I strongly encourage churches to cooperate with other evangelical churches in their community and to get involved in their denomination if they belong to one. A couple weeks ago, a friend asked for more details on this subject:

“I was challenged at T4G to be more involved in SBC life and want to act on it. So I scheduled to make all my pastor luncheons for my association, go to the executive board meetings, and pray regularly. … I want to know your thoughts on how to be a helpful participant in our state and national conventions. I’m new to denominational life and don’t understand it as well as brothers like you. Please help!”

Here was my reply…

That’s great that you want to get more involved in SBC life. I believe it will give you a lot of opportunities to be an encouragement, team player, and positive influence to other pastors. I was completely new to the SBC when I became pastor of First Southern Baptist Church eight years ago. I quickly discovered that our SBC identity was important to some of the people in our church, and thus it needed to become important to me. In the process, I learned more about God’s goodness to our convention and both opportunities and threats that loom on the horizon.

What I found helpful was to learn more about the convention on my own while also taking advantage of times to meet and build relationships. Some things you may want to do…

• Books. Read a book on the history of SBC and the reasons for cooperation. For a biography of key historic leaders, check out Theologians of the Baptist Tradition. For a theological case for cooperation, read Southern Baptist Consensus & Renewal. For the story of Southern Seminary and its wider implications in the SBC, read Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.
• Publications. Begin reading denominational publications. Many of our SBC entities publish newsletters, magazines, and blogs like the CSBC, IMB, NAMB, ERLC, Lifeway, and our SBC seminaries. Subscribe to the CSBC weekly e-newsletter. And subscribe to your associational newsletter if they have one.
• Meetings. Ask your local Director of Missions (DOM) if you can take him out for breakfast to thank him and get to know him. Attend Associational annual meetings and events.  Go to associational breakfast fellowship (if they have them). Attend the CSBC Annual Convention. Attend the SBC Annual Meeting. I’ve attended the last five consecutive years, but will not be going this summer because it is rather cost prohibitive. I still hope to go every couple years. Consider other state conferences like On Target, Small Church Workshop, etc.
• Social Media. Become Facebook friends with some of our state convention leaders and your fellow pastors. There are many Twitter feeds by people and organizations such as IMB, NAMB, Al Mohler, Ed Stetzer, Thom Rainer, Russell Moore. There are also many blogs and podcasts available by these organizations.
• New Pastor Orientation. Some states offer a New Pastor Orientation. You can call your state office to learn more. I know the CSBC used to offer this for free, and it was a great way to get acquainted with those in the convention.

Denominations are a vast and complicated world. You won’t have time to do all these things, but pick a couple off the list and you will quickly find more specific ways to get more involved. 

Question: What are the benefits of denominations in the 21st century? Feel free to leave a comment below.

• 9 Marks Ministries 
• California Baptist Foundation 
• The CSBC Healthy Church Group 
• California Baptist University 
• The Gospel Project 
• Broadman & Holman Publishing Group 
• International Mission Board 
• Institute of Biblical Counseling & Discipleship 
• North American Mission Board 
• Golden Gate Theological Seminary 
• Logos Bible Software 
• The Master’s Seminary 
• And our friends at Barabbas Road Baptist Church

 

Our title this year is Betrothed, and our basic theme is sanctification. Scripture teaches that the church is the bride of Christ — chosen, beloved, and betrothed. Christ died for our sins and continues to sanctify us with the water of the Word. He is preparing a bride without spot or wrinkle that He will soon come to claim.

Even more surprising, Christ recruits ordinary pastors to protect His bride. Paul describes this sacred trust in 2 Corinthians 11:2. Like a father writing to his engaged daughter, Paul says, “I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.” Paul was faithful, and now it’s our turn.

On October 21-22, 2013, we’ll explore this theme of sanctification together. Monday night (10/21), we’ll see that God Himself is our perfect standard of holiness. Then, we’ll consider personal discipleship as a means of sanctification. Tuesday morning (10/22), we’ll learn how preaching and suffering conform the church into Christ’s image. Lastly, we’ll apply biblical principles to the sin of anger.

