GCR discrepancy

I could not help but notice a real discrepancy in the message presented by those involved in the Great Commission Resurgence Task Force listening session as reported in the Sept. 3 issue.

On one hand, they reported multiple hundreds of volunteers ready to be assigned by the International Mission Board if only the funds were available.

On the other hand, their personal responses indicated either lukewarm response to or genuine rejection of the Cooperative Program.

I am not sure how they expect the missionaries to be sent without stepping back to the pre-Cooperative Program method of individual missionaries being supported by individual churches, spending as much time raising funds as serving Christ.

I am equally concerned about the apparent disregard for the ministries and mission of our state conventions and associations.

I do not understand how anyone can describe supporting the sacrificial service of our state missionaries, Shocco, children’s home, retirement centers, our Baptist college and universities and The Alabama Baptist, as well as other entities and ministries, as “skimming.”

As an active Alabama Baptist pastor who has been privileged to know and serve alongside the men and women who act as our state missionaries, I can testify that beyond my salvation as a believer and the privilege I have to serve my church, I am most proud to identify myself as an Alabama Baptist.

I can also tell you that I believe the Alabama Baptist Convention is without peer in its support for missions and in reaching lost people for Christ both at home and all around the world.

Jim Cooley
Haleyville, Ala.