State’s bivocational ministers urged to seek truth, unity

Staying close to truth and close to one another was the theme of this year’s retreat for bivocational ministers and their wives Feb. 18–19 at Shocco Springs.
   
The annual retreat of the Alabama Baptist Fellowship of Bivocational Ministers, sponsored by the Alabama Bapitst State Board of Missions (SBOM), provided the state’s bivocational ministers with fellowship and encouragement.
   
Dale Huff, director of Leader­Care and Church Administration for the SBOM, and his wife, Lanelle, challenged couples during the “early bird” sessions on Feb. 18 to improve their communication skills in marriage.
   
Also in the early bird sessions that afternoon, Daniel Edmonds, director of the office of Sunday School for the SBOM, led a seminar to provide helpful tips and suggestions for growing a healthy, balanced Sunday School.
   
In the first evening session, Cam Forster, outgoing president of the fellowship, challenged pastors to “stick with the proven truths found in God’s Word when seeking to do the ministry of a church.” 
   
So many churches, Forster said, are getting away from what it really means to reach a dying world with the saving gospel of Jesus Christ.
   
And with Christ’s Second Coming closer now than ever before, the church “had better pay more attention to reaching souls” than building extravagantly large buildings, he said.
   
In that night’s second session, bivocational ministers were joined for the first time ever by bivocational music directors who were in attendance at the Alabama Baptist Bivocational Ministers of Music Retreat, traditionally held the same weekend.
   
Guy Anderson, minister of music and senior adults at Elkdale Baptist Church in Selma Association, led in worship.
   
The retreat’s music was complemented with song segments led by Called Out, a singing trio from Yarbrough Street Baptist Church in Montgomery.
   
Garry Winstead, pastor of Ino Baptist Church in Coffee Association and featured speaker for the weekend, delivered a brief challenge to the pastors to encourage more laborers for the harvest in each of their churches.
   
Lee Wright, associate in the office of LeaderCare and Church Administration, presented a challenge to pastors to “call out the called.” 
   
Many people, he said, who feel the call of God upon their lives know little or nothing about the various opportunities in ministry, especially bivocational ministry. 
   
Wright said that in many of Ala­bama’s churches little preaching or teaching about a person’s call to ministry or to missions is done.
   
The called are needed, Wright emphasized, and though so many passages in Scripture relate to God’s call and the response of a devoted follower, very little urgency is placed on the topic.
   
There’s urgency in uniting the called, said David Reed, pastor of Underwood Baptist Church in Montevallo. In the evening’s closing message, he declared, “We need each other as ministers of the gospel,” noting the bond that many bivocational pastors make each year with others from across the state. “If we are to reach the world around us for Jesus Christ, we desperately need to be one,” Reed said. “We need to be one in our love for each other, in our purpose for existing as a church and in our message.”
   
Saturday activities began with a business session, during which new officers of the Alabama Baptist Fellowship of Bivocational Ministers were elected. 
   
New officers who will serve during the coming year are: David Reed, Underwood Baptist Church, Shelby Association, president; Paul Johnson, Hurricane Grove Baptist Church, Madison Association, vice  president/president-elect; and Jim Kelley, West Weaver Baptist Church, Calhoun Association, secretary.
   
Saturday morning brought sessions led by Page Hughes for the ministers’ wives. Hughes, whose husband Les is the pastor of Westwood Baptist Church in Alabaster, used what those attending described as her warmth and transparency to lead them to unmask their hearts, identify their needs and acknowledge Christ as the provider, healer and answer in every situation.
   
Meanwhile, Garry Winstead shared with the ministers the story of the phenomenal growth of Ino Baptist Church, a small-town church that continues to achieve great things for the Kingdom. 
   
He also shared spiritual insights, including topics such as vision and leadership, as well as giving ministers  some practical insights about ministry and what makes a growing church.
   
Reed says the overall reaction from both ministers and wives to the weekend was “one of the best retreats we’ve had in years.” 
   
He added, “The worship atmosphere on Friday night was very free, and the Holy Spirit moved among us in a mighty way. 
   
“And Saturday’s sessions for the pastors were really tough to beat. The wives expressed equal gratitude for the sessions led by Mrs. Hughes,” Reed said.
   
For information on bivocational ministry, contact Lee Wright at the SBOM, 1-800-264-1225, Ext. 342. (TAB, David Reed contributed)