The Association is the earliest extra-church model of organization
in Southern Baptist life. Associations evolved as a way of expressing affinity
and cooperation among like-minded Baptists. They were helpful in connecting
people for the work of the kingdom in geographic clusters. Associations were especially
helpful hubs for communication, resources, credentialing and information in pioneer
days. In those days, no one could have imagined digital technology. They could
not have envisioned a world that was connected by the Internet where nearly
infinite amounts of information were available at the touch of a button.
More recently some leaders have questioned the necessity
of the Baptist Association. On February 8, 2016, Dr. Ronnie Floyd, then
President of the SBC, asked in a blog article, “Do
state conventions and associations have a future in Southern Baptist life?”
Some of Dr. Floyd’s observations missed the mark for me, but it is a fair
question. At a time where ministry
leaders are struggling to fund the work of the local church, why should they
send money to other ministries? Is the association still a worthwhile ministry
value? Consider these Qualities of effective Associations:
Provide fine-tuned
data and Research – We are able to access important community demographic
information, as well as church specific data that is useful in evaluating trends
and understanding issues of church health. Using the I-Go system provided by
the GBMB as well as the MissionInsite web data, we can put helpful information
in front of congregational leaders, so that they can better understand and
adjust to their ministry realities. This
helps provides strategic insight for church revitalization.
Help churches in
transition – One of my very favorite responsibilities is to go out and
train pastor search teams and follow up with them as they conduct their search
for a pastor. This is a crisis in the life of a church. Not necessarily in a
negative sense. It is a crisis in that it represents a crossroads with
different possibilities. Since I have had the opportunity to observe this and serve
churches in this situation many times, I can help provide perspective for
people who may be serving their church this way for the first time.
Provide an anchor and
check for theological consistency – I have written before about the
importance of having pastors who are aligned with your congregation’s larger
denominational convictions. It’s not that other Christian denominations are
totally wrong and Southern Baptists are totally right, but the best leaders for
SBC churches are those who share its ministry and missions philosophies. We
will always do our best to help churches locate pastors who match their
historic congregational beliefs.
Keeps pastors
connected for accountability, peer-learning and Gospel partnership – Pastors
need opportunities to connect with other pastors. Not all pastors take
advantage of the opportunities, but all pastors need other people to help them
who know what they are dealing with. We calendar regular monthly ministers meetings,
book study peer groups, as well as quarterly revitalization roundtable
gatherings with ministry leaders. We also help provide direction for missions,
evangelism and ministry projects.
Help with general
ministry auditing – the ACR (Annual Church Record) channels through our
office. We are able to access information that tracks each church’s financial
trends (if they fill out and return their report). Also, because the Middle
Baptist Association is totally funded by churches, we are occasionally able to
detect irregular giving patterns that may clue a church that something unusual
is happening with their giving. That rarely means something criminal is
happening, but having another set of eyes observing patterns has often proven
helpful to member churches.
Help churches find
answers to less than obvious questions - Some information is out there and
easy to access, but sometimes having someone who is constantly thinking about
issues that are important, but secondary or peripheral to your main concerns is
beneficial.
The missionary and
assistant themselves – Not to sound arrogant or prideful, but the biggest
resource an association can provide is the people it employs to serve the
churches. This should be true in any association. Simply having people who eat,
drink and sleep the complicated realities of cooperative missions makes the ministry
investment worthwhile.
When your church is considering whether or not the
Association has value to them, these are some reasons your missionary believes
it should.
Blessings!
Bobby Braswell, Jr.
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