2014 Winter Messenger

www.GeneralBaptist.com

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Messenger Jerusalem

Judea & Samaria

Ends of the Earth

General Baptist

Winter 2014

He called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?” “No,” they answered. 6 He said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish. | John 21: 5-6 5

All Kinds of Churches

by Franklin Dumond, Director of Congregational Ministries

In honor of Rev. Earl Bunch and his 41 years of pastoral service to the congregation, West End Church made a $20,000.00 gift to General Baptist Ministries.

It takes all kinds of churches to reach all kinds of people. Because people come in all shapes, sizes, colors, and cultures, it takes churches of all shapes, sizes, colors, and cultures to reach them.

Consider three very different, yet very similar, General Baptist churches.

The first General Baptist church organized in the Midwest just turned 191 years old. Organized in 1823, the Howell Church, located on the west side of Evansville, Indiana, worships in a traditional brick and mortar building. The building retains the classic design and the art deco stained glass that dates back to its creation in the 1920s. On their recent anniversary Pastor Terry Gamblin celebrated his 24th year as pastor and this ‘old’ church baptized 16 new believers!

About the same time, a more recent church plant celebrated four years of existence. Relevant Church serves the south side of metro Atlanta from its base in Locust Grove, Georgia. Pastor Carl Nichols and his crew of staff and volunteers set up and tear down their church every week. Their portable church meets in rented facilities. On their anniversary Sunday, Relevant Church witnessed 16 conversions.

Sandwiched between the industrial warehouses and skyscrapers of downtown Louisville, Kentucky and the historic Portland District, the West End Church continues to bear witness to the gospel in an urban environment that has caused the demise of many congregations. Recently, numbers became important to them as they celebrated 41 years with Rev. Earl Bunch as their pastor.

I see a pattern here-numbers are important! Just think: • The 4th book of the Old Testament is named Numbers!

• The nation of Israel had 12 tribal groups.

• The Gospel of Matthew divides Jesus’ genealogy into a pattern of 14 generational groups.

• The Book of Acts counts 3,000 baptisms on the Day of Pentecost.

• The Revelation has a whole series of groups of seven and a mysterious combination of sixes.

Numbers are important! We count people because people count! In this issue, Executive Director Clint Cook challenges General Baptist churches to take the number 153 seriously.

Our feature section continues with practical helps for leaders of churches of all sizes in an article titled, “How Churches Grow”.

General Baptist churches come in all shapes and sizes but they hold a common theology of a General Atonement. They really believe that Jesus Christ, by the grace of God, tasted death for everyone so that anyone who calls on the name of the Lord can be saved.

Different churches. Different locations. Different styles of worship. Different communities.

One common message that “Jesus Saves” and a reason to celebrate 16 baptisms in Indiana and 16 conversions in Georgia and 41 years of faithful service in Kentucky!

Franklin Dumond, Director Congregational Ministries

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Messenger General Baptist

Winter 2014

Table of Contents 3 Letter from the Editor 6 Trending Now 9 153 Fish 13 Age Appropriate Evangelism 14 How Churches Grow 21 Autopsy of a Deceased Church Review 22 The Rise of the Nones Review 24 Understand the Unchurched 26 What If? 27 Go Project

Six Reasons Churches Never Address Decline

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30 An Update of Missions in India 34 MVP Review and Outlook 35 To Go or Not to Go‌That is the Question 36 Updates from International Missionaries 38 Employee Evaluations in Ministry Settings 40 We Only Have Two Kids!

41 Reasons Churches Never Address Decline 42 ABC Offering 43 Inside Out 2014 Review 45 Leverage 2014 Review

2015 MVP Schedule

An Update of Missions in India

41 34 30

Messenger General Baptist

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The General Baptist Messenger is published by General Baptist Ministries (General Baptist Council of Associations, inc),

What If?

100 Stinson dr, Poplar Bluff, MO 63901 under the direction of an editorial team composed of the denominational leadership team, and Executive Director, Clint Cook

editorial team: Franklin Dumond, Sue Schremp, Jim Schremp, Linda McDonough, & Patti Thornton

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How Churches Grow

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153 Fish

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Full Tablet Support @ General Baptist Ministries

@ GeneralBaptist

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Trending Now 60% of churches have 100 people or less on a typical weekend in the United States.

1 Equals 10 Attendees

To read more about small churches and how to build an effective outreach strategy for one, turn to page 14.

Source: George Barna Research, September 2003

10% of churches in America are dying,

According to Thom Rainer’s research in his new book “Autopsy of a Deceased Church,” 10% of churches in America are dying.

Flip to page 21 for a review of the book and to read more about his latest research.

Americans believe in heaven, we just don’t know who gets in.

Two thirds (67%) of Americans believe that heaven is a real place, according to a new study conducted by LifeWay Research. The study asked 3,000 participants 43 separate questions on faith and theology in order to gain an understanding of how the average American perceives religious ideas. Forty-five percent of Americans responded that there are many ways to get to heaven, while 53% said that salvation comes through Christ alone. Four in ten respondents said that people who have never heard of Jesus can still get into heaven, and 3 in 10 said people will have a chance to follow God after death.

Source: LifeWay Research, October 2014 6

Heaven is Real Many Ways to Get Into Heaven Never Heard of Jesus Can Get to Heaven Chance to Follow God After Death

Through Christ Alone

8 people made decisions for Christ when Refuge Church launched on October 26th in Cookeville, TN.

TN

More of their launch story can be found on page 27, as well as news on the next National Missions project.

Only 2.3% of the 1.24 billion Indian citizens are estimated to be Christians.

General Baptists have several ministries at work across India currently, and the need there is only expanding. Page 30 is an update on our current mission work and God’s vision for the area.

We are less religious now than ever.

Non Religious A 2012 study found that 19.3% of Americans declare no religious identity. James Emery uses this research, and the accelerated trend it exposes, in his new book called “The Rise of the Nones”.

For an overview of the book and its research, turn to page 22.

1 Equals 10%

@generalbaptist #gbministries

Follow us on Twitter to read weekly updates on the newest research about Christianity in America and around the world.

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Unified Giving

As Executive Director, God was relentless in laying the story of the disciples’ fishing trip in John 21 upon my heart. I started to think about each element of the story, including the specific number: 153 large fish. Was this simply a record of the number of fish caught?

Or was there some sort of significance to this number?

153

By Clint Cook

Fish

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I believe God was telling me that General Baptists need to refocus on our assignment:

CATCHING FISH. The more you study the Bible, the more you will discover that nothing in the Scriptures is mentioned by accident.

Every part of God’s Word has a specific purpose.

John 21 illustrates this point exactly.

Here we find Peter, just after the resurrection, weighed down with guilt and shame from his denial of Jesus during his illegal arrest and trial. Even though Jesus was alive again, Peter continued to think that his mistakes ensured that he could never be used by God again. Peter settled for defeat and said, “I am going fishing” (verse 3). So that night, he and five other disciples fished all night long, but did not catch any fish. How discouraging for professional fishermen! Then the Bible says that just before daybreak, Jesus stood on the shore and called out to them, “Children, do you have any fish?” (verse 5) The frustrated response was “No.” Jesus then told the disciples to cast their net on the right side of the boat.

When the disciples did so and began pulling in the net, they counted 153 large fish. Amazingly, the heavy net “was not torn.” (verse 11) The fact that the disciples had fished hard all night without success, and had accepted the fact that they were not going to catch anything sounds like a lot of churches. The local church was 10

commissioned by Christ to go and make disciples; yet when we work hard week after week without success, many churches look just like the disciples in this story, sitting in an empty boat, giving up on the idea of fishing. They wonder, “What is the sense? Why try something new? Why try anything at all?”

Essentially, churches, like the disciples, are waiting for fish to jump into their boat.

While it is true that General Baptists have ongoing mission programs in the nations of India, the Philippine Islands, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, and Saipan, we need to ask ourselves: Is this all that General Baptists can do?

Then Jesus showed up and refocused the disciples on their assignment: catching fish.

As Executive Director, God was relentless in laying this story upon my heart. I began to ask Him what it was He wanted me to see in this popular story. I started to think about each element of the story, including the specific number: 153 large fish. Was this just a random fact? Was this simply a record of the number of fish caught? Or was there some sort of significance to this number?

I believe God was telling me that General Baptists need to refocus on our assignment: catching fish. In realizing this, I began to see just how much we can learn from this great haul of fish.

I believe the number 153 has significance. Scholars believe that at the time of this story, there were exactly 153 nations and identified people groups or cultures on the Earth. Needless to say, I do not think that it was an accident that 153 fish were caught. Jesus was basically saying, “Go into ALL [nations of] the world and make disciples.” In other words, Jesus expected these Christ-followers and the future church they would launch to actually be catching fish from every single nation on the face of the earth.

So if that was true for Peter’s crew and the early church, what is the message to

us, and specifically to General Baptists?

While it is true that General Baptists have ongoing mission programs in the nations of India, The Philippines, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, and Saipan, we need to ask ourselves: Is this all that General Baptists can do? I believe God laid this story upon my heart because the answer is “No.” We must pray specifically for General Baptists to be catching fish out of every nation on the earth.

While I realize that the General Baptist movement is relatively small with limited resources, there are still ways we can catch fish from every nation. For example, it would be interesting to know all of the individual nations where General Baptist people have sowed seeds of the gospel. Although we have established mission programs in only six different countries, when any member of a General Baptist church participates in a mission trip (whether sponsored by our denomination or not) they are representing a General Baptist church. Isn’t it incredible to think about how many nations have been impacted by a General Baptist church in this way? Over the next few years, I would love for General Baptist moms and dads to share with me how their children are catching fish in various nations around our world through short-term mission trips. Let’s not limit ourselves to just short-term missionaries though. Will you join me in praying that God will raise up long-term missionaries as well who will take the story of Jesus into all the world?

