Macedonian Call

By Byron Beck

This past October I had the opportunity to travel to China on a “vision tour” to observe the ministry of a group with which General Baptists have a partnership (it shall remain nameless for this article).

A street musician in China

A street musician in China

This organization helps people who want to teach English in Asia to find a university job in one of the great cities of China, or in one of a few other Asian countries. General Baptists have been partnering with them for a few years now-we provide teachers and they have the connections within the country.

I was truly impressed with the quality of people working for this organization and with the support structure they have developed to assist the teachers. Not only do they train and assist teachers for the cross-cultural challenges they will face, but they also provide an essential network for educational, emotional and spiritual care.

these men answered the Macedonian call

The visionary tour group on the Great Wall

I traveled with a great group of men. There were four General Baptist leaders and one Freewill Baptist. We visited two cities: Beijing and Yinchuan. We toured a few Chinese landmarks such as the Great Wall and the Forbidden City. We worshiped in two churches on Sunday: one in Chinese and one in English (Several stories could be shared about these experiences). We also visited schools and met teachers and students. That, to me, was an exhilarating experience. I was very impressed with the students’ hunger to learn and their respect for their teachers, which is not so common in America.

I was most impressed with the Chinese Christians that I met. There are several stories that I could share, but I would like to mention one young PhD student that we met. His English name was Charlie and he was studying Mechanical Engineering. He told a fascinating story about his conversion that IMG_1887-30included a dream/vision. His encounter with Christ was real and undeniable, but he spoke honestly about how hard the decision was for him.

In fact, being the analytical guy that he was, he drew out for our group a diagram of the “barriers to faith” that he and others must address in their journey toward Christ.

Here are the six barriers:

  • Party Membership – Everyone is encouraged to join, and it is, of course, officially atheistic
  • Education System – They are taught Marxist doctrine and other belief systems that are not sympathetic to Christianity
  • Alternate Faiths They are told Christianity is not Chinese; if you are going to be religious, pick something like Buddhism
  • Family/Peer Pressures – This cannot be over-emphasized; it is disgraceful to betray one’s family.  Theirs is not a “rebellion” culture and harmony is greatly valued
  • “Normal” Temptations – sexual, materialism, etc
  • The Battle of the Will – Will I surrender to God’s Kingdom? Will I give up my rights for the sake of Christ?

Honestly, I could not have been more impressed with this young man’s insight and his ability to graphically demonstrate the struggle. I was also impressed with his earnest desire to follow Jesus in spite of the obstacles.

I suppose there is a diagram like this that relates to every culture in the world.

There is a great opportunity in China. The Chinese educational officials have told this organization that they would like 300 new teachers over the next five years. That sounds like a “Macedonian Call” to me. What do you think?

Byron Beck has served General Baptist churches in Illinois, Kentucky and Missouri, and has pastored Fellowship General Baptist Church in Poplar Bluff, MO for 27 years. He is married to Kathy Beck, and they have a daughter, Katie.  He will be sharing more about his trip and the different opportunities for you to invest in Asian students overseas at the Summit next week.  His workshop will take place Tuesday, July 22nd, at 1:30 pm in Plaza A.  This is your opportunity to make a major impact on students in Asia, either for a few weeks or a few years.

GO!

By Carl Nichols

“The local church is the hope of the world.”  Bill Hybels

When I first heard that statement, it rocked me.  I thought Jesus was the hope of the world?  And he is!  However, Jesus established the local church as his means by which the gospel was to advance.  Furthermore, he shared with his disciples in John 14:12 that we would do even “greater things” than we saw him do on Earth.  What a great theme for Summit 2014!

I believe in the local church.  I believe it is indeed the only hope for this world to turn back to Jesus.  With this in mind, National Missions is excited to announce something brand new this year at Summit: the Go Project.  The Go Project was envisioned out of multiple discussions about a network to expand our reach and plant more churches in the next few years.  After a series of meetings and through several improvements and fine-tuning, the Go Project was born.  It will officially launch at the 2014 Summit later this month.  What is it?  The Go Project is an initiative to plant 15 new General Baptist churches over the next five years.

