Jun 23, 2020
By Carl Greene
Executive Director
I was probably 8 years old when I asked my grandfather how he plowed a straight line across the field. The field was covered in sod and had no rows to follow to know a straight path. I was amazed by how he could do this—was it some sort of internal compass that develops when you get old? You probably notice that this story is ancient history—I was young and it was enough years ago where it was a moldboard plow hitched to a tractor not equipped with GPS navigation.
My grandfather said that he chose a tall tree on the other side of the field and kept his eyes on it. In fact, he kept his eyes fixed on the tree and steadied the tractor straight toward it to maintain the right path across the field. The key was to stay focused on the same tree—to not get distracted and lose track of which tree he was aiming for.
We have spent a year with the Conference theme of “Fix Your Eyes on Jesus.” Let’s think about this through the lens of a key focus of the SDB Conference: to develop and support new and existing leaders who will work through healthy local churches. We are passionate about healthy churches and healthy leaders—but how are we getting there while our eyes are collectively fixed on Jesus? Over this past year, we have been “plowing the field” with four key emphases: church revitalization, gospel saturation, church planting, and leadership development.
Church Revitalization: Over this past ministry year, Conference Directors have
intentionally leaned into this space. The PULSE process, our SDB church revitalization initiative, continues to be utilized by an increasing number of churches. We have also sought to increase our communication with pastors, especially amidst the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic. We have instituted virtual Pastor Forums and virtual visits to churches. Another key portion of church revitalization is utilizing partnerships to leverage opportunities to equip churches to actively advance God’s Kingdom. The General Conference and the SDB Memorial Fund have partnered together to provide church revitalization grants to churches as they adapt to the opportunities of this changing ministry context. In addition, we secured grants from the National Association of Evangelicals and the Lilly Foundation as well as the Baptist World Alliance to match funds from the SDB Stephanie Sholtz Wellness Fund for pastor grants that benefit financial, emotional, spiritual, and/or physical health. We keep our eyes fixed on Jesus by bathing this in prayer: the Coordinating Leadership Team of Directors pray for three churches weekly while pastors, pastors’ spouses, and their families are consistently lifted up in prayer.
Gospel Saturation: We are increasingly passionate about our public witness of faith through Word and Deed. The recent Amplify Conference, virtually hosted by the Billy Graham Center, provided a leveraging point for us as nearly 60 Seventh Day Baptists participated in large group presentations, break-out sessions, Zoom discussion forums, and ongoing dialog throughout the three-day event (May 19–21). What is important about gospel saturation is that it is not simply an event, it is a way of life for us as Seventh Day Baptists. This requires considering what we communicate and how we communicate it. This has been evident in a dramatic shift that the Conference Directors have undertaken in communication—increasing our presence in digital formats. From routine blog posts to Facebook Live interviews to short video segments to providing online resources, we have intentionally sought ways to “saturate” communication with an increased presence coupled with a focus on gospel communication as an identifier of who we are as Seventh Day Baptists. After all, if our eyes are fixed on Him, we cannot help but talk about Him—healthy leaders working through healthy churches requires gospel communication.
Church Planting: We are anxious to see increasing tangible fruit of church planting training and efforts. We hunger to see plants growing into churches seeking Conference membership. We are simultaneously passionate about healthy leaders being sent into church planting, while church plants are being nurtured by healthy sponsoring churches. Hence, we are patient for health, but increasingly aggressive in prioritizing the ground work of church planting. The ground work of church planting requires resources, and we have been reallocating our human and financial resources to truly empower the church planting that we give significant lip service to. Through partnering with the SDB Memorial Board along with the Missionary Society, resources have been allocated to fund a Church Planting Coordinator position. We are super excited that Patty Petersen serves in this role where she assists in the work of cultivating new contacts and is also a catalyst in starting new SDB churches through a ministry coordinating role. Simultaneously, we have been directly investing in church planting. The General Conference partnered with the Memorial Board in providing significant grants to church planting efforts during this ministry year. All of these efforts are fruitless, however, without fixing our eyes on Jesus. Church planting remains rooted in prayer through the Team 21 initiative, especially our quarterly 21-day prayer focus to join God in His work. A key culture change underway as SDBs is recognizing that an indicator of church health is involvement at some level in church planting.
Leadership Development: The SDBU education initiative is a key means to measure the impact being made in leadership development. 45 students have used the online classes of SDBU. There are currently 25 students who have applied for admission to the SDB Ministry Leadership Certificate program or have started classes. One student has already graduated from this certificate program, with another round of graduates coming soon. A certificate opportunity through SDBU that is now being expanded is the Pastoral Leadership Certificate Program. 22 students have taken a class in this certificate program, which will be offering expanded course opportunities in coming semesters. Once again, the key here is keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus—leadership development is not simply about pragmatics and how-to skills. Our leadership development is firmly rooted in Scriptural truth that simultaneously cultivates our own spiritual, emotional, financial, and physical health. This is something that we have purposefully incorporated as Conference Directors as well. Through the support of the General Council, core Conference Directors are able to utilize coaching and counseling as a part of developing and growing as an overall healthy leader.
Plowing the Field: When I began working alongside Rob Appel in the SDB Executive Director role a year ago, he encouraged me to think about his retirement and my new role as a transition in ministry season. That has been sage advice as we have partnered together as churches and a General Conference throughout this tumultuous ministry year—full of uncertainty, disruption, and yet gospel opportunity. Blessings as we plow ahead, partnered together, with our eyes fixed on Jesus.