I believe a second challenge God wants to present to General Baptists through this story is at the local church level. Too many General Baptist churches have discovered that this generation appears hard-hearted and disinterested in the message of Christ. These obstacles limit results so people become resigned to having an empty net and boat. But notice that in this story Jesus didn’t want His disciples to accept an empty boat or empty nets. Neither does He envision churches who conduct services 52 Sundays out of the year to yield no conversions and no baptisms.

I would like to extend a challenge to all General Baptist churches who have less than 100 regular attenders. What if, within the next five years, you became a church of 153? Would you be willing to take the 153 Challenge? If just 100 of such

churches took this challenge, they would no longer be churches of just 60, 70, 80, 90 or 100, but be making more disciples of Christ and becoming churches of 153 regular attenders. This should become our prayer, our goal, our mission: to ask God to bless us with souls so that we would no longer be resigned to 60/70/80 regular attenders, but be flooding our communities weekly with 153+ fish!

For our larger General Baptist churches, perhaps you will be challenged by some other Biblical numbers. For instance, Jesus was seen after His resurrection by 500 people at one time. Maybe our churches that currently have 200 in regular attendance would be challenged to work toward 500 attendees.

Those churches already at 500 and above, be challenged by reviewing the passage in Acts where just 50 days after Christ’s resurrection, the brand new Church baptized 3,000 converts!

Sure, these numbers mentioned in the New Testament could simply be numbers. But I believe they are more than that-they are goals for Christians, churches, and denominational leaders.

Will you join me in praying and asking God to once again help each of His churches to cast the net on the right side?

Will you take the 153 Challenge and beg God to help General Baptists pull in large numbers of lost souls through long and short-term mission work and renewed efforts to reach those in our communities? If this were to happen, there’s no doubt our General Baptist movement, and our world, would change radically.

Clint Cook has been the Executive Director since 2011, casting vision for the General Baptist movement. He leads a coaching network called Next Level Coaching and continues to minister to Real Life Church in Springfield, Illinois, where he recently celebrated 29 years as the senior pastor.

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CHOOSE FROM

21 st Century Ministry: Age Appropriate Evangelism

By Dr. Franklin R. Dumond,Director of Congregational Ministries

There are over 6 billion people in the world and it is estimated that one in six (or 1 billion) profess Christ.

For several years now missiologists have provided information about the 10-40 window. This is a geographic designation 10 degrees south and 40 degrees north of the equator, and is inhabited by a vast number of people groups that have yet to be reached with the gospel. It is estimated that as many as two-thirds of the lost people in the world live in this window.

Another window of opportunity to present the gospel is the 4-14 Window.

This 4-14 window, however, is not a geographic location. The 4-14 window is a chronological, developmental window.

This window identifies that children in the age bracket of 4-14 years have a 32% probability of accepting Jesus Christ as Savior. Researchers now suggest that adults 18 and over have only a 6% probability of accepting Jesus Christ as Savior.

While research into this phenomenon is recent, the phenomenon itself is as old as mankind. Developmental and educational psychologists in the 20th century discovered a fact of life built into humanity from creation: children grow and mature in a developmental sequence which leads them to be sensitive to and aware of spiritual influences in their middle to late childhood. This tendency is so strong that some educators assert that what a child believes by age 13 remains relatively unchanged throughout their life.

If evangelism is the process of individuals coming to understand the gospel and responding positively to it, how might we aid that process for our children?

First, it is always important to use simple, clear language when presenting the gospel. This is true whether we are focused on winning children or adults.

This means we must avoid “Christianese”, with its tendency toward theological language and church slang that often seems obscure to those outside the Church.

Using age appropriate lessons and visual illustrations, even acting out stories or playing games, may help overcome this difficulty.

Second, instruction that is simple and clear will aid the process of response to the gospel. A printed sample prayer can aid in reflection. Discipleship classes can be built around this simple, clear instruction, and can be tailored to specific age groups.

Third, age appropriate evangelism understands the implications of development while being sensitive to the 4-14 window. Children’s workers and pastors do not need to be trained psychologists to understand that children process information differently as they grow and

develop. Noted psychologist Jean Piaget observed his own children and developed a broader understanding of the human development of thought. A very simplified description of his work shows four stages of development. While Piaget assigned a chronology to those stages, more recent investigations suggest that there can be significant individual variation within the middle childhood years, during which children in the United States begin the early years of elementary education.

While even very young children can be placed in an environment that accelerates their learning, we now recognize that there can be significant drawbacks to Forced Teaching. A child can repeat from rote memory what has been presented without actually learning the concepts they were taught, making it appear that real learning has taken place.

Given this pattern of human development, it appears that the Lord has created us with the capability to respond most readily to the gospel somewhere about 8-10 years of age.

Continues on pg.28

Piaget’s Developmental Stages Sensorimotor Stage 0-2 years

Largely non-verbal communication The idea that objects do not cease to exist when out of sight develops

Preoperational Stage 2-7 years

Language and symbolic thought begin to emerge Intuitive thought is favored over logical thought Egocentric thought (If I feel this way, surely you do, too)

Concrete Operational Stage 7-11 years

Simplified use of time, space, volume and number Begin to see the world from other perspectives

Formal Operations Stage 11+ years

Can now think on abstract principles and hypothetical possibilities Inductive and deductive reasoning are now used 13

In a medium size church

there may be too many people for everyone to know everyone else. There is a kind of stretched cell existence where a variety of programs and ministries exist, but leaders for those programs and ministries only come from a small group of long-term members. These long term members are themselves very like to share a kinship as part of an extended family that is embedded within the congregation. A medium size church will generally have 100-150 in attendance but may extend to 200, 300 or even 400 depending on the expertise, leadership and energy level of the pastor and key lay leaders.

How Churches Grow

By Dr. Franklin R. Dumond,Director of Congregational Ministries

Anyone who studies the local church in the United States quickly recognizes that churches come in all shapes and sizes.

Unlike business franchises and fast food chains that look and function identically no matter where they are located, local churches are not carbon copies of one another.

While no two churches are exactly the same, a functional similarity often exists among churches of similar size. This often means that churches of different denominations function very much alike. This is especially noticeable in regard to the ways similar size churches reach out to new people and include them in the congregation. Understanding these similarities can help local churches understand their growth patterns and plan future outreach strategies.

Gary McIntosh, in his book One Size Doesn’t Fit All, uses a simple grouping of three types of churches to help explain many of these similarities. He identifies churches as small, medium and large churches based on their average attendance. He further identifies them as single cell, stretched cell or multiple cell in their organization.

In a small church everyone knows everyone else-they form a single cell. Often the common bond that links them is kinship.

It is not uncommon for a small church to be composed of members from two or three extended families. These key families provide all the leadership and organization for the church’s ministry. The small church will generally be 50 or fewer in size but can easily extend to 100-150 depending on the relationships that exist within the group. For example, if an extended family that includes several generations also includes several larger families, the ‘small’ church when measured by attendance will look more like a medium size church. Nevertheless, when measured by who are the leaders and how close the personal relationships are, the church will qualify as a small or single-cell church.

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In a large church there are too many people for everyone to know everyone else. With numerous groups and ministries where people can become involved, the large church becomes a congregation of congregations with leadership drawn from several groups, classes or cells. Often the large church will be staff directed or will at least have a formal board structure that clarifies leadership roles and terms of service. The large church will generally have 400-800 in average attendance but can include those churches of 8002000 who are organized in similar fashions. Organizationally, the larger church of 800+ must change to take on the structures of the mega-church of 2,000+ if it is to maintain its level of operation.

A review of the number of churches in the United States shows that the median size of a US church is 75. This means that 50% of all churches have 75 or fewer in average attendance while 50% also have 76 or more in average attendance according to the National Congregations Study by Duke University.

George Barna’s research also discovered that 60% of churches have 100 or fewer in attendance.

Whether large or small, churches exist to proclaim the gospel and to advance the Kingdom. But does the large church grow in the same way the small church does? Will the outreach strategy for a very large church be the same as that of a very small church? Significant frustration surfaces when a style or method of outreach that is appropriate for one size church is attempted in another size church setting. This does not mean that churches do not want to grow. It does mean that different churches will grow differently.

While the specific strategy for a local church must be customized for that local church, there are principles that will guide churches in their growth. These principles provide a foundation for outreach and growth. The sections of this article that follow will explore some of those principles that might result in a more effective strategy for different church settings.

How Churches Grow: A Platform for Growth While specific strategies for local church growth must be customized to each church, a few general principles have application in any church location and provide a starting point for discussing growth strategies.

Fourth, recognize leadership lids and growth ceilings.

Limitations exist in ministry. One limitation is the leadership skills/gifts/abilities of the leader. An effective pastor of a multi-staff church with multiple worship services may not be able to lead a single cell congregation where he must be solo and hands-on in leadership style. By the same token, churches reach growth ceilings for a variety of reasons. It may be that the population base is not present or that facilities cannot be secured.

First, outreach must be intentional, not accidental. On a particular Sunday evening, a first-time guest attended the service. In the course of the evening this man confessed his desire Fifth, will a refocus, restart or merger be involved? This is to become a Christian. That very evening the pastor and his important since these kinds of growth require transformational evening crowd were able to share the gospel with him and lead growth and radical change. Each can be appropriate at different him into a personal commitment to Jesus Christ. That firsttimes in the life cycle of a congregation. time guest had driven past 12 different churches looking for Refocus takes the existing conone that had an evening service. gregation into a new chapter. It Because he found that evening occurs most naturally when a service he became a believer. congregation is approaching or This accidental outreach happens just past its peak. once in a while in most every Very Small (less than 35) ................. 20% Restart generally occurs at the church. It used to be a hallmark end of a congregation’s life cycle Small (3574) .................................

