By Allen Palmeri
Associate Editor
UNION—Frank Page, the new president and chief executive officer of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) Executive Committee, will speak at First Baptist Church here as it hosts the “Building Kingdom Churches” Conference Oct. 29-30.
“So many of our churches really don’t have any real focus outside themselves,” said Jim Plymale, director of missions for the sponsoring Franklin Baptist Association. “They’re just kind of like barely holding on, barely existing. A lot of times they’re family, or a little small group that’s pretty comfortable with who they are, where they are. So our thought is that we need to help expand and challenge them to think beyond just going on doing the same thing they’ve been doing—just treading water.”
The free conference will feature breakout training sessions led by numerous Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC) staffers. MBC Executive Director David Tolliver is expected to lead a delegation that also will include Mike Cooper, Mark Donnell, Rick Hedger, Bob Loggins, Sondi Scroggins, Gary Taylor, and Joe Ulveling. The breakouts are scheduled for 9:20 a.m. and 10:20 a.m. Oct. 30.
Greg Frizzell, prayer and spiritual awakening director for the Oklahoma Baptist Convention, will be another featured speaker. He will deliver messages on the evening of Oct. 29 and on the morning of Oct. 30. His closing message will also be a commissioning starting at 11:20 a.m. and lasting until around 12:15 p.m. Oct. 30.
The Friday session starts at 7 p.m., and the Saturday time begins at 9 a.m.
“We want it to be first-class all the way,” Plymale said. “We want it to be a very powerful and effective time that could really, truly help the church that is really looking for some help and is open to help where they could take that back to their church and use it.”
An offering to help offset some of the cost of the event will be taken Oct. 29.
The nature of the First Union meeting is to make available as many resources as possible over a short weekend.
“People can come and they can get whatever they need in this one setting,” Plymale said.
For more, call (636) 583-2639.