Ministry initiatives of the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions (SBOM) during the next several years will be guided largely by recommendations from the Strategic Initiatives Task Force (SITF), a group appointed by the state board, according to Rick Lance, executive director of the SBOM.
The SITF, made up of Alabama Baptist pastors and laypeople, examined the past and present approaches of the SBOM and looked at possible future courses, offering its findings in the form of a recommendation to the convention.
Gary Hollingsworth, chairman of the task force, said they studied ideas for goals during the years 2006–2011. As a result the task force established the priorities of evangelism and discipleship, missions mobilization and leadership development.
These are reflected in the convention’s One Mission — The Great Commission — and they are supported by Alabama Baptists through One Program — the Cooperative Program, he said.
Hollingsworth said the task force is recommending the convention follow two-year themes to more fully develop and implement them.
The 2006–2007 theme is Intentional Evangelism, as it is for 2005, making it the first three-year theme in the recent history of the convention.
The 2008–2009 theme is Missions Mobilization followed by the 2010–2011 theme of Leadership Development.
Hollingsworth, who is pastor of First Baptist Church, Trussville, and was elected second vice president of the convention, noted that in considering core values of Alabama Baptists the task force looked to the past and considered how the culture and times in society had changed.
They asked themselves if anything needed change, but found there was much that must stay the same. Hollingsworth noted these values, saying they are biblically based and must remain the core of Alabama Baptists.
1. Biblical truth.
2. A personal relationship with God in Jesus Christ.
3. The local church and its autonomy.
4. Cooperation in missions endeavors.
5. Servant leadership.
“We believe these anchor us with conviction to who we are and will continue to be as a people, based upon the authority of the Scriptures,” he said.
“We are doing a good job as Baptists and we don’t see a need for major shifts in the state board’s organizational structure or programs,” Hollingsworth noted.
However, the task force findings include recommending the office of evangelism and the office of discipleship work together more closely.
“It’s to focus as a team — this is because of the fact that evangelism is necessary for the salvation of lost people and discipleship is necessary for the spiritual development of saved people, so we can never really divorce the two,” Hollingsworth said.
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