Albert to deliver convention sermon
HALLSVILLE—On Oct. 30 at 11:35 a.m., Rodney Albert, pastor of Hallsville Baptist Church, will deliver the convention sermon at the 173rd annual meeting of the Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC) at Tan-Tar-A, Osage Beach.
“This is a huge honor,” he said. “It is a great privilege and a weighty responsibility. You want to be sure that you’re speaking for God, as does every pastor every time he mounts the pulpit in his church. That means making sure that the things you would like to say are truly what He wants you to say, and that’s a tough process.”
Albert, 40, has been pastor of Hallsville Baptist for 7½ years. He previously served 3½ years as pastor of First Baptist Church, Smithville.
Born and raised in Kansas City, he received his seminary training at Midwestern Baptist Theology Seminary (MBTS), graduating in 1991 with a master of divinity degree. He was honored in 2005 as MBTS Alumni of the Year. He has served statewide in the MBC primarily as chairman of the Christian Life Commission from 2001-2007.
“I think this year is very pivotal for Missouri Baptists,” Albert said. “We’ve gotten involved with a lot of things. The heart of every Missouri Baptist, I think, is that we want to have unity, and we want to get along, but that’s not going to happen until we share some of the same principles and some of the same convictions. On some key issues we still hold those, but on some other very substantial issues there is great divergence of opinion in our convention. Until we come together in agreement on those issues, I don’t believe we’re going to see unity for a very long time.
“I’m hopeful that this message will help draw us closer together by pointing us to our unity in Christ and in following His commands.”