When Southern Baptists formed a convention in Illinois, the name Illinois Baptist Convention was already taken, so Southern Baptists in Illinois are called the Illinois Baptist State Association. It’s the only state I’m aware of using a name like that.
We just had our annual meeting in Edwardsville, IL on Nov. 3-4th. Here are my thoughts.
- Illinois Baptists started several new partnerships. The coolest one is a partnership with Joni and Friends to equip churches to reach and include people and families with disabilities. That means a lot to me because church can be hard for my brother, and I’m grateful for churches that prepare and welcome.
- My favorite moment was when we presented the new churches who joined our association. There were Mongolian, Romanian, Japanese, Korean, and Spanish churches among the seventeen who joined.
- It is good to see friends and make new ones. I saw a church planter we support in Lebanon, IL and a worship pastor who served with my dad 20+years ago. I got to know Michael Awbrey at the IBSA who also enjoys Wendell Berry’s writing.
- Dr. Doug Munton’s sermon was excellent and encouraging. He is pastor at FBC O’Fallon and served as president the last two years. Doug was my wife’s pastor when she was in college. She was a young Christian and hadn’t been raised in the church. I’m grateful for his ministry to her in that time of her life.
- The IMB is the crown jewel of the SBC. It was good to talk with some of our missionaries and staff.
- One morning included a series of breakout sessions for training. I went to both sessions by Lifeway’s Ken Braddy: “Tips for tuning up your teaching” and “How to ask great discussion questions in Bible study”. Judging by the size of the crowd in the second one, lots of people struggle with that topic. One of his tips: after teaching through a given verse or concept, ask an open-ended question about people’s experience applying that concept. “Break into groups of two or three and describe a time when hardship or a trial turned out for your good.”
- Something I noticed: different styles of speaking and preaching. I grew up in the South, and my wife grew up in the Midwest. We’ve always gone back and forth about what we like and dislike in preaching or speaking styles. I noticed at this meeting that most speakers-whether they were doing a long presentation or a short presentation-read their notes. Randy Davis from the Tennessee Baptists spoke without notes as far as I could tell. It was very polished, relaxed, and compelling, and it was very persuasive for me. I now suspect that it is a cultural thing in the Midwest or the northern states to speak from notes. My wife helped me realize when we talked about this that a speaker that doesn’t rely heavily on notes can communicate to someone like her that they are unprepared and don’t care. For me who grew up in the South, I assume that a speaker that doesn’t constantly rely on notes is actually more prepared and believes what they are saying. What do you think of my cultural analysis? Does that fit with your experience?
- Missed Opportunity: Congregational singing. When 500 Baptists come together, give them the chance to sing. This is not a reference to style. You can kill singing even though you have a choir and orchestra, and you can kill it with a band. Song selection, keys, and familiarity all contribute to people singing or not singing. If you want to sing new songs, then share them in advance so that people can learn them.
- On my way home, I thought of what theme I would use if I ever selected one. I will share my theme as a suggestion: Psalm 1: Planted. “He is like a tree planted by streams of water that produces fruit in its season. . .” Choose songs like Shepherd (Psalm 23), Lifter of My Head (Psalm 3), How Long, O Lord (Psalm 13).
- My plea to Southern Baptists: Show up. Eat with people. Stay the whole time. The work gets done by those who show up and stay. Churches that give more and are bigger have a lot of visibility in SBC life. Anyone, though, can play an important part if they show up, stay, and serve.
