October 29, 2018 Illinois Baptist

Timely wisdom

From an Illinois forefather

Nate Adams P. 2

IBSA Annual Meeting

November 7-8

First Baptist Church, Maryville

For more information about the Annual Meeting and the IBSA Pastors’ Conference, go to IBSAannualmeeting.org

November 4, 2018

ILLINOIS HISTORY

Celebrating 200 years

The legacy of bicentennial churches

P. 4

TABLE TALK

Community works

Even for skeptics

P. 13

COOPERATIVE PROGRAM

Giving report card

More than a drop in the bucket

P. 10

PAT’S PLAYBOOK

Teamwork for the ages

Multi-generational ministry

P. 16

CHURCH & POLITICS

What voters value

Evangelicals choose issues over candidates

go before the U.S. mid-term election, new research

shed light on how evan gelicals will vote. The Billy Graham Center Institute at Wheaton College and LifeWay Research in Nashville, Tenn., released an extensive study in October on how evangelicals voted in 2016, and how they feel about their decisions today.

The study explored the voting habits and political motivations of three groups of Americans: evan gelicals by belief, self-identified evangelicals, and those who are not evangelical by belief or self-identity. (Evangelicals by belief are those who hold to four key theological statements developed by LifeWay Research and the National Association of Evangelicals.)

As Illinois turns 200 in 2018, IBSA is seeking to engage at least 200 churches in each of these challenges. Is your church one of them?

As of October 22

Goal: 200

109

NATE ADAMS

What would Lincoln say?

134

Churches Churches Churches Churches

138

Total Participating Churches: 191

Read more about these challenges and register your church for one or more at IBSA.org/Pioneering, or contact IBSA’s John Carruthers at (217) 391-3110 or JohnCarruthers@IBSA.org.

BICENTENNIAL MOMENT

Happy 200th Birthday, Illinois!

Celebrating our state and Baptist work across two centuries

The Southern Baptist Convention was founded in Augusta, Georgia, in 1845. Soon Illinois churches began affiliating with the new missionfocused denomination with its two sending agencies, now called the International Mission Board and the North American Mission Board.

the cooperative program

Giving by IBSA churches as of 10/19/18

$4,665,568

Budget Goal: $4,967,308

Received to date in 2017: $4,665,778

2018 Goal: $6.3 Million

The Illinois Baptist staff

Editor - Eric Reed

Managing Editor - Meredith Flynn

Graphic Designer - Kris Kell

Contributing Editor - Lisa Misner

Multimedia Journalist - Andrew Woodrow

Administrative Assistant - Leah Honnen

The general telephone number for IBSA is (217) 786-2600. For questions about subscriptions, articles, or upcoming events, contact the Illinois Baptist at (217) 391-3119 or IllinoisBaptist@IBSA.org

The Illinois Baptist is seeking news from IBSA churches. E-mail us at IllinoisBaptist@IBSA.org to tell us about special events and new ministry staff.

POSTMASTER: The Illinois Baptist is owned and published every three weeks by the Illinois Baptist State Association, 3085 Stevenson Drive, Springfield, Illinois 62703-4440. Subscriptions are free to Illinois Baptists. Subscribe online at IBSA.org.

Earlier this month, the calendar passed what would have been my dad’s 88th birthday. Dad died 12 years ago, just one month after I began serving IBSA as executive director. And because he had decades of experience with Illinois churches and with IBSA, I have wondered many times since then, “what Dad would have thought about this, or said about that.”

While I don’t have the advantage today of asking my dad specific questions about current situations, I am not without the benefit of his perspective and wisdom. Tom Adams wrote a column for the Illinois Baptist for more than 34 years, and it’s not uncommon for me to meet someone in a church today who will reach into his or her Bible and pull out a yellowed clipping of one of Dad’s columns that met a special need. We compiled several of his columns into a book titled “Speaking Out” (write me if you would like a copy) and sorted them by topic. It’s amazing to me how his wisdom continues to stand the test of time.

As a resident of the Land of Lincoln, have you ever wondered what our state’s most famous patriarch would say about the state of Illinois today? Young Abraham Lincoln was nine years old when Illinois became a state in 1818, and during his lifetime he watched our frontier land start with around 35,000 pioneers and mushroom to a state with more than two million residents.

From the Black Hawk War of 1832 through the Civil War of the 1860s, Lincoln witnessed much growth and change, as well as conflict and adversity, not only in his home state, but in our nation. But could he have imagined anything like the times we are living in now? Would his wisdom still speak to us today?

We will have an opportunity to answer those questions at this year’s IBSA Annual Meeting at First Baptist Church in Maryville. During the Wednesday evening session on Nov. 7, noted Abraham Lincoln interpreter Fritz Klein will speak to us, not from his own ideas or speculation about Lincoln, but with Lincoln’s own words.

You see, Abraham Lincoln also left a substantial written record of his wisdom and ideas, in the form of speeches, letters, and other documents. Many today would be surprised at how clearly Lincoln identified the problems of our nation and culture as spiritual, and internal, and how candidly he spoke of a return to God as the solution. His writings and speeches are replete with references to the Lord, the Bible, and to prayer. I believe that’s why his wisdom, too, continues to stand the test of time.

Of course true, lasting wisdom, whether from Tom Adams, or Abraham Lincoln, or Solomon himself, ultimately comes from God, and is tested by the Word of God. Many people mistakenly attribute the famous words, “A house divided against itself cannot stand,” to Lincoln, when of course Lincoln was quoting Jesus. It is said that Lincoln’s law partner, who considered Lincoln “morally courageous but politically incorrect,” urged him not to use that quote in his now famous 1858 speech, just prior to the outbreak of the Civil War. Lincoln responded, “The proposition is indisputably true…and I will deliver it as written…that it may strike home to the minds of men in order to rouse them to the peril of the times.”

I am confident that Fritz Klein will deliver Lincoln’s own words to us faithfully that evening of the Annual Meeting, as we too look for wisdom during perilous times. My prayer is that the Lord will use Lincoln’s words of wisdom, at least those built on biblical truth, to rouse us to a new pioneering spirit for our state’s third century.

Nate Adams is executive director of the Illinois Baptist State Association. Respond at IllinoisBaptist@IBSA.org.

May the Lord use words of wisdom to rouse us to a new pioneering spirit.

