Colorado Baptists Envisioning a Brighter Future

I had a great meeting today with the CBGC Revision/Restructure Task Force. I'm not sure what the real name of the group is but what I've written is close. I was concerned going into the meeting that there might not be the will among the group to ask hard questions and ponder substantive change. I walk away from the meeting greatly encouraged. The meeting began with us all on our knees asking God for guidance and for his ideas. We spent four hours discussing a variety of things but mainly focusing in on the philosophical purposes of the CBGC. We're just beginning and our next meeting is a month away. I believe though that good things are coming for Colorado Baptists. We're envisioning a bright future!

CBGC Executive Board (final report)

The Tuesday sessions were filled with a variety of reports from various CBGC staff members. I remain extremely impressed and proud of our staff in Colorado. From our Executive Director, Mark Edlund, on down to the ministry assistants--we have some tremendous men and women serving the churches of Colorado.

Golden Gate Seminary is expecting as much as a $750,000 budget shortfall in the coming year. Rocky Mountain Campus in Denver should be effected in only a limited way in that they raise their own funds and do not receive any Cooperative Program support. There are approximately eighty students in Colorado who are taking advantage of the Rocky Mountain Campus of Golden Gate Seminary.

Concerns were shared on the rising costs of Youth Camp and possible solutions were presented.

We heard a report from CAHOOTS on how to better communication from the CBGC.

It was reported that 210 of our 397 churches did not complete an ACP report last year which means we do not have accurate data concering our churches. Of the 210 that did report--one fifth reported zero baptisms for the year!

There was an excellent report from The Ponderosa--our state camp. Many positive changes appear to be happening at the camp witch will hopefully result in better usage of the camp.

We voted to enter into a "shoulder-to-shoulder" partnership with the churches in Wyoming. This will result in shared ministry throughout Wyoming and Colorado with Colorado churches assisting Wyoming churches and Wyoming churches assisting Colorado churches.

A discussion was held concerning our annual meeting and how to better the participation. We'll be in Estes Park for our 2009 meeting.

A discussion was held on minimum giving percentages as a qualifier for executive board service. It was decided that we should seek out the the best individuals regardless of giving percentages.

The Board also voted to look into the possibility of making some facility changes.

There was much more but these are the highlights. I would be happy to answer any questions that these postings have prompted.

CBGC Executive Board Highlights...

Monday's meeting turned out to be quite long--We didn't wrap up until around 7:30. I remain extremely proud of our Colorado Baptist Convention. Our churches and missionaries are doing some amazing work. As I mentioned yesterday, the new member orientation was from 12-1. The EB session began at 2:00 and the majority of the first two and one half hours was filled with spiritual emphasis: a devotion, prayer, and testimonies of God's activity throughout the state. It was reported that there are more than 100 unique language groups in Colorado and that we have some type of ministry among 28 of those people groups.

A few things of note that I'll share:

The board agreed to distribute a little more than $18,000 in state mission offerings. The total to be distributed this year is about $66,000. Churches request these funds through their association and the EB makes the final allocation.

We received a report on the audit from the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability. The CBGC is in full compliance with the ECFA's standards. This is a significant seal of approval on the way that the CBGC handles its finances.

The 2008 financial report reveals that we were less than $3,000 away from meeting budget. It is almost miraculous to get that close. Total receipts for 2008 were $2,218,047.50. This is up by $42,000 from 2007. Great News!

More to follow...

From the CBGC Executive Board...

Just wanted to let everyone know that I will be participating in our state convention's executive board today and tomorrow. I was elected at our state convention to serve as 2nd Vice President and that position allows me to serve as an officer on our EB. The primary function of the EB is to provide oversight of the CBGC when the convention itself is not in session which is of course most of the year. This is the first time that I have been able to participate with the newly organized EB. I had served as chairperson a few years back and then rotated off the board. We had gone through a multiple year process of reorganizing and streamlining the EB. I am very anxious to experience the fruit of so much labor. I hope to share some of the experience with you all as the EB meets over the next two days. I am here a bit early--having not been sure what the roads would be like today. I am sitting in a pretty large conference room by myself at the moment looking at about seventeen empty chairs surrounding a square table. The new EB members and the officers will be meeting at noon to for a new member orientation. More to follow...

CBGC Executive Board

The biggest item of business at our state convention this year was the restructure of the Executive Board. I've had the honor of serving on a task force that has been studying the proposed restructure for almost two years. The change occurs in both philosophy and methodology. We have moved from a 1950's committee-based approach where the board primarily listens to reports to a much more functional and relational approach where the board interacts and discusses issues focused on the broad vision and "ends" of the convention. The size of the board has changed considerably downsizing from 42 board members to 18. A major change in the board structure now calls for the convention officers to serve as the executive board officers. In the past, the convention officers, have at times, been more symbolic than practical. Now the three elected officers will be setting the agenda for the EB. All sessions of the board will be plenary with no committees meeting. Prayer will be a major agenda item each time the board meets. It's exciting to see this new structure approved and put in place. I have a great sense of accomplishment having served on the CBGC Executive Board for the past five years and as it's chairman for the past two years.

Steamboat Springs...