30% of a church’s evangelism since the when everything that was comes Small to Mid-Sized (75-199) ...........

30% entire community knew that the to an end and a new beginning church was open and the opporMid-Sized (200-399) ....................... 10% provides new direction, new leadtunity to follow Christ was part of Large (400-799) ............................... 5% ership, new programming in a every worship experience.

Very Large (800-1999) .................... 3% newly remodeled building.

Successful outreach in the Mega (2000+) .................................. 2% Merger occurs when one con21st century, however, must be gregation joins another. Two intentional. It must be planned, 30% places on the life cycle are the sustained, resourced, and spirimost likely times for merger tually energized. A young intern to occur.

In the early stages of made a keen insight as he looked development, if the newly orgaaround the church where he was nized group determines that their serving. “You can predict when dream/vision is not viable, they people will be saved around here,” may keep that dream/vision alive he said in amazement. “Every 30% 20% by merging with another group. time we offer our discipleship In the later stages of a church’s classes people get saved!” existence a congregation may Second, the power of relationsee merger as an alternative to ships and the value of invitational 2% closure. Sometimes this merger 3% witness cannot be overstated.

5% 10% allows them to become a satellite People respond to friends and campus of another church. family they trust, and will come Sixth, for evangelism to occur, to hear the gospel when encoura church must build the basics of evangelism into its very DNA. aged to do so by a positive invitation. In many families, howThe pastor must preach evangelistically, and at least 2-3 times in ever, it has been 2-5 generations since there was a direct family connection to Christ and his church. One very important strat- the year the morning message should be nothing more than a egy for growth is Big Day Evangelism when everyone is encour- simple presentation of the gospel.

The pastor and church leaders must repeatedly explain how aged to invite friends and family members to a specific worship to respond to the gospel and must be readily available to explore experience. questions and issues with those who are on a spiritual quest.

Third, when leading an established congregation to new The new member’s classes should teach the basics of how to growth, building alongside is much more effective that demolshare a personal witness. ishing what exists. Changing a church’s culture or preferred The church should regularly share tools with its members so way of doing things can take 8-10 years, so invest in the long they will be properly resourced to invite and to witness. This haul. It is often much less threatening to offer something new could include providing invite cards or sample conversation than it is to stop doing something that is already being done. starters. It could also include billboard advertising and saturaOver time, more and more comers-and-stayers will become tion mailing campaigns that provide an incentive or secondary involved in the church, slowly helping the church develop new reinforcement to encourage congregation members to regularly avenues of ministry. invite folks to attend with them.

US Churches by Attendance

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How Churches Grow: Pastor-and-Allies

Strategy for Church Growth

The wise pastor who leads a church into growth recognizes early on the need for partners or allies to help accomplish this important task. The allies necessary to result in a growth vary according to the size or style of congregation.

In the single cell church the pastor must draw his allies or partners from the inner circle of influencers, and must have a majority of the congregation sympathetic to or directly involved in the process of growth. To work around or against those who

hold influence or to identify with only a minority of the congregation can result in destructive conflict that almost always results in zero growth unless the replacement pastor moves to town with a large family.

One strategy here would be to develop new classes or interest groups. The groups are developed one at a time with the pastor as initial leader and with two or three key congregational leaders recruited along with four to six new members. As the group grows to include new members then leadership can come from within the group that is gathered. Repeated in a two year cycle, this strategy can double a small congregation in 4-6 years without transforming it into something it does not want to be.

Because about one-half of the churches in our country are small churches of fewer than 75 people, and because a single cell church can easily stretch to accommodate 100-125 people, most churches in our country could easily double in size without the painful transition of becoming a different type of congregation.

In the stretched cell/medium size church new programs attract new people. Leadership, however, is drawn from original or long-time families. Thus the allies or partners that the pastor must enlist are the ministry leaders who will organize the new ministries.

Growth in the stretched cell/medium size church is limited by how large the cell can be stretched. For the pastor or key lay leader who can extend pastoral care to a large group of people this model will stretch farther than it will for the leader whose people skills are not as well developed. Often, the tie that holds ministry relationships together in the mid-size church is the relationship with the pastor. The pastor in a medium size church often gives permission for ministry to happen and also provides general oversight to a variety of ministry activity.

Decision making structures are significant growth restricting obstacles for this size church. For example, the monthly business meeting that effectively governs the single cell church (where everyone attends everything), will not effectively govern the program-oriented, middle size church. For one thing, the establishment of regular programming must wait for a business meeting, and cannot interfere with that meeting time.

Stretched cell/medium size churches will face a definite limit on how large they can become. The often discussed 200 barrier is much more prominent in this group of churches.

In the large church, the pastor’s allies are most likely the staff employed as specialists and ministry leaders. A few high-capacity volunteers may remain as visible leaders.

In the multiple cell church there are too many people to know everyone. There are numerous groups and ministries where people can become involved. The church is a congregation of congregations with leadership drawn from several groups, classes or cells. Staffing is very important in the multiple cell church since specialists are needed to resource, train, and monitor the lay leaders of the various ministries. Worship done with excellence and effective preaching, generally with life application themes, are key elements that cannot be overlooked.

Multiple worship services are often featured in these churches.

Ministry leaders (often associate pastors) function much as the pastor does in the mid-size church. Ministry involvement is the tie that binds. Assimilation strategies are developed around the personality and the style of the congregation with an emphasis on small-group ministries that impacts a high percentage of the congregation.

Effective ministry can never be a solo effort. Moses’ fatherin-law Jethro saw the value of having a team to work with the leader. In Exodus 18, he criticizes Moses’ solo leadership and outlines a method of shared responsibility. The wise leader in any size church will recognize the value of a team effort. The size and type of church, however, determines how the team is developed and who is included on it.

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How Churches Grow: The Comfort Zone

& Predicting Growth Potential Since growth in a church results from style of relationships and ministry programs, most churches will never undergo the transformational change necessary to advance to a new style of relationships and ministry. Small churches do not become large churches simply by continuing to do what small churches do.

Small churches only become large churches when they begin to function, program and relate like large churches.

To function, program and relate differently that we are already doing can be very difficult. Transformational growth, when a church moves from one size and type of congregation into another, can also lead to conflict and drop-out. Conflict in this transformational process generally comes from either those who do not want to change or from those who want to change rapidly.

Significant growth for most churches is possible without transformational change. For example, the smaller, family church of 35 can become a smaller, family church of 70 or more by simply adopting new family members. Since about half of the churches in the United States are comprised of fewer than 75 people there is room for significant growth by simply including more people in the already existing framework.

Can a church predict its potential for growth? Since most churches function today much as they have in the past, a look at the past can generally predict the future.

A simple tool easily completed by any church can predict the level of growth potential based on the current ministry structure of the church. This tool has been label Comfort Zone Analysis. A few steps are involved in this analysis.

1. Gather worship attendance averages for each of the previous 10 years. Worship attendance more accurately predicts congregational life than membership rolls. Using a 10 year profile is important because this generally captures a look at two or three cycles of church growth and development. A pastor recently observed, “I’m on my third congregation now.� When he made this observation he was simply describing the turnover rate in many churches.

Children grow up and move away. Older folks retire and relocate. Most churches will have a substantial turnover in members who attend every five years or so. By capturing at least two of these cycles it is more likely that the actual personality or style of the congregation will be indicated in the attendance averages.

2. Chart the averages on a simple bar graph with one column for each year. If information is missing for one year just leave that column empty. Average attendance can often be discovered on the report forms that churches are asked to submit to the denominational office annually. Other internal sources for attendance data can often be discovered in the annual reports, business meeting records or church bulletin files.

3. Identify the lowest annual average, then draw a line across the graph just below it.

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This represents the danger zone for the church. It is difficult or impossible to operate the current ministries of the church if attendance is maintained in the lower range. Often a church finds a new incentive for outreach and growth when this lower limit is reached. Either there is room for new folks to find a place of service or there is a desperate need for new folks to enter to sustain the current ministries.

Some researchers contend that a church enters a danger zone that is difficult to survive when attendance drops to less than 25 adults.

4. Identify the highest annual average. It is unlikely that average attendance will exceed this number unless the church undergoes significant transformation. Most churches only reluctantly pay the price to become something new and different.

5. Calculate the difference between the current annual average and the highest annual average. This represents the growth potential.

Gary McIntosh uses a similar diagram to describe the floors and lids of church growth. Once the Comfort Zone has been identified, it is easy to see how the upper limit of the current comfort zone could be seen as the lower limit of the next level.

This means that if a church of 125 sustains that level for a while it may be possible to make some changes in structure or programing that would allow it to grow into a new kind of church.

The addition of a new worship service, for example, sets the stage then for this church to double in attendance.

Dr. McIntosh observes that local churches appear disproportionally grouped at several typical sizes of 35, 85, 125, and 200 average attendance for the small to mid-size churches. He also indicates 400, 800, 1200, 3000, 6000 and 10,000 as typical plateaus for larger churches. Churches who find themselves in these Comfort Zones must take intentional steps if they are to become something other than what they already are.

How Churches Grow: Adoption Single cell/family churches grow just like families grow.

Birth, marriage, and adoption characterize how these churches win people to faith in Christ and to fellowship in His church.

There is, however, significant hope for growth in most single-cell churches-if adoption is seen as an avenue to enlist new people as part of the family. Adoption, however, is highly dependent on the approval and endorsement of leading figures in the church. These natural leaders and long term members in the smaller church must extend a genuine welcome to the new member if the potential adoptive convert is to find long term placement in the congregation.

Adoption, bringing in non-biologically related members, can be made easier by slight changes in behavior and culture within the church. These changes need to be formally accepted by the congregation, or at least informally understood by the key leaders, if new members are to be added to the family of faith.

1. For adoption to be successful in the single cell church, key leaders must cultivate an atmosphere of family warmth and courtesy for all who attend. As visitors to a single cell church, my wife and I arrived a few minutes before the worship service began. We did not know an adult class occupied the auditorium.

