Missouri Baptist Convention looks to the future

ST. LOUIS -- Missouri Baptists should seize the opportunities before them to rebuild broken families, strengthen dying churches and start new congregations, said the Jackson native who leads the Missouri Baptist Convention.

David Clippard, executive director of the convention, addressed an audience of 1,500 people Monday in the first night of the annual meeting in downtown St. Louis.

Delegates from area churches gathered in the Millennium Hotel auditorium to hear what he had to say. His mother, a member of First Baptist Church in Jackson, sat a few rows from the front.

She tries to keep up with what's happening in other churches through her son.

Doug Austin, a member of Lynwood Baptist Church, said he expected Clippard to speak about evangelism and the successes of the Missouri Baptist Convention in the past year.

"I know he'll talk about evangelism," Austin said. "He hardly ever gets up to speak that he doesn't."

And that's exactly what Clippard spoke about.

Wherever you turn, whether it is on a college campus, across the street or around the world, Missourians have an opportunity and a challenge, he said.

Quoting from Scripture, Clippard said doors are open but often people will oppose God's work.

Otherwise, "there wouldn't be much of a threat to the kingdom of hell," he said. The apostles knew that a commitment to Christ meant they would be disgraced, but that didn't stop them, he added. "We aren't going to stop teaching and preaching the word of Jesus Christ."

Since coming to lead Missouri Baptists 14 months ago, Clippard has faced legal battles, a budget crisis and a debt.

Five agencies of the state convention and the executive board have been embroiled in a legal battle since 2001 over who holds control to those agencies. The matter is yet to be resolved, and the state convention has been withholding its financial support for the past two years.

Since January, the state convention staff has been reorganized and reduced to help refocus the organization, Clippard said.

And there still have been opportunities for ministry.

Missouri Baptists have formed partnerships to begin new churches in Romania and minister to Iraqis as the nation is rebuilt in the aftermath of war.

"Never since the Muslim invasion has there been doors open to carry the gospel into this country," Clippard said. "Doors have been kicked open in the heart of the Arab world."

A report on those partnerships is expected Wednesday before the conclusion of the meeting.

Mixing business, worship

As is the pattern during the Baptists' annual meeting, business sessions are interspersed with worship services. Messengers, or meeting delegates, will vote on matters throughout today's gathering.

Several area residents are expected to be elected to serve on various committees. Those being nominated are Cindy Jackson of Sikeston, Bruce Dockens of Jackson, James Cogdill of Millersville, Larry Shoaf and Margaret Morgan, both of Jackson, John Sedgwick of Oak Ridge, David Thompson of Commerce and John Rhodes of Jackson.

With the reorganization and the expected resolution of the legal disputes, Missouri Baptists are again focused on evangelism and ministry, Clippard said.

Citing examples of churches in Southeast Missouri, Clippard told of how Iona Baptist Church in Cape Girardeau County increased its missions offering from $25 last year to $110 this year. In Perryville, the congregation at First Baptist Church hoped for a few thousand dollars in offering collections on "catch-up" Sunday and received $14,000.

Streamlining finances in the state convention will help assure that the money collected for mission offerings is returned to those programs, Clippard said.

"When God blesses then we need to step back and savor it. I believe the greatest days of the convention are still ahead and the greatest churches in the state are yet to be started."

ljohnston@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 126