2014 BOOK OF REPORTS

Transcription

1 2014 BOOK OF REPORTS BAPTIST STATE CONVENTION OF NORTH CAROLINA

2 <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< MICHAEL BARRETT PRESIDENT, BOARD OF DIRECTORS CHAIRMAN, EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 2 Baptist State Convention of North Carolina

3 T he Board of Directors (Board) has the responsibility of acting on behalf of the Convention when the Convention is not in session. Matters that affect the direction and enhance the mission causes and ministry endeavors of North Carolina Baptists are the responsibility of the Board. The Board meets three times annually and is composed of North Carolina Baptists representing cooperating churches from 10 regions across the state. The Executive Committee of the Board has the responsibility of acting on behalf of the Board and the Convention between sessions. The Executive Committee is responsible for the administrative, personnel and business actions of the Convention and reports to the Board and the Convention its actions and recommendations. The Executive Committee met six times since September 2013 and is composed of the president and vice-president of the Board (who serve as the chairperson and vice-chairperson of the Executive Committee), the officers of the Convention, the chairpersons of the committees and special committees of the Board, four at-large members from the Board, the president of NC Baptist Men, the president of the North Carolina Baptist Associational Missions Conference, the chairpersons of the Budget Special Committee and the Articles and Bylaws Special Committee. This report includes actions taken by the Board and its Executive Committee since the conclusion of the September 2013 Board meeting. The Board of Directors elected the following officers: President: Michael Barrett Vice-President: Perry Brindley Board Secretary: Ginger Brown The Board of Directors elected the following at-large members of the Executive Committee: Bob Garbett, *Bobby Lewis, Sandy Marks and Mitchell Shields *Debbie Smith was elected during the September 2014 meeting of the Board to replace Bobby Lewis. He moved out of North Carolina during The Board of Directors committees and special committees elected their chairpersons as follows: Business Services Special Committee: Jimmy Adams Communications Special Committee: Micheal Pardue Christian Higher Education Special Committee: Gordon Benton 2014 Annual Report 3

4 Christian Life & Public Affairs Special Committee: Ray Barnhill Christian Social Services Special Committee: Wanda Dellinger Church Planting & Missions Partnerships Committee: Ben Whitmire Evangelism & Discipleship Committee: Chris Hawks The Board president made the following committee appointments: Articles & Bylaws Special Committee Includes both Board and Non-Board members as noted: Board: Don Cashwell (2017 term), Creedmoor Baptist Church, Raleigh Non-Board: Dana Hall (2017 term), University Hills Baptist Church, Harrisburg Bartley Wooten was appointed as chairperson. Budget Special Committee Includes both Board and Non-Board members as noted: Board: Phil Oakley (2017 term), Calvary Baptist Church, Morganton Non-Board: Harry Thetford (2017 term), Lawndale Baptist Church, Greensboro Rob Roberts was appointed as chairperson. Fruitland Baptist Bible College Nominating Committee Three members of the Executive Committee: Micheal Pardue, chairperson; Perry Brindley, Sandy Marks The Board of Directors elected the following committee members: Business Services Special Committee At-Large Russell Reaves (2017 term), Immanuel Baptist Church, Greensboro Alan Taylor (2017 term), Great Marsh Baptist Church, St. Pauls Committee on Nominations Seven new members of the Committee on Nominations were nominated by Convention officers Conley J. Bordeaux, Sr., president; Timmy D. Blair, Sr., first vice-president; and Cameron McGill, second-vice president. During the February 2014 special meeting, the Board elected these individuals to serve a 2016 term: Reginald Bakr, lay person, St. Paul Baptist Church, Greensboro Alex Casio, minister, Apex Baptist Church, Apex Noah Crowe, minister, First Baptist Church, Robbinsville Pao Ly, minister, First Hmong Baptist Church, Morganton Hak Ung, minister, Promised Land Community Church, Butner Eddie Yount III, minister, Mt. Hebron Baptist Church, Taylorsville Charlie Martin was elected to serve as chairman of the committee. Unexpired terms on the Committee on Nominations were filled as follows: Charles Hester, minister, Geneva Baptist Church, Camden to fill the 2014 unexpired term of Cameron McGill The Board of Directors approved a recommendation from the Fruitland Baptist Bible College Nominating Committee to fill the 2018 terms on the Fruitland Board representing the: Convention Board of Directors: David Spray, minister, Pisgah Forest Baptist Church, Pisgah Forest 4 Baptist State Convention of North Carolina

5 Alumni: Jonathan Jenkins, minister, First Baptist Church, Haw River At-large: Bruce McClain, lay person, Fairview Baptist Church, Statesville Unexpired terms on the Fruitland Baptist Bible College Board were filled as follows: Carson Moseley, minister, Three Forks Baptist Church, Taylorsville to fill the 2016 unexpired term of Brandon Ware Impacting Lostness through Disciple-Making Update: Strategy Statement In keeping with its stated mission, the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina will assist the churches in evangelizing all people groups in every ethnic and/or cultural context by developing and applying disciple-making ministry models with an Acts 1:8 focus. North Carolina Baptists commit to accomplish this by strengthening and planting churches through creating a disciple-making culture, utilizing a relationship-driven consulting model incorporating generalists and specialists, starting in the most concentrated areas of lostness located in eight population centers. The five-year strategy, Impacting Lostness through Disciple-Making, has been in place since May At the May 2014 Board of Directors meeting, Milton A. Hollifield, Jr., executive director-treasurer, reiterated the strategy and the need to take bold action in the most concentrated areas of North Carolina, referred to as eight population centers. Chuck Register, executive leader for Church Planting and Missions Partnerships, explained how demographic research has been done to identify unreached and unengaged people groups in the Charlotte, Triad and Triangle population centers. Lynn Sasser, executive leader for Evangelism and Discipleship made reference to The Story, the primary witnessing tool being used for this work. Brian Davis, associate executive director-treasurer, called attention to the fact that the Convention is starting in the eight population centers of the state, but the work will be expanded to include additional areas that fall outside of those boundaries. A team of strategy coordinators have been hired to assist Convention specialists and the local churches. They are Cris Alley, Triangle area; Michael Boarts, Fayetteville area; Chuck Campbell, Greenville area; Patrick Fuller, metro Charlotte area; Steve Harris, Blue Ridge (Asheville) area; Larry Phillips, Unifour (Hickory) area; and Michael Sowers, Triad area (Greensboro, Winston-Salem and High Point). Staff and group restructure, necessary to implement the new strategy, began in January 2014 and is near completion. At the September 2014 Board of Directors meeting, Rev. Hollifield reemphasized the urgency of making disciples, as the numbers of baptisms are declining. As Christ followers, we must invest our lives in others, so in turn, they may devote their lives to disciple others. Rev. Hollifield also encouraged the board members to become ambassadors for the churches in their regions to support the Cooperative Program, so those who haven t heard the gospel of Jesus Christ will have opportunity to do so. The full report of the Strategy Development Committee can be found on pages 2014 Annual Report 5

6 30-36 and on the Convention s website at: misc/downloads/impacting_lostness_strategy_document.pdf. Further information including the new staff structure can be found at Additional Actions of the Board of Directors were as follows: Articles and Bylaws Special Committee: During the September 2014 meeting, the Articles and Bylaws Committee (Committee) presented to the Board of Directors (Board) proposed amendments to the bylaws of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina (Convention) for consideration. The proposed amendments are encapsulated in six motions. A brief description of each motion is found below. No changes are proposed for the Articles of Incorporation, only for the bylaws. Motion 1 These amendments focus on the work of the Resolutions and Memorials Committee and the submission of resolutions for consideration during the Annual Meeting of the Convention. Increasingly, some messengers are bypassing the Resolutions and Memorials Committee and bringing resolutions directly to the floor of the Convention during miscellaneous business. In those cases, messengers are called upon to consider resolutions that have not been vetted by the Resolutions and Memorials Committee. Such resolutions may or may not be artfully drafted. The messengers have not had time to prayerfully consider the resolutions. Such actions can consume time that might be devoted to other matters requiring the attention of messengers. These amendments are an attempt to bring more order to what has been at times a chaotic procedure with emergency meetings of the Resolutions and Memorials Committee or efforts by parliamentarians and others to assist the messenger presenting the resolution with clarification and editing of the resolution. These amendments would eliminate surprise resolutions and require a messenger to go through the Resolutions and Memorials Committee for consideration of the resolution; the amendments also provide a procedure for messengers to present any resolution that is not proposed by the Resolutions and Memorials Committee. Motion 2 These amendments seek to address the difficulties that arise when a regular meeting of the Board is cancelled. The Board is well aware of the complications that arose following the cancellation of the January 2014 meeting and should be reminded of the shortened meeting of the Board at the North Carolina Baptist Assembly at Fort Caswell in September 2010 due to an approaching tropical storm. The January and September meetings are critical because cancellation of these meetings impacts the work of the various committees of the Board, the Convention s Committee on Nominations, and proposals requiring Board action prior to consideration by messengers at the Annual Meeting in November. These amendments seek to provide a means for the existing leaders to continue to serve and for the Board to convene for substitute regular meetings in the event any of its scheduled meetings are cancelled due to inclement weather, disaster or emergency circumstances. Motion 3 This change addresses a request made by the Committee on Nominations regarding the need for clarification on the eligibility of certain 6 Baptist State Convention of North Carolina

7 individuals being considered for service on the Convention s Board of Directors. Motion 4 This amendment removes language that has persisted from the time when the current Christian Life and Public Affairs Committee was a council of the Convention. The deletion brings consistency among committee responsibilities. Motion 5 These changes bring the names referenced in these sections up to date. Motion 6 These amendments bring consistency to the current language regarding the trustees of North Carolina Baptist Hospital (Hospital). Currently, some provisions in this section apply to all trustees serving on the board of the Hospital; other provisions only apply to trustees elected by the Convention. To achieve consistent application of these provisions, the amendments will apply these provisions only to trustees elected by the Convention. The Hospital has been electing half of the trustees since the late 1990s. The Board adopted the amendments and they are brought forth to the Convention at the 2014 Annual Meeting for final approval. A complete reading of the proposed amendments is made available to the messengers in the special issue of the Biblical Recorder found in the messenger packet. If you have questions, concerns or comments please feel to contact Bartley Wooten, Articles and Bylaws committee chairperson, or Brian Davis, BSCNC associate executive director-treasurer. Budget Special Committee The Board of Directors Adopted the 2015 Cooperative Program Budget of $29,000,000 as recommended by the Budget Special Committee and presents the 2015 budget for consideration to the Convention at its 2014 Annual Meeting. Adopted the North Carolina Missions Offering goal of $2,100,000 as recommended by the Budget Special Committee and presents the following 2015 allocations for consideration to the Convention at its 2014 Annual Meeting: NC Baptist Men $856,720 Church Planting $596,000 Mission Work Camps $313,080 Mobilization Ministry Projects (Baptist Men) $124,200 Associational Projects $210,000 TOTAL NCMO GOAL $2,100,000 Camps, Conference Centers and Fruitland Baptist Bible College The Board of Directors Approved the construction of a 6,000 sq. ft. cottage at the North Carolina Baptist Assembly at Fort Caswell using reserve funds already set aside for this purpose Annual Report 7

8 Approved the construction of a family housing complex at Fruitland Baptist Bible College with funds made available through a donor gift. The Executive Committee of the Board of Directors Reported the sale of Hollifield Leadership Center to Teen Challenge USA was final in December Financial Matters The Board of Directors Approved the sale of the Baptist Campus Ministry building at East Carolina University for the amount of $775,000. Closing is to take place in October Approved the transfer of the UNC-Pembroke Baptist Campus Ministry building to the Burnt Swamp Association for their ministry use. This facility will continue to be used for Baptist Campus Ministry. Approved the proposed sale of the UNC-Asheville Baptist Campus Ministry building based on the best offer. The Executive Committee of the Board of Directors Approved a 1 percent per salary Christmas gift for Convention staff in November Funds for this gift are generated from interest income. Approved an additional half of 1 percent to be made available for merit bonuses for a limited number of staff. These bonuses are given at the executive director-treasurer s discretion for outstanding performance in Funding for these bonuses is from interest income. Miscellaneous Actions The Board of Directors Approved the recommendations from the Christian Life & Public Affairs Special Committee in September 2014 on possible ways to support the Christian Action League. This action resulted from a motion on the floor during the 2013 Annual Meeting of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina. The report is being brought to the messengers at the 2014 annual meeting for approval. The full report can be found on page 26. Personnel Matters The Executive Committee of the Board of Directors Gave approval for John Butler, executive leader for Business Services, to approve the housing allowances for the Convention s ordained staff. Approved a change in medical insurance benefits to Convention spouses and retirees in November Effective January 1, 2015, a spouse or retiree will need to obtain medical insurance coverage through their employer or Medicare. Approved the continuation of the self-insured medical insurance plan for 2015 and new contribution amounts for employees. Approved Kathryn Carson as Communications Team Leader. 8 Baptist State Convention of North Carolina

9 CHRISTIAN LIFE AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS COMMITTEE REPORT Messengers attending the 2013 annual meeting of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina (Convention), received the following motion, brought by Reverend Phil Addison, messenger from Stony Point Baptist Church in Stony Point North Carolina, during the miscellaneous business session: Addison moved that the Convention staff of the BSCNC receive from the Christian Action League (CAL) of North Carolina information concerning the CAL s present financial distresses and share that information with our Convention churches. During the debate that ensued, a motion to refer this matter to the Board of Directors (Board) was approved by the messengers. During the January 2014 meeting of the Executive Committee, Chairman Michael Barrett reported that the motion had been referred to the Christian Life & Public Affairs Committee (CL&PA). This action was reported to the Board during its May meeting as the Board did not meet in January, due to inclement weather, and this item was not included on the agenda of the special meeting of the Board called in February The CL&PA considered the motion during its meeting May In preparation for this meeting, Convention associate executive director-treasurer, Brian Davis, spoke to Reverend Addison by phone seeking clarity regarding the motion. Davis reported that while not explicitly stated in the motion, Addison shared his intention behind the motion was to solicit more financial support for the Christian Action League (CAL). The CL&PA communicated with Reverend Mark Creek, executive director of CAL regarding the motion and the subsequent assignment given the CL&PA by the Board. Reverend Creech expressed great appreciation for the attention given CAL through this motion but expressed strong reservations about releasing the financial information of the CAL to the CL&PA. The Board is reminded that the CL&PA, and by extension the Board and the Convention, has no authority over the CAL and can in no way compel the CAL to release this information. However, with a desire to be supportive of CAL, the CL&PA requested that Reverend Creech provide a written request to the CL&PA outlining how the Convention might be of assistance to the CAL. The CL&PA informed Reverend Creech that no additional funds were available from the Convention as the budget committee was developing a budget for 2015 that would be less than the current budget. As a result, no new monies would be available for allocation to the CAL. The CL&PA offered to promote the CAL to Convention churches and church leaders. In addition, if the CAL board so desires, the CL&PA offered to assist the CAL in a re-visioning process in an effort to help the CAL better articulate its mission, vision, and values so that the churches of the Convention might more enthusiastically support the work of the CAL. Reverend Creech indicated that the CAL board is already working through a similar process concerning mission, vision, and values; in addition, he expressed appreciation for the CL&PA regarding these matters Annual Report 9

10 Reverend Creech provided a written request that included suggestions for how the Convention might assist the CAL during this time of financial difficulty. The CL&PA received these suggestions enthusiastically and drafted two letters for distribution. The letters included the following suggestions: 1. Pray for the CAL in the fulfillment of its mission 2. Encourage pastors to invite Reverend Creech to speak about the work of CAL 3. Encourage churches to consider financial support of CAL The first letter, addressed to pastors was sent via to all pastors in the Convention s database on August 29, This letter was then mailed, standard mail, to all pastors in the Convention s database on September 10, The letter sent to pastors via standard mail also included a self-addressed envelope that pastors could use to send support directly to the CAL. The second letter, addressed to directors of missions was sent via September 16, The CAL posted an article citing portions of the CL&PA letter to pastors on the CAL website September 5, Having taken these actions, the CL&PA moved that the Board approve this report and take no further action. The Board of Directors approved the report and took no further action. 10 Baptist State Convention of North Carolina

11 GLOBAL MINISTRIES (SBC) $10,730,000 (37 % ) 2015 International Mission Board % $5,408,993 North American Mission Board % $2,445,367 SBC Seminaries % $2,377,768 Other Ministries & Administration 4.64 % $ 497,872 NC MINISTRIES $11,904,507 (41 % ) Convention and Board Operations $2,403,708 $2,403,708 Convention Ministry Groups Administration & Convention Relations $2,888,790 $2,976,115 Business Services $1,519,340 $1,450,278 Church Planting & Mission Partnerships $2,691,870 $2,612,177 Evangelism & Discipleship $2,401,292 $2,462,229 TOTAL Ministry Groups $9,501,292 $9,500, Annual Report 11

12 INSTITUTIONS & AGENCIES $ 4,572,000 (15.8 % ) Christian Social Services Baptist Children s Homes of NC $1,600,000 $1,545,000 Baptist Children s Homes, DDM Program $ 350,000 $ 335,000 NC Baptist Aging Ministries $ 720,000 $ 695,000 NC Baptist Hospitals (School of Pastoral Care) $ 625,000 $ 582,000 TOTAL $3,295,000 $3,157,000 Agencies The Biblical Recorder $ 390,000 $ 375,000 North Carolina Baptist Foundation $ 90,000 $ 80,000 TOTAL $ 480,000 $ 455,000 Fruitland Baptist Bible Institute $ 660,000 $ 660,000 NC Baptist Scholarship Program $ 650,000 $ 300,000 GUIDESTONE & CHURCH PROTECTION BENEFITS $1,793,493 (6.2 % ) Retirement and Protection Benefits $2,010,000 $1,768,493 For NC Baptist Church Staff Ministers Emergency Reserve $ 50,000 $ 25,000 Institutions & Agencies 37 % 15.8 % 41 % North Carolina Ministries Global Ministries (SBC) 6.2 % GuideStone & Church Protection Benefits 12 Baptist State Convention of North Carolina

13 IMPACTING LOSTNESS THROUGH DISCIPLE-MAKING strategy <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< OUR VISION By God s grace, we will become the strongest force in the history of this Convention for reaching people with the message of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. OUR MISSION To assist the churches in their divinely appointed mission. OUR CORE VALUES The 7 Pillars for Ministry are biblical concepts that serve as core values to help the Convention stay focused on its mission, which is to assist North Carolina Baptist churches in achieving what God has called them to do. THE 7 PILLARS ARE: 1. Practice Fervent Prayer 2. Promote Evangelism and Disciple-Making 3. Strengthen Existing Churches 4. Plant New Multiplication Churches 5. Reach North Carolina s International Community 6. Embrace Unreached and Unengaged People Groups 7. Engage Young Church Leaders The following strategy must be undergirded and overarched by Kingdomfocused prayer. Pushing back lostness will only be accomplished through spiritual awakening and revival; therefore, utter dependence on the power of God is indispensable. The Convention must build strong spiritual relationships that inspire and motivate through prayer and the Spirit of God and build on those relationships as the process continues Annual Report 13

14 STRATEGY STATEMENT In keeping with its stated mission, the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina will assist the churches in evangelizing all people groups in every ethnic and/or cultural context by developing and applying disciple-making ministry models with an Acts 1:8 focus. 1 North Carolina Baptists commit to accomplish this by strengthening and planting churches through creating a disciple-making culture, utilizing a relationship-driven consulting model incorporating generalists and specialists, starting in the most concentrated areas of lostness located in eight population centers. Explanation In keeping with its stated the mission, the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina will assist the churches in evangelizing all people groups in every ethnic and/or cultural context by developing and applying disciple-making ministry models with an Acts 1:8 focus. There are 5.8 million lost people in North Carolina and that number is growing; North Carolina Baptists are clearly losing ground. 2 This statistic illustrates our collective lack of faithfulness to obedience of the Great Commission. The Great Commission clarifies that we, all North Carolina Baptists, are to make disciples. Every North Carolina Baptist bears the responsibility and shares in the opportunity to reach the lost and make disciples. Acts 1:8 focuses our disciple-making efforts on our local communities, North Carolina, North America and the ends of the earth. Moreover, the unreached peoples of the world have come to our own communities. In reaching these people, contextual strategies based on ethnic and/or cultural contexts have proven to be the most effective approaches to impacting lostness. 1 The mission of the Baptist State Convention is found in the Convention s Articles of Incorporation Article IV. Purposes A. 2 Statistic provided by Richard Stanley, Center for Missional Research for the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. The total population of North Carolina at the end of 2010 was 9.5 million people. The estimated percentage of lostness in North Carolina during that year was 60.8% resulting in the estimate of 5.8 million lost people. Stanley estimates that the percentage of lostness will not increase in the coming decade; however, the number of lost people will grow as the total population grows. 14 Baptist State Convention of North Carolina

15 NORTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS COMMIT TO ACCOMPLISH THIS BY STRENGTHENING AND PLANTING CHURCHES THROUGH CREATING A DISCIPLE-MAKING CULTURE The matters of church health, survival and sustainability weigh heavily on the minds of many church leaders. Many indicators and statistics are used to identify the strength of a church. However, the most concrete indicator of a strong church is the presence of a disciple-making culture. A disciple-making culture is developed as churches assist believers to order their everyday lives around the Great Commandment s call to love God which results in loving others. When the culture of a church encourages all people to be disciples, who in turn make disciples, the church has the greatest potential for effective fulfillment of the Great Commission and Acts 1:8. The Convention will assist the churches as they prayerfully determine how they will pursue a disciple-making culture. All churches are called upon to support multiplying efforts in order that all people may be reached with the Gospel. Church planting involves the discovery and reaching of unreached people resulting in a disciple-making culture. The Convention will assist churches as they prayerfully determine how they will engage in church planting. Churches should consider partnering with existing church plants, partnering with church planting missionaries who have not yet begun, or possibly sending their own members out as church planting missionaries to establish new congregations. The Convention will assist Legacy churches as they consider their investment in assisting church plants to target unreached people and in assessing options including church re-starting, church revitalization and church multiplication. Legacy churches are strategic partners in their prayer support, volunteering, worship space and providing financial assistance, all critical components to a church plant effectively impacting lostness. BY MEANS OF A RELATIONSHIP-DRIVEN CONSULTING MODEL INCORPORATING GENERALISTS AND SPECIALISTS The Convention will design, resource and implement a relationship-driven consulting model in serving churches across North Carolina. This model incorporates the dual roles of generalist and specialist as opposed to a resource and event driven consulting model. A relationship-driven consulting model enables effective engagement with a church in pursuit of a disciple-making culture and ministry vitality rather than simply resourcing them with products, programs and processes. Collaboration among the Convention, associations, networks and other ministry partners in this model of consultation will serve to efficiently leverage the assets of all parties for the benefit of the churches. 3 U.S. Census, North Carolina Quick Facts, Internet, Date Accessed: March 7, Annual Report 15

16 STARTING IN THE MOST CONCENTRATED AREAS OF LOSTNESS LOCATED IN EIGHT POPULATION CENTERS. Research conducted by the Intercultural Institute for Contextual Ministry has identified the top 100 areas of lostness in North Carolina. Of these 100, the Convention has found that 97 are located within the top eight population centers of the state. Population centers include the cities and surrounding areas of Charlotte, the Research Triangle (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill), the Triad (Greensboro, Winston-Salem, High Point), Fayetteville, Wilmington, Hickory, Asheville and Greenville. The population in North Carolina increased 18.46% from 2000 to During this same period, the population in these eight areas increased by 22.33% comprising nearly 75% of the population of the state. 3 The Convention must collaborate with local leadership to develop a strategy for a population center and seek to foster and instill local ownership of the initiative. All leaders involved in each population center must be heard and valued. In addition, the roles of all partners must be clearly defined. Success will have been achieved when the existing area churches and new church plants partner in the execution of a well-defined, contextually appropriate strategy to make, nurture and grow reproducing followers of Christ pursuing a movement of God within the population centers to glorify Christ through pushing back lostness. Moreover, a shared commitment of all leadership to this definition of success and adoption of a common language for expressing that definition of success is paramount. Intentionality in communication should be a hallmark of these relationships. While all would agree to the urgency of the task, it is important to also recognize the reality of limited resources that must be efficiently and effectively managed. Accordingly, initiatives in each of the eight population centers cannot begin simultaneously but must be staged in order to appropriately administer the investment of available resources for maximum benefit to all. OVERVIEW OF A FRAMEWORK FOR THE EIGHT POPULATION CENTERS Pre-Discover Establish the Strategy Team for each population center. The team will include but not be limited to a Convention strategist, Directors of Missions/Associational Missionaries, pastors, staff, and laypersons from within the population center, and ethnic representation based upon demographic makeup of population center group(s). 4 The IICM works to encourage congregations and various denominational groups, mission agencies and para-church groups to understand their cultural context and to develop culturally-appropriate messages, methods and missional strategies to reach them with the gospel. 5 A missional event utilized by North Carolina Baptist leaders to identify unreached people groups in cities, regions and associations. The one-day event is attended by area pastors and leaders who are equipped to identify the unreached, then journey to assigned areas to determine missional priorities 16 Baptist State Convention of North Carolina

17 Gather the Strategy Team for prayer, orientation process and strategic planning training. Mobilize prayer support for the Strategy Team and its work. Assemble initial information for each specific population center and prepare supporting documentation for Strategy Team members. Identify and explore all local strategies at a church or associational level already planned or underway for impacting the targeted population center. Create a communications plan framework and a plan to connect with and network population center area pastors and churches. Construct a discovery question list to guide data collection and analysis. Discover Answer discovery questions. Gather, validate and assess data, utilizing tools such as, but not limited to: Intercultural Institute for Contextual Ministry report 4 Annual Church Profile data for existing churches within the focus area Operation Reach 5 Field discovery Community perceptions Identify gaps in understanding (using discovery questions) and determine sources of needed information. Identify and test assumptions, and adapt the approach as needed. Assess current strengths and needs of existing churches and associations within the population center area. Engage existing churches in reaching the lost within the population center area through: Prayer for the lost and laborers to reach the lost Discovery of the lost Ministry revitalization of evangelism/disciple-making to reach the lost Commitment to intentionally present the Gospel in word and deed Commitment to partnership with others in reaching the lost Institute regional concerts of prayer. Initiate communication plans to all constituencies including: Discoveries to date Partners involved Invitation to potential partners Identification of resource needs Request prayer for the population center 2014 Annual Report 17

18 Develop Create a comprehensive strategic plan. Build the plan to achieve an outcome based upon the definition of success. Incorporate strengthening of existing churches based upon identified needs utilizing the Strategy Team process model. Incorporate planting of new churches based upon identified needs and priorities. Identify milestones and success indicators for each distinct strategy adopted to include feedback loops for real-time data gathering. Document a schedule for strategy and progress assessment and reporting. Ascertain required resources for each strategy and identify potential sources. Sequence strategies and assign responsibility for execution. Continue prayer initiatives and efforts toward networking population center pastors and churches. Continue with communication plans to all constituencies: Strategies to be employed Additional Discovery updates Updates on partners Continued invitation to potential partners Updated list of needed resources Request prayer for the harvest in the population center Deliver Execute the strategic plan. Monitor progress relative to established milestones and assess results relative to success indicators. Adjust strategies as necessary based upon ongoing assessment of results, capturing learnings for future use. Continue prayer initiative and facilitation of networking for population center pastors and churches. Complete communication plans to all constituencies: Results realized to date Additional Discovery updates Updates on partners Continued invitation to potential partners to participate Updated list of needed resources Request for prayer and the sharing of celebrations We acknowledge that many of the efforts noted in this model already take place, but the effectiveness of these efforts can be increased through a 18 Baptist State Convention of North Carolina

19 unified approach. We believe that cooperatively approaching these efforts, as outlined above, will maximize the results. Conclusion The mission of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina is to assist the churches in their divinely appointed mission. Utilizing this strategy, it is the prayerful expectation that, By God s grace, we will become the strongest force in the history of this Convention for reaching people with message of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. GLOSSARY This glossary pertains only to this report and does not necessarily reflect common understanding of the terms throughout the Convention Consultant: A Convention staff person assigned the primary responsibility of working directly with churches to provide assistance as needed and appropriate in pursuit of the church s mission. Consultation: An assignment in which a Convention consultant works directly with a church for a defined period of time to provide assistance as needed and appropriate in the pursuit of the church s mission. Context: The environment, conditions or circumstances that define or surround a church and its ministry such as: average age or educational level of church members, local economy, financial condition of the church, demographics of the community, age and condition of the facilities, etc. Contextual: Relating to or dependent upon a particular context as defined above. Contextualize: To adapt a process, model or framework in order to fit or accommodate a particular context as defined above. Decline: A church that has passed the plateaued life cycle stage and exhibits a clearly discernible regression in baptisms or other additions, attendance, giving and ministry involvement, and general appearance of ministry health has entered a stage of decline. Disciple-making culture: The values and ministry focus of a church result in a lifestyle of disciple-making behaviors on the part of church members. Generalist: A consultant serving as a diagnostician who works with church leadership to effectively engage and apply contextually appropriate resources. A generalist serves in much the same way as a family practitioner in the medical profession whereby the generalist is responsible for the ongoing relationship and engages specialists as appropriate and necessary for the benefit of the church. However, this does not mean that a generalist does not have an area or areas of specific expertise, but only refers to the role with regard to a particular church Annual Report 19

20 Learning environment: the continuous testing of experience, and the transformation of that experience into knowledge accessible to the whole organization, and relevant to its core purpose. Peter M. Senge, Art Kleiner, Charlotte Roberts, Rick Ross and Bryan Smith, The Fifth Discipline Field Book, (New York, NY: Doubleday, 1994), 49. Legacy church: A long established church still exhibiting signs of health and vitality but nearing the plateaued life cycle stage as its sense of calling and purpose begins to diminish, as does its congregants age, and it also fails to reach and assimilate younger members. Model: A framework, outline or process to be followed or utilized in conducting a consultation. Multiplication church: A multiplication church is a reproducing church that engages in church planting through one or more ways. The church may play the role of mentor in the church planting process, intentionally cultivating disciples who are selected, developed and supported in order to be sent as church planting missionaries to start new faith communities. This may include praying for the unreached people group and church planting missionaries who are sent, participating by involving members personally assisting the church planter, and/or providing for the financial needs of the church planter and new church plant. Church multiplication may also include visionary churches that value multiplication, establishing a Church Planting Center equipping those from inside their congregation and from other congregations, and providing intern, student missionary and apprentice opportunities, sending them out to reach unreached people groups resulting in new faith communities. Network: A collection of churches or individuals with similar interests or concerns and like values who intentionally connect and maintain formal, as well as informal, communication for mutual assistance or support in pursuit of a common goal or objective. Organizational culture: The shared set of values and assumptions that guide how the members of an organization think, feel, behave, and work. George Babbes and Michael Zigarelli, The Minister s MBA Essential Ministry Tools for Maximum Ministry Success. (Nashville: B&H Publishing Group, 2006), 30. People group: The largest group through which the gospel can flow without encountering a significant barrier of understanding or acceptance. People Groups Internet. Date Accessed: March 7, This understanding guides the work of the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, please read, Orville Jenkins, What is a People Group - Gospel Strategy globalresearch/pages/peoplegroup.aspx Internet. Date Accessed: March 8, Population center: An area within which a significant concentration of people live and work. 20 Baptist State Convention of North Carolina

21 Relationship-driven consultation: A model of consulting whereby primary emphasis is placed upon building rapport and understanding, enabling the consultant to more accurately discern and meet the needs and requirements of the church served. Relationship-driven: An approach whereby primary emphasis is placed upon building rapport and understanding. Resource driven: A model of consulting whereby primary emphasis is placed upon the application of products, programs or services offered, rather than looking for creative solutions to the issues at hand, based upon discernment through relationship. Revitalization: The process whereby a church that was once plateaued, or declining, has rediscovered its calling and is living out that calling in a culture of disciple-making. Specialist: A consultant serving as a subject category expert in a specific ministry area Annual Report 21

22 <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< BRIAN K. DAVIS ASSOCIATE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR-TREASURER 22 Baptist State Convention of North Carolina

23 A dministration and Convention Relations fulfills a variety of responsibilities on behalf of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina (Convention) in service of the Convention s churches. The Executive Director- Treasurer s Office (EDT), led by Milton A. Hollifield Jr., provides leadership and direction for the entire Convention staff. It is the responsibility of the EDT to assist the Board of Directors (Board) and Convention committees in their work. The EDT also works very closely with the officers of the Board and officers of the Convention as they seek to fulfill their tasks. Brian K. Davis, associate executive director-treasurer, provides leadership for the Administration and Convention Relations Group. The Administration and Convention Relations Group has the dual role of serving churches of the Convention and serving Convention staff. The Administration and Convention Relations Group continues to serve as liaison with the institutions and agencies of the Convention. Specifically, the institutions of the Convention are the Baptist Children s Home of North Carolina and the North Carolina Baptist Hospital. The agencies of the Convention are the North Carolina Baptist Foundation and the Biblical Recorder. In addition, this office continues to foster the Convention s relationship with the five affiliated institutions of Christian higher education. This group is responsible for the Convention s partnership with the North American Mission Board (NAMB). While the cooperative agreement between NAMB and the Convention involves multiple members of the Convention s staff across several ministry groups, the coordination of the partnership comes through Administration and Convention relations. We also work with NAMB in the placement of Mission Service Corps (MSC) funded missionaries. The Administration and Convention Relations Group also serves as the liaison with two Convention committees - the Committee on Nominations and the Committee on Convention Meetings - and assists Business Services staff with the Memorials and Resolutions Committee. Our staff provides the administrative support required by each of these committees in order that these committees may complete their assigned tasks. The Administration and Convention Relations Group consists of five teams and/or offices, North Carolina Baptist Men staff and Fruitland Baptist Bible College staff. These staff members and their assignments are identified within their respective reports COMMUNICATIONS TEAM The Communications Team consists of graphic designers, a production assistant, a videographer and writers/ editors who work together to tell the story of how God is working through North Carolina Baptists to impact 2014 Annual Report 23

