'The bigger picture'

Sermons that called them to revival, to be salt and light sharing the gospel with the world around them, and reports on mission work in Belarus and Wyoming were among highlights of the Missouri Baptist Convention, which concluded its 167th annual meeting in Cape Girardeau on Wednesday.

Although contentious business sessions seemed to get more attention and attendance, the missions reports and sermons also are part of the work Missouri Baptists do around the state.

About 2,500 people representing churches from across Missouri attended the meetings. Volunteers from 24 local churches helped register participants and served as ushers or tellers, counting votes during the business sessions.

Dr. Derek Staples, pastor of Lynwood Baptist Church, said seeing members of his congregation working with servant hearts made him proud. Staples also said the sermons were challenging and "spoke the word of God to my heart."

While business is the primary reason for the meetings, it also is a time for people to hear sermons and become renewed and encouraged in their faith, said Bob Houchins, campus minister at the Baptist Student Center at Southeast Missouri State University.

Speakers included the Rev. Terry Eades, pastor of First Baptist Church in Scott City, Mo.; the Rev. Phil Roberts, president of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Mo.; Morris Chapman, president and chief executive officer of the Southern Baptist Convention; and the Rev. James Merritt, president of the Southern Baptist Convention and a pastor in Snellville, Ga.

"It's a time to capture the bigger picture," Houchins said. "If you're from a small church in rural Missouri, you can get a bigger vision of what it is to be a part of this. It's a chance to see how you can make an impact for the kingdom of God."

Margaret Moran, who works at the Cape Baptist Association office, said she liked the reminder in Eades' message that people know Christians by their testimony and love for others. At the conclusion of his sermon, Eades asked the crowd to hold hands and sing the words, "They will know we are Christians by our love."

Missouri Baptists approved a $20 million budget and agreed to hold $2 million in escrow accounts until five agencies rescind their decisions to create self-perpetuating boards. The agencies made the move in an effort to gain independence from conservative-led leadership. Other business action taken allows the convention to consider legal action against the agencies.

The Missouri Baptist Convention has been in a decade-long power struggle between conservatives and moderates. For the fourth consecutive year, candidates endorsed by the conservative faction were elected to office.

The power struggle is similar to one that played out in the Southern Baptist Convention during the last 20 years as conservatives rose to power. The Southern Baptist Convention, the national gathering of affiliated churches, will meet in St. Louis in June.

Missouri Baptists conducted themselves well and gave even the secular media a chance to see that Baptists can disagree but don't have to be disagreeable when it happens, said the Rev. Bob Collins, the outgoing convention president.

ljohnston@semissourian.com

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