Many pastors who extend their hands in consistent faithful service don’t feel as though they have many reached out to them in return, said Ed Litton, pastor of First Baptist Church, North Mobile, in Saraland.
Litton, president of the 2003 Alabama Baptist Pastors Conference, said the prayer of the Nov. 17 conference is encouragement from the Lord — a standing ovation lavished upon the empty hands of pastors. The Pastors Conference will be held Nov. 17 from 8:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.
“The most influential people in our state are pastors, but at one time or another we’re all in the throes of tremendous battles in our ministries,” Litton said. “We try to find esteem in all the wrong places, but esteem should come from the Lord.”
The conference theme, “Highly Esteemed,” developed out of this prayer and Daniel 9:23. “Heaven has a different perspective than what most of us have experienced on earth, and we need to be refreshed on that perspective,” Litton said. “If there’s a pastor ready to ‘cash it in,’ I can understand that, but I want him to feel the esteem of heaven before he makes that decision.”
The conference is a “special annual meeting where pastors find great encouragement, refreshment and challenge for their ministries,” Litton said. “I’ve always enjoyed that meeting because of the conviction it brings, and I want to see my brother pastors built up.” It is an opportunity, Litton said, for pastors to be “loved on” and honored.
The lineup of speakers, chosen particularly because of their ministry of encouragement to pastors, includes:
• Voddie Baucham Jr., Voddie Baucham Ministries, Spring, Texas
• Mac Brunson, pastor of First Baptist Church, Dallas, Texas
• Gary Enfinger, pastor, Thomasville Baptist Church, Thomasville
• Mark Foley, president, University of Mobile
• Johnny Hunt, pastor, First Baptist Church, Woodstock, Ga. Hunt is also slated to deliver the convention sermon Nov. 19.
• Fred Luter Jr., pastor, Franklin Avenue Baptist Church, New Orleans, La.
• James Merritt, pastor, Cross Pointe, The Church at Gwinnett Center, near Atlanta
• Paige Patterson, president, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fort Worth, Texas.
Jason Breland, worship pastor of First Baptist, North Mobile, in Saraland, will lead the music. Officers for the 2004 Pastors Conference will also be elected.
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