24 lostness through disciple-making locally and around the world. The team also assists Convention staff in the communication and promotion of various events and emphases utilizing social media and other technologies. This year, the Communications Team produced a series of Next Step videos that share video testimonies from North Carolina Baptists that offer simple, practical suggestions for how believers can take the next step to impact lostness by sharing Christ with others. Members of the team also worked together to develop and implement Choose Now, the 2014 North Carolina Missions Offering promotional campaign. Communications interns Emily Rojas, Gabrielle Diepenbrock and Walter Overman provided valuable writing and news coverage for the various conferences, missions and ministry initiatives, and training events sponsored by Convention staff throughout the year. Graphics manager Kathryn Carson coordinates the work of the graphics team, which includes designers Whitney Goulding and Laura Bennett, as well as freelance graphic designers. These staff members are responsible for graphic design, video production, Web graphics and design, Annual Meeting exhibit designs, and Annual Meeting promotional materials. In addition to upkeep of the Convention website, they maintain, in conjunction with the IT/IS Team, numerous other websites for affiliated ministries and organizations. The video production arm of the Communications Team relies primarily on the work of K Brown, with assistance from freelancers Kenny Conyers and David Cook. This year K was involved in more than 30 projects documenting the missions and ministries of North Carolina Baptists around the state, Canada and Eastern Europe. Although the majority of K s responsibilities involve video production, K once again received recognition for his still photography, as he received four national awards in photography from the Baptist Communicators Association. The Communications Team handles many aspects related to the Convention s Annual Meeting. Production assistant Monique Rogers coordinates the Annual Meeting exhibit hall, in addition to working with the Communications Team on various projects throughout the year. COOPERATIVE PROGRAM Since 1925, the Cooperative Program has been the main funding system for North Carolina Baptists and for Southern Baptists across the country. Is it still effective? It is indeed. Consider: The Cooperative Program still enables churches small to mega to combine their missions and ministry dollars and accomplish Kingdomfocused results they could never do individually. Partnering on missions support is certainly one of the ways Baptists can do greater things for Christ. Today the Cooperative Program enables Southern Baptists to support some 10,000 missionaries serving across North America and around the world, 24 Baptist State Convention of North Carolina

25 together with six seminaries with a combined enrollment of more than 13,000 students. Add to this all the North Carolina-based ministries covered in this report, such as starting more new churches in our state than any other group. Combined with the Baptist convention approach to cooperation, the Cooperative Program still lets messengers vote on the annual Cooperative Program budget and to give voluntarily, thus creating partnerships while preserving local church autonomy. That budget proposal was prepared, again, by folks from the churches. Similarly, Baptist lay members and clergy can serve as trustees and members of boards directing the institution s use of their Cooperative Program dollar support. Baptist institutions, whether children s home or mission board, are still assured of a more stable budget each year because the Cooperative Program provides a more dependable and more cost-effective approach to funding missions than periodic appeals or drives can muster. If the Cooperative Program is so great, does it have flaws? Sadly, yes. The biggest challenge is making sure North Carolina Baptists understand the Cooperative Program and the amazing number of missions and ministry efforts it funds. While the Cooperative Program s administration costs are remarkably low, churches must make sure their members understand that this oneline item on their annual budget is sending their dollars into the greatest missions support effort Baptists have ever devised. In the process, their Cooperative Program dollars are helping the churches be obedient to the Bible s commands to make disciples of all nations. The Cooperative Program is not merely dues to be paid. Rather, the Cooperative Program is part of our response to the sacred partnership we have with God in redeeming a lost world. The Convention s consultant for the Cooperative Program, Mike Creswell, prepares materials to help churches understand the Cooperative Program. This year several new resources have been under way, including new videos. A weekly prayer guide 52 Sundays helps a church pray each week for one of the missionaries they support through the Cooperative Program. Mike teaches church planters about the Cooperative Program and is available to come to your church and make a presentation on what Baptists are accomplishing as we work together. In 2013 the percentage Southern Baptist churches across the nation gave through the Cooperative Program rose to 5.5 percent. In other words, 5.5 percent is the average percentage churches give from their annual budget (undesignated receipts). That small increase was the first such increase in a long time. Churches across the Southern Baptist Convention are challenged to take the 1% Challenge. Many North Carolina Baptist churches have accepted the 1% Challenge, meaning that they agreed to increase their gifts to the Cooperative Program by 1 percent of their undesignated receipts in the 2014 Annual Report 25

26 coming year. Some of those leader churches have fewer than 100 members. Calvary Baptist Church, Winston-Salem, has more than 6,000 members. If all North Carolina Baptist churches would make a similar commitment, it would result in a $6 million increase in Cooperative Program dollars each year. More missionaries, more evangelism and more people coming to Christ would be the result. See what the Cooperative Program does. You ll want to give more. Mike Creswell senior consultant, Cooperative Program Development INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY/ INFORMATION SYSTEMS The Information Technology/ Information Systems team (IT/IS) is led by John Jones. The IT/IS team has numerous assignments related to computer hardware, software, management of Convention networks, websites, and databases. The IT/ IS team provides training for church and associational leaders as well as Convention staff. The Annual Church Profile (ACP) is very important to your church. When the annual Congregation Profile is completed, historical data and statistics are stored and are available to you and your church. Also, information from the ACP helps us recognize trends in North Carolina Baptist churches and also helps us to know the various kinds of ministries we need to provide to our churches. This information is not only important to your church and to the Convention, but to our associations as well as the Southern Baptist Convention. Russell Schwab and Becki Canterberry do a great job of keeping the correct information in the database. If we do not receive your ACP, the data in our database will not be up to date. We have some new software that we will be using next year that will make it easier for you to complete the ACP. Related to the ACP is the number of messenger cards sent to each church in preparation for the Annual Meeting in November. The information from the ACP is used in printing and mailing the messenger cards to churches. If you do not receive the correct number of messenger cards, it may be due to missing ACP data. We have a few new websites to share with you that have been deployed this year. A new sharing system ( website was released in December and has elicited a great response. Over 1,000 users have logged into the system over 25,000 times. More than 900 ministers, 240 churches and 145 positions are in this system. Please feel free to call us if you have trouble with the new system. We have also developed two new websites for the BeDoTell ministry: a student portal and a leader s portal. Lai Salmonson, the webmaster, has completed training for Squarespace, Wix, and Wordpress and has developed training website examples at www. ncbaptistsquare.org, org and to train churches and associations. Website development training was held in Union Association, Truett Association and in the training lab at the Convention offices in Cary. We would welcome your participation in an upcoming class! Technologies are constantly changing and new tools are replacing the old. 26 Baptist State Convention of North Carolina

27 Ron Rasberry, our network manager, does an excellent job of keeping the Convention up to date on network, wireless, security, storage, firewall and VPN access. Salmonson and Rasberry are working together to help the organization develop in-house solutions to web applications. We conducted training sessions with 61 associations regarding AskNed (ACP). There have been 264 churches and associational staff trained in Office 2007 and Judy Autry is our in-house trainer, and she has helped introduce the Convention staff to the use of Google Drive and other services we receive from Google Apps for business. As technology continues to develop, we hope that your IT/IS team can assist you in using the technologies for the glory of God. Using technology, we can accomplish greater things for the Church that keeps the cost of doing ministry down and yet reaches out around the world. How are you leveraging technology for the Kingdom of God? OFFICE OF PRAYER FOR EVANGELIZATION AND SPIRITUAL AWAKENING Statewide Prayer Conferences The 2014 annual statewide prayer conference was held in Garner at Aversboro Road Baptist Church. The Awaken: Returning to Holiness prayer conference featured national and state prayer leaders and pastors such as John Franklin, Gordon Fort, Chuck Lawless and Robert Smith. The conference provided a ripe environment for spiritual transformation as the Holy Spirit worked in people s lives. In an about the conference Robert Smith said, It was one of the most significant conferences that I have been a part of in nearly 40 years of ministry. God is accomplishing Greater Things through North Carolina Baptists as we pray together. Awaken Prayer Retreats and Rallies As a follow-up to the spiritual awakening emphasis and call to prayer that has become a part of the past two Annual Meetings (and is a part of the 2014 Annual Meeting emphases), associational pastor/staff prayer retreats and rallies were scheduled with associations from The purpose of these retreats is to pray for, encourage and foster a desire to seek the Lord for revival and spiritual awakening. These gatherings are requested from the field and will continue in Please contact the Office of Prayer for more information on how you can request the retreats and rallies in your association/ church. Regional Prayer Gatherings Over the past year, regional prayer conferences, prayer summits and solemn assembly gatherings were held in partnership with associations and churches across North Carolina. Regional conferences in the fall of 2013 included If My People: A Southwest North Carolina Prayer Conference, Sandy Run Association; and Call to Me, A Northeast Regional Prayer Conference, Chowan Association. Regional conferences in 2014 included Revival God s Way: A Mid-Carolina Prayer Conference, Yadkin Association; Praying for the Nations: Western Carolina Prayer Conference, Carolina Association; and Draw Near: 2014 A North Carolina Foothills Prayer Conference, Catawba River and Catawba Valley Associations Annual Report 27

28 Regional prayer conferences scheduled for the fall of 2014 include Rend the Heavens, A Northeast Prayer Gathering, Chowan Association; Beholding His Glory: The Heart Cry of Christ, North Roanoke Association; Ask of Me: A Kingdom Focused Prayer Gathering, Caldwell Association; and Seek My Face: A Central North Carolina Prayer Gathering, Sandy Creek Association. Kingdom-Focused Prayer Training Throughout the fall of 2013 and spring of 2014, the Office of Prayer partnered with associations and churches to conduct Kingdom-focused strategy sessions, prayer conferences and prayer training weekends. Benefitting from these training sessions were local churches, associations and partnership state/national conventions. The sessions focused on biblical training and the development/implementation of contextually sensitive prayer efforts that mobilize believers to pray more effectively toward the mission of God. Church Planter Prayer Network In partnership with the Convention s Church Planting Team, a prayer network is being developed to mobilize Kingdom prayer for North Carolina church planting efforts. A weekly blast is sent to intercessors who have committed to pray daily for one strategic prayer request. The Office of Prayer also partners with the Church Planting Team to provide resources and Kingdom prayer training for church planters during their Church Planting Basic Training courses. If you or your church would like to receive the weekly and join the church planter prayer network, please contact the Office of Prayer at (800) , ext or praync@ncbaptist.org. Convention Prayer Room/Efforts The onsite prayer room at the Baptist Building in Cary is a place where focused intercession and both personal and group prayer experiences take place. The prayer room is often used by Convention leaders, staff and various association and local church prayer teams/ministries for times of focused prayer. The room is designed so participants may sit, kneel or access Kingdom focused prayer requests online through a computer prayer station. The prayer room is focused on Kingdom prayer efforts, and Jeremiah 33:3 is displayed throughout the room in seven different languages. If your association or local church group is interested in visiting, touring and/or using the room for a season of prayer, please call the Office of Prayer at (800) , ext The Office of Prayer also facilitates a National Day of Prayer gathering at the Baptist Building in Cary, NC each year with the staff praying for revival and awakening in America. Prayer Resources Strategic prayer resources such as Prayerwalking Made Simple, Prayer Prompts for Prayer Groups and Praying Your Friends to Christ booklets, along with the Arise and Awaken Prayer Guides, Awaken Bookmark and various other materials that assist believers in missional prayer and prayer for revival and spiritual awakening are available through the Office of Prayer. Many of these are now available as free resources to assist churches in mobilizing people to pray. Our newest resource, Greater Things, a 30-day prayer guide/devotional is a free item and is available to assist churches as they continue to call and mobilize 28 Baptist State Convention of North Carolina

29 believers to pray toward revival and spiritual awakening that impacts lostness. These prayer resources, free downloadable PowerPoint presentations/training videos and other prayer resources are available at or by calling (800) , ext J. Chris Schofield, director, Office of Prayer for Evangelization & Spiritual Awakening STRATEGIC FOCUS TEAM There has never been a better time to step up our efforts to fulfill the Great Commission of Matthew 28: Literally, the nations of verse 18 have come to our communities and we have only to walk across the street to share the Good News. With an estimated 5.8 million lost people in North Carolina, there has also never been a time of greater need. The Strategic Focus Team is less than 11 months into its first year as a team of the Convention, but the team has been hard at work laying the foundation for an effective ministry of Impacting Lostness Through Disciple-Making. The team focus of 2014 has been on the following five areas: Building relationships by intentionally getting to know the people in the population centers we serve. Seeking to discover where God is already at work in and through the efforts of local ministries. Inviting others to join us in seeing the local communities through the eyes of a missionary. Working to discover and raise the awareness of the unreached people groups God has brought here to live among us. Educating believers regarding the importance of disciple-making as the most effective means to impact lostness by making disciples who make disciples. In accordance with Jesus words in John 4:35, the Strategic Focus Team encourages you to join us in lifting up your eyes to see for yourself that the fields are white for harvest. Many within the Convention have been challenged by the book DiscipleShift by Jim Putman and Bobby Harrington with Robert E. Coleman. The book has been introduced to many pastors and directors of missions (DOMs) and with one-on-one dialogues, which will hopefully turn into action points in the coming months. One avenue is to create learning communities for pastors so they will be able to brainstorm and glean from each other on creating a disciple-making culture within their churches. From the beginning of the year, the word team has been constantly heard and used, from being on the Strategic Focus Team, to a part of the Convention team, to being part of the team of all the Baptist churches across North Carolina. It will take all North Carolina Baptists working together on God s team to make a God-sized impact in the lostness of North Carolina. That impact will only take place as biblical disciplemaking cultures are created within the churches. The Strategic Focus Team is led by Russ Conley and includes the following consultants: Blue Ridge Stephen Harris; Unifour Larry Phillips; Charlotte Patrick Fuller; Triad Michael Sowers; RTP Cris 2014 Annual Report 29

30 Alley; Fayetteville Michael Boarts; and Greenville Chuck Campbell. Kathy Bennett provides administrative support from the offices in Cary. For more information regarding the work in any of these population centers, please feel free to contact the assigned strategy coordinator for that area or Kathy Bennett at Blue Ridge (Asheville population center) God is at work across the Blue Ridge. The Strategic Focus Team work collaboratively with other convention staff to assist churches to fulfill their divinely appointed mission. A first priority is to develop and maintain a strong prayer presence in which the Blue Ridge region is bathed and saturated in prayer. The prayer team here is strong with multiple prayer movements, some of which have over 300 intercessors. Key to the strategy is tapping into that prayer power by feeding requests that are strategic to impacting lostness through disciple-making. One of the prayer team members organized an area wide prayer walk in the summer with scores of participants fanning out all over the communities of Buncombe County. Every week there has been the opportunity to share the gospel with people in the network of relationships and homeless veterans at the Veterans Restoration Quarters. The result has been a harvest of lost souls coming to Christ and the opportunity to personally disciple several men at a time. In the Blue Ridge region there are some high- impact churches that have responded to the challenge to develop a disciple-making culture that permeates every part of their church. In addition, they have added a foundational level of personal evangelism and discipleship training that has resulted in many mentoring/ coaching relationships coming together for the express purpose of following Christ and fishing for men. One church now has 16 teams meeting every week. One of the disciples is a man who recently got out of prison. When he learned how to write and share his testimony, he went back to the prison where he was an inmate and shared his testimony with over 40 inmates. Church planting is a huge part of impacting lostness through disciplemaking because new churches can reach segments of the population that established churches are not able to reach. There have been several new churches started recently. These church planters are committed to starting their churches with the foundational ministry of personal evangelism and discipleship. The new strategy for collegiate ministry is fostering a disciple-making presence on college campuses that have never before had a presence of ministry from the Convention. In addition to the work at UNC-Asheville, churches are adopting and developing strategies on four additional campuses in the Blue Ridge area. It is incredibly rewarding to be working together with DOMs, Jonathan Yarboro, western region collegiate partnerships consultant, and church leaders to develop strategies for reaching these campuses with a T4T ( Training for Trainers ) approach of building missional communities in which local churches are accepting the responsibility for discipling college students. The Blue Ridge area is filled with social 30 Baptist State Convention of North Carolina

31 ministries to carry out a Matthew 25 ministry of compassion for the poor. What is often missing is the spiritual formation because it is much easier to hand out clothes and food and practical help than it is to preach the gospel to the poor, which Jesus said He came to do. The focus has been helping social ministries not only put a new suit on the man, but to put a new man in the suit! Part of the strategy is working with the leaders of several social ministries to develop a sensitive, respectful but intentional plan to engage their clients with the good news of the gospel and to follow up with discipling opportunities. Currently there are personal evangelism and discipleship trainings and Bible studies established in three different locations of social ministry in the Asheville area. By identifying unreached people groups in need of the gospel, it has been discovered that there are over 18,000 Latinos with very little evangelical presence. In cooperation with language specialists, there are several new works now established among Latinos. There are more than 6,000 Slavs in the Blue Ridge area. The Church Planting Team and the Buncombe Baptist Association have a strong working relationship with a Romanian and Moldovan congregation. A new couple from Korea began worshipping with a local church and formed a deep connection, and they now have a desire to start a new work among the Korean population in Asheville. Coastal (Wilmington population center) As the Strategic Focus Team looks forward to adding a team member at the appropriate time for the Coastal Region, you are encouraged to continue in your prayers for the associations and churches in this part of the state as they continue their ministries to impact lostness through disciple-making. Fayetteville Area The key to North Carolina Baptists impacting lostness through disciplemaking is the power of God through a spiritual awakening, but there needs to be brokenness over sin and lostness for spiritual awakening to come. A call to prayer, corporately and individually, is happening. This is the focus of many of the conversations that have been between DOMs, pastors and the Strategic Focus Team in Fayetteville and the surrounding area. In the greater Fayetteville area, additional conversations are taking place regarding a movement back to biblical disciple-making that will look different in each area. In existing churches, pastors have to personally lead in building disciple-making relationships. Baptists as individuals, couples and families will need to build disciple-making relationships with their neighbors and others God brings across their path. An additional conversation for the Fayetteville area will be to discover what a disciple-making church will need to be to impact lostness in Fayetteville and beyond. As long as the churches are reproducing disciples of Jesus Christ, they can be very different. The various paths to be a disciple-making church can include the following: Continue on their current path. To be strengthened. Change to be in alignment with God s path. Be conventional church plants. Be unconventional church plants. Be missional communities. The bottom line for North Carolina 2014 Annual Report 31

32 Baptists to impact lostness through disciple-making will be for each church member to begin the process of making disciples who make disciples of Jesus Christ. Greenville Area The Greenville population center is unlike any other in the state, which is a blessing and an opportunity. It is a blessing because it is mostly contained in one association. This yields itself to a high degree of unity due to the organized efforts of the association. The South Roanoke Baptist Association (SRBA) has been proactive in striving toward the goal of impacting lostness for many years. They have formed several associational teams that are actively working together to achieve this goal. Recently, in partnership with the Collegiate Partnerships Team, local churches worked together to provide training and an ongoing open forum to help involve churches in reaching college students at community colleges and universities for the Kingdom of God. The SRBA leadership team has also set a goal to see 50 percent of SRBA churches engage an unreached people group at some level by Yet, there are many opportunities and there is much work to be done. One of the identified pockets of lostness identifies 74.5 percent of that population as being unreached in the Greenville area. These are locations where few active evangelicals are currently working. It is a highly unevangelized location, which shows a great need for new ministries and new congregations. There are also many opportunities due to the smaller percentage of churches compared to most cities in North Carolina. This calls for even greater collaboration, cooperation and prayer as churches work together to impact lostness through disciple-making not only through growing the local church but also through providing the catalyst of cultural change in creating a lifestyle of disciple-making. Metro Charlotte God is moving mountains in the Metro Charlotte population center of North Carolina. Metro Charlotte is the 17th largest city in the United States with growth that is exploding in several areas of the population center. The Strategic Focus Team is working diligently to assist churches, associations, networks and other partners to engage these growth segments through intentional relationships that are strategically focused on disciple-making. One great example of this is seen in the life of Kenneth Robinson. Kenneth is a church planter that God brought to Charlotte in a unique way. He had a burden for college students and young adults. Kenneth began a Bible study that later became one of our cooperating Baptist churches on the campus of Johnson & Whales University. Each week, Kenneth is leading the way in Charlotte and beyond through a disciple-making movement. He is seeing miracles happen and disciples made for the glory of God. This effort is multiplying, and Kenneth is now considered a gatekeeper in Charlotte among the African-American community. Gatekeepers are people more than eager to introduce believers to their beloved communities; introductions that often open the door for gospelcentered relationships. This is just one great example of how God is working and moving in the Charlotte Population Center. 32 Baptist State Convention of North Carolina

33 Triad Area The Triad of North Carolina is home to nearly 1.4 million people. More than 382 North Carolina Baptist churches dot the landscape of this same area. However, while the churchto-population ratio is high compared to most places in the United States, the percentage of people without a relationship with Christ is alarming and growing. The Triad also is becoming home to an increasing number of people born outside the United States and who are bringing their religion with them. The challenges in the Triad are great; however, together churches, associations and Convention staff are beginning to work together to do Greater Things. This year the focus in the Triad has been upon the nine areas of high concentration of lostness where 71 percent and higher of the population is without a relationship with Jesus Christ. An additional focus is on the newly discovered 12 potential points of engagement where high concentrations of people who are foreign-born are living. This prioritization is critical as the new strategy is developed in the Triad to impact lostness through disciple-making. This year, working with the staff of the Convention, the strategist has focused on church multiplication training and networking to equip those churches that have a desire to engage in these high priority areas. In addition, people are gathering in groups to pray specifically for these areas and for God to prepare the soil and the hearts of those living in the areas. In order to impact lostness through disciple-making in the Triad, it is going to take many others from across the state. The team in the Triad is utilizing vision tours to help churches get a handle on where they can get engaged to connect. The spiritual state of North Carolina is not good, but together we can impact lostness through disciple-making. Join the team in the Triad to help bring the good news to those who desperately need it. Triangle Area (Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill) The Convention continues its effort to create greater awareness through mapping lostness. Mapping lostness involves teams of believers fanning out around the Triangle looking for ethnic restaurants, businesses, places of worship and neighborhoods. Mapping in the Triangle has uncovered 159,000 unreached households speaking hundreds of different languages. These teams often find gatekeepers, people more than eager to introduce believers to their beloved communities; introductions that often open the door for gospel-centered relationships. One such gatekeeper, a Buddhist monk, invited a team to tour his monastery and temple. Impressed by the friendly encounter, this monk offered introductions to people in restaurants and neighborhoods throughout the entire Raleigh-Durham area. Sometimes teams find persons of peace, individuals open to gospel witness. Another team received an invitation to attend a local mosque and observe their time of prayer. After the students kindly declined the offer to participate in prayer, their Muslim friend later asked why. This opened the door to share the gospel, a door that remains open to this day. Jesus wants to give his followers a 2014 Annual Report 33

34 greater awareness of lostness in their neighborhoods. Greater awareness often leads to greater disciple-making. One young family at Imago Dei church decided to move into an apartment complex filled with Nepali families. This young family discovered an Afghani family living there. The two families had one thing in common: they both felt out of place. The Imago Dei family takes every opportunity to demonstrate the love of Christ helping the Afghani family navigate the daily challenges of American life from making doctor appointments to knowing how to pay bills and understand American culture. This friendship has led to many significant opportunities to share the gospel. Another family, Walt and Katie, also took the opportunity to engage in disciple-making. They moved from Florida and God opened their eyes to see the Asian Indians living in the Raleigh-Durham area. Walt uses his MIT engineering degree to work in the Research Triangle building relationships at work and in his neighborhood. He and Katie work with great intentionality to disciple new believers and train leaders who will disciple and train others. Their efforts range from reading the Bible with Muslim seekers in public restaurants, to discipling dozens of new believers in their home, to training leaders via Skype across the Triangle and around the world. Yet, Walt and Katie realize with many others that greater disciple-making requires greater church multiplication. The New Testament church went about fulfilling the Great Commission by planting churches that multiplied disciples. Impacting lostness will require new and existing churches catalyzing church multiplication. At the rate of one a day, it would take one person 381 years to witness to the 159,000 unreached households in the Triangle. But one church that trained multiplying disciples every six months could accomplish the task in eight and a half years. And believers need the church. Sheep without a shepherd are lost. Sheep without a flock are lunch. We need greater church multiplication to make disciples among those new neighbors that are coming to the Research Triangle. Unifour (Hickory) Since January 2014, strategic relationships among many of the churches and associations within the Unifour area have been developed. It has been a blessing and challenge to see and feel God s presence among His peoples. South Fork Baptist Association in Lincolnton, as well as Woodlawn Baptist Church in Conover, serve as models for impacting lostness through disciple-making. In May 2013, four churches in the South Fork Baptist Association came together with a burden to begin a three to five year partnership in Coalwood, W.Va., with the goal of starting a new church. Since that time, the number of partnering churches has risen to 15 (including two from outside of the SFBA). The effort initially involved weekend teams canvassing the area and offering outreach events at which they could share the gospel on Saturdays, as well as inviting the unchurched people back for Bible study and worship on Sunday mornings. Now, teams are focusing more on building relationships for disciplemaking through one-on-one evangelism and discipleship. A house has been rented in town and dubbed the 34 Baptist State Convention of North Carolina

35 Mission House. It is being utilized as housing for rotating mission teams and also served as a winter residence for a mission volunteer couple who served as boots on the ground, conducting Bible studies and worship services throughout the icy months of January, February and March. The testimonies of team leaders have echoed the sentiment that this mission/discipleship venture has been a win win proposition: on one hand, disciples are making disciples; On the other, mission team members are becoming more intentional in reaching their communities for Christ. Woodlawn Baptist Church of Conover is engaged in a church planting strategy, which will plant four churches in four quadrants in Catawba County. The first church plant will be in the northeast quadrant of the county. The church will begin by sending individuals and teams to prayer walk the area. Next, they will conduct backyard Bible schools in various neighborhoods in the quadrant. Then, Life Groups will be established for weekly Bible study in selected neighborhoods. The mission church will be comprised of those attending the neighborhood life groups, along with a core group from Woodlawn and perhaps other partnering churches. Doing Greater Things is impacting lostness through disciple-making. FRUITLAND BAPTIST BIBLE COLLEGE Jesus gave a simple and effective plan for reaching lost people in Matthew 28: The Great Commission gave the means and the method for reaching the world. Jesus began the Great Commission by saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth Go you therefore, and teach all nations, (28:18-19). The first verse of the Great Commission makes the work of the Church unique. Christians are instructed to go and make disciples in the power of Christ. The work of the Church is unique because the Church accomplishes her work through the power of Christ while other organizations, institutions, civilizations and kingdoms work in the power of man. Because of the power of God, Christians are people who do great things for God. In the book of John, Jesus said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father (John 14:12). Because of their belief in God, believers are able to do greater works for God. Impacting the lost through disciple-making is the greater work God has empowered His people to accomplish. As seen in the Great Commission, the means for achieving the work of God is the power of Christ. The method for impacting the world is discipleship. After Jesus revealed the source of our power in Matthew 28:18, He instructed His servants to disciple all nations by baptizing them and teaching them to follow His commandments. Jesus said, Go you therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen, (Matt. 28:19). Discipleship in the power of God is the way the Church will impact the lost community around them Annual Report 35

36 The Convention is specifically focused on doing the great work of God by impacting the lost world through making disciples. The work of North Carolina Baptists is unique because Baptists work in the power of God and not in the power of the flesh. The work of the Baptists of North Carolina is a testimony of the unique power of God to the lost world. Disciples who are taught to follow the commandments of Jesus will have the greatest impact on lost people. Fruitland Baptist Bible College (Fruitland) is blessed to have the opportunity to serve hundreds of churches and thousands of people as part of the Convention by teaching people to disciple others in the power of God. Fruitland is an institution seeking to do greater things by impacting the lost through discipleship in North Carolina and around the world. The administration, faculty and staff at Fruitland are devoted to making disciples of students by giving them a biblical foundation for a Christian worldview. This foundation prepares students to disciple others. Discipleship and disciple-making based on a Christian worldview are radically different from discipleship based on other religious or secular worldviews. The difference is simple and profound. Other world religions and secular humanism teach people to serve in the power of humanity. The discipleship ministry of the biblical Christian is accomplished through the power of God. The life of the Christian glorifies God by doing greater works through the power of God, while the life of those who serve in the power of man glorifies man. Fruitland is owned and operated by the Convention and is dedicated to helping those who are called of God to become workmen that need not to be ashamed. Both in the classroom and in the total experience of preparation for ministry, Fruitland seeks the spiritual development of its students. The main campus is located in Hendersonville, with satellite locations in Wilkesboro, Rocky Mount and Monroe. Fruitland Baptist Bible College seeks to impart a growing knowledge based on the Bible that will equip the student for ministry. Biblical studies are foundational in the program at Fruitland. Focus on the practical without a biblical foundation is, in reality, impractical. A special effort is made to relate the total biblical preparation to the practical concerns of life and ministry. Fruitland works to fulfill these goals through an atmosphere of devotion and worship on the campus. The graduates of Fruitland are its greatest asset and testimony. They are faithfully serving our Lord in various places and positions and do so with the passionate understanding that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ (Phi.1:6). Fruitland s devotion to spiritual and scriptural development of students is reflected in the life and ministry of our former vice president of development, Dr. J. D. Grant. Dr. Grant is an alumnus of the school as well as a professor. He has taught the discipleship class at Fruitland for many years. His emphasis on discipleship has impacted the lives of countless students in immeasurable ways. Dr. Grant retired from the vice president of development position on May 31, 2014, but will continue to 36 Baptist State Convention of North Carolina

37 teach the discipleship courses along with other classes. Dr. Grant has played a significant role in impacting lostness throughout North Carolina through his tireless work in making disciples on the campus of Fruitland. As Fruitland moves boldly into the 21st century, David Horton, president of Fruitland Baptist Bible College, is devoted to impacting the lost world through discipleship. President Horton has a great passion to accomplish the great work of God by teaching others to make disciples. During the last half of the 20th century, God used Fruitland to train many Christian leaders and pastors who serve Jesus around the world. In the 21st century, many opportunities for ministry are available to those God is calling to do greater works for Him. In recent years, God has sent many young men and women to Fruitland Baptist Bible College for the purpose of preparing them to lead in ministry areas such as senior pastor, associate pastor, youth ministry, women s ministries, children s ministries, missions and ministry in many Christian organizations around the country and the world. God is also sending others to Fruitland who are policemen, businessmen, nurses, schoolteachers as well as other professions and vocations. These students are coming to Fruitland because the school has a reputation of teaching the Bible and helping train students to understand the difference between a biblical view of the world and a secular view of the world. Many young students are coming to Fruitland who desire to make disciples in secular professional and vocational positions as a godly servant just like Joseph, Esther and Daniel. Joseph, Esther and Daniel lived godly lives in the middle of a pagan society without compromise. God is calling many young men and women who have this desire to serve God faithfully. These young men and women are seeking a school to provide them with a Christian worldview based on the Scriptures. They want to impact the lost by making disciples wherever God places them. These students work in vocational ministry as well as various secular vocations and professions. They desire to let their light shine so the world will see their good works and glorify the God who produced the good works. In the effort to educate Christian leaders for the 21st century who are equipped to make disciples and have an influence on lost people, Fruitland Baptist Bible College offers an associate s degree in religion along with a certificate program for English and Hispanic students. In the associate of religion degree, students may earn an associate of religion/christian ministries degree, an associate of religion/christian worldview degree, or an associate of religion/church planting degree. These programs are designed on the foundation of the Bible. These areas of study teach students the importance of sound biblical exposition in the context of making disciples in Church ministry or serving God in the secular world. For more than 15 years, Fruitland has offered students the associate of religion/christian ministries degree. The associate of religion/christian ministries degree is designed to help those who are called of God to become workmen that need not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of Truth (2 Timothy 2:15). Fruitland is dedicated to serving the needs of 2014 Annual Report 37

38 students without regard to previous academic preparation. The goal is to provide Christian education at an entry level and move the student forward spiritually, intellectually and practically. Both in the classroom and in the total experience of preparation for ministry, Fruitland seeks the spiritual development of its students. Fruitland also seeks to impart a growing knowledge based on the Bible that will equip the student for ministry and for any further study that may be in God s will. A special effort is made to relate the total preparation to the practical concerns of life and ministry. The associate of religion/christian ministries degree prepares students who are interested in missions, children s ministries, youth ministries and pastoral ministries. Fruitland also offers the Associate of Religion/Christian Worldview degree. The Associate of Religion/Christian Worldview degree is designed to prepare students to make disciples in a world of syncretism and pluralism, which is often hostile and unfriendly to the gospel found in the Bible. The degree prepares students to defend the exclusive gospel of Christ in the diverse religious context of the world by teaching them the foundational truths of the Bible in contrast to the foundational truths found in nonbiblical worldviews. The degree seeks to glorify God, serve the local church and fulfill the Great Commission by developing Christian leaders who think biblically, communicate the gospel effectively and serve in Christ s Kingdom with godly character, competence and commitment. The degree requires 115 quarter-hours of core classes consisting of Bible, language/communication, and Christian service classes along with 10 quarterhours of study in the area of Christian worldview. Students who are not seeking a degree can earn a Christian Worldview Certificate by completing the 10 quarter-hours of Christian Worldview classes. Alongside of these degrees, Fruitland offers an Associate of Religion/ Church Planting degree. This degree prepares students to fulfill the Great Commission by making disciples through planting new churches for the purpose of growing the body of Christ spiritually and numerically. The program prepares students to plant churches that make new disciples and, as a result of the biblical example of church planting, produce healthy growth and revival in existing churches. The degree seeks to glorify God, serve the local church and fulfill the Great Commission by developing Christian leaders who think biblically, communicate the gospel effectively and serve in Christ s Kingdom with godly character, competence and commitment by planting churches at home and around the world. This degree also requires 115 quarter-hours of core classes consisting of Bible, language/communication, and Christian service classes along with 10 hours of study in the area of Church Planting. Students who are not seeking a degree can earn a Church Planting Certificate by completing the 10 quarter-hours of church planting courses. In an effort to educate Christian leaders to impact the lost world by making disciples in the 21st century, each degree program at Fruitland Baptist Bible College requires study in three fundamental areas. The first and foundational component in the core curriculum at Fruitland is biblical studies. The second part of the 38 Baptist State Convention of North Carolina

39 curriculum at Fruitland is language/ communication and the third area is Christian ministry/service. The areas of language/communication and Christian service are placed on the foundation of biblical studies. Biblical studies and biblical exposition are foundational in the course offerings at Fruitland. The scope and sequence for each degree program as well as an overview of the courses included therein may be found at Teaching students the core principles of biblical exposition and exegesis is a fundamental objective at Fruitland. The apostle Paul said, Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that need not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth (2 Tim. 2:15). The teaching of the Bible is the foundation for true Christian leadership. Learning to expound the Scriptures is fundamental in leading a church, church planting or in living a Christian worldview in the professional and vocational world. The priests in Israel not only needed to know the Bible, but a foundational knowledge of the Bible was imperative for Daniel in Babylon, Joseph in Egypt and Esther in Persia. Once the proper biblical foundation is constructed, students must learn the fundamental skills for communicating the truth to others. Effective communication skills are important in teaching others to make disciples. In order to produce good communication skills for Christian service in all walks of life, Fruitland requires students to take language/communication courses the entire two years they attend the school. Classes in composition, research and English are a mandatory part of every quarter. This fundamental devotion to language produces students who are clear and concise thinkers, writers and communicators. These classes give students the skills needed to properly communicate with others as they serve God and humanity as servant leaders who have the mind of Christ. Students are also required to complete one year of homiletics classes along with the two years of English. The courses in homiletics are designed to help students understand the primary importance of biblical exposition and practice it in ministry. God has called His people to communicate His Word. Learning to clearly teach the truths of Scripture is imperative for those who desire to live the life of a servant leader like Jesus. Teaching the Bible is the foundational component in a ministry that demonstrates the desire to shine for the gospel. The professors at Fruitland who teach the homiletics courses are seasoned practitioners who serve in the local church and have a strong reputation in biblical exposition as well as pastoral leadership. Clear communication is a necessary component in vocational ministry as well as in Christian service in the secular professional arena or in secular vocations. In order to properly disciple others, Christians must devote themselves to teaching people from the Scriptures about the work of Christ on the cross, His resurrection, the forgiveness of sins and repentance. Christian leaders are found in a diversity of ministries such as pastor, associate pastor, youth ministry, children s ministry, missionary and other ministries. Other Christian leaders work every day in the secular world in various professions and vocations. While Christian leaders who have graduated from Fruitland are involved in many different ministry 2014 Annual Report 39