We waited in the small foyer and were soon joined by a few others also waiting for the class to conclude. Twelve people joined us there; but no one spoke to us! In most small to medium size churches, those who are already part of the congregation consider themselves as part of a friendly church. They do not realize that they are friendly only to those they already know.

One simple strategy to cultivate the atmosphere of warmth and welcome is to incorporate a welcoming time early in the worship service. This strategy works well for new folks if the welcoming time is kept brief and if it is governed by an instruction like, “Greet the folks around you. Shake a hand and say ‘I’m glad you came today!’”

This strategy can backfire, however, if the welcoming time becomes a time when everyone greets everyone else in the auditorium. This type of welcome isolates the newcomer who does not know everyone and is uncomfortable greeting strangers.

2. For adoption to be successful in the single cell church a few growth obstacles must be removed.

Since worship attendance is the most likely entry point for anyone attending for the first time, it is extremely important that worship style be large group rather than small group.

Otherwise the first-time guest may easily be lost in the programming, confused by the culture, or embarrassed by unknowingly missing cues.

For example, celebrating birthdays and anniversaries is a small group activity that frequently invades the large group setting of worship. For the first-time guest or recent attender, when everyone knows everyone else’s birthday but overlooks the newcomer who also has a birthday, the message conveyed is that of “I don’t fit in” or “They don’t care about me.” Birthdays are best celebrated in Sunday School.

Verbal announcements and prayer requests often leave the first time guest confused or lost in the programming. Verbal announcements tend to rely heavily on current church culture and a kind of church language that uses abbreviations, first names and imprecise locations. For example “VBS planning will be held at Sister Susie’s house this afternoon. Everyone who wants to help is welcome to attend.” This works well if I have the inside information that VBS means Vacation Bible School and that Sister Susie is that gracious lady sitting a few rows in front of me and that she lives on a street I can find. But if the first time guest has no inside information, the well intentioned information is confusing.

On the other hand, if the reminder is thought out and restated, it can facilitate participation by the guest and may even be the first step in a faith journey that will lead to evangelism. “The Vacation Bible School planning will be held this afternoon at Sister Susie’s house on Broadway Street. If you would like to help please see me following the worship service or see Sister Susie, who is sitting right over there, if you need street directions.”

3. For adoption to be successful in a single cell church, acceptance of the new family member must be widespread.

Often the pastor who has a longer than average tenure will be the connecting point to new members of the family because he functions as one of the congregational leaders, not just as the preacher and chaplain. Unfortunately, when he moves to another setting it is possible that those folks he considered adopted into the family may find their adoption was incomplete. Unless adoption is widely accepted in the family, these newly adopted members may become disillusioned and disappointed, resulting in them dropping out of the church.

The 200 barrier often plagues this group of churches since so many of them never break it. The barrier, however, is not one of numbers but one of programs, ministries, decision-making processes, and leadership limitations that simply do not have room for any more people.

A product of the church, Franklin R. Dumond, has served the church as pastor and denominational leader since 1970. He has served in rural, urban, and county seat settings in small, mid-size and larger congregations. As Director of Congregational Ministries for General Baptists he consults with churches of all sizes and in all settings while also providing plan books and resources through www.GBMissionOne.org­

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MISSIONS & MINISTRY SUMMIT

WWW. GBSUMMIT. ORG

JULY 20–22, 2015 | Collinsville, IL A deacon handed me five $100 bills and said, “This is for you to go to the General Association in July.” Although I grew up General Baptist, I had never been to the G.A. My wife and I, along with Danny and Tara Dunivan, went to our very first G.A. and I realized in 1999 how big a family I had in the General Baptist Church.

In that first G.A. Danny and I were 21-22 years old sitting in the back trying to figure things out. Now we have 22 year olds leading workshops. I see those things happening and I think God might be ramping up to something much bigger in our future.

There are two moments in every day when the sun balances on the horizon. If we are unaware of time, we could mistake the dawn for the dusk. I believe a new day is dawning among us.

I believe it is time for us to rise as the church of Jesus Christ to take our rightful place in families, communities, and in our culture. The 2015 Summit in Collinsville, Illinois, will challenge us to rise to be the people that God has called us to be.

If you have 5, 10, 50, or 75 people in your church who want to attend Summit, start making plans right now. How can you make sure hotel rooms and registrations are paid for? What plans can you make to bring as many people as you can so we rise together and do what God has called us to do?

JOSH CARPENTER Pastor, Grace United General Baptist Church Moderator, 2015 M&M Summit

No one wants to see a church die. And yet, far too many churches are dying.

For more than twenty-five years, Dr. Thom Rainer has helped churches grow, reverse the trends of decline, and has autopsied those that have died. From this experience, he has discovered consistent themes among deceased churches.

It’s not gloom and doom, because from those similarities, lessons on keeping your church alive have emerged.

Whether your church is vibrant or dying, whether you are a pastor or a church member, Autopsy of a Deceased Church will walk you through the radical paths necessary to keep your church alive for the glory of God and the advancement of His Kingdom.

In short, based on his case studies of deceased churches the author identifies one a common thread that leads to death is when the past becomes the hero that is revered. A resulting reluctance to change means that the church refuses to look like the community. The budget moves inward, the Great Commission is forgotten and the preference-driven church develops in the early years of decline.

Further decline produces a decrease in pastoral tenure, and the disappearance of corporate prayer with no clear purpose for the church. In the last stages, the facility becomes an obsession often due to lack of human and financial resources for proper maintenance and use.

Rainer offers the assessment that about 40% of churches in

the United States show symptoms of sickness. He suggests that 40% are very sick and that 10% are dying.

This short book Autopsy of a Deceased Church, Thom S. Rainer. contains a second part B & H Publishing Group: Nashville, TN 2014 that provides elements of hope. In it, the author discusses potential responses to churches with symptoms of sickness, churches that are very sick and churches that are dying. Each unit contains a four part suggestion of appropriate action by each type of congregation.

The book could prove to be a useful tool for healthy congregations if it is used to develop preventative measures. The usefulness in this regard is enhanced by discussion questions added to each short chapter.

Ordinary people leading extraordinary lives playing a part in what God is doing in people’s lives in surprising places around the world.

ForTheJoy.org

WATCH THEIR STORIES AND FIND OUT 21 HOW YOU CAN FOLLOW IN THEIR STEPS.

The Rise of the Nones: Understanding and Reaching the Religiously Unaffiliated

by James Emery White, Baker Books: Grand Rapids, MI 2014

Writing with the clarity of an academic but with the passion of a practitioner, James Emery White has produced a helpful volume dealing with a vital topic. The clarity and detail of an accomplished academic produces appropriate quotes and supportive footnotes. The passion of an effective practitioner shows itself throughout the book as he explains the principles he used as the founding and senior pastor of Mecklenburg Community Church.

The Rise of the Nones becomes a clarion call to action drawn from keen insights into the culture change that has led to as many as 20% of the population to declare no religious affiliation.

In the first part of his book, White sets out to chronicle the rise of the nones by detailing why they have developed and what marks their thinking. The author does this by drawing from several reliable sources to show the generational shifts from 1940-2012 and the accelerated shift noticed in the early 2000s.

He bolsters his thesis by showing that 5% identified with no religious identity in 1940 and 8.1% in 1990 with the final tally for 2012 of 19.3% (see page 17). The accelerated trend is shown by 22

comparing the shift from 1990 (8.1%) to 2008 (15%) climaxing in the 2012 report of 19.3% with no declared religious identity.

This American phenomenon runs counter to global trends, but is fueled by our cultural freedom to drop religious labels entirely. Interestingly, only 27% of the nones declare themselves as atheist, and a majority of them are not necessarily hostile toward religious institutions.

Three moving cultural currents are reported to have given rise to this phenomenon. Secularization produces a worldview separated from Christian or religious thought. Privatization increasingly places spiritual things in the private rather than the public arena. Pluralization recognizes a staggering number of ideologies competing for attention.

In an unnumbered essay labeled An Interlude, White lays out an insightful contrast between the missional contexts of Acts 2 and Acts 17. Acts 2 addresses those who are already close to faith in Christ. On the Day of Pentecost the thousands who became Christians were already looking for a Messiah as promised by the prophets. When the apostles announced his arrival, thousands accepted the new faith and were baptized. Acts 17, however, shows a different setting. Here in Athens, on Mar’s Hill, the philosophers have gathered to explore the competing claims of both known and unknown creeds and gods. The rise of the nones indicates to the author that we are in an Acts 17 environment that requires more careful and intentional apologetic if we are to win the nones to faith.

In Part 2 of his book the author rehearses and illustrates classic descriptions of church growth. Biological, Transfer, Prodigal and Conversion Growth are each illustrated. He further identifies church environments toward nones as hostile, indifferent, hopeful, sensitive, targeted, and No Man’s Land. In his opinion the No Man’s Land environment is particularly dangerous since it describes not being targeted enough to reach the unchurched but being too focused on this group to connect with those currently churched.

He goes on to discuss the importance of Cause that attracts the Nones to a faith community and then to Christ. He seems to say that for Nones, the entry point of Cause parallels what Contemporary Worship was as an entry point for the Prodigal return of the Baby Boomers in the late 20th century.

As in any missionary context he profiles the need to learn the language, study the culture and translate the gospel if we are reach this growing segment of our population.

Chapter 12 offers practical advice on opening the front door through friendliness, children’s ministry, music and buildings.

He insists that the need to be visual is paramount in our communication to the nones.

The overall layout of the book is quite helpful with discussion questions added to each chapter. This addition makes this volume an excellent group study for local church leaders.

One of his keenest insights comes from the chapter If You Build It, They Won’t Come.

