Chris Crain was selected as the AMS of the Year by the Southern Baptist Conference for Associational Leaders at the annual meeting of the SBCAL in Orlando, June 7-8. Crain is the executive director of Alabama’s Birmingham Metro Baptist Association.
The award is made annually by the professional organization which serves association mission strategists and directors of missions in Baptist associations across the nation. Dr. Ray Gentry, president and CEO of the organization said a committee of associational leaders selected Dr. Crain, based on letters of recommendation submitted. Dr. James Risner, AMS of the Greater Dayton (Ohio) Association of Baptists, chaired that committee.
Those nominating Crain said they were impressed with his faithful and consistent service to the pastors of the BMBA. There are 180 churches in the association.
It was noted that, though he oversees a significant staff, “he remains personally accessible to pastors.” They added, “He brings both relational strength and wisdom to every interaction, effectively ministering to pastors of all ages, levels of experience and church sizes and structures.”
The moderator of the BMBA, Michael Wallace, said “God has been gracious to provide cheerleaders for me along the way, at just the right times. But no one has been a bigger encourager and a better equipper than Dr. Crain. His knowledge is extensive. His compassion is genuine. His leadership is infectious. He truly is a pastor to pastors.”
Another nominator, Pastor Buddy Champion, of First Baptist Church, Trussville, Alabama, said, “I have personally noticed that he listens to learn and then leads to transform the opportunity that is before him.”
A collective note from the staff of the BMBA said, “His biggest impact is in the lives of the pastors and ministry leaders. The hours he spends on the phone, over coffee or lunch, or in meetings with leaders are countless. Chris is always available to them and willing to lend a listening and compassionate ear and offer wise counsel.”
Dr. Crain spoke briefly with The Alabama Baptist and said he loves being an AMS.
“No two days are alike. I like all the variety.”
He added, “My favorite day in the work is when I get to celebrate in the life of a church, help be a small part of their happiness.” But he noted he prefers to stay in the background rather than in the limelight.
He said “I try to never forget what it is like to be a pastor of a local congregation. I like to be a Barnabas—to come alongside and listen to them. I try to lead with my ears and not my mouth.”
He noted that someone is always speaking to pastors (whether that would be a deacon a disgruntled church member, a conference leader, etc.) but he finds it helpful to listen, to let the pastors talk and affirm their thinking.
The Birmingham metro area has about 1.2 million people, with 320,000 in the city. It is surrounded by suburbs and even some rural areas in Jefferson County. There are many different types of churches in the association and Crain can be found in one of them almost every Sunday, preaching to or visiting the congregations.
He is a native of Jasper, Alabama. He said he has been a lifelong Baptist, born in the Baptist Hospital there in Birmingham. “I was a coal miner’s kid” he said.
He is married to his wife, Carol and they have three college-age children. The oldest, Lauren, is preparing to move to Rochester, Minnesota; the middle child, Carrianne, is a student at William Carey University and the youngest, Jackson, is at Mississippi State. Carol is a high school special education teacher and an instructor at a community college, teaching psychology.
One of the accomplishments he thanks the Lord for is a thriving weekly minister’s conference, where pastors and church staff have lunch and learning experiences. He said he makes it a point to be at most all of them. Sometimes a pastor just needs to be there and have friends around him.
The association formed a service called CASH, which is a portal to receive electronic financial contributions for churches and to provide accounting services for churches at a relatively low cost. They try not to displace any church staff in doing so and they strive to keep the fees significantly lower to make the service affordable.
Their building is a beehive of activity with the offices of the staff there as well as several other Christian organizations including a crisis pregnancy center and counseling service.
Crain said he is grateful to be a Southern Baptist. “I pray we see value to partner together especially in associational work.”
EDITOR’S NOTE — Richard Nations is a retired associational mission strategist and freelance writer living in White Hall, Illinois.
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