FROM THE FRONT: EVANGELICAL VOTERS MORE oriented to ISSUES THAN CANDIDATES

Among the findings: 53% of evangelicals by belief characterized their vote in the 2016 presidential election as being for a candidate, while smaller percentages said they cast their vote against Hillary Clinton (18%) or Donald Trump (15%). That only half of evangelical voters said they voted for their candidate in 2016 led researchers to conclude that evangelicals are “more issue-oriented than candidate-focused,” Christianity Today reported.

“I see no reason that focus on issues won’t be repeated next month,” said Ed Stetzer, referencing the Nov. 6 election. The executive director of the Billy Graham Center Institute detailed the research in a press release. “In 2016, many evangelicals chose to look past a candidate as an individual to vote for a specific issue, platform, or party a candidate represented, seeing the candidates more like objects of representation than as individuals whose values and ideals fit theirs.”

According to the research, two-thirds of evangelicals by belief agree committed Christians can benefit from a political leader even if that leader’s personal life does not line up with Christian teaching.

The 2016 election

In the 2016 presidential election, 9 in 10 evangelicals agree they felt strong support for their preferred candidate, with 69% strongly agreeing. And little has changed two years later. Today, 88% agree they feel strong support for who they voted for in 2016, with 70% strongly agreeing.

Among evangelicals who voted, most did so for Donald Trump. More than half of evangelicals by belief (58%) and self-identified evangelicals (53%) cast their ballot for the Republican nominee, while 36% of evangelicals and 38% of self-identified evangelicals voted for Hillary Clinton.

African-American voters with evangeli-

cal beliefs overwhelmingly voted for Clinton (86%), while more than three-quarters of white voters with evangelical beliefs voted for Trump (77%).

Around half of younger voters with evangelical beliefs cast their ballot for Clinton—47% of those 18 to 49. A majority of voters 65 and over who have evangelical beliefs voted for Trump (72%).

The survey also measured the issues at play in the 2016 presidential election. Both evangelicals by belief and self-identified evangelicals said an ability to improve the economy was the most important reason for voting the way they did, followed by positions on health care and immigration.

Few evangelicals by belief (5%) and selfidentified evangelicals (4%) said abortion was the most important issue in deciding their 2016 vote. And 7% of evangelicals by belief and 6% of self-identified evangelicals chose likely Supreme Court nominees as the most important reason.

Working across divides

Most evangelicals by belief and self-identified evangelicals say the 2016 election brought to the surface some underlying divisions among Christians. Yet, most evangelicals also believe someone in the opposing party can be a devout Christian.

When evangelicals encounter someone using biblical beliefs to justify political views that are opposite of their own, few question their political opponent’s faith. Evangelicals by belief are most likely to say they are hopeful they can find common ground biblically.

“Jesus is not coming back on a donkey or an elephant,” said Stetzer. “We have to acknowledge that people vote for different and complex reasons and that Christians can differ on politics and agree on the gospel.”

– From LifeWay Research, with reporting by Christianity Today

Kingdom focused

Church equipping is conference aim

Chicagoland | Ethics and Religious Liberty President Russell Moore addressed northern Illinois church leaders at an October meeting at Hillcrest Baptist Church in Country Club Hills. Moore was the featured speaker at the Friday evening session of the annual All Church Equipping Conference, sponsored by the Chicago Metro Association and the association’s African American Pastors’ Fellowship.

“This conference was the brainchild of Pastor Donald Sharp of Faith Tabernacle Baptist Church, who had a desire for the pastors in the Chicagoland area to come together to equip our members in the various aspects of min istry,” said Adron Robinson, pastor of Hillcrest Baptist and president of IBSA. In addition to Moore’s address, the conference also included a ministers’ roundtable dinner and discussion, and 18 workshops taught by local, state, and national SBC leaders.

Speaking on Friday evening, Moore preached from Luke 4 on the kingdom of God, and how Jesus’s words ought to guide how Christians today interact with the culture.

In a world where more and more people are surprised or shocked or hostile to the gospel, Moore said, the post-Christian culture is actually good for the church. “Can the gospel of Jesus Christ move forward in a world like that?” Moore asked. “Of course it can! That’s the kind of world the gospel of Jesus Christ came into.”

In Luke 4, Moore preached, Jesus reminds believers what their hope is in—the kingdom of God. It’s not what they expected, but it’s here.

“There is a kingdom that smashes to pieces all of the other kingdoms of the world,” Moore said. “But that kingdom is found not in pomp and glory and glitz, but found in Jesus Christ and him crucified.”

The reminder has relevance for us today, he said, because the people of God ought to have a different vision of what matters, and who matters. Where it is our natural bent to defend ourselves against attacks on Christianity, Moore said, Jesus actually spoke very gently to the culture outside the church. It was his followers for whom he reserved his most direct counsel.

And throughout history, the people most hostile to the gospel have made the biggest impact for the gospel, Moore said, referencing the apostle Paul and St. Augustine. Jesus’s teaching in Luke 4 reminds believers now to view every person through the lens of their own sin and subsequent rescue by Christ.

“The gospel doesn’t change the culture in spite of its strangeness,” Moore said, “but because of its strangeness.”

– Meredith Flynn

MOORE

The 2016 presidential election revealed divides within the Christian church that have existed for a long time.

Abuse claims dismissed

A Texas court dismissed claims of sexual abuse, conspiracy, and negligence against Paul Pressler, who helped lead the Southern Baptist Convention’s return to conservative theology in the 1980s and 90s. The Southern Baptist Convention also had been named in a lawsuit filed by plaintiff Gerald Duane Rollins, but Judge R.K. Sandhill’s Oct. 15 order dismissed the claims against the SBC and several other defendants because the statute of limitations has expired on those claims, Baptist Press reported.

Trustees uphold firing

Southwestern Seminary trustees voted at their October meeting to uphold the termination of former president Paige Patterson, who was fired on the decision of the trustee executive committee in May. The full board’s consideration of the Patterson firing was based on a motion made at the Southern Baptist Convention in June that the whole board “consider revisiting their original decision concerning Dr. Paige Patterson.”

Last spring, Patterson was moved to president emeritus status following weeks of controversy over statements he previously made about domestic violence and women’s physical appearance. The executive committee’s decision to terminate him stemmed from his alleged mishandling of sexual abuse allegations while president of Southeastern Seminary.