It’s amazing the degree to which outreach strategies rest on a single, deeply flawed premise that people want what you have to offer. More often than not, they don’t.

As uber-marketer Seth Godin notes, “The portion of the population that haven’t bought from you…is not waiting for a better mousetrap. They’re not busy considering a, b and c and then waiting for d. No, they’re not in the market…. As a result,

smart marketers don’t market to this audience by saying, ‘hey ours is better than theirs!’”

It’s no different with a church. The vast majority of those who are unchurched are not actively seeking a church home.

Further, they are divorced from seeing it as a need in their life, even when they are open to and interested in spiritual things.

They no longer tie their spiritual interest and longing to the need to find a particular faith, much less a particular church. If anything they are antichurch. (Page 89)

One of his most helpful charts includes his assessment of the local church and its relationship to the Nones on page 95.

For all his analysis and observations the most reassuring point of the author’s excellent work is his observation regarding the power of relationships. Even nones still want and value friends. Friends who are believers, therefore, have a direct inroad into the heart and soul of those currently far from God because no one has invited them on the journey.

Church Environments toward Nones None Hostile:

Openly antagonistic toward nones who venture in

None Indifferent: Not hostile, but apathetic and unwilling to answer nones’ questions None Hopeful:

Want to see the nones reach Christ, but unwilling to change their environment

None Sensitive: Want to reach nones, and willing to change the environment, but still primarily

cater to the already convinced None Targeted: Church members place a high priority on the needs of nones and make every

effort to remove any and all barriers that may impede the exploration process No Man’s Land: Not being targeted enough to reach the unchurched, but being too targeted to

the unchurched for the churched

Register Early & Save!

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Early Registration $225 Private Room add $100

For more information or to register online visit www.generalbaptist.com/events

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Characteristics of Unchurched People

By Carey Nieuwhof [used by permission]

If you’re like many Christians, you have an authentic desire to share your faith with people who don’t yet follow Jesus.

I know I do.

One of my deepest longings is that every person would come to know the love and salvation that Jesus extends to them.

Our vision at Connexus, where I serve as lead pastor, is to be a church that unchurched people love to attend—a vision we share with all North Point strategic partner churches.

But unchurched people are changing.

Even since I started ministry 18 years ago, there’s been a big shift in how unchurched people think. Particularly here in Canada, we are a bit of a hybrid between the US and Europe. Canadians are less ‘religious’ than Americans, but less secular than Europeans.

Gage Lyons and David Kinnaman have outlined helpful characteristics of unchurched people in UnChristian and David tackled it again in You Lost Me. I won’t repeat those characteristics here.

(Both books are fantastic reads.)

Post-modernism has a deeper toehold here than in almost anywhere in America except perhaps the Northwest and New England, where it might be about the same.

Here are characteristics of unchurched people that I’m seeing today.

1. They don’t all have big ‘problems.’ If you’re waiting for unchurched people to show up because their life is falling apart, you might wait a long time. Sure, there are always people in crisis who seek God out. But many are quite content with their lives without God. And some are quite happy and successful. If you only know how to speak into discontent and crisis, you will miss most of your neighbors.

2. They feel less guilty than you think.

They don’t feel any guiltier about not being in church on Sunday than you feel guilty about not being in synagogue on Saturdays. How many Saturdays do you feel badly about missing synagogue?

That’s how many Sundays they feel badly about missing church.

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Understand r Unchurched

3. Occasional is regular.

When they start coming, they don’t always attend every week. Giving them easy, obvious and strategic steps to get connected is important. Disconnected people generally don’t stick. (I wrote about the declining frequency of church attendance here.)

4. Most are spiritual. Most unchurched people believe in some kind of God. They’re surprised and offended if you think of them as atheists. As they should be.

5. They are not sure chat “Christian” means. So you need to make that clear.

You really can’t make any assumptions about what people understand about the Christian faith. Moving forward, clarity is important.

6. You can’t call them back to something they never knew. Old school ‘revival’ meant there was something to revive. Now we are on the 2nd to 5th generation of unchurched people, revival is less helpful to say the least. You can’t call them back to something they never knew.

7. Many have tried church, even a little, but left. We have a good chunk of people who have never ever been to church (60% of our growth is from people who

self-identify as not regularly attending church), but a surprising number of people have tried church at some point—as a kid or young adult. Because it wasn’t a good experience, they left. Remember that.

8. ‘Something’ is generous. Because even giving 10% of your income to anything is radically countercultural, the only paradigm of giving they have is a few dozen or hundred dollars to select charities. I hope every Christian learns to live a life of sacrifice and generosity, but telling them they are ungenerous is a poor way to start the conversation. They are probably already more generous than their friends.

9. They want you to be Christian. They want you to follow Jesus, authentically.

Think about it, if you were going to convert to Buddhism, you would want to be an authentic Buddhist, now some watered down version. Andy Stanley is 100% right when he says you don’t alter the content of your services for unchurched people, but you should change the experience.

10. They’re intelligent, so speak to that.

Don’t speak down to them. Just make it easy to get on the same page as people who have attended church for years by

saying “this passage is near the middle of the Bible.” You can be inclusive without being condescending.

11. They hate hypocrisy. Enough said.

12. They love transparency. When you

share your weaknesses, everyone (including Christians) resonates.

13. They invite their friends if they like what they’re discovering. They will be your best inviters if they love what you’re doing.

14. Their spiritual growth trajectory varies dramatically. One size does not fit all. You need a flexible on ramp that allows people to hang in the shadows for a while as they make up their mind, and one that allows multiple jumping in points throughout the year.

15. Some want to be anonymous and some don’t. So make your church friendly to both. Also see the previous point. This is huge.

Keep an eye on the characteristics of unchurched people as they change again.

You’ll always have a hard time reaching people you don’t understand or can’t communicate with.

Carey Nieuwhof is the Lead Pastor of Connexus Community Church, a growing multi-campus church north of Toronto and strategic partner of North Point Community Church. He speaks to North American and global church leaders about leadership, change, and personal growth. Carey writes one of the most widely read Christian leadership blogs today at www.careynieuwhof.com. His writing has been featured in places as diverse as ChurchLeaders. com, TheGospelCoalition.org, XXXChurch. com, SermonCentral.com, BeliefNet.com, Christianity Today, Outreach Magazine, and more. He also hosts the top-rated Carey Nieuwhof Leadership Podcast.

Carey is the author of “Leading Change Without Losing It” and co-author of “Parenting Beyond Your Capacity”. He and his wife Toni live near Barrie, Ontario and have two sons.

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What If Jim Schremp

At the Mission and Ministry Summit this year, Executive Director Clint Cook shared an inspiring message. His scripture was taken from the Gospel of John 21:113, and during the message he challenged us with two questions. The first was, Have you caught any fish?” He then called our attention to verse 11, “Simon Peter climbed aboard and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn.”

Clint pointed out that some scholars believe the number 153 to be significant. In that day only 153 countries were known to exist. So, the second question was, “Are we reaching the whole world?” As I listened to the message another question came to my mind: “What if…”

One of American Christianity’s most serious evils may be the “sin” of “sermon listening.” We hear, but do we act? But “What if…” all of that changed? Instead of listening or talking, we actually did something that would build the Kingdom.

I’m convinced that as General Baptists we could do more than we are doing, but there is a problem. It takes resources, money, and people. Then I began to think— “What if…” every General Baptist tithed to their local church, and every church tithed to Unified Giving?

“What if…” our associations and church who have rainy day funds invested these funds in ministry instead of bank accounts and C.D.’s?

“What if…” as General Baptists we truly took to heart the command of Jesus to “Go into all the world and make disciples”?

“What if…” as Christians we put a greater value on human souls than on our own comforts?

The population of our world is 7.21 billion, of which 2.07 billion are Christians. This means there are a lot of fish to be caught.

I’m convinced that as General Baptists we can do our part to reach the world. In International Missions we could start 153 churches in the next five years. This is an attainable goal, but only if we have the resources. Our vision for missions is to evangelize, start new churches, and develop leaders in these churches. The message from our Executive Director at the M&M Summit is a wakeup call to all General Baptists.

We can, we must, reach the world if we only trust in Christ and make it a priority in our hearts and lives.

Jim Schremp serves as the Director of International Missions along with his wife Sue.

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MINISTER’S CONFERENCE

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Project Plant:

BONITA SPRINGS Florida

Cau cas ian

American | .5% N can ativ Afr i eA

Races | 1.4% Tw ther o+

8% |.

Ra ce s

88.8%

43,914 Asian | .1% Pacific 1% Isla n

|

m

22.5% Hispanic or Latino

n| ca er i

%O 7.3

POPULATION

de r

Lee County, Florida

2010 POPULATION

618,754

In January, when our team (myself, Brandon Petty, and Vince Daniel) was appointed to help navigate the future of National Missions, it was obvious that we needed a clear direction for the next few years. Before developing any plan or outlining any goals publicly, we had to look hard at the state of affairs in National Missions. With this in mind we began to develop, and are still developing, healthy systems that enable us to plant churches better and faster. We also paid off a loan against some endowments almost two years ahead of schedule.

We are now in a more stable place than we have been in the six years I have been involved in the movement.

At this point, the question became: “What are legitimate goals that stretch us to work hard and trust God?” It was in answer to this question that the Go Project was birthed. The Go Project is a five year initiative that officially begins in 2015 to launch 15 healthy churches in the next five years. We recently hosted our first assessment and will share details of our first Go Project plant in Bonita Springs, FL in the very near future.

I shared some numbers at Summit this year and wanted to take a moment

to share once again. Take a look at the five year impact of the Go Project on our General Baptist Movement.

