Report of the Director of Missions
Baptist associations were created by churches who desired to work together in providing education for ministers, spread the Gospel, multiply churches and settle doctrinal disputes in a cooperative manner. The first Baptist association in America, Philadelphia Association, was organized in 1707 by five churches who “knew that together they could make an impact for Jesus Christ that no single congregation could make separately.” Charleston Baptist Association, the first association in the south, was organized in 1751. Its purpose included a shared effort to carry out Christ’s mission through “the promotion of the Redeemer’s kingdom.”
In 1802, Savannah Baptist Association was formed by 2 churches from Georgia and 5 from South Carolina. From the start, missions and leadership development were top priorities. Funding was given to both South Carolina and Georgia efforts to educate local pastors. Missionary efforts included funding for state and domestic missions, work among the Creek Indians, and a missionary fund to help fill pulpit vacancies in churches as well as other missionary efforts. The new association urged its member churches to “endeavor to aid the missionary cause by every means in their power.”
Two-hundred years later, SRBA churches endeavored to join together to have a greater impact for Christ’s mission than any one of them could have alone. Following a futuring process called Thy Kingdom Come, they established 10 initiatives that SRBA would strive towards through December 31, 2009.
The process had 4 components:
1. Spiritual preparation to get in tune with God’s heart, to discover God’s vision, and to be ready to go at God’s beckoning.
2. Vision casting. The vision adopted in 2002 was to empower Kingdom Growth in and through the churches of the Savannah River Baptist Association.
3. Scenario building. This process helped the churches discover what the association might look like if God showed up and the churches followed. It was out of this step that the 10 initiatives were born.
4. Learning. Along the way, SRBA churches and Executive Board would adjust their emphasis based on what was learned as we journeyed towards God’s future.
The following lists the 10 initiatives and the results of pursuing them.
Results
1. Transformation: Lives of people, and the churches, in the Low Country are being transformed daily by the power of Jesus Christ. It is evident in 2,800 baptisms over 7 years.
Since 2002, SRBA churches have baptized 2,155 people. Although this represents only 77% of the initiatives projected result, it reveals a growing trend for SRBA churches. As the graph on the next page illustrates, SRBA churches have increased baptisms significantly over the last three years. In fact, the 316 baptisms this year is the largest number of immersions since 2000. Furthermore, 6 churches did not baptize anyone at all in 2007. The number dropped to 4 in 2008 and only 3 this year.
2. New Churches: Seven (7) new churches have been started in the SRBA.
a. All Nations Church (2002, prior to adoption of TKC initiatives). This church disassociated with SRBA in 2005.
b. Crosspoint Church (2007). This new church was established as a hub church. The hub serves as a mechanism to train and send planters to establish new congregations.
c. The Link (2008).
d. South Bay Church (2008). A congregation planted in the San Francisco area through Crosspoint/ARMS.
e. The Journey Church (2008). A congregation planted in the Greenville, SC area through Crosspoint/ARMS.
f. VIDA Church (2009). The new Hispanic congregation in Bluffton. Currently meeting in Bible study and plan a soft launch early 2010.
We have a planter in the area looking to plant a church to reach motorcycle unchurched enthusiasts (i.e., bikers).
Along with the planting focus, training for planters and for ministers in existing churches has been established and is going through its second cycle. This 10-month process (called the LeadersEdge) focuses on helping planters and ministers in four key areas in their lives, equipping them with practical skills they need right now, and putting them in a peer-coaching relationship and providing one-on-one coaching. Two planters, five church plant team members, and five ministers from existing churches are participating in LeadersEdge.
3. Mission Teams: Mission Teams, comprised of various members of SRBA churches, engage quarterly in mission service projects in at least one of the following areas: in the association, in the state, in our nation, and/or internationally. This leads to 840 mission events over the last 7 years.
Twelve SRBA churches indicated that they were on mission over the past 7 years; 5 of those churches utilized an Acts 1:8 approach (they were involved locally, in South Carolina, across North America, and around the world). These churches reported 331 mission events comprised of 3,922 team members (it is assumed that not all of these were different individuals; many people participated in multiple mission events).
Local involvement included 40 different areas in Jasper and Beaufort counties. South Carolina areas included Aiken, Allendale, Barnwell, Blackville, Connie Maxwell, Gap Creek, Georgetown, Greenville, North Greenville University, North Charleston, and Orangeburg.
North American locations included Alaska (Anchorage, Nikiski, and Palmer); the Appalachia Region; Arkansas; North Carolina (Asheville, Charlotte, and Raleigh); Georgia (Atlanta, Brunswick, Glen, and Savannah); Birmingham, AL; Canaan Valley, WV; Kentucky (Corbin, Inez, and Lynch); Florida (Jacksonville, Miami, Tallahassee, and West Palm Beach); Louisiana (including New Orleans); Mississippi (Gulfport, Long Beach, Natchez, and Pascagula); New York City; Nova Scotia; and Salt Lake City, Utah.
