The weather outside was miserable — cold, constant rain, sometimes in downpours. But inside First Baptist Church, Trussville, the atmosphere was warm and bright as Alabama Baptists met Nov. 12–14 for their annual meeting and related activities.
The weather may have played a part in the attendance. Messenger registration was only 782, down 17 percent from the 941 registered messengers the last time the annual meeting was held in the Birmingham area in 2014. But this year’s messenger count still topped each of the last three years when the convention was held in Daphne (748 messengers), Montgomery (735) and Huntsville (760).
Interestingly 359 churches or 11 percent of the 3,270 cooperating Alabama churches sent messengers to the 2018 annual meeting. That is the same number of churches represented last year in Montgomery.
But the weather could not dampen the spirits of those attending the various meetings. From beginning to end the atmosphere was encouraging as Baptists rallied around two themes dear to their hearts — preaching Christ and faithfully serving Him.
Pastors Conference
“Preaching Christ” was the theme of the pre-convention Pastors Conference. Pastors Conference President Daven Watkins, pastor of First Baptist Church, Pelham, featured six Alabama Baptists among the conference’s eight speakers. Everyone was a hit. Styles of preaching varied widely but the content provided a spiritual and theological banquet for participants.
While pastors enjoyed the conference in the church auditorium, in the chapel the State Board of Missions was receiving good news from Executive Director Rick Lance. After several years of failing to meet the state convention budget, he told board members this year’s receipts are likely to surpass the 2018 budget goal and may reach to the 2019 budget goal.
Cooperative Program receipts
At the end of October budget receipts were running 3.28 percent ahead of the pace to meet the 2017 budget goal of a little more than $1 million. If Cooperative Program (CP) receipts during each of the last two months reach the 10-month average of $3,184,444, Alabama Baptists will experience an increase in annual CP giving for the first time in several years, according to information shared with board members.
But the calendar is not on the side of reaching that goal. Most churches forward their missions giving through CP on a monthly basis. Since the last Sunday of December is Dec. 30, many churches will not forward their December gifts in time to be counted before year’s end.
Still, surpassing the CP budget goal for the first time in several years will be something to celebrate. We cannot stop the drop in CP giving until we arrest the decline and that may happen this year.
Tuesday morning the annual meeting itself began, but it was hard to tell any difference from the atmosphere of the previous day. In the display area, pastors and church leaders eagerly talked with program and entity leaders about new ideas to help their various churches. Unlike in some past years there was little whispering about a pending business item or campaigning for one’s favorite candidate.
At this annual meeting, business and elections took a backseat to entity reports and times of inspiration. There were no miscellaneous business items introduced and messengers offered no resolutions that had not been submitted ahead of time. In the first hour of the convention the agenda was 30 minutes ahead and by the end of the morning session, it was almost an hour ahead of schedule. That same pattern repeated in the afternoon session and the Wednesday morning session.
The president and two vice presidents for the coming year were elected without opposition and the resolutions prompted minimal discussion.
What brought messengers into the auditorium at First, Trussville, were the times of inspiration. Convention President John Thweatt, pastor of First Baptist Church, Pell City, captivated the congregation with his interpretation of the convention theme “Faithful” by challenging pastors to “preach the Word.”
Southern Baptist Theological Seminary President Al Mohler, Tuesday evening’s featured speaker, and Terrence Jones, pastor of Strong Tower at Washington Park, Montgomery, who delivered the convention sermon, did not disappoint.
One of the more emotional moments of the annual meeting was during the theme interpretation by Ken Allen, associational mission strategist for DeKalb Baptist Association, who shared about God’s faithfulness during an auto accident in which his daughter, Abby, was seriously injured. His words reminded us all of times God has been faithful to us during times of special needs.
There were other emotional moments. Messengers saw a letter from Adoniram Judson, Baptists’ first missionary from America; were introduced to Jimmie and Martha Harris, who have served as house parents for Alabama Baptist Children’s Home for 34 years; met Roy Ciampa, chairman of Samford University’s religion department, who was saved as a college student under the ministry of Bobby Welch, an Alabama native and former president of the Southern Baptist Convention.
The special moments just kept coming from every part of the program and every session of the annual meeting.
Participants seemed to leave the annual meeting with a sense of unity, a sense of encouragement, a sense of time well spent. Certainly the members of the host church went out of their way to be helpful to all. Every church that hosts a major Alabama Baptist meeting seems to go the extra mile but the efforts by the members of First, Trussville, are unsurpassed.
Retirement reception
In closing please indulge a personal word. The directors and staff of The Alabama Baptist sponsored a retirement reception for me during the hours between the Tuesday afternoon and evening session. It was a wonderful time for me. I am indebted to all who made the reception possible and grateful to the hundreds of friends who took time to come by and encourage me as I enter a new phase of my life.
So for me, and I believe for most who attended the 2018 annual meeting of the Alabama Baptist State Convention, the annual meeting and related activities was an encouraging experience and time well spent.
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