If we take the average attendance, salvations, baptisms, and Unified Giving numbers of our five most recent church plants, and spread them over 15 more new churches in the next five years: • 8,922 more people will be attending worship services in a General Baptist church • 6,278 more people will receive Christ • 2,688 more people will be baptized • $278,400 more a year to Unified Giving This is so exciting for the Kingdom of God and the future of our movement. We take our call to serve General Baptists seriously, and we believe if we can make this happen, we can help be a catalyst for the greatest days of our movement in the years to come. If you know someone who would be interested in planting a church, our next assessment will be held in the spring of 2015 in the Atlanta area.

On behalf of the National Missions Advisory Team, it has been a great experience working alongside our Executive Director, and I believe the best days of our movement are yet to come.

A special offering will be received October 26th in our General Baptist churches. If you would like to give on National Mission Sunday, your support will help fund the Go Project. You can give online at www.generalbaptist. com, by phone at 573-785-7746, or by mail at 100 Stinson Drive Poplar Bluff, MO 63901. Be sure to designate your gift to the Go Project.

Evangelical Protestant 88,687

Black Protestant 1,919

Mainline Protestant 28,605

Orthodox 970

Catholic 100,300

Other

12,684

Unclaimed 385,589

Source: 2010 U.S. Census and the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies (ASARB), which includes statistics for 236 religious groups, providing information on the number of their congregations and adherents within each state and county in the United States. Accessed October 24, 2014.

10.26.14. Refuge Church has dreamt, planned, and prayed over that date for the past 2 years. And on that date Refuge Church publicly launched services in Cookeville, Tennessee. However, Refuge has been reaching Cookeville for Jesus for the past several months. Over that time period, they have served the community by giving away over 2000 cups of lemonade at parks, festivals, and parades as a way to show God’s love in a practical way. They have also given away over 5600 cookies to banks, auto shops, teachers, government officials, and many others in their community. Seven mission teams with a total of 74 members drove 100 total hours to take part in 761 volunteer hours in September and October to build anticipation for launch weekend. They saw the vision God has placed in the hearts of the leadership at Refuge to reach Cookeville for Christ.

Two mission teams from partner General Baptist churches, Generation Church and Skyline Church, supplied 20 volunteers, allowing Refuge children’s workers to enjoy the first service, greet 92 reported first time guests and watch as 8 people accepted Jesus as their personal Savior. Praise the Lord! Refuge would like to thank the entire General Baptist family for helping them reach Cookeville for Jesus by doing together what definitely could not be done alone.

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Continued from pg.13

Fourth, successful evangelism of children will result from an alignment of process. When the same concepts are expressed in the pre-evangelism of young children and in the evangelism of children, teens, and adults, evangelistic work will be more successful. When similar visuals and words are used throughout the process, evangelistic activity will be more productive.

A visual demonstration of our lostness and the need for a Savior can be presented by a simple game that portrays the Bridge Illustration frequently used while sharing the gospel.

Use a few children from the group to play the roles. If the group is small or if this is a pre-evangelism activity for younger children, use everyone. Indicate a starting point for the children and stand near an ending point, 5-10 feet away. Help them imagine that they are on one side and God is on the other side.

Ask them to jump across the distance so they can reach God. Since they only get one jump some will make more progress than others, but none of them will make it all the way. Some of the boys will believe that if they can have a running start or if they can try one or two more times, they can surely make it. Let them try.

Help them imagine a cross that bridges the gap. For younger children having an actual cross on the floor will be helpful. Ask them if they can walk across the bridge to God. For older children, explain how we respond to the gospel and invite them to do so. Using a simple gospel handout can help those who read to see the related Bible verses and have something they can take home and reflect on. Build the entire presentation around the key verse of I Timothy 2:5: For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, (NIV) “God is on one side and all the people on the other side, and Christ Jesus, himself man, is between them to bring them together by giving his life for all mankind.”

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Evangelism for Children—General View

Evangelism Night—Operational View

1. FREQUENCY—It can be very helpful to view the church as having a three semester year in its programming.

This means that repeated emphases can be scheduled for late fall, early spring, and summer since attendance patterns and programming often follows these patterns.

1. ADVANCE PREP—counselor certification ensures that those who assist are all on the same page.

2. CONTEXT—Evangelism for children should occur within the context of existing children’s ministries so that it is a natural expression of what the church is and does. Specialized settings should be avoided so that the decisions being made are genuine and not the result of peer or environmental pressure.

3. AGE STRUCTURED—Evangelism for children should be targeted to those children who can appropriately respond. While pre-evangelism can be done in groups with a variety of ages, the opportunity to respond should not be extended to younger children. A separate meeting area may be needed so each group can be treated in an age appropriate manner.

2. SEATING ARRANGEMENTS—for both control and response it is better if children are not crowded together. This allows them to focus on the material and to respond for themselves rather than to respond to the peer pressure imposed because others around them are responding.

3. AGE STRUCTURE—means there will be different lesson plans for younger children who are in the preevangelism mode.

4. PRELIMINARY WORSHIP— is always helpful to set the stage.

5. THE GOSPEL—presentation should be simple, clear, concise.

6. PLAN—for a response time, and discuss with all adult volunteers how they should respond to the children.

7. ONE-ON-ONE FOLLOW UP COUNSELING—as much as possible with open ended questions to confirm what the children have heard and how they are responding. This breaks the evening into a two part process of a presentation and a follow-up.

General Baptist Pension Trust

General Baptist Pension Trust was established in 1968 as a vehicle to provide retirement benefits to employees of General Baptist churches as well as employees of denominational and institutional ministries.

This Retirement Program is available to all General Baptist pastors, church staff, missionaries, church planters, and employees of denominational ministries.

For more information write us at: General Baptist Ministries | 100 Stinson Drive | Poplar Bluff, MO 63901 Call us: 573.785.7746

Visit our Website: www.generalbaptist.com/executive-offices/financial

Missions in India An Update of General Baptist

by Dr. Sam Ramdial

India has a population of 1.24 billion, but only 2.3 percent are Christian. Taking the gospel to India is challenging, and is made more so by a strong pro-Hindu government, persecution of Christians, and the suspension of missionary visas issued by the government of India.

In the 1980’s, contact was made with an Indian Pastor Prakash Survana Raj, which resulted in visits by Dr. Charles Carr, Director of General Baptist Foreign Missions at the time, Dr. Glen Spence, Executive Director then, and others. This growing interest and fellowship resulted in the formal beginning of the General Baptist work with Brother Raj and the churches in the Pithapuram area of Andhra Pradesh in 1985.

In September of this year, I made a field visit to India, and I rejoiced with the advancement of the General Baptist mission outreach, but was challenged with the enormity of the task still ahead: evangelizing the people of this great country.

ANDHRA PRADESH This is where General Baptist involvement in India began in the 1980’s. Pastor Raj and his family, working in collaboration with General Baptist International Missions, have seen many Hindus come to faith in Christ through crusade evangelism and benevolence ministry to the poor and low caste people in that region.

Today the work in this area is led by Dr. Prakash and his wife, Jemima, the oldest daughter of Brother and Sister Raj, and their two children Joshua and Annie.

During my September visit Sixteen new Hindu converts were baptized, including the Prakash’s son, Josh, and their daughter, Annie.

Following the baptism in the Bay of Bengal, we worshipped with the congregation at the Pithapuram General Baptist Church.

We enjoyed inspiring worship that morning at the Pithapuram General Baptist Church.

That morning, these 14 people renounced Hinduism and trusted Jesus Christ as their Lord and personal Savior.

30

Through the Dorcas Sewing Centers, hundreds of young Hindu women have been converted and equipped with the skill to sew.

This ministry was born in the hearts of Brother and Sister Raj who started this ministry to reach destitute lower caste women.

Today, there are 16 of these Dorcas Sewing Centers in Andhra Pradesh. While I visited in September, I participated in a graduation ceremony for 200 women who graduated from the six-month course and each received their own sewing machine.

For an investment of $200, you can provide training and a sewing machine to one of these deserving women, who may be otherwise incapable of supporting themselves.

During this graduation ceremony, 40 Hindu women came forward to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and personal Savior.

TELANGANA When Brittany, a member of First General Baptist Church in Bloomfield, Missouri, married Jessey Vemula (a young pastor from India) we were introduced to the work of Calvary Grace Churches in the Siddipett area of South India. After officials from International Missions visited the churches and got better acquainted with Jessey and his father, Rev. Charles Vemula, a partnership was formed. Rev. Charles Vemula started 43 churches in the area, and the doctrine he taught is compatible with our denominational beliefs.

Unfortunately, Rev. Charles Vemula passed away about a year ago, and now Jessey and Brittany, along with Jessey’s brother Joel, are leading the ministry in this part of India.

During my recent visit, 16 pastors were ordained as General Baptist ministers.

Samuel Ravurukula, Ashirvadam Shivarathri, Joel Vemula, John Rajesh, Joseph Marpally, Solomon Peddi, Sudhakar Bandoju, Abraham Ireni, Sunaam Nanda, Aaron Bichala, Anandam, Hanok Garige, Samuel Sheelam, Hanok Chinta, Moses Krishnaian

Pray for these pastors who minister under difficult circumstances.

They face discrimination by the Hindu majority, and they have difficulty finding employment. We can provide support for a pastor and his family for an investment of $1,500 that will provide a milk buffalo. In turn, he will give the first two buffalo calves to other pastors.

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LYDIA SEWING CENTER The church in the town of Mustabad is reaching young Hindu women in their community through a sewing center that currently has 31 women. During my visit, two of these Hindu women trusted Jesus Christ as their Lord and personal Savior.

We visited with Pastor Sudhakar, his wife, and some members of their house church.

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Of the 43 Calvary Grace General Baptist Churches in this area, many are simply house churches.