The 34 trustees present at the Oct. 17 meeting voted to ratify the executive committee’s actions on a voice vote with what Baptist Press estimated as no more than four negative votes.

Greear launches podcast

Celebrating ‘bicentennial churches’

Jonesboro FBC, Shiloh mark milestone anniversaries

Jonesboro | Clear Creek Baptist Association recognized two churches for 200-plus years of service at their annual meeting in October. Shiloh Baptist Church in Mounds and Jonesboro First Baptist Church are two of four “Illinois Bicentennial Churches” that have been existence since the time of Illinois’ statehood in 1818.

Shiloh was established in 1817, and FBC Jonesboro turns 200 at the end of this year. Clear Creek Director of Missions Tony Auxier noted in the association’s recent newsletter that 13 current Clear Creek churches were planted through the efforts of Shiloh and Jonesboro FBC.

The two congregations join First Baptist Church, Elizabethtown, and Bankston Fork Baptist Church in Harrisburg on the list of IBSA churches with at least 200 years in their communities.

The bicentennial churches hold a place in Illinois Baptist history, and in the “Pioneering Spirit” highlighting the IBSA Annual Meeting at FBC Maryville on Nov. 7-8.

Reflecting on the anniversaries, Illinois Baptist historian and former IBSA pastor Myron Dillow noted the qualities that prepare a church for fruitful ministry and a legacy of faithfulness. When churches survive 200 years, “you’ve had a credible witness in that community,” Dillow told the Illinois Baptist

“When there is a warm, friendly congregation that worships and works together in reaching the community for Christ,” he said, “that fellowship grows in love and respect for one another (and) earns the respect of the people in the community.”

Dillow also noted biblically faithful churches develop a servant ministry, fol-

DISASTER RELIEF

Southern Baptist Convention President J.D. Greear will answer listener-submitted questions on theology, ethics, politics, and more in his “Ask Me Anything” podcast launched in October as part of the LifeWay Leadership Podcast Network.

“I wanted to create something that could appeal to anyone, regardless of where they are on their spiritual journey,” said Greear, pastor of The Summit Church in Raleigh-Durham. “For pastors and leaders, I hope this informs how they shepherd their people. For other believers, I hope this provides applicable wisdom they desperately need.”

In the first episode, Greear answers a question often asked of him: Are you a Calvinist? Other podcast episodes tackle whether Christians should celebrate Halloween, and how believers should think about politics.

– Baptist Press

lowing Jesus’s example. Illinois Baptist pioneers like John Mason Peck exemplified this service-oriented ministry. Dillow is currently working on a biography of Peck and his wife, Sarah.

Early ministry pioneers in Illinois “never complained about the hardships,” Dillow said, “but were grateful for having the privilege of sharing the Good News to hungry souls waiting for the preacher to open the Book and share the words of life.”

For more Illinois Baptist history and information on the IBSA Annual Meeting’s “Pioneering Spirit” emphasis, go to IBSAannual meeting.org.

Hurricanes deliver one-two punch

Volunteers mobilize after massive storms

Illinois Baptist Disaster Relief (IBDR) volunteers are serving in the wake of Hurricane Michael in the Southeast, while continuing to respond to damage in the Carolinas caused by Hurricane Florence.

The need for IBDR volunteers is expected to continue through Thanksgiving, said Dwayne Doyle, IBDR administrative state director. Disaster Relief leaders in Florida anticipate mass feeding efforts there will extend through November, and Illinois volunteers are assisting one kitchen that is preparing up to 9,500 meals a day.

“IBDR will continue to send flood recovery teams to North Carolina,” Doyle said, “and at the same time, chainsaw, chaplain, mass feeding, and shower teams to Florida through the end of November.”

The shower/laundry trailer unit left to serve in Bristol, Fla., on Oct. 24. A chainsaw/chaplain team is scheduled to depart Oct. 30, with two additional chainsaw teams leaving in midNovember.

IBDR has two flood recovery teams and two chainsaw/ flood recovery teams forming to serve in North Carolina in November.

To donate to IBDR, visit IBSA.org/donatetodr or mail a check to IBSA, P.O. Box 19247, Springfield, IL 62794. Make the check payable to Illinois Baptist Disaster Relief.

Illinois Baptist Disaster Relief has over 1,700 volunteers trained to serve with the Southern Baptist Convention’s Disaster Relief ministry, the third largest relief agency in the United States.

– Lisa Misner

LEGACY – IBSA Executive Director Nate Adams (center) presented plaques of recognition to Raleigh Dunaway (left) of Shiloh Baptist Church in Mounds and Pastor Perry Williams of Jonesboro First Baptist Church to mark their church’s anniversaries.

PRESSLER

DOYLE

MISSION Not alone

In challenging times, Youth Encounter helps students grow in their faith

BY ANDREW WOODROW

For young Christians, following Jesus can be a lonely pursuit. Especially in today’s pressure cooker culture. It’s overwhelming, said student pastor Mark Davis, when young people have constant, instant access to information—and much of it beyond their years.

In that environment, discovering and developing your faith can be difficult. It’s easy to feel alone. At Youth Encounter, IBSA’s annual evangelismfocused conference for students, young believers have an opportunity to escape societal pressures for a while, and fully engage in worship with hundreds of other students like them.

They leave the conference—held this year in five locations around the state—better equipped to live out their faith and share it with the people around them.

Encouraged, emboldened

At Youth Encounter, middle school and high school students are led in worship by up-and-coming Christian artists, and inspired and challenged by some of the top student ministry speakers in the country.

But perhaps the greatest encouragement students receive from the conference is knowing they’re not alone.

“Oftentimes, the students feel that if they talk about their faith or visibly live it out, they’re going to be abandoned,” said Davis, pastor to students at Murdale Baptist Church in Carbondale. “Youth Encounter gives them a chance to see they’re not alone. And seeing there are other students in their area, not just a handful but hundreds of them, helps encourage and embolden their faith.”

For the first time this year, Youth Encounter events were scheduled in five locations across

Standing room

Hundreds of students and leaders gathered across Illinois in October for Youth Encounter, IBSA’s annual evangelism conference for students. In Marion (above), Decatur, and two sites in Chicagoland, almost 1,400 attenders heard from speakers and worship leaders who encouraged them to keep going in their faith, even as they face unprecedented challenges from the culture around them. The final Youth Encounter for 2018 is Nov. 11 at First Baptist Church, O’Fallon.

