Is there a way we can do better in carrying out Great Commission Ministries?”
That’s the question the Great Commission Task Force (formerly Great Commission Study Committee) continues to evaluate one year after being formed by then-state convention President Jimmy Jackson.
Jackson, pastor of Whitesburg Baptist Church, Huntsville, and chairman of the task force, provided the interim update from the group during the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions (SBOM) report to the state convention Nov. 15.
Reminding Alabama Baptists that the task force is composed of SBOM executive committee members, Jackson said the four meetings held since last year’s state convention coincided with already scheduled executive committee meetings.
“It has saved Alabama Baptists a lot of money by meeting at the times already set,” he said. “We have been researching information and evaluating where we are, but we don’t say we know everything.
“Our desire is to determine, first of all, how we can improve what we are doing and how we can further what we are doing.”
So far, the task force has heard from four Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) leaders.
On Jan. 20, the group met with Bob White, executive director of the Georgia Baptist Convention and a member of the Great Commission Resurgence Task Force (GCRTF) in 2009–10. “We talked about the history of the SBC and its relationship to the Cooperative Program (CP) and how we minister,” Jackson said.
On March 17, Frank Page, CEO of the SBC Executive Committee and a member of the GCRTF, discussed the historic working relationship of the SBC and state conventions in relationship to the CP. “We looked at what we are doing and what is being done throughout the SBC,” Jackson noted.
On May 12, Kevin Ezell, president of the North American Mission Board (NAMB), shared “what is going to be taking place in the years to come.”
On Aug. 11, Ronnie Floyd, pastor of Cross Church, Springdale, Ark., and chairman of the GCRTF, shared the reasons behind the GCRTF recommendations and “what we can do to better serve the Lord.”
“As we did our evaluations, we found out that Alabama is No. 1 in CP giving across the entire SBC and has been for quite some time,” Jackson said. Also “Alabama is a perennial leader in SBC missions giving through Lottie Moon, Annie Armstrong and World Hunger. The tornadoes impacted the giving of local churches but we are still No. 1.”
Other items the group discovered were
• “Our … partnership with NAMB is changing.”
• “There is a growing need for strategic church revitalization in Alabama and North America.”
Jackson said the task force affirms the following recommendations made by the SBOM (see story, page 1):
• Increase the percentage of CP gifts to SBC causes by 0.5 percent in 2012.
• Allocate any undesignated funds exceeding the 2012 base budget on a 50/50 basis between the SBC and the state.
• Consider a new paradigm for global missions partnerships by focusing on assisting missionaries with Alabama roots.
• Increase the special offering goal for disaster relief.
The task force also reaffirmed the following:
1. “Our commitment to the Great Commission.
2. “Our commitment as a state convention to the primary means and preferred model of supporting missions by giving through the Cooperative Program.
3. “Our partnership in missions with the larger family of faith called Southern Baptists.
4. “Our commitment to reach the lost (statewide, globally).”
“We will continue to meet and follow the Lord’s leadership,” Jackson said, noting a more detailed report will be presented at the 2012 state convention meeting in Montgomery. If additional time is needed, then a third report will be offered at the state convention meeting in Huntsville in 2013, he added.
“Slow is best. Carefully and wisely is going to demand some time,” Jackson said in an interview following his report. “It is good for us to look it over. We are evaluating where we are, and we can improve in some areas.”
The GCRTF’s main concerns were baptism numbers and missions money, he said. “What we are trying to do is evaluate where we fit into that as Alabama Baptists raise our level and reach more people with the gospel.
“Have we been challenged to do something we are already doing? We want to do better, of course, but if it’s not broke, don’t break it.”
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