Earlier this month I covered the Baptist State Convention of Michigan Annual Meeting for Saline Journal.
From the perspective of a locally-based, mainstream-readershipped, online periodical, two constructs obtain. First, regardless of length, variety, or what I know is imperative content, this is of a sort that must be reported upon in a single article, of typical length.
Second, that is best and most respectfully served by hooking as much as possible of it to a single, clear center.
In this case, that was its “Be The Church” initiative.
With that, I titled my feature, “Baptist State Convention of Michigan Annual Meeting redoubled call, path, and investment in thriving Christian church growth.” And here’s how I summarize its arc.
- SARS-CoV-2 (“COVID-19”) “is still with us …;”
- “The great news is that none of this has taken God by surprise, and He is still on the thrown of heaven and fully in control;” and,
- Too many churches measure their success on congregational size, growing those numbers based on catering to the whims of societal winds.”
“Be The Church,” I wrote, “was developed to help reduce the silos in which too many present day churches operate, to encourage active collaboration.
Structurally, this provides formal, scheduled connections among peer pastoral leaders. It also seeks to optimally leverage lay talents to better advantage in service to church functioning both within the doors and in fulfillment of mission work outside of them.
“Two goals appear to have been given equal priority: Improve on both need for stability and to grow.”