MIO 2023: Each Church Healthy

Illinois Baptist

Each Church Healthy

Strengthening missionary churches strengthens the mission

With nearly 9 million people who do not have a personal relationship with Jesus, Illinois is a mission field. But this is not an unreached mission field. God has had missionaries in the fertile ground of the state for over 200 years. They planted churches here, first along the mighty rivers that served as pioneer highways. Other churches sprang up as settlers spread across the hills and prairies.

Though centuries have passed, the mission remains the same. Jesus said that he would build his church. He sent the twelve to go and make disciples, baptizing and teaching new believers. The local church is God’s plan A to reach their world, and there is no plan B.

But that doesn’t mean that it’s easy.

“Anytime a church quits looking outside and they just look inside, they’ve begun the spiral toward dying,” said IBSA Evangelism Director Scott Harris. “Because anytime we lose the mission of the church that the Lord gave us, we cease to be what he created us to be.”

The recent past has been hard on many Illinois churches. A rapidly changing culture combined with a once-in-a-century global crisis, left many weakened. But the mission requires healthy churches.

Scott Foshie believes this. “Every church is a strategic church. It doesn’t matter if there’s 50 people, five people, 500 people,” said Foshie, leader of IBSA’s Health Team. Through resources provided by the Mission Illinois Offering and Cooperative Program giving, Foshie invests his days helping churches discover new seasons of reaching the lost and making disciples.

IBSA is currently working with over 80 churches and 15 local associations in ongoing revitalization processes, guiding them to discover new ways to reach their communities. Almost 30 churches have been helped this year as they navigate transition periods to call their next pastor.

And IBSA is working hard to create new ways to help call out and prepare the next generations of church leaders to reach changing neighborhoods. Because the health of each church across this state is important to God. This is where the spiritual battle for lost men and women, boys and girls, is waged.

“There’s no doubt that in Illinois today, there’s an intense war going on for souls,” Foshie said. “We have to recognize the spiritual strongholds and then let the Lord help us change. And really, it’s a process of discipleship. It’s growing to be more like Jesus, and we’re able to reach people in new ways.”

By investing in revitalization, along with planting new healthy congregations to reach growing and changing neighborhoods, hundreds of IBSA churches can have new life-changing impact on the communities all Illinoisans call home.

SEPTEMBER 17-24

What’s inside

Healthy church stories

Meet four congregations finding new strength.

Eight ways to pray

Lift up state missions that help build strong churches across Illinois.

More online

Watch video stories, see what it means to be a healthy church, and find more downloadable content and graphics at MissionIllinois.org.

Scott Foshie: “Every church has hope. His name is Jesus.”

missionillinois.org

“When I entered the pastorate, we planted this church with the idea that we had to do it alone,” Jonathan de la O said. With his wife, Emely, the young planter wanted to reach people like themselves, first and second generation Latinos in Chicago. Nine years ago, the couple walked hand-in-hand past a fence with a large sign that read Starting Point Community Church. The fledgling congregation was meeting at the Rockwell St. building that housed Chicago Metro Baptist Association.

Launch Sunday in 2014 drew 50 people, however the planting task seemed large and lonely. But no more.

Walking down another sidewalk past another church building today, the couple holds hands with their three children (pictured below). But the de la O family is supported by a much larger family as they build a healthy congregation in the nearby Belmont-Cragin neighborhood.

“We wanted to be a community church, so we’ve always done evangelistic outreaches,” the pastor said. “We know in the Hispanic community there’s a lot of needs. So we supply those needs with resources, groceries and food, backpacks, and Christmas trees and gifts.”

Outreach has become an open door. So has their recent ministry to immigrants. It’s literally an open door, as the church provides shelter until refugees can get established in jobs and homes.

“We are seeing many migrants coming to the United States, and especially in our city—people from Ven-

One-in-ten IBSA churches is looking for a pastor. As populations shift away from smaller towns and the numbers responding to a call to ministry decline, it’s harder to find a pastor. And it often takes longer.

“Who will go for us?” is not only a question from Isaiah’s time. It’s very real today.

That’s why the work of IBSA Zone Consultants like Cliff Woodman is so important. ZC’s offer mentoring for pastors through cohort groups and preaching labs. They bring many churches into the kingdom task of calling out the called.

“Part of being a healthy church is being outwardly focused,” Woodman said. “What can we do outside of our four walls—or however many walls we’ve got?”

