“Just take five more minutes on your current project,” said a time-management guru. And, to my surprise, she was right! When I practice this little gem, I am more effective with the use of my time.
It works on the Internet, too. Before you send an email or post a comment or send a text, pause and proofread your words. You would be amazed at how many of your thoughts have been misapplied by auto-correct, or your sentences don’t make sense because of a missing word.
It is a healthy habit to jot down some observations about a “just preached” sermon, church event, or worship service. Observation and evaluation help us be more excellent and less haphazard in our work.
By nearly all accounts, the MBC annual meeting was a wonderful event. For one thing, 1,035 brothers and sisters from 470 churches, along with 226 guests, gathered to make this the largest gathering of Missouri Baptists in the St. Louis area in over a decade.
Here are a few of my observations:
Leadership: Jon Nelson did an excellent job of officiating the meeting business. He and the other officers were prepared to lead . They gave messengers guidance for conducting their business and expressing their opinions on a variety of subjects, from honoring Don Hinkle for his 20 years with The Pathway to a resolution calling Missouri Baptists to moral awakening.
Pastor Nelson appointed gifted lay and ministerial leaders to various task forces, commissions, and committees. He also provided graceful leadership to the Executive Board that brought seven recommendations and two reports. The reports were the second report from the Racial Reconciliation Task Force and the initial report by the Sexual Abuse Response Team. In each instance, the reports helped Missouri Baptists respond biblically to the sins of prejudice and sexual abuse. Their work is worthy of applause.
By-law: One bylaw amendment enabled our autonomous churches to express disagreement with certain SBC ministries while continuing to function as “affiliated” MBC churches. This option allows churches with concerns to continue to send their full slate of messengers to future MBC annual meetings, up to the maximum of 12.
Grateful: We continue to be grateful for our tellers and childcare workers. These Missouri Baptists were volunteers connected with Missouri Baptist Disaster Relief. They serve storm victims and they serve Annual Meeting messengers with the careful tabulation of ballots and the faithful care of young children. We owe a deep level of gratitude to these fellow Missouri Baptists.
A generous heart: In a display of love and care, the Credentials Committee reported the 26 churches that chose NOT to be affiliated with the MBC were reinstated by an open gesture by Indian Creek Baptist Church. Pastor Judah Marx stepped forward to a microphone and gave a CP gift for each church that was leaving because they chose not to give through the Cooperative Program. We certainly applaud that generosity.
However, there is a slight difficulty. Some of the 26 churches did not want anyone to make a gift in thir behalf and wrote letters to the Credentials Committee to express their sentiment. The Credentials Committee works hard to bring all churches along with us on the cooperative journey. We need to trust their work. The Credentials Committee and your MBC missionaries don’t want any churches to leave, but we must respect the church’s local autonomy. In the weeks ahead, the Credentials Committee will sort this out.
Congratulations: The new MBC officers – Chris Williams, president; Wesley Vance, first vice president; Richard Young, second vice president; and Justin Perry, recording secretary – were elected. These seasoned men of good character and deep faith are selected for this season to help us make good, prudent decisions, and to walk together by faith.
Stay on Mission: Certainly, these are not all the observations that could be made about the 2022 MBC Annual Meeting. If there is one thing I have extracted from my 11 years as Executive Director-Treasurer, the people of God called Missouri Baptists are on mission with God because they love the Lord God, who first loved us.