IBSA.org/YE2018

Illinois. Nearly 1,400 students and leaders attended the first four conferences, including sites in Decatur, Marion, and two in Chicagoland, and 62 people have given their lives to Christ. The final Youth Encounter conference for 2018 will be held Nov. 11 at First Baptist Church in O’Fallon.

To students like Jade Nappier, Youth Encounter is a break “from the stress during the school year that can be hard to find at church.” Nappier, a student from First Baptist Church in Marion, also said Youth Encounter has helped her discover she’s not alone in exploring her faith, motivating her to “be the Christian I want to be.”

Selena Petrowich from Third Baptist Church in Marion has been coming to Youth Encounter ever since she can remember. Now a senior in high school, she describes how Youth Encounter helped her not feel alone in discovering her faith.

“A lot of people trying to come to Christ feel alone. I know I did. So, having more people around you that you know are exploring their own faith [makes it] definitely easier to share mine.”

Petrowich expressed how moving it is to see school acquaintances at Youth Encounter who wouldn’t otherwise show their faith. “What caught my eye was seeing so many teenagers actually open in wanting to learn about God,” she said. “That’s when you realize, ‘Okay, I can do this too.’ And for me, that was my biggest thing: realizing that not just older people can be interested in worship and in God.”

Changing world, unchanging Word

“One of the great things Youth Encounter presents to the kids is that while the culture is constantly changing, the Word is unchanging,” said Madison Presswood, minister of youth at FBC Marion. Presswood encourages his students to be less concerned with the media and warns them where their attention is kept the most is where their sphere of influence is the strongest.

There is also a need, though, to engage the culture without fear, Andrew Nippert encourages his students. “If a church wants to help their young people survive their culture they’re living in and help them prepare to engage with their culture and be gospel-relevant in their communities, you can’t be scared of the culture or of change,” said Nippert, youth and children’s minister at Third Baptist Church in Marion. “Because the one thing that should never change is God’s Word.”

Amid pressures from the world they live in, students are going to mess up, Nippert said. “But that’s why we work with them. That’s why we minister to them. Because they’re who need the Lord. We all need the Lord in our own way, and we just have to be willing to go to those that are, sometimes, the troublemakers. And give them the One who can lead them out of their troubles.”

Equipped to go out

Youth Encounter helps prepare students to take their faith into the community by exposing them to bands and speakers they can look up to, and by equipping them to live out their faith, despite cultural pressures.

“IBSA does a really good job getting solid speakers that unpack the gospel and the reality of Christ

in a way that makes sense to the students’ worlds,” Nippert said. “So then, it’s a lot easier to walk back into their world with Christ at the center of what they’re doing.”

High school junior Seth Lindhorst has already been to the youth conference multiple times. He said Youth Encounter teaches students his age realistic ways to live out their faith “and still be normal.”

One of Lindhorst’s frustrations with societal pressures is the bombardment Christians receive for living a ‘boring’ life, despite attempts to be more involved and have appropriate fun outside the church. “It’s extremely difficult for a Christian my age,” said the student from Third Baptist in Marion.

“So, the Christian youth in today’s culture feels pressured into doing things that really aren’t appropriate for kids our age.”

Coming to Youth Encounter, however, encourages him not to back down to the peer pressure.

“When I go back to school after Youth Encounter, I always walk with a jump in my step. It gets me pumped up,” Lindhorst said. “Youth Encounter equips you for the long run and gives guidelines you can use in your daily life. And as I’m singing songs, as I’m listening to the speaker, I’m thinking to myself, ‘How can I change my life to make Jesus’ name look better?’”

For more information about resources and opportunities for students, go to IBSA.org/students.

LEADERS – Heart & Mind Worship (above) lead music at Youth Encounter at Tabernacle Baptist Church in Decatur. (Photo below) Students and leaders pray during a response time in Marion.

MULTI-SITE MINISTRY – Pastor Ron Gray (center, photo above) helped facilitate the Youth Encounter gathering at his church, Connection Community Church in Chicago. (Photo at right) Speaker Tom Richter encourages students in Marion.

PETROWICH

LINDHORST

Heart & Mind Worship Facebook photo

Watch a video from Youth Encounter at Vimeo.com/IBSA/YE2018

IN FOCUS

Work in progress

BY MEREDITH FLYNN

Every organization that exists for a significant amount of time will eventually be confronted with the need to renew its passion, reimagine its impact, and re-engineer its purpose. The local Baptist association, now more than 300 years old, is no exception.

This summer, a national study committee completed the most recent research on associations, presenting a fresh look at how churches interact with their local networks. The landscape has shifted, for both the church and the association.

An overwhelming majority of church leaders—80%—say the local association is a valued partner in their mission to reach people with the gospel. At the same time, the research showed a need to identify the qualities that equip associations and their leaders for effective partnership in changing times. Average Americans are increasingly less connected to the church, and churches often struggle to know how to speak into the spiritual lostness of their communities. Associations also wrestle with that tension, trying to connect with churches that once were linked because of geography, but now can access resources with the click of a mouse.

Churches used to gather for fellowship, doctrinal reinforcement, and training in programs to help them grow stronger and reach others. Now, ministry seems less dependent on programs and more focused on intentional, long-term relationship-building. And if a church is looking for a program, they don’t have to go to the association. Google will suffice.

Partners on the field

The map shows Illinois’ local associations and the 10 zones IBSA has identified to better serve the state’s associations and churches. IBSA has part-time staff members, called zone consultants, in each zone to come alongside associational and church leaders with resources, training, and coaching through leadership cohorts.

In Illinois, the challenges associations face have been compounded by funding and structural changes over the past few years that have left many struggling to balance their ministry to churches with the reality of fewer resources. With the needs of churches becoming increasingly diverse, and associational resources being stretched as never before, Illinois associations too are discovering the need to rethink and revision both their purpose and the reasons for partnership.

Here in America, local associations are the oldest expression of Baptist churches’ commitment to work together. As times change, how can they stay effective and relevant for a new generation?

