Elmore Baptist Association
43 Southern Baptist Churches
and Missions - Serving the Lord Together in Mission and Ministry
A Word from your Associational Missionary
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April 10, 2007 Dear EBA family, The growth in Elmore County has offered a tremendous ministry and mission opportunities for Elmore Baptist churches. With new folks moving into our towns and communities, many are searching for places to plant their faith and grow in Christ. Many others are just searching - for what - they do not know. We believe they need Jesus. We believe that the Lord has called His church into the mission field that is Elmore County. We believe that together as an association we can do more working cooperatively together than by ourselves.I ask that you pray for me and your association as together we respond to the challenges and opportunities of a growing county. |
I believe the response of EBA churches to the growth opportunity must be twofold.
1) We will pray for and offer encouragement and resources to help our existing churches to be healthy and growing in their response to God’s unique mission for each church. As Director of Missions, I am committed to providing this support to our churches.
2) We must be open to the need for new churches/ministries in the county. New churches often reach new folks easier than existing churches.
Our association was challenged at our last annual meeting (10/06 at Coosada Baptist) by our moderator to consider the need for starting a new Southern Baptist work among the African-American community. In response to his challenge and the subsequent resolution of the association, our Missions Committee has begun the process of looking at demographics/statistics of our county, with special attention to the concentration of population in the African-American community. We have received assistance from our State Baptist Convention missionaries and the North American Mission Board in this study.
At this point our committee is continuing to seek to understand the challenges and opportunities for our association in the area of a new church start. More importantly we are seeking the mind of Christ in the matter.
We ask that you lead your church to pray for EBA as we seek the Lord’s leadership regarding a church start.
In the past 6 months, the EBA office has been contacted by two men who feel led to begin churches in our area. Both of these men are African-American. They contacted our office, I believe, in response to God’s call in their lives. One of these individuals is a native of Elmore County and an active member of an African-American church in the county. We continue to have conversations with this church planter about possibilities of working together with the association.
I believe that churches should be started by churches and not by an association or convention. Any new church should be sponsored by another church. The role of the association in this process is to be prayerful and supportive. The role of the association is - under the leadership of the Lord - to find churches and individuals who feel led to support a new work and help to bring them together in cooperative relationship.
No decisions have been made by the association in regard to support of any particular new work. If progress is made in the search for the type of new work needed at this time, the process would be the same as with any other new church start.
1) At the recommendation of the Missions Committee, the association (Executive Committee) would decide whether the association would be involved in the church start and what our involvement/support would be.
2) At the recommendation of the Petitionary Letters Committee, the association (meeting in annual session) would at some point consider accepting the church under the watchcare of the association.
3) After a period under the watchcare of the association, the Petitionary Letters Committee may recommend to the association full membership for the new church.
I welcome your input and questions. I ask for your prayers.
As our county grows, I believe the Lord is leading His church to grow as well.
Grace,