Woodman also serves as pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Carlinville. He was Blake Harding’s pastor when, as a high schooler, the young man was trying to clarify his call to ministry. Woodman created a pipeline to grow his leadership.

“They gave me opportunities to serve, and that’s what I’m grateful for,” Harding said. “Being a greeter at the door or doing ushering, these small steps helped me grow comfortable serving in the church.”

ezuela, Colombia, Nicaragua, Honduras, from many countries,” he said. “The Word of God tells us to serve, love, and to meet the needs of foreigners…. While we are ministering to them, we are preaching the gospel to them through deeds and words.”

In a similar way, de la O found support with Baptist co-laborers along the way—first with meeting space and sound systems, later with the purchase of an existing church building. Plus connections and encouragement and friendships with fellow pastors.

That multi-lingual work continues today among multiple people groups.

“When I first started meeting with pastors, I think they were a little stunned that we were giving them that kind of time and attention, and that it was somebody that could speak the language,” said Paul Westbrook, IBSA Associate Executive Director. Westbrook was a missionary kid in Argentina who wondered if his Spanish language skills would someday benefit the kingdom.

“God is giving me this opportunity to enter into relationships with (Hispanic) pastors. And it’s a very special thing for me to be able to do with them, and I hope it’s a good thing for them, too,” he said.

In a state with nearly nine million lost people and two million immigrants, it’s all hands on deck for the gospel.

“We benefitted from resources through the Association, and we want to be part of that,” de la O said, “not only for Hispanic churches but for all churches. When churches are supporting in this way, we can see the hand of the Lord and know that God is there.”

MissionIllinois.org

Then at 16, the church gave him responsibility for a Sunday school class of 3rd-5th graders. Eventually, with Woodman’s encouragement, he left for Hannibal-LaGrange University, a Southern Baptist school in Missouri. During and after college, the pastor kept pouring into the young man, connecting him with an IBSA pastors’ study cohort and presenting ministry opportunities through Macoupin Baptist Association and the state association.

“One of the things I got from my cohort groups was this idea of unity,” Harding said. “I’m not doing ministry on my own. I have other churches in the association. I have other churches in the state, with access to IBSA that have resources to guide me no matter what difficulties I might come across.”

Harding’s college graduation coincided with the pandemic, so finding a ministry position wasn’t easy.

“For quite a while, we were getting nothing,” Dwight McDaniel (above right, with Harding) said of Highland Avenue Baptist Church’s search for an associate pastor. “Sometimes I was beginning to wonder over that twoyear-period (whether) our guy’s out there. It was hard.”

But God brought Harding and the Robinson congregation together in 2022. Woodman was pleased.

“To send somebody from our church to do God’s ministry, to be part of the kingdom ministry someplace else,” Woodman said, describing the reward he feels about Harding’s new call. “Knowing that what we did here is carrying on, and the lives that he touches, essentially we touch.”

There are nearly 900 churches in IBSA. Eventually all of them will need help calling new pastors. In the meantime, an entire generation of future leaders needs loving confrontation with their own call to ministry. For churches and the people who will one day lead them, IBSA is at work calling and training the called.

MAN UP

Pastors mentors men to be men

More than one-in-four children in America live without a father in the home. That is over 18 million kids. It’s an epidemic that affects every community. For pastors Robert Crowley and Bruce Kirk in the Chicago suburb of Bolingbrook, it’s a problem they want to fix.

“We believe that God through His word, because of the order that God has for the family, says that this is definitely an area that we should really focus on,” Crowley said.

Through a consultation with IBSA Evangelism Director Scott Harris, Crowley and Kirk are leading Alpha Baptist Church toward a new season of health by reaching men. A key piece in their strategy is an event they call “Man Church.”

“Bruce brought me in and asked me, essentially, to talk to him about evangelism,” Harris said. “As we did

IN THE GAP

Helping churches navigate leadership change

Fairview Heights, like every other community, has seen its share of changes over the years. “This part of town where the church is located was probably once a little more vibrant than it is now. So, communities just beyond us continue to grow and expand, and we’re at a bit of a transition point,” David Grove, a deacon at First Baptist Church, said.

In addition to those community changes, the church found itself experiencing another important transition in early 2021. Their pastor of more than 10 years announced he would be retiring. They would be searching for a new pastor at what had become a critical point in the life of the church. The transition in the community had led to changes in the church, which a difficult year dealing with the challenges of Covid had only accelerated.

