The North American Mission Board’s (NAMB) strategy to focus on church planting by redeploying missionaries and shifting budget emphases continues to draw concern from many state leaders across the nation.
In January, leaders of the California Southern Baptist Convention (CSBC) distributed a report detailing how changes at NAMB will impact their work.
The CSBC report noted concern that NAMB’s decision to move more resources to church planting will adversely impact many effective ministries in the state, primarily by eliminating ministry positions.
On April 12, Fermín A. Whittaker, CSBC executive director, said, “California Southern Baptists don’t necessarily believe church starting is the only way to reach Californians for Christ.”
He explained that the 12 evangelism missionaries eliminated in 2011 reported 9,032 professions of faith and confirmed 1,637 baptisms through their efforts. Also important, Whittaker added, the missionaries were instrumental in engaging almost 16,000 volunteers from CSBC congregations in ministry.
“If we really want to reach California and North America, we will never do it solely through church planting and need these types of ministries to mobilize church members to get outside the walls of our church buildings and tell others about Jesus while ministering in His name,” Whittaker said.
Relating to partners
Emil Turner, executive director of the Arkansas Baptist State Convention, expressed concern about the way NAMB is relating to its partners.
“Of greater concern to me than the impact on Arkansas is the impact on our partners that have to reach the pioneer areas,” Turner said. “[NAMB] strategy undermines the strength of the churches they plant as they defund associational work and church support.”
Bob Mills, executive director of the Kansas-Nebraska Convention of Southern Baptists, noted NAMB’s shift toward a key emphasis on church planting. “Kansas-Nebraska, other state conventions and local associations do not have the luxury of being so single focused,” he said.
In Ohio, messengers to the state convention last fall passed a resolution requesting NAMB trustees to “continue their financial support of their missionaries in Ohio,” defining missionaries as associational directors of missions, Baptist Collegiate Ministry directors, employees of Ohio’s eight mission centers as well as church planters.
Jack Kwok, executive director of the State Convention of Baptists in Ohio, said at the time his state qualifies as an “under-reached and underserved mission field,” using terminology included in the Great Commission Task Force report approved by the Southern Baptist Convention in 2010.
Leaders in at least three state conventions have supported NAMB’s strategy change. Garvon Golden, executive director of Dakota Baptist Convention, said the convention will focus on strengthening churches and planting evangelistic churches.
The Dakota convention is facing financial challenges stemming from changes at NAMB, but Golden said the convention will take more financial responsibility for its work and will operate with a smaller staff.
Kirk Baker, president of the Utah-Idaho Southern Baptist Convention, said changes at NAMB are spurring his convention to a necessary restructuring that has been put off for years.
At their annual meeting last fall, leaders of the West Virginia Convention of Southern Baptists approved a reorganization plan that reflects NAMB’s new priorities, Terry Harper, the state convention’s executive director, said.
“Affected were 10 missionaries, our collegiate workers and our worker in resort missions. As painful as that has been, I think we’re going to see church planting like we’ve never seen before in West Virginia.”
(BP, CSBC)
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