40 vocations, one element is universal and essential to their ministry of discipleship. The universal element in their work of discipleship is teaching the Scriptures just as Jesus did. Producing disciple-makers with the desire to do greater works for Christ is a third important component in the core curriculum required for all degree programs at Fruitland Baptist Bible College. The first and foundational component in the degree programs at Fruitland is to teach men and women the Word of God. Based on the fundamental foundation of biblical studies is language/communication, the second part of the core curriculum at Fruitland. Christian service is a third part of the core curriculum at Fruitland, which is also based on the foundation of biblical studies is ministry/service. While some leaders suggest a false dichotomy between the practical and the biblical/theological, the professors and administration at Fruitland believe the gospel found in the pages of the Bible is the practical foundation for the practice of ministry. The Word of God is practical and the only foundation for true practice in ministry and Christian service. Fruitland does not see the Bible/theology as in opposition to the practice of Christian ministry and service. When the people of God study the Word of God, they gain a fundamental understanding of the character of God. God sent his Son to die on the cross and rise again in order to produce the miracle of salvation in the lives of His people. God asks his people to present themselves a living sacrifice just like Jesus did. Christians are to live and minister with the mind of Christ (Romans 12:1-3; Philippians 2:1-6). In other words, theology and biblical studies are practical and a necessary part of the work of Christian ministry/service. With this foundation in the Word of God, Fruitland offers a curriculum designed to produce Christian servants and leaders who demonstrate the character of Jesus Christ in their lives. Students are introduced to classes in evangelism and discipleship during their first year at Fruitland in order to build a foundation for ministry in the local church for Christian service in secular vocations. The classes in evangelism and discipleship help students learn to present the gospel to others around the world and disciple those who accept Christ as their savior to love and follow the commandments of Christ. As a part of the ministry service component, students are also required to take classes in Christian education, counseling, administration, leadership, clinical pastoral education, pastoral education and supervised ministry as part of the core curriculum (Matthew 28:18-29). Fruitland Baptist Bible College is anticipating an exciting future. In 2013, Fruitland started a satellite campus in Rocky Mount, which offers a Christian Training Certificate. This certificate consists of 36 quarter hours in the areas of: New Testament survey, spiritual life and study skills, English grammar and composition, Old Testament survey, doctrine and revelation, Old Testament survey, homiletics, evangelism and discipleship, church history and world religions, introduction to Christian education, apologetics, pastoral ministries and church leadership, church leadership for health and growth, introduction to missions/ church planting /church growth and 40 Baptist State Convention of North Carolina

41 interpersonal relationships and team building. Dr. Bill Mackey is the director of the program at Rocky Mount. Fruitland also offers a Christian Leadership Certificate and a Diploma of Christian Ministries for Hispanic students. Robert Fernandez is the director of the Hispanic Program at Fruitland. The certificate program consists of 32 quarter hours in the following: Old Testament survey, New Testament survey, theology, discipleship, principles of Christian finance, evangelism, Christian ethics, Christian education and missions. The Diploma of Christian Ministry requires students to complete 32 additional hours beyond the 32 hours in the Christian Leadership Certificate. The classes required for the diploma are: Old Testament, New Testament, hermeneutics, preaching/ homiletics, church history, pastoral ministries, pastoral counseling and church planting. The Hispanic program is offered on the main campus in Hendersonville as well as satellite campuses in Wilmington, Statesville and Sylva. For more information about Fruitland Baptist Bible College, please visit David Horton, president Lee Pigg, president, Board of Directors CONVENTION AUXILIARY ORTH CAROLINA BAPTIST MEN N The goal of North Carolina Baptist Men (NCBM) is to help North Carolina Baptist churches involve their members (men, women and students) in missions. This past year has been a very busy and meaningful year as volunteers have used their God-given talents to touch many lives in Jesus name. For many volunteers, missions has been the spark which awakened them. Even more important, for many people who were helped by these volunteers, Christ s love for them was the means that led them to the good news of Christ and to new life in Christ. If you want to do missions, there is a place for you in one of the many ministries, projects and partnerships listed below. North Carolina Baptist Men and Women volunteers serve in 17 ministries that include the following: State/National/International Mission Projects God is changing lives through mission trips sponsored by NCBM to places such as Pennsylvania, Hawaii, Vermont, Rocky Mountain Region, Appalachian Coalfields, Guatemala, Honduras, Kenya, Armenia, Romania, Hungary, India Cuba and other places. Disaster Relief God has blessed us with excellent disaster relief equipment and volunteers. North Carolina Baptists have five large disaster feeding units. The two largest units are capable of preparing and serving 30,000+ meals per day. We now have more than 280 disaster recovery trailers (owned by local churches and associations) that are used to do clean up and repair work after a disaster. We also have six large shower units, three laundry units, a childcare unit, several large recovery units, a water purification unit and other disaster relief equipment. Medical/Dental Missions NCBM offer the use of the mobile medical/dental units to Baptist and non-baptist churches and service organizations within North Carolina who wish to reach out to people in need Annual Report 41

42 Approximately 4,000 people are seen on the two mobile units every year. Patients targeted through this ministry include the impoverished, Hispanic and other ethnic groups, migrant workers, fair workers, the homeless, the elderly and more. Student Missions Deep Impact and Transform122 (Collegiate Missions) help North Carolina Baptist churches develop a comprehensive coed youth missions strategy to produce committed followers of Christ. This strategy includes pre-packaged mission weeks, free online mission studies, weekend mission retreats, hands-on mission training and much more. Almost 2,000 students are involved in Deep Impact every summer. Other Ministries In addition to the ministries described above, other ministries of NCBM that are designed to equip, motivate and mobilize men and women to be involved in missions are: Agriculture Missions, Aviation Ministry, Baptist Builders, Baptist Educators, Family Foundations, College Missions, Church Renewal, Prayer Support, Sports and Recreation and Student Missions Mobilization. Missions Conference The annual missions conference, sponsored by NCBM, includes music, testimonies, speakers, break out conferences, mission fair exhibits, volunteer suppers and much more. The desired end result is for participants to be inspired to become involved in missions all around the world. Close to 2,000 people attend this conference every year. Regional Rallies & NC Mission Celebrations Each spring and fall, NCBM sponsors regional rallies in all 10 regions of our state. These meetings are designed to challenge North Carolina Baptists across the state to greater missions involvement and to promote the September North Carolina Missions Offering. The rallies are open for all men, women and youth interested in missions. Camp Caraway During the weeks of summer camp for boys ages 9-16, every activity, whether recreational or a worship service, is used to teach and equip young men with biblical truths. The importance of missions every day in a Christ-follower s life is emphasized. We also offer co-ed children camps, father/son, father/ daughter and mother/son camps. Baptists on Mission Magazine This publication is mailed twice each year to all church missions leadership on each level, mission volunteers, all NCBM ministry groups, youth directors, ministers of education and pastors. Information is provided through this magazine to promote upcoming mission projects/events and to report on recently completed projects. Mission Camps Every year an average of 5,000 volunteers respond to needs through the Mission Camps in Red Springs and Shelby. These Mission Camps are a great way to get your church involved in life-changing mission projects at a very affordable price. Men s Ministries/Royal Ambassadors/ Challengers NCBM is leading local Baptist churches in developing a well-rounded ministry that challenges people to grow in their 42 Baptist State Convention of North Carolina

43 walk with Christ, share their faith with others, find their place of service in the local church and be on-mission with God. Leadership training is a focal point in assisting churches in this area. A high priority of NCBM is to help youth and young people across our state become involved in missions. Royal Ambassadors and Challengers programs continue to seek to grow and develop new and innovative ways of reaching young people. Staff The NCBM staff is committed to helping North Carolina Baptist churches involve their members in missions. Your NCBM staff are: Richard Brunson, executive directortreasurer; Mark Abernathy, consultant for men s ministry and adults; Tom Beam, consultant for student missions mobilization; Gaylon Moss, consultant for disaster relief and volunteerism; Mark Moore, RA and summer camp director; David and Janet Brown, mission camps coordinators in Shelby; Larry and Teresa Osborne, mission camp coordinators in Red Springs; Mary Mountz, disaster relief assistant; Fatima Roma, international mission projects assistant; Lynn Tharrington, administrative assistant; Kecia Morgan, financial assistant; Joanne Honeycutt, medical/dental bus coordinator; Mary Alice Landis, events assistant; Jim Burchette, special projects coordinator and Teresa Jones, Roma Partnership coordinator. NC Baptist Men/Baptists On Mission Auxiliary to the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina PO Box 1107, Cary, NC , ext Special Committees of the Board of Directors CHRISTIAN HIGHER EDUCATION SPECIAL COMMITTEE For many years North Carolina Baptists have recognized the importance of a Christian, higher education for each generation s youth. This fact is even more important today with the many challenges that our society and world faces. The Christian Higher Education Special Committee functions as that connection between North Carolina Baptists, the Convention and its affiliated educational institutions: Campbell University, Chowan University, Gardner-Webb University, Mars Hill University, and Wingate University. The committee advocates for the Convention s Baptist Scholarship Program for undergraduates attending one of the affiliated institutions, and discovers ways that these institutions can assist or partner with churches in the fulfillment of the congregation s mission. Impressive things are happening at each of the five affiliated universities, and the committee gives God the glory for the many new ways that the students, faculty, and staff of these institutions are discovering to serve our Lord Jesus Christ. At Campbell University, as a result of a recent gift, a new Church Music program has been launched. Also, the School of Medicine, in partnership with the NC Baptist Men, went on its first medical mission trip to Honduras. Eight hundred other students participated in Operation Inasmuch. Some other exciting news is that the Trustees approved a new School of Engineering which will open with its 2014 Annual Report 43

44 first class in The committee also applauds Dr. Jerry Wallace for his many years of service, wisdom, and guidance at Campbell. Dr. Wallace has announced his retirement from the presidency after 45 years of service at Campbell, 12 of those as president. He will assume the role of Chancellor in Chowan University announced that it has just recently graduated the largest class (182) since returning to a four-year status. In addition, the school continues its important mission efforts as students took a mission trip to El Salvador during spring break, and the school announced that they had received an additional $40,000 gift to the Chowan Christian Service Association. The goal of this group is to eliminate the necessity of fund raising for student mission trips. Gardner-Webb University launched, in the fall of 2014, a new Doctor of Education degree in Organizational Leadership. The school is also exploring another degree combination: a Bachelor of Arts-Master of Divinity degree. This degree could be completed in five years instead of the usual seven years for both degrees. Gardner-Webb continues to take strong leadership in the active work of mission and ministry. Sixty students, faculty and staff recently participated in five mission trips, and Gardner-Webb was featured on the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association s website for showing the film The Cross on campus. Mars Hill University, in its effort to address the relevant issues of education in North Carolina, invited both June Atkinson (North Carolina state superintendent of public instruction) and former Governor James B. Hunt to speak on campus. The University continues to grow and offer new majors. A new building will support the new Nursing degree building to be completed in 2016, and also, a new building is to be built on Main Street for the improved support of the Business Department. Mission ministry continues to be important to the life of the University. Over spring break, three student mission trips to Haiti, Miami and Charleston, S. C., took place. Also, the Student Government Association partnered with Buffalo Wild Wings in the restoration and presentation of a piano to the Geriatric Behavioral Health Unit of Mission Hospital. Dr. McGee, president of Wingate University for 23 years, has announced his retirement. The committee acknowledges his guidance of that institution, leading it to develop many areas of growth and service. In fact, the university graduated a record 622 students in May 2014.Wingate has also become known for its many medical education opportunities. The School of Nursing recently graduated its first class and the Physician Assistants School just finished licensing its students with 100 percent passing the National Licensing Exam. Also, Wingate launched a new Doctor of Physical Therapy Program in January of this year. In the area of education: both the 2014 North Carolina Teacher of the Year and Principal of the Year are Wingate graduates. The Committee is pleased to announce the receipt of more than 600 scholarships to students attending the affiliated educational institutions. A part of your congregation s Cooperative Program gifts go to help your students 44 Baptist State Convention of North Carolina

45 achieve a Christian higher education. These scholarships are made possible by your church, and are awarded annually to full-time undergraduate students who are members of a church affiliated with the Convention and attending one of the five affiliated schools. For the academic year these Baptist Scholarships were awarded totaling more than $600,000. These scholarships must be applied for each year, and interested students can apply at scholarships. The Committee is also pleased to announce that for the second year a student from Fruitland Baptist Bible College has been selected to receive the Fruitland Baptist Bible College Scholarship. This scholarship will be for the academic year, and go to assist the graduating student continue their education at one of the educational institutions affiliated with the Convention. A maximum of two students at each participating affiliated institution would be eligible for the scholarship. Our Committee appreciates the support of North Carolina Baptists for Christian higher education and we thank you for making it possible, via your congregation s Cooperative Program gifts, for our affiliated institutions to graduate students with a Christian worldview. This will become increasingly important as we continue to face the challenges of the day in which we live. Gordon N. Benton, chair CHRISTIAN LIFE AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS SPECIAL COMMITTEE The Christian Life and Public Affairs Special Committee has been striving to keep North Carolina Baptists informed about various important issues that affect the social, cultural and religious environment of the state of North Carolina. One issue that remains on the forefront of cultural life and debate in America and North Carolina today is the issue of homosexuality in general and same-sex marriage in particular. Oklahoma s marriage amendment and that of several other states has been struck down recently and the fate of North Carolina s own hard fought marriage amendment hangs in the balance. Coming to the forefront of our committee s deliberations was how these issues specifically affect our churches. Using several resources, we have studied the legal and practical ramifications of homosexuality and same-sex marriage on church policies in such areas as wedding policies, facility use and sponsorship of outside organizations such as the Boy Scouts. The committee is developing a resource to distribute to associational offices and other outlets to assist churches that are asking for help in these areas. The committee continues to look into ways that our Convention can assist the Christian Action League of North Carolina (CAL). This organization has a long history in North Carolina at the forefront of issues dear to the heart of North Carolina Baptists, such as gambling, substance and alcohol abuse, the sanctity of life and religious freedom. The Convention has enjoyed a close relationship with CAL. Mark Creech, CAL executive director, has continued to be an effective force in working with our legislators to be informed about how various pieces of legislation will impact the social, 2014 Annual Report 45

46 cultural and religious environment of our state. It is absolutely essential to the continued success and impact of this organization that North Carolina Baptists be informed about its work and how churches, individuals, businesses and the Convention itself, can contribute financially and spiritually to its continued influence in our state. CAL needs the continued fervent prayers of the Baptist Churches across our state and for leaders and pastors to become knowledgeable and passionate about supporting its work. Please add CAL to your considerations when planning your church budgets. For more information, please visit The committee has examined the difficult issue of immigration. Current immigration laws present a huge challenge to individuals and churches in our state and nation today. The headlines of our newspapers present a confusing picture with legal, criminal, humanitarian and economic implications for our society. This issue specifically impacts our churches as we seek to make disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ among every cultural and ethnic group that has a presence in our state. Most important in our considerations is to find an appropriate biblical response. Specifically, our churches are looking for answers to how to approach persons who have come to our shores both legally and illegally with integrity and love. How does this impact our churches outreach to those who need a Savior? This issue will require much more in-depth research to enable our committee to speak with knowledge and effectiveness to our churches. The Christian Life and Public Affairs Committee is prioritizing its work through a prism that sees the culture of our country and our state increasingly secularized and, in some cases, even hostile to a Christian worldview. If we are, as some have suggested, becoming a post-christian country, how can we as North Carolina Baptists continue to be a voice to a lost world that is still in desperate need of hearing the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ? Please pray for our committee, that God will use us to be an effective force for communicating to North Carolina Baptists about how to be salt and light in the midst of a world that is vastly different from the world into which our denomination was founded. C. Ray Barnhill, chair CHRISTIAN SOCIAL SERVICES SPECIAL COMMITTEE The Christian Social Services Committee has the privilege of serving alongside North Carolina Baptists as they work with the Baptist Children s Homes of North Carolina (BCH), including the North Carolina Baptist Aging Ministry (NCBAM) and the North Carolina Baptist Hospital through the Division of Faith and Health Ministries. Part of our focus this year has been to promote some of the great things that these ministries are doing and to encourage North Carolina Baptists to become actively involved so that they may do even Greater Things in Kingdom work. Here are some ways that we encouraged participation: We took a tour of the Mills Home Campus of BCH (including NCBAM) during our September meeting. Committee members learned firsthand of ways that their churches can 46 Baptist State Convention of North Carolina

47 become involved. We listened as Keith Henry, BCH executive vice president, told about their new partnership with Good Shepherd Children s Home in Xela, Guatemala. Some of our members have since taken mission trips to support this ministry. We promoted ministry-sponsored events, such as NCBAM s Rampin Up (building wheelchair ramps for the aging) and BCH s UNITE 2013 (evangelical event for youth). We provided Board members the opportunity to receive NCBAM s Fire and Fall Prevention training at the May 2014 meeting. Participants were encouraged to request this free training for their churches. We recognized Paul Mullen s retirement as director of church and community relations at North Carolina Baptist Hospital, and also welcomed our new Baptist Healthcare liaison, Rev. Leland Kerr. Rev. Kerr will focus on building partnerships with North Carolina Baptist congregations and associations as part of FaithHealthNC. We invited Dr. Gary Gunderson, North Carolina Baptist Hospital vice president Division of Faith & Healing Ministries, to speak to our committee about the great opportunities available through FaithHealthNC. We requested and provided Board Members with a list of resources that these ministries provide. Your continued support of these ministries through annual offerings and your Cooperative Program giving is making a difference in lives all across our state. Thank you, North Carolina Baptists, for helping share the love of Christ through these vital ministries. Wanda Dellinger, chair CONVENTION INSTITUTIONS AND AGENCIES B APTIST CHILDREN S HOMES OF NORTH CAROLINA Lilly dreams of a tree house, but not one constructed by human hands she dreams of a tree house made by God. Lilly is paralyzed from the neck down. She cannot run, climb or play like other children. But she believes with all her heart that she will play in the tree house God has built especially for her. Lilly lived at Baptist Children s Homes (BCH) from November 2013 to May And during her time at BCH s Truett Home located in the mountains of Hayesville, Lilly asked Jesus into her heart. Lilly s decision is an incredible culmination in a young life that has experienced more tragedy than most adults will ever encounter. At age six, an automobile accident took the life of Lilly s mother. The accident also took away Lilly s ability to run, play and even wiggle her fingers and toes. While her friends attended school and ran on the playground, Lilly s world revolved around doctors, life-sustaining medical equipment and the chair in which she is now confined. Because of her fragile health, Lilly needed special care and a special place to live until the Department of Social Services could find a long-term care facility. That place was BCH. And it was there she learned about Christ. I know this is why God sent her to 2014 Annual Report 47

48 us, says houseparent Judy Blanton. Through Christ, Lilly has a hope and a future. Even though BCH s 19 North Carolina locations do not provide specialized medical care, BCH s houseparents and staff committed to doing whatever it took to care for Lilly. Medicaid ensured Lilly had the medical care she needed while living at BCH, and her houseparents met Lilly s daily needs and showed her God s love. My momma had to go to Heaven, Lilly says, but I was okay. I ll go to Heaven one day and see her, and I ll be able to play again. Message from the President God has Greater Things in store for Lilly. We are thankful to have played our role, and we all have been richly blessed to become part of Lilly s bigger family. Through the faithful support of North Carolina Baptists, Lilly came to know Christ in the short time she was with us. Whenever a child comes into our care, we often do not know how long they may be with us. But from the moment that boy or girl steps through our door, we have the opportunity to be the outstretched arm of Jesus. North Carolina Baptists were indeed the hands and feet of Jesus to Lilly and to the 9,983 children and families we ministered to last year. And Lilly was one of 75 BCH residents who made a decision for Christ in You are making greater things possible for the children and families we serve. Thank you for giving Lilly a home and showing God s love to children. Michael C. Blackwell BCH president/ceo 48 Baptist State Convention of North Carolina Note: On July 1, 2013, Michael C. Blackwell marked three decades as Baptist Children s Homes president. He is the longest-tenured executive leader in BCH s history. International Missions: Baptist Children s Homes establishes Guatemala orphanage BCH is partnering with NC Baptist Men and International Indigenous Community Development (IICD) to establish the Good Shepherd Children s Home, an orphanage in Quetzaltenango (Xela), Guatemala. The orphanage will serve children who belong to a people known as the Quiché the largest indigenous Mayan group in Guatemala. To be able to expand BCH s vision of sharing hope... changing lives and extend the hope of Christ to the children of Xela, Guatemala, is a blessing beyond words, says BCH president Michael C. Blackwell. Like a biblical pillar of fire, God has led in this journey, and we will follow Him for the sake of His honor and glory. The Good Shepherd Children s Homes will be an affiliate of BCH. BCH is providing the benefit of its 128-years of childcare expertise to implement the appropriate policies and procedures at the new orphanage. BCH s involvement ensures that Quiché children will receive the highest quality of care. The goal is to begin caring for children in NC Baptist Men and Woman s Missionary Union (WMU) of North Carolina are partnering with BCH to help establish the home. NC Baptist Men teams have been tackling the necessary work to renovate the building. WMU organized a Tie that Binds drive collecting thousands of neckties. The ties were sold at the WMU Missions Extravaganza, raising

49 funds for the new orphanage. Learn more about Good Shepherd Children s Homes at Developmental Disabilities Ministry: Sedrick takes big steps towards his dreams Twenty-eight year-old Sedrick is realizing his dream to walk. A traumatic brain injury that resulted from abuse when he was four years old not only caused developmental challenges, but it robbed Sedrick of his ability to walk. Today, Sedrick lives at BCH s Stegall Home in Marshville, one of nine group homes for developmentally disabled residents. Through a corrective surgical procedure and the aid of his caregivers, including trainer Sheryl Pressley, Sedrick has taken his first steps since he was a young boy. Under Pressley s direction, Sedrick completes a routine of exercises each day to strengthen his legs and upper body. He s always so excited about the exercises. He does everything I ask him to do and never complains, Pressley says. Sedrick does everything with joy. Using his walker, and with Pressley by his side adding extra physical support, Sedrick is walking a total of 225 feet per day. My legs are getting stronger, Sedrick exclaims. I am blessed because I can walk. As a child, Sedrick was so neglected that he had to lie on his stomach and pull himself across the floor with his arms. Scooting, as Sedrick calls it, was the only way he could maneuver. But those days are long behind him. I don t have to think about scooting anymore, Sedrick says. My Savior is so awesome. Learn more about Baptist Children s Homes Developmental Disabilities Ministry at North Carolina Baptist Aging Ministry: NCBAM celebrates five years of ministry North Carolina Baptist Aging Ministry (NCBAM) has reached a milestone marking its fifth anniversary. Under the founding leadership of Baptist Children s Homes president Michael C. Blackwell, NCBAM and North Carolina Baptists have crossed the state with the love of Jesus to meet the spiritual and physical needs of aging adults 65 and older since Tapping into more than 15,000 volunteers and service providers, NCBAM fields as many as 350 calls a month from aging adults in need or their caregivers and connects them to resources. More than 13,000 outgoing calls are made annually by NCBAM s call center specialists to partnering churches and other organizations to meet those needs. The second biennial event, Rampin Up!, took place this year in partnership with NC Baptist Men and in conjunction with North Carolina Operation Inasmuch. More than 400 ramp requests were processed for this event. The first Rampin Up! yielded 327 ramps built. Since 2009, NCBAM has connected volunteers with more than 2,000 aging adults needing wheelchair ramps Annual Report 49

50 Prevention remains an NCBAM priority. Through its Priority #1: Prevention initiative, NCBAM staff members conduct regular fall and fire safety trainings. According to the Office of the State Fire Marshal (OSFM), more than 10,000 smoke alarms have been installed by NCBAM-connected volunteers. Since 2013, NCBAM held 51 OSFM installation trainings, mobilizing 1,243 Baptist volunteers for fire safety ministry. Since its beginning, more than 16,000 Red Bags have been distributed. The Red Bag initiative helps medical professionals prevent over-medication and reduces the risk of prescribing conflicting medicines. Red Bags make it easy to store all non-perishable medications in one place. Red Bags help emergency responders quickly locate medicines in a crisis. NCBAM s new aging adult leadership initiative entitled Aging Adults Innovating Ministry (AAIM): Resourcing Leaders for the Age Wave assists churches in strengthening aging adult ministries across the state. The new Servant Care Program directed by NCBAM outreaches to aging ministers 65 and older. Servant Care offers enhanced services to aging North Carolina Baptist ministers and fosters opportunities for North Carolina Baptists to honor them and provide loving care. Fellowship and educational opportunities for Servant Care participants are provided through ENCORE programs and regional events. The first ENCORE event was held March 25, 2014, in Winston-Salem with 25 ministers in attendance. NCBAM is drawing attention to aging adults facing hunger through Serving Hope. Serving Hope is an outreach by North Carolina Baptists to help meet the nutritional needs of the aging in their communities. This new initiative has two emphases to encourage action that can help make a difference in the life of an aging adult facing hunger MealShare and It s In the Bag! NCBAM s highly trained staff presents workshops on dozens of topics. Since January 2013, NCBAM staff members have presented 182 workshops informing 3,804 participants. A Story of a Grateful Lady For Marthenia Fearrington of Chapel Hill, the new wheelchair ramp built by members of Hillsong Baptist Church brings new freedom and greater mobility. The 83 year old says being able to safely go outside her house is not only a necessity, but offers her peace of mind. It s been difficult getting me in and out of my home. I ve had to wait for help because I couldn t do it on my own. I ve fallen several times and it can make you scared. The congestive heart patient can no longer plant flowers in the beds she tended for nearly 38 years. But she says having more opportunities to sit outside and enjoy the sunshine on warm days will bring her much joy. I appreciate getting my wheelchair ramp, Fearrington says. I appreciate NCBAM and everyone who built it. I thank them, and I thank God for sending them to help me. NCBAM s newsletter, Help for the Journey, is distributed biannually 50 Baptist State Convention of North Carolina

51 to more than 19,000 homes. If you or someone you know has a need or question, call (877) To subscribe to the newsletter or to learn more, go to Unite: 51 decisions made at first-ever youth evangelism event Fifty-one decisions were made at Baptist Children s Homes (BCH) youth evangelism event last fall. BCH launched Unite, a free event, on October 19, 2013, at Mills Home in Thomasville. Youth from area churches joined BCH s boys and girls for an afternoon of evangelism, worship, dodgeball and other games. This year s Unite takes place on Saturday, October 18. Visit www. standupunite.com for more information. Volunteers: Record numbers volunteer at mission workdays and events In 2013, more than 10,405 volunteers invested their time and talents during Friends of Children workdays, and North Carolina Baptists served 2,301 aging adults through NCBAM. Visit getinvolved to be a part of BCH s mission days and events. Baptist Children s Homes of North Carolina P.O. Box 338 / Thomasville, NC / Learn more and subscribe to BCH s newsletter at and join BCH s Facebook page at com/bchfamily Abe Elmore, chair, Board of Trustees Michael C. Blackwell, president/ceo B IBLICAL RECORDER People need to know! What you don t know can hurt you! It is extremely hazardous to drive across a bridge that has been condemned, yet no sign is posted to give warning. It is deadly to eat contaminated food with no knowledge of its deteriorated condition. It is dangerous to live without the information you need. On the contrary, what you know will not only help you, but it can give you a great advantage. Whether you are dealing with routine matters of life or issues related to ministry, having accurate information in hand can determine the difference between success and defeat. People need to know! North Carolina Baptists need to know! There is no reason to live in the dark, unaware of news and information that could make you a stronger follower of Christ. Where are the people in your church getting their information? Is their news source keeping them up to date on the Great Commission ministries you are supporting? Are they fully informed on cultural issues from a biblical worldview? Do they know how God is working to use your Cooperative Program gifts to proclaim the name of Jesus to a lost world? We believe God is glorified when His Church is strong, healthy and living out both the Great Commandment and the Great Commission. So, your Biblical Recorder staff works diligently to provide church leaders with articles, stories and information to that end. In fact, the information we give you is very important to every member of the church. We want to help you do Greater Things. Since Thomas Meredith launched the Biblical Recorder in 1833, the material published or posted on the Web has been a vital part of Baptist history. We have kept Baptists informed. Ours is both an information-hungry society and an information-starved culture. We feast on mounds of information every day Annual Report 51

52 But not all information is reliable. Some of it is intentionally deceptive and outright false. While we may be gorging ourselves with information, we are starving from the shortage of healthy, truthful information. So where is your church family getting their information? Is secular media feeding the information diet of your families with an unbiblical agenda? What can you do about it? This is the reason your Biblical Recorder is important to you. We are here to serve you. We are your church s trusted information source. Everyone in your church fellowship can get good information through one or more of the avenues we provide: The Biblical Recorder in print is a great value. Individual members can subscribe, or the church can provide for its members at a discounted rate. A copy will be mailed directly to their home. An even better deal is available through bulk copies sent to the church for distribution. Visit BRnow.org/Subscribe. Get the Biblical Recorder in a digital format. This is the full version of the printed copy, in an easy-to-read, digital format. Subscriptions are very reasonable. Our website, BRnow.org, is packed with more than 10,000 pages of valuable information. It is one of the highest ranked websites among Baptist newspapers. Averaging between 10,000 to 20,000 visits per day, visitors around the world trust BRnow.org for up-to-date news and information. Download the BR app to your smartphone today. It is a free, easy way to get important news items at your fingertips. The new app has become a popular way to stay close to vital information. BRweekly is another free, easy way to keep in touch with important news. Sign up today, so every Wednesday morning, you will receive a brief summary of the week s important news and brief comments from the editor in your inbox. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook. We ll give you breaking news and important information quickly. When you subscribe to the Biblical Recorder or visit our website, you are feeding yourself and your church family the kind of material that will strengthen your church s Kingdom vision. It will encourage and motivate you in your partnership with North Carolina Baptists and Southern Baptists as we fulfill the Great Commission of our Savior. It will be an instrument to connect you with other churches in Kingdom work, also. We hope you will encourage your congregation to read the Recorder. And, we hope you will make room in your budget to provide the printed edition for your leadership. If possible, make it available to as many members who want it. Another option is to subscribe to the online digital edition for your leaders and members. There is a subscription plan that fits your church budget. We want to help your members be stronger in every way: stronger in their personal walk with God, stronger in their support of their church, stronger in their involvement with Baptist missions and ministries in North Carolina, and stronger in their work with international missions. This blesses your church and honors God. Regardless of what you have perceived the Recorder to be in the past, this is 52 Baptist State Convention of North Carolina

53 our present focus and commitment. We want to serve you! Please visit BRnow.org/PromoteBR to learn how you can inform your church about the many ways the Biblical Recorder will help the people in your congregation stay informed. The Biblical Recorder receives support through your gifts to the Cooperative Program, allowing subscription rates to be much lower than the actual cost of production. We are proud to be an agency of the Convention since We are equally proud to support the ministries of the Southern Baptist Convention. Together we can do Greater Things! Thank you for your partnership in the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is a privilege to join you in standing firm on the truth of Scripture. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever (Isaiah 40:8). Biblical Recorder 205 Convention Drive Cary, NC (919) Chris Byrne, chair, Board of Directors K. Allan Blume, editor/president N ORTH CAROLINA BAPTIST FOUNDATION As the trust agency of the Convention, the North Carolina Baptist Foundation seeks every day to do Greater Things for our Lord and His Kingdom work. Our very mission is to serve North Carolina Baptists and others in generating an increased awareness of Christian stewardship principles as a means of financially undergirding Baptist churches, institutions and mission endeavors on a permanent basis. Every year we want to report greater things in our stewardship ministry than the year before. Below you will see some of the greater things the Lord used the North Carolina Baptist Foundation to accomplish in 2013: Established 43 new accounts, most of which are permanent endowments to support Kingdom work until our Lord returns. Almost $6 million in charitable gifts to accounts. Distributed $9.3 million, with $7.2 million going to support ministry in Another important part of our responsibility to do greater things concerns our investment program. In 2013, assets under management grew from $134,680, to $146,579, Investment returns were also excellent and afford us the ability to do greater things for His Kingdom. Our Total Equity Fund was up 32 percent, and our pooled funds were all positive with the Growth Fund up 17 percent, the Balanced Fund up 10%, and the Income Fund up 5 percent. To encourage greater things in the future, our staff made 177 stewardship presentations in Baptist churches and associations, institutions and agencies, as well as statewide Baptist senior adult conferences in We cohosted senior adult festivals at Chowan and Mars Hill Universities and at the Broyhill Campus of Baptist Children s Homes, and led seminars at statewide senior adult events at Caraway and Caswell Conference Centers. We continue to provide Christian stewardship educational programs at 2014 Annual Report 53