“Attendance probably peaked in the early 2000s, and then really for the last two decades we’ve been in a gradual, fairly predictable decline,” Grove explained.

The retiring pastor, as well as deacons like Grove, knew the church needed to manage this change in leadership well. So, they devised a plan called “Passing the Torch,” and they reached out to Mark Emerson at IBSA for help.

Emerson is an expert on pastoral transitions and search processes. In the past few years, he has helped dozens of churches as they sought their next senior pastor or staff member.

Illinois Mission Facts

Nearly

13 million people live in Illinois.

Over 8 million do not know Jesus as Savior.

2.3 million Illinois residents are immigrants.

About 3 million residents speak English as a second language.

a Next Step consultation, we began to look at what he sensed that God wanted to do, and it was about reaching men.”

That led to a four-stage plan that begins with prayer and ends with men reaching men through “Man Church” events.

Crowley said that the response has been surprisingly good and that gearing the events toward men is the key.

“When a man comes in, he’ll see a lot of other men who look and dress just like him, who have things in common that they all share, such as barbecue and cars… You’d be surprised how quickly you can get a crowd of men to come and to talk about their cars.”

This leads to comfortable conversations and an opening for deeper matters that connect men with God’s purpose for them.

During the first car show, Kirk spoke from Genesis about God’s role for men as image bearers. At a recent event (pictured above), Kirk turned the tables and had a panel of several men from the church discuss their personal and cultural experiences with the problems caused by fatherlessness.

The importance of their current efforts to reach men is especially personal to Crowley. Almost two decades ago he was a young father, far from God, sitting in the back row at Alpha. Kirk invested in him, and his life has been forever changed.

“I still to this day don’t understand what he saw or what he was thinking because I knew that I was sinner. He didn’t know all the sin that I was in,” he said. “But I knew that I wasn’t deserving to be in any position to try to lead others. But because of God’s Spirit working in him and other men, I believe that’s why they were able to take a risk on somebody like me.”

The message for men at these events is clear. Your families, your communities, and your churches need you to be godly men. And the strategy is working. Kirk said Alpha has now seen more than 50 people join the church, and many of them are men.

“We were able to come in and to consult at the very early stages of that process. We were able to share with the leadership about our training tools and our help in training search teams,” Emerson said.

That help proved invaluable to the search team at First Baptist. Gloria Hogue, who served as the chairperson, said that shouldering the responsibility to find the right man to faithfully teach God’s word, guide a church to reach its community, and care for families through difficult life situations was a heavy burden. “It felt like a huge, huge weight,” she said.

But as the team began to meet, she was soon set at

ease by having Emerson as a guide and resource. “It was extremely helpful to just have a blueprint already written out for us,” said Hogue (above right, with Grove). “He provided all these materials and training for us, and then was always available to answer every question we had.”

Through many prayers and meetings, the church called their new pastor almost a year after their search had officially begun, and after less than a year, they are already seeing a new season of healthy ministry emerge.

“When Pastor Scott came in view of a call, we had a full sanctuary. It felt like a time of celebration, and no one had even voted yet,” Hogue said. “People are still coming up to me saying, ‘Thank you so much. You did such a great job.’ I’m like, ‘I didn’t do this. God did this. God brought him to us.’”

ILLINOIS BAPTIST STATE ASSOCIATION

1.8 million people in Illinois are Latino.

All 9 affinity groups identified by the International Mission Board are represented in Illinois.

Revitalized IBSA is working with 80+ churches and 15 local associations on their next steps.

New churches are especially effective at reaching unreached and under-served people groups.

IBSA partners to plant 15-20 new churches each year.

EMERSON

HARRIS

State Missions Prayer Guide

Day 1: Sunday, Sept. 17

Church revitalization

Each of the nearly 900 Southern Baptist congregations in Illinois represents a people and a place consecrated for God’s glory. With as many as 60-80% of churches nationwide in decline, renewed vitality is needed so they can deliver the light of Jesus to their neighborhoods. IBSA is working to turn the tide. Pathfinders and guides with the Health Team are currently engaged with more than 80 churches and 15 local associations in ongoing revitalization processes, guiding them to discover new ways to reach their communities.

Pray for Scott Foshie as he leads IBSA’s church revitalization efforts to help churches across Illinois find renewed hope and a new future.

Watch “Each Church Healthy” theme video.

