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Baptist associations: An amazing secret hiding in plain sight

Recently I toured the Bunker at the Greenbrier Hotel in West Virginia. It was once the secret location where the U.S. Congress would have moved in case of an attack on Washington.

From 1962 until 1992, it was hiding in plain sight as conference rooms for the hotel with public lodging rooms above it.

An ecosystem

Contained within the Bunker were rooms where the House of Representatives and the Senate could meet in session while in exile. Meeting, sleeping and eating were all handled in the Bunker, which functioned as an ecosystem with its own life support features. Concrete fortifications encapsulated the Bunker. Thick metal doors could seal the area when needed.

The Bunker was a safe place in waiting, but it also functioned as a conference center and exhibit hall for public gatherings. Unseen was how this area could quickly transform into a safe haven for our federal legislative bodies.

The Bunker was hiding in plain sight. The people attending events at the Greenbrier did not know they were in an emergency shelter.

In our Baptist denomination, we have an amazing secret hiding in plain sight. It is Baptist life in its purest form. Its value is one of the best kept secrets in our Baptist tradition. Congregations are in the midst of it all the time, yet few see and understand its beauty.

The Baptist association is this amazing secret.

The first Baptist association in the South, Charleston Baptist Association, formed among four Baptist churches in the lowcountry of South Carolina in 1751.

In 1821, the first state convention, the South Carolina Baptist Convention, came into being, and the Southern Baptist Convention formed 24 years later in 1845.

Missions and education characterized the founding of Charleston Association. Similar stories can be told about Baptist associations throughout North America.

Important qualities

Associations have qualities churches often do not realize. Here is one quality. The character and nature of associations are significantly different than those of state conventions and Southern Baptist Convention national entities and groups.

Associations are organisms. They are living, breathing, moving and changing. Associations are the relationships continually emerging from the fellowship of churches spiritually engaged in Kingdom endeavors.

State conventions and national SBC entities are organizations. They have a more programmatic focus on visible projects and the fulfillment of organizational goals.

Unique roles

Their goals involve promoting action, devoting resources and preparing people to fulfill the Great Commission. They, like associations, have a unique and significant role in our denominational family.

One of the heroes of Baptist associations during the last 60 years was Russell Bennett. His doctoral dissertation was on associations.

His associational service included the Associational Missions Division of the Home Mission Board, SBC (now the North American Mission Board) and serving as executive director of Long Run Baptist Association in Louisville, Kentucky.

Bennett spoke during a meeting of associations just prior to the 1978 SBC Annual Meeting in Atlanta.

During his speech he sought to clarify that an association is not a building, a meeting, a staff or an occasional moment or encounter. He also made a distinction between associations and other organizations in SBC life.

His assertion was that associations are about fellowship and a commitment to God’s mission among member churches.

Associations, state conventions and national entities — through communication, cooperation and collaboration with one another — each help congregations reach their full Kingdom potential.

An association should never try to be like a state convention. Doing so will cause it to lose its very nature as an organism characterized by deep relationships among congregations.

A national entity also is part of what congregations need, but not everything they need.

Southern Baptists need associations to be vital and vibrant for the denomination to be strong and effective.

My personal mission is to champion the cause of Baptist associations as an autonomous part of our overall denominational system.

EDITOR’S NOTE — George Bullard spent 45 years in denominational ministry, serving on the staff of several associations and with the former Home Mission Board of the SBC. Bullard now serves as a strategic thinking mentor for Christian leaders through his ForthTelling Innovation ministry. This article is adapted from a series originally published at The Baptist Paper, tbponline.org. Contact Bullard at BullardJournal@gmail.com.

Congregations, take a moment to openly and publicly recognize your minister(s) this month. Let them know they are loved and appreciated.

Roger Willmore
Director of missions
Calhoun Baptist Association

If you think about it, there doesn’t need to be a set month to show appreciation for your pastor as we should be showing how much we appreciate him at all times.

