The future of many Southern Baptist ministries remains a mystery, but Alabama Baptists need not wonder how their ministries will fare.
“We have no intention of abandoning the ministries of Alabama Baptists as we look toward the future,” said Rick Lance, executive director of the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions.
Lance shared his evaluation of the Alabama Baptist State Convention during the afternoon session of the annual meeting Nov. 16.
He acknowledged there is a lot of uncertainty about the future, especially in regard to what Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) cooperation will look like.
“I realize … there’s a huge question mark related to that funding mechanism,” Lance said. “That means there is a built-in uncertainty. We … are going to try to work with our Southern Baptist Convention partners. We’re going to do the best we can in terms of the future.
“There’s been much discussion about cooperative agreements,” he noted. “Cooperative agreements between the North American Mission Board (NAMB) and various state conventions have been a tool of the North American Mission Board with state conventions … all across America.”
Lance shared that he has had conversations with NAMB’s new president, Kevin Ezell, about the partnership.
“This state convention has been true to its mission since 1823. It helped form the Southern Baptist Convention in 1845,” Lance said. “This state convention has tried to be leaders in Southern Baptist life. We’ve tried to model partnership. We’ve tried to model cooperation.”
And although the United States has experienced a terrible financial crisis, “Alabama Baptists have led the Southern Baptist Convention in Cooperative Program giving for two years,” he said. “Since 1925, your state convention — in one of the poorest states where average church attendance is 65 people — has given well over $1 billion through the Cooperative Program. That’s big stuff — a big mission enterprise for missions.
“Your state convention is in a healthy set of circumstances, not perfect but healthy,” he said. “We also want to make sure we have healthy churches. … The churches we began in Alabama (10 years ago) are functioning, fruitful, growing churches. No one church can do all the Great Commission, but all of us together can make a huge dent in the Great Commission in our generation.”
The key to remaining a healthy state convention is cooperation, he added.
“Our future can be fruitful, and the way we can be fruitful in the future is to rediscover the principle of cooperation,” Lance said. “We never get beyond any set of circumstances where God is not.”
As Alabama Baptists continue to cooperate with one another and the rest of the SBC, he encouraged them to have Christlike spirits toward one another.
“I’m not for burning bridges but for building bridges,” Lance said. “I believe salvation is stronger than sin … forgiveness is stronger than bitterness … reconciliation is stronger than hatred … the resurrection is stronger than the crucifixion … light is stronger than darkness.
“[A]s Great Commission ministers with Great Commission ministries, let us press toward the future, not with a sense of despair or lone ranger spirit, but (with) a sense of hope and cooperation as partners.
“I’m excited about what God is doing in Alabama,” Lance said. “I love your commitment to doing the work of the Lord and doing it together. The Cooperative Program will only exist where there is Christlike selflessness.”
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