54 Fruitland Baptist Bible College and the Divinity Schools at Campbell and Gardner-Webb. Once again we cosponsored two important events with the Convention: the 38th annual North Carolina Baptist Development Officer s Conference and the 14th annual North Carolina Baptist Heritage Award Luncheon. Our newest ministry, North Carolina Baptist Financial Services (NCBFS), is a partner in helping local congregations accomplish greater things as they expand facilities and ministries. By the end of 2013, NCBFS had provided 52 loans to churches, totaling $33.7 million. Also by the end of 2013, the Church Growth Investment Fund, which is used to provide the resources for loans, had reached $41.6 million. The Lord is surely providing and making good on His promise in John 14:12 that His followers would do even greater things. The North Carolina Baptist Foundation is blessed to have a small part in what God is doing with and through North Carolina Baptists, and we are forever grateful for the support we receive from the Convention and North Carolina Baptist churches. David A. Smith, chair, Board of Trustees Clay Warf, executive director N ORTH CAROLINA BAPTIST HOSPITAL The first serious planning for a Baptist Hospital in North Carolina developed during the Baptist State Convention in Raleigh in 1919, wrote Dr. Manson Meads in his book The Miracle on Hawthorne Hill. He further wrote, The Convention approved the expansion of their Christian Mission to include healing, particularly for the needy, and proposed that $100,000 be set aside to help build a hospital in North Carolina. A hospital commission was appointed in 1920 to select a location, and Winston-Salem was chosen. The hospital was dedicated on May 28, 1923, and the first patient was admitted two days later. All available funds were used to build the hospital, so nothing was available for furnishings. Money was raised from Baptist associations and other organizations, and the women of the Baptist churches in the community were asked to make linens, curtains and bed gowns for the hospital. From the beginning, the faith community and the medical community have been purposefully partnered together to extend the healing ministry of Jesus Christ. We are grateful for more than 90 years of partnership with North Carolina Baptists and the opportunity to continue working together to expand the work of faith and health. FaithHealthNC Caring Through Shared Commitments Our partnership with North Carolina Baptists continues to expand through FaithHealthNC, a ministry of the Division of Faith and Health Ministries of Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. This ministry combines the caring strengths of congregations, the clinical expertise of medical providers and a network of community resources focused on improving health. Congregations participating in FaithHealthNC choose volunteers who will be trained as caregivers to help their members and neighbors along their health journeys before 54 Baptist State Convention of North Carolina

55 they go to a hospital, while they are being cared for and after they are back on their own or in a post-hospital setting. The congregational caregivers work with health care liaisons and connectors through FaithHealthNC to ensure that care is received at the right door (hospitals, clinics, primary care physicians), and at the right time (usually sooner rather than later); and that individuals are ready to be treated (with medications, health history in hand) and most importantly, not alone. Participating congregations have experienced new levels of energy as they care for members and neighbors through the FaithHealthNC network. New missional connections are established and new levels of cooperation have taken place. Participating churches are collaborating in new ways to improve the health of their communities. The first three Baptist associations in North Carolina to become FaithHealthNC partners are: Ashe Baptist Association, led by David Blackburn; Brier Creek Baptist Association, led by Larry McCoy; and Brushy Mountain Baptist Association, led by Steve Gouge. These associational missionaries are helping their churches to become partner churches. We anticipate more associations becoming partners this year as FaithHealthNC grows. Rev. Leland Kerr became the Baptist health care liaison for FaithHealthNC in November of His background in ministry includes serving as a church staff minister, a director of associational missions, and a pastor. These various areas of ministry have equipped him to work closely with churches, associations and the Convention. To learn more please visit CareNet of North Carolina CareNet, our ministry of pastoral counseling, extended the caring ministry of North Carolina Baptists to more than 6,000 hurting individuals, couples and families in the 2014 fiscal year, helping them to find hope and healing. Close to half of those receiving care are North Carolina Baptists from more than 1,000 of our North Carolina Baptist churches. Approximately 45,000 hours of faith-integrated counseling was provided in the 2014 fiscal year representing a 16 percent increase from CareNet, in grateful partnership with North Carolina Baptists, has 35 clinics covering 80 of the 100 counties across North Carolina, 66 clinicians, six residents and 13 interns who provide faith sensitive counseling. CareNet remains the largest provider of faith-integrated counseling in the United States. CareNet s newest innovation is the placement of counselors in primary care and pediatric offices. Plans are underway to develop a training program for clinicians to integrate care in medical offices across the state, making even more visible the connection between faith and health. The partnership between CareNet and the Convention as expressed through Cooperative Program support is making a measurable difference to the health of our communities. By enabling us to provide pastoral counseling to the hurting, you assure that no one is turned away due to financial difficulties. More than $600,000 of free care will be provided this year Annual Report 55

56 Thank you, North Carolina Baptists, for your continued trust and confidence in our care. Our Chaplaincy and Pastoral Education Ministry extends the love of God through ministries to our patients, their families and our staff and provides life-changing education through clinical pastoral education programs. In fiscal year 2014, we provided care to patients through close to 60,000 ministry contacts and trained 37 ministers. The Mother s Day Offering North Carolina Baptists gave more than $550,000 to the Mother s Day Offering in fiscal year These gifts make a life changing difference for hurting patients and families who suffer from serious illness and devastating financial need. God works through every gift as hospital bills are paid through the generous giving of North Carolina Baptists, in the name of Jesus Christ and His love. Over and over the recipients of this offering express their heartfelt gratitude to North Carolina Baptists. In 24 hours, everything changed for the Dean family. One day, Daniel was a lively four-year-old celebrating his birthday. The next day, he was curled up on the sofa, sick with an apparent infection. Tests revealed the worst news parents could get: Daniel had Burkitt s Lymphoma, an explosive form of leukemia. Worried about the aggressive treatment regimen and astronomical medical bills, the Deans turned to family for support their family of faith. In John 13, Jesus said, All will know my disciples by their love for each other, Rev. Curt Dean said. People loved us with the Mother s Day Offering. The Deans are thankful for Daniel s health, cancer-free since April 2012, and for the support of the Mother s Day Offering. We re called to be ministers to each other, Rev. Dean concludes. This is a way we can live out the gospel and love and bless one another as Christ has compelled us to do. Thank you, North Carolina Baptists, for 90 years of sacrificial and faithful gifts to the Mother s Day Offering. Millions of dollars have been given and thousands of patients have been blessed by your generosity in the name of Jesus Christ. Every dollar you give helps patients like Daniel Dean and his family to pay their hospital bill and ease the financial burden they faced after hospitalization. Please visit org to see the life-changing story of Daniel Dean and others. Additional WFBMC Highlights Our vision states, Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center is a preeminent, internationally recognized academic medical center of the highest quality, with balanced excellence in patient and family-centered care, research and education. Our patient and family promise is that we will keep you safe, care for you, involve you and your family, and respect you and your time. The Becker s Hospital Review in 2014 named the Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center (WFBMC) to its annual list of 100 Great Hospitals in America. We were specifically cited for our quality and safety measures. In 2014, Brenner s Children s Hospital, part of WFBMC, was ranked by the U.S. News and World Report as one of America s best children s hospitals. It 56 Baptist State Convention of North Carolina

57 is nationally ranked in two pediatric specialties: Neonatology (#26) and Orthopedics (#39). The 2014 Best Doctors in America database includes 278 physicians from WFBMC. The list includes physicians in 33 specialties, 46 of whom are pediatric specialists at Brenner s Children s Hospital. Our newly expanded Comprehensive Cancer Center, which opened in December of 2013, added four inpatient floors and a day hospital. The center is one of only three in North Carolina and 41st in the country to be designated as comprehensive by the National Cancer Institute. We are grateful for the partnership we have shared with the churches of the Convention for more than 90 years. We are thankful to North Carolina Baptists for sharing the sacred privilege and profound responsibility of partnership in fulfilling the health care mission God has given us. Gary Gunderson, vice president, Faith and Health Ministries, Wake Forest Baptist Health Leland A. Kerr, Baptist Healthcare liaison, FaithHealthNC, Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center Affiliated Educational Institutions CAMPBELL UNIVERSITY Campbell University, originally known as Buies Creek Academy, was founded on January 5, Since its earliest days, Campbell has been a loyal partner with the Baptist churches of North Carolina and the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina to teach students to think and act with Christian values as their guidelines. Our students are given opportunities to actively engage their communities as they learn more about God s purpose for their lives and how they can further His Kingdom. Health Program Successes Campbell University has certainly seen great things happen through the launch of the Jerry M. Wallace School of Osteopathic Medicine. The school welcomed a charter class of 160 students in August 2013, becoming North Carolina s first new medical school in over 35 years. The mission of the Campbell medical school is to educate and prepare community based osteopathic physicians in a Christian environment to care for the rural and underserved populations in North Carolina, the Southeastern United States and the nation. North Carolina currently ranks 35th in the nation in physicians per capita and has at least 20 counties with no obstetrician or gynecologist. Governor Pat McCrory, who spoke at the ribbon cutting ceremony in September, noted, There s a large number of students looking to enter medical school and our state is in desperate need of a large number of doctors. Unless we have doctors or other medical professionals in these underserved parts of our state, those towns simply won t be able to recruit businesses. What Campbell is doing will do wonders for economic development in those areas. In addition to the launch of the medical school, several other health science programs reached new milestones. The Master of Physician Assistant Program, which began in 2014 Annual Report 57

58 2011, graduated its first class of 34 students in December 2013, and the Master of Public Health Program graduated its first cohort in May New Academic programs New programs are also on the horizon at Campbell. At its spring 2013 meeting, the Campbell University Board of Trustees approved the development of a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree. The program is expected to launch this fall 2014, pending the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) approval. Dr. Nancy Duffy, program director, says nursing is a perfect fit for Campbell s other health science programs. Campbell is about the rural and underserved, and we have focused our clinical experience in counties that are rural and in areas with underserved populations, said Duffy. Also, we re going to focus on inter-professional education, which is critical for health care today. Here at Campbell you have programs in physical therapy, physician assistant, public health, osteopathic medicine and pharmacy all working together. Our students will be training alongside other health professional students. Next up: engineering. The Campbell University Board of Trustees has approved the addition of a Bachelor of Science in Engineering degree program, proposed to begin in the fall of The proposed engineering program will expand the university s mission to meet the workforce needs of North Carolina and diversify the university s portfolio of academic programs in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. In recent years Campbell has become a regional leader in providing health education and in expanding access to health care in underserved areas, particularly rural communities, said Jerry Wallace, president of Campbell University. A Bachelor of Science in Engineering degree will provide another important dimension, allowing the university to support a scientifically and technically-trained workforce critical to the state s welfare. Campbell will seek approval to start an engineering program from SACSCOC. If approved, Campbell expects to enroll its first 50 engineering students in the fall of 2016, with 60 new students added the following year and 104 new students by New Online Degrees Fifteen years after offering its first online courses, Campbell University launched its first set of online degrees in In addition to a Master of Education degree and a Master of Science in Clinical Research (fall 2014), Campbell now offers a variety of associate and bachelor s degrees online. The goal is to better serve our students, John Roberson said. Prior to receiving authorization to offer online degrees, students could earn no more than 49 percent of their degree requirements online. Once active duty military students hit the 49 percent mark, they could no longer continue their studies with us. Furthermore, many other adult students will benefit from the flexibility of earning a Campbell University undergraduate or graduate degree online. 58 Baptist State Convention of North Carolina

59 Serving Abroad This past spring 15 students, faculty and staff from the School of Osteopathic Medicine spent their spring break serving in Honduras as part of the school s first international medical mission trip. From 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. over five days, eight medical students and seven clinicians and physicians who supervised them interviewed patients, performed physical exams, made possible diagnoses and offered possible treatments. Working alongside five translators and a Honduran doctor, they spent part of the week running a clinic in the Colonia Williams village and the other in Aqua Agna. Many of the patients the team saw rarely had seen a doctor in the past, if at all. Placing medical students in areas with limited resources is intentional, said Dr. John Kauffman, the founding dean of the School of Osteopathic Medicine. Since its founding, Campbell University has embraced and emphasized serving the underserved. One way to continue the university s proud tradition while preparing students for careers as doctors of osteopathic medicine (DOs), Kauffman said, is through medical mission trips. We attract a higher caliber of student through the mission opportunities we provide as well as our medical missions track, designed to train the next generation of medical missionaries, he said. Success on the field Back at home, Campbell s student athletes achieved some well earned recognition. The women s golf team placed 20th in the NCAA women s golf championship. This was the team s first trip to the NCAA finals since The men s baseball team (41-21) also made it to the NCAA tournament for the first time since The Camels achieved their first ever national tournament win over ODU, before falling to South Carolina in the NCAA regionals. NEW TRUSTEES Life Trustee Sadie Neel, Goldsboro, N.C. New First-term Trustees Leah Devlin, Raleigh, N.C. William Pully, Raleigh, N.C. Returning Trustees Guilford W. Bass, Holden Beach, N.C. Michael Cummings, Pembroke, N.C. Annabelle L. Fetterman, Clinton, N.C. David Hailey, Raleigh, N.C. Ester Howard, Lillington, N.C. Anna Drew Kirk, Wake Forest, N.C. Bernard McLeod, Fuquay-Varina, N.C. Henry Smith, Farmville, N.C. Benjamin N. Thompson, chair, Board of Trustees and Executive Committee Thomas J. Keith, vice-chair, Board of Trustees and Executive Committee Jerry M. Wallace, president CHOWAN UNIVERSITY While building upon our Christian values, long held since our establishment in 1848, Chowan University continues to do great works in the name of the Lord. This year, we graduated a record 182 seniors, the largest graduating class since returning to four year status in Chowan is not only reaching these students, but helping them along their journey as well with a remarkable number of new scholarship endowments added this year. The Chowan Christian Service Association 2014 Annual Report 59

60 saw four new scholarships established in the spring semester alone. Some of the new scholarships will allow students the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to travel on mission trips, like this past summer s annual journey to East St. Louis or last spring break s service in El Salvador, while others will help to fund students preparing for ministry. Student athletes at Chowan are doing great works too, on campus and in the community, like Shauna Anderson, who is teaching elementary students the joy of giving at a local nursing home and Dezian Lathan, who is mentoring inner city youth out of debilitating situations. Our student athletes also garnered a vast array of conference honors in the field as well. This year s women s tennis team won the CIAA Conference Championship, with men s tennis and men s golf winning runner-up titles too. Football s Robert Holland won the CIAA Offensive Player of the Year honor, and Coach Chris Stambaugh earned both the women s tennis and men s tennis Coach of the Year awards. The campus itself saw great works with the new addition of the Hassell Maintenance Center and the Rose Family Tennis Complex, with a clubhouse pavilion added later this year. The new Pond Football Center was completed for use by the fall football season. Three more student housing apartment buildings in Phase II of Whites Crossing were ready for students to move in for fall semester. Work to restore the pool facility and renovate its adjacent Helms Center was also completed, as well as the renovation to the Daniel Recital Hall. These were just a few of the 11 development projects over the past summer, all while being 100 percent debt-free, having paid off previous construction in full. With all the growth on campus and our students excelling, Chowan s president, Dr. M. Christopher White, was honored for his great works of serving 30 years in Christian higher education with North Carolina s prestigious honor, Order of the Long Leaf Pine, from Governor Pat McCrory this past fall. His 10-year tenure was celebrated in style with an official gala, where a new commemorative coffee-table book entitled The Renaissance of Chowan was unveiled. It was well deserved for the work he has accomplished on this campus in Christ s name. Chowan University is striving to do great things in Jesus name by serving its students, community and region. With an expanding campus and an influx of generous donors, Chowan University will seek to do great things into the future, and all in the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ. W. Frank Rose Jr., chair, Board of Trustees M. Christopher White, president GARDNER-WEBB UNIVERSITY Making the Grade Gardner Webb University was named to the top 20 list of online Christian colleges by TheBestSchools.org (TBS), an organization that researches colleges and universities across the country. GWU was ranked 15th among the nation s Christian colleges that also offer online degree options, beating out other notable programs such as Abilene Christian University in Abilene, Texas, and Charleston Southern University in Charleston, S.C., among others. TBS examines a wide range of criteria as it compiles its lists of favorites each year. According to TBS, telling 60 Baptist State Convention of North Carolina

61 signs of a good online Christian college include: full accreditation; low student-to-teacher ratio (less than 20:1); confessional status (i.e., teachers/students are required to sign a Christian doctrinal statement); anytime access lecture archives; around-the-clock technical support; affordability, variety of degree options; 100 percent online degree programs and other factors. Dr. Ben Leslie is provost and executive vice president at Gardner-Webb. He believes the distinction represents an intentional effort to maximize the University s online offerings. Gardner-Webb University has had a presence in the world of online higher education for over a decade, Leslie shared. It has been our mission to design online programs that challenge students intellectually, prepare them professionally, and that also nurture them spiritually. Inclusion in the list of the top 20 Christian online colleges is a deeply gratifying endorsement that helps confirm our hope and belief that we are indeed accomplishing that mission. The list of online Christian colleges is gathered from multiple sites, including U.S. News & World Report, Forbes, OnlineChristianColleges, ChristianColleges.com, Onlineeducation.net and Best and Worst Online Degree Providers. Officials say the Christian colleges grading criteria revolve around three components: the Christian character of the school; academic prestige; and, of course, the extent and quality of their online programs. Rising to the Top An annual study on core curriculum requirements at more than 1,000 colleges and universities from across the United States has placed Gardner- Webb University at the head of the class for the third year in a row. Ranked number 12 out of only 22 institutions with an A grade, Gardner-Webb earned the number one spot out of all schools in the Carolinas for the highest core curriculum standards. The What Will They Learn? study, conducted by the American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA), ranks the core curriculum of all the major public and private colleges and universities in all 50 states. The ranking places GWU in the top two percent in the nation, included with schools such as Pepperdine University in Malibu, Calif., Baylor University in Waco, Texas, Morehouse College in Atlanta, Ga., and the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo. Gardner-Webb University was the only college in the Carolinas to earn an A in the ACTA study, which analyzes seven core subjects and rates universities accordingly. ACTA believes that composition, U.S. government/ history, economics, literature, math, science and foreign language components help students gain the knowledge and values necessary for responsible democratic citizenship. Five-Year Pastoral Dual-Degree Program The Gardner-Webb University School of Divinity and Department of Religious Studies and Philosophy announced plans for a new dual-degree program, which will offer students who are called to pastoral ministry an opportunity to earn both a Bachelor of Arts degree in Religious Studies and Master of Divinity degree in five years. The program, set to begin in fall Annual Report 61

62 and still pending approval by the University s regional accrediting agency, is supported by a grant from the Kern Family Foundation. The five-year Pastoral degree is a great opportunity to advance the University s special role in assisting congregations with their leadership needs, said GWU provost and executive vice president Dr. Ben Leslie. The program provides a more affordable route to theological education for highly motivated men and women who experience a call to ministry early in their educational journey. At Gardner-Webb, we are thrilled by the prospect of partnering with churches in a way that can so directly promote congregational vitality. The five-year cohort model program will feature approximately 180 hours of academic credit, which includes 30 hours in a church pastoral residency. By comparison, a traditional GWU undergraduate degree requires a minimum of 128 credit hours, and the Master of Divinity degree requires the completion of 90 credit hours. Officials say the new degree track will still offer Gardner-Webb s foundational liberal arts core curriculum, while also consolidating certain courses that duplicate instruction in the traditional completion of the bachelor s and master s curriculums. We don t have anything similar, in terms of a fiveyear bachelor s and master s degree program at Gardner-Webb, said Dr. Robert Canoy, dean of the GWU School of Divinity. This type of program may become the wave of the future, for private schools in particular. The first two years of study will concentrate on undergraduate core and religious studies coursework. In years three and four, students will focus on a mixture of undergraduate and divinity school courses for intensive academic, theological and pastoral training. The fifth year will engage participants in a full-time church pastoral ministry internship. Coursework will follow a cohort model during the fall, spring and summer semesters. We feel this program provides a solid academic foundation in keeping with Gardner-Webb s legacy, said Dr. Eddie Stepp, department chair and associate professor of Religious Studies. It also provides excellent opportunities for the development of practical pastoral ministry skills. Students who enter the ministry traditionally complete bachelor s and master s degrees in a seven-year period. The accelerated degree track will significantly reduce the financial burden of paying for an advanced college education, Canoy said. Gardner-Webb and the Kern Foundation are fully aware of educational debt. We want our graduates to be productive, active citizens in our world, representing God and humanity, Canoy explained. You re traditionally looking at seven years of accumulated educational debt for these students. We asked: How much of that is from the potential overlap of coursework? Is it possible we can we reduce this whole debt issue to a more manageable size for students who are called to serve as ministers? Gardner-Webb and the Kern Foundation believe we can. Each year, beginning in fall 2015, the program will enroll a new group of 10 students. When the first class reaches the fifth year, 50 total students will be 62 Baptist State Convention of North Carolina

63 enrolled in the five-year track. This degree program will be academically rigorous, so students will be carefully screened to make sure that they are not only ready academically, but that they also have a specific call to the pastoral ministry, Stepp shared. Gardner-Webb is now in the process of hiring degree program and recruitment directors. A team of Gardner-Webb faculty and staff members spent a year exploring, planning and implementing the new degree. The team visited other institutions, hosted focus groups and honed the curriculum. The Kern Foundation grant will support the program for five years, at which time Gardner-Webb will assume the full financial responsibilities of its operations. According to the Kern Foundation website, The Kerns have a deep and abiding appreciation for excellent pastoral leadership, believing that healthy local churches led by capable, committed pastors can transform the moral fabric of our society. For this reason, the Foundation has implemented programs that increase the number of talented young people pursuing high-quality theological and pastoral education. The Kern Family Foundation is a private, grant-making organization based in Waukesha, Wis. The Foundation seeks to enrich the lives of others by promoting strong pastoral leadership, educational excellence, and high-quality, entrepreneurially minded engineering talent. For more information, visit kffdn.org. University Establishes New College of Health Sciences with Property Purchase The Gardner-Webb University Board of Trustees announced the purchase of a 53,500-square-foot building to house the new College of Health Sciences. Officials have confirmed the sale of Crawley Memorial Hospital, located at 315 W. College Ave., to Gardner-Webb University. The property was previously owned by Carolinas Healthcare System, based in Charlotte, N.C. Gardner-Webb has utilized leased space within the Crawley building for the Physician Assistant (PA) program, which began in January. The acquisition includes the building, along with nearly 26 acres of property. Officials say the facility will offer many additional opportunities for university growth and will house other programs that are operating in other locations on the GWU campus. The Crawley building is an ideal addition to the Gardner-Webb main campus, said GWU provost and executive vice president Dr. Ben Leslie. It is not only adjacent to our campus, but it provides precisely the kind of space we need to carry out highquality programs in nursing, physician assistant studies, and preventive and rehabilitative health sciences. Having a single building dedicated to the health sciences positions the University for growth in a critical area. The demand for healthcare professionals in our region is already quite high, and it is only projected to increase. We are proud to have the opportunity to help meet that demand with well-trained professionals who bring together Gardner-Webb s unique blend of academic excellence and Christian commitment. Health-focused degree programs at Gardner-Webb will be included within the College of Health Sciences. The stellar reputation of the GWU School of Nursing and the excitement surrounding the launch of the Physician Assistant Studies (PA) 2014 Annual Report 63

64 Program, Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) Program and the School of Preventive and Rehabilitative Health Sciences programs are elements that necessitated the purchase of a facility in which students could benefit from an experiential learning environment. Additionally, the door remains open for other potential health science preparation opportunities including speech, physical and occupational therapy programs. New Doctoral Degree Program Announced The Gardner-Webb University Gayle Bolt Price School of Graduate Studies is unveiling a new doctorate within the Education Department, which officials believe will offer substantial leadership training to individuals from a variety of professional backgrounds. The Doctor of Education in Organizational Leadership (DEOL) initiated its first cohort in the fall semester of University officials are excited about the addition and believe the changes will help Gardner-Webb provide quality leadership education that will address the needs of a wide range of modern professionals. This addition to our Ed.D. offerings is a logical extension of the School of Education s commitment to cultivating transformational leaders in communities, schools, law enforcement and businesses through its Center for Innovative Leadership Development, said Dr. Jeff Rogers, dean of the Gardner-Webb University Gayle Bolt Price School of Graduate Studies. The degree program is new, but the vision behind it and the expertise it harnesses have been years in the making. Like the existing doctoral programs within the School of Education, the organizational leadership doctorate is designed to provide practical leadership skills with a strong theoretical foundation. Structured with the working adult in mind and utilizing a cohort model, candidates will contribute to their organization throughout the course of study. Dr. John Balls serves as assistant professor within the Graduate School of Education and is the director of the GWU Center for Innovative Leadership Development (CILD). He envisions a collaborative environment within the classroom. One of the major benefits of the cohort model is not only do you learn and appreciate the skills of your fellow classmates, but you re able to build on their experiences as well, Balls offered. Participants are out there day in and day out on the job and then can bring their experiences back to the classroom to discuss what s working and what s not working. This program will absolutely blend theory and practical application. GWU Divinity School Celebrates 20 Years Individuals who dared to dream that a Baptist seminary could one day be established in the foothills of Western North Carolina gathered at Gardner-Webb University last fall to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the M. Christopher White School of Divinity. Dozens of former and current faculty, staff members and students attended a luncheon celebration followed by the 20th Anniversary Convocation, held in the Dover Chapel on the Gardner-Webb campus. Since its establishment in 1993, hundreds of people have achieved their post-baccalaureate educational goals through the Gardner-Webb University School of Divinity, which began 64 Baptist State Convention of North Carolina

65 offering the Doctor of Ministry degree in As the school passes its 20th anniversary, more than 500 students have graduated with either a Master of Arts in Christian Ministry, a Master of Divinity, a Doctor of Ministry or a dualdegree combination. According to Dr. Robert Canoy, dean of the School of Divinity, the school embraces a model of theological education that believes all ministers on a church staff are better colleagues when they have similar biblical, theological and biblical language preparations. Early on, he said, the school also tied a Be, Know, and Do statement to the curriculum. Every course that is taught in the School of Divinity has a direct connection to what a graduate/minister ought to Be, Know or be able to Do, Canoy shared. You need to be doing ministry because God has called you. With God s calling of you, that involves serious preparation. We ask students to take a look at their past, to take a good look at themselves. There are things in all of our lives that can be blinders to being effective in ministry. We re as intentional about personal spiritual formation as we are anything else we do. Our graduates are God s divine representatives in this world, he continued. That takes on a variety of different shapes and complexions, and they go and do it as well as anybody I know. GWU Sends Students Around the World As a university with a large-scale commitment to service in both the local and global communities, Gardner- Webb places a particular emphasis on missions. The call to help others was answered with a variety of mission trips throughout the year. Groups set out from Boiling Springs to places like Brazil, India, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Honduras and more. Gardner-Webb students relished the opportunity to spread the Word of God and also help with various projects in the towns and villages in which they stayed. Separate mission trips were sent to Honduras. Neal Payne, associate minister to the University, led a trip, which included both physical and spiritual challenges. Students backpacked more than 30 miles through five villages in western Honduras as they shared the gospel with the native Lenka populations. We backpacked to villages where they had not had someone other than Hondurans visit for several years. We shared the gospel, testimonies, gave out soccer balls, played with the children, showed the Jesus film and encouraged the believers that were there, said Payne. We ministered to people we would meet on the trails and roads. The group partnered with Honduran believers and pastors to help them reach this population. I got through the hike by the grace of God. Everyone s encouragement and positivity went a long way, said senior Faith Kempf. God gave us energy and light. Also, the girls [on the trip] wrote somos soldados de Cristo on our arms. So even if we were just walking by people on our hike they would know that we were there to see them and that we are soldiers of Christ. Another trip to Honduras was specialized for American Sign Language (ASL) students. Led by ASL 2014 Annual Report 65

66 professor Bob Moore, the group worked with students and teachers at the Happy Hands School in Tegucigalpa. In addition to signing, they also helped with basic construction around the building. The mission trip to Jamaica, which was led by Dr. Eric Davis, senior pastor at Pleasant Ridge Baptist Church (Shelby, N.C.) and his wife Teresa, administrative assistant for the GWU Office of Christian Life and Service, found its most meaningful ministry opportunities in the St. Ann s Bay and Lime Hall area, which is an hour and a half outside of Montego Bay. Once the plane touched down in Jamaica, the group went directly to an orphanage to begin serving those in need. They spent time in corporate worship with the Lime Hall Baptist Church congregation before witnessing to the people in the surrounding neighborhoods. Another mission group was sent to Nicaragua, and was led by Spanish professor Dr. Ben Coates. The group was able to focus on ministering to kids ranging in age from elementary to high school and participating in several service projects that included some light construction. Each trip was organized with extensive planning, and each participant went through significant spiritual preparation. The power of God that the groups witnessed was so awe-inspiring no amount of planning could have adequately prepared them. It is exciting to see how God pulls together the perfect team for every mission trip and how He helps all of us to become a unified body working for a common goal, said Davis. Although we always go on these trips hoping to be a blessing, we always come back having been blessed beyond our wildest imaginations. It is amazing to see how God works in these situations and how prayers are answered all along the way. New Women s Softball Stadium Announced The Gardner-Webb University Department of Athletics has announced plans for the construction of a new women s softball stadium, to be built in the same location as the current field located on South Main Street in Boiling Springs. The facility will be named after lead donors David and Marie Brinkley, owners of Brinkley Financial Group, based in Kings Mountain, N.C. Brinkley Softball Stadium will include spacious new dugouts, permanent seating for 350 spectators, a concession stand and press box, which will house a main working area and two broadcast booths to accommodate radio and video operations. In addition, a new building behind the first base dugout will offer space for coaches offices, a locker room, conference room and athletic training area. A practice facility will be built behind the outfield fence to offer athletes additional opportunities to train, even during times of inclement weather. Set to break ground in September, the project will also include a new scoreboard and stadium lighting, which will allow the first evening softball game on Gardner-Webb s home field. The project s completion date has not yet been determined. Alternative ball fields in the surrounding community will be utilized for team practices and games while construction is ongoing. 66 Baptist State Convention of North Carolina

67 The Brinkley family enjoys sports of many kinds, and daughters Kristie and Carrie both played volleyball at Gardner-Webb. About a year ago, I learned about the plans for a new softball field, David Brinkley said. I visited the current fields, talked with Coach Tom Cole, and Marie and I began praying about it. We felt these outstanding female athletes deserved to play in a phenomenal facility. Marie and I have always believed that in order to receive blessings, you must first bless others. When you have a chance to serve an institution whose values and mission lines up perfectly with your own, that s exactly what you should do. We firmly believe this project will breed a winning atmosphere. Gardner-Webb University unites challenging academics with Christian ideals in a warm and welcoming campus community devoted to fostering student success. C. Neal Alexander Jr., chair, Board of Trustees A. Frank Bonner, president MARS HILL UNIVERSITY The past year truly has been a year of Greater Things at Mars Hill University. We are now just over a year into our transition from Mars Hill College to Mars Hill University, and we have truly been blessed with the excitement that has brought to campus. We issued our first university bachelor s degrees last December (including our first graduates with degrees in criminal justice), and in May we graduated our second-ever cohort of master s degree students (the first as Mars Hill University graduates). As this academic year unfolds, we are looking forward to even greater things, both from a physical as well as programmatic standpoint. Homecoming brought with it some of the first steps toward the new Day Hall, which will house Mars Hill s Business Department, university bookstore and black box theatre. We expect to break ground this spring on the building which will house the new Judge-McRae School of Nursing, as we prepare to launch the bachelor s degree program in nursing in fall Work also is underway on extensive renovations to several of our student housing facilities, and another new residence hall is in the planning stages (in addition to the two new dorms we opened last year) to accommodate our growing enrollment. The university era certainly has helped contribute to a fresh air of excitement and anticipation on the Mars Hill campus. All four of Mars Hill University s Christian ministries Christian Student Movement, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, On a Mission and Blueprint banded together for two joint worship services they called U-Nite. Student planners hope to make U-Night an annual event. Mars Hill students also engaged in three student mission/service trips over spring break in Haiti, Miami, Fla. and Charleston, S.C., as well as fall break missions just a few weeks ago. The inaugural year of our University Lecture Series brought opportunities to expose our students and the greater community to a broad range of speakers and performers. That series included prominent businessman John Boyle II, former North Carolina Gov. James B. Hunt and the Madison Singers of James Madison University. Other lectures and special events throughout the year complemented the University Lecture Series. In 2014 Annual Report 67

68 addition to Gov. Hunt s lecture on the state of education in North Carolina, the university also welcomed North Carolina State Superintendent of Public Instruction June Atkinson as part of an Education Semester Series produced in collaboration with the Honors Program and the Education Department. The series also included two successful events in February and March, which informed students and the larger Mars Hill community about current challenges in education. Mars Hill remains poised for greater things as we continue our journey in the university era. The Board of Trustees and the administration are leading us in pursuit of our vision to be a preeminent private university, nationally recognized for transforming engaged learners into ethical citizens and successful leaders in an everchanging world. Our mission statement guides all those efforts: Mars Hill University, an academic community rooted in the Christian faith, challenges and equips students to pursue intellectual, spiritual and personal growth through an education that is: Grounded in a rigorous study of the liberal arts Connected with the world of work Committed to character development, to service and to responsible citizenship in the community, the region and the world. J. Dixon Free, chair, Board of Trustees Dan Lunsford, president WINGATE UNIVERSITY This is indeed a great era for Wingate University and her students. New academic programs that emphasize service to others have begun, and they are thriving. Academic activities, worship experiences, student organizations and service opportunities that foster the faith development of Wingate University students are strong. In January 2014, 42 students began studying in the Doctor of Physical Therapy program. All of the 2014 graduates of the School of Pharmacy and the Department of Physician Assistant Studies have secured employment or post-graduate fellowships. The first cohort of nursing students graduated in May. The North Carolina Teacher of the Year, the North Carolina Principal of the Year and the South Carolina Superintendent of the Year are all graduates of the Wingate University Education Program. The 2013 summer reading text that all first-year students read prior to arriving at Wingate underscored the importance of service. When the author visited campus to share about his experiences of traveling to third world countries to meet the needs of individuals there, a full audience of students gave him a standing ovation upon the completion of his talk. University Chapel and an evening worship service that is coordinated by students continue to provide opportunities for the campus community to worship together each week. Students have engaged in ministry in the local church, domestically and in foreign countries. During the academic year, students volunteered at shelters, built houses with Habitat for Humanity during spring break and packed 2000 boxes for Samaritan s Purse. Nursing students served with one of their 68 Baptist State Convention of North Carolina

69 faculty members in a foreign land, and School of Pharmacy students hosted a week-long health science summer camp for 40 underserved middle school students. An increasing number of students are interested in understanding their purpose in life, and a new student organization helps students explore their vocational calling in-depth. Recent graduates who pursued a religious studies major are serving local Baptist churches as youth ministers and in other capacities. During the summer, students were on mission in Africa, Myrtle Beach and Boone. To accommodate record student enrollment growth and new academic programs, new facilities are planned and many are nearing completion. A wellspring to commemorate the founding of the school is now prominently displayed on the campus promenade. An art museum and music wing have been added to the performing arts center. Space has been re-purposed for more classrooms, and plans are well underway for a new health and wellness center and additional residence halls. These are certainly the best days for Wingate University. Students are increasing their knowledge, developing their faith and living lives of significance and service upon graduation. J.H. Patterson, chair, Board of Trustees Jerry McGee, president Convention Co-laborer WOMAN S MISSIONARY UNION OF NORTH CAROLINA Dorothy (Dot) Allred reminds us in her book And So Much More: Living Legacies of North Carolina Women on Mission that to find out how women got started in missions, we would need to go to the garden tomb that early resurrection morning long ago. It was there the first command of Jesus was given, instructing the women to Go and Tell Mary did as He instructed What she did was in keeping with the spirit of the Great Commission Jesus gave a short time later The Great Commission, which provides our instructions, our marching orders. Women have been going and telling about their encounters with the risen, reigning Lord ever since. We call it missions. More than 127 years ago the Father placed within the hearts of women a vision accompanied by wisdom, courage and faith, to attempt something great for the cause of missions. With all their hearts they believed in Jesus, the Son of God, who gave His life as a sacrifice for the salvation of all people in all nations, fulfilling His Father s plan as revealed in His Word. It was their faith in Him that compelled them to organize what was to become Woman s Missionary Union of North Carolina (WMU NC). Their active statement of faith was, and is, the foundation upon which WMU NC today challenges, prepares and equips others to be radically involved in the fulfillment of the Great Commission. The Father has richly blessed WMU NC during the past year. As this report reflects, He has strengthened and undergirded relationships with North Carolina Baptist entities as well as community agencies to minister and meet the needs of others in a hurting world. He has presented new and challenging opportunities as we have sought to be faithful to His calling. Any 2014 Annual Report 69

