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Partners In The Mission:
The Year of Urgency
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| Release Date: 01/01/2008 |
| a message from Dr. Bill Mackey, executive director |
The year of 2008 will be a year of urgency and opportunity for Kentucky Baptists. We need God's help if the baptism goal of Kentucky Baptists Connect is to be achieved.
The goals of Kentucky Baptists Connect are designed to assist churches in reaching and developing people for Christ. But if Kentucky Baptists are going to reach the goal of 25,000 baptisms for even one year of this five-year emphasis, great progress must be made in 2008. Reports for 2006-07 are not complete but indications are that we will not see much increase.
The goal is by no means unachievable. If every church could reach just one more person in 2008 than it did in 2007, total baptisms could exceed 20,000. Every church should ask what is being done to place a priority on reducing lostness in its community.
Baptisms would also increase significantly if KBC churches were reaching the same number of children and youth for baptism that were being reached just 10 years ago. According to a recent study, the number of baptisms for ages 9-17 in KBC churches declined by 38 percent from 1980 to 2003, although the population for this age group had not declined
Vacation Bible School has proven to be one of the best ways to reach children for Christ. For this reason, I am urging every church to conduct a VBS in 2008. Every church should also consider a new prayer ministry like prayer walking and a new ministry for the community that will enable your church members to connect with the harvest.
Several KBC training and inspirational experiences are available to pastors and leaders that will assist you in reaching people for Christ. Plan now to attend the Pastor's Forum, Jan. 24, featuring Dr. Chuck Lawless and others, at Porter Memorial Baptist Church, Lexington, as well as the Kentucky Evangelism Conference, Feb. 25-26, at Severns Valley Baptist Church in Elizabethtown.
The Comeback Church Conference is also set for March 25 at the First Baptist Church of Bowling Green. Ed Stetzer, author of the book, The Comeback Church, will lead the conference.
Also consider being a part of an emphasis called 3:16: The Numbers of Hope, based on the book of the same title by Max Lucado. LifeWay has published a four-week study guide that goes with the book for a special evangelistic emphasis in the church.
It is a matter of urgency and opportunity to seek God for plans to reach, develop and mobilize people for Christ. May God help us to remain faithful in support of one another. I pray that every church will be able to see lostness reduced in its community!
Dr. Mackey's column appears weekly in the Western Recorder. To subscribe to the Western Recorder, call (502) 489-3535. |
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