It is almost time for the annual Baptist celebration. It will be a festive time and a solemn time. It will be a time filled with ceremony and ritual as well as a time of challenge and joy. It is almost time for the annual meeting of the Alabama Baptist State Convention.
The celebration begins early whenever Baptists gather. People from different parts of the state renew friendships nurtured throughout the year by phone calls, letters and e-mails. Now they can shake hands, share a cup of coffee and a few minutes to catch up with each other. They are such little things — a few minutes of fellowship, a friendly smile, a hallway conversation. But such little things can lift a heavy spirit.
Preconvention meetings lift a spirit even higher. Pastors enjoy a spiritual feast of preaching at the Pastors Conference. Church staff members of most every description gather in ministry-related conferences. New programs and ministry tools are examined. Co-workers share innovative ideas that have worked for them and might work in another situation.
It is amazing how God can transform someone’s little suggestion into a magnificent vision for another. A side point in a Pastors Conference sermon can provide insight into a whole series of sermons for some listener. It happens all the time at ministry-related conferences — not for everyone but for many.
If only the spirit is lifted — through fellowship or through new ministry-related ideas — participation in the Baptist celebration is worthwhile. But there is much, much more. There is the annual meeting of the convention itself.
On Tuesday morning at 8:30 state convention president Mike McLemore, pastor of Lakeside Baptist Church in Hoover, will bang the gavel calling to order messengers from Alabama’s 3,200 Baptist churches, and the celebration will continue.
The messengers who will gather in Birmingham at Shades Mountain Baptist Church Nov. 19–20 will celebrate what God has done among them during the past year — we will celebrate record financial support of missions, ministry and evangelism at home and around the world through the Cooperative Program and special missions offerings. We will celebrate victories won in Jesus’ name through the entities of the state convention. We will celebrate outstanding service of fellow Christians such as missions volunteers and convention leaders.
Every celebration has its serious side, and this one will be no different. There will be a budget to adopt — a record $41 million challenge budget will be recommended. There will be resolutions to be debated and motions to be acted upon. Ministry goals for Alabama Baptists will be presented to encourage churches to expand their ministries.
The messengers probably will not hold their breath like watching a death-defying tightrope walker at a circus, but the convention will have its moments of tension. One of the most anticipated will be the election of a new president. Joe Godfrey, pastor of Taylor Road Baptist Church in Montgomery, and Gerald Hallmark, pastor of First Baptist Church in Sylacauga, are expected to be nominated to succeed McLemore, who is ineligible to be re-elected.
No celebration would be complete without inspiration, and this one will be no exception. The president’s address Tuesday morning and the annual sermon Wednesday morning provide the bookends around the inspirational message Tuesday evening. McLemore, of course, will deliver the president’s address as he brings to an end two years as the top elected leader of Alabama Baptists. James Bruton, pastor of Liberty Park Baptist Church in Vestavia Hills, will bring the convention sermon. Popular New Orleans pastor Fred Luter will highlight the Tuesday evening session. Luter is pastor of the Franklin Avenue Baptist Church.
Before the messengers adjourn their annual meeting Wednesday noon, they will have been encouraged, challenged and inspired. They will have been invigorated for continuing service. They will have combined their resources to provide direction for the 1 million-member-plus Alabama Baptist State Convention. They will have new information about what God is doing through Baptists in Alabama and around the world. They will know afresh that they are part of something important, something God is blessing.
If you can be a part of the 2002 annual meeting of the Alabama Baptist State Convention, please do so. Come and go as your schedule demands. Whenever you are present, you will be blessed by the celebration.
If you cannot attend in person, pray for those who will attend, and look for a complete report on the annual meeting in the Nov. 28 issue of The Alabama Baptist.
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