Church health expert headlines MBC conference
JEFFERSON CITY – Aubrey Malphurs, a seminary professor and expert on church health, will lead the 2007 Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC) DNA of a Healthy Church Conference April 1 at Concord Baptist Church.
Malphurs is the senior professor of pastoral ministries at Dallas Theological Seminary. His academic areas of expertise are church planting and revitalization, leadership in general, strategic planning, and board governance. He is also the president and founder of the Malphurs Group, a leadership training and consulting organization. He has had several books published including Leading Leaders, A New Kind of Church, and Money Matters in Church.
“He comes with a vast knowledge of church health,” said Bruce Morrison, director of Sunday School and discipleship for the MBC and member of the task force planning the conference.
Malphurs will base his messages on the principles taught in A New Kind of Church. The book outlines a way to evaluate a church model including interpreting what Scripture says about the local church, a theology of change, a theology of change and the local church, and a definition of the local church.
“Pastors and church leadership will be exposed to the dynamics of change that churches are facing,” Morrison said. “It doesn’t matter if it’s a large church or a smaller church, we’re all facing the same thing.”
Jerry Field, MBC director of church planting and chairman of the organizing task force, said Malphurs will build on the foundation laid by last year’s featured speaker, Reggie McNeal.
“Reggie focused on creating awareness of the issue of church health,” he said, “but Malphurs will lay out the practical nuts and bolts of how to work toward achieving that goal.”
The cost of the conference is $20 for those who pre-register or $25 at the door. For more information, contact Carla Martin at cmartin@mobaptist.orgor 1-800-736-5227, ext. 611.
Under Interim Executive Director David Tolliver, MBC staffers have recently been focusing on how they can help Missouri Baptist churches “get healthy.” Morrison said this approach, including the Church Health Conference, will allow the staff to help churches more “holistically.”
“The statement has been made, ‘Church growth is no longer the issue, it’s church health,” he said. “Healthy churches grow.”