Pastors do so much. They assist us in so many ways, from transportation to our medical appointments to … meeting us to help us with a crisis we are having. But most of all they are there as God’s vessel to bring His message to us. Your pastor is there to help you in every way, so please remember to let him know how much you appreciate all he does.

Joyce Phillips
Loudon, Tenn.

One Sunday I used a silly illustration about trying to grow a Snickers tree as a child.

On Monday morning, I found a tiny Christmas tree with Snickers bars attached to it on my desk. On the tree was a note that read, “Sometimes our dreams do come true.”

Little things like these have made me feel appreciated far beyond what I deserve.

Anonymous pastor

Churches, I encourage you to not keep your pastor guessing whether or not you’re going to express your appreciation to him this month. Please do it. I also encourage you to go the extra mile and appreciate all of your staff this month. It’s the right thing to do.

Craig Carlisle
Director of missions
Etowah Baptist Association

Minister appreciation month is here. Your prayers are the best support to your pastor.

Encouraging words, cards and tangible gifts are a blessing too.

Chris Crain
Executive director
Birmingham Metro Baptist Association

Honoring your pastor

Lift up God’s servants as they love the Lord.

• Pray regularly for your ministers and staff and their families.
• Form a covenant group that is committed to praying daily for them: seven members praying one day a week.

Lift up God’s servants as they love their spouses.

• Provide a more than adequate, even generous salary, insurance and retirement compensation.
• Give a gift card to a favorite restaurant for the ministry couple’s date night.

Lift up God’s servants as they love their children and family.

• Allow the children of your minister and staff members to “just be kids.” Support them as the family discerns which activities are best for each child.
• Give unused sports or concert tickets to their families. They make great gifts!

Lift up God’s servants as they love neighbors through “doing life” with other Jesus followers.

• Provide appropriate time off and finances for conventions, seminars, conferences and continuing education that are separate from vacations.
• Encourage and support involvement in men and women’s activities, without pressure to lead them.

Lift up God’s servants as they lovingly witness through imparting their very lives and the gospel.

• Encourage your pastor and staff’s involvement in activities, hobbies, sports and events that provide opportunities for outreach.
• Celebrate and affirm them when they share the gospel in the “traffic patterns” of life.

nashvillebaptists.com/pastor-appreciation

From the Twitterverse

@DrLoritts

Not having hard conversations hurts relationships more than having hard conversations.

@DustinBenge

Moses: “I can’t speak.”

Job: “I have no peace.”

David: “I am a worm.”

Isaiah: “I am a man of unclean lips.”

Elijah: “I have had enough, Lord.”

Paul: “I am the chief of sinners.”

In our inadequacy, God is always adequate!

@smcconn

When pastors think of their people, they see their congregation’s potential.

@LysaTerKeurst

Whenever we get lost in what feels too hard and our thoughts start to veer off into an unhealthy place, we can remember God is unchanging, always true and never fails to follow through on His promises to us.

@RevKevDeYoung

Jesus has no interest in an inclusion that includes false teaching, or a diversity that allows for diverse views on idolatry and sexual immorality.

It is possible to be too open and affirming. (Rev. 2:20)

@shane_pruitt78

If you’re worshipping a god who never offends you, it’s most likely because you’re worshipping a fake god shaped by your preferences.

@Quill4hire

Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you; love her, and she will watch over you. —Proverbs 4

@andrewtwalk

This biblical ethic of love stands as the impetus for the church’s missionary service and for her cultural concern over a doomed world.
— Carl F.H. Henry

@jennrothschild

If you’re overwhelmed today, hang on because you’ll be “overjoyed when His glory is revealed” (1 Peter 4:13).

Lord, thank you for this day. Show us Your glory in our everyday moments, and may we be overwhelmed by Your presence. Amen.

@claysmith79

Every Sunday is someone’s first Sunday at your church. So much is at stake: Let’s pray they hear the gospel and discover true life change through Jesus.

@MuellerMathew

I just heard someone say “Jesus isn’t life enhancement, Jesus is life.” Come on ain’t that the truth!