70 Greater Things accomplished in and through our efforts are offered solely so that the Son may bring glory to the Father (John 14:13b). In her message of dedication for Camp Mundo Vista on June 26, 1969, WMU NC executive director Sara Ann Hobbs said: It is not surprising to us that the majority of women appointed as missionaries came to this decision while at a camp such as this. We do not aim to call all girls to mission fields, but we do aim to develop that heart sensitivity to the voice of God that makes it easy for Him to be heard and makes it imperative that He be followed (And So Much More: Living Legacies of North Carolina Women on Mission, Dorothy Allred). Now in its 45th year, Camp Mundo Vista has the same objectives and continues to provide summer camp experiences for Girls in Action, Acteens, mother/daughter minicamps, Camp Angel Tree for girls who have an incarcerated parent, and Girls in Action/Children in Action Days a time to connect and hear the voice of God calling them, not just in the moment, but for a lifetime. WMU NC believes that women and girls are gifted for Kingdom service and challenges them to accept the responsibility of using those gifts. National WMU student ministry consultant Suzanne Reece says: Acteens is about empowering teenage girls to understand God has a plan and a purpose for their lives, and He can and will use them in His work in the world. They know what it means to have a biblical worldview and they know God desires all people come to know Him. North Carolina Acteens Panelist, Kiara Curry, a member at University Hills Church in Charlotte, agrees, saying, My Acteens leader has encouraged me to do greater things for God and through her inspiration and encouragement I have been able to do this. Panelist Haley Harrison, also a member at University Hills, shares that she too can do greater things by learning how to best serve God with the talents with which He has gifted me. This is a small way that I can thank Him for my salvation and life. SHINE is a unique missions approach by WMU NC that seeks to challenge, inspire and teach young women, ages 18-35, to be God s light in the world. Julie Keith, WMU NC youth specialist, is so grateful to the five young women on the planning team who are actively involved in either a church or association s SHINE group. The first SHINE mission trip was to Pittsburgh, Pa., July 6-13, Julie said it was such a privilege to work with North American Mission Board (NAMB) church planters, Chris and Becca Autry and their three-year-old son, Sam. It was an amazing reminder that we serve an awesome God who will do greater things through us as we follow His call to share the message of salvation with others. One team member shared that God gave her boldness and just the right words to say when sharing Jesus with a lady in a nursing home. For the fifth year, young women were truly able to SHINE at Missions Extravaganza (ME) More than 12 young women volunteered at ME, serving God through serving others. Their responsibilities included: greeting women and helping with luggage, giving directions, assisting with setting 70 Baptist State Convention of North Carolina

71 up conference rooms and the exhibit area and participating in Missions Explosion and Club SHINE. A few of the young women served as conference leaders. Greater things are being done by the young women who are SHINING for God in their churches, associations and our state! More information about SHINE or mymission can be found at www. facebook.com/wmunc, org or Effective leadership begins with instruction, training and preparation. WMU NC offers assistance to church and association leaders by providing training events, generally held during the summer of each year. The first of two such events this year was recently conducted at First Baptist Church of Salisbury. In addition to basic age-level organization training, this one-day event also provided breakout session options for more experienced leaders. Andi Wilson, contract leadership development consultant, summed it up this way: It was a very productive, beneficial, inspiring and God-honoring day. The evaluations affirm that as did my observations. Online training is also available, providing convenience and flexibility. More information about online training is available at org or by calling Sharon Alvarez at the WMU NC Office, or Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious! is the word MissionsCAROLINA coordinators, Delores and Richard Thomas, used to describe their week of missions and ministry in the Shelby/Cleveland County area. They reported their team ranged in age from 12 to 80+ and, they were in high demand doing everything from restoration and painting at a local church to responding to the request from 92-year-old Miss Mary, who just wanted someone to come visit her. Manicures, yard cleanup, ministry in senior centers, pulling weeds from potato fields, backyard Bible clubs, sorting baby clothes, installing smoke and carbon monoxide detectors and even deep cleaning the camp kitchen and pantry were not seen as drudgery because they were reminded of the Scripture theme: Let us not become weary in doing good, from Galatians 6:9. In its 37th year, the Women s Prison Retreat continues to minister in a special way to incarcerated women from five women s minimum security correctional centers in North Carolina. WMU NC adult specialist Margaret Harding expresses deep gratitude for the special relationship with Female Command of the North Carolina Department of Public Safety, which makes this event possible. This testimony speaks well to the power of God s love and grace: On Monday I rode with a friend to Mundo Vista to take three girls for summer camp, and I cannot tell you how memorable that trip was for me. You see, in 1978 I had an opportunity to come to that same camp as an inmate for North Carolina Correctional Center for Women in Raleigh. It was the same spiritual retreat that my Lord allowed me to share with other inmates over 20 years ago. I cannot tell you how overcome with emotion I was. If I can return the same favor to other inmates that was extended me and share God s love in some way, I will be more than happy to do so. My incarceration was not a road 2014 Annual Report 71

72 I would have chosen for myself, but God knew what was needed in my life. This ministry has had a tremendous impact on the lives of inmates and volunteers alike, an impact that has not gone unnoticed. Margaret Harding recently had the opportunity to speak with Burkina Faso s WMU president about the possibility of providing such a ministry in that West African nation. Another longstanding prison ministry of WMU NC is the Christmas Red Boxes. This ministry continues to grow, and many thank you notes are received from incarcerated recipients saying their Red Box was the only gift they received and what a blessing it was for them. Since 2008 WMU NC women have participated with Habitat for Humanity Women Build in Wayne, Moore, Brunswick, Pitt, Rutherford and Randolph Counties. A volunteer from the 2013 Build, Linda Biddle, writes: Twelve ladies from Castle Hayne Baptist Church traveled to Asheboro to help with the Habitat for Humanity Women Build. Four of our ladies had never been on a build before so we were very excited. We usually build walls, but this year we worked on the inside. Some painted, some worked in the attic, some laid vinyl flooring and others did yard work. While we were there a lady came up and told us her story about how she had come to America and became a citizen. She had always dreamed of owning her own home and how God had heard her prayers and answered them through Habitat and WMU NC. People just like us! As I stood there listening I realized it doesn t matter if you can hammer a nail, put shingles on a roof, paint a wall or sweep a floor. You are being God s hands and showing His love to others. My prayer is that others will become His feet and hands and help others. Yes, we came home a little sore, but the new friendships we made (with each other) and with the people at Asheboro are priceless. With 10 major military bases and a large number of National Guard units in North Carolina, military missions have come to the forefront in recent years through the efforts of WMU NC adult specialist Margaret Harding. While partnering with other faithbased organizations which provide resources for military families, Margaret has a Military Missions Task Force composed of current and retired military chaplains, military wives and military moms who assist her. They are currently planning the first Military Wives Retreat scheduled in October at Camp Mundo Vista. Cara Lynn Vogel, state coordinator for Christian Women s Job Corps (CWJC)/Christian Men s Job Corps (CWJC)/, offers this report: CWJC and CMJC, a ministry of WMU, continues to flourish in North Carolina. Since July 2013, new sites have registered in Pitt, Robeson, Bladen and Chowan Counties. A new partnership has begun with the Family Care Units of Baptist Children s Homes of North Carolina as CWJC sites work with these single mothers as they strive to provide a better family for their children. As CWJC NC celebrates its 15th year of service in 2014, we are encouraged that there are Christians throughout North Carolina that are choosing to respond to those in poverty with the love of Christ. In May 2013, the WMU NC Executive Board voted to accept 72 Baptist State Convention of North Carolina

73 the invitation from Rev. Asatur Nahapetyan, general secretary of the Union of Evangelical Christian Baptist Churches of Armenia, to form a partnership for the specific purpose of ministering to women helping them understand their role in the church; helping them know how to minister in their communities; and teaching and training them in leadership skills. In September 2012 this teaching and training was provided to approximately 100 Armenian women in two retreat settings. It was in September 2013 that a larger dream of Brother Asatur s to provide a women s track of study at the seminary was realized as Dr. Laura Savage-Rains volunteered to teach the curriculum she had specifically developed for them. In June 2014, Dr. Savage-Rains returned to teach another semester s study at the Armenia seminary. Of the experience she wrote, I am so grateful for the trust WMU NC has placed in me to get to teach these young women. Who wouldn t want to teach such an appreciative group of students? Can t wait to go back in October. They are so eager to learn and apply what they re learning in their lives and in their churches. I am praying that some of them will emerge as leaders and writers and administrators for the kind of national women s organization that God has planned for them. Our hearts are joined with those of the Armenian women because the Father has brought us together to do great things for His glory and honor. The Father has also brought WMU NC together with the Baptist Children s Homes of North Carolina and NC Baptist Men. The Good Shepherd Children s Home in Xela, Guatemala, an affiliate of the Baptist Children s Homes of North Carolina, will provide a safe and loving home for impoverished and abandoned children of the Quiché tribe. In these months as Baptist Men and other groups continue renovations and preparations at the facility, WMU NC women across the state are praying and supporting the work, some anxiously waiting to travel to Xela themselves, that God might use their hands and voices to express His great love for these very special children. They remember the words of Jesus: Whoever welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. For he who is least among you all he is the greatest (Luke 9:48). Serving as president of the Hispanic Women s Fellowship (UFM) of WMU NC was a precursor for Veronica Martinez-Gallegos, who later became instrumental in the formation of the North Carolina Latina Leadership Institute (NC LLI). She was attending the Baptist University of the Americas (BUA) in San Antonio, Texas, when the university began its Latina Leadership Institute in Veronica recognized the Latina Leadership Institute as a program or initiative that would help identify, develop, nurture and empower Latina leaders to be transformational agents who could serve in church and community settings. Veronica received such benefit from the program that upon her return to North Carolina, she contacted Ruby Fulbright, the WMU NC executive 2014 Annual Report 73

74 director-treasurer at that time. After research and prayer, WMU NC entered into a four-year partnership with NC LLI to lead toward a certificate in Latina Leadership. Ten Latina women graduated from the program in June Of that momentous occasion Veronica said, Now these first 10 NC LLI graduates are ready and equipped to continue with their spiritual journeys to where God may lead them. They are the voices that will challenge others to continue with this training to serve God better equipped. In 2009 a Christian Women s Leadership Certification program was created with Campbell University Divinity School. In further partnership, Campbell hosted a WMU NC Day in October Students had opportunity to visit ministry displays, receive materials and resources, and participate in a dialogue session encouraging and challenging them to align their gifts, skills and passions with missions through WMU NC. As a result, Betsy Newsome did a practicum in the WMU NC office during the spring semester and has since become a part-time employee of WMU NC. Campbell also invited the participation of WMU NC earlier this year in their Missions and Ministry Week. Once again there was opportunity for interaction with students about the missions and ministries in which they might become involved. The theme for Missions Extravaganza 2014 was We ve a Story to TELL, with Acts 4:12 as the focal verse. As some 750 gathered at Lifeway Ridgecrest Conference Center, the 125th birthday of national WMU was celebrated through the speaking of national president, Debby Akerman. She shared that during this past year, we have remembered those who came before us. We have celebrated their many contributions that have made WMU who we are today. In revisiting the stories of women like Annie Armstrong and Fannie E. S. Heck, we have been inspired to move forward with the goal of equipping future generations in missions. To reach that goal will require us to be passionate about Jesus and passionate about missions. During the Annual Meeting it was announced that after over 20 years of meeting at Ridgecrest, Missions Extravaganza 2015 will be held April 17-18, at Ardmore Baptist Church in Winston-Salem. More information is available at WMU NC officers elected during the Annual Meeting were: Tana Hartsell, president (Concord); Dee Dee Moody, vice president (Faith); Beth McDonald, recording secretary (Rockingham); and Barbara Hill, assistant recording secretary (Statesville). Current staff includes: Sharon Alvarez, ministry assistant; Judy Branch, administrative assistant; Cheryl Daniel, accountant; Margaret Harding, adult specialist; Bob Navey, resident camp manager of Mundo Vista; and Tammy Tate, Camp Mundo Vista program director. Part-time staff includes Amy Adams and Betsy Newsome, communications coordinators; Julie Keith, youth specialist; Ani Simpkins, ministry assistant; and contract employee Andi Wilson, leadership development coordinator and Missions Extravaganza Conference coordinator. 74 Baptist State Convention of North Carolina

75 WMU NC was fortunate to provide two buses for North Carolina and a few South Carolina women to travel to Baltimore for the conclusion of national WMU s 125th birthday celebration and annual meeting. Baltimore was Annie Armstrong s home. Tours of special interest were conducted and included Miss Armstrong s church and gravesite. One participant shared: I will say I enjoyed every aspect of the trip. We had fun on the bus with music, games, trivia and, you know, we raised over $3,000 for WMU NC! I loved the sightseeing of Lottie Moon s gravesite in Crewe, Va., but especially loved visiting the places Annie Armstrong was a part of in Baltimore. We also saw her church and gravesite. What a legacy they have left to us to carry on! Indeed, what a legacy! The Search Committee for the position of WMU NC executive director-treasurer is particularly mindful of that as their process moves forward with selected candidates. The Father s hand is clearly at work, bringing people and situations together to accomplish His will and purposes in ways for which there are no other explanations. WMU NC has experienced great loss in the passing of two dear friends this past year. Michael W. Taylor, a faithful supporter, loyal friend, wise counselor and defender of the missions and ministries of WMU NC, passed away on September 29, Katharine Bryan served as the interim executive director-treasurer following Irma Duke. Katharine loved WMU NC, attending Missions Extravaganza as she could, and she fondly maintained friendships all across North Carolina. Katharine passed away on October 26, 2013, in Knoxville, Tenn. What a blessing God has called Woman s Missionary Union of North Carolina to challenge, prepare and equip boys and girls, men and women to be radically involved in spreading the Good News of Jesus and His love and His power to save. As we go and tell, what encouragement and assurance can be ours with the promise that anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father (John 14:12). Tana H. Hartsell, president 2014 Annual Report 75

76 <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< JOHN BUTLER EXECUTIVE LEADER 76 Baptist State Convention of North Carolina

77 T he staff of the Business Services Group is committed to using our knowledge, expertise and resources to assist churches to become more efficient and accomplish greater things as they make disciples among the diverse cultures in North Carolina. The reports that follow provide a snapshot of our efforts in The Business Services Group is responsible for the following Convention services and ministries: Baptist building operations Property/casualty insurance Accounting Budgets NC Baptist Scholarship Program NC Hunger ministry grants Resource Center operations Legal matters Investments Printing/mailing Human resources Benefits Annuity Camps, assemblies and conference centers General business operations We are guided and supported by the expertise of the Business Services Special Committee of the Board of Directors and are grateful for the talent and time invested by committee members. The Business Services Group, like each of the other groups, exists only because of the faithful giving of North Carolina Baptist churches. Without your gifts, we would be without resources to manage as stewards in God s Kingdom. Thank you for your support and your sacrifices together we can do far more than we can on our own. God is using our people, our properties and our resources to impact lostness through disciple-making. GUIDESTONE The GuideStone Team of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina has experienced many changes in 2013 and The most obvious was the changing of the guard when Johnny Ross and Betty Pleasant decided to retire toward the end of The new GuideStone Team of Davis Blount and Pamela Bills continues to work closely with GuideStone Financial Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention to serve the more than 4,300 churches affiliated with the Convention. The following information is a summary of those joint efforts: Retirement The GuideStone Team works with church staff and lay leaders in an effort to assist them in the restructuring of pastor and staff compensation packages to include retirement benefits. Many pastors and staff members do not see the benefits of participating in the Church Retirement Plan, and they will opt out of the plan if given an opportunity. Therefore, a continued effort is being made to assist churches to take responsibility for their pastors and staff by contributing a portion of their salaries to their retirement plans. In the past year, more than 2,000 of our 4,300 churches had no participation in the plan State Convention Protection 2014 Annual Report 77

78 Benefits The following disability and survivor benefits were in place for retirement participants: 113 people received a total of $586, in disability benefits, and 35 deaths resulted in a distribution of $418, to beneficiaries. The Convention continues to receive requests for financial assistance when pastors and church staff become disabled or pass away. Many of these people chose not to participate in the Church Retirement Plan; therefore, there is no financial assistance available. However, there have been a few occasions when the church took the lead by contributing into a pastor s or staff s retirement plan allowing their beneficiaries to receive the Protection Benefits provided by your state Convention. We cannot overemphasize the importance of enrolling in those plans offered by Guidestone that provide Protection Benefits. GuideStone Funds the nation s largest Christian-screened mutual fund family continues to be recognized by top industry ranking firms for its outstanding fund performance. On May 1, 2014, GuideStone Funds began accepting new values-driven investors by making available its 31 mutual funds for direct investment by those in the pew as well as those in the pulpit. Insurance Health Care Reform Law GuideStone remains a leader in its coverage of the impact that new tax laws have on our churches and their staff. Timely and thorough updates of changes in the tax law can be found on the GuideStone website. Major impacts for 2013 and 2014 associated with the implementation of the Affordable Care Act include GuideStone s decision to freeze issuing any new individual medical plans after December 31, 2013 the lifting of this freeze for new employees of eligible ministries beginning June 6, 2014, and the income tax impact on pastors and staff where a church pays for, or reimburses, their individual health insurance premiums. Church Staff Compensation Church staff participation in the 2014 Lifeway bi-annual Church Compensation Survey was completed on May 31, The results of the 2014 Compensation Survey were available by the end of the summer. Much of the year was spent educating churches on the tax implications of the lump sum pay packages for pastors and churches. The taxability of such pay packages continues to be a concern. Mission Dignity GuideStone Financial Resources continues to provide financial assistance to elderly ministers and widows of ministers who live under financial duress and need ongoing and/ or one-time assistance through Mission Dignity. During the year, GuideStone assisted about 225 North Carolinians financially. For assistance, call the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina at (800) , ext or 5637, visit our website at call GuideStone at (888) or visit the GuideStone website at Davis Blount, GuideStone state representative 78 Baptist State Convention of North Carolina

79 HUMAN RESOURCES The Office of Human Resources and Staff Development guides and supports the nearly 100 state missionaries serving alongside North Carolina Baptists, as well as approximately 90 full-time and 50 part-time support staff at our offices and facilities. Human Resources also works with about 200 retirees/spouses who, having qualified through years of continuous Convention service, have some retirement benefits from the Convention. Human Resources Mission Statement: BSCNC Staff A Staff in the Master s Hand. Human Resources is committed to assisting the Convention s Executive Committee select the best possible employees to work with the Convention and its churches: Baptist Christians committed to spreading the Good News of Jesus through individual job assignments. We continue to seek employees from other cultures to focus on our evangelistic and multicultural outreach to all the people moving into North Carolina, which has now become an international mission field itself. Human Resources works with the following areas: Recruitment and selection of personnel for staff within the Convention and its related facilities Orientation/training and development of employees Records maintenance Evaluation process for employees Termination of employment/exit interviews Maintenance of the Convention employee handbook, with updates per Federal and North Carolina employment law Benefits administration: Federal Government Health Care Reform will present new challenges to our Convention and staff in relation to health insurance: 1) Medical plan for all active employees 2) Medical retirement plan for qualified retirees 3) Life insurance plans for both groups 4) Background checks of employees and volunteers at Convention related conferences, camps and facilities. 5) E-Verify Federal program requirements presenting accurate documentation for all new employees using the I-9 that shows employees are eligible to work in the US. The Human Resources Office is committed to keeping the Convention up to date in improving our workplace and in following federal and state laws regarding employment issues. Human Resources assisted churches with questions about federal and state employment laws and how to find resources regarding employment law. Linda Hudson, director of human resources NORTH CAROLINA SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM The North Carolina Baptist Scholarship is awarded annually to undergraduate, full-time students who are members of a church affiliated with the Baptist State Convention and are attending Campbell University, Chowan University, Gardner-Webb University, Mars Hill University or Wingate University. First time applicants are required to answer two essay questions. The first question is regarding the applicant s 2014 Annual Report 79

80 personal testimony. The second question asks students to reflect upon the relevance of the Cooperative Program, which funds the scholarships. These essays are always very revealing. It is obvious that the ministries of the Convention are impacting applicants. Through ministries conducted at Convention owned camps and conference centers, to missionary endeavors at home and abroad, to Bible Drill and Sunday School today s students continue to be impacted by the missionary and ministry endeavors of local churches working in partnership with the Convention. As they share about the Cooperative Program s relevancy, applicants demonstrate their understanding of how the Cooperative Program helps churches work together for missions and education especially their education. Because the scholarship is an annual grant, requiring students to apply each year for a maximum of four years, returning applicants answer a different essay question: How has your testimony been affected by attending a Baptist school? Repeatedly, the response is the student s faith has been strengthened through the friendship of Christian friends, professors and administrators. For some, their experiences led them to surrender to a call to preach, teach or follow God s call to the mission field. For others, they desire to be doctors, pharmacists or lawyers or whatever God calls them to be; all the while approaching their vocation with a Christian worldview. Scholarship recipients are preparing for many different careers, but they hold a common denominator: they want to be on mission with God wherever He leads. The essay question for third-year students focuses on the impact of the campus minister/ministry on their lives as well as on campus. Recipients consistently respond that the campus minister gives them opportunities to be awakened to God s presence and plan for their lives through the weekly chapel service, as well as through participating in hands-on missions, such as Operation Inasmuch. For the academic year, more than 600 Baptist Scholarships were awarded totaling more than $600,000. The students say Thank you North Carolina Baptists for believing in me and for helping making it possible for me to attend the college of my dreams. John Butler, executive leader, Business Services Group WORLD HUNGER How do we respond to the physical needs of our nation s and our world s most desperate citizens? The World Hunger Offering! Each October, hundreds of North Carolina Baptist churches support this special offering, enabling us to put food on the plates of hundreds of thousands of children and adults in North Carolina, the United States and around the world. This year through our joint efforts with more than 100 churches, associations and the North American Mission Board, the Convention distributed more than $180,000 to feed hungry men, women and children in North Carolina. Ministries include backpack buddies, Kids Café, food pantries, crisis centers and lunch buddies. We have also helped establish community gardens with many North Carolina Baptist churches through our hunger grants. 80 Baptist State Convention of North Carolina

81 Ministry efforts focused on hunger are tremendous gateway ministries for impacting lostness. In 2013, churches focused on sharing the gospel to more than 114,000 people in their efforts to share not only bread and water, but the Bread of Life and the Living Water. Our statistics indicate that 247 people made a profession of faith. Jesus said, The poor you will have with you always. North Carolina Baptists recognize this as a reality in our state as we deal with the current economic downturn. Even during that downturn, churches and associations are standing ready to give food to the needy and to share the message, God loves you and gave His Son for you. John Butler, executive leader, Business Services Group RESOURCE CENTER As technology advances, many things we used to do the old way are becoming obsolete. The resource center ministry of the Convention has enabled many churches to check out DVD s for Bible Studies over the years, but the reality is that fewer and fewer churches have used this resource, as on-line studies and downloads have become the predominant way of accessing the needed teaching tools. Therefore, the Convention will discontinue this service effective with the 2014 Annual Session. We will be providing many of the materials that we have on hand to churches on a first come, first served basis at the Convention in the exhibit area. Thank you for allowing us to serve you in this capacity for so many years. John Butler, executive leader, Business Services Group CARAWAY CONFERENCE CENTER AND CAMP Greater things are definitely happening at Caraway Conference Center and Camp. Yes, expansion has finally become a reality after years of planning. The new Jacumin retreat lodge will be a great blessing to groups, and the new Hollifield Hall will be a first class meeting venue. However, all that falls short of the greater things happening in the lives of those who chose to come to Caraway for retreats, planning, continuing education and just rest. Jesus said in John 14:12 greater things will happen because He is going to the Father on our behalf. Because of His leadership, God is using these 1100 acres to impact lostness through disciple-making among children, youth and adults. He is bringing healing and strengthening to individuals, families and churches. He is burdening church leaders with the need to develop strategies to make disciples with an Acts 1:8 focus. He is providing rest to weary ministers of the gospel so that they can continue to lead their churches and live out their calling. Yes, Greater Things are definitely happening because of the investment North Carolina Baptists have made at Caraway Conference Center and Camp. The staff will serve faithfully to fulfill our mission of supporting the churches of the Convention. Under the leadership of the Holy Spirit, Greater Things will continue to happen at Caraway. Jimmy Huffman, director NORTH CAROLINA BAPTIST ASSEMBLY AT FORT CASWELL June marks our 64th year of hosting retreats, conferences, and camps 2014 Annual Report 81

82 programmed by the Convention, as well as retreats originating from our churches and events programmed by the Caswell staff. Beginning as a camp in June 1950 with only a few thousand during that first summer, we now host approximately 40,000 guests annually on a year-round basis. Summer weeks are still our busiest time with fall and spring close behind. More and more we see Baptist families using our facilities for family retreats and reunions. Public and private schools as well as home school groups are coming to our Environmental Stewardship Program (ESP) in increasing numbers each year. Still, over 80 percent of our guests are North Carolina Baptists. True to our original mission to provide a summer camp experience for youth and adults, the summer weeks will be filled with 1,000 youth and adults per week. There will be hundreds of professions of faith made and thousands of rededications during summer camp weeks. Our goal is for Caswell to become the best tool for youth disciplemaking in North Carolina. The long-range campus development and facilities improvement program began last year with the completion of Sandpiper Lodge, which can house up to 116 youth and chaperones. Gifts received toward the furnishing of Sandpiper Lodge were a great help in fulfilling that dream. Each of the fifteen rooms was furnished through the generosity of individual donors and foundations. Work on the design of the second of four additional new cottages which can house 30 to 60 people is underway and construction should begin this fall as funds are available. A vital part of the long-range plan is the total renovation of the Smith Conference Center. For generations, life-changing decisions have been made at Caswell. For the Generations to Come those of us who have been the beneficiary of this ministry must invest in this effort to complete the long-range plan so that we can continue to provide this important ministry. What a blessing and treasure we North Carolina Baptists possess. It is always a good time to make the commitment to honor what we have been given by God s providence. In 1949, Dr. M.A. Huggins led the effort to purchase these 288 acres on the eastern tip of Oak Island named Fort Caswell from the U.S. Government for $86,000. The vision for what this facility could mean to North Carolina Baptists is being realized but is not yet complete. We will move forward to that end. The first person to contact us after reading this report in the annual Book of Reports will receive a free weekend for two in the Smith Conference Building or Oceana Motel. Rick Holbrook, director TRUETT CAMP Truett Camp is one of the best places to come together to expose the guests to wonders of our Creator in the beautiful setting in the southwestern tip of North Carolina. This is the 62nd year of camps. Our campus is adorned in the spring with rhododendrons, azaleas, day lilies and trees, and we enjoy four seasons of beauty. Our Happiness Retreat is enjoyed by campers with developmental disabilities as well as their caregivers to show love in action by helping each other. 82 Baptist State Convention of North Carolina

83 Each year we offer a variety of camps for churches to consider. Two weeks of Girl s Camp focus on living a life that is pleasing to God and becoming disciples who are making disciples. Two weeks of Music Camp are offered and our mountains come alive with singing and music and praising God. We have one week of Boy s Camp, and each camper gets to meet someone that will possibly be a lifetime friend. We have other church camps that show forth God s work on campus and when they leave they have learned how to trust God in all they do. All of these camps prepare us for the Greater Things that God would have us do. Our programs allow guests to have their meetings or camps in the Roberson Conference Center or the Education Building and have an over-night stay in the barracks or staff lodge. We have a new zip line to add to the fun that can be enjoyed by our campers and guests this summer. Remember, a day, weekend or week at Truett Baptist Camp will etch in your heart and mind experiences that will last a lifetime. Some of our former campers and counselors have become ministers, North American and international missionaries and above all people that want to make a difference in the uncertain times in which we are living. Please keep us in your prayers because we are trying to make improvements so each person s stay is more enjoyable. Tim Roberson, director 2014 Annual Report 83

84 <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< CHUCK REGISTER EXECUTIVE LEADER 84 Baptist State Convention of North Carolina

85 T he Church Planting and Missions Partnerships (CPMP) Group, operating under the vision statement, Under God s leadership, we will assist North Carolina Baptist churches, associations and networks in developing disciple makers through the planting of multiplication churches, engaging the collegiate community and partnering with other evangelicals in order to impact unreached and unengaged people groups in North Carolina, North America and the world, with the gospel of Jesus Christ is comprised of four ministry teams: Associational Partnerships, Church Planting, Collegiate Partnerships and Great Commission Partnerships. The CPMP Group works faithfully and diligently to awaken North Carolina Baptists to the boundless Great Commission ministry opportunities God has given us. During 2014, the CPMP Group turned its attention to the implementation of the statewide strategy Impacting Lostness Through Disciple-making. As a group, our consultants are focused on assisting North Carolina Baptist churches in engaging the top 100 pockets of lostness in the state. To assist in these efforts new resources were developed, such as www. impactnorthcarolina.net and www. MissionsInSite.com. These Webbased resources are excellent tools to help congregations understand the communities around them and to identify missions tools to assist in reaching their communities. The Group also launched the NCMapID project in Charlotte, Raleigh-Durham, and Greensboro. The project aims to identify unreached people groups and unreached and unengaged people groups living in these three major urban areas of the state. To date, 54 locations have been identified for church planting among East Asian, Southeast Asian, African and Middle Eastern Peoples. Plans for 2015 include the expansion of this project to Asheville, Fayetteville and Greenville. The CPMP Group remains committed to assisting North Carolina Baptist churches, associations and networks in reaching the 5.8 million lost residents of our state and in reaching the non- English speaking people represented by the 300 plus languages spoken across North Carolina. Selected Ministry Highlights for the CPMP Group: Assisted North Carolina Baptist churches, associations and approved networks in planting 116 new churches during In 2013, celebrated 4,234 professions of faith through the ministries of Convention funded church plants. Convention church planting consultants worked with peoples from 64 different language groups and church planters from 17 different countries Annual Report 85

86 Launched the new paradigm for Collegiate Ministry focused on assisting local churches, associations and networks in engaging academic communities across the state with the gospel. Initiated the NCMapID Project in the three major urban areas of the Triangle, the Triad and Charlotte. The project aims to identify unreached people groups and unreached and unengaged people groups living in these areas of the state. To date, 54 locations have been identified for church planting among East Asian, Southeast Asian, African and Middle Eastern Peoples. Launched North Carolina focused Web-based missions tools such as www. impactnc.net and com Conducted vision trips to East Asia and Southeast Asia exploring missions partnerships opportunities through the International Mission Board to engage Unreached and Unengaged People Groups with the gospel. Worked in conjunction with our SBC Great Commission partners the International Mission Board, the North American Mission Board (NAMB) and Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. Chuck Register serves as executive leader for the CPMP Group. The group is comprised of three teams plus the Office of Great Commission Partnerships. The Associational Partnerships Team, led by Lester Evans, works closely with the 78 Baptist associations across the state to encourage, resource and produce healthy churches and associations. The Church Planting Team equips church planters through training, seminars, networking and coaching. The team is led by Mark Gray and includes the following consultants: Pam Mungo, Anglo/African-American church planting; Ralph Garay, Asian church planting; Richard Lee, urban church planting; and William Ortega, Hispanic church planting. The Collegiate Partnerships Team assists and resources North Carolina Baptist churches and associations to engage college students and others in the academic community with the gospel. The team currently includes four consultants: Evan Blackerby, central region consultant; Jonathan Yarboro, western region consultant; Sammy Joo, Triangle international consultant; and Tom Knight, Charlotte international consultant. Rick Trexler served as Team Leader until his retirement July 31, The Office of Great Commission Partnerships assists North Carolina Baptist churches and associations in developing, implementing and maintaining a missions strategy to reach unreached and unengaged people groups in their local areas, across North Carolina, North America and around the world. For more information, visit ncbaptist.org/gcp. A Strategic Shift in Collegiate Ministry There are more than 591,000 college students in North Carolina. There are 35,000 staff and faculty interacting with those students. And this group of 626,000 people is found spread across 200 plus college campuses in North Carolina. The Collegiate Partnerships Team s goal is to see no campus left without a gospel presence. In April of 2013, the Convention 86 Baptist State Convention of North Carolina

87 began the process of rolling out a new statewide strategy that centered on Impacting Lostness Through Disciplemaking. As part of this strategy and subsequent staff restructure, the long-standing Campus Ministry Team was replaced with a new team called Collegiate Partnerships focused on assisting the churches of the BSCNC in making disciples among the over- 200 collegiate communities in North Carolina. It was a radical, aggressive shift that saw the Convention take a backseat to the churches. The old strategy of campus ministry utilized a single model wherein Conventionemployed campus ministers served on a select nine residential campuses across the state and asked churches to support ministry that (essentially) the Convention owned. Conceptually, the shift in strategy has opened the door for: 1. Church Ownership and Empowerment The new strategy utilizes five consultants who are specialists in the area of collegiate ministry. Serving the churches of the Convention, they serve as coaches or strategists, assisting those churches, not with a Convention-imposed model of ministry, but with a model of ministry desired and utilized by the churches. The new strategy seeks to assist, strengthen and resource churches as they engage collegiate communities and make disciples among those communities. 2. Creative Contextualization Rather than assuming and projecting one model of ministry into every collegiate community across the state, the new collegiate partnerships strategy encourages and supports churches in their efforts to creatively contextualize ministry to the unique needs of the campus they are seeking to engage with the gospel. The Collegiate Partnerships Team has identified at least seven different models of collegiate ministry that are being utilized by churches across the state. Some churches find one model that works for them in their unique contexts while other churches lean toward a different model. Still, others may choose to create a hybrid of two or more models. The possibilities are now virtually endless in creating a culturally relevant model of collegiate ministry. 3. Greater Gospel Impact With the new strategy of collegiate partnerships, the number of campus communities engaged with the gospel is no longer limited by the restraints of one organization s budget. The Convention was maxed out in placing full-time campus ministers with a gospel presence on nine campuses and assisting as many as 29 others with financial resources and volunteer assistance. By empowering churches with more cost-effective and contextualized approaches, the Convention is able to be better stewards of Cooperative Program funds by starting new works and assisting churches in making disciples within collegiate communities with an eye toward seeing gospel presences at every college or university across the state. Furthermore, the new strategy removes the perceived limitation of having only one gospel presence within a collegiate community. Most Convention-owned campus ministries were reaching less than one percent of their student population. Just like it is ridiculous to expect one church to reach an entire city, one collegiate ministry cannot be expected to reach an entire campus. Collegiate communities need multiple gospel presences to effectively make 2014 Annual Report 87