My prayer is that pastors would feel refreshed and sharpened after our short time together.

For driving directions and speaker bios, visit our conference webpage. Here’s the full schedule:

Monday, October 21 | 6:30 pm – 9pm 
6:30 pm Musical Worship (Barabbas Road Baptist Church)
6:50 pm Session I: The Holiness of God (Elisha Rimestad)
7:30 pm Session II: Personal Discipleship & Sanctification – 1 Cor. 4:14-6:11 (Russell Moore)
8:25 pm Session III: Q&A Panel
9:00 pm Closing Prayer

Tuesday, October 22 | 8:30 am – 11:30 am
8:30 am Musical Worship (Barabbas Road Baptist Church)
8:40 am Session IV: Is Your Church Prepared to Suffer? – Ex. 5 (Kevin Hsu)
9:20 am Logos Bible Software Demonstration (Jose Martinez)
9:35 am Session V: Preaching & Sanctification – Jn. 17:17 (Walter Price)
10:10 am Election of 2015 Pastors’ Conference President
10:30 am Session VI: Anger Mismanagement: Only Grace Transforms the Heart – Mk. 7:20-23 (Jim Newheiser)
11:30 am Closing Prayer

This conference is FREE and open to all pastors, their wives, and laypeople. Through the generous donations of our sponsors, we’ll also be giving away ten books to every pastor in attendance. Hope to see you in El Cajon!

Related posts:

• Do You Love the Church?
• Why Attend the CSBC Annual Meeting?

Pastor David Crosby nominates Dr. Fred Luter as next President of the SBC

Today, we had the privilege of gathering in New Orleans to elect the first African-American President in the 167 year history of our Southern Baptist Convention. After nomination, Dr. Fred Luter ascended to the platform of the convention. Baptist Press describes what happened next…

It’s customary, current SBC President Bryant Wright said, when there is only one candidate for elective office, for the SBC recording secretary to cast one vote for everyone.

It was.

[Almost 8,000 messengers stood and gave a rousing ovation]

As Luter came to the podium, he wiped his eyes, pointed toward heaven, and wiped his eyes again.

Wright wrapped his arm around Luter’s shoulders as he prayed for the man elected to lead the Southern Baptist Convention as of Wednesday evening, June 20.

It was an emotional moment for all of us in the room. But as Danny Akin noted in the IX Marks at Nine meeting tonight, our work has just begun. This must be more than symbolic. We have elected our first African-American president of the SBC and shown once and for all that we have repented of our denomination’s past. Now we must support Dr. Luter as he leads us into the future.

We just arrived home last night from a 1200 mile round-trip to Fremont for the California Southern Baptist Annual Meeting. Here were some highlights…

Once again, the Pastors Conference on Monday and Tuesday was excellent. Dr. Chris Morgan put together a great conference with some top notch speakers from across the state. They had a really interesting format this year. Each speaker was assigned a portion of the Book of Philippians, so over the course of five messages, we worked our way through the entire epistle. I was especially challenged by our call to unity and humility around the gospel of Jesus Christ. Monday night, the speakers shared a forum on preaching Philippians.

The business meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday was filled with music, preaching, reports, elections, recommendations, and recognition of our church planters. The most significant item of business occurred Tuesday afternoon, when the Focus 21 Task Force recommended to refer our progress report to the Executive Board. Discussion on the floor was lively, and it was obvious there was a quite a bit of hesitance or misunderstanding by some messengers. But by God’s grace, a spirit of love prevailed, and there were even some lighthearted moments of laughter to lighten the mood.

When it came time to vote, 68% agreed to refer the report to the Executive Board for further study and consideration. I wish even more would have seen the value of this report and the need for more effective stewardship and cooperation, but I’m thankful it did pass so this dialogue can continue.