What is Your Type of Baptist Association?
A perspective for local denominational organizations/judicatories on how they best empower their churches to serve from the base of their local context.
Synopsis: The is the first in a series of seven columns about various types of Baptist associations (with implications for local denominational organizations or judicatories in many denominations). A series of FREE video conferences are offered to support and dialogue about this typology.
They begin on August 7th. To sign up, send a message to George Bullard sharing your desire to participate and your email.
Rundown: Articles on Baptist associations are often applicable to the local denominational organizations/judicatories of various denominations. They may be called associations, districts, classis, synods, and by other names. They are typically organisms more than organizations. Relational more than functional. Regional and national expressions of denominations are more organizational and functional.
(This column appears this week in the digital and print edition of The Baptist Paper. Access the column in the digital edition HERE. The Baptist Paper is a publication of TAB Media. Request a free trial HERE. See all TAB Media columns written by George Bullard HERE.) (Subscribe to this Substack Blog using the “Subscribe now” button below.)
What is Your Type of Baptist Association?
During an online video call, a pastor candidate asked a church search team a question they did not expect.
“Tell me about your association? What type of association is it? Does your association help your church reach its full Kingdom potential?”
No one knew the answer. They had not thought their association would be a consideration of a pastor prospect. However, they discovered it was important to this candidate.
The call was in preparation for an upcoming face-to-face meeting. He asked them to find out what they could about their association and share their results with him when they met.
He already knew a partial answer. He and their associational mission strategist had talked. He discovered the church was not very involved in the association. The pastor candidate told the AMS he was going to ask them to talk with him.
What type of association did they discover?
(Continue reading HERE.)
Reflections from George:
The strength of an association is a larger factor in the success of churches than some might expect. It is important to identify how well your association functions to explore ways of improving it.
These seven columns and the FREE video conference talking about them will cover associations which are Soaring, Strong, Stumbling, Struggling, and Spiritless. This parallels a typology for congregations that includes the same five types. I have been working on this typology periodically over the past four decades
I invite you to learn alongside me. I look forward to learning from you.
Sign up for the video conferences that begin August 7th.