Honored for service
Barry Cosper, director of missions for Tallapoosa Baptist Association, was honored by the Pastors Conference at its Nov. 13 meeting for the 10 years he served as its treasurer while a pastor.
Directors of Missions elect officers, hear tips on communicating, resting
On Nov. 11, Gary Farley stood for hours fighting bitterly cold wind underneath some incomplete metal framework that will soon become a church. And he couldn’t have been happier. “Ten of our (Pickens Baptist Association) churches held a block party at one of the burned churches in our county Saturday, and six people were born into the kingdom of God as a result of that effort,” said Farley, Pickens Association director of missions (DOM). It was just one more aspect of the growing partnership between Pickens Association’s churches and four churches victimized by arson earlier this year. The relationship is one that has made Pickens Association the poster child for what Alabama’s associational framework can do. “I hope that in 2007, we will continue to engage fully in the partnership of our state associations for the enterprise of missions,” Farley told his fellow DOMs, meeting at First Baptist Church, Hoover, Nov. 13. The meeting was held in conjunction with the Alabama Baptist State Convention annual meeting Nov. 14–15 at Hunter Street Baptist Church, Hoover. During the meeting, those in attendance — including present and retired DOMs — heard from Bob Terry, editor of The Alabama Baptist, who explained how the ministry of the paper goes hand in hand with associational missions. They also heard from representatives of Samford University’s Resource Center for Pastoral Excellence about sabbatical options and of the Samford Sunday program. In other business, the DOMs elected Larry Felkins of Chilton Baptist Association as president and John Marks of Central Baptist Association as president-elect. They also re-elected Jim Jackson of Elmore Baptist Association as secretary-treasurer.
New state convention officers
Messengers to the Alabama Baptist State Convention annual meeting elected Roger Willmore, pastor of Deerfoot Baptist Church, Trussville, president Nov. 15. They also elected Jimmy Jackson, pastor of Whitesburg Baptist Church, Huntsville, first vice president and Mike Shaw, pastor of FBC Pelham, second vice president.
Students awarded $252,805 this year
We as Alabama Baptists have healthy institutes of higher education,” said John Gates, chairman of the Education Commission, during his report to the Alabama Baptist State Convention Nov. 14. According to the report, the presidents of Alabama’s three Baptist colleges — Judson College in Marion, Samford University in Birmingham and the University of Mobile — met three times with commissioners during the year and stressed their collective commitment to the distinct values represented in Alabama Baptists’ program of Christian higher education. The institutions have “wonderful leaders and a wonderful spirit of cooperation between them,” Gates said. Sam Davidson, chairman of the Board of Aid for Students in Church Related Vocations, said that through the board this year, Alabama Baptists had provided for $252,805 in scholarships for students at these three institutions who are “giving their lives and their futures to go … into the field that are white unto harvest.” “Thank you for your generous support investing in the lives of those who are seeking to know God’s truth,” Davidson said. (TAB)
CLC keeps Baptists current on key issues
The Christian Life Commission is staying true to its mission of keeping Alabama Baptists informed about today’s social and moral issues, said Bill Morgan. Reporting to state convention messengers during the Wednesday morning session of the annual meeting, Morgan, chairman of the commission, noted the special Sunday emphases the group promotes to highlight issues like world hunger, racial reconciliation and the sanctity of human life. Morgan, who is director of missions for Autauga Baptist Association, said many of these Sundays focus on issues that the Alabama Citizens Action Program (ALCAP) is directly involved in, such as Anti-gambling Sunday and Substance Abuse Sunday. He urged churches to collect a special offering on those Sundays to support ALCAP in its coming year of transitioning leadership between ALCAP Executive Director Dan Ireland and a new co-director. He also said the commission keeps Baptists informed through its newsletter, which has a circulation of more than 4,600. So far in 2006, the newsletter has addressed issues such as methamphetamine use and using “The DaVinci Code” as an evangelism tool.
Alabaster pastor describes ‘messiness’ of evangelism
According to Les Hughes, Intentional Evangelism is messy. “We are called to go to people we don’t like,” said Hughes, pastor of Westwood Baptist Church, Alabaster. The problem is that Christians want non-Christians to look and act a certain way, but that’s not necessarily the way things are going to — or should — be, he said. “Can we stop putting a condition of morality on them — how they look and how they act — before they can become a Christian?” One of the biggest stumbling blocks to effective evangelism is majoring on the minor things, Hughes said. Using Matthew 23:23–24, he pointed out how Jesus felt about nitpicking and letting the small things get in the way of more important matters. Hughes related a conversation he had with a former church staffer in which he asked what she missed most about her former job. Instead of telling him what she missed, she told him what she didn’t miss — the pettiness of the church. “If insiders feel like we’re petty, what must outsiders see?” Hughes asked. He said to change this, it is a matter of first trusting God’s Word to transform Baptists’ views of Intentional Evangelism. Instead of being salt and light in today’s culture, Hughes said Christians have formed somewhat of a “Christian subculture” that requires few risks in terms of evangelizing. “It’s time for us to get out of our comfort zone,” he said. “God hasn’t called us to make disciples of people who look, act and talk like us. Jesus came so that we can tell people that Jesus loves them. … We are all saved by the same grace of Jesus.”
