IBSA Board of Directors

Chairman of the Board of Directors’ Report Bob Dickerson

As the theme of the 2019 Annual Meeting suggests, the IBSA Board has spent the year praying and envisioning with our Executive Director the groundwork needed to prepare our association to refocus and continue to remain relevant in assisting churches to be healthy as God empowers them to reproduce spiritually. While cultures, churches, and individual members change, the Word of God and God Himself remains the same. The theme of this year’s annual meeting, “ReFocus” is an accurate one-word summary of the board’s work this past year which will continue and manifest in God’s power as it comes to fruition in 2020.

Every year the board focuses on the Mission Statement from the IBSA Constitution which reads: “The purpose of this Association is to assist in establishing and developing effective Baptist churches in their context. This Association shall engage in other related activities it considers relevant to its corporate fellowship.” Our Vision Statement reads: “We see healthy, effective, well-led Baptist churches, sacrificially working together to advance the gospel, make disciples of Jesus, and establish new churches throughout Illinois and the world.”

The 2020 goals to engage our God-given Mission and Vision can be summarized by this statement. “Praying for God’s guidance and power, and cooperating with associations and other partners, we will strive to truly assist churches as we develop leaders, inspire cooperation, stimulate church health and evangelistic growth, and catalyze evangelistic church planting and missions.”

For those who are prayerfully led by God to utilize the training and resources that will be made available, Church Revitalization will be a focus in 2020. Recent statistics presented to the Board by consultants show that 38,000 out of the over 45,000 Southern Baptist churches in the Southern Baptist Convention are plateaued or declining. The IBSA Board has agreed with our Executive Director that Church Revitalization should be a priority ministry for those churches who would choose to take advantage of opportunities that will be made available to assist them in determining ways to refocus their ministries to more effectively fulfill the Great Commission in their context.

In light of this, IBSA is looking at establishing Church Revitalization processes, responding proactively to change, consolidating and synergizing ministry areas, focusing on processes more than programs, expanding IBSA’s effectiveness and extending its reach through key partners and technology processes, and focusing on increasing overall and deeper church engagement.

These are “Big Goals” but we must keep in mind, we are empowered and serve a “Big God” who has called us to embrace His “Big Idea” of leading others to become part of His family and kingdom through the ministry of the local churches.

The role of IBSA is to “assist” the churches. Please pray for our Executive Director, staff, and board as they seek to agree with God and provide opportunities for churches to turn the statistics around for His glory. May our hearts be in unity to move forward as we seek those things we can do better together than we could do alone. To God be the glory, great things He has done and will do this year through the ministry of IBSA.