Today was a very busy day. I bypassed my usual 4:00am wake-up since I wouldn't be preaching and slept in until almost 6:00. We were priviledged to have Dr. Charles Wade at Cornerstone this morning bringing the message. He was hilariously insightful in all three services with an extremely practical and relevant presentation. Following the final worship service, I accompanied Dr. Lowery and his wife to the town of Laporte where he spoke at the 50th anniversary celebration of our association--The Long's Peak Association. About 4:30 this afternoon following the associational gathering, I set out along with the assistant BSU director at CSU and the Long's Peak DOM for Steamboat. Coming across Cameron Pass, we encountered quite a bit of snow. It was the first glimpse of snow that I have seen since spring and it was absolutely beautiful. There was a caravan of about four vehicles that joined us in our journey to Steamboat--all pastors from Long's Peak. We finally arrived in Steamboat Springs about 8:00, ate dinner, and checked into the hotel. We're scheduled for golf at nine in the morning in Craig which is about an hour away. I'm a skeptic in terms of the weather tomorrow. I can't imagine that it is going to be warm enough to play. The forecast calls for a high of 55. The pastor's conference begins tomorrow afternoon here in the hotel. I'm really looking forward to seeing some of my pastor friends that I have not seen in some time.

Colorado Baptist Convention...

The annual meeting of the Colorado Baptist General Convention will be held in the early part of next week in Steamboat Springs. Our meetings will be held at the Steamboat Grand Resort Hotel pictured here. My church has graciously provided lodging for myself and the youth pastor at the hotel. I have subsequently invited the assistant BSU Director at Colorado State University to share my room with me so that he doesn't have to sleep outside. One of the really special things about our state convention is the sense of family that we feel here. The SBC church in Steamboat has even opened up homes to host anyone coming to the convention who needs a place to stay (don't tell my church). Keep in mind that half of our pastors in Colorado are bivocational. I will be traveling together with the Director of Missions for the association that our church belongs to. I'm hoping to get a free meal out of deal. We will travel into the mountains on Sunday afternoon and arrive in Steamboat sometime Sunday evening. First thing, Monday morning, we have a golf tournament and then the pastor's conference begins on Monday afternoon. My team always gets destroyed in the tournament but it's great fun and fellowship. My team this year includes my DOM, my youth pastor, and a counselor friend. All three are much better golfers than myself--I'm pretty much just along for the ride.

One of the key items to be discussed is the restructuring of our Executive Board. I have chaired a task force that has been working for almost two years to study a new and more effective approach to conducting the business of our convention in between annual meetings. I will be presenting a recommendation from the Executive Board to the convention that our EB be downsized from 40-something members to exactly eighteen. The CBGC Executive Board will be made up of the three convention officers, the Executive Director, one member from each of the eleven associations and 3 members-at-large. The smaller size will allow the board to more effectively discuss and provide oversight of the convention. One of the positives to the new structure is that our elected convention officers will now have genuine influence in the direction of the convention.

CBGC Church Health

I had the honor of helping to distribute some of our state mission offerings back into six our Colorado churches this morning. I serve on the Church Health Committee of the CBGC Executive Board and each year I have the honor of helping to allocate these resources. Our committee met by telephone this morning and considered several requests for funding. In addition to the Church Health Committee, we also have a Missions Committee and a Prayer and Evangelism Committee that make distributions to individual churches from our Nicey Murphy State Missions Offering.

The following six churches received their funding requests.

Trinity Baptist Church, Gunnison, $1000, Discipleship Conference.
Summit House Church Network, Dillon, $2000, High Capacity Coffee Machine for Big Red Bus. The Big Red Bus is highly effective evangelism tool—kind of like a block party on wheels.
Hope of Israel, Denver, $2000, High Speed CD/DVD Duplicator.
CrossPointe Community Church, Highlands Ranch, $2000, “Reaching America” mailout.
Immanuel Community Church, Fort Collins, $2000, Resource Evangelism Project and the completion of a welcome/coffee center.
Emmanuel Baptist Church, Meeker, $2000, Complete bathroom facilities in children’s area and purchase video projector.

The Church Health Committee has a total of $19,684.34 to distribute to Colorado Baptist churches in the area of church health. $8,684.34 remains for other requests that may be submitted throughout the year.

A Great State Convention...

I am truly thankful to be serving a Southern Baptist Church in Colorado. On Monday and Tuesday of this week I attended the CBGC Executive Board Meeting in Denver. As usual, I walked away with a sense of pride in who we are and what we are trying to accomplish as Colorado Baptists. We did not have a whole lot of significant business to accomplish, in my opinion, just some necessary administrative adjustments. We did make one major change in the way that we operate. Our EB has five committees that our board members are assigned to: Mission, Finance, Agencies, Program, and Communications. The Program and Communications committees have struggled to find a practical function--they have mainly served in oversight. Yesterday, we did away with both of these committees and created two new purposeful committees: Church Health Committee and Prayer and Evangelism Committee. There were many positive reports that were shared throughout the meetings and we remain unified in our task of penetrating lostness in Colorado. Dr. Bob Bender was elected as Vice Chairman of the EB and I was re-elected as Chairman.