It is important for an association to take a deep dive and imagine a new vision for their missions field. The idea of a year of jubilee would mean that you engage in this way every 50 years. I urge associations to do this more often.
Recently an anonymous post on a social media site for associational mission strategists asked participants about sponsoring missions trips. Should these only be done by churches, or should the associational organization also sponsor trips?
Rusty Sumrall was called to Christian ministry during high school, and during college he was called to pastor three small country churches, but he arrived in seminary knowing he did not want to be a pastor …
The Great Commission Resurgence Evaluation Task Force is currently studying the effectiveness of the resurgence. One lens they must use is the perspective of Baptist associations.
“Throughout it all, he remained a faithful servant, dedicating his life to service…,” Russell Bennett’s daughters shared.
“You can observe a lot by watching” is a Yogi-ism credited to the legendary baseball player Yogi Berra. I watch a lot of associations. They are the best part of denominational life…
“It’s about imagining the missions opportunity of neighborhoods of people as if no church had ever existed there.”
Enduring and zealous churches are on a spiritual and strategic journey. They willingly take a fresh look at their journeys during a sabbatical every seven years. Then every 50 years, they observe a year of jubilee.
A spiritless church is a remnant group of members who are so spiritually myopic that they cannot see the new thing God might do in or through them. There are many of them, but here are some solutions.
Let’s ban all “re-” words when talking about the journey of churches. “Re-” words are about going back, doing something again and preserving the way things were in the past.