Here are just a few of the nuts and bolts of what the Go Project will focus on to make this happen:

  • Assessment – We believe that strong church plants are led by leaders with a specific gift set.  Therefore, we value assessment as the starting point for all church planting candidates.  Our next assessment is at the end of August in Tampa.  If you are interested in planting, or know someone who is, please contact Vince Daniel at vincedaniel308@gmail.com.
  • Training – The proper systems are vital to the health of any church and thus every planter is required to attend a week long training event we call “Boot Camp” where we focus on the necessary systems for a healthy church launch.
  • CoachingChurch planting can be a lonely task.  We believe strong coaching both pre- and post-launch are essential in the health of the planter and the church.
  • Funding – Church planting has substantial up-front cost.  We believe plants should be funded to meet the needs of their particular community.  We are looking for churches and associations who believe strongly that the local church is the hope of the world to partner with us to reach the five year goal.
  • Networking – We believe that one of the most valuable tools a planter can have is relationships with other like-minded pastors.  We will work to provide networking opportunities within our church plants.

Our National Missions team is incredibly excited about the future of General Baptists and we cannot wait to officially launch the Go Project in a few weeks.  See you at the Summit!

 

Eight Point Eight Two: How long do pastors stay in one church?

By Dr. Franklin Dumond

A recent research poll from Lifeway Research suggested the average pastor’s tenure in a local church is 3.6 years (See Dennis Cook, July 18, 2011). Other studies and informal polls suggest the average or typical tenure may be a bit longer, while studies of effective leaders suggest an average tenure of 11.2 to 21.6 years. Trevin Wax suggests that most studies of the average tenure in a local church show the number to be between 5 and 7 years.How long do pastors stay at one church?

A survey of General Baptist pastors suggests the average pastoral tenure of those currently serving a church is 8.82 years. This number comes from reports submitted by 107 pastors in response to a survey mailed to approximately 700 General Baptist pastors. Bivocational pastors who responded indicated an average tenure of 7.77 years while fully funded pastors indicated a current tenure of 10.79 years. The report only measured length of service in the current ministry setting rather than average length of stay in several ministry settings.

A similar poll of Cooperative Baptists in South Carolina found an average tenure of 9 years while Barna Research reported that mainline congregations are served by the same pastor for only about 4 years.

Noted researcher and church consultant Lyle Schaller pointed out years ago that while longer tenure does not guarantee church growth, shorter pastoral tenure almost always insures lack of growth.

In an ironic twist on the numbers Gary McIntosh suggests in a blog post from June 14, 2013 that long pastoral tenure may hurt a church. His observation, based on several interviews with pastors who stayed for 25 years or more, was summarized as “The first ten years were great; the second ten years were good; I should have left in year twenty!”

This cycle is rather normal, since pastors come with a vision for the future but over time there is a natural tendency to focus more on the relationships within the church rather than those outside it. Further, pastors come to a church with a briefcase full of ideas but over time these ideas may run their course. Thus a wise pastor must reinvent himself every 7-10 years to remain effective in his leadership.

Leonard DonohoLooking back on nearly 60 years of ministry Rev. James Trotter remarked “I left some of my pastorates too soon.”

At age 95 Rev. Leonard Donoho passed along the same advice given to him when he started ministry in 1943 “I was a young minister in the association and had some good brothers to advise and guide me in my ministry. The best was to ‘stay in there and preach the Word.’”

Are there keys to staying in there? Cecil Robertson, looking back over nearly 70 years of ministry, indentifies perhaps one important key to staying in there when he says “I love people because God does.” In addition to this love for people there must also be a love for the task as he goes on to say, “I love preaching, seeing souls saved, and all that goes with ministry.”

James Black, with more than 60 years in ministry, remarked about starting over again, “My goal would be to have longer pastorates.” To accomplish that he suggests, “I would rearrange my priorities. My priorities were God first, then ministry, then family. If I could go back, my priorities would be God first, family next, then ministry.”