportunity to attend the annual state convention for the Missouri Baptist Convention in Branson this week. It's always encouraging to be around other pastors and church members of churches in our state that have the same beliefs and convictions we have. There were 1,579 messengers and guests from 461 out of the 1,700 Missouri Baptist churches that make up our convention. *(A Quick Note: Southern Baptists and Missouri Baptists believe in the autonomy of the local church. That means, while we all convene once a year, the Missouri Baptist Convention does not have any jurisdiction over how we function as a church. We exist in "friendly cooperation" with the convention through giving to our Cooperative Program and affirming a standard of faith which is the Baptist Faith and Message, 2000. We send "messengers" from our church to vote on behalf of the church and report about the events that occurred. Our messengers in attendance were myself, Sarah, and Steve and Traci Riggs.) The theme this year was "Let Them See Jesus" from Acts 4:20 which reads: "...for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard." The official sessions began Monday afternoon with a great time of worship through song. It was reported that eleven new churches were planted or reaffiliated that were voted into the fellowship of Missouri Baptists this past year. The Cooperative Program (CP) is how we expand our reach as a church. Ashland Baptist may not be able to plant churches, revitalize hurting churches, send missionaries to the ends of the earth, open foster centers, or respond to disasters across the nation, but with 47,000 Southern Baptist Churches across the nation, we can. When you give your tithes or offerings to ABC, we send a portion of that giving to do just this. Southern Baptists have worked together for over 100 years in this fashion.

Dr. Wes Fowler, the Executive Director for the Missouri Baptist Convention, provided an address and highlighted one key goal of the convention this year: "Churches do not exist to serve the convention -- but the convention exists to serve the churches." Dr. Fowler reported that Missouri Baptists saw 7,486 baptism in 2024, a 9.6% increase from the previous year. Missouri Baptists haven't seen 8,000 baptisms since 2018. Our goal then for 2025-2026 is 8,000 baptisms across Missouri. He addressed the "Why" behind all of this and it hit me hard. In 2024 our state's population was 6,245,000. It's estimated that 68% of our state does not know Jesus. If that's true, then we have 4,246,600 people that don't know Jesus. 660,570 people have died in Missouri in 2024 which means 45,267 people died and entered eternity without Christ in our state. That's 3,772 of our neighbors die monthly without Christ, 124 of our friends and family die a day and do not enter heaven. 5 Missourians an hour will die and spend eternity in hell. We do what we do to share the Gospel with those that so desperately need the hope of the Gospel. We heard from Send Missouri about how new churches are being planted in our state where they are most needed. Our Missouri State Executive Board includes Church Planting/Send Missouri, Church Renewal (Resound Network & Church Renewal Strategies), Disaster Relief, Missions Mobilization, and Prayer & Evangelism. We heard from our Church Renewal team that provided an encouraging update regarding the good work that is happening in churches that were set to close their doors, but through our cooperation are now alive and well! We were encouraged by our Prayer and Evangelism team to commit to pray for further opportunities to let others in Missouri see Jesus in us and for ready hands and feet to share the Gospel. Disaster Relief continues to be an unparalleled ministry in the nation responding to disasters in a way that restores physical needs and spiritual needs. Our missions mobilization team encouraged us as Missouri Baptist churches to work together to be on mission in our state, nation, and world as the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. We were able to hear from our one seminary, Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, and our three colleges being; Hannibal-LaGrange University, Missouri Baptist University, and Southwest Baptist University. All of which had encouraging reports including increased enrollment for the following years. The WMU, Christian Life Commission, Missouri Baptist Children's Home, Baptist Homes and Healthcare Ministries, and Missouri Baptist Foundation all reported as Strategic Partners of the Missouri Baptist Convention.

We heard sermons from our president Wesley Vance, executive pastor of Crossway Baptist Church in Springfield, guest speaker Alistair Begg, recently retired pastor of Parkside Church, Cleveland, Ohio and founder of Truth for Life Ministries, and Ken Whitten, Director of Pastoral Leadership at the North American Mission Board. Each man provided a message of encouragement and a challenge to let others see Jesus in all that we do; as individuals and as churches.

From a business perspective, the Missouri Baptist messengers affirmed six resolutions (simply affirmations of convictions that the gathering body makes together). The are title as follows: Resolution 1: Courtesy Resolution to Express Appreciation, Resolution 2: On Our Continued Fight for Life, Resolution 3: On God's Work, Immigration, and Ministry, Resolution 4: On Education, Resolution 5: On Protecting Minors from Pornography and Social Media, and Resolution 6: On the Importance of Public School Chaplains. *If you would like the detailed resolution of any of these, please let me know and I will be happy to give you a copy.* Missouri Baptists voted in affirmation of a Credentials Committee that has, "the right and responsibility to revie and make recommendations regarding applications for new church affiliations, concerns about existing church affiliations, and messenger eligibility for the MBC Annual Meeting." The main qualifications to be reviewed by this committee are an affirmation of the Baptist Faith and Message, 2000 with a concerted focus on the position, "the office of pastor/elder/overseer is reserved for biblically qualified men. The title 'pastor,' regardless of qualifier, denotes this biblical office and should be reserved for those fulfilling its teaching, spiritual, and leadership responsibilities. We encourage Missouri Baptist churches to align their practice and terminology with this theological clarity and integrity." In response to a resolution that Missouri Baptists voice their support for Israel, a verbal affirmation of this resolution was provided by our president and a prayer was said by pastor Monte Shinkle over Israel. No other new business was considered by the messengers.

A personal note: This was the most spirit-filled, God-glorifying annual meeting I have attended over the last 8 years! God is moving among our convention and the churches around us. Please be in prayer about how we can continue to reach those that are lost in our community, state, nation, and world.