Missourians urged
to join others in SBC
By Allen Palmeri
Associate Editor
JEFFERSON CITY—Missouri Baptists have been asked to set aside Aug. 28 to pray and fast for the leaders involved in the Southern Baptist Convention’s mission boards who are searching for two new presidents.
Both the International Mission Board (IMB) and the North American Mission Board (NAMB) have presidential search committees in place but no candidates yet to announce.
Bob Loggins, Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC) prayer and spiritual awakening specialist, is suggesting that Missouri Baptists pray for the wisdom of the Holy Spirit of God to know the perfect will of God the Father’s in the matter of these two crucial selections.
“Father, we cry out to Thee,” Loggins prayed. “Thou art God and without Thee we will not succeed. However, with Three our Heavenly Father, success and blessing untold are in our grasp. Help us as Missouri Baptists to embrace Matthew 6:33, to seek ye first the kingdom of God. Loving Father, this is our cry, in the precious name of Jesus we pray. Amen.”
Spokesmen for the organizations told Baptist Press that while they have no timetable for the completion of their work they are entering important phases in the process.
“The search has gone well, and we’re making some good progress … we’ve met with a number of quality men,” said Jimmy Pritchard, IMB presidential search committee chairman and pastor of First Baptist Church, Forney, Texas.
Mike Ebert, communications team leader for NAMB, added that its search committee is “getting close” and hopes to have a decision in the near future.
While the Aug. 28 prayer date was chosen somewhat on the fly, tied to the need at hand, there’s a very real sense of urgency connected to these prayers.
That is because both of the new presidents and their trustee boards will be charged with examining and implementing a sweeping set of changes that are tied to the recent adoption of the Great Commission Resurgence Task Force report at the SBC annual meeting in Orlando, Fla.