88 disciples as Jesus commanded. By empowering and supporting churches in making disciples within collegiate communities, the Collegiate Partnerships Team can assist in creating a greater breadth of gospel presence at each of the colleges or universities. A New Team for a New Strategy The Collegiate Partnerships Team is presently comprised of four experienced and gifted consultants. As our new paradigm for ministry unfolds each consultant has assumed various responsibilities in keeping with their skills, passion, expertise and experience. Sammy Joo and Tom Knight, having served with international students under the old strategy, were tasked with new responsibilities, serving as consultants charged with resourcing and equipping churches to make disciples among international students across the entire state of North Carolina. No longer would they only lead local ministries in the Raleigh and Charlotte areas, respectively; rather, their vast experience and expertise in the area of ministry with international students would serve the churches of the Convention in making disciples of all nations, even as those nations come to North Carolina! Joo s first-hand knowledge of what it is like to come to the U.S. from another country for educational purposes, along with his deep love of the gospel and unique experience in international ministry contexts gives the team a breadth of diversity and cultural perspective essential to effectiveness in ministry with international students. Knight s experience as an IMB missionary and 14 years of leadership among international student ministries, coupled with his sincere love for crosscultural ministry provide unique insight for churches desiring to take the daunting step of delving into a crosscultural context. Evan Blackerby and Jonathan Yarboro were hired to assist churches as consultants across the state. After serving with Baptist Campus Ministry (BCM) on the campus of UNC- Greensboro where he transitioned the ministry from a centralized campus ministry to a network of missional communities, Blackerby brings a unique expertise to the team. With a knack for seeing what is coming on the other side of cultural shifts, Blackerby helps churches adapt to and anticipate those changes in order to leverage its own influence and resources for the advancement of the gospel. Yarboro led BCM at Appalachian State University (ASU) through a huge transition, eventually being recognized nationally for their aggressive missionary culture on the campus. With very little experience in collegiate ministry prior to his work at ASU, Yarboro leans upon his experience on church staffs and in church planting. Known for his keen ability to both contextualize and create new ministry strategies, as well as his experience leading what became the largest BCM in North Carolina, Yarboro will be able to coach churches in finding the best model of ministry that fits both the church s identity and the culture they are trying to influence with the gospel. Implementing the Strategy The new strategy, from the beginning, was to be centered on assisting churches in their efforts to make disciples. In order to develop the 88 Baptist State Convention of North Carolina

89 strategy, the Collegiate Partnerships Team immediately began a collaborative research effort to identify existing collegiate ministry models. Some models they identified had already been implemented within North Carolina; others were only being used outside North Carolina. Each model has its own set of strengths and weaknesses, truly demonstrating the need for contextualization. So far, the team has identified and worked with the following models in North Carolina: Campus-based Ministry Model: Built on the foundation of a Registered Student Organization (RSO) with a campus minister assigned to a specific campus (or neighboring campuses), this strategy is often viewed as a model to residential students on campus and the one the BSCNC used nearly exclusively before the strategy change. The ministry serves as a missional hub of students and as the bridge between the campus and the local church. It is particularly helpful on campuses that are hostile to the presence of churches. Since the formation of the Collegiate Partnerships Team, the team has worked with networks and associations utilizing the Campus-based Ministry Model at Appalachian State University, UNC-Charlotte, Gardner-Webb University, Wingate University, North Carolina State University, East Carolina University, UNC-Pembroke and UNC- Wilmington. Collegiate Church Plant Model Aimed at planting a new congregation on or near the college/university campus, this model focuses on discipling college students and other members of the academic community. This strategy utilizes bold proclamation of the gospel, personal evangelism, intentional disciple-making, and intensive leadership development. It is best utilized when there is no, or few, evangelical churches postured or able to reach the campus with the gospel. The Collegiate Partnerships Team has begun working with collegiate churches at Western Carolina University, Johnson & Wales University and East Carolina University. Satellite Church Model This model involves producing a satellite ministry of a congregation on the college/university campus. The satellite becomes an extension of an already established church and each venue offers a similar atmosphere and experience as one would get from the primary worship gathering at the sponsoring church. Satellites may employ live preaching, video broadcast or simulcast of the main worship service of the sponsoring church. It is most effective with larger churches possessing an ability to gather students because of a pre-existing, widespread reputation. The Collegiate Partnerships Team has worked with churches interested in starting satellites at Lees McRae College and UNC-Pembroke. Church-based Ministry Model Used extensively among churches with very little assistance from the Convention, this model focuses on creating programs within the church tailored to the needs of college students. Sometimes featuring Sunday School classes oriented for College and Career, worship gatherings tailored to the preferences of college students, topical book studies on relevant college issues, or programs where members adopt college students and bless them with care packages, notes and prayers, churches working in this model relate either to their own membership who have gone off to 2014 Annual Report 89

90 college, the students on campuses of nearby colleges, or their own college students who have not left town for their education. The Collegiate Partnerships Team has worked with churches using this model near Gardner-Webb University, Western Carolina University, Duke University, Appalachian State University, North Carolina State University, UNC- Greensboro and UNC-Charlotte. Missional Communities Model This strategy seeks to produce disciples who make disciples, preparing students to view their world and function within their world as missionaries, regardless of their context. Components include sharing Scripture stories, telling personal stories and living the Christlife day-by-day in relationship within a specific community on campus. Focus is on evangelistic/missional outreach and iron sharpening iron life transformation. The model works best within an existing social construct, like on a residential campus or within affinity groups connected to a campus. The Collegiate Partnerships Team has worked primarily with UNC-Greensboro and Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College within this model. People Group-centered Model This model expresses a cross-cultural missiology traditionally employed by international missionaries. The campus is broken down into separate, unreached communities (based on social structures, academic communities, affinity groups, etc.) so that churches can send missionaries into those communities to make and reproduce disciples. When using this model, a network of churches working together can effectively spread their efforts over an entire campus. This model is best utilized on a residential campus within Greek life or athletic communities, but it is extremely potent with community colleges because of the narrowly focused social communities. The Collegiate Partnerships Team has been working with churches and associations within this model regarding Haywood Community College, Blue Ridge Community College, Rowan-Cabarrus Community College, Stanly Community College, Durham Technical Community College and UNC-Chapel Hill. Shared-space Partnership Model In this model, churches partner together for the benefit of shared real estate. While these churches may not work together in actual ministry, they see the value of working together to have access to ministry space otherwise unavailable to them. For example, they may share office space in a building on or adjacent to a college campus, or they may utilize an actual space used for worship, wherein the partnering churches each choose a different time to meet during the week. It is most effective when churches are mutually respectful of each other and supportive of one another when resources are scarce and hard to come by. The Collegiate Partnerships Team has worked with churches using this model at UNC-Chapel Hill, UNC-Greensboro and East Carolina University. Ministry to Internationals During the transition to the new strategy, ministry to international students has been elevated among churches. Stand-alone ministries that pre-existed the change to the new strategy in Raleigh, Charlotte, Winston- Salem and Greensboro have continued reaching international students. 90 Baptist State Convention of North Carolina

91 The Baptist Campus Ministry at Appalachian State that began ministry to international students only in August 2013 is now reaching 85 percent of the entire university s international enrollment with four churches actively involved in that effort. Churches across the state are beginning to see the reality of the nations coming to North Carolina. Churches in Cabarrus County are now reaching out to international students flooding the area for research development experience. Non-English-Speaking churches in the Charlotte area are engaging international students at UNC-Charlotte, Queens University and Central Piedmont Community College with the gospel. Korean and Chinese churches in Raleigh are doing the same at North Carolina State University and Wake Technical Community College. Furthermore, at the International Scholar Weekend at Caswell in April 2014, international students from campuses as far west as Boone and as far east as Chowan gathered to celebrate their cultures and hear the gospel. Equipping New Partners With a new strategy that calls out and empowers churches to reach collegiate communities, the Collegiate Partnerships Team began to seek out, identify and meet the needs of those churches. And with most churches embarking on a new task in engaging college students and campus life, there were a whole new set of challenges that emerged. For one, many churches find college campuses daunting and intimidating. Awareness of collegiate secularization and marginalized Judeo-Christian ideologies often leaves churches feeling ill-prepared for the challenges of the philosophies that are prevalent on college campuses. But as these churches begin to realize that universities and colleges contribute to a significant percentage of the lostness surrounding their communities and move from a posture of isolation and finger-pointing to loving engagement for the sake of the gospel, they find themselves in need of training. There are a plethora of challenges facing churches as they take up this mantle, and the Collegiate Partnerships Team has already begun to meet some of those needs with coaching and training. T4T: Collegiate Edition On March 1, the Collegiate Partnerships Team hosted a one-day disciple-making workshop at Pitts Baptist Church in Concord. T4T (Training for Trainers) is a method of making disciples with an organic, relational emphasis focused on rapid multiplication. Forty collegiate leaders from around the state attended the workshop, and many of them began to apply the principles to their ministry immediately. Support-Raising Workshop Churches are taking on new mission challenges when they turn their sights onto the college campus, yet their budgets are not increasing proportionately. The financial challenges are causing churches to think creatively in regard to funding new ministry initiatives. And while missionaries who raise their own support have been largely anathema to the Baptist world in North Carolina, churches have begun to see the advantages of it as they look outside our own state and outside our own Convention. Other collegiate organizations have built entire ministries dependent upon support-raising staff. Particularly in 2014 Annual Report 91

92 the emerging regions of the Northwest, Northeast and Midwest, churches and missions initiatives, even in Baptist life, have been dependent upon support-raising staff for years. And now, many churches are realizing that support-raising is a reality just over the horizon here in North Carolina. Associations, churches, networks and other groups seeking to move forward into collegiate ministry are seeing both the advantage of such a strategy and the need for it. Therefore, the Collegiate Partnerships Team is stepping in to assist. In July of 2014, the Collegiate Partnerships Team hosted a one-day workshop in Charlotte for collegiate leaders seeking to move forward in raising their own support. It was free to all participants and led by Chad McMillan of Resonate Church in Pullman, Washington. Chad raises his own support and teaches and coaches other support-raisers for the Resonate community. Converge365 Another challenge emerging collegiate leaders and churches who are rising to the task face is a familiarity with only one (or at most, two) model(s) of collegiate ministry. They can t fathom other models of ministry because they have never been exposed to them. Most have never even heard of them and among those churches who are aware of alternative models of collegiate ministry, many of them hold one model above all the rest or defame models they misunderstand. There is an antagonistic mindset between churches that tout different ministry models. In response to this reality and the need to understand the plethora of potential models, the Collegiate Partnerships Team hosted a conference unlike anything else the Convention has offered. In less than 24 hours (September 26-27) at North Carolina Central University in Durham, seven collegiate practitioners from North Carolina, Kentucky, Oklahoma and Ohio all utilizing different models of ministry provided seven presentations of their collegiate ministry ideas. They did not agree with each other. Participants were encouraged to ask hard questions of them from the floor. It was an event designed to bring the struggle of effective collegiate ministry to the forefront and expose those just beginning to engage college communities with several different ministry models. In the end, participants saw that while others may choose different methods, they are all on the same team working toward the same goal of making disciples. The Collegiate Partnerships Team is still living in transition and still discerning the needs of the churches of the Convention they serve. It will be an on-going process of determining what long-standing programs like summer missions and student conferences will look like. But collegiate ministry is moving forward with vigor, excitement and focus. There are over 591,000 college students in North Carolina in need of the gospel. There are 35,000 faculty teaching those students. And as the Collegiate Partnerships Team seeks to assist churches in making disciples in collegiate communities, they have a goal to find no campus left without a gospel presence. OFFICE OF GREAT COMMISSION PARTNERSHIPS The Great Commission of Matthew 28:18-20 assures us that the Lord Jesus has provided His authority and His presence so that His name is known and proclaimed among all 92 Baptist State Convention of North Carolina

93 the people groups of the earth. In 2014, the Office of Great Commission Partnerships was able to see unreached and unengaged people groups engaged with the gospel because of the faithfulness of North Carolina Baptist churches. Below are some highlights. The Nations in North Carolina North Carolina is quickly becoming a destination for immigrants from all over the world. Psalm 2:8 gives us a promise that if we will ask of God, He will make the nations our inheritance. Many across North Carolina have prayed and God is bringing the nations to our state. Researchers tell us that more than 300 languages are spoken in the state. Through the North Carolina Metropolitan Identification Project, we have identified ethnic people groups and discovered over 54 points of engagement in the Charlotte area, in the Triad area and in the Triangle area alone. Now that we have identified these ethnic people groups, we have developed and implemented strategies to initiate engagement with the gospel so that ethnic churches are planted among these people groups and so that these new believers are mobilized to engage in cross-cultural missions. North American Partnerships North Carolina churches continue their strategic partnerships with North American Mission Board s (NAMB) Send North America city of Toronto. There are more than 5.5 million people in the Greater Toronto area and approximately 97 to 99 percent of these people have no personal relationship with Jesus Christ. The people of Toronto are detached from anything that looks like church, or church family. North Carolina Baptist churches continue to engage lostness through disciple-making by partnering with church planters throughout the Greater Toronto Area. Jarrod Scott, senior pastor of Green Pines Baptist Church in Knightdale, has led his church to partner with Matt Hess, a church planter in Pickering, Canada. A recent report from Matt celebrates the fact that, Eleven people went public with their faith at our first baptism service and told the world they are not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ! In New York City, thousands of North Carolina Baptists continue to infiltrate the city with the gospel. The Office of Great Commission Partnerships continues to help North Carolina churches and associations connect with the Metropolitan New York Baptist Association (MNYBA). The MNYBA reaches out to a 75-mile radius from Times Square and seeks to share the gospel in a region of more than 22 million people! This December, North Carolina Baptists will once again partner to distribute more than 30,000 coats, Bibles and Jesus films in some of the most unreached areas of New York through Coats for the City. C. J. Bordeaux, senior pastor of Gorman Baptist Church in Durham and current president of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, is leading his church to New York in December for Coats for the City. The Coats for the City effort enables North Carolina Baptists to distribute coats to those in need and to look for open doors to share the gospel with those who are not yet believers in Jesus Christ. In Boston, North Carolina churches continue to engage lostness through strategic partnerships with NAMB s Send North America city of Boston 2014 Annual Report 93

94 the academic center of the world. Although there are many church buildings throughout Greater Boston, these buildings provide only a historic appeal and they promote a universalist philosophy, they do not serve as gospel-proclaiming centers for the Lord Jesus Christ. Robin Fisher, senior pastor of Sunset Avenue Baptist Church in Rocky Mount, and Steve Roberson, associate pastor of Sunset Avenue, are both leading their church to engage in their church s Boston partnership. They partner with Stephen McDonald, a church planter who serves in the Boston suburb of Lowell. Sunset Avenue wants their strategy in the Boston partnership to focus on evangelism and church planting so that many Boston area people are reached with the gospel. International Partnerships This year, the Office of Great Commission Partnerships launched new partnerships in unreached and unengaged areas around the world. Working with International Mission Board (IMB) field leadership, North Carolina Baptists have the opportunity to engage some of the remaining unengaged peoples of the world. These people groups are among the highest priorities for the IMB field leadership. These are people for whom Christ died, but they have never had a chance to hear the message of the gospel. In the Middle East, we discovered new opportunities of engagement among Syrian refugees. In East Asia, Mount Vernon Baptist Church in Raleigh and Mud Creek Baptist Church in Hendersonville developed new engagement projects among unreached and unengaged people groups in a remote region of East Asia. In Southeast Asia, we discovered new doors of opportunity among unreached and unengaged people groups in the northern and southern regions of Southeast Asia. In Moldova, we have now seen seven of the nine regions of the country adopted by North Carolina Baptist churches for gospel engagement. In some of the most difficult and challenging places in the world, North Carolina Baptist churches are reaching unreached and unengaged peoples who have not yet heard the gospel of Jesus Christ. Training Next Generation Leaders The Office of Great Commission Partnerships continues to provide training and mission opportunities through the Next Generation Missional Journey (Next Gen). Partnering with the Metropolitan New York Baptist Association and Global Gates, Next Gen students shared the gospel with Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and others. In addition, the students participated in people group research among unreached and unengaged people groups. The Next Gen team also traveled to Southeast Asia to provide people group research and engage in gospel-sharing opportunities. The Office of Great Commission Partnerships is driven by Romans 10:14. We believe that everyone deserves to hear the gospel at least once in their lifetime. CHURCH PLANTING The Baptist State Convention of North Carolina s Church Planting Team continues to focus on reaching the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina

95 million who are lost in our state. The goal is to share the gospel, compel the lost to come to Christ, and to become maturing, reproducing disciples of the Lord Jesus. With the population of approximately 9.8 million people living among us, there are now over 300 languages spoken in the homes of school children in our state. The world is coming to us! We are effectively identifying the unreached language and people groups and praying for God to send church planting missionaries to reach them for Christ. Last year, new church plants made a total of 89,304 evangelistic contacts sharing the good news we have been entrusted to share. God is faithful to continue to answer our prayers in sending missionaries to fulfill His Commission. Haihua Gu and his wife uprooted their lives and relocated to North Carolina from China for a job opportunity as bio-medical researchers. Shortly after moving to North Carolina, they realized God had an even bigger plan in mind for them. Settling down in Kannapolis, Haihua had a vision for a Chinese church ministering to other Chinese researchers in the area. Within two years of the ministry, Haihua began to expand the geographical boundaries of his church plant, reaching Chinese all over the greater Charlotte region. Now there are Chinese house churches preaching the gospel in their heart language meeting in restaurants and malls. Last year, the BSCNC welcomed 117 new churches in North Carolina. These new churches represent the growing diversity in our state. New churches included Cowboy and Deaf churches, as well as language churches in Banar (Vietnamese), Chinese, Haitian, Hispanic, Indian, Jarai, Karen (Myanmar), Korean, Laotian, Moldovan, Nepali, Pakistani, Zomi (Myanmar). In addition, 15 of the new churches were African-American and 41 were Anglo. In recent years, the Church Planting Team has worked with more than 64 language groups, recognizing the importance of people most responsively receiving the gospel and being discipled in their heart language. Lee Whitaker was a secular bandleader who played in local bars, but through coming to know Christ he turned into a church planter. After he accepted Christ, he became convicted by the type of music he was playing and decided to put it to rest. However, he could not put to rest the people he had grown to love who frequented the same bars where he once played. His passion for this context led him to plant a church specifically for people who frequent bars. Unconventionally, they meet wearing shorts and flip-flops and are reaching the lowest economic level right where they are. Equipping church planting missionaries continues to be vital to effective new churches. Last year more than 70 church planting missionaries and spouses were equipped to communicate the gospel. North Carolina Baptists have four fulltime church planting consultants, in addition to effective contract workers who regularly coach church planters to be at their very best in reaching people and making disciples. Last year 4,324 people made professions of faith in these new church plants. Affinity group church plants are no longer an uncommon concept, however a church specifically devoted to reaching troubled youth is a rarity Annual Report 95

96 That is exactly what church planter Ted Stump has set out to do. Captivate Church in Asheville has seen over 50 teens baptized in a horse trough and averages 70 in attendance in weekly worship services. With great effort, planning and flexibility, new churches meet in a variety of settings for worship all across our state. We are grateful for North Carolina churches that have stepped forward to offer meeting spaces for new church plants, as well as use of the church s baptismal facilities. Others meet in leased schools and storefronts, barns and warehouses, associational offices and homes. Last year these new churches, some at the early stage of gathering a planting core and some having launched, have a combined total of 6,185 in worship attendance each week. With a rapidly growing Hispanic presence in North Carolina, the need for Hispanic churches is great. Conexion Hispanic Baptist Church in Charlotte is doing everything they can to meet the needs and share the gospel with native Spanish-speakers. With the support and encouragement from their partnering church, East Baptist Church in Charlotte, Conexion is able to do much more to aid the Latino community than they would alone. Pastor Jon DeBell of East Baptist has opened the doors of his church as a meeting place for Conexion in efforts to help them develop their church plant. Since meeting at East Baptist, Conexion averages around 70 people in weekly worship attendance. Over 20 people have been baptized and many others are ready to be baptized in the coming months. Conexion is now looking to multiply and start another church in a strategic location all in efforts to reach more Hispanics right where they are. Communicating the value and importance of partnerships with other Baptists continues to be a critical part of the equipping and coaching of church planters. Church plants that receive funds from the Convention commit to give five percent to the Cooperative Program, three percent to their association or network, and two percent to other new church plants of their choice. Last year, new church plants contributed $84,720 to the Cooperative Program and $53,520 to their association or network. Mercy Hill Church in Greensboro, pastored by Andrew Hopper, launched in September of In less than a year Mercy Hill has already moved physical locations and offers three different service times to accommodate the incredible growth they are seeing. In April of 2014, around 15 people were baptized and that number continues to rise as Mercy Hill loves and reaches their community. Much gratitude is expressed to the Lord as more and more churches are coming forward to partner in a new church plant. Multiplication is critical in reaching the state for Christ and gives evidence of vision, maturity and health. The Church Planting Team will continue to guide and equip churches in effectively reproducing in order to reach the unreached with the gospel. Church planter Misael Garriga is all about multiplication. In the fall of 2012 he planted two churches simultaneously in two separate locations. After growing and building these churches, he has begun the process of starting a third church in Roxboro. With an average of Baptist State Convention of North Carolina

97 in weekly worship attendance and 122 baptisms between the first two churches he started, it will be exciting to see how God will use Misael in Roxboro. The importance of prayer in asking God to send church planting missionaries into the harvest in North Carolina continues to be vital to Kingdom impact. Prayer is our most effective recruiting tool in enlisting church planting missionaries in our state. We have Prayer Partners across the state praying regularly for God to send church planting missionaries to North Carolina, as well as praying each week for specific needs of church planters. We are grateful for the partnership of such prayer warriors in our denominational family. If you are interested in joining this significant prayer team, please contact Sara Jolley at or (800) , ext to receive weekly s with prayer requests. You will make a difference in the lives of church planters and in the lives of the lost. ASSOCIATIONAL PARTNERSHIPS We are grateful for the vital and strategic ministry partnerships with the associational leaders representing 78 associations across the state. Our staff is thankful for these leaders, for their servant hearts and faithfulness to making a difference in their communities and beyond. This year, associational partnerships and the North Carolina Associational Missions Conference co-hosted the summer conference at Caraway providing opportunities for networking, sharing and training, all of which are vital to effective associational ministry. The conference theme was Kingdom Matrix: Designing a Church for the Kingdom of God. The guest presenter was Dr. Jeff Christopherson, NAMB vice president for the Northeast and Canada. Dr. Christopherson offered an overview of his book, Kingdom Matrix: Designing a Church for the Kingdom of God. Associational missionary spouses also met together during their own separate and focused conference. Each January, associational partnerships sponsor the associational/ convention staff retreat where leaders dialogue about common ministry points in associations across North Carolina. Leaders share ideas and encourage one another in their missionary and disciple-making opportunities. An orientation for new associational missionaries was offered in the afternoon prior to sessions. This year s emphasis was Missionary Leadership: Kingdom Movement in an effort to produce healthier churches stronger associations. The guest speaker was Jeff Sundell, U.S. Strategy Director, E3 Partners Ministry. Jeff s presentations offered training in the use of T4T, short for Training for Trainers. T4T is a method of rapid multiplication of disciple-makers that potentially can result in a church planting movement with generations of multiplying disciples. Associational partnerships assists associations with filling associational ministry positions through associational search committee training along with a database of possible candidates. Associational partnerships continue to develop and connect potential associational missionaries, new associational missionaries and experienced associational missionaries with training and orientation opportunities offered by the Convention 2014 Annual Report 97

98 and other entities that resource associational missionaries such as the Network of Baptist Associations and the Southern Baptist Conference of Directors of Missions. Premier training is available during these opportunities for sharpening skills and developing competencies for future challenges. This year, several North Carolina associational missionaries completed three weeks of intensive Great Commission Initiatives training. This training is designed to help those who participate to think strategically and is the same level of training provided to IMB missionaries. Through ministry partnership agreements (MPA s) local associations partner with this office in resourcing outreach opportunities such as church planting, resort ministry, ethnic and language ministry and various other ministries. The entire process for MPAs from the association receiving the forms for submission, to instructions and guidance of the process, to delivery to the appropriate Convention ministry group and to the communication of the status of the request and final approval flows through associational partnerships. Ten percent of the funds that churches in a local association contribute to the North Carolina Missions Offering (NCMO) returns to that local association as mission funding. Associations across the state maximize NCMO funds in a variety of ways to launch new ministries and expand their reach to people who need to know Christ. For example, Randolph Baptist Association used funds from NCMO for their annual Sports Expo that drew more than 2,100 people. This evangelistic event is tailored toward unchurched men, women and children who love hunting, fishing and the outdoors. Ninety-three people made salvation decisions and 74 made rededications to Christ. The association also used funds from NCMO to equip a ministry trailer with a popcorn popper, an ice shaver, a cotton candy machine and two hotdog cookers for churches to use at VBS, Trunk or Treat and other outreach events. Lettering on the trailer states it well, Randolph Baptist Association: Missions on the Move. Other examples below include: Ashe National Day of Prayer and Spanish language church. Beulah C3 Countdown to Commencement, church start in Alaska, MissionBLAST. Carolina Summer Backpack Food Program, Special Olympics, Celebration Jesus. Little River Block party. Sandhills Hopefest. South Roanoke underwrite Hispanic students in Golden Gate Contextualized Learning Center, African-American church plant. Yadkin Missions Encouragement scholarships for visa and passport fees to those on their first international mission trip. This is not an exhaustive list of how NCMO funds are used by all the associations in North Carolina but gives an idea about how the funds are used to address a variety of mission endeavors. Church and Community Ministry personnel in the associations enlist, organize and empower volunteers to be engaged daily with the ministry of feeding, clothing and sharing Jesus with people who have lost jobs, homes and hope. For example, Norma Melton, church and community minister (CCM) in the Buncombe Baptist Association, facilitates the joint effort of eight sister 98 Baptist State Convention of North Carolina

99 associations in ministering to carnival and fair workers at the Mountain State Fair. Each year they engage in ministries involving food, clothing, medical, dental and hair cutting that result in trusting relationships and professions of faith. Another CCM, Randolph Wilson in Cullom Baptist Association, leads volunteers and teams throughout their area to address the need of sub-standard housing and handicap issues. Charles Reed, CCM in Greater Cleveland County Baptist Association, resources hurting families with food, clothing, medical and financial needs through donations, grants and contributions from corporations, businesses, churches and individuals. Bivocational ministry presents its own set of challenges. Even current Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) leadership has called bivocational ministers the Iron Men of the SBC. Bivocational Ministries hosts an annual summer conference to address many of the challenges surfaced through interaction with bivocational ministers and spouses. Here s Hope was the focus this year, with special emphasis on 1 Peter 1:3. Conference participants at Caraway Conference Center heard from Claude King who serves as discipleship and church health specialist at LifeWay Christian Resources of the SBC. Caleb s Crossing, a trio of young men, did a fabulous job in leading worship. The BSCNC has about 1,400 churches with bivocational staff. North Carolina Bivocational Ministries also relates to the national body known as the Bivocational and Small Church Leadership Network, which host an annual meeting at various locations across the United States. Many associational missionaries, church planters, strategic coordinators, pastors and church staff utilize the demographic services provided by the Convention to map their areas of ministry. MissionInsite and Scan US are vital and valuable tools for locating and identifying unreached people as well as developing and implementing an intentional outreach strategy. For instance, Duane Kuykendall, associational missionary for the Catawba Valley Baptist Association, is one of many who are using this tool. After an initial training, Duane began telling pastors of the layers of information available to them in understanding the people they are targeting (or will target) with the gospel. A number of pastors came to a training to learn how to use this tool and several have registered their churches to begin discovering just how many layers of information this tool has to help them better reach the lost and make disciples. We have used MissionInsite to help one of our churches better understand the people being targeted for a new church plant. This information not only has given basic demographics on their target but through the Mosaics has enabled them to understand these people s likes, dislikes and preferences in life and in matters relating to Christ and church. Plotting a church s membership is an effective way to help churches discover clusters of their own people who live in areas they are trying to reach. These people can be used to begin reaching their own communities with the gospel. The additional benefit of being able to compare a congregation s demographics to their community or target area is invaluable in better understanding the best way to prepare the soil of the hearts of the people 2014 Annual Report 99

100 for the sowing of the precious seed of the gospel. Discovering how alike or different from the congregation those who are being focused on are will help them develop a strategy that best fits how to discover real needs. We have barely scratched the surface in how much this tool will assist our churches in impacting lostness that results in disciples. I, for one, am grateful to the Convention for making available to every church such a valuable resource. Associational Partnerships remains the contact point for associations applying to host an On Mission Connections (OMC) event. Coordination for enlisting available and representative missionaries from the North American Mission Board, the International Mission Board and Convention staff is handled through Associational Partnerships. OMCs offer an opportunity to raise awareness of and initiate connections with unreached peoples with the intention of a longterm partnership. Team leader continues to relate to Appalachian Regional Ministry (ARM) as one of two Convention staff appointed to represent the Convention. ARM is a North American Mission Board ministry with ties through an advisory committee made up of representatives from 13 Southern Baptist state conventions (including North Carolina) of the ARM region (stretching from Alabama through New York) in partnership. This ministry seeks to reach out to more than 30 million people across Appalachia with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Our goal is to work closely with our associations to encourage, resource and produce healthy churches and stronger associations as we seek to become the strongest force in the history of this Convention for reaching people with the gospel. The Associational Partnerships 100 Baptist State Convention of North Carolina

101 <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< LYNN SASSER EXECUTIVE LEADER 2014 Annual Report 101

102 T he Evangelism and Discipleship Group is aligned with the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina s (Convention) strategy of Impacting Lostness Through Disciple-Making as we strengthen churches by helping them create a disciple-making culture that results in lives being eternally transformed by the power of God. Let s unpack this statement. What do we mean by disciple-making? Disciplemaking is an umbrella term for the process of evangelism and discipleship that is captured in Jesus words spoken to Peter and Andrew in Matthew 4:19: Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. As we come to faith in Christ (evangelism), we are made by Him (discipleship) to become fishers of men (being an evangelist). Jesus makes it clear that a disciple is someone who follows Him and whose heart is being molded by Him through the work of the Holy Spirit to become a disciple who makes more disciples. A disciple-making culture is one that is never content with simply conversion but provides the environment for the recently converted to grow in their faith so that they ultimately live the life of an evangelist. This is a culture in which it is natural, normative and expected that disciples are regularly reproduced in obedience to our Lord s Great Commission to make disciples! A primary goal for our group is to help churches engage in spiritual discovery, vision discovery and context discovery as essential steps in creating a disciple-making culture within the congregation. Then we are ready to provide coaching and encouragement for the church to actually develop and deliver the plan. Lynn Sasser serves as executive leader for the Evangelism and Discipleship Group. The group is comprised of two teams, the Disciple-Making Team and the Church Strengthening Team. The Disciple-Making Team assists congregations in the areas of evangelism and discipleship. This team is led by Brian Upshaw and includes the following consultants: Marty Dupree and Rick Hughes, adult evangelism and discipleship; Merrie Johnson, youth evangelism and discipleship; Cheryl Markland, childhood evangelism and discipleship; Eddie Thompson, family evangelism and discipleship; Guillermo Soriano, Hispanic evangelism and discipleship; Ashley Allen, Embrace and women s evangelism and discipleship; and Sunday School/small groups evangelism and discipleship (position currently vacant). The Church Strengthening Team assists congregations in a variety of ministry areas that generally apply across the entire church. This team is led by Antonio Santos and includes the following consultants: Neal Eller, stewardship; David Moore, pastoral ministries; Kenneth Tan, leadership development; Bob Foy, church renewal; Kenny Lamm; worship and music; and Donnie Wiltshire, special ministries. The stories that follow detail some of the significant ways we have served 102 Baptist State Convention of North Carolina

103 North Carolina Baptists during the past year to engage in Greater Things to impact lostness through disciplemaking. CHURCH STRENGTHENING TEAM The Church Strengthening Team has the privilege and responsibility of assisting Convention churches in becoming healthier and stronger through the development of a disciplemaking culture. We recognize the Apostle Paul s accomplishments on the mission field, not just his first missionary journey, but also his second and third missionary journeys when he not only continued church planting but also worked to strengthen the churches that he previously planted. With Paul s example and in obedience to the Great Commission, our desire is to help churches develop a culture of disciples who make disciples. African-American Ministries The African-American Ministry of the Convention is continuing to serve the churches through leadership training as well as other events. Many workshops and training seminars have been conducted in the churches as they continue to grow with the involvement of African-American pastors who have a heart for reaching and discipling people. Plans are underway to help pastors recognize and understand the significance of the small church. In partnership with LifeWay, over 500 men were impacted at the I m the Man men s conference held at Ridgecrest Conference Center. While men were drawn from four states, North Carolina had the highest representation. The Convention continues to partner with LifeWay by working with their staff as they travel to North Carolina visiting African-American pastors and promoting resources and materials that can be used in reaching all people with the gospel. The African-American pastors are excited in partnering with the Convention, as they participate in different ministries as a way of expressing the unity and the edification of the body of Christ and becoming a Kingdom-focused church. Church Renewal Journey Many times what is needed to revitalize, strengthen and reunite the church body is a fresh awakening of the Holy Spirit in the lives of the congregation. This is what takes place during the 8-10 weeks of preparation that is done by the church laity in preparation for each of the Church Renewal Weekends. To learn more or schedule an overview of the journey, contact us at crj@ncbaptist.org or call (800) , ext Below is a letter from pastor John Melancon about their recent journey through the five renewal weekends: To all Who Are Involved In Church Renewal: God s timing, of course, is always perfect. He sent Tom and Brenda Boberg into the life of our church when we were greatly in need of a spiritual shot in the arm. We were pretty much an inward focused church, operating on autopilot, conducting business as usual and maintaining the institution and organization. The Bobergs introduced us to the Church Renewal Journey. They helped us to get the very best experience possible and gradually as we went through all five of the weekends, the outlook of many of us began to shift from business as usual to Kingdom business Annual Report 103