Time, place, preacher report
The 2007 annual meeting of the Alabama Baptist State Convention will be held at Cottage Hill Baptist Church, Mobile, in Mobile Baptist Association Nov. 13–14. The convention preacher for the 2007 annual meeting is Mike Northcutt, pastor of Eastmont Baptist Church, Montgomery, in Montgomery Baptist Association. The alternate preacher for the 2007 annual meeting is Rob Jackson, pastor of Central Baptist Church, Decatur, in Morgan Baptist Association. Messengers voted for Dauphin Way Baptist Church, Mobile, in Mobile Baptist Association to be the site of the 2011 state convention annual meeting Nov. 15–16 of that year.
Insurance, audits please committees
The Audit and Insurance committees, reporting during the Alabama Baptist State Convention annual meeting Nov. 14, commended convention entities for their attention to details in their finances and insurance coverage. Melissa Sahagun, a certified public accountant and member of the Audit Committee, said the committee had reviewed the final audits of all entities and was pleased to report that they had complied with all the committee’s recommendations. Bob Gladney, chairman of the Insurance Committee, reported that the committee had reviewed all entities and affirms that insurance coverage is in place among them all. “We were impressed not only with the insurance agencies but with the insurance agents and types of coverage each entity had,” he said. (TAB)
Hamilton bids farewell to state Baptists in report
Frances Hamilton said a tearful goodbye to state convention messengers Nov. 15 during her last report as executive director of the Alabama Baptist Historical Commission (ABHC). Hamilton, who has served at the helm of ABHC for more than 13 years, will retire Dec. 31. She thanked the ABHC staff and board members for being “dedicated Baptist servants who have given their time and resources to preserve and celebrate our heritage.” Hamilton also thanked Alabama Baptists for the fond memories of working and worshiping together over the years. “All of this is our history — the story of the ways in which God has worked and is working among us,” she said. “Our history, our heritage and our existence depend on the Lord, Jesus Christ,” she added. ABHC Chairman Jim Jackson called her a “model for all of us wherever and whenever we serve.” “She has served her Christ with Alabama Baptists, and she has served our churches in that same spirit,” he said. “Thank you, Frances, and we thank our Lord for the privilege of serving with you.” Before giving her farewell report, Hamilton introduced her successor, Lonette Berg, who currently serves as special assistant to the executive director. “She is intelligent, efficient and knowledgeable with an academic background in history and law,” Hamilton said. “She loves the Lord, loves Alabama Baptists and loves the work of the commission. She looks forward to working with you, and I hope you make her work very hard.” A trained attorney, Berg previously served as one of the 16 volunteer ABHC commissioners from 1998 to 2003. The commissioners, representing the 12 districts of Alabama Baptists, function similarly to a board of directors and regularly represent the ABHC in churches. She was named chair of the commissioners in 2002 and served in that position until she was hired as special assistant. Hamilton also announced that Jonathon Duke, a member of Southside Baptist Church, Greenville, won the ABHC’s essay award competition for a paper on Centre Ridge Baptist Church (now Carlowville Baptist Church, Minter, in Selma Baptist Association).
Shocco ‘making a difference’ in campers’ lives
Through personal testimonies and a video presentation, Buster Taylor, executive director of Shocco Springs Baptist Conference Center in Talladega, shared with convention messengers how the center is changing lives. Almost 55,000 people visited Shocco Springs in 2005, and of those, 2,794 made decisions to receive Christ, Taylor said during the Wednesday morning session of the Alabama Baptist State Convention annual meeting. Joy Davis Reeves and her daughter Molly, members of First Baptist Church, Trussville, were part of Shocco’s nearly 22,000 visitors this summer. The two attended Centri-Kid, where Molly experienced the Shocco that shaped her mother’s life when she was a camper, then a staffer. “God has worked through Shocco Springs to make a difference in my life, and I can’t wait to go back there again,” Molly said. Shocco’s campus underwent some changes in 2006, according to the Book of Reports. Recent building projects or renovations took place in several buildings, and a new warehouse was also built. Shocco also continues to take part in Hurricane Katrina disaster relief by serving as a stopover point for disaster relief teams.
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