Bill Warren Recieves Bivocational Pastor Award

Bill Warren receives Mississippi Baptists’ 2021 BIVOCATIONAL PASTOR OF THE YEAR

BY MARILYN STEWART

Dr. Bill Warren, NOBTS professor of Greek and New Testament and bivocational pastor of Jacob’s Well Church in Pass Christian, Mississippi, was named the 2021 Bivocational Pastor of the Year at the Mississippi Baptist Convention Board annual meeting Oct. 27.

John Pace, Mississippi Baptist Convention Board (MBCB) Director of Leadership Development, presented the award noting that while bivocational pastors may be part time “in name” they are full time in commitment as they care for their congregations as “undershepherds” of Jesus Christ.

“Dr. Warren is such a deserving recipient of this award and recognition for his amazing lifetime of faithful, excellent and dedicated service,” Pace said, noting Warren’s service as a pastor, interim pastor, IMB missionary, seminary professor and scholar.

Pace recounted Warren’s journey from a child growing up in a “culturally Christian” home to his coming to faith in Christ and his calling to the ministry. Warren's ministry spans time as an IMB missionary, pastor, interim pastor, church planter, and seminary professor at NOBTS, as well as in Colombia, Venezuela, Mexico and Cuba.

Warren and his wife Katie served six years in Colombia with the IMB until unstable conditions there forced them to leave. Warren returned home and joined the NOBTS faculty in 1990.

Warren pastors Jacob’s Well Church in Pass Christian, Mississippi, a church plant begun during the years following Hurricane Katrina (2005) as the Mississippi Gulf Coast rebuilt and as MBCB gave special emphasis to church planting.

Within a year of its first service with 28 in attendance, Jacob’s Well ran 60 on Sunday. Today, the congregation numbers more than 250 in person on Sunday (350 prior to COVID), with many in attendance online. The church’s motto is “Living water for a thirsty world.”

Pace, an NOBTS alumnus, thanked Warren personally for his impact as a seminary professor, saying “I’m one that you’ve blessed immeasurably.”

At NOBTS, Warren is professor of New Testament and Greek, occupying the Landrum P. Leavell II Chair of New Testament and Greek, and is the founding director of the H. Milton Haggard Center for New Testament Textual Studies (CNTTS), a leading North American setting for the study of N.T. Greek manuscripts.

BILL WARREN

In Warren’s 31-year tenure at NOBTS, he has served in integral leadership roles with the Museum of the Bible and Archaeology, the Spanish Master of Theological Studies Program, and other programs. Warren’s work with the CNTTS has placed him in strategic roles with the International Greek N.T. Project and the Greek Paul Project.

In accepting the award, Warren credited those who had invested in his life through the years, but also his church, explaining that a bivocational pastor must “trust” his lay leaders to lead and then build on their leadership to carry out the church’s mission.

SEMINARY NEWS

New Majors Show Commitment to New Focus

Trustees, during the regularly-scheduled spring meeting, affirmed Dr. Jamie Dew’s vision to enhance and expand Leavell College’s efforts to serve traditional college-aged students by approving three new majors in the bachelor of arts degree program. With new majors — intercultural studies, ministry to women, and theology — Leavell College now offers ten bachelor of arts degree majors.

“We are excited about the continued expansion of majors in Leavell College,” said Thomas Strong, Dean of Leavell College. “Each new major provides the opportunity to prepare servants to fulfill God’s mission through one’s life.”

Corey McKinney

Leavell College Best Thesis

Corey McKinney’s (BACM ‘21) senior thesis “The Goodness of God in Suffering” was selected

as the best senior thesis of the year by Leavell College faculty at the inaugural Best Senior Thesis of the Year Mini-Conference, held April 21.

The students selected for the top five senior theses presented their research to the Leavell College faculty and answered questions about their research and conclusions. Dr. Sandy Vandercook, Associate Dean of Leavell College, commended the students for the high level of scholarship exhibited in their research and presentations.

NOBTS ASSESSMENT TOOL ADDRESSES PROBLEM OF YOUTH LEAVING THE CHURCH AT ADULTHOOD, OFFERS HELP

BY GARY D. MYERS

A 2019 Lifeway Research study found that 66 percent of young adults stop attending church between the ages of 18 and 22. While the same study found that some eventually make their way back to the church, the data is staggering.

The shocking exit from the church by many young people after they age out of the youth ministry spurred David Odom to action. Odom, who serves as associate professor of student ministry and director of the Youth Ministry Institute (YMI) at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and Leavell College, created a new tool designed to assess the effectiveness of youth ministry programs. The goal of the assessment is to help churches improve the way they minister to youth and retain young people during the transition to adulthood.

“We have come to understand over the last 15 or 20 years that traditional youth ministry is not effective to build lifelong faith in teenagers,” Odom said. “There is a problem if we have that many of our kids who are faithful youth group members leaving the church during college or as adults.”

Researching Youth Ministry Effectiveness

Odom and Robinson received 314 responses to the initial survey. Only 24 percent of the respondents scored in the high effectiveness range. Fifty-four percent scored in the medium range. The remaining 22 percent scored low, indicating serious problems in their ministry model. Overall, the research indicated the need for intentional effort in the two neglected arenas of ministry. The full Youth Ministry Arenas Research Summary is available at ymarenas.com.

The YMI team discovered the need for an expanded view of youth ministry which emphasizes ministry to families of youth and better integrates youth into the larger ministry of the congregation. Ministries without family-focused and cross-generational integration efforts have fewer opportunities to develop lifelong faith among teens and fail to connect with key influencers.

“Parents are the number one influencer of a teenager’s faith,” Odom said. “Youth leaders must influence the influencers by developing significant relationships with parents and helping them disciple their teens.”

Youth ministries can create a consumer attitude among teens, Odom said. Involving youth in churchwide service opportunities combats consumerism and helps the youth develop love for the church and Christ-centered purpose for their lives.

"Many teens fall in love with the youth group but don't necessarily fall in love with their church," Odom explained. "Youth leaders must help young people move from consumers to contributors – from 'I love my youth group' to 'I serve Christ in my church.'"

For Odom, a review of recent research was the first step in understanding why youth are leaving the church and developing strategies to create more effective youth ministries. He also leveraged research conducted by his mentor, Richard Ross, professor of student ministry, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Researchers have found that successful youth ministers focused on three "arenas" of ministry: Teenagers in the youth group, teenagers in their own families, and teenagers in the congregation. The traditional youth ministry model has emphasized only one of these arenas. Youth ministers spend most of their time, effort, and resources on direct ministry to youth within the youth group. The other two arenas are often neglected. Those who focus only on the direct ministry to youth groups struggle to create effective ministries that lead youth to lifelong church involvement.

For the pilot research project, Odom and Sara Robinson, a PhD student at NOBTS, created a 30-question survey for youth ministers to self-assess their effectiveness in the three arenas of youth ministry. Based on the answers, the youth minister’s effectiveness was scored as “high,” “medium,” or “low.” Launching the New Assessment Tool

The YMI pilot research project led to a refined assessment tool and the opportunity to provide tailored help for struggling youth ministers. In August, Odom and YMI released an expanded 47-question assessment tool allowing youth ministers to self-assess their effectiveness. The free online survey provides a youth minister with an immediate effectiveness score and produces a detailed report explaining the scores and suggestions for improvement. The assessment tool is available at ymarenas.com.

“We worked carefully over the past several months to design a professional, easy-to-use resource,” Odom said. “We pray it will serve thousands of men and women who serve in youth ministry.”