Ray Gentry likes to focus on positive reasons that Baptists are well served by Baptist associations. There are more than 1,100 Baptist associations in the U.S., and they are often served by a director of missions or an associational mission strategist (the newer and more preferred title in use).
Gentry is president of the Southern Baptist Conference of Associational Leaders. It is the oldest and largest network for associational leaders in the Southern Baptist Convention. In its 65th year, SBCAL holds an annual conference for associational mission strategists just prior to the SBC Annual Meeting. This year it will be at the Adolphus Hotel in downtown Dallas on June 8–9. Gentry says it will likely be close to full so early registration is advised.
Training, networking
SBCAL was started in 1960 as a way to train directors of missions and to provide networking opportunities for leaders of associations. Today, there are 780 members of SBCAL.
SBCAL is helping associations with targeted training aimed at what they refer to as “normative-size associations” (40 or fewer member churches), “mid-size associations” (40–89 churches) and “large associations” (90-plus churches). Breakout sessions will have different tracks for these groups.
Regional retreats in different parts of the nation are held as well. One that is almost sold out will be in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, this spring.
SBCAL also offers orientations for new association leaders, and they have a podcast that discusses associational matters on a regular basis. Occasionally, they will have webinars with guest leaders who discuss trends and issues related to associations and churches.
‘The main thing’
Gentry was asked what he sees as key things associational leaders should be striving for in this time and culture.
He said the primary emphasis should be to “keep missions the main thing.” He also encourages the AMS to “lead out of a spirit of their particular giftedness.”
“I think the AMS should love all pastors and churches, but focus on working with those who want to work with you,” he said. “With the increasing post-Christian culture we are living in, you have to develop good relationships with people.”
Challenges
Gentry listed several things that could be considered obstacles that associations and their leaders are facing in 2025, but he quickly turned the conversation back to positive encouragement. Here is a list of challenges he mentioned:
— There is a strong emphasis on restarting churches that are struggling, and this often includes a merger with another church. This then results in fewer dollars flowing into the association as two churches have merged into one.
— When churches plant other churches — and they should — church missions funds are sometimes diverted to the new church plant, and a reduction in associational funding happens.
— The percentage of church missions contributions is decreasing. Gentry remembers when 3% of undesignated gifts to the church was common for associational missions. Many times now it is less than that.
— Expenses for associations are increasing, but the income is not always keeping up with that.
— Communicating with pastors in a variety of settings and with preferred communication styles is increasingly a challenge. Bivocational pastors have less time to focus on associational matters.
— There are a variety of perceptions about denominational entities such as the SBC, the state convention and the associations. Gentry said some associations are revising their bylaws to allow for including like-minded Baptist churches that do not necessarily affiliate with the state or national conventions.
‘Cooperate and not compete’
But in all of these challenges, SBCAL urges members to lead their associations to be cooperative with the state and national conventions. To “cooperate and not compete” is the way Gentry likes to put it.
Associations are finding a lot of different ways to maintain leadership in their settings. There is an increasing trend to see the association led by a bivocational AMS. Sometimes that will be a pastor who also leads the association ministries. Other times a semiretired minister leads an association part time. Associations are increasingly turning to their elected moderators or presidents to lead the association. In Illinois there are 33 associations, and 6 of them are led by full-time directors. The rest are led by moderators or by part-time associational leaders.
Mark Millman of Madison, Wisconsin, is a member of SBCAL who leads the Greater Wisconsin Baptist Association. He said partnerships are a key for him as he helps their member churches, which are spread across about half of the state. He links people, churches, associations and SBC entities together to plant churches and strengthen each other.
“If I had to tell you the one thing I have accomplished best,” Millman said, “it would be networking — connecting people.” He likes to use the phrase, “We can go further and faster together than we can alone.”
“I won’t give you all of my ‘unraveling stories,’ but we have been able to see some good things happen in our area in the past 20 years,” Millman said.
Millman has watched the association grow from 13 churches when he arrived in 2005 to 38 now. About 15 churches have closed or merged during his tenure. Only five of the current churches were in existence in 2005 when Millman moved to the association. Much of the growth has been among international people and immigrants.
Another member of SBCAL is Asa Greear, AMS at St. Johns River Baptist Association in Palatka, Florida. The association is located near St. Augustine and Jacksonville, and it has a variety of sizes of churches. Greear has served there for 17 years.
He spoke excitedly of networking and helping to resource his churches. One example was when a pastor’s wife had to have some surgery, and they had a health insurance plan with a high deductible. Between the association and the state convention, Greear was able to help that family with $3,500 of the $5,000 deductible.
Greear also values relationships and connecting people for Kingdom work. “I am the pastor to these pastors,” he said. “When the pastor has a crisis, you have got to be there for them.”
Being an interim pastor in the churches in his association helps a lot, Greear noted. He gets to know church leaders as well as pastors. The churches turn to him for help. He also likes to attend celebrations in the churches. It means a lot to the pastors and churches when the AMS is there for their celebratory moments.
Associations can have a great impact on their member churches if they lead the churches to be connected in the network. Ray Gentry and the members of SBCAL want to help.
For more information about the organization, podcasts, conferences, retreats and services of SBCAL visit www.sbcal.org.
