Croft to retire as director of discipleship after decade of service at State Board

Discipleship office. Hold on one moment, please — I’ll put you through to Dr. Croft.”
  
Inside the halls of the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions (SBOM) building, Max Croft is called a lot of things.
  
The T.W. Hunt of Alabama Baptists. The “real deal” when it comes to authentic faith and service. More simply, Max. And more officially, director of the office of discipleship and family ministries.
  
But Croft says he’s just a layman used by God in ways he never imagined, for longer than he ever thought possible.
  
“My doctorate is in industrial engineering and management. It was excellent preparation for ministry,” Croft says with a sly grin and dry wit — his trademark.
  
But when he first walked into the SBOM offices on April Fools’ Day 1997, Croft’s reason for being there was no joking matter.
  
“When Sammy Gilbreath (director of the SBOM office of evangelism) asked me if I would be interested in doing denominational work … he said that if Alabama was to be won to the Lord, it would be through the laypeople. My role was to emphasize that,” he said.
  
A NASA retiree, Croft had spent some 30 years in Huntsville working in information and administrative management systems before he and his wife, Mary Ella, felt called to pack everything up, sell the Christian bookstore she ran and move to Louisville, Ky., so that he could attend Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.
  
“When I finished there and came to the board, I came thinking, ‘If I could stay five years, it’ll be worth the investment (of attending seminary),’” Croft said.
  
A decade later, as he prepares to retire again — this time on April 2 — his colleagues wish it were an “April Fools’.”
  
“I can’t imagine not having him here,” Gilbreath said. Croft was Gilbreath’s first hire when Gilbreath acquired an empty evangelism office 10 years ago, but their history of ministry together goes back even further.
  
The two began working together as a youth ministry team — Gilbreath preaching and Croft leading Bible studies — back when Gilbreath was barely 20 and Croft was a deacon at First Baptist Church, Huntsville.
  
“God began even then to do something, and we have been close and worked together since those days,” Gilbreath said. “I had felt for a long time that Max had a special ministry. He was very important in NASA work, but it didn’t surprise me at all that he went back to seminary. I felt then like that had been coming for decades.”
  
When Croft came on board with the SBOM, he was most likely the first layman to be hired by the board, according to Gilbreath. He served four years in the evangelism office and then became director of the discipleship office.
  
In that role, Croft has traveled and taught courses on discipleship and prayer, working with churches to develop strong outreach and discipleship programs. He’s done this primarily through the vehicle of Intentional Evangelism, a strategy written several years ago by him and Gilbreath that has caught on like wildfire in the state.
  
“I’ve thoroughly enjoyed this (job) — it’s been the most challenging and fulfilling time of my ministry. There’s a real sense of fulfillment when you know that you’re doing something that makes a difference — Alabama Baptists are making a difference in the lives of people,” Croft said.
  
According to Rick Lance, SBOM executive director, said Croft has offered “expert leadership” in this role. “I admire Max Croft because like Enoch in the Old Testament, he is walking with God,” he said. “He is one of the most authentic Christians I have had the joy to know. We will continue to call upon Max Croft in the days to come.”
  
Croft’s ministry is making a “gigantic Kingdom difference,” he added.
  
And even though Croft’s future ministry is disguised in wit — he jokes about the soon-coming stress of fishing often at his lake house in Scottsboro — he has no intentions of stopping his service.
  
“I want to be involved in ministry. I want the joy of sharing Jesus with other people wherever I am,” Croft said. “I hopefully will find a new avenue for that soon.”
  
Missions has always been “a heartbeat” for him, and that may be the path he decides to walk down next — it’s all up to God, he said.
  
“Knowing Max, he may retire from the Baptist Building like he did from NASA but he won’t retire from ministry,” Gilbreath said. “Max Croft eats, sleeps, breathes and bleeds ministry. He will find a place to serve.”