104 Each of the weekends would build on the previous one as we took , one each year, to move through the journey. Along with becoming more mission/ministry focused, the weekends began to change the overall spirit and climate of our church folks. There has indeed grown among us a spirit of renewal and even adventure as many of us stand in awe and watch what God is going to do next. And, because we have begun to move out beyond our walls, we have seen growth in attendance and total receipts. It also helped changed me and my ministry. Though I did not recognize it immediately, I watched our people plan and carry out the weekends with great efficiency so that the teams that came to lead us said they had seldom seen a church more prepared. One of my professors in seminary said, People will support what they plan. That has been true of our experience with this journey. Without hesitation I would encourage pastors to become involved in this process. Watch the Lord work in your people and through them, and thus change them and your church culture. -John Melancon, pastor of Pinetops Baptist Church. Leadership Development As we reflect on the challenge facing today s church to impact lostness, the more we are convinced of the importance of having leaders who know and understand the times and the critical role that they play in fulfilling the vision and mission of the church. In order to get a better grasp of the needs in the area of leadership development, Convention staff have consulted with 23 associational directors of mission across the state. We discovered most of our churches are in need of a clear disciple-making process. Churches have reached many people with the gospel of Christ through various types of ministries but have failed to help those who have become believers to become disciplemakers who reproduce other disciples. The method of evangelism where the multiplication of disciples takes place is the essence of Robert Coleman s book on The Master Plan of Evangelism for reaching the world for Christ. Convention staff, in cooperation with associations, have also met with pastors across the state to rejoice in what the Lord is doing in their ministries, share the burdens that they bear and provide resources and opportunities for partnerships. These meetings have taken place in 10 associations and have resulted in the identification of pastors willing to lead their churches in creating a disciplemaking process. We provided, in partnership with associations, training for 78 deacons to become disciple-makers and more trainings are being scheduled. Tarheel Leadership Network continues to train pastors in partnership with Center Grove Baptist Church under the direction of pastor Steven Corts. This training effort brought 19 pastors together 10 times between September 2013 and August 2014 to spend a full day exploring some of the most pressing leadership issues facing pastors today. The Network was hosted and led by Steven Corts and featured a faculty of nine experienced pastors and leadership development authorities. 104 Baptist State Convention of North Carolina

105 Convention staff offered 4 C s of Leadership Resource - Character, Capacity, Context and Competencies and a wide array of materials on each of these areas for developing leaders who make disciples. We also worked with different ethnic churches and people groups in developing resources and training for their own context. Together we rise to develop leaders with a passion for reaching and discipling all people to Christ. Military and Chaplaincy Military Chaplaincy of the Convention is a very robust network, which consists of several hundred chaplains, pastors and laymen who are dedicated to bringing spiritual support to the many veterans and servicemen and women who are connected to North Carolina Baptists. As we network with military chaplains, churches, associations, non-profits and other individuals/groups it is our desire to share the love of Christ as we provide spiritual guidance, mentorship and training. Connect/partner local churches with military chaplains for referrals and religious support We have had several chaplains request support/information for ministering to veterans in their local churches and communities. This is exciting as Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) operations wind down and most of our troops are returning home. Home station (local church) training will be very important and we will need more pastors and church leaders trained to handle these patriotic families who have served us so well. We have requests for military chaplains to speak in churches, perform weddings and pray at local events. Please pray for us as we minister to our churches and local community. Educate/advise churches and associations on the value and importance of veteran/military ministry We are developing an education and training plan to assist churches in identifying veterans in their congregations who are called to reach out to veteran families in their local communities. We expect to see a movement in connecting veterans to Christ as churches establish viable and comprehensive veteran ministries that will not only meet their spiritual needs but physical, mental, financial and emotional needs as well. Connect with military programs, local organizations, and requests for assistance We are maintaining frequent contact with officials from North Carolina Army National Guard and North Carolina Air National Guard as well as other military organizations around the state advising them of our willingness to provide spiritual care to all military members. We desire to keep visibility with active duty, retired and other communityhelping organizations. We have connected with several military-helping organizations such as Eaglerock Camp, Charlotte Bridge Home, Honor and Remember along with others to foster relationships that will help us connect military and veteran families to vital resources. Pastoral Ministries As churches make changes, so do pastors make changes. Pastoral Ministries often assists pastors and others seeking ministry positions to discern how the fresh winds of God are blowing around them to lead them in new places of service. Coaching, 2014 Annual Report 105

106 professional ministry consultations and other means are available to those who may have had to leave their churches, as well as to those seeking refreshment and deeper discernment about their ministry paths. A revised online service for information sharing, called the Sharing System, was developed and re-launched this year, with several more user-friendly features included. Churches seeking ministers may enter their church profile while, at the same time, ministers seeking a place of service may do the same. Our system then looks for corresponding similarities and matches churches to ministry candidates. The system in no way is suggesting that the matches indicate the choice for pastor; rather the name(s) shared can assist the church with a starting point for further interviewing and exploration, as God leads both church and ministry candidate. In the course of life together, it is not uncommon however much we wish it were not so for churches to experience times of difference in opinion, disagreement and even distracting conflict. Often, some differences are healthy for congregations, as they provide for new ideas and open-ended progress in achieving the vision God has given to them. Unfortunately, there are also times when the differences become unhealthy conflicts that impede Kingdom progress, and even severely damage churches. Pastoral Ministries has assisted congregations in engaging this sometimes uncomfortable reality through a variety of consults and methods, including Peacemaker Ministries, Spiritual Directions and the efforts of Convention staff. Sometimes a church comes to a place and time when a vacancy occurs in its pastorate. The circumstances are various resignation, retirement, termination and even death. Though there might be some anxiety and discomfort, and even a sense of urgency about securing a new pastor on the part of congregants, the time between a former and future pastor can be quite productive and healthy without moving too quickly. Clarifying identity and values, being receptive to the Spirit s leading to a compelling mission, and rediscovering and awakening to a deepened sense of congregational commitment are fruits of the labor in the interim. In such times, Pastoral Ministries offers to churches two important and helpful types of engagements. We have been involved with several churches across the state at various stages of their in-between times, consulting and coaching not only around the actual search process for a new pastor, but also helping plow for good soil and getting the church ready in the healthiest ways for growing the next chapters of the church s Kingdom venture. A new venture that is underway to help churches in transitional times is an opportunity for directors of missions, together with former pastors, called Transitional Pastor Training. Individuals prepare for leading and facilitating congregations through inbetween times as interim or transitional pastors, providing similar assistance cited above. When vacancies occur in churches, area directors of missions can provide names of people trained for these times, and work alongside them in becoming as healthy a church as possible for the incoming pastor. About 70 people have been trained and 106 Baptist State Convention of North Carolina

107 interest in this vital ministry continues to grow. Church Administration Church Administration assists churches in their divinely appointed mission of making disciples through the biblical mandate of doing all things decently and in order (1 Corinthians 14:40). Sixteen churches received on-site consultations and more than 100 churches received assistance via phone, and resources. Churches may access a variety of resources to assist in the incorporation process, amending their governing documents, developing policies and establishing procedures. Please visit the Convention website, and select Church Administration to access these and other helpful Church Administration resources. Church Building/Planning Church Building/Planning assists churches through developing plans for buildings that will become ministry tools for accomplishing the mission of the church. Twenty-eight churches received on-site consultations and more than 100 churches received assistance via phone, and resources. Special Ministries We are all aware that we have this command from Jesus to make disciples. Every area of our organization is working hard to impact lostness through disciple-making. Special Ministries is no exception. Through Special Ministries, the Convention seeks to impact several narrow targeted groups of mostly unreached people in our state. These groups include people who are Deaf, people who are blind, people who have developmental disabilities and people with literacy needs of various kinds, especially those who have immigrated to our state who cannot speak English. Deaf Ministry North Carolina has invested resources and personnel to reach the Deaf people of our state since This longterm concentration of effort continues to produce fruit. Today there are 10 Deaf congregations in our state who have pastoral leadership. More than half of those congregations are led by pastors who are Deaf themselves. It is very hard for Deaf pastors to find theological training because colleges and seminaries are mostly closed to them. To speak to that need, North Carolina partners with Baptist state conventions in South Carolina and Georgia to support the TriState Deaf School of Theology. TriState had over 30 Deaf students last year. Several of those students were North Carolina Deaf pastors receiving the training they need. In this partnership of state conventions, North Carolina helps make Deaf disciples who can make disciples in three training centers: Wilson (meeting at Forest Hills Baptist Church), Ridgecrest (meeting in the Conference Center) and Snellville, Ga. (meeting at Annistown Road Baptist Church). Furthermore, the TriState school partners with Gardner-Webb University in North Carolina and Brewton-Parker College in Georgia. One of the major evangelism efforts we make each year to reach Deaf youth is the annual Deaf Youth Retreat, held at Camp Caraway in May. This year we had 54 campers attend the Deaf camp. Nathan Carter, the Deaf pastor from Wilson who has received all of his theological training through TriState Deaf School of Theology, was our camp pastor. On Sunday, when Nathan gave an invitation to campers, 28 campers 2014 Annual Report 107

108 responded to the invitation. Twenty of those decisions were first-time decisions to trust Christ as Savior and Lord. Our Deaf pastors are now taking intentional steps to disciple those campers to become mature believers. Some may recall the decision that Daunta Berryman made to trust Christ last year at the Deaf Youth Retreat. This year Daunta served as a counselor. Daunta is a disciple of Christ who is working to make other disciples. In response to our Convention s strategic focus, Convention staff started a new Deaf pastors discipleship group. A small group of Deaf pastors are meeting to share, study and pray together. Two retreats are held annually for the Deaf pastors of our state but this discipleship group is a new emphasis. The plan is to disciple these pastors in a small group setting that will serve as a model for these men to disciple Deaf leaders in their churches. Literacy Missions One of the most effective ways disciples are made each year through the efforts of Special Ministries is the Literacy Missions Ministry under the leadership of Barbara Martin. Last year, 1,506 students were taught by 440 teachers in more than 50 churches. The largest percentage of these students and teachers were in the area of English as a Second Language (ESL). ESL can be a very effective tool for sharing Christ with non-english speakers who have come to our state from other countries. Through these efforts we know of 22 people who professed faith in Christ this past year. One of those was Li (not her real name). Li is a visiting scholar from China studying at one of our major North Carolina universities. Last year in September Li joined an ESL class trying to improve her English while she was studying in the States. The ESL class used the Bible to teach English. Soon Li was asking questions about the gospel and wanting to learn more than could be covered in class. She started meeting weekly with her ESL teacher for more Bible study. Li did not know it but she, although not yet a believer at that time, was an early disciple (learner) of Christ. After months of study and much time with her teacher, Li indicated that she would like to become a follower of Christ. In March of this year, Li became a believer. Already she is sharing her faith and looking forward to her return to China where she will be a light to her own people. Li continues to grow in her faith as she is still weekly tutored by her ESL teacher. Impacting lostness through disciple-making through ESL has the potential to impact the world! Special Ministries is grateful to North Carolina Baptists for continuing to put energy and resources into reaching these special pockets of our North Carolina population. Church Library The Church Library Ministry (CLM) carries out the vision and mission of the Convention by providing media for the purpose of leadership development, spiritual transformation and leisure activities. It helps preschoolers and children hear God s Word, know God s Word and do God s Word; and students to know God, own their faith and make their faith known. CLM also helps adults connect with God and others with an open heart; grow in body, mind and spirit; serve with willing hands and go with ready feet. In an effort to guide librarians with 108 Baptist State Convention of North Carolina

109 impacting lostness, we shared the truth that our God is near through our annual workshop titled Lighting the Path with Church Library Ministry. We offered training from leaders across the country, an inspirational author, and installation of North Carolina CLM officers. DeAnn Hudson, former CLM consultant for the Convention (volunteer), and North Carolina State officers Jeanne Tucker (director), Karen Hutchinson (assistant director), Margie Gordon (secretary), Jenn Burwell (historian) and Judy Furr (photographer) planned the event. They carried out our annual workshops with the theme of Lighting the Path with Church Library Ministry by taking the light of God s Word to Greensboro and Oak Island. In John 8:12, Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life (NIV). Conferences were offered to teach library skills and also to help develop our librarians in their spiritual growth. From Jenn Burwell, Forest Hills Baptist Church, Wilson, North Carolina, CLM Director: I just had to share that a colleague called me at a really bad time in her life. She was so lost, sad and mournful. Then she said, I can t seem to get back to normal. And it clicked in my head. Girl, I said, you need to find a new normal! It stopped her in her tracks. What did you just say? I said you need to find a new normal. Then I told about Carol Kent s books and she ordered both, When I Lay My Isaac Down and A New Kind of Normal. She is not a reader usually. She just called again and she said that she loves A New Kind of Normal and has read 100 pages and cannot put it down. She can t wait to finish it and then read When I lay My Isaac Down. She is going to me how it changed her outlook on life and I will forward it. She may order some more of Carol Kent s books. When I heard from a coworker that her child s school had water damage to not just classrooms, but the library, I had to help. I contacted the school and spoke with the librarian there. Even though it is a Christian school, she was amazed that a total stranger wanted to help. The library has been cleaned (thanks to volunteers and parents) and now they are re-shelving books. They still need to replace over 500 books and we are looking for ways to do that. Local bookstores have pitched in, and later this summer we will assist the librarian in processing her new books (retired librarians and book processors are doing this). Just goes to show that if you reach out with God s love, He will show up in a big way! Stewardship As the Convention approaches stewardship in the 21st century, we must look out across our church and denominational culture with a very different set of lens, asking very different questions and looking to one and only one source for the answers: Jesus Christ, the head of the Church, and His authority found in Him and in God s Word. Here are some things to note: The church stands at a precipice created by our consumerism and materialistic culture, which is the very antithesis of our Lord Jesus Christ, His generous nature and character demonstrated by His life, His sacrifice, His mercy and His grace. A majority of Christ followers today find themselves enslaved to a sea 2014 Annual Report 109

110 of debt, lost jobs, lost homes, lost dreams, little hope and no joy. This was never the life Christ promised for His followers in God s Kingdom, The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly (John 10:10, ESV). Stewardship in the body of Christ looks more like the world than Jesus Christ. In other words, consumerism and worldly financial principles drive the church resulting in a consumer church. Methods, processes and the way stewardship is traditionally approached and executed will never work in today s culture. The end goal of stewardship is not about wanting something from your people. It is about helping them as Christ followers conform more and more into the image of Jesus Christ, His generous nature and character. Perhaps the most overlooked and greatest untapped resource in the Convention is our smaller membership church. These churches (250 members or less), led by partiallyfunded and fully-funded pastors, make up approximately 80 percent of our Convention. Although these churches make up the majority of our Convention, no resource in the area of stewardship has ever been developed specifically for them; that is, until now. Following the 2013 Annual Meeting, a four-way partnership was quietly launched with the following partners: GenerousChurch.com out of Mississippi, Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, Greater Cleveland Baptist Association and five churches in that association. The goal is simply, through a disciple-making process and approach, to create and unleash a culture of generous disciples. After an initial Generosity Encounter in Shelby for directors of missions and selected pastors, Keith Dixon, director of missions for the Greater Cleveland Baptist Association, led a five-week generosity learning community in January with the following pastors: Tim Hendrick, Patterson Grove; Russ Bradley, New Hope; Andy Oliver, Poplar Springs; Michael Shumate, Union; and Neil Efird, Northside. Out of this partnership, a new affordable resource was developed by GenerousChurch.com specifically for the smaller membership church and beta-tested by the five churches mentioned above. Although this resource, the Pastor s Generosity Infusion Kit, is still in its draft form, it is constantly being tweaked and updated through a collaborative process with all partners involved. This resource is truly designed for and shaped by North Carolina Baptist pastors. The scorecard for this partnership is not the typical scorecard used to determine successful stewardship or capital campaigns. Our scorecard is changed lives, transformed people, changed hearts and people who are being conformed more and more into the generous nature and character of Jesus. Here are just a few of their stories: I used the $40 that I received on Generosity Sunday to purchase materials to use in teaching the story of Easter to the children in our neighborhood during the Saturday morning activities at the house. As you know, God placed on David s and my heart to use the horses in some 110 Baptist State Convention of North Carolina

111 way to be able to share the gospel and God s love with the children in the neighboring trailer park. Right now, our funds are being used to repair fencing with the hope of putting up better fencing in the future the horses keep the current fencing bowed over as they try to reach the greener grass on the other side. David and Jeannine Harp, New Hope Church, Earle I was up at the store and as I was leaving I saw a Hispanic guy talking to Tim. When he began to walk away I followed him and told him the Lord had laid it on my heart to give him $20. A big smile and thank you blessed my heart. I invited him to come back to New Hope (Tim had picked him up and brought him the Sunday before.). He has been back several times. I took this gift that you gave me to bless someone with very seriously. What we forget sometimes is that everything we have money, possessions, etc. is a gift from God that is to be used to bless other people. I sometimes forget that. -Bob Melton, New Hope Church, Earle. Greg gave his $40 to a lady whose son is a student of Casey. They had just been thrown out of their house and had to move. They had no furniture other than a chair. Greg took them a couple of beds and while he was there he gave her the money. He told me that he couldn t think of anyone who would ever need or appreciate the money more than this family. -Greg Sain, New Hope Church, Earle. Bought lunch for someone in drive thru behind me at Chick-fil-A. Overwhelmed, the lady put an ad in Shelby Shopper looking for the woman in the white van who bought her lunch. -Reca Wright, New Hope Church, Earle. For me, it highlights the impact that it s not just about money we are talking about. -Tim Hendrick, Patterson Grove Church, Shelby. Just had a meeting with my Generosity guys. They are really enjoying this and they are seeing God move in the hearts of people. -Keith Dixon, Greater Cleveland Baptist Association. Thank you for inspiring us to move ahead with Generosity. The stories keep coming! This past week a young couple informed me that they had begun the application process for taking in foster children because of our study. Another shared how they have began tithing and to their surprise they have had enough to fulfill their obligations and give. -Tim Hendrick, Patterson Grove. In conclusion is this story of the amazing work and generosity of God through the body of New Covenant Fellowship in Graham, led by pastor David Neff. David launched the Generosity Infusion campaign around February, first training and equipping the elders, then doing the same with the Sunday School leaders, and finally in a four-week generosity campaign with the whole church body. The outcome of this intense focus on generosity led the body of New Covenant Fellowship to give over and above their tithes and offerings $29,000 to the following organizations: Christian Adventures, reaching young boys and girls; Allied Churches of Burlington; Upward 180, who feed the homeless and poor; a new church plant in Utah; a new church plant in Burlington; and to the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering. Furthermore, David said, April and May have been the largest offering months in the history of our church Annual Report 111

112 Since the November Generosity Encounter, two other Encounters have been conducted and two more scheduled for the fall of At this time, 12 directors of mission, 37 pastors, 13 church staff and 15 lay leaders representing 40 churches from 18 associations have been trained and equipped at three Generosity Encounters. The following directors of missions have committed to the partnership promising to begin Pastor Generosity Learning Communities in their associations: Paul Langston, Eastern Association; Kelton Hinton, Johnston Association; and Sandy Beck, Carolina Association. The following pastors are contemplating beginning Pastor Generosity Learning Communities in their association: David Spray, Transylvania Association; Craig Willingham, Beulah Association; and Mark Caldwell, Haywood Association. Worship and Music A continuing emphasis on training worship leaders across the state has brought additional training opportunities this year. We continued to offer Worship Leader Boot Camps ( to equip worship leaders theologically and musically to plan and lead times of corporate worship with biblical integrity and musical excellence. The events focused on biblical foundations of worship; leadership in worship; selecting and introducing new songs for worship; formats and styles of worship; worship wars; and planning and implementing worship (including linking songs, key relationships, thematic considerations, worship flow and use of instrumentalists). Last year we added a second type of intense training the Worship Leader Boot Camp: Special Edition. This training event was birthed from the great need in our churches of providing times of worship without adequate musicians. The event is built on the framework and curriculum of the original Worship Leader Boot Camp, but was augmented with instruction on using new technologies to provide musical accompaniment in church by utilizing tracks and virtual worship bands with or without live instrumentalists. The times of worship during the event modeled the use of these technologies in worship. To date, we have trained over 1,700 North Carolina Baptists through these two events. Many of our churches are struggling with worship styles. Some are experiencing great conflict over the music used in their times of corporate worship. Other churches find themselves dying, stuck to old forms of worship that once were very meaningful, yet now don t seem to engage the people in meaningful worship nor speak a language that the unchurched can understand. In the 50s and 60s worship was pretty similar among Southern Baptist churches and most sang from a common source the Baptist Hymnal. Today, things have changed drastically and church leaders are struggling to determine what their church s corporate worship should look like. A new event was birthed this year called the Worship Summit, which addresses issues that churches need to consider when determining what type of worship to offer. The event is a 3+ hour event that involves teaching and small group discussion, helping participants come to grips with these issues that should impact worship: What the Bible says about worship and what is the difference in participatory worship and an event that 112 Baptist State Convention of North Carolina

113 creates spectators. The Great Commandment tells us to love God with our heart, soul, mind and strength. What does it mean to worship God with all our being? How should culture impact worship? What does it mean to have a missionary mindset in worship? What are the essentials and nonessentials in worship? What is unified worship, worship that is multi-generational and multiethnic? It is neither traditional nor contemporary. It is not what we often call blended, which merely tries to give everyone a little bit of what they like while making people angry half the time. Unified worship is self-sacrificing and exhibits great love. How is worship connected with the creation of a disciple-making culture? After looking at all these things, participants are ready to ask, What style of worship is appropriate for my church? Then, if a church does sense God s leadership to change, how can that be done in a healthy, God-honoring, people-loving manner with biblical integrity and musical excellence? In the past year, about 1,700 people have participated in a Worship Summit, held at regional state worship events, associational events and individual churches. To further the impact of this, an online resource, has been created to offer churches and small groups the teaching and group interaction via streaming and downloadable media including 15 video segments, discussion questions and a participant guide. Another key component of our work to help churches renew their worship is our worship blog, Each week, Kenny Lamm, senior consultant for Worship and Music, posts an article to challenge pastors and worship leaders in their thinking about worship and presents ideas to help leaders renew the worship in their local churches. Readership of the blog has been quite high (25,000+ page views per month), with much discussion and feedback generated throughout the state and beyond. We also assist the Church Planting Team in holding worship training for our church planters. This year, we launched a partnership with WorshipPlanning.com (nc. worshipplanning.com) to help our churches get access to a great online worship planning/communication/ music library application. The creators of WorshipPlanning.com have been working with us to provide features supportive of concepts taught in the Worship Leader Boot Camps. Additionally, we continue to partner with Christian Copyright Solutions to help our churches in the compliance to copyright laws. We also partnered with the Worship Arts Technology Summit to offer world-class worship leader training at Ridgecrest. The worship and music ministry continues to offer Adult and Youth Handbell Festivals (716 participants from 57 churches) a Senior Adult Choir Festival (207 participants from 15 churches), the All-State Youth Choir (92 singers from 37 churches), and the North Carolina Baptist Singers and Orchestra (138 members from 82 churches). We offered training for children s choir leaders this year with 64 participants from 25 churches attending Annual Report 113

114 It is amazing to see how God is working in the corporate worship of our North Carolina Baptist churches! To God be the glory! DISCIPLE-MAKING TEAM The year of 2014 has been an exciting year as the staff has reorganized to be better positioned to seek greater things from the Lord. The current composition of the Disciple-Making Team allows our staff to better align their ministries in order to assist local churches in impacting lostness through disciplemaking. The Disciple-Making Team exists to help create a disciplemaking culture in avenues of ministry for people in all ages, stages and ethnicities. Adult Evangelism and Discipleship State Evangelism Conference The 67th annual Statewide Evangelism Conference was held on February 24, 2014, at Providence Baptist Church in Raleigh. The conference focused on the Convention s strategy: Impacting Lostness Through Disciple-Making. The strategy calls for churches to penetrate darkness through disciplemaking with an Acts 1:8 focus. Bruce Ashford, associate professor of theology and culture, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, was the featured speaker. Also speaking were Steve Corts, senior pastor, Center Grove Baptist Church; Derwin L. Gray, lead pastor, Transformation Church; and James Emery White, senior pastor, Mecklenburg Community Church. There were 422 attendees and 178 churches represented. Break out sessions were well attended and designed to help explore the conference theme. Resources from the conference can be found at The Story Conferences A major focus for training pastors and other church leaders to equip their church members to know, share and live the gospel of Jesus Christ began in the summer of 2013 using The Story. This initiative was launched on August 16-17, 2013, at Caraway Conference Center. Guest speakers included: Jerry McCorkle, originator/ creator of The Story materials; Alvin Reid, professor of evangelism and student ministry, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary; and Cindy Johnson, Stage 2 Ministries. Regional conferences using The Story kicked off on March 3, 2014, at the West Chowan Association in Ahoskie with additional conferences held throughout the state in March, April, June, September and October. Locations included: Oaklawn Baptist Church, Kernersville; Buncombe Baptist Association, Asheville; First Baptist Church, Cornelius; Wilmington Baptist Association, Wilmington; and Green Pines Baptist Church, Knightdale. In addition, a special session for bivocational pastors was held at the Catawba Valley Baptist Association, Hickory. The conferences provide attendees with The Story Guide leader kit and walk attendees through sharing the gospel by telling the story of the Bible from Creation to the Fall, Fall to Rescue and Rescue to Restoration. The kit contains The Story Guide Primer Edition (Workbook), Leader Notes (Booklet), DVD media disc (presentation/videos), The Story Bible and Access Code to TheStoryTraining.com. For information about this tool please visit Baptist State Convention of North Carolina

115 The Story Pastor Learning Communities These groups not only encourage relationship development among pastors, but also allow the Convention to assist pastors as they utilize The Story in their churches. The groups gather monthly through the implementation process to celebrate and discuss any obstacles; the meetings are regionally based. Of the 144 attendees to the regional training conferences, 36 have registered for Pastor Learning Communities. Achievement stories resulting from these learning communities are: (1) A pastor used The Story to reach a person for Christ that he has been working with for over a year. (2) A layperson used The Story to develop deeper relationships and gospel conversation in a senior adult ministry. (3) A church planter used The Story to reach a person with no church background whatsoever. Here is a testimony about The Story from Pastor Terry Stockman of Grandview Baptist Church in Waynesville: As I told you, Curtis went four short months after his wife received Jesus from not wanting anything to do with me, the church, the gospel, the Bible or even attending his wife s baptism to asking me to come to his hospital room to help him know how to receive Jesus. The backstory of this is incredible and hopefully one day I can tell you. On Saturday, after leaving him a copy of The Story booklet and sharing the gospel with him a few days earlier, I arrived in his room. There were nurses there to take him to some treatment, but he and I requested they wait a few minutes while I talked to him. There was only him, me and his wife in the room. When I asked him if he had gone over the booklet again and was ready to receive Christ he said plainly, Yes I am! Without hesitation I walked him through the gospel again, led him through a prayer, and he received Jesus as his Savior. There were tears in his eyes that were rolling down his cheek. A sense of relief was on his face and he reached up, pulled me down and hugged my neck saying thank you. His wife told me later he never hugs anyone. The Holy Spirit was in that room and we all could feel His presence. There was praise going on in that room and in that family. This was a combination of intense prayer by many people for both his physical as well as spiritual healing and the gospel. As you know, that is a powerful combination. The story doesn t end here. Yesterday, after showing The Cross in our morning service, Curtis 8 year old daughter came forward asking Jesus into her heart!! We had been working with her for at least a month. Yesterday was going to be the first time Curtis was able to see his kids since going into the hospital. What a celebration in his hospital room yesterday. The longer version of this story is so good and the Lord was working through so many avenues that space here will not allow me to cover them all. Maybe I can share it with you soon. Thanks for all you do and your prayers. Lifestyle Evangelism: Being an On Mission Christian in Your Daily Life Churches and associations use this popular Conversational Evangelism Style to train, inspire, educate and encourage people to share their faith in a practical, creative and natural way. Twenty-five Lifestyle evangelism days/ rallies/conferences/revivals were held in 2013 and 20 more have been planned 2014 Annual Report 115

116 or conducted in The focus of this training seminar is to make disciples by reaching the lost through prayer and lifestyle evangelism. Apologetics, Worldview and Interfaith Regional Evangelism Conferences We partner with churches and associations in North Carolina to hold or help promote conferences addressing these issues. The Truth for A New Generation Apologetics for Eternal Life conference was held September 27-28, 2013, at Northside Baptist Church in Charlotte. More information is available at www. TruthForANewGeneration.com. Vocational Evangelism Conference The 2014 conference Revival Then and Now: Impacting Lostness through Disciple-Making was held January 9-10 at Caraway Conference Center and featured Jim Henry, Chris Schofield, Brian Upshaw, Keith Kimball, Ralph Thompson and Wray Wheeless. There were 35 attendees and 28 churches represented at this conference. Officers for the North Carolina Vocational Evangelists are Dale Elwell, president; Keith Kimball, vice president; Cindy Johnson Huffman, secretary-treasurer; and Randall Floyd, webmaster. Call (800) , ext for information and a list of North Carolina vocational evangelists. Some North Carolina evangelists list their ministry at org. The Southern Baptist Convention vocational evangelist directory is available at or by calling (770) Local Church Evangelism and Discipleship Training We work to help churches and associations train people to plan, develop strategies and plan events to reach their communities with the gospel. A basic Prayer, Care and Share evangelism planning packet and other resources are available by calling (800) , ext Relational Discipleship Coaching Four Pastor Learning Communities (PLCs) have been established across North Carolina. The PLCs consist of 14 pastors who currently serve older established churches across the state. These communities are relationally driven with the discipleship theme being modeled. The pastors in these communities are not only developing a relational bond within the PLC, but are also transitioning their congregations so that disciple-making has become a key focus and is happening both inside and outside the congregation through ministries of their churches. The pastors are growing personally and modeling for their congregations what a disciple-maker looks like. In addition, there are three Missional Learning Communities (MLCs) that meet monthly across the state. These communities consist of leaders of missional groups and house churches within North Carolina. The focus is on strengthening the group s leadership to further equip and disciple the people within their own groups to live missionally and have a missionary mindset from a foundation of loving God and all people. Exegeting Culture Workshops Over the past six months several workshops focused on exegeting culture have taken place at church planting centers and other gatherings for pastors and church planters. These workshops equip and train pastors and leaders to 116 Baptist State Convention of North Carolina

117 understand the culture in which they live outside of the church and how the metanarrative of the Bible bridges all cultural contexts for explaining and communicating the gospel. Campers on Mission North Carolina Campers on Mission (NCCOM) continues to be blessed with numerous families joining our membership in NCCOM construction groups ministered in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas. Evangelistic groups ministered in Alaska, Florida, North Carolina and Texas. A total of 24,807 volunteer hours and 33 professions of faith were recorded in NCCOM helped many of the North Carolina Baptist Children s Homes, logging in more than 1,500 volunteer hours. We were involved with various ministries at Broyhill Children s Home, Camp Cale, Duncan Girl s Camp, Cameron Boy s Camp, Mill s Home and the Baptist Children s Home. North Carolina Campers on Mission continues to play an important role in evangelism work at the North Carolina State Fair. A total of 60 volunteers gave over 5,088 volunteer hours in During those hours 11,865 people participated in various events and worship programs led by NCCOM. In total, 32 people professed Christ and 12 rededicated their lives to Him. North Carolina Campers on Mission are now in the planning stages to host the 2015 National Campers on Mission Rally to be held at Tom Johnson RV Center in Marion. We expect Campers on Mission people from all over the United States to be attending. Please be in prayer that lives will be reached for Jesus as we host this event. This year at our Spring Rally at Denton Farm Park, Denton, we installed our new president, Dr. John McBride and new vice president, Wes Pike. To learn more about North Carolina Campers on Mission, contact one of these gentlemen or Lee Wolfe, BSCNC director of the North Carolina chapter of Campers on Mission. You can also visit our website at Carolina Faith Riders Motorcycle Evangelism In the fall of 2013, the Carolina Faith Riders won another award at the Billy Graham Library for bringing the most boxes (over 700) to the Billy Graham Bikers-for-Boxes Rally in support of Samaritan s Purse Operation Christmas Child. In May of this year, we were set up in two areas at the Thunder in the Smokies Bike Rally. We talked to 54 people face-to-face at the Wheels Through Time Motorcycle Museum, sharing our personal testimonies with them. Inside the rally grounds we did a blessing of the bikes event where we prayed over 30+ bikes, while building relationships with the participants. We have been asked to help work the Smokeout Bike Rally in Rockingham, while also having our testimony tent set up as well. We have built relationships with the promoters of these events as well as the participants in hopes that we can share the love of Jesus Christ with them. Several of the individual chapters are having biker days, blessing of the bikes events, and road stop motorcycle rest stops all over the state providing refreshments, prayers and the opportunity to meet Christ! Phillip Morris is state coordinator of Carolina Faith Riders and can be 2014 Annual Report 117

118 reached at (919) or More information is available at Outdoorsmen Ministries and Sportsmen Expo Throughout the year, various outdoorsmen and sportsmen events take place. For more information on how to host an event or to locate one near you please contact (800) , ext Sports Evangelism Sports are a great way to impact lostness. For information on Sports Evangelism/Missions or how to conduct an evangelistic sports camp locally or internationally call (800) , ext Tent Ministry To reserve a tent for your upcoming events please contact Donnie Price, pastor of Rosebud Baptist Church in Wilson at least 6 to 12 months prior to the event date. Call (252) or visit Asian Ministry Asian Ministry has been assisting Asian churches to be Kingdom-focused churches through winning the lost to Christ, leading them to become spiritually mature in Christ and then sending them out to multiply the ministries of the church. The Multiplying Story: Pastor K Them of Highland Christian Church, a Montagnard Baptist congregation in Asheboro, started the first Montagnard church as a mission of Rankin Baptist Church in Greensboro in In 2008, he moved to a smaller Asheboro church so he and his son, Simon Touprong, also a minister, could focus on making disciples of all Montagnard people in North Carolina through personal disciple-making training. On Nov. 16, 2013, at Glenwood Friends Meeting in Greensboro, for the first time in North Carolina Baptist history, 11 Montagnard men were ordained at the same time in the same place by the same person (K Them) to spread the gospel. They had been trained as disciples for three years by K Them. A few weeks before the ordination service, each of the 11 men stood before an ordination counsel comprised of men representing Convention member churches. The council members were Pastor John Jarman of Rankin Baptist Church, Greensboro; Steve Sells, Randolph Baptist Association director of missions; three Montagnard pastors and two sponsoring church pastors. Throughout the day, each of these 11 men shared their testimonies individually with the counsel while their families and peers prayed all day long. Pastor Jarman said that he felt unworthy to question the faith of these men who were provided solid, theological training. Sells, who preached the ordination service, said, Whoever aspires to the office of overseer desires a great and noble task. It is clear from 1 Timothy 3 that the pastor is to be known by his integrity and his Christian virtues the church needs more men like you to surrender to the ministry. Asian Ministry has been working alongside 10 Asian field coordinators who represent major Asian people groups: Chinese, Filipino, Hmong, Japanese, Korean, Laotian, Lahu/ Thai/Burmese, Vietnamese and 2nd Generation. They represent the needs being faced by the people groups they work by: planning and providing 118 Baptist State Convention of North Carolina

