At its annual meeting in October, Tuscaloosa Baptist Association celebrated two milestones: the 175th anniversary of the association and the 25th anniversary of Director of Missions Jerry Wilkins.
Wilkins’ family members were invited to the celebration, and he was given a cruise to Alaska and a love offering.
Although his title is director of missions, Wilkins prefers to refer to himself by the old title of “associational missionary.”
“I like the sound of that more than director of missions. Baptists don’t like to be directed; they like to be served,” he noted.
Since Wilkins began serving the association, 28 churches have become members, bringing the total membership to 85 with two churches currently under watch care.
When Tuscaloosa Association was established in 1834, there were 13 member churches.
The budget has also grown from $120,000 to about $446,000. Cooperative Program giving — nearly $600,000 when Wilkins became director of missions — is now almost $2 million.
Several outreach ministries have been started during his tenure as well.
One is the Christian Ministry Center, which distributes food and clothing three days a week and has counselors to share Christ with those who come in — about 300 people a month.
The other half of the 2,000-square-foot building occupied by the ministry center is dedicated to the Good Samaritan Free Medical Clinic.
The clinic is open two days a week and has volunteer doctors, nurses and other staff to treat just about as many people as the ministry center aids each month. The two ministries have separate boards and financial support.
Doug Reeves, pastor of East McFarland Baptist Church, Tuscaloosa, has been a part of the association for more than 20 of the past 25 years.
He said one of Wilkins’ major accomplishments was leading the associational office to relocate from a converted house in downtown Tuscaloosa with no room for meetings to a larger building in Northport.
Reeves also pointed to Wilkins’ work with ministers who have issues such as conflict within their church.
“It’s one of his strong suits, trying to resolve conflicts and problems.”
Of all the responsibilities associated with being director of missions of a large association, Wilkins’ passion is public relations ministry.
“We do two media campaigns a year, using radio, TV and billboards to say to the public that church is worth your time,” he said.
Wilkins also does church conferences on communication, which is just another way of saying “public relations.”
“We talk about the media tools,” he said of the conferences. “Media tools do not replace one-on-one, but the more we use media, the more the members get involved. It generates excitement.”
And that excites Wilkins because he sees a need for churches to catch the vision of outreach and evangelism.
“Too many churches don’t do a lot outside the walls of the churches,” he said. “We need to be sure the 21st-century church building doesn’t become the bushel that hides the gospel.”
Wilkins attended Samford University in Birmingham and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, and served as pastor of churches in Alabama, Tennessee and Texas before becoming director of missions in Tuscaloosa, his hometown. He and his wife, Carole, have two grown children and one grandchild.
Wilkins is unsure about when he will retire, but he already has a direction for his retirement years. He has plans for 10 books in addition to the four he has written already.
“I want to spend more time writing and get the message out that way,” Wilkins said.
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