Day 2: Monday, Sept. 18

Zone consultants

Illinois is a big, diverse state—from rural Shawnee hills and river towns, to vast fields and farming communities, to bustling urban cities. Each Illinois church reflects the local culture and personality of its unique setting. Zone Consultants are experienced leaders, often current or retired pastors, who understand the challenges of churches in their region. They know the local culture and serve as nearby support, encouraging church leaders and connecting them with resources to help churches take their next step, no matter what it might be.

Pray for Zone Consultants like Joe Gardner and Bryan Price as they encourage pastors and connect churches to resources.

Day 3: Tuesday, Sept. 19

Churches in transition

SCOTT FOSHIE

Day 5: Thursday, Sept. 21

A new generation of pastors

Statistics show that as the previous generation of pastors moves on, there are not enough new pastors to replace them. Without a new generation of men hearing and responding to the call of God to serve as pastors, hundreds more churches across the state will struggle to receive consistent preaching, teaching, and shepherding of their people. IBSA’s Growth Team is working to help local churches and associations see more respond to calls to ministry and receive training, whether they are current students or recent retirees.

Pray for God to raise up new pastors who will follow his leading into ministry. Pray for more mentors like Zone Consultant Cliff Woodman Watch “On Deck” story video.

Day 6: Friday, Sept. 22

Spanish churches and planters

Many people continue to come to Illinois seeking opportunity and seeking refuge. The majority of these are Hispanic, with 300,000 more Hispanics calling Illinois home than just a decade ago. Immersed in a different culture and a new language, they often face loneliness and isolation. Spanish-speaking churches can reach immigrants through their heart language and culture. There are over 40 Spanish-language congregations within IBSA. Other churches have ministry to Spanish speakers but need a partner who speaks the language to help them reach their new Hispanic neighbors.

Pray for Hispanic church consultant Jorge Melendez as he works to encourage leaders and increase partners for ethnic language churches, and pastors who lead churches reaching refugees and immigrants.

Watch “Many Hands” story video.

At any given time, approximately 10% of IBSA churches are without pastors. It can be challenging to remain unified and missions-focused while also prayerfully searching for a new shepherd who is the right fit for the church. In most cases this transition period lasts more than a year. The teams of faithful members who are entrusted with this difficult task benefit greatly from having resources and a guide to help them think through best practices and answer questions they may have.

Pray for churches currently seeking their next pastor, and for Mark Emerson as he leads IBSA’s work in consulting with over 30 pastor search teams and pastorless churches.

Watch “In the Gap” story video.

Day 4: Wednesday, Sept. 20

Evangelism and missions

Evangelism and missions consultations provide encouragement, ideas, and a spark. After pastors Bruce Kirk and Robert Crowley at Alpha Missionary Baptist in Bolingbrook discussed strategies, they knew their church’s next step. Both had a heart to reach and disciple men, just like Kirk had done for Crowley years earlier. So, they created “Man Church” mixing events that touch on their community’s passion for cars and barbecue, along with gatherings focused on real conversations and needs like fatherlessness, to engage local men in a new way.

Pray for IBSA’s Scott Harris and Shannon Ford as they lead consultations to help churches serve and reach the lost in their communities.

Watch “Man Up” story video

Day 7: Saturday, Sept. 23

Camp ministries

Year after year, Lake Sallateeska and Streator Baptist Camps serve as special places where children and students hear God’s word and commit their lives to following Jesus. More than 75 students came to faith in Christ this summer alone. These two rural retreat centers, one in southern Illinois and one in northern Illinois, provide a place far from the distractions of a noisy world.

Pray young people will continue to hear God’s call in the special environment of camps. Pray for camp directors Jacob Kimbraugh and Brock Vandever as they and their families serve the thousands who come each year.

Day 8: Sunday, Sept. 24

Illinois church planting

Every year, IBSA helps to plant 10-20 new churches across the state. Church planters like Maurice Gaiter do the spiritually and physically challenging work of starting a church from scratch. He is planting a new congregation in Chicago’s Austin neighborhood, a community with many people and needs, but their greatest need is the gospel. Starting new churches is a vital part of reaching people in changing neighborhoods.

Pray for church planters and IBSA Church Planting’s Kevin Jones and John Yi as they recruit, train, and support new churches and planters. Pray that more people and more churches will respond to God’s call to start new works throughout Illinois.

MARK EMERSON

CLIFF WOODMAN

JACOB KIMBROUGH

JOE GARDNER

SHANNON FORD

JORGE MELENDEZ

BROCK VANDEVER

BRYAN PRICE

KEVIN JONES