119 training for making disciples; serving as mentors and coaches; encouraging support of the local church, association and the Convention; helping facilitate cross-cultural experiences; promoting life together as a Convention; providing ways of doing missions together with the Convention; and meeting with pastors, leaders and consultants for Sharing, Encouraging, Equipping, and Discipling (S.E.E.D) to assist churches to make disciples of all people. The Story of Disciple-making Among an Entire Family: RTP Global Mission Church, a Korean Baptist congregation in Morrisville, has been praying for ways to worship God in truth and spirit not only at church on Sundays but also at home every day. Minwoo Chang, who is serving the church as a worship and education pastor, is one of the members of the translating team of the Growing Disciples Series, helping with the Korean translation. He and Samuel Lee, Korean field coordinator, introduced to the church, The Call to Follow Christ, the first study book in the series, with Korean and English translations printed side-by-side. The whole church was so excited that they could use this material as a tool for not only making disciples of the entire family but also allowing them to have a time for family worship every evening together with children, teenagers, parents and grandparents. Children and teenagers couldn t read and understand Korean, so they read and studied the English parts of the book at the same time their parents read and studied the Korean parts. Pastor Chul Lee made a vital decision to start disciple-making efforts for the entire family through The Call to Follow Christ. Each Sunday he preached on the main idea from a chapter of the book, and then every Bible Study class (Sunday School) discussed the sermon. The following five days of the week the entire family gathered together during the evening, shared what each one learned and how to put into practice and worshipped God. This continued for eight weeks until the book was completed. Our family has experienced God s presence through family worship and are growing spiritually toward maturity through the study. We will continue to worship God and continue to grow spiritually together as family. One family shared their experience: While we were worshipping God and becoming His disciples, we realized that we love the Lord but were not serving the Lord well in the community. We, as a family, started to practice the principles of the Bible so we begin to reach the community. One deacon said, I give thanks to God for leading our church to experience His love and grace through worship and the disciple-making process for eight weeks! Pastor Chul Lee praised the Lord. Childhood Evangelism & Discipleship Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines disciple as a convinced adherent of a school or individual. Our purpose in Childhood Ministry is to lead churches and families to understand the importance of their role in the process of faith formation with their children as they become disciples of Christ. We long for children to become people who will adhere or stick to the teachings of Jesus throughout life and make other disciples who will stick to Christ Annual Report 119

120 One of the primary ways we equip churches is through leadership training and conferences. This past year over 800 people representing 186 churches attended training events led by Childhood Ministry where discipleship is the springboard for every event. Leaders are asked to lay aside their title of teacher, leader, classroom helper or director and assume the title and role of disciple-maker. This request has been transforming. Those who understand their call to lead through disciple-making focus not only on teaching through sharing Bible truth on Sundays but also by investing time in building relationships with their students. The vision for their work is transformed by the image of a disciple who sticks to Jesus for life. Childhood Ministry continues to offer safety and security training for churches. This training helps churches develop environments that are both safe and open for children to explore who God is and how He wants to be in their lives. The opportunities to offer training seminars for parents continue to grow. Helping parents understand their role in discipling their children is crucial to developing fully adherent followers of Christ. In the Remote Control Parenting seminar, parents are asked to consider if their family schedule allows time for their children to be discipled effectively. Other parenting conferences center on training parents about how their attitudes and actions impact their family s discipleship and how understanding the learning styles of their children can help maximize methods used in discipling. A childhood ministry leader retreat was held in February at Caraway. Timothy Paul Jones from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary was our guest speaker as we explored creating a disciple-making culture in a ministry setting. Various staff from the Convention also came to share their ministries with the 40 participants representing 34 churches. A series of mid-year learning communities/ mini-retreats are being developed that will offer children s ministry leaders training and time for building community in their regional ministry settings. The initial meeting in the Raleigh area was attended by 10 leaders representing 10 area churches. Training was offered in April for Convention endorsed specialists who will be available to equip churches through leader training. Specialists are located throughout the state and are available to assist churches and associations by request. Opportunities for leading training at Youth Summer Camp, the Weekday Education Conference and Happiness Retreat cap off a wonderful year in Childhood Ministry. Bible Drill Many great things are happening in the Bible Drill Ministry. A leader in one of our active Bible Drill churches shared this personal testimony this past spring: Bible Drill is my passion! I have to tell you I got a real blessing Wednesday night. When I practiced with the high schoolers, one of my young men was saying 1 Corinthians 13 slowly and his sister told him, If you go faster you will do better. He replied, I need to get it in my heart and feel it. It is not about getting the highest score. This is what every teacher always wants to come out of all 120 Baptist State Convention of North Carolina

121 this practice. Praise God! Thanks for the privilege to serve. This is what Bible Drill is all about. Yes, the drills add a competitive part to the program, but learning God s Word and hiding it in our hearts will make a difference for eternity. Learning God s Word through Bible Drill as a child makes an eternal impact on his life. For example, a 21 year old man sent his mother (who is a children s Bible Drill leader) a text during exam time at one of our state universities. He told his mother, I m not allowed to use my Bible on my religion final, so I have to memorize scripture to use to argue my points on my exam. I just thought I would let you know my years of Bible Drill will come in handy. Bible Drill is alive and living in the hearts of our children, youth and adults in North Carolina. Church Weekday Education Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, Hebrews 12:1. On August 2-3, 2013, 270 Church Weekday Education (CWE) directors and staff representing 46 North Carolina churches attended the CWE Summer Conference, Amazing Grace for the Amazing Race. Cheryl Markland, Convention childhood ministry consultant, was the featured speaker on Friday and she encouraged a group of 51 weekday ministry directors to lead with grace. She spoke about looking to Christ for the endurance to run the race as we minister to weekday education staff and families. On Saturday, a variety of childhood ministry leaders led break out sessions for participants. Topics included laying academic and spiritual foundations for babies and preschoolers, following rules and regulations, disciplining as discipling and including intergenerational, multicultural, special needs and wideranging abilities in weekday ministry. Leaders shared ideas for lesson planning, indoor play, blogging and communication, music and movement, teaching Bible stories and much, much more. Participants also had an opportunity to learn more about the CWE Certification, a tool that helps evaluate and enrich the quality of CWE ministry as it relates to preschoolers and their families. Throughout the conference, weekday ministry staff were encouraged and affirmed for their important roles in the spiritual lives of children and the unique opportunity that they have to share the love of Christ with families. Each year at our summer conference, CWE recognizes teachers of excellence. Chosen as Teacher of the Year for their center, these teachers are nominated to receive the North Carolina Baptist Church Weekday Education Association Teacher of the Year distinction. In 2013, of the five nominees, Barbara Rover, representing Pittsboro Baptist Preschool, received the award. Barbara s passion for children goes above and beyond what is expected and she gives of her personal time to help students succeed. She treats every child with love and respect and utilizes creative and fun ideas to teach them. Because of her dedication and loyalty not only to the preschool but also to her students, Barbara represents the commitment and passion that is shared by so many in weekday education ministry. As churches continue to contact the Convention for guidance in beginning as well as maintaining a quality weekday education ministry, they are being challenged to expect Greater 2014 Annual Report 121

122 Things from their CWE ministry. More than just providing quality childcare, they are encouraged to lay a spiritual foundation for the children and to also be disciples of Christ to the adults they meet and serve. Across our state we hear reports of weekday families who have experienced God working in their lives. They have started attending and becoming involved in church ministry as a result of their connection with a church weekday ministry. We celebrate when we learn of the blessings received from hearing the children singing and laughing and repeating Bible stories. We rejoice as we discover weekday centers participating in mission projects in the community and abroad. As Church Weekday Education Ministries continue to explore the unique position in which God has placed us to create a disciple-making culture in the local church, we must be intentional in sharing the message of the gospel and expect Greater Things as we teach children and share the love of Christ with their families. Preschool and Children s Ministry Certification The Convention s partnership with Campbell University Divinity School to provide the Preschool and Children s Ministry Certification completed its 14th year and awarded five more certifications to ministers with several more completing their sixth and last course very soon. More than 80 ministers and laypersons have completed the six courses required for the certification. In addition, many other childhood ministers, preschool weekday ministers, pastors, ministers of children and youth and ministers of education have taken one or more of the courses that have shed light on how they can more effectively guide children in their growing relationship with God. The ministers completing the coursework required for the certification report that they are exposed to aspects of childhood ministry that they had never known and admit that they now are convinced of the importance of the childhood years as foundational to a committed life of faith. The practical aspect of the certification helps them to put into practice what they are learning in the classes. One student wrote a justice curriculum for children and another developed a children s worship orientation course and guided a Children s Sunday for her church. Several students have redecorated their children s space to make it more inviting and still others have developed policies and procedures to protect their children and churches as well as improve their ministries. The Preschool and Children s Ministry Certification continues to educate people to the importance of providing quality content for children in the early and formative years of their faith journey. Vacation Bible School During summer 2013, boys and girls, youth and adults faced their fears and trusted God with LifeWay s Colossal Coaster World Vacation Bible School (VBS). We thanked God when we discovered the statistics that showed an increase in VBS attendance in North Carolina over the last three years. Many thanks to a great state VBS team who trained and led VBS workshops across North Carolina this year: Jill Carter, High Point; Janet Smith, Asheboro; Lois McCoy, Garner; Kathy Quinn, Kenansville; Luis Nodal, Statesville; Paul and Barbara Hill, Statesville. This 122 Baptist State Convention of North Carolina

123 Team, and the fine group of leaders in local associations, trained 2,145 VBS teachers and leaders in the local churches. This represents an increase of 382 over the training event numbers from The preliminary VBS enrollment statistics for North Carolina in 2013 were from 708 North Carolina churches reporting with the total enrollment of 86,500 and an average attendance of 100. The best news is that there were 1,879 professions of faith and 133 decisions for ministry. There were 7,159 prospects discovered, of which 3,033 have since been enrolled in Sunday School. Wow! That s an enrollment-to-prospect ratio of 42 percent; 2012 s ratio was only 14 percent. This shows that you are continuing the connection after discovering prospects through VBS. The length of Vacation Bible School varied with 455 schools ongoing for five days, 71 schools ongoing for more than five days, and a growing trend in our churches, 176 schools lasting fewer than 5 days. About 82 percent of all North Carolina VBS are held in the evening (10 percent in the morning, 5 percent a combination). LifeWay products were used by 70 percent of the reporting churches. Standard, Gospel Light and Group were the other publisher s curriculums that were used in North Carolina. We were pleased to see that the exciting development of a growing number of VBS Link-Ups has continued again this past year with 193 churches participating. Churches that participate in a Link-Up share not only visual and curriculum resources with another church but share people so that individual churches or larger groups can provide a VBS. In most cases, without that help, a VBS would not have been conducted. We praise God for that cooperation. Congratulations to the 15 churches that attained Advanced VBS Level designation and the 465 churches that attained Standard Level. Churches attain Standard Level designation by completing a 24-step process that includes planning, promotion, organization and the enlistment of leadership, plus thorough follow-up practices after the completion of the VBS. Advanced Level designation includes the requirements for Standard VBS with the added requirement of conducting either a mission VBS, one or more Backyard Bible Clubs or a VBS Link-Up. This report is submitted before the completion of the summer of The 2014 VBS theme was Agency D3- Discover, Decide, Defend (1 Peter 3:15) and Backyard Kids Club, which will give churches the resources to conduct backyard Bible clubs and mission efforts that are unique from the church VBS setting. Go to for more information and helps. Embrace Women s Missions and Ministries and Women s Evangelism and Discipleship Embrace began the 2014 ministry year praying the words of the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 3:20-21, Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen. The office staff and volunteers anticipated the Lord Jesus doing 2014 Annual Report 123

124 mighty things not only in the lives of North Carolina Baptist women but also through North Carolina Baptist women as they were faithful to make disciples among the peoples they encountered. Throughout the 2014 ministry year, women were engaged, equipped and enabled to impact lostness through disciple-making. Women s Ministry Events Embrace began the year hosting the Embrace Leadership Training at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. The training event s theme was Serving as Designed and was based upon 1 Corinthians 12:28, where Paul addresses the Church at Corinth and encourages them to work together as the body of Christ using the unique gifting God has given them individually. Embrace was delighted to have Carolyn O Neal, women s ministry director at Houston s First Baptist Church in Texas, as the main speaker. O Neal encouraged and challenged the women s ministry leaders to serve the Lord wholeheartedly and faithfully as they serve in their local churches. She shared her testimony of how the Lord opened doors of opportunity that allowed her to serve and prepared her for what she does in ministry to women. She told the women to never waste opportunities or moments where God should be glorified and exalted. In addition to O Neal s teaching during the large plenary sessions, women s ministry leaders were equipped through break out sessions. During the hands-on equipping sessions, women were taught in the foundations of beginning a women s ministry, how to teach the Bible in a practical way, working with the generations in ministry, involving younger women in missions and how to impact lostness through disciple-making. The women also had opportunities to engage in short mission projects throughout the town of Wake Forest. The mission projects gave participants the chance to learn how to engage in true biblical missions as they ministered to others while simultaneously sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Embrace Team asked the ladies what they learned during the training via an evaluation form. The team was greatly encouraged by comments that included learning that discipleship start[s] with relationships, discipleship IS important, being in another person s life is key to discipleship, and it s not about making converts, but making disciples. Embrace also hosted Be BOLD: A Women s Prayer and Evangelism Retreat at LifeWay s Ridgecrest Conference Center in Ridgecrest for all North Carolina Baptist women during the weekend of September 5-6. Mary Jo Sharp, assistant professor of apologetics at Houston Baptist University, served as the main speaker during the retreat. Through break out sessions and hands-on plenary session times, Sharp, break out leaders and other retreat faculty sought to help ladies learn to share the story of Jesus Christ and how His story affects every story. The fervent and earnest prayer of the planning committee was for women to move past fears in sharing Christ, but recognize the need for boldly making disciples of the people in immediate areas of influences. Break out sessions included how to share the love of Christ with neighbors, how to share Jesus in the marketplace, learning about the nones (or religiously unaffiliated), spiritual warfare and how to discern truth from the enemy s lies in social media. 124 Baptist State Convention of North Carolina

125 Missions Involvement Embrace was also thankful to be involved in its third mission trip to New York City (NYC). Embracing NYC was a September mission trip to NYC that included a team of women with varying mission trip experience. The team worked with New-City Church, a church plant with the North American Mission Board (NAMB) and Send NYC. New-City Church is located in Long Island City, a neighborhood in Queens that overlooks Manhattan. The church began hosting preview services in the summer of 2013 and in April 2014 began hosting weekly services. The Long Island City neighborhood where the church is located is quite diverse. The area used to be an industrial area and is home to Queensbridge, the largest housing project in North America. In recent years many highrise apartments have been built and many businesses are moving into the neighborhood making it a new city. The mission team included ladies who had been involved in mission trips previously, but also ladies who had never been a part of a mission trip. One mission trip member commented, I feel that God has called me to do mission work in NYC. I have a great love for the City and have realized that this love extends to mission work after going on the Embracing NYC 2012 trip (my very first mission trip) [That] mission trip truly changed my life. Another team member, who is originally from the New England area and was part of the 2013 Embracing Boston mission team said, There is such a desperate need for the gospel in the Northeast. I come from that area and am aware of the fact that they are cynical about spiritual things and are far away from the Lord. I believe we are called to go whenever there is an opportunity and the Lord provides the way. Our country is in such desperate need of understanding that Jesus Christ died for their sins and wants a relationship with each person on this planet so I want to bring that message any time I can. Worthy of the Calling Blog On April 2 Embrace re-launched its blog, Worthy of the Calling (www. worthyofthecalling.org). The re-launch included re-designing the aesthetics of the blog, as well as introducing the seven-member blog writing team of Ashley Allen, Emily Anthony, Abby Edwards, Erin Gandy, Sara Jolley, Lauren McCall and Shirley Sells. The team posts three times a week and focuses on women s ministry leadership, engaging culture, active fulfillment of the Great Commission and women s ministry practicalities among other topics. The blog enjoys regular readership from all 50 states in the United States and 138 different countries. The blog team is continually humbled by the opportunities the Lord Jesus has provided to equip women in gospel ministry through the blog, but also share the gospel through the blog. More information about Embrace can be found at Family Evangelism and Discipleship Equipping and encouraging North Carolina Baptist churches to build strong families is both a privilege and a challenge. We believe thriving churches begin with thriving families. And thriving families begin with thriving marriages, starting with the pastor and his wife. This can help create a strong basis for effective ongoing discipleship, both in the home and church. This critical premise largely defines the purpose of Family Evangelism and 2014 Annual Report 125

126 Discipleship. Through church-based events and special marriage getaways for pastors and spouses, we are able to challenge participants to surrender to God s plan for the family. This past year we had the privilege of leading marriage conferences attended by 536 people from 113 churches and two pastor/wife events attended by 51 couples from 25 churches. A letter from a pastor who attended one of our pastor/wife marriage events reminds us why we do what we do: I wanted to write and say thanks for holding the recent marriage event for pastors and wives. Just prior to this event I had resigned from my church after many years as pastor. With nowhere to go and no plan for what to do next, we decided to attend this event because we really needed to get away. My wife and I have felt uncertain about our future for many reasons. On top of all that, our 28-year-old daughter was recently released after three years of incarceration. Needless to say, our world has been turned upside down. So we showed up at the event with lots of things going on no one else knew about. We are truly grateful that God used this time to speak to us about what s really important and why our marriage is an important centerpiece in His plan for us. We left encouraged and closer to one another and we can t tell you how important that was for us. I can t think of a better place for us to have been at this moment in our lives. Thanks so much! -North Carolina Baptist Pastor Hispanic Evangelism and Discipleship The U.S. Census reveals that North Carolina s population continues to grow. Census data reports an estimated total growth of 21 percent from , including an increase in the Hispanic population of 135 percent. This means that we could have over one million Hispanics in North Carolina by 2015 with individuals coming from more than 23 Spanish-speaking countries. God continues to bless with such Hispanic growth in numbers and diversity in values, culture, language and lifestyle. These Hispanic-Americans continue to strengthen their network of relationships among relatives and friends throughout the United States and around the world. The Hispanic Evangelism and Discipleship Ministry strives to provide consulting and resourcing for congregations and associations in Hispanic evangelism and discipleship in order to assist in their God-given mission to make disciples. There is no question that God is positioning North Carolina for Greater Things toward the edification of his eternal Kingdom and we must seize the moment for God s glory. Penetrating Lostness Among Hispanics Reaching the Cities The challenge of reaching our cities continues to call for creative methods of partnership and cooperation. In an effort to reach the growing Hispanic population numerous efforts have taken place, including but not limited to: soccer tournaments, special family events, free health care clinics, immigration awareness, English as a Second Language, international festivals, evangelistic block parties (Fiestas Evangelísticas), backyard Bible clubs, home Bible studies, inner-city special ministries, Vacation Bible School, multi-housing ministries, special summer missionary projects and Bible and tract distribution. 126 Baptist State Convention of North Carolina

127 Additional disciple-making events have been held in Massachusetts and South Carolina in fulfillment of our biblical challenge of being Acts 1:8 in the fulfillment of the Great Commandment through the Great Commission. More than 65 workshops and meetings have been held with a focus on Kingdom prayer, hope, spiritual renewal, evangelism and discipleship teamwork and cooperation tailored to the context of each congregation and its community. As a result of these meetings some participants have led a revitalization process for dying or plateaued congregations, while other participants have led efforts to address churches in conflict. Both of these efforts have taken place even in and without a pastor. Finally, church and associational ministry relationships continue to be strengthened for more effective partnerships and collaboration for ministry. My Hope America Celebrations As part of the nationwide My Hope America partnership between the Convention and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, the Hispanic Evangelism and Discipleship ministry engaged with more than 52 planning and equipping celebrations toward Kingdom harvest with more than 1,100 participants. One of the regional harvest celebrations was held in Hendersonville on November 3 with more than 225 Hispanics from six congregations participating. Vietnamese State Conference The annual Vietnamese State Conference was a strategic event. The conference was conducted in order to equip our Vietnamese families to penetrate lostness within the Vietnamese community through disciple-making. The following testimony was received from Dr. Joseph Phan, president of the Vietnamese State Fellowship of North Carolina. Greetings to you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior. I would like to report to you that our Vietnamese Evangelistic/Discipleship Revival on July 28, 2013, was a great and awesome blessing from our Lord Jesus. He has heard and answered our prayer tremendously, which were 450 participants from 12 different Vietnamese churches in our state of North Carolina. The worship message ended with an invitation to those who wanted to accept Christ as their Savior and a calling to who wanted to dedicate or rededicate their lives to follow and to serve the Lord Jesus Christ. Nine of them responded to the invitation to come forward to rededicate their lives to the Lord. After lunch, we had a break out session with emphasis on The Role of the Leaders in the Local Church led by Dr. Christian Phan and Rev. Joseph Phan. These workshops were to help our leaders and our churches to find out about their relationship with God, their gifts, and their passions and how they can be able to use their gifts to serve our Lord Jesus. Time ended but we had many things that we wanted to say to our congregation so we wrapped it up by saying, Thanks be to God because You are so good and wonderful in many ways in our lives, Lord, and we want to be faithful and serve You with all what we have. The training was dismissed, but people did not want to leave although it was necessary for us to say goodbye and say we hoped to see each 2014 Annual Report 127

128 other in the coming next year Once again, we would like to express our deepest appreciation to you, and we want to say thank you so much for your support and prayers. We hope we continue to ask our Lord to guide our churches to do more about discipleship/evangelism, and we want to see our churches grow strong in faith and grace, to be more Christ-like, and reach more lost people to Christ so that they may have salvation and the abundant life. Hispanic Evangelism and Discipleship Strategy Development Pastors and Wives Enrichment and Planning Retreats Pastors and wives continue to express how meaningful this retreat has become for their spiritual growth, renewal in their marriage relationship, and in their ministerial relationships with other pastors, the Convention and the SBC. Two strategic retreats were held in 2013 with a total of 72 participants. The Caswell retreat was held October with 36 Hispanic people from 16 congregations. The Ridgecrest retreat was held November 1-2 with 47 Hispanic and Vietnamese people from 25 congregations. Both retreats included workshops on the Cooperative Program led by Mike Creswell and Disaster Relief led by Enio Aguero, Chaplain with the North American Mission Board. Both retreats were designed to assist pastors and wives in their Kingdom prayer life, pastoral life, marriage and family enrichment. As a result, a better understanding of, and greater desire to be involved in, North Carolina Baptist ministries has been the result of these retreats. This testimony was received from Dr. Joseph Phan, president of the Vietnamese State Fellowship of North Carolina, regarding the Ridgecrest retreat: We pastors express our deep appreciation to Rev. Kim and Dr. Soriano who have helped us to have a great time to fellowship and spend time together to share, pray and plan events for our Vietnamese churches for the year of In addition, we also had time to rest, fellowship among the other groups and enjoy the beautiful mountains and weather. We had a good Bible study both Friday night and Saturday morning together and are very thankful and grateful to Dr. Soriano, Mike Creswell and the NC Baptist Men representative. They came and shared with us about the retreat and Cooperative Program and how NC Baptist Men serve the Lord. Furthermore, we learned how the Convention has helped churches throughout the state. Once again, we would like to express our deepest appreciation to you, and we want to say thank you so much for your support and prayers. Please continue to pray for our Vietnamese churches and that we be clothed with His power and wisdom to reach more lost people to Christ so that His Kingdom will be expanded to the end of the world. Intentionally Evangelistic Church Strategy (IECS) The IECS has been an effective tool to assist pastors and churches in developing an individualized process for effective evangelism and discipleship. It is a practical and thought-provoking seminar that will 128 Baptist State Convention of North Carolina

129 prompt pastors to arise to impact lostness by developing a strategy to correspond to the culture of their community. The Hispanic Evangelism and Discipleship ministry led two Hispanic regional trainings with a total of 73 participants. The first was in Kernersville on March with an attendance of 26 persons from three congregations, and the second one was in Mount Olive on July with 47 persons from eight congregations. Evangelism and Discipleship Consultations Relationship-Driven Consultants Relationship-driven consultations continue to be an effective tool to assist pastors, churches, associations and regional fellowships to impact lostness through disciple-making in the state population centers. The Hispanic Evangelism and Discipleship ministry is striving to build Kingdom relationships that will lead into contextualized collaboration in making fully devoted disciples in Christ. At times these consultations have been conducted only with the pastor and his wife for more effective and meaningful results. Evangelism and Discipleship Hispanic Networks Cross-cultural networks continue to be strengthened among pastors, lay leaders and associational leadership throughout the state. These networks are being developed for intentionally effective cross-cultural disciplemaking. Seven active Hispanic regional networks ministering in communities with diverse cultural backgrounds have been established; the networks reflect their country of origin. These networks help to discover and assist in the multiplication of cross-cultural disciple-making leaders to operate within their own culture and language, as well as in other cultures. The networks also assist pastors and other leaders in planning and implementing culturally relevant workshops and conferences according to their needs, while integrating more into the North Carolina Baptist family. They provide various opportunities to pray for spiritual awakening in order to do Greater Things toward the edification of God s kingdom. Evangelism and Discipleship Multipliers Reaching the Younger Generation In the task of reaching and developing youth and young adults in disciplemaking, more than 963 youth and young adults from Hispanic congregations have been involved in statewide conferences, retreats and regional rallies held at Caswell, Greensboro, Jacksonville, Wilson and Rocky Mount. The Lord blessed with 66 registered decisions, including 10 professions of faith, 37 rededications, 10 vocational ministry commitments and nine other personal decisions. Some of these decisions are compelling laypersons to become more involved in spiritual renewals and evangelistic ministries in their local congregations, even in churches that do not have a pastor. Hispanic Youth Retreat The statewide Hispanic youth retreat is designed to reach youth between the ages of The 2013 retreat was held at Caswell during Labor Day weekend and was a blessing for all participants. The Lord blessed with 304 in attendance and a total of 90 registered decisions for Christ: 18 professions of faith, 43 rededications, 20 vocational ministry and nine other personal decisions. The 2013 theme was Bought, based 2014 Annual Report 129

130 on 1 Corinthians 6:20, You were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies. The schedule was strategically designed to explore what God has done and how He equips us to follow Him in our daily living by learning how to overcome through His power challenges in identity, family, personal relationships, school, music, friends, peer pressure and temptations, and how to experience His eternal Kingdom in a godly lifestyle. The workshops addressed issues such as one s purpose of life, being a problem or a solution, peer pressure and discovering and connecting with God s power for a new beginning. Also, six hours of strategic training was held with 61 counselors on how to develop a winning youth leadership team in their local church. Most everyone expressed in their evaluation how they plan to return the following year. Here are a couple of testimonies from youth: I just wanted to tell you that I had a very great time at camp the other week! I made a lot of new friends. I learned stuff about God that I didn t know about. I wish I would had never left camp because I won t see some friends until next year. But I just want to let you know that I ll be getting ready for camp next year! I know it seems like a long time, but time flies by fast. I hope that I can join y all at Caswell again next year and, yes, I know that time flies by fast. Last year when I first started going to Caswell, I really enjoyed it so much that I wanted to stay a little longer. But I knew that we couldn t. I made a lot of new friends this year and last year. I just don t see them again till I come to Caswell again...every time that I go to Caswell, I get more and more closer with God. The 2014 Youth Retreat will be held at Caswell August 29-September 1, with the theme Love in Action based on John 13:35, By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. Hispanic Young Adult Conference This statewide conference is designed to reach young adults between ages 18-35, including single and married adults. The 2014 conference was held at Caswell May 31-June 2 with single adults and young couples making important decisions for Christ. The Lord blessed with 202 in attendance (42 percent increase from 2012) and a total of 24 registered decisions in the Lord, including one profession of faith, 18 rededications, and five vocational ministry decisions in Christ. More than one couple made a public decision to get married, after living together for several years, in order to follow the Lord with their family for disciple-making. The theme Total Love was based on John 15:13. The conference focused on God s transforming work in each single and married person through faith in Christ to impact lostness through disciple-making, starting with our life, family, friends and neighbors. Topics on making love last forever were used interactively by facilitators to lead workshops for young couples, guiding them to build godly disciple-making marriages. Meanwhile, the single adults followed an interactive track focusing on reaching their maximum potential in daily living under Christ s direction. The Lord provided a beautiful environment and collaboration, including participation from a church in Virginia. The written evaluations indicated 130 Baptist State Convention of North Carolina

131 how they plan to return for the 2015 conference and hope to bring a larger group of participants from their churches. Next year s theme is Rescued and Forgiven, based on Colossians 1:13-14, For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Families Reaching Families Families Reaching families is an effective cross-cultural theme to engage church families in disciplemaking with families without a church home as well as other families in the community by connecting through culture and language to share Christ s love in fulfillment of the Great Commandment through the Great Commission. Forty-two different retreats and workshops were held to equip and empower families to reach, develop and multiply other families in the Lord. These interactive workshops are focused on relational enrichment and parenting to help people overcome witnessing barriers among their family members, friends and neighbors. The workshops have helped families to learn how to develop an effective disciple-making lifestyle in order to recapture their God-given potential at home and become a Kingdom lighthouse in their community and beyond; thus we can anticipate Greater Things from the Lord toward his glorious Kingdom harvest. Sunday School and Small Groups This year we have trained Sunday School resource specialists in the area of disciple-making through the Sunday School. The training was held for the specialists at the Baptist Building in Cary on April 28, As a result of this workshop, 35 resource specialists were given a deeper understanding of the connection between Sunday School and disciple-making. Within the group of specialists who attended the training, there were 15 adult specialists, 12 youth specialists and nine children specialists. In addition to the specialist training, four associational Sunday School trainings have been held, serving 15 churches and impacting over 200 Sunday School leaders across the state. Also, four church consultations regarding Sunday School have been conducted. Our goal in 2015 is to provide training videos, accessible from our website, to further equip and train Sunday School leaders in the churches of North Carolina. Youth Evangelism and Discipleship Summer Youth Weeks Summer Youth Weeks 2013 consisted of seven weeks of camp at Fort Caswell. These weeks combine worship, small and large group studies, special interest tracks, church group devotions and many other fun activities. The theme for the summer was Speak Up. Step Up. Stand Up. Students explored what balanced spirituality looks like for teenagers today. They dug into God s Word and examined the life of Timothy. The focus passage was 1 Timothy 4:12, Don t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity (NIV). The featured speakers were Derwin Gray, Allen Jackson, Chad Poe, Eddie Briery, Stuart Hall, E.J. Swanson, and Jack Easterby. The mission offering project goal for summer Annual Report 131

132 was to package 200,000 meals and expand the mission project to support a teacher and children from the House of Abraham in Jacmel, Haiti. The goal of $50,000 was met and exceeded $67, was received. Greater things happened above and beyond the financial goals to pay for the food being packaged; one year s support was also provided for one teacher and five students at the House of Abraham. Go God! Attendance for the 2013 camps was 6,863, representing 282 churches. Total decisions reflected the greater things God was doing at camp including 526 first-time professions of faith, more than 4,000 recommitments and 408 called to full-time Christian ministry. The chaperones that attend Youth Weeks camp are invited to attend four days of youth minister training. Chaperones play a huge part in how students are ministered to while at camp and back at home as many serve as volunteers in their church s youth ministry. Subjects include: overall understanding of teenagers today, bullying, preparing for college, mentoring and parent ministry. During the summer of 2014, we sponsored seven weeks of youth camp for teenagers at Fort Caswell. The theme for our 2014 camps was Tag! You re It, which explored how we can make our lives count, be the game-changers, and stand up for what we believe. Discussion centered on praying our friends to Christ, sharing Jesus without fear and apologetics, as well as leadership training for genderspecific groups. The theme verse was Joshua 1:9, Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go (NIV). Speakers were Jack Easterby, Mike Satterfield, Wes Hamilton, Eddie Briery, Chad Poe, Adrian Despres and Derwin Gray. The summer was billed as the Summer of the Millionth Meal as we celebrated what only God could do in four short summers with packaging one million meals for Haiti through the missions offering project. It was a God-sized task requiring offerings to exceed $75,000 for these meals to be packaged and shipped. As of May 28, 2014, attendance is slated to total 6,672 representing 268 churches. Fall Youth Retreats The purpose of these weekends is to help students become spiritually influential to lead out in being part of the greater things God is doing. Today s students must live at a very high level of wisdom, purity and courage to withstand pressure without being influenced by it. Two fall retreats took place at Fort Caswell in On October 26-28, the Tag! You re It retreat was held, equipping Christian students to make their lives count, to be the gamechanger and to stand up for what they believe. On November 15-17, the Speak Up. Step Up. Stand Up retreat was held, equipping students to set an example. The speaker was Ed Newton. Total attendance for both retreats was 1,280 representing 53 churches. There were 42 first-time professions of faith and more than 500 recommitments. Fall Retreats 2014 are scheduled for October and November at Fort Caswell with featured speakers Allen Jackson and Ed Newton, respectively. Student Ministry Lab: Youth Leader Training 132 Baptist State Convention of North Carolina

133 Three Student Ministry Lab trainings were held: August 24, 2013, at Spencer Baptist Church, Spindale; September 14, 2013, at Wrightsboro Baptist Church, Wilmington; and March 29, 2014, at First Baptist Church, Salisbury. Attending were 137 youth leaders representing 49 churches. Youth ministers and youth leaders were led in learning more about this generation of teenagers, risk management, apologetics, involving parents in youth ministry, ministering with disabled souls, working with volunteers, identity formation and much more. The training included ministry helps and ideas, speakers who addressed issues of spiritual growth and renewal, and a time of fellowship and sharing ideas. Several adults mentioned that they had no idea the Convention offered such amazing training for youth leaders. A few were at the point of burnout and didn t know that having a strategy of working with teenagers, with goals and a plan to equip students to stand strong in their faith, as well as a plan of enlisting volunteers would help eliminate that burnout feeling. They left with a fresh understanding of what youth ministry should look like; which was not to keep them safe, have fun and eat pizza. Student Ministry Lab 2014 includes a training scheduled for October 4 at First Baptist Church, Summerfield. Conclave Conclave, the largest gathering and best training event in the Southeast for people who minister to teenagers in Southern Baptist life, was held January 23-25, 2014, at the Chattanooga Convention Center in Chattanooga, Tenn. In attendance were youth ministers and youth workers for this time of authentic worship, relevant training, honest conversation and personal encouragement. High school students attended The Core, a leadership development seminar track designed entirely for students. The theme was Balance: Where Ministry + Life Intersect, based on 2 Peter 3:17-18, Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen. Featured speakers were Derwin Gray, Fred Luter, J.D. Greear and Richard Blackaby. Chad Poe was featured speaker for The Core Annual Report 133

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