From Lead On Podcast: The Role of the Baptist Association and the Importance of your Ministry's Involvement

From Lead On Podcast: The Role of the Baptist Association and the Importance of your Ministry's Involvement, May 26, 2025

To listen: 
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/lead-on-podcast/id1243128723?i=1000709889012

“I'm telling you these stories because, frankly, I hear people demeaning associations, are lamenting them, are complaining about them….[I]f you're a person wondering, well, should I plug in to this? Well, of course, you should because, first of all, you're likely there to meet leaders who can be mentors and guides to you. You're likely to meet leaders there who can be resources to you and help you in ministry decision making and ministry leadership….let me talk with you about five or six different ways that I think your church can benefit by being networked with and being engaged with your local Baptist Association.”

Coordinating Missions in a local context: “The first thing is that you can work with your local churches coordinating missions in a local context. Now this is really at the core of what associations do….So the first and most important reason I want you to engage locally in missions is because it's an opportunity to really engage locally, to identify some needs in your city, region, county, whatever, and to say, the churches here can come together and meet this need….an association may say, none of our small churches have the capacity to do an International Mission Trip on their own, but by coming together, the association can facilitate an International Mission Trip.”

Networking smaller and larger churches for international missions: “A second contribution that associations make is that they network small churches for a national and an international movement. They network small churches. You know, the flagship churches get a lot of attention. No problem with that. But never forget that the overwhelming majority of Southern Baptist churches have 200 or fewer people present on a Sunday. The overwhelming majority of Southern Baptist churches are small…What needs to be done in this county or in this city or in this area that we can come together and do better together locally than we can do on our own. Now, you might say, well, we're a larger church, we can do it on our own. Well, think about sacrificing some of that independence to help some smaller churches that can't do it on their own. And by doing that, you still come together to do more in your local context than you could have even done as a large church by yourself….if you see yourself as the facilitator, the enabler, or the reason that these other churches are able to come together and get things done together, then you'll see that you're making a very, very valuable contribution.”

Strengthening Church Health: “[Associations] contribute some objectivity and some challenge for churches that need to change. You know, one of the hard realities is that some churches need to change, and someone has to tell them that…you build relationships and that your church members and church leaders build relationships with some outside leaders, either outside pastors or outside directors of mission, who can step in and say some things that will bring objectivity and challenge to a situation. You know, sometimes internally, we're in an echo chamber. We only talk to ourselves. We only see our situation. And we need somebody from the outside to step in and say, this is what needs to happen and to give them clarity about how they can go forward in a new way.”

Bridging the gap between the local church and the SBC: “[B]ecause there's such a distance between the national entity and the resources they provide and oftentimes the local church and the issues that they have or the things they need, there's this big information gap. And so being involved in your local association helps bridge that gap because you're accessing leaders who can come into your church and meet with your leaders and help them understand how to bridge those gaps. Sometimes it's as simple as knowing how to make a phone call or what email address to send something to or who to connect with on a particular problem.”

Mentoring and Support for leaders: “[A]ssociations have some kind of leadership support network, a pastor to pastor kind of network where you can draw from your colleagues and your peers and even your mentors to keep you stronger in ministry….I am saying that local groups of pastors, youth pastors, worship pastors, local groups of pastors who share common responsibilities and share common challenges, building those relational connections goes a long way to keeping us all strong as we go forward together in ministry. Now again, this can take various different forms, but it's one of the reasons to be engaged, to be plugged in, in this kind of pastoral support kind of network. And it extends also to pastors wives, ministry wives and women who are involved in ministry leadership. Associations are also a good place for these to connect as well, and to find the relational support they need to build that kind of network that they need to keep going also in ministry leadership…this kind of relational connection is pure gold for keeping us going in ministry leadership.”

Support during Challenges:“[Y]our association gives you somebody to call when the bottom falls out, when the roof caves in, when the crisis hits….When a church has a natural disaster, flood comes through, tornado comes through….When a pastor's marriage is really hurting and his wife is leaving or it's on the verge of coming apart…When a church and a pastor get sideways and there's conflict or tension, when crisis comes in that relationship…And when a pastor leaves, whether it's a retirement or a leaving for another ministry setting or sometimes an uglier situation with a termination, when a church needs a pastor....it's important for you to be networked with them so that when it happens to you, you'll have that phone number, you'll have that person you trust, you can make that call.”

Conclusion: “And so I'm not saying you have to go to every meeting or anything like that, but I am saying that local groups of pastors, youth pastors, worship pastors, local groups of pastors who share common responsibilities and share common challenges, building those relational connections goes a long way to keeping us all strong as we go forward together in ministry.”

From Lead On Podcast: The Role of the Baptist Association and the Importance of your Ministry's Involvement, May 26, 2025