The

Missions & Ministry Summit 2015

Collinsville, Il

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MVP Review and Outlook

By Kris Yeomans

The Mission Volunteer Program (MVP) is closing out another amazing, successful year of ministry! God is doing amazing things around the world, and He is using His people to lead others to Himself. What a privilege it is to be right in the center of God’s will, and what an honor it is to be used by Him to lead others toward salvation! In 2014, we sent teams to Mexico, Honduras, West Africa, India, and The Philippines. Through our many volunteers on MVP teams, we were able to feed over 9,000 people, present the Gospel to more than 7,700, treat over 4,000 patients in our medical clinics (Honduras, Africa, Mexico), start seven new churches or Bible Study groups, baptize at least 14 people, ordain 16 new pastors, and most importantly, we saw more than 1,099 people follow Christ! God is advancing His Kingdom around the world, and it is so exciting to be able to see Him work through our volunteers!

While we have many active international ministries, we know that God calls many different people to minister in many different places around the world where General Baptists may not have official ministries. We want to work with our churches to go places that God is calling them, wherever that may be.

General Baptists have many diverse churches and people, and we believe God wants ALL of us to be involved locally AND internationally.

It is my hope that in 2015, we can continue to expand the MVP ministry and send teams all over the globe! We have a lot of exciting trips scheduled, and we want YOU to be a part of all of the evangelism we have planned! We are sending teams to many new and exciting places to partner with other believers to reach the lost and unreached.

We are working on many firsts for 2015. We hope to send our first MVP team to Germany, and we will send our first MVP team of Filipinos from General Baptist Bible College to India!

Our first training and development teams will head to Mexico and India as well. We will also have our first ever MVP host and team leader retreat.

We have a lot of churches and teams that are attempting to do alone what we could be doing together. Will you, your church, and mission teams pray about getting involved with the Mission Volunteer Program? I truly believe we can reach more when we are doing together what we cannot (or should not) do alone.

Below is a list of the teams currently scheduled for 2015 with the Mission Volunteer Program of General Baptist International Ministries. If you are interested in joining or leading a team, or if you are interested in sending a team from your church, please contact me via email (kris@generalbaptist.com) or by calling 573.718.4854. You can also contact Melody Manley via email (melody@generalbaptist.com) or by calling 573.785.7746.

2015 Mission Volunteer Program Schedule DATES January 15 – 22, 2015 January 24 – 31, 2015 January 24 – 31, 2015 February 5 – 12, 2015 February 19 – 26, 2015 February 28 – March 7 March 7 – 14, 2015 March 11 – 18, 2015 April 17 – 25, 2015* April 18 – 28, 2015* May 2 – 12, 2015 May 22 – 29, 2015 June 3 – 10, 2015* June 6 – 13, 2015* June 12 – 19, 2015 June 20 – 27, 2015 June 25 – July 2, 2015 July 6 – 13, 2015* August 1 – 8, 2015 September 4 – 12, 2015 October 19 – 30, 2015 October 30 – Nov 8, 2015* *Tentative Dates

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LEADER – TYPE Brady (TN) – Construction/Evangelism Alvis (KY) – Little Angels School Prep Schremp (MO) – Pastoral Training Witter (IL) – Construction/Outreach Strouse (multiple) – Medical/Evangelism Holland (MO) – Faith Home Maintenance Zeller (IN) – Construction Fischer/Freeman (CA/TN) – Med/ Church Planting Yeomans (multiple) – Evangelism Ramdial (multiple) – General Assembly Yeomans/Porcadilla (PI) – GBBC Faculty/Students Strouse (multiple) – Medical/Evangelism Ober (IL) – Medical/Evangelism Hamann (MO) – Outreach Pratt (IN) – OCU Team Beliles/Galyen (KY) – Medical/Construction Todd (MO) – Outreach/Evangelism TBD – Ministry/Outreach Lee (SC) – Dental Strouse (multiple) – Medical/Evangelism Cook (multiple) – 360 Leadership Conf Yeomans (multiple) – Leadership Training

LOCATION Honduras Honduras Mexico Honduras Honduras Honduras Honduras Jamaica Germany Philippines India Honduras Honduras Mexico Honduras Mexico Honduras Mexico Honduras Honduras Philippines India

To Go or Not to Go... That is the Question

By Jeff and Julie Hamann

In October of 2013, my wife Julie and I were encouraged to attend a CultureLink seminar in Indiana. During the seminar, we were asked at two different times by two different people to take a mission team to Juarez, Mexico.

Our immediate response was, “No way.” After completing the 2-day training and knowing how God works through His people, we looked at one another and said, “We are going to Mexico.”

Though we knew God wanted us to go to Mexico, we had some very real concerns about the safety in Juarez and taking on the responsibility of leading a team to a potentially unsafe environment. However, we began to put a team together.

After our team was set, we had even more concern about possible safety issues.

Our team consisted of two teenage boys, four teenage girls and the two of us.

Now what? More prayer and research.

All of our answered prayers and direction from the Holy Spirit said “GO.” After that, we had no more fear about going, and instead trusted in the Lord. We still took the time to research the status of violence and monitored the news out of Juarez, because we felt that we needed to remain aware of the reality of the situation. After all, we were taking other people’s children.

As we researched our mission trip to Juarez we found that the violence had decreased substantially and that El Paso, where the General Baptist team home is located, is actually the safest city in the US for a city of its size.

In June of 2014, we went to Juarez with our mission team. During our entire trip, we did not see or experience any situation that caused fear or concern for our safety. Pastor Pedro and Elida Quezada were wonderful hosts. We painted at Agua Viva General Baptist Church, a few minutes across the border in Juarez, and traveled 30 minutes south to outreach in another community at a new church plant, Pan De Vida.

If God has laid it on your heart to go on a mission trip to Mexico, I encourage you to step out in faith. We were all blessed by our trip and are looking forward to seeing our brothers and sisters in Juarez again next year. They are truly a wonderful group of people.

When speaking of the church body, scripture says that you will know them by their love. We definitely felt welcomed and loved by the people there during our visit.

To go or not to go? If you are called, I encourage you to go. I guarantee that you will be changed by your experience.

Jeff and Julie Hamann are mission leaders at Brown General Baptist Church in Puxico, MO. For more information on participating on a short term mission team to Mexico, contact Kris Yeomans via email at kris@generalbaptist.com or by calling 573.785.7746.

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In August, I accompanied a medical outreach team to the remote tribal area of Purok 6, Asuncion. Two General Baptist pastors from Purok 4 and Purok 6 joined me to serve as counselors with the medical team. After the nurses assessed the patient’s physical needs, the pastors and I assessed their spiritual ones.

During counseling, a young lady walked in, sat down in front of me, and began to talk. I shared with her about Jesus Christ, and she began confessing her sins to God in prayer and made a decision to follow him. We were even able to help her connect to a local General Baptist church. I am thankful for God allowing me the opportunity to share the gospel with Marie Bell Mayaki, and with everyone else I met with that day.

Pray that Marie will never turn away from the priceless gift of life found in our Savior.

Keith Bowers, Philippines 36

The Myers family has experienced a lot of new things recently, and faced a lot of changes. First, we were able to travel to Guam and work on part of our original mission. There we were able to connect with some of our fellow General Baptists on our island neighbor to the south. Guam is actually very significant to our denomination.

It was the very first field where we sent a missionary to serve overseas back in 1911. Shortly after returning from Guam, we had to say goodbye to the Warren family. We pray that they will prosper and continue the legacy of our former missionaries who have served through the decades in the Pacific region. We remain in Saipan and ask for your prayers as we continue our shared mission serving as your hands and feet for Christ here in the Mariana Islands.

Robbie Myers, Saipan

The Ed Stevens Day Offering has raised $40,500 for our ministry in India! Both missionary families, Jemima and Prakash in Andhra Pradesh and Brittany and Jessie in Telangana, need vehicles to travel to remote areas to share the gospel. This funding also supports the ongoing ministries of the Dorcas Sewing Centers and their work with orphans.

The goal for this year is $50,000.

If you would like to help us reach this goal and provide our hardworking missionaries with the equipment necessary to fulfill their calling, visit www. generalbaptist.com & click international-missions or call 573-785-7746.

Employee Evaluations in Ministry Settings

By Dr. Franklin R. Dumond,Director of Congregational Ministries

Evaluating the effectiveness of a church employee or a church ministry can be a very difficult task in many small to mid-sized churches. In these settings, everything can be so relational and personal that processes for evaluation have never been developed or identified. This can sometimes lead to increasing frustration with an underperforming employee with no steps taken to address the performance issues. When the pastor is the employee this often leads to a vote of dismissal rather than developing a plan to improve.

Because ministry and organization is personal and relational in many churches it is important that any tool developed or used to evaluate performance must also be personal and relational. Too many evaluation processes used in business are either/or, yes/no in their orientation, with no expectation for on-going improvement. Evaluation in these kinds of settings tends to be adversarial in nature rather than a process designed to lead toward personal and professional improvement.

One of the most helpful tools for evaluating pastoral ministry was developed by Dale Burke and published in Less is More Leadership in 2004. In it, he frames five important questions that explore areas of strength and areas that need improvement. Adapting this tool for use in a local church would require: 1. Organizing a personnel team with the specific assignment to undertake annual reviews and to monitor needed follow up. Remember: personnel issues are confidential!

2. Developing a reporting process that gains input from the congregation, not just from the personnel team. This strengthens the process because input is gained from a cross section of the congregation instead of just a few individuals. In many congregations, 10-15 responses would be adequate. To gain those responses the pastor might be allowed to request input from some individuals while the personnel team might request input from others. It is not wise to use this as a congregational survey open to all since often those with a ‘bone to pick’ would complete the forms and distort the information collected.

3. Establishing a schedule to privately review privately the findings discovered in the evaluation process.

4. Providing a fair method of accountability to address needed changes.

Implementation Suggestions

• When a form is developed, always be sure adequate space has been included to actually write in the responses.

• Keep the form to one page to make it easier to complete.

• Include a return envelope for responses to insure confidentiality.