What the survey said

A national study team identified 19 proficiencies that pastors and church leaders look for in the leaders of their local associations. Florida associational leader Rick Wheeler presented the research to Illinois associational leaders at their annual roundtable meeting in August:

Foundational Proficiencies

Called to associational leadership

Person of character

Spiritually mature

Commitment to learning

A leader of leaders

Trustworthy

Relational Proficiencies

Emotionally intelligent

Active listener

Supportive coach

Authentically vulnerable

Vocal encourager

Strategic Proficiencies

Vision caster Strategist

Consultant

Leadership multiplier (or developer)

One with contextual understanding

Good communicator

In addition to identifying these proficiencies, the study team also recommended a new title for associational leaders: “Associational Mission Strategist.” The title, which was unanimously approved at the 2018 meeting of the Southern Baptist Conference of Associational Leaders (SBCAL) last summer, is meant to emphasize the singularity of Baptists’ shared mission to take the gospel of Jesus Christ to everyone.

In August, the SBCAL announced the formation of a vision team to help associations across the country implement the changes and suggestions found in the report. The study team’s full report is available at www.sbcassociations.org/ report.html.

Challenging ministry

In 1707, five Baptist churches in Pennsylvania joined together to form the first local association. The Philadelphia Baptist Association, now affiliated with American Baptists, predates the Southern Baptist Convention by almost 140 years. But as the SBC has grown since its founding in 1845, associations have been a vital part of its development.

There are more than 1,100 local associations across the country, representing more than 47,000 Southern Baptist churches. Generally, associations are led by a director of missions (DOM), although some are considering a title change to better reflect the new realities of the job (see page 9).

Associations do not receive a percentage of churches’ Cooperative Program missions giving, but are funded primarily by separate giving from congregations. In 2010, Southern Baptists adopted the “Great Commission Resurgence,” a series of recommendations that, among other actions, proposed the redirecting of North American Mission Board funding that had previously supported directors of missions in non-South associations, including several in Illinois.

“With that funding no longer available, many associations are needing to rethink their specific mission, finances, staffing, and even geographical realities,” said IBSA Executive Director Nate Adams. “Some associations are considering merging, to share resources and regain critical mass for doing ministry together. Others are reducing their personnel expenses to preserve shared ministry and missions funding.”

Partly to help fill in the gaps in associational staffing created by national SBC funding changes, IBSA implemented a zone strategy that includes part-time, regional consultants to assist especially associations with part-time and volunteer leadership.

The changes and challenges aren’t unique to Illinois. Across the country, associations are making difficult decisions about which ministries they will provide for churches, and which they can no longer sustain.

The ground is shifting under associational leaders, Rick Wheeler told the Illinois Baptist. The role is changing, and has been for quite some time, said Wheeler, lead missional strategist for the Jacksonville (Fla.) Baptist Association.

Wheeler led a study team commissioned by the Southern Baptist Conference of Associational Leaders (SBCAL) to explore the role of associations in the current ministry climate, and to learn from associations that are known to be making effective adjustments. Their research, released in June 2018, identified some of the ways churches best utilize local associations, and what resources or training they’d like associations to offer. The study also included a list of desired proficiencies for associational leaders (see full list at left).

In addition to the research on desired proficiencies for associational leaders, Wheeler spoke to the IB about three qualities that make associations themselves effective in their mission:

1. Clarity of purpose

2. Ability to communicate the value that the association adds to churches

3. Discipline in strategy execution

The more we get together

“An association has to know you can’t just be an association for the sake of being an association,” Wheeler said. “You have to have some purposeful connection to a biblical reason for existing.” That reason, he said, always connects to edifying or strengthening the local church.

Some associations are focused on church planting because that’s what their context demands. Others emphasize church health and revitalization. The key, Wheeler said, is for an association to determine how they’re adding value back to its partnering churches, many of which are contributing financially to the association.

In Salem South Baptist Association, Kevin Carrothers often fields questions about the purpose of the association. To help provide an answer, the director of mis-

Continued from page 7

WHEELER

STARTING PLACE – Pennepack Baptist Church in Philadelphia was one of five churches that formed the Philadelphia Baptist Association in 1707. The association, now affiliated with American Baptist Churches USA, gave rise to a legacy of cooperation among Baptists.

sions is preparing to lead Salem South in a process to examine their purpose, structure, and future partnerships that could benefit Kingdom work. “In seeking purpose,” Carrothers said, “there comes a critical point where we have to say this is what we’re going to do, and this isn’t what we’re going to do.”

After an association has clarified its purpose, Wheeler said, they have to tell that story well. Set measurable metrics, he advised. Be ready to share with churches the things the association does best. And finally, he said, be disciplined in how you execute strategy in those things. “Don’t try to be all things to all people,” Wheeler encouraged associations. “Do a small set of things world class.”

The paradigm of how associations relate to churches has flipped over the last few decades. The association used to be the chief resource provider, ready with a shelf of materials to meet whatever need a church had, said Joe Gardner, director of missions for Metro Peoria Baptist Association.

“Everything was pretty program-driven, so the role of the DOM was providing the latest program, and having information available,” said Gardner, who also serves as an IBSA zone consultant to a region that includes neighboring Quad Cities Baptist Association. “That doesn’t work now.”

Churches, especially those that are plateaued or declining, sometimes don’t know what to do to have a real impact in their communities. What the association is in a position to do is not bring a shelf of resources, but rather meet churches where they are, and generate a sense of camaraderie and unity of purpose around their shared mission field.

“Here’s what the association has that nobody else has: proximity,” Wheeler said. “Because we have proximity, we can get together and have conversations and do missional activities together that we would not be able to do if we were not down the road.”

Future partnership

In Illinois, associational leaders understand the importance of bringing churches to the table to work together, so that more people might hear and respond to the gospel.

Associational leaders mull new title

Editor’s note: A national SBC study team recommended this summer that local associational leaders consider a name change to better reflect what they do. In Illinois, leaders carry a variety of titles, but most associations in the U.S. are led by a director of missions. One of Illinois’ DOMs, Brent Cloyd, explains why he’s ready to adopt the title of “Associational Mission Strategist.”

Two years ago, the Southern Baptist Conference of Associational Leaders (SBCAL) was asked to study the role of associational leaders. One of their intended outcomes was to recommend a title that best describes our work. The title they agreed upon was “Associational Mission Strategist” (AMS).

