SPRINGFIELD—A special offering during the annual meeting of the Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC) added $4,230 to the Vivian McCaughan Missional Living Endowment Fund.
The offering was approved by the Executive Board and took place Oct. 26 during the annual meeting in Springfield.
“We want to honor Vivian and continue the work God began in her through the Vivian McCaughan Endowment Fund,” said MBC Executive Director David Tolliver.
McCaughan was leader of the MBC’s Missions & Evangelism team, serving in a variety of roles including women’s ministry and as a career missionary in Africa. She died on April 18 after a long battle with cancer.
The goal is to place $1 million in the endowment fund. The total now is around $800,000. Proceeds from the endowment fund will provide funding for church planting, multi-housing ministry, partnership missions, and leadership development.
“She loved multi-housing ministry. She gave her heart and soul to her Lord Jesus Christ by serving him in multi-housing ministry,” Tolliver said.
The offering was collected during MBC Night, a new focus at the annual meeting that highlighted the ministry of convention staff and introduced the convention’s mission: Great Commission Christians in Great Commission churches transforming communities with the Gospel.
Jay Hughes, MBC associate executive director, Support Services Group, led a presentation of “Jay Walking” with interviews with team leaders focusing on core values of becoming disciples, developing leaders and missional living.
Ben Hess, Church Planting Team leader, said leadership development is a critical component of the ministry.
“It’s amazing how young our church planters are,” Hess said. “I think it is God’s plan to put young church planters in a church so they can develop the next generation of leadership.”
Student/Collegiate Ministry Team Leader Matt Kearns also talked about the value of reaching those under age 30, whom he considers one of the world’s largest unreached people groups.
“If we don’t pass this on to a new generation, what we’re doing dies,” Kearns said.
The church ministries team encompasses a number of ministries that focus on making disciples and developing leaders, team leader Spencer Hutson said. The ministry also includes the Cooperative Program.
“For most of our churches, the Cooperative Program is the only way they could be Great Commission churches,” he said.
Mike Cooper, who leads the Church Health Team, talked about the importance of discipleship and how the convention still believes strongly in Sunday School.
SUSAN MIRES/contributing writer