• When compiling the numerical responses use averages as well as a range of numbers.

• If areas of needed improvement are identified be sure to work toward an improvement plan with specific action steps and specific review dates.

38

Professional Assessment Form

(adapted from Dale Burke “Less is More Leadership”)

It is my desire to grow as a leader, and I cannot do it without your feedback. Please take a moment to fill out this form.

Please be gentle, but honest and specific. Then return it by mail in the envelope I have provided so that it reaches the church office no later than ____________________ Employee:_______________________________ Position:___________________________ 1. What do you appreciate most about my work or area of ministry? What are its strengths? (List three or four items.) ________________________________________ ____________________________________ ________________________________________ ____________________________________ 2. What one or two aspects of my work or ministry need improvement? Where are we weak? ________________________________________ ____________________________________ 3. What are my personal strengths as a leader? In relation to my character, conduct, or style, what do you appreciate most? (List three or four items.) ________________________________________ ____________________________________ ________________________________________ ____________________________________ 4. Where would you suggest I focus as I seek to grow and improve as a leader? (List one or two items.) ________________________________________ ____________________________________ 5. Using a scale of: 1 — 2 — 3 — 4 — 5 — 6 — 7 — 8 — 9 — 10

Help!

Weak Average Strong Super!

How would you rate my work and ministry this past year?

Now _____________

One year ago _____________

How would you rate my personal leadership and character?

Now _____________

One year ago _____________

ship. The children’s message should be presented by the pastor in a story telling, object lesson format. When the pastor announces, “Children, meet me down front” both the children and the adults will share in this special message. One way to start this practice is to use Advent, the four Sundays prior to Christmas, to light candles on an Advent Wreath and tell portions of the Christmas story using figurines to build a Christmas display. Children love to help and young boys especially like playing with fire, which is essential if you are to light a candle!

Use a children’s bulletin. These are available from several sources and can generally be photocopied on site so the proper number can be prepared. These may provide age appropriate learning activities that could even be the focus of the children’s message.

Develop an organized prayer ministry. It is amazing what the Lord does when we ask him to do things! Pray for children to attend. Pray by name for the children you know who should attend.

Continue teaching and training even if you only have a few children. If you only have a few, then be sure to find a way to provide individualized instruction. Make it part of your church’s discipleship plan.

“I was that kid.” This was the report from a pastor reflecting on growing up in smaller churches where he was often the only child in a class. As he reflected on that heritage, he realized that the faithfulness of a few teachers and leaders had positioned him to hear the Lord’s call and to enter vocational ministry. That faithfulness continued week after week when someone studied and prepared a lesson even when there was only one student enrolled in the class. That type of faithfulness will someday warrant a “well done” from the Lord Jesus himself.

~ ~

We Only Have Two Kids!

By Dr. Franklin R. Dumond,Director of Congregational Ministries

“We only have two kids,” the pastor reported. He then asked, “How do we connect with younger families?”

This scenario plays out in all too many single cell, well established churches. The single cell church only has one group of folks. Typically there will be only one worship service and perhaps only one adult class. Generally, attendance will average 30-50 weekly. The single cell church embodies the organizing principle that we are always more comfortable around people who are similar to us.

In the single cell church the group tends to age together and over time can become a senior citizen’s church with few, if any, children present.

The obvious answer to connect with young families would be to invest in children’s ministries that would include both Sunday morning and weekday options for children. Sometimes the missing ingredient is the lack of ministries targeted for children and their families.

Often this obvious answer requires too many people to implement and to many dollars to provide it. When the obvious answer is not appropriate, then some short-term entry events and adapted on-going programming is necessary.

Organize a one-day Vacation Bible School and recruit children. If you can get them to the church once then you have an opportunity to work with their families in follow-up activities to enlist them in the local church.

Consider week-day ministries. Many churches provide after school programs for latch key children. Others invest in some of the club type ministries like Pioneer Clubs or Awana.

You can consider a video curriculum that will include recorded music so the children you have can sing along with the other children on the DVD. Include a children’s message as part of your morning wor-

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reasons churches never address decline

By Dr. Franklin R. Dumond, Director of Congregational Ministries

Churches, like other organizations and the people who participate in them, move through predictable cycles. In the institutional memory of every church there is the awareness that average attendance varies from year to year. Anyone who has been part of a congregation for any length of time will have experienced those occasions when more people attend now than used to attend. Seasoned members will also have experienced those occasions where fewer people attend now than in the past.

Some years ago, one church consultant described churches and their attendance patterns as either being on the incline (growing and increasing), on the recline (stable, on a plateau), or on the decline (fewer attending now than used to attend).

Most observers of the American church landscape suggest that at least 80% of churches are reclining or declining.

The net result of long term decline is always death. So why don’t more churches address the serious issue of decline?

1. Poor record keeping disguises decline. I once helped stage a picture for some church publicity. We wanted to show the auditorium as full of people, but it was a weekday and only a handful of people were in the building when the photographer arrived. No problem. He simply staged them along the center aisle and framed the shot looking down the aisle. By cropping out the rest of the picture we had a full house with only a couple of dozen folks present!

My wife observed recently that the church looked “pretty full this morning” but in actuality the seating capacity was seriously underutilized at only about 50% occupied. I counted. She observed. My count did not match her observation although she admitted the seating patterns made it look like a larger crowd was present.

Unless church leaders count and compare the counts from week to week, from month to month, or from year to year decline may easily be disguised.

2. Righteous Remnant Theology often predicts a falling away from the church because people in general just cannot accept the hard truth of the Gospel. Decline in this scenario has to do more with decline in standards and errors in theology rather than loss of numbers.

3. Decline is the new normal. Congregations that experience long term decline can reach the point that decline is expected.

Many worshipers have little if any experience in another church and are simply unaware of any other scenario.

4. We’ve built it so they should come. This philosophy of ministry worked very well in the 1950’s when it was expected that folks should attend church. That social or cultural expectation no longer exists with the result that new folks now attend church only if they are invited by someone they know and trust.

5. A lack of introspection and thus lack of personal responsibility can speed decline. As a young pastor I found a box of old church newsletters. While reading through them I noticed a particularly personal confession from a former pastor. He was a seasoned veteran. He also took a hard look around and noticed that there were no conversions for three months. At that point, he began looking inside himself since he felt a keen responsibility to model personal evangelism. If he had not taken the time for this personal introspection the decline would probably have continued.

6. Churches prefer to reach one person rather than one neighborhood full of people. Remember a broken clock is still correct twice each day. It is very easy to excuse what we are currently doing because once in a while we connect with one person. Isn’t it worth it to reach even one? Maybe not, when similar resources of time, talent and treasure could reach a neighborhood full of people by intentional outreach.

Periods of decline are inevitable. Persistent decline, however, was never the intention of the Lord Jesus who announced that the gates of Hell would not prevail against His Church.

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ABC Offering 2014 The 2014 Asenath Brewster Christmas Offering will go towards improvements to the boy’s dorm at the General Baptist Bible College in the Philippines. These young men are learning and training to become leaders in churches and ministries in their country and around the world. Their dorm needs to be upgraded for the comfort and safety of these young men. The ladies dorm greatly benefitted from the 2006 ABC Offering, and we hope to give the same gift to these young men.

Please share this opportunity to give with your church!

All gifts will go directly to this project and must be received by March 31, 2015.

Checks can be made payable to Women’s Ministries and should be sent to: General Baptist Women’s Ministries 100 Stinson Dr. Poplar Bluff, MO 63901

InsidE OUt 2014: ROad TRiP

Inside Out 2014 took place October 3-5 at Wooded Glen Retreat and Conference Center in Henryville, IN. Our Speaker, Cindy Irwin, encouraged us to leave our baggage so we can BE all that God intends for us to be. Our musicians, Evidence Sings, Led us into worship and wowed us with their beautiful voices. We grew together as friends and sisters in Christ as we shared our hearts and prayed with one another. We competed in some silly, but very fun games, ate VERY well, and shivered a bit (but laughed more!) at our Movie Under the Stars. Thank you to everyone who made the weekend possible and to all who came along for the ride!

Here’s what a few of our attendees had to say: Best Yet!

I arrived upset, chained and trapped. Now, I realize I can be still, yet do as he asks. He’s not surprised. He made it all. He’s already caught me in my fall. I can just be free to be me. I am what He created me to be.

It was relaxing, refreshing, and a great location

I feel blessed to have been a part of this “Road Trip”

Thank you so much for this wonderful weekend. It was an awesome time of worship, friendship, fun, relaxing, and praise.

I have thoroughly enjoyed this event. The speaker was, for me, an affirmation of the things I have been experiencing in my life. Thank you for being the conduit.

The Keynote speaker was excellent! I learned so much that will make a difference Wonderful facility and loved the activities. [I feel] so rested and recharged and ready to go back into the world and share all about our conference and Jesus.”

ad TRiP

InsidE OUt 2014 : RO

DOn’t Miss OUt next yeaR! Watch fOR mORe infORMatiOn aBOUt Inside OUt 2015 43

DRAINED? M ay 2 6 - 2 8 | K e n t ucky Dam V illa ge S ta te Park For more information visit www.GeneralBaptist.com and click on Events

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Unified Giving The early Church knew while not all were called to travel the known world preaching the Gospel, all were expected to financially and spiritually support the work of those who were, as well as give toward emergency relief.

Paul mentions on numerous occasions the help he receives from the established churches and the offerings he delivers to the poor. ( Romans 15:23-24, Galatians 2:10, Philippians 4:16) People from all over would come together in support of a few, so that the Gospel could branch out to even more places.

Unified Giving allows us to follow the example of the first believers and gather our resources to send and support more missionaries than ever before to all corners of the world, and to provide relief to the poor, the widowed, the orphaned, and the disaster-stricken.

It enables us to do greater things together than what we can do alone.

Unified Giving

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