The Wright Word
July-August 2005
Serving Together To Make an Eternal Difference
Several of
you have commented on the warm fellowship and optimism for our future that we
experienced at the May Executive Committee meeting. I was blessed to hear one of
you say to another pastor, “Yesterday was your day on the prayer list. I prayed
for you yesterday morning.” As you know, the importance of praying for each
other cannot be underestimated. Please encourage your congregations to pray for
the pastors in the MBA as well as for each other.
Associational Prayer
Coordinator
Please let your folks know we are still praying for God to raise up our
Associational Prayer Coordinator.
Five Emphases Approved
The executive committee approved these biblical emphases to focus the MBA’s
direction and resources for our strategic planning: Biblical Prayer,
Evangelistic Ministries, Church Development, Church Planting, and Partnership
Missions.
Now 104 Churches
Our Membership Committee nominated four churches in May to join the MBA under
watch care. Welcome to Pastor Rick Cagle with Crosspoint, Pastor Charles Dent
with New Generation, Pastor Marvin Langham with New Home, and Pastor Charlie
Williams with New Pilgrim. Please give them a call to welcome them into the
fellowship.
Minister’s Fellowship Officers
Pastor Eddie Holmes of Riverside has succeeded Garry Harred as President of our
Ministers’ Fellowship Meetings. Jerry Presnall of Creola Baptist is the First
Vice President and Charles Dent of New Generation is the Second Vice President.
All ministers need fellowship outside our church body, don’t we? We need a place
where we can honestly share and care for each other. Please look at working this
fellowship time into your busy schedules. Let brother Eddie, Jerry, and Charles
know your ideas for the schedule and program.
Carol Says, “For the First Time in 14 Years, We Are in the Black Financially
at Mid-Year.”
Thank you for the tremendous outpouring of financial support from the churches.
Your generosity, along with careful expenditures based on income instead of the
budgeted amount, has averted the possible financial crisis discussed in the
Executive Committee meeting. As we move into the budget planning season for next
year’s budgets please consider additional ways to support the cooperative
ministries and emphases of the MBA. Special thanks to Pastor Mike Bedford and
the Finance Committee for their work to keep us in the black. Please pray for us
as we begin work on the 2006 MBA budget. The needs in Mobile County far exceed
the time and funds available. We face quite a challenge to focus and prioritize
our resources on our five emphases.
International
Language School
Through Brother Bobby Morton’s leadership of our International Language School,
we now have 150 students registered for the fall. This remarkable growth has
brought some administrative and financial challenges. It is a great problem to
have! The school uses volunteer teachers to provide free language classes for
Internationals living in Mobile County. The MBA budget provides a stipend for
Brother Bobby and $500 a month for nursery. The growth has increased the need
for administrative time, expenses, books, materials, transportation, and nursery
workers. In consultation with the International Committee we have begun letting
our students know they receive a scholarship from the MBA for the $250
per-person cost of the ministry. We also are letting individuals and businesses
know that they can provide a scholarship for their employees that are our
students. The scholarships will allow us to continue to grow and potentially
become self-supporting.
Evangelism Committee Goal
Our Evangelism Committee has chosen the goal to “Pray for and share Jesus with
every person in Mobile County by 2013.” We are working on events and training
options to help us reach that goal. As you work on your 2006 budget please add
or increase your evangelism line item.
Franklin Graham Crusade
Please begin praying for the Franklin Graham Crusade on April 21-23, 2006. This
outreach event can have a huge impact on the County. Contact Brother Don Bond,
473-4802 or shabapt@aol.com, for
more information.
State
Evangelism Conference
Dauphin Way is the site for the State Evangelism Conference on January 23-24,
2006.
Crossover
On Friday-Sunday, January 20-22, 2006, we will be hosting the first Crossover
evangelism events in conjunction with the State Evangelism Conference. Pastor
Ric Camp of Sonrise has agreed to chair the Crossover Subcommittee. Please
contact him at
hogheaven@sonrisebaptist.net or 776-7473 to let him know you want to
participate in Crossover or help him with the planning. It would be great if all
of our churches conducted or participated in an evangelistic outreach to their
community on that weekend.
Partnership Missions
Brother Richard Chin will chair the Partnership Missions Subcommittee. He will
help coordinate MBA partnership missions opportunities so all of our churches
can participate in local, state, national, and international missions
partnerships. Please contact him at
richardwchin@aol.com with your planned trips in which members from other
churches can participate.
Evangelistic Party Trailer Training Begins
Thirty-one people participated in the inaugural training events for the MBA’s
new Evangelistic Party Trailer. Participants learned how to Attract Attention,
Build a Bridge, Communicate Christ, Determine Decisions, Evaluate Effectively,
and Follow-up Faithfully. Then everyone went outside and unloaded the trailer.
Participants set up the tables, chairs, and tents, operated the sno-cone and
popcorn machines, inflated the bounce houses, set up the sound system, and
played with the 7 included games. They were amazed that everything fit on the
trailer and was set up in only 16 minutes. They were equally amazed that
everything was taken down, cleaned, and repacked in the trailer in 22 minutes.
Graduates have already begun scheduling the trailer for their evangelistic
outreach events. It would be good if we could eventually have an Evangelistic
Party Trailer in the Northern, Central, and Southern regions of our Association.
If anyone would like to donate puppets and a puppet stage, these would make
excellent additions to the outreach resources of the trailer. (The donor would
be able to use the puppet equipment whenever they need.) For information on
future training dates, contact Dave at the MBA office.
Church Planting Probe Results
On May 10 our six teams of MBA leaders discovered 45 locations that need a
church in Mobile County. The Church Planting Committee has prioritized 12 areas
that need new congregations immediately. These areas include the Northern,
Central, and Southern regions of Mobile County. We will begin enlisting
coalitions of sponsor churches to help address these needs. The coalitions allow
every MBA church, regardless of size, to help start a new church. Contact Dr.
Terry Cutrer, terry@moffettroad.org
or 342-0563, for more information and to sign up.
I Passed the Chain-Saw Course!
I felt like a manly-man hoisting my hefty Huskevarna saw in celebration of
successfully completing the MBA Disaster Relief Chain Saw Training. I tend to be
more academic than practically useful so it was a thrill. J We inaugurated our
first MBA Disaster Relief trailer too. We are ramping up this needed area as we
prepare to be able to respond when disaster strikes our county or neighbors. We
are looking for churches to help us eventually create a Disaster Relief fleet
that includes additional recovery/chainsaw trailers, a feeding trailer, a
communications trailer, an administration trailer, and a shower trailer. Contact
Charles Matthews,
cmatthewssr@comcast.net or 660-7444, with questions and to volunteer
Communicating
I tend to err on the side of too much information as opposed to too little
information. J We still hear from folks who say they are not informed. In
response, we are restructuring this newsletter to be a bi-monthly publication
(to eventually become monthly as finances continue to improve). We are also
upgrading the web page at
www.mobilebaptists.org. This will become the primary place for
up-to-date information on decisions, directions, meetings, and events. Please
let your folks know we would benefit from a volunteer editor/designer for the
newsletter and a volunteer webmaster. We also discuss all strategic and
financial decisions in our committees and other meetings.
150th Anniversary Celebration
October 20, 2005
Please put on your calendars to join us at FBC Tillman’s Corner for the
celebration of 150 years of ministry.
In the Lamb,
Brother Thomas
Your Associational Missionary