When I read the report, I thought the team had done superb work, especially in regards to detailing the desired proficiencies needed in associational leaders. But I wasn’t so sure about the recommended title. I recognize that part of my resistance is that I just do not like change. The thought of spending another $9.99 to get 500 new business cards grated

Rick Dorsey is pastor of Beacon Hill Missionary Baptist Church in South Chicago Heights and a leader in the Chicago Metro Baptist Association. He said churches could do a better job of working together than they do now, and the association’s role is to facilitate that collaboration.

“As an association we need to do a better job of bringing churches closer together so that we can work together in a more meaningful way to reach all of Chicagoland for Christ,” Dorsey said, “because together, in unity and in one accord, is the only way that we can achieve that goal.”

The challenge is doing so with limited personnel and financial resources. Dorsey is one of many local associational leaders who serve on a volunteer basis. Currently, only about one-third of Illinois’ local associations are staffed by full-time directors of missions. The remaining networks are led by parttime staff or volunteers often serving in an elected moderator role.

IBSA zone consultants work to assist churches and associations, especially focusing on regions with fewer local staff and resources. “Associations

on me a little. Moreover, I wondered whether it’s important that everyone who leads associational work has the same title.

My biggest concern was whether Associational Mission Strategist really describes what I do better than “Director of Missions” (my current title). I concluded that the new term did not adequately describe everything that I do, but then again neither did the old one. I can’t think of a title that does.

So I have decided to own the new descriptor/title. Not because I must, but for two very important reasons. I do so first because of an historical common denominator. Whether we refer to our associational leader as Associational Missionary, Director of Missions, or Associational Mission Strategist, there is a common theme in each of these titles that directs us as to what our focus should be: missions. Whatever else we do, and in the midst of all we do, our main focus is to revolve around missions.

Associational leaders are to help churches develop a missionary mindset. We are to encourage people to be on mission and to give to missions. We are to point people toward opportunities for doing missions. And when

can often provide fellowship and local missions opportunities in ways that the state can’t, and the state convention can often provide specialized training, resources, and services that the local association often can’t,” Adams said.

In other words, local associations are often at their best when convening people and churches for fellowship, leader development, and local projects. And IBSA is often best equipped to come alongside those efforts with more specialized training, resources, and expertise.

“In this new day, I think it is especially important for local church pastors and leaders to revisit the purpose and mission of their association,” Adams said, “and to look for ways that their state convention and other partners can effectively join them in meeting the growing and changing needs of today’s churches.

“Baptist associations can continue to play a vital role in both strengthening and multiplying churches. They will be most effective when continuously adjusting to stay relevant and valuable to the local churches they serve.”

the storms of sin and selfishness harm and hinder the work of the church, we are to help churches and church leaders reset the sails so that they can once again navigate their communities with a missionary force.

The second reason I will own the new title is because of the word “strategist.” That word may mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people. But the overwhelming thing it says to me is that we are to be intentional in all we do. We do not go about associational work in a lackadaisical manner. We do not do something just because that’s the way we’ve always done it. Rather, we look forward with purpose and plans regarding what we should be doing and could be doing. We dream. We pray. We evaluate our assets and our human resources and we push forward doing all that we can to help our congregations be churches on mission. I guess there are a few hoops to jump through before we can make things official. But I am ready to order some new business cards.

Brent Cloyd leads Greater Wabash Baptist Association, headquartered in Fairfield.

INTERCESSORS – Illinois associational leaders meeting in Springfield in August reach their hands toward Chicago in a moment of prayer for the city.

CLOYD

More than a drop in the bucket

THE cooperative program • 3 rd quarter report jan. 1 - Sept. 30

This report includes contributions received by the Illinois Baptist State Association through the third quarter of 2018. For questions about this report, contact the IBSA Church Cooperation Team at (217) 391-3104, e-mail JeffDeasy@IBSA.org, or write to P.O. Box 19247, Springfield, IL 62794-9247.

Sending a percentage of a church’s weekly offering to support Southern Baptist missions may seem like a small gift, but giving through the Cooperative Program adds up And has a global impact.

Baptists in Illinois give about

to Cooperative Program missions each year.

goes to the national SBC for missions, church planting, and theological education.

is used in Illinois to grow churches, start new congregations, and equip Baptists for missions, evangelism, and discipleship.

See the CP droplet chart breakdown at IBSA.org/CP

Illinois, our mission field

The 56.5% of Cooperative Program giving that remains in Illinois supports: 6% IBSA camps, facilities, student centers, Foundation subsidies Church Cooperation services, IBSA operations Illinois church planting Illinois Baptist media, Cooperative Program development Illinois evangelism and missions

7% 8% 8% 12% 16%

Illinois church strengthening ministries

Top 100 Illinois churches in Cooperative Program support through the third quarter of 2018

Top 100 Illinois churches in per capita CP support through the third quarter of 2018

Lighthouse Fellowship, Huntley 101.60

Bethalto First, Bethalto 99.49

Harvest Church of Southern IL, Anna 99.12

Salem First, Salem 98.90

Cutler First, Cutler 98.82

Mt Olive, Dongola 98.45

Maryville First, Maryville 98.17

August Gate Metro East, Belleville 98.04

Urban Voice Community, Chicago 98.00

New Salem, Mc Leansboro 97.87

New Hope of Como, Sterling 97.05

Golf Road, Des Plaines 96.93

Liberty, Harrisburg 95.10

Freedom, Noble 94.55

Carmi First, Carmi 94.08

Quincy, Quincy 93.93

Peru First, Peru 93.69

Tabernacle, Decatur 93.50

Casey First, Casey 92.87

Washington First, Washington 92.44

University, Macomb 92.41

Celebration Community, Pana 92.28

Tallula, Tallula 92.03

Calvary, Alton 91.40 Calvary, Monticello 90.44 Hillerman

Grand Chain 90.20

Of all the buzz words floating around churches over the past decade, “community” might be the buzziest. Biblical community is something many churches aspire to now. It can take the shape of small group meetings, monthly dinner gatherings, or a simple encouragement to show hospitality. “Community” can also be used to describe in general the way we want to feel about church. We want community. The Bible tells us we need community. Right?

What about the family who struggles to make it to small group during the week? Or the newcomer who doesn’t feel comfortable sharing personal details with relative strangers. And are “older” forms of community—like Sunday school classes—still a valid expression of the concept?

I’ve felt those tensions in my own life and family. As a single adult, community wasn’t difficult. An evening meeting with people in the same stage of life was a welcome break in the middle of the week. But as a married mother of two preschoolers, it’s often difficult for us to get out of the house on a weeknight, and even harder to arrive in an attitude befitting community as we’ve come to understand it.

Our current situation begs the question: What is the value of community with fellow Christians, even when a particular set of circumstances or stage of life makes it challenging?

Thankfully for us, the Bible has much to say about community, even if the authors don’t use the term like we do. By exploring how Scripture describes early Christian community, we can start to define the characteristics that ought to mark ours:

1. Community encourages. In the first chapter of Romans, Paul tells the church there that he longs to see them so he can “impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you.” His aim isn’t just one-way encouragement. The apostle says he wants to be encouraged by their faith too.

When we put this in context, we can draw a parallel between their time and ours. Christians in Rome were being persecuted. The level of our persecution now is drastically less severe in most cases, but there is a connection. We as believers can encourage each other to continue in the faith, even when the circumstances of our lives are difficult, or the culture moves farther away from a real understanding of God’s plan for the world.

2. Community shares the load. “Carry one another’s burdens,” Paul tells the church in Galatia. He’s talking about sin burdens, commentaries note, but Charles Spurgeon extended the metaphor this way: “Help your brethren....If they have a heavier burden than they can bear, try to put your shoulder beneath their load, and so lighten it for them.”

Many burdens have been shared in community groups I’ve been a part of over the years. Depression, career disappointment, death of a parent or a sibling or a child. These burdens were shared verbally and then figuratively, as group members prayed for each other and kept in close contact.

Community gives believers an extra shoulder to bear the weight when it’s too heavy to bear alone.

3. Community provokes (in a good way). The writer of Hebrews encourages Christians to “watch out for one another to

provoke love and good works.” Whereas the encouragement we see in Romans 1 undergirded the early church, the encouragement referenced in Hebrews 10:24 spurred it forward.

In a recent community group discussion about hospitality, I listened as my fellow group members shared humbly about how God is opening doors to share Jesus, simply because they’re inviting people into their homes. I was encouraged and “provoked” to do the same so that the gospel can go forth.

4. Through community, God builds his church. Acts 2 paints a glorious picture of the church. “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer....Every day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved” (Acts 2:42, 47, CSB).

Living faithfully in the context of community drew people to the truth of Christ. The same thing happens now. At a recent baptism at my church, two couples shared how they came to understand their need for Jesus in the context of their community group.

Scripture’s depiction of biblical community puts the emphasis on God’s graciousness to us. The gifts of community—encouragement, burden-sharing, good works, and the opportunity to see God build his church—are gifts from God himself. It’s far more about him than it is about us.

Meredith Flynn is managing editor of the Illinois Baptist and a member of Delta Church in Springfield.

The reason for our work

Read: Matthew 25:31-46

When I was a student in elementary school, tests always made me nervous. Every time the teacher announced an upcoming exam, my mind would begin the “what if” games. What happens if I fail? What if I draw a blank on test day? What if they ask a question about something I haven’t studied?

In Matthew 25, Jesus informs us all what will be on the final exam on Judgment Day. All nations will be gathered before him, and the righteous and the wicked will be separated. The righteous will receive the invitation to come and inherit the kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the world.

ADRON ROBINSON

Jesus goes on to describe the reasons for the entry of the righteous and the denial of the wicked. The righteous ask, “When did we do all these things for you Lord?” And Jesus answers, “As you did it to one of the least of my brothers and sisters, you did it for me.”

While everyone will agree that we are saved by grace and not by works, Jesus reminds us that we are saved by grace, through faith, unto good works (Eph. 2:8-10). We have been saved to serve, and Jesus says that when we serve others we are actually serving him! The evidence that a person has been saved by grace is the outworking of that grace in their lives by serving others.

Christians don’t feed the hungry, minister to the sick, or visit the prisoner because we want to go to heaven. We feed the hungry, minister to the sick, and visit the prisoner because by God’s grace heaven has already come to us, and we don’t want to keep it to ourselves.

PRAYER PROMPT: Father, we want our lives to be a living testimony to your grace in saving us. Give us your compassion for the least of these, so that we may share the grace you have so richly poured upon us.

Adron Robinson is pastor of Hillcrest Baptist Church in Country Club Hills and president of the Illinois Baptist State Association.

“I’ll

be glad when Pastor Doug gets over his vegan phase.”

Is it a command for all Christians, or just people who are wired for it?

Confessions of a ‘community’ skeptic

October 1-31

Cooperative Program

Month Resources: IBSA.org/CP

November 2-3

EVENTS

Lunch and Learn Webinar Series

Nov. 21: FIVE: The importance of long-range planning

When: 11:30 a.m. to noon

Info: IBSA.org/Women

December 2-9

Week of Prayer for International Missions and the Lottie Moon

Close up small business?

dave says

What: Discipleship-focused weekend for girls in grades 7-12

Where: IBSA Building, Springfield

Cost: $20 for IBSA-affiliated churches; $25 all others Register: IBSA.org/AWSOM

November 6-7

IBSA Pastors’ Conference

Theme: Blazing New Trails, from Rev. 2:1-5

Where: First Baptist Church, Maryville Info: IBSAannualmeeting.org

November 7

IBSA Ministers’ Wives’ Brunch

What: Praying for Him, from Luke 11:9

Where: First Baptist Church, Maryville Info: IBSAannualmeeting.org

November 7-8

IBSA Annual Meeting

Theme: Pioneering Spirit: 200 & Counting

Where: First Baptist Church, Maryville Info: IBSAannualmeeting.org

November 11

Youth Encounter

What: Evangelistic opportunity for students featuring compelling teaching and inspiring

worship

Where: First Baptist Church, O’Fallon Register: IBSA.org/YE2018

Christmas Offering

Info: IMB.org

January 17, 24

Tax Seminars

What: Valuable tax info for current and retired ministers, treasurers, and other church leaders

Where: Jan. 17: IBSA Building, Springfield; Jan. 24: Marion (location TBA)

Info: TammyButler@IBSA.org

January 20

Sanctity of Human Life

Sunday Resources: ERLC.com

January 22-23

What: The premier mid-winter gathering for Illinois Baptist leaders from every region; leaders will learn with and from one another how to expand their leadership skills and use them to help grow effective churches in our unique context

Where: IBSA Building, Springfield Register: AubreyKrol@IBSA.org

NeTworkiNg

First Southern Baptist Church of Beardstown is seeking a full-time pastor. Send resumes to: First Southern Baptist Church, Attn: Pastor Search Committee, 900 Grand Ave., Beardstown, IL 62618, or to Francis Wilson at klwilson@ casscomm.com.

QI have a small business, and I love what I do. Unfortunately, things haven’t been going well the last several months. On top of that, I’ve committed a lot of money to advertising in the coming year. Recently, I got a great job offer from a company that would pay me twice what I’m making now. What do you think I should do?

AIf it were me, I’d want to keep my options open. Closing your business would mean giving up all your customers. I’m not sure that’s a good idea when the offer has just been made, and you know so little about the actual job. If you think this new job is something you might like, why not accept the offer and see if you can continue your other work on the weekends? That would help cover some, if not all, of your advertising commitment. Plus, it would keep some money rolling in if the new job doesn’t work out.

If you find you like this new job, then you’ve got a great income and something you like doing on weekends that pays. If you keep your business open— even on a small scale—there’s always a chance it will begin to grow again. Who knows? It might give you the opportunity to jump back into it full-time somewhere down the road!

Financial advisor Dave Ramsey is a prolific author and radio host.

Find more information on ministry positions at IBSA.org/connect Send NetworkiNg items to IllinoisBaptist@IBSA.org

Waldo Baptist Church in Metropolis is seeking a youth pastor. Send resumes to Waldo Baptist Church, 6970 Waldo Church Rd., Metropolis, IL 62960. For more information, contact Pastor Trad York at tradyork@gmail.com.

Crossroads Community Church in Carol Stream is seeking an executive pastor to lead finance, facilities, administrative staff, communications, tech, hospitality, and other ministries where his gifts and interests are the strongest. For more information and to apply, go to crossroadschurch.us.

Fun money

QWe are debt-free except for our home, and we have six months of expenses set aside in our emergency fund. Every time we do our monthly budget, we set aside a small amount of personal spending money for us both. Do you see anything wrong with this?

AThere’s absolutely nothing wrong with having a little fun money calculated into your monthly budget when you’re in good financial shape. The problems start when couples don’t agree on these kinds of things—or worse—when they start hiding stuff and lying to each other about where the money’s going.

People either grow together or they grow apart when they get married. When you start hiding things from your spouse you’re essentially keeping separate lives. That’s a bad sign in any marriage, and in many cases, this kind of thing leads to divorce.

Having an agreed-upon budget isn’t just telling your money what to do. It’s also an important part of a healthy sharing and communication process between husband and wife.

Thompsonville First Baptist Church seeks a bivocational youth director

Send cover letter and resume by Nov. 16 to: 21238 Shawneetown Road, Thompsonville, IL 62890, Attn: Kevin Smith, or tvillebaptistchurch@frontier.com.

DAVE RAMSEY

Get them together

QOur church values youth, technology, and fresh ideas, so we have lots of young people in important positions. But what’s missing is wisdom that only comes from experience. I don’t want to seem like a crank, but not all the old people should be put out to pasture. Who do I tell this to?

AStart a team ministry approach where two younger singles or couples are grouped with an older couple. Ask them to team up for three months, with each person or couple providing a fellowship activity—a cookout, bowling night, brunch, etc., where they can build relationships, learn from each other, and share life experiences. At the end of three months, invite them to team up with a new group in order to build friendships and a better understanding of what various age groups can contribute to the church.

On board with online

QThe pastor is keen on starting several social media things, and different ways of communicating. Do we really need a half-dozen mail and online groups?

AElectronic communication allows a church to quickly and conveniently keep members and visitors up-to-date. Information that used to arrive in printed form can now be shared in a matter of minutes. It’s the direction of the future, and it sounds like your pastor is moving forward with the times. Of course, you can always opt out, but you might find you’re missing out on important information.

Make a plan

QOur church seems to have big ideas, but none of them really succeed. What is a good test for the viability of a project, before we agree to do it?

AMy suggestion would be to set reasonable, measurable metrics for any major project. Design an action plan, clearly communicate the strategy, and set goals. Don’t be afraid to hold people accountable for whatever part of the project they have been assigned. Schedule meetings to measure progress and assign any corrective actions that need to be implemented.

Once you’ve approved the project, budget, work assignments, meeting dates, and a timeframe for implementation, just do it!

Pat Pajak is IBSA’s associate executive director for evangelism. Send questions for Pat to IllinoisBaptist@IBSA.org.

Exegete the culture Understanding the world where we live and

Church needed here...

Location: Park Forest

serve

Focus: Residents of this village 30 miles south of Chicago

Characteristics: Park Forest was created in 1948 as a planned neighborhood for veterans coming home from World War II. Today, it has a population of around 22,000, the majority of whom are African-American.

Prayer needs: Pray that God will provide a clear calling to an AfricanAmerican church planter to move to the area and start a healthy multiplying church, and that Christ will move in Park Forest in a mighty way.

CONVENTIONAL WISDOM

Snapshots from the world of Illinois Baptists

WORK/LIFE BALANCE

“Society has long debated whether women can ‘have it all’.... This study suggests that mothers are making more compromises than fathers do in pursuit of a family and/or a satisfying career.”

I feel called to or made for my current work

Going along to get along

21% of Gen Z believes what is morally right or wrong depends on what a person believes.

American teenagers are also the generation most likely to believe moral rights and wrongs change over time based on society.

I am very satisfied with how well my work fits my calling

My work utilizes my strengths and talents (% strongly agree)

I believe God gave me certain gifts and talents to use for his glory (% strongly agree)

I want to use my gifts and talents for the good of others (% strongly agree)

I find ways to use my unique strengths, talents, and capabilities outside the workplace (% “very true”) 31% 24%

“These young Americans have come of age in an incredibly complex world with access to more information and ideas than any other generation before them….Gen Z as a whole are generally opposed to challenging others’ beliefs, likely driven by a desire to avoid offense or to acknowledge the value of other perspectives.”

– IBSA Church Planting Team

– Barna Research

PAT PAJAK