Countries impacted by SRBA mission events include Austria, Belgium, Bermuda, Central Asia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Ghana, Haiti, Honduras, India, Poland, Liberia, Bulgaria, Nicaragua, Peru, Singapore, South Korea, Italy, and Trinidad.
4. Racial Acceptance: The majority of SRBA churches (15) have become ethnically diverse by sponsoring multi-language services, and SRBA sponsors annually a cross-culture conference on racial understanding and acceptance.
Four SRBA churches report having language groups meeting in their facilities (three Spanish and 1 Chinese). Additionally, four churches report that 5% or more of their active congregation represent a different ethnic group other than the predominate group.
5. Moral Standards: SRBA works with social agencies to inform and educate the members of our churches and the citizens of our counties on moral issues which confront them, and to motivate in them attitudes and actions consistent with high moral standards.
SRBA and its member churches strive to uphold and encourage a high moral standard in each community. Formal partnerships with area social agencies to inform and motivate high moral standards were not established. However, through partnerships with the Boys & Girls Clubs, local schools, and area business, high moral standards were upheld, modeled and encouraged.
6. Market Place Ministries: The laity of SRBA churches actively minister in the market places within our counties.
Six SRBA churches report marketplace ministries in nursing homes, resort areas, schools, multihousing areas, a car dealership, within military posts, and at a local restaurant.
7. Equipping Disciples: SRBA provides workshops and training seminars, equipment and technology to equip and empower the churches to penetrate and reach people in this postmodern culture with the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Equipping People In Church (EPIC) was offered in partnership with the South Carolina Baptist Convention in 2004, 2005, and 2006. These one-day, multiple workshop events focused on equipping disciples in a wide-range of church service.
Strategic Training in Evangelism and Missions (STEAM) was conducted in 2007 and 2008). These one-day, multiple workshop events focused on equipping disciples in evangelism and missions through multiple avenues in church life.
Laugh Out Loud ’08 (LOL ’08) was a youth evangelistic event that trained Christian youth how to reach out to their peers and share the Gospel.
Intentional Missionary Training was led in three locations in 2009. This eight-week process equipped Christians to see, pray, and act like missionaries in the six mission fields they are in daily (home, work/school, local community, the wider world, their leisure life, and church).
LeadersEdge Training was offered in 2008 and 2009. This discipleship effort focuses on ministers and church planters.
Other equipping events were offered in disaster relief, church and community ministries, Olympic ministries, chronological Bible storying throughout the seven years.
8. Good News Crusades: SRBA facilitates an area “Evangelism Team” to plan and to provide annual area-wide evangelistic crusades to reach the unchurched of our region.
A task force was put together to plan an area crusade. After several meetings, it was determined a crusade was not feasible at the time due to the number of congregations without pastors. There was waning support among the task force for a crusade.
9. Good Samaritan Corps: SRBA led each member church to establish a Good Samaritan Team to locate (identify) and to minister to needy persons (through such deeds as simple household repairs, lawn care, medical transportation, nutrition, etc.).
Fourteen SRBA churches are actively involved in Good Samaritan-type ministries including food pantries, meal deliveries, clothing, financial assistance, home repair, yard maintenance, childcare with special rate for low-income families, transportation, drug and alcohol dependency ministries, healthcare, advocacy, and nursing home ministries.
10. Church Renewal: SRBA established, trained and commissioned a “Dream Again Team” who serves as consultants to renew life and health in plateaued and declining churches who request their ministry.
Dream Again Teams were never established within the association.
Moving to the Next Level
The Kingdom initiatives established in 2002 run their course at the end of this year. It is now time to ask God how He wants us to build upon these successes. There are three actions I believe God is calling us to take:
1. Engaging one another and God in prayer and spiritual awakening. We want our churches to develop disciples of Jesus, be healthy centers of worship and service, and become places where people can learn to obey and worship God. Church growth and health only occurs when His people are captured by His heart, captivated by His love, and capitalizing on His relationship with them. Prayer and spiritual awakening must be a major focus in the days ahead.
2. Fulfilling the mission of Christ. Our initiatives had us focused on sending mission teams and we have well succeeded in this task. It’s now time we stepped further and focused more upon the mission. To be fully effective and engaged followers of Jesus, we must become missional people. Our task is to share the Gospel through word and deed here, across the US and North America, and around the world.
3. Raising new congregations out of the missional harvest. If we are successful in engaging God through a dynamic prayer life and faithful in carrying out the mission of Christ, we will experience two results. First, our existing churches will grow and be dynamic within their communities. Second, new creative congregations will sprout out of our harvesting. These congregations will be alive with the old Gospel story expressed in ways that communicate in relevant, meaningful ways to the varied people groups found in our area.
On behalf of the SRBA staff, let me say thank you for the opportunity to serve our churches. May God continue to find us faithful to Him, useful by Him, and effective through Him in carrying out the mission entrusted to us by our Lord.
Your fellow servant,